Volume 1, Issue 18 February 2011 Editorial: First, let me celebrate actually getting this zine out two months in a row. I’m about a day late from my favored first-Thursday slot, but I’m at least still in time for the weekend’s cons. Hopefully, y’all will find the calendar helpful, or at least interesting. If I’ve picked on your con’s website, it’s likely because I had a hard time finding the things I look for – the location, guests of honor, and price. Some folks really want to see a program grid up there as early as possible, but I’m not picky about that. Then again, I’ve often fallen prey to the second neo-fannish fallacy about programming – that only fake-fan neos go to lots of it – so I’m generally content to find out what’s going on once I get to the con itself. Truly, fans go to programming that sounds interesting enough to miss out on whatever conversation they might have if they didn’t go to it, often to see friends on program or hear interesting people talk about interesting things. Second, I have some news about the effort to get a fan fund set up between DSC and Westercon – the South-West Fan Fund. The full details are at the end of the zine, but the gist is that we need Southerners nominated to be sent to Westercon this year. The procedure will be largely the same as for TAFF and DUFF – three Southerners and two Westerners (El Pasoans count for either but not both – one nomination per El Pasoan) nominate a Southerner to go as the fund’s delegate to this year’s Westercon in San Jose. The winner will then take up the staff of administrator for the fund until such time as another Southerner is sent to Westercon. Trip reports are highly encouraged. Chris Garcia and I are administering it, so don’t nominate us or ask us to be a nominator – we’re just here to help right now. Special thanks should be given to Glen Glazer for giving us the swift kick in the pants we needed to organize this. Finally, I now have some details I can let out about the con I’m working on in Raleigh. It will be called illogiCon, and the first one will be held January 15- 17 th , 2012, and the Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh. Our Guests of Honor will be Joe Haldeman and Richard Desautels (a fixture of the game rooms of NC conventions, and a hell of a guy). I’ll be in charge of programming, which should be an experience. www.illogicon.org . No table of contents this time, since it’s just the Calender, Rebel Yells, and announcement about SWFF.
Colophon: Editor & SFC President: Warren Buff [email protected] (919) 633-4993 2412 F Still Forest Pl. Raleigh, NC 27607 USA All contents copyright their creators. This zine is free, either by direct email or www.efanzines.com . A letter of comment or other contribution will get you on my mailing list, as long as I remember to put you there. If I forget, bother me a second time, or however long it takes to add you. I haven’t been printing this one, which leaves me free to use as many pages as I wish, and do things like color. It also lets me use all the contributions I can muster, so fire away! Calendar of Events:
February 4-6: Williamsburg Muster (Williamsburg, VA – Holiday Inn Patriot. Gaming, mostly board and miniatures, with a theme of Churchill’s wars this year. Includes a hospitality suite, which I take to mean a consuite. $25.) What-The-Hell?! Con (Greensboro, NC – Gulford College, mostly Dana and Duke buildings. They’ve finally updated their website, and the first update includes a draft schedule. This con is free. Guest of Honor this year will be nerdcore rapper M.C. Frontalot.)
February 18-20: TrekTrax (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Atlanta Perimeter. Featuring Tim Russ, Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh, and Fan GOH Emmett Plant. $50 until February 11 th , $60 at the door. Capped at 800 members.) ConNooga (Chattanooga, Tennessee – Chattanooga Choo Choo. Frankly, it’s not my kind of con, but they do manage to get an interesting selection of bands and independent film folks, as well as a few authors and artists. I don’t have a good enough grasp on who’s who to try to give you a short-list, but enough of my friends are asking me about it that I may have to give it a second look when it’s more established. $40 through February 1 st , prices at the door not listed.) RoundCon (Columbia, South Carolina – Columbia Marriott Downtown. Gaming con which has added panels, including several authors and artists and a fan- based anime track. $40 at the door. Also offered is a $75 membership that includes a t-shirt, keepsake of some sort, and hotel wi-fi.) Farpoint (Timonium, Maryland – Crowne Plaza Hotel – Baltimore North. A media-based con with a family reunion feel. Features Adam Baldwin, Laurie Holden, and Bonita Friedricy. Weekend membership $80, banquet $45 extra.) KatSuCon 17 (Washington, D.C. – Gaylord. It’s an anime con, and there’s something of note here – they’ve already filled up their masquerade. They’ve got the usual slate of voice actors, and oddly enough, list them after the featured cosplayers. Also of note is Frank Cho. $60 at the door.) ConDFW (Richardson, Texas – Crowne Plaza Suites. My friends in Dallas tell me good things about this one. Also, they sold me a really cool t-shirt at one of their parties. Guest of Honor: Jack McDevitt, Tim Powers, Brandon Sanderson, Brad W. Foster. Membership $35 at the door.) February 19-20: Kami-Con (Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Free anime con at the University of Alabama, with a room block in the Ramada Inn off MacFarland Blvd. Featuring Johnny Yong Bosch, and Kyle Hebert.)
