Conucopia Infobot News - 18-Jun-1998 Conucopia, c/o SCIFI, PO Box 8442, Van Nuys CA 91409. Welcome to the first edition of the Conucopia Infobot News. You'll receive a mailing like this every month or so, when we have news to announce. As the convention gets closer, they'll show up every week. If you know someone who'd like to subscribe, tell 'em to go to our web site at http://www.99.nasfic.org/ and enter their e-mail address - or just forward them this message. The Conucopia Infobot News is a service of the Conucopia Web Site, which may be found at http://www.99.nasfic.org/ . I'm your webmaster, Chaz Boston Baden. I'll be putting together the Infobot News largely using the material placed on the web site and printed in the Progress Reports. If your e-mail address changes, or if you wish to be removed from the Conucopia Infobot News mailing list, please write to listmaster@99.nasfic.org. In this issue: Beat the rate increase! Basic Information Author Guest of Honor: Jerry Pournelle Editor Guest of Honor: Ellen Datlow Fan Guests of Honor: Richard and Nicki Lynch Membership List Geographic Breakdown Registration Form Dealers Room Other Web Site Features Service Mark Notice Beat the Rate increase! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Membership rates are going up! Join before July 5. If you're a supporting member - if you voted at LoneStarCon 2, but haven't converted to full attending membership yet, convert now before the rates go up. As of July 5, attending memberships will be $85* - all the rates will go up by fifteen* bucks. Join before After July 5 July 6 Attending Membership (No Vote, no Patronage or support) $70 $85* If you didn't vote, but you were a pre-supporter .... $60 $75* Conversion: if you voted, you need to pay .............. $50 $65* if you voted and were a pre-supporter ............... $40 $55* [Webitor's revisionist note: the next rate increase was incorrectly reported in this issue of the Infobot news. I've taken the liberty of correcting the archives. Yes, it's going to go up by fifteen dollars.] Basic Information * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What is a NASFiC? Imagine getting together with a few friends to talk about something you all love -- science fiction and fantasy. You all read the books, see the movies, watch the stuff on TV, play the games - you've got a lot in common. And you invite a few of the people who create these works, too - the authors, artists, and others involved in the creation of the things we all appreciate. And when you all get in one place you count heads and find out there are two or three thousand of you. What do you call it? Well, it might be the North American Science Fiction Convention - NASFiC, for short. What You Get Four days of talking about SF, with panels and readings and autographings all day and special events every night. A huge Art Show with original art by many of the major SF cover artists, signed and numbered lithographs or photoprints of pieces you couldn't afford otherwise, and examples of original art by up-and-coming artists who may someday be major. All for sale at auction. An immense Dealers' Room. Hundreds of tables of new, used, and rare books; cool jewelry; art prints; videos; laser discs; funny buttons; fan writings; comics; and just plain weird stuff. A choice of video rooms, anime rooms, and a full film program. Science programs; how to behave at a convention programs; how to be a writer (OK, how to sell what you've written) programs; The Masquerade, a full costume contest stage performance; a hall costume contest, a wandering-the-convention performance; Filking (SF for folk singing). Dances from rock to Regency; Georgette Heyer high teas; Oz fan meetings; ERB fan meetings; alternative lifestyle fan meetings. "Why do I want to go? Why should you pay good money to attend this convention? Why should you join early? We expect the NASFiC is going to be bigger than a Westercon, but smaller than a Worldcon. If you're going down under to Aussiecon 3, you can stop by in southern California and get another convention as part of your trip. And, on top of that you can get in a visit to Disneyland before your flight leaves LAX for Melbourne. On the other hand, if you're not heading to the Worldcon, then you definitely want to get to the NASFiC. The NASFiC was started as being the "next best thing" for fans stuck in the USA and Canada when the Worldcon goes overseas, beyond the reach of their pocketbooks. It's still a great idea. As for why you should join now, that's easy. The price is going to go up so joining early saves you money, at least $15, possibly more. And memberships are transferable, so you have a hedge against a change