Norwescon 28 Post-Con Report

The after convention wrapup for Norwescon 28

October 2005

Norwescon 28 Post-Con Report

October 2005

Exploring the Language of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Norwescon Twenty-Eight

An Annual Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

Chairman Shawn Marier
Vice Chairman Tracy Knoedler

Publications Director Patricia Booze

Editing Team Betty Claar
Katrina Marire
Cathy Sullivan

Layout Designer Gayle MacArthur

Contributing Writers Patricia Booze, Jeffrey Cornish, Tracy Knoedler, Elizabeth Fellows, Cheryl Ferguson, Jeromie Foulger, Jerry Gieseke, Ali Grieve, Shawn Marier, Jamie “Sunny Jim” Morgan, William Sadorus, Anita Taylor, Eric Weber, Sally Woehrle

Photo Department Angela Suryan, Eric Weiland and special thanks to Tom Walls

The First Page

Welcome to the Postcon report, I’ll make my part short, well short as I can!

Here you will find the final thoughts and thanks of the staff of Norwescon 28, a few announcements and hopefully some other useful information for planning out the life of a Science Fiction Fan, check out the fall event schedule for the SFM.

I’d personally like to thank my Publication team for all their hard work and dedication to our first year together, Felice Nightengale, Katrina Marier, Betty Claar, Cathy Sullivan, Peggy Stewart, R’ykandar Korra’ti, Judy Suryan, Gayle MacArthur, Don Glover, Angela Suryan and Erica Weiland.

To Shawn and Tracy for believing I could step into some mighty big shoes and to those members of the executive team and concom who helped my team get there.

I’d also like to extend a very special thank you to Stephen Hickman and Michael Whelan for their beautiful art work, and their amazing generosity in its use. To all that wrote the words, they were all great words. And every word of every publication will always be for you Michael J. Brocha.

We’ve made some mistakes but learned a whole lot from them, and thought we may make a few more along the way, hopefully never the same ones!

Best Convention,
Pat

Patricia Booze
Publications Director

Thoughts from the Chairman Shawn Marier

It is hard to believe that Norwescon 28 has come and gone. For it was just a few months ago when the convention committee started planning, but in reality it was over a year ago. Currently we are closing the books on Norwescon 28 and beginning planning for next year.

This last year has been an interesting year for me, besides chairing my second Norwescon, I also became a father. Having a two-month old at the convention meant I got even less sleep at the con than normal. This has caused a lot of my convention memories to be a blur, a good blur, but still a blur.

I have so many people I need to thank for making this year’s convention so great.

As you know Norwescon takes a lot of hard work by many volunteers. These volunteers range from those that just do a couple of hours at the convention to the concom who work year round to put on Norwescon. So to all of our volunteers I wish to say thank you, as without all of you wonderful volunteers we could not put on Norwescon.

Next, I need to thank our Guests of Honor as they are the reason we put on this convention year after year. Norwescon takes great pride in honoring our Guests for all the hard work they have put into the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Science genres. Without all of them, our world would be a much duller place.

I also need to thank all of our Pros and Panelists. Norwescon put on over 600 hours worth of paneling each year, and we could not do this without the time and effort that they put in.

Next, I need to thank my convention committee; these dedicated volunteers work year round, attending meetings and work parties to prepare for our convention. Then once the convention actually happens they spend most of their weekend making sure that our membership has a great time.

Finally, I need to thank my Executive team; being on the Exec team is almost like having a second full time job, except you don’t get paid. The Execs are the high- level managers of all the different departments which are needed to put on Norwescon. These people are the ones that keep me from going (or is that cause me to go) insane from all the different things that need to be done each year. So a huge thanks goes to our Business Manager Jayson Claar, Treasurer Mike Orosz, Member Services Director Eric Weber, Publications Director Pat Booze, Convention Services Director Cheryl Ferguson, Programming Director Ali Grieve, Personnel Director Sally Woehrle and Secretary Keith Johnson.

Another person I need to thank is my Vice Chair Tracy Knoedler, she did a wonderful job of supporting me and working with all the Execs to make sure this year went off as smooth as possible.

Lastly I need to thank my wife Katrina for all the love and morale support all year long.

A Few Words for the Vice Chairman

I would like to thank everyone attending Norwescon this year, as this was my first year as Vice Chair. We had our challenges but overall everything went well.

I would especially like to thank Cheryl Ferguson for letting me follow her around all weekend and for taking the time to teach me several different things. I know that next year I will be a better Vice Chair with all that I have learned.