February 23-27: PrezCon (Charlottesville, Virginia – Doubletree Charlottesville. Gaming con billing itself as the Winter Nationals. Looks to feature a lot of European-style boardgames like Settlers of Catan. $60 until February 18 th , $70 at the door.) BattleBots National Competition (Miami, Florida – Coconut Grove Exposition Center. Robot competition in 120 lb, 15 lb, and task-oriented divisions. It’s not clear if this event is open to non-competitors from the website.) February 25-27: AnachroCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Holiday Inn Select Perimeter. Steampunk and related matter. Features a good mix of artists, authors, historians, and musical acts. The coolest thing I noticed is that they have three folks appearing as historical figures – Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and General James Edward Oglethorpe. $30 Pre-reg.) MystiCon (Roanoke, Virginia – Holiday Inn. One of two cons to emerge out of a schism in SheVaCon. The website is somewhat tricky to use – you have to notice the poorly-contrasted “Menu” tab on the right to get it to appear and make the site navigable. Guests of Honor: Brinke Stevens, David Gerrold, and Randy Asplund. $35.) Vulcan Events (Tampa, Florida – Doubletree Hotel Tampa Westshore Airport. Featuring J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly. $40 for the weekend.) ConCave (Bowling Green, Kentucky – Best Western Motor Inn. A relaxacon that for years had no web presence. Now, they’re in a larger hotel, and can handle the attention again. They’re honoring Steve and Sue Francis this year, who’ve done a lot for fandom, and fandom in Kentucky in particular, over the years. Their website doesn’t give you a way to register, but that’s okay, since pre-reg is already closed. I think their flyer said $30 at the door, but it might be a touch more than that these days. It’s a great con, and has some of the best parties to be found.) February 26-27: Wizard World (Miami, Florida – Miami Airport Convention Center. Featuring Julie Benz, Claudia Christian, Mickey Rooney, Phil Jimenez, and Michael Golden. Two days for $40, one for $25. Five bucks more at the door.)
March 4-6: StellarCon 35 (High Point, North Carolina – Best Western High Point. This is my home con, the one I cut my teeth on, the first one I got suckered into a concom job for, and one of the few I’ll attend every year I’m not bodily restrained. It had a down year last year, but the current crew is looking a lot better, and I’m excited about it. Guests of Honor: Todd McCaffrey, Larry Elmore, Jackie Cassada, Nicky Rea, Bill Mann, Larry Correia, and Podcasting’s Rich Sigfrit. $30 for the weekend.) SheVaCon (Roanoke, Virginia – Sheraton Roanoke Hotel & Conference Center. The other of the two cons to come out of the recent SheVaCon schism retains the name. I’ve not actually made it up to SheVaCon before, though many friends have gone for many years. The most unfortunate thing about this schism is that they lost their traditional date and moved onto the same weekend as StellarCon, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever go at this rate. Guests of Honor: Virginia Hey, Matt Busch, Peter Beagle, Spat Oktan. $45 for the weekend.) Louisville Arcade Expo (Louisville, Kentucky – Holiday Inn Hurstbourne Parkway. A weekend of classic arcade games with all the machines on free play. Pre-reg $10/day.) March 5-6: Arkansas Anime Festival (Bentonville, Arkansas – Clarion Hotel and Conference Center. Fan run anime convention featuring Spike Spencer, John Swansey, Eric Burton, and Julie Howell. Pre-reg $25, at the door $35, cut-off date not listed. They also offer a “parent pass”, allowing parents to spend an hour checking out what exactly is going on here for free. Excellent idea.)