in plans - if you find out in early 1999 that you can't come after all, you can sell your membership to someone else. (Lots of people use the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.fandom for just this purpose.) When and Where The convention begins Thursday, 26 August 1999, and runs through Sunday, 29 August 1999. Most things will start around ten in the morning and the joint will still be jumping in the wee hours every night. We have the Anaheim Marriott hotel in Anaheim, California, across the street from Disneyland. This was our "quiet hotel" during L.A.con III, the 1996 Worldcon, and we also held the 1989 Westercon ("Conosaurus") there. "What must I do in order to attend?" You basically need to do four things. * Buy your membership. You need to be an attending member in order to attend. Do this as soon as possible -- either pay the whole thing up front, or buy your supporting membership first and upgrade later. (As long as you do this before the next price increase, it won't cost extra to break it into two payments this way.) * Make your travel arrangements. If you're driving, make sure your vehicle's up to the trip. * Make your lodging arrangements. If you're looking for a roommate matching service, we won't be running one as such, but we will post notices from people looking for other fans to share rooms with and you guys can sort it out yourselves. * Pack up and go. Make sure you get plenty of rest and solid meals before you leave, as you're going to need all the stamina you can muster. We'll have some more tips on things you'll want to bring, such as why you should pack a sweater and business cards; stay tuned. Author Guest of Honor: Jerry Pournelle * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There are two outstanding reasons why I chose Dr. Pournelle to be the GoH of Conucopia. The first is his ongoing labors to promote the continued advancement of humanity into space. This is a calling through which he shares his hope and enthusiasm in our possible future, and his willingness to propagate information that fans might not otherwise discover on their own. The second reason is that in his writing he has the ability to draw you into a story and the struggle of the characters within. My favourite work by him to date remains, King David's Spaceship, one of a select few books that I have enjoyed rereading many times. Please join me in celebrating his contribution to the enrichment of Science, Science Fiction and our lives. Christian B. McGuire, chair@99.nasfic.org Editor Guest of Honor: Ellen Datlow * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ellen Datlow, one of the most influential editors of science fiction and fantasy in the United States, was fiction editor of Omni from October 1981 until the magazine's finale in 1998. During her editorship, in spite of the relatively few stories it published -- no more than two per issue, usually only one -- Omni produced at least a half dozen Hugo and/or Nebula winning tales. From the magazine's pages, Ellen edited a series of anthologies -- The First Omni Book of Science Fiction, etc. -- and began adding a new, original story in each of the later volumes. She also edited, with Terri Windling, a series of The Year's Best Fantasy anthologies, which began in 1988, and several volumes of original stories in the Erotic Fantasy field -- Snow White, Blood Red; Black Thorn, White Rose; Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears; and Black Swan, White Raven. Ellen's editorial works also include the original anthologies Blood Is Not Enough (vampires); A Whisper of Blood (vampires); Twists of the Tale (cat horror); Alien Sex (what it says); and Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex (more). All of these anthologies have been extremely popular, and her readers hope they will continue to appear. Bruce Pelz, bruce.pelz@99.nasfic.org Fan Guests of Honor: Richard and Nicki Lynch * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Active in fandom since the mid-1970's, the Lynches have been -- and are -- club fans (Tennessee early on, Balti-Wash now), and convention fans (from Attendee level through Department Head, to Co-Chair). But mostly they are known as fanzine fans, through their four-time Hugo-winning Mimosa. They often combine their interests -- they produced Nebula, the convention newsletter for Louisville's 1979 Northamericon NASFiC. Among other interests, Richard is a Fanhistorian -- he edited Harry Warner's Hugo-winning A Wealth of Fable, and has been working for the past several years on the history of fandom in the 1960's. Nicki is an enthusiastic quilter. Membership List * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We