Tracy Knoedler
Norwescon Vice Chair

Business Report for Norwescon 28

	Budgeted	Actual
Chairman	5,320.00	3,561.92
Vice Chairman	18,636.00	19,018.96
Business	13,068.00	9,127.19
Convention Services	19,132.00	19,540.52
Member Services	9,530.00	11,109.95
Personnel	2,845.00	2,416.94
Programming	13,900.00	13,718.34
Publications	30,110.00	36,729.09
Subtotal	112,541.00	115,222.91
Capital Expense	2,206.00	2,522.78
Total	114,747.00	117,745.69
Total Income		115,798.44

Herding Cats at Norwescon 28

By Cheryl Ferguson Convention Services

Running a convention is a just like herding cats. You get people headed in the right direction, then follow along making encouraging noises. My folks in Convention Services have learned this lesson well. In fact, I think they are using this technique on me. Hmmmm...

Convention Services consists of the Convention Office, Security, Communications, Tech, Stage Management, Video, Transportation and Information Technology.

The lovely Betty Claar, our Office Queen, is writing up the office, antics; bless her; so I’ll concentrate on the rest of the departments.

Security and Communications shared one room and that improved coverage and cooperation between teams. As benefits a SF Convention, they showed their love of Star Wars early in the Con. Reports of a disturbance in the Force came when the Communications Head and the Security Director were seen on the roof of Wing 7 having a light saber duel. They told me they were installing a radio antenna. Brad, Josh - I have spies everywhere. Come back from the Dark Side, guys.

This year saw the rebirth of an old Convention Services tradition. We reintroduced Teen Runners as a position for the 13 to 17 year-old Fen. Catch them young, train them right. Yes! Jeromie and Catrina Foulger ably ran this group. Jeromie has written more information to share separately. Look for this department again next year.

The Tech and Stage Management departments showed their usual excellent versatility. A video projector here, a flip chart there, oh you really wanted a DVD player and screen, not a TV and VCR? No problem for the Techies. Along with Stage Management, they managed to keep all the equipment straight and panels running. Jordan and his crack team selected an unsung member of the team as the recipient of this year’s coveted Fickle Techie award: Hidako Thomas, AKA Mom. She’s the 3rd generation and the 5th member of the Thomas and Rudolf-Thomas clan that we have lured into our clutches. Parent, kids, brother/uncle, Grandmother, we take them all. (Insert evil cackle here.)

Transportation was ably run again by the “3 P Schlepping and Storage Company”. You probably know them by their mundane identities: Eric, Yvonne and Daniel Pawtowski. They organized and moved the Norwescon junk, I mean equipment, again this year and I’m never letting them quit, never. They were assisted by many of you on move in – thank you. Move out on Monday could not have been accomplished without the extra help from Bill Boyde, Jayson Claar, Jeff and Jeri Lynn Cornish. Extra thanks to you folks.

We attracted many new helpers in our Information Technology group and have the nucleus for a great team next year. The setup and tear down of our Registration computers was accomplished in a quick and efficient manner. Registration had new credit card software that was implemented seamlessly. I look forward to more improvements from the IT Team next year.

Things I learned this Year at Norwescon: A Teen Runners Post Con Report

Amidst all the blank stare’s and the quiet mumbles of “What do we do now?” from everyone in the Security office, the Teen Runner Program started off well, and kept a pretty good pace throughout the convention.

I quickly learned that being in charge of the Runner’s Department meant that there was no need to set the alarm clock for the wee morning hours, as each day there was a call from Dispatch, waking me up and telling me that there were anxious teens in the office waiting to be signed in. Hopefully that pre-coffee appearance that I showed up with did not scare them off for next year.

We worked through the communication issues rather rapidly with the help of the Dispatch office, Cheryl, and the radio company that was generous in their charges for a few extra radios for the weekend. Improvised on the paperwork, and made it look like we knew what we were doing in that area.

Although the turnout was a little light this year, the success of the program was evident in many ways. From the enthusiasm of the teens that volunteered, to the many comments that were overheard in the halls and the elevators, the Teen Runner program was a very welcome addition to this year’s convention. One comment that did, and still does stick out in my mind, was a conversation that I overheard on one of the many elevator trips made that weekend, in which two of the Pro’s that were at the convention were discussing the Teen Runner Program. The gentleman talking, was explaining the teen program to someone else, and commenting on how he was planning to bring his son to the convention on Saturday to participate. As I remember, his son was quite helpful, making himself available for a great portion of the day on Saturday.

A special thanks to the guys in the Communications Department, for making at least one of the Teen Runners very happy, and the whole experience one that she will never forget. It was apparent that even the smallest things do make a big impact. In addition, thanks to Kyle Hall, for all his work in the paperwork, badges and tracking tasks, and to all the Security and Dispatch personnel that were always there to offer a little advice and guidance to the teens that participated and volunteered.

Finally, but certainly not least, thanks to Cheryl for suggesting and implementing the Teen Runner program, for entrusting