March 11-13: CoastCon 34 (Biloxi, Mississippi – Mississippi Coast Coliseum with room block at Super 8 Biloxi. Guests of Honor: Gary Graham, Mike Resnick, Jeff Dee, Jack Herman, Jason Fisher. Pre-reg $35, $45 at the door.) Kawa Kon (St. Louis, Missouri – Crowne Plaza Clayton. It tells me something about anime conventions that this one calls itself small with 1000 attendance. Guests of Honor: Tyrine Carver and Wil Woods of MUSETAP, Three Rivers Okiya, and rave DJs The Con Artists. Pre-reg $40 through March 1 st .) Madicon 20 (Harrisonburg, Virginia – Festival Conference Center at James Madison University. Primarily a gaming con, but also featuring appeal to costumers and general fandom. Guests of Honor: Rob Balder, C.S. Friedman, Brian Glass, Katherine Kurtz. Pre-reg $15 until January 31st, $20 at the door.) EpicCon (Virginia Beach, Virginia – The Cavalier Hotel. Paranormal conference in one of the coolest possible venues I could think of for such an event – a 73- year-old, supposedly haunted, and absolutely gorgeous hotel. Registration is $100, the Saturday night dinner an optional $40.) Game Days 6 (Nashville, Tennessee – Holiday Inn Express Downtown. Gaming convention, and it looks like they really want you to stay in the hotel – they’re offering a free membership if you book your room by February 11 th . Considering that the hotel gives you free breakfast, that’s not bad. Pre-reg is $25, or $40 for couples. Door prices are $30/$50.) Creation Entertainment’s Official Twilight Convention (Nashville, Tennessee – Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. I don’t really know the actors from this one, so you’ll just have to check it out yourself if you want to know. There seem to be several of them, doing one-day appearances. The ticket structure is complicated, and seems to involve paying a lot to get in and then paying more to do things like get autographs or go to events. I leave it to the dedicated to figure it out.) March 12-13: MomoCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Georgia Tech Hotel, with most events in GT’s Management Building. This is a free event, and seems to have grown into a more general young geek’s con out of its anime roots. I sat a table next to these guys once, and they seemed pretty cool.)
March 16-20: The 32 nd International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (Orlando, Florida – Orlando Airport Marriott. This is the premier scholarly conference of SF, put on by the IAFA. Their theme this year is The Fantastic Ridiculous. Guests of Honor: Connie Willis, Terry Bisson, Andrea Hairston, Brian Aldiss. Registration by January 15 th is $110, then $135 until March 1 st , then $165 at the door.) March 17-21: Furry Weekend Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia – Sheraton Atlanta. The name should tell you just about everything you need to know. Features the original fursuit dance competition. Guests of Honor: Lacy & CP of fursuiting.com, Zhivago. $40 through February 26 th , $45 at the door. Minors need parental consent forms signed and notarized.) March 18-20: All-Con (Addison, Texas -- Crowne Plaza North Dallas. Rather varied programming, much of which is costuming or anime related, though they also have a lot of game show type events. Tickets $40 until March 7th, extra for the burlesque.) FantaSciCon 2011 (Dalton, Georgia – Super 8 Convention Center. This is a new location, so make a note. Guest include Allen Gilbreath, Cheryel Hutton, Kimberly Richardson, Mark Helwig, Rob E. Brown, and Joe Dickerson. Membership is $35 until February 28 th , $50 thereafter. No day rates.)