have a membership list on the web site, current as of 13-Jun-1998. As the convention approaches, we'll update the on-line list more often. The list is searchable. You can, for example, search for every member in California whose last name begins with "B" and whose first name starts with "C". (I believe you'll find that there are two of us.) Geographic Breakdown * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONUCOPIA MEMBERS as of 13 Jun 1998 Total members: 607 Breakdown by country Australia 1 Canada 9 Oman 1 U.K. 3 USA 593 Top states/provinces USA, CA 209 USA, TX 45 USA, AZ 37 USA, IL 32 USA, NY 31 Breakdown by state/province Canada, Alberta 1 Canada, Manitoba 3 Canada, Ontario 5 USA, AL 2 USA, AZ 37 USA, CA 209 USA, CO 10 USA, CT 3 USA, DC 3 USA, FL 12 USA, GA 7 USA, ID 1 USA, IL 32 USA, IN 5 USA, KS 5 USA, KY 5 USA, LA 7 USA, MA 25 USA, MD 14 USA, MI 9 USA, MN 6 USA, MO 5 USA, MS 3 USA, NC 3 USA, NE 3 USA, NH 3 USA, NJ 12 USA, NM 2 USA, NV 2 USA, NY 31 USA, OH 13 USA, OK 3 USA, OR 7 USA, PA 10 USA, RI 1 USA, SC 1 USA, SD 1 USA, TN 9 USA, TX 45 USA, UT 4 USA, VA 16 USA, WA 18 USA, WI 4 USA, unknown 5 Registration Form * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Conucopia: Registration Form 19980222 CONUCOPIA August 26-29, 1999 Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim California Name ______________________________________ Badge Name _______________________ Address ______________________________________________________________________ Zip/Post City ________________________________ State/Prov__________ Code _____________ Country______________________________ E-mail _________________________________ __ Attending Membership (No Vote, no Patronage or support) $70 __ Supporting Membership (No Vote, no Patronage or support) $20 __ Conversion Type 1-Patron who did not vote ............... $45 __ Conversion Type 2-Pre Supporter who Voted ............... $40 __ Conversion Type 3-Pre Opposer who Voted ................. $40 __ Conversion Type 4-Pre Support, No Vote .................. $60 __ Conversion Type 5-Pre Opposer, No Vote .................. $60 __ Conversion Type 6-Voted only ............................ $50 Attention! As of 06-Jul-1998, the full attending rate for Conucopia goes up to $85. This entire field goes up accordingly, so become a member early. Nobody wants to pay any more than absolutely necessary. Conucopia NASFIC '99 c/o S.C.I.F.I. Inc. PO Box 8442 Van Nuys CA 91409 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dealers Room * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Conucopia Dealers Room will be in the main area of the Convention. Details are still being finalized with the hotel, but it is believed that all tables/spaces will be 8' in width. The cost per table is $125.00, and at this time there will be a maximum of 2 tables per dealer. Please enclose payment with your request. All dealers must have a CA Resale License, which can be obtained at no cost. We can confirm table reservations subject to providing the License No. prior to the Convention. Please note that all workers attending the convention must have a membership, which is NOT included in the table fee. We will limit the Dealers Room to no more than 100 tables in order to provide a reasonable anticipated dealer-to-attendee ratio. All requests will be processed on a first come/first served basis. There will be a wait list for additional table requests and dealers who submit requests after the Dealers Room is sold out, but we do not anticipate any additional openings to be available. All correspondence should be sent to CONUCOPIA, P.O. Box No. 8442, Van Nuys CA 91409. The Dealers Room Registration Form is now available on the website. Tables are available as of 16-Jun-1998. We'll post a notice when the dealers room fills up. Sandy Cohen, Dealers Room Coordinator Other Web Site Features * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It may seem like I packed the entire web site into one e-mail message, but I haven't. You'll need to go visit the web site at http://www.99.nasfic.org/ for any of the following items. (But at least now you know where to find them.) Lists of... E-mail Directory Addresses Staff and Committee Roster Links to related sites Members Home Pages Want Ads Deadlines Membership and Conversion Rates Dealers Room Registration Form (Plain text and PDF versions) "The convention doesn't end at six o'clock." Progress Reports Design of this Web Site Site credits Keyword Search "Help!" Service Mark Notice * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Service Mark Notice: "World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. 19980618.txt sent to 119 subscribers of NASFIC99-NEWS.