Ah, the good old days when they were in an old hotel's ballroom. I was very young but I still remember the smell of shag carpeting, mildew and newsprint. :)
Yeah, I don't think they even have sci-fi conventions anymore. If they do, I imagine it's like most comic book conventions today where there's almost no comics and lots of bootleg T-shirts, Funko Pops and renfair jewelry & swords.