March 25-27: AggieCon 42 (College Station, Texas – Hilton Hotel College Station. This student-run con out of Texas A&M is on of the South’s oldest. Guest of Honor: Catherynne M. Valente. Registration is $25 until February 20 th .) BabelCon (Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Hampton Inn & Suites. Broad-based con with a difficult website. They’ve got a range of different folks as guests, from authors and artists to bands, scientists, and paranormal investigators. $25 for the weekend.) MegaCon (Orlando, Florida – Orange County Convention Center, Hall D. Guests include William Shatner, Stan Lee, and tons of sci-fi actors and comics creators. $60 for the weekend, $25 one-day, slight discount for pre-reg online.) MidSouthCon 29 (Memphis, Tennessee -- Hilton Memphis. Another of the grand old cons of the South. My friends in western Tennessee keep trying to get me to come out to this. One day, I just might. Guests of Honor: Mary Robinette Kowal, Nene Thomas, Monte Cook, Kurt Busiek, Kelldar, Les Johnson, Jackie Gamber, and The Great Luke Ski. Memberships $40 through February 25 th , $45 thereafter.) MACE West: Cudgel (Hickory, North Carolina) EyeCon Vampire Diaries (Atlanta, Georgia – Westin Atlanta Airport. Featuring actors from the TV show. Even more convoluted ticket pricing than Creation. Looks like you pay individually for everything you want, including days, unless you pay for the big dollar packages.) March 26-27: InvaderCON (Atlanta, Georgia – Marriott Century Center. Invader Zim convention. Guests include the voice actors for Zim, Dib, and Gir, as well as several of the production-end folks from the show. By the time this hits your inbox and efanzines, the ticket price will have reached the $31 door rate, and you have to pay an extra $1.77 fee to book it online. The special event dinner and breakfast have already sold out.)
April 1-3: synDCon II (Rockville, Maryland – Rockville Hilton Hotel and Executive Business Center. Gaming convention with a difficult website. Their reg system, unfortunately, doesn’t appear to be working.)
April 8-10: RavenCon (Richmond, Virginia – Holiday Inn Koger Center. Fun, fairly big-tent convention, with John Ringo and Kurt Miller as its Guests of Honor. Expect a good deal of filk concerts and more programming than you can shake a stick at. Memberships are $35 until April 1 st , then $40 at the door.) April 8-9: FreeCon 7 (Tallahassee, Florida – second floor of the Student Services building at FSU. Looks like a fan-oriented anime convention. The convention is completely free.)
April 15-17: KampingKon (Cochran, Georgia – Hillside Bluegrass RV Park. Outdoor science fiction fun. Their website includes a picture of two guys battling with plastic Bat’leths. Membership is $25 until March 31 st , then $30 at the “door”. Camping fees extra.) JordanCon (Atlanta, Georgia – Crowne Plaza Ravinia. A Wheel of Time oriented convention featuring Brandon Sanderson as Guest of Honor. They also bring in Atlanta area authors for their program, which means they have a broader focus than just one series – it’s just their favorite. $55 until April 3 rd , $65 at the door.) T-mode (Rockville, Maryland. Fusion of anime, gaming, and “all things otaku”.) Creation Twilight (Arlington, Virginia – Sheraton National Hotel. I don’t really know the actors from this one, so you’ll just have to check it out yourself if you want to know. There seem to be several of them, doing one-day appearances. The ticket structure is complicated, and seems to involve paying a lot to get in and then paying more to do things like get autographs or go to events. I leave it to the dedicated to figure it out.) April 16-17 : CyPhaCon (Lake Charles, Louisiana – Lake Charles Civic Center. They describe themselves as anime, gaming, and sci-fi. The only guests they have listed are the Bedlam Bards, who I think I saw perform once and liked. Tickets are $15.)
April 21-24: Frolicon (Atlanta, Georgia) April 22-24: MTAC Odyssey (Nashville, Tennessee) Conglomeration (Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. A science fiction convention whose website is both hard to navigate and hard to read. Their Gaming Guest of Honor is Andy Chambers. Membership is $30 until April 1 st , then $40 at the door.) LouisiAnime (Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge. Anime convention featuring Todd Haberkorn, Alexis Tipton, and Airship Isabella. Registration is $32 until March 21 st , then $42 at the door.)
April 28-May 1: ReCon (Cocoa Beach, Florida) April 29-May 1: Columbia Anime Con (Columbia, South Carolina – Jamil Shrine Center. Anime, manga, and comics convention featuring Richard Horvitz, Rosearik Rikki Simons, Addy Miller, and Drew Geraci. Low contrast on their website. Admission is $5 per day.)
