Volume 1, Issue 18 February 2011 Editorial: First, Let Me Celebrate Actually Getting This Zine out Two Months in a Row
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
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.