May 13-15: Gaylaxicon (Atlanta, Georgia) Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Fest (Chattanooga, Tennessee – Chattanooga Downtown Marriott Hotel. Around 30 tattoo booths, plus horror celebrities like Michael Berryman, Richard Brooker, Andrew Bryniarski, Brad Loree, Tiffany Shepis, and Stacey Dixon. $35 for the weekend, ten bucks less for each day you don’t care to go.) May 14-15: NOLA Comic-Con (New Orleans, Louisiana) WonderFest (Louisville, Kentucky)
May 19-22: Nebula Awards Weekend (Washington, D.C.) May 20-22: Dice Head Siege (Chattanooga, Tennessee) Mobicon (Mobile, Alabama) ImagiCon (Birmingham, Alabama)
May 26-29: Comicpalooza (Houston, Texas) May 27-30: Balticon 45 (Baltimore, Maryland) May 27-29: TimeGate (Atlanta, Georgia) Animazement 14 (Raleigh, North Carolina) Rocket City Furmeet 9 (Huntsville, Alabama) Oasis 24 (Orlando, Florida) TimeGate (Atlanta, Georgia) NashCon (Franklin, Tennessee) Spooky Empire's May-Hem (Orlando, Florida)
June 3-5: ConCarolinas (Charlotte, North Carolina) HeroesCon (Charlotte, North Carolina) Seishun-Con (Atlanta, Georgia) HamaCon 2 (Huntsville, Alabama) OMGcon (Paducah, Kentucky)
June 10-12: Sci Fi Summer Con (Atlanta, Georgia) Rapier (Jacksonville, Florida) A-Kon 22 (Dallas, Texas)
June 11-18: CruiseCon (Port Canaveral, Florida)
June 17-19: Anime Mid-Atlanta 11 (Chesapeake, Virginia) Faerie Escape (Atlanta, Georgia) MetroCon 9 (Tampa, Florida) Comic & Anime Con (Knoxville, Tennessee)
Looking Ahead:
August 17-21: Renovation, the 69 th Worldcon (Reno, Nevada – Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Atlantis Hotel, Peppermill Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott. Hotel booking will open 8 AM PST, January 17 th . Guests of Honor: Ellen Asher, Charles N. Brown (in memoriam), Tim Powers, Boris Vallejo. If you’ve never been to a Worldcon, you should try one. This one has the added bonus of not conflicting with the major Labor Day events so many of us go to, reducing your excuses. This is five days of science fiction, but more importantly, it’s a chance to meet fans from all over the world. It’s not uncommon for a group of friends at one of these to span three continents (or more – I’ve met fans from five at Worldcons – South America and Antarctica, I’m looking at you). It’s also where fandom presents it’s annual Hugo Awards – members can nominate and vote, though you’d better hurry if you want to nominate. This will be my third Worldcon, and I’m already getting a bit excited about it. I hope to see all y’all there. Membership is $180 through February 28 th , though there is a discounted rate of $100 available for fans 17-21.)
September 2-5: Dragon*Con (Atlanta, Georgia – several hotels in downtown, though most have already sold out. The guest list is huge, and I’ll have to wait until later to figure out who they’ve named Guests of Honor. The attendance at this will be in the tens of thousands. You will be surrounded everywhere you look by folks who share some interest in fandom. It’s a great four-day weekend, and always vibrant. Membership is $80 through February 15 th , rising to $90 after that through May 13 th .)
September 23-25: FenCon VIII/DeepSouthCon 49 (Addison, Texas – Crowne Plaza North Dallas. Guests of Honor: Gail Carriger, Joe Bethancourt, Steven H Silver, Vincent Di Fate, Les Johnson, Bradley Denton, and Lou Anders. DeepSouthCon finally comes to Texas! I’m thrilled to be returning to FenCon, as well, which I found to have the friendly atmosphere appropriate to a good Southern con. I also found that the panels tended to have actively interested audiences, the game room stayed busy, folks attended the filk concerts and circles, the art show had a great mix of stuff (including some Tolkien-inspired quilts!), the video room was actually attended, the consuite well-stocked, and the dealers room balanced. The hotel bar also carried a few local Texas beers, which I appreciated. For DSC, I’ll be in charge of the fanzine lounge, which seems like an entirely appropriate place for the SFC to set up shop. FenCon will be taking advantage of Gail Carriger’s attendance to have some fun with steampunk as well. All in all, I’m looking forward to this year’s DSC, and I hope to see many of you there. Membership is $25 through February 1 st , with a special $40 rate which gets you a t-shirt or tote bag and first crack at the autograph line with the GoHs. A $15 rate is also available for fans 21 and under.)
June 15-17, 2012: DeepSouthCon 50 – Lunar Party (Huntsville, Alabama – venue TBA. This will be the first independent DSC in about a decade, and the Moon Princesses have put together quite a crew to run it. Guests of Honor will include Lois McMaster Bujold, Howard Tayler, Travis “Doc” Taylor, Larry Montgomer, David Hulan, and Dr. Demento. Larry and David ran the very first two DSCs back in the 60s, and this will be a rare opportunity to get to meet them. I’ll have more information on this con in coming issues. Attending Memberships are currently $40, or $15 for pre-supporters. Supporting Memberships are $20.)
Rebel Yells: News and note from all over
First we heard from Toni Weisskopf, with an update on DSC 50:
Nice to see this again. Pretty cover, too!
Also, some news: The Deep South Con 50: Lunar Party, has finalized its slate of guests:
Guest of Honor: Lois McMaster Bujold Artist Guest of Honor: Howard Tayler Fan Guests of Honor: Larry Montgomery & David Hulan (chairs of the first two DSCs) Toastmaster: Travis "Doc" Taylor
And rounding out the slate: I'm happy to announce Dr. Demento is our Special Music Guest of Honor! For what the Good Doctor is up to now check out his website: http://www.drdemento.com/
Danny Birt, himself an artist played by Dr. D, will be coordinating our filk/music program.
--Toni
I’ve gone ahead and added DSC 50 to the looking ahead, since promoting DSC is one of the main things I want this zine to do, though generally, I’ll add cons a little closer to their actual dates.
Next, we heard from the ever-present Jeff Thompson:
Happy New Year, Warren! Thanks for your hard work on another great issue of the Update. Your convention listings are quite comprehensive and informative. Richard Dengrove's movie review and my own CD review made great companions as a 20th-anniversary look back at the world of 1991. Jose Sanchez's illoes are beautiful. I especially like the one on the same page as my article. Have a good week and keep in touch!
I didn’t realize until I’d done it that I’d paired two 1991 reviews, but I suppose a look 20 years back is a fun way to start the new year.
Joy V. Smith wrote in:
Warren,
Interesting cover, and I love the colors. Thanks for all the con listings; there are lots to choose from, which is great. With all the mentions of last issue's cover, I had to go back and look at it again. Oh, that's always going to be a favorite of mine. It should be reprinted, collected in a cover art round-up, and made into a poster, ... Thanks to Jose Sanchez for the additional info on his cover.
Re: the club minutes, I hope you were able to track down your old treasurer's records and monies. Starting a new account was a smart move. I enjoyed Richard Dengrove's review of Sgt. Kabukiman N. Y. P. D. I love parodies, though this one sounds way over the top! And Jeff Thompson's article on the music from the Dark Shadows TV series was interesting with all the inside info on the instruments and character themes.
I enjoyed the fillo (intriguing scene with great color, and I wonder what kind of creature that is) and the back cover/closing artwork too. Hey, we need more dogs and other animals in these scenes!
Appreciatively, Joy V. Smith
We were, in fact, able to get the records and funds from the old treasurer, and Patrick’s doing a great job as treasurer so far (not that we’ve asked him to do a whole lot, but he’s on top of things when it comes to the money). Glad to know you liked the art work – I know Jose reads this, so he’s likely to see your appreciation.
Next, we heard from Mike Kennedy:
Warren,
Consider this email a (short) LoC on the most recent SFC Update (Vol 1, No 17) if you like, or feel free to excerpt the various factoids herein or even ignore it entirely.
I'm moved to write mostly because the SFC Minutes from the meeting at DSC 48 carried a report of the illness that kept me away from the con and I though I should update you. One small correction--I drove myself to the hospital in Gulfport as opposed to being taken there. I was on my way from Slidell LA (where I'd been on a business trip) toward Charlotte for the con when I started feeling unwell. Thanks to OnStar I got efficient directions to the nearest hospital on the fly. The docs never did find anything wrong with me and a few days later I drove myself back to Huntsville; having missed DSC. It could have simply been due to overwork; that was quite a rough business trip with 12-hour days being the norm.
RE the SFC T-Shirt committee, my recollection was that the original members were Steve Francis, Gary Robe, and me. In any case, the minutes are quite right that we took virtually no action in the time between DSCs 47 & 48. I feel a little guilty about that, but life will go on.
I note a mention in one of the LoCs of the possibility of a Westercon<-->DSC fan fund. While I'm in favor of this (I think it could benefit both groups) I'm afraid I'd be little or no help getting this off the ground. I'd guess the fund would need to raise at least $500 annually to cover air fare for the representative and really needs more like $1000+ to handle other expenses (hotel, baggage fees, ground transportation, hospitality, perhaps a modest per diem). Getting the seed funds for the first trip or two would be non-trivial especially as the major fundraisers for most fan funds are expected to be the two most recent awardees (of which there are, er, none). Then there's the matter of a catchy (and preferably pronounceable) name. EWFF (pronounced "oof") not only has the disadvantage of being something one normally says in distress, but the point isn't "East" to/from "West" but "Southeast" or "Deep South" to/from "West". My professional life may be awash in acronyms but that doesn't mean I have any particular facility for inventing them.
RE the Calendar of Events, please add in this year's Con*Stellation
Mike Kennedy Con*Stellation XXX: Corona Borealis www.con-stellation.org 16-18 September 2011 North Alabama Science Fiction Association www.con-stellation.org/nasfa Huntsville AL
I’d heard about your recovery, but I’m glad you’ve written in, so that folks who don’t get to see you too often know you’re alright. Hopefully you haven’t been working yourself too hard in the intervening months. I’ll see if we can’t get some movement on the t-shirts between now and DSC – it’d be nice to have folks show up in them at DSC 50, and able to wear them at 49. As for the fan fund, Chris Garcia and I are moving ahead with it, and there’s more info on that after the LoC column. Hopefully, it’ll see the kind of support it needs to get going – especially some candidates! There’s no time to lose on that front. We’ve gone with the name SWFF, which I suppose will get pronounced “swoff”. I’m gradually expanding the calendar to look to events further out, so I hope to include Con*Stellation sometime in the next few issues. In the meantime, hopefully folks will see the link here.
Brad Foster wrote in to remind us to use his art:
Greetings Warren ~ Hey, you're back! No one ever said a fanzine had to keep to a regular publishing schedule. okay, well, -some- people have said that, but then they've probably never actually tried to put together a zine themselves.
Anyway, nice to see a new issue of SFCU, along with the promise to continue for a bit longer. My records here show you should still have two pieces of unused art (okay, "cartoons") from me on hand, so hope you can find room for them in future issues to break up all that text. (If you've no longer got those files, happy to re-send them to you.)
In the meantime, I'd better get back to work on some of the other projects here with looming deadlines. It's a good thing I -like- doing this drawing stuff! stay happy~ Brad
As you can see, we’ve used one of the pieces for the cover, and I’ll make the other a fillo on this page (or maybe the previous one)!
Steve Green reminds us to vote for TAFF:
Hi Warren,
Just wondered if there was any space in the next SFCU to plug the current TAFF race. The full details are available at taff.org,uk, as are PayPal details for donations.
All best -- Steve
And now, Lloyd Penney:
1706-24 Eva Rd. Etobicoke, ON CANADA M9C 2B2
January 21, 2011
Dear Warren:
Hurray for Friday…geez, I need a break. The job hunt is bearing no fruit at all, so I need a weekend to take my mind off things, and cheer me up. So, here are comments on Vol. 1, No. 17 of the SFC Update.
I think some people were worried that you’d burn out with the NASFiC and other activities, but you’ve come back. It’s tough to make that comeback, but looks like you’ve done it, and good for you. You might need to do what we do…if we feel a little burned out, we take inventory of what we actually do, and then make a hard decision about one of our activities. There is initial regret, but then, you feel like you’ve got part of your life back, and you may wish to devote that extra time to activities that mean more to you.
The convention list…Wizard World bought one of our local comic conventions, and the second annual event will be here in March, I believe. I was very underwhelmed with their first edition, and if I go back, it will be to run a table, and not attend myself. They really don’t cater to my interests, at all. However, we do plan to be in Reno for the Worldcon, so we’ll see you there. Thanks for the Hugo-nominated tag on my loc…I hope I can say that in Reno!
I will not be an Aurora nominee this year…I have volunteered my services to work on the Aurora committee at SFContario 2 this coming November, so I will be ineligible. We must yet register with the Aurora committee to vote. With a few changes to the committee, Yvonne and I returned to the Ad Astra committee for our 30th year. I will be working the fan tables, and Yvonne will be running the green room. The Steamposium in Hamilton had to be cancelled because of personal meltdowns on the part of the chairman.
As far as the Reno Worldcon goes…a Worldcon is always a lot of fun, so I expect I will be helping Chris Garcia in the fanzine lounge, for any Garcia lounge turns into a party, and Yvonne may be doing some costuming programming. We might also do some steampunk programming, depending on time, and whether we can transport our costumes across the border. It seems to be getting tougher all the time.
Off it goes to you…we hope you have a great weekend, we all sure could use it, and see you with the next issue.
Yours, Lloyd Penney.
Hey, when a fanwriter gets nominated for the Hugo primarily on the strength of his LoCs, it’s noteworthy. I’m definitely looking forward to Renovation, and I hope you find yourself enjoying the cons you make it to – I’ve had one or two bad experiences, like yours with Wizard World, but I find them to be the minority. It’s always a shame when someone at a con becomes a single point of failure and breaks down – at times, I felt like I was running that risk with the NASFiC, though I think the concom could have taken over for me if I’d been hit by a bus. Hope you find better luck with the job hunt by the time this ish reaches you!
WAHF: Robby Hilliard, Mike Moon, Tim Bolgeo, Henry L. Welch, Chris Kuivenhoven, Patrick Molloy, Tom Feller.
Introducing the South-Western Fan Fund:
What is SWFF? The South-Western Fan Fund was created for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular fans familiar to those in the Southern US and Western States. SWFF will send a representitive from the Southern US to Westercon and a Western representitive to DeepSouthCon on alternating years. It exists solely through the support of fandom. Interested fans from any location may vote on the candidates, each vote being accompanied by a donation of not less than US$5. Winners will be encouraged to complete trip reports.
Who may vote? Voting in the 2011 race is open to anyone active in fandom since at least January 1, 2010 who donates at least US$5.00 to SWFF. Larger contributions will be gratefully accepted. Voting is by secret ballot: only one vote per person, and you must sign your ballot. You may change your vote any time prior to the deadline.
Deadline: Candidates must declare by March 1 st of the year. Votes must reach the administrators by May 1 st of the year.
Voting details: SWFF uses a preferential ballot system which guarantees automatic runoffs until a majority is obtained. You rank the candidates in the exact order of your preference for them. If the leading first-place candidate does not get a majority, the first-place votes for the lowest-ranking candidate are dropped, and the second-place votes on those ballots are counted as first-place votes. This process repeats itself until one candidate has a majority. Your votes for second and third place are important, but you may give your candidate only one ranking on your ballot. You may send your ballot to either administrator, but it will be tabulated with the other votes from the side of the of the vote where you reside. Votes from fans not resident in either the DeepSouthCon or Westercon representitive areas will be counted.
Hold Over Funds: This choice, like "No Award" in Hugo balloting, gives you the chance to vote for no SWFF trip this year, should you feel none of the candidates deserve your support. Hold Over Funds may be voted for in any position; thus, if it receives a majority of the votes on the final ballot, no trip will be held this year regardless of how many votes that option received on the first ballot.
No Preference: For voters who prefer not to choose between candidates, but don't want the trip held over.
Donations: SWFF gratefully accepts your freely given money and material for auction; such generosity will sustain SWFF. SWFF is fandom's newest travel fund and to survive will require your support. Please contact your nearest administrator for details.
Candidates: Each candidate will post a bond of twenty dollars, promising – barring "acts of God" – to travel, if elected, to the 2011 Westercon.
Candidate Eligibility: In the years that a winner will be sent to Deep South Con, the winner must be from an area eligible to hold a Westercon as defined in its Bylaws. For the alternating years, the winner must be from an area eligible to hold a Deep South Con as defined in its Bylaws. They have also provided signed nominations of three fans from the DeepSouthCon region and two from the Westercon region and a platform (published overleaf).
Administration: Initially, the Fund will be administered by Warren Buff (Southern region) and Christopher J Garcia (Western Region) with the Southern Fan Confederation SFC will act as the initial depository, and a report on the finances of the fund will be given at the SFC business meeting at DeepSouthCon. Once a delegate has been selected and made their trip, they will assume administration duties for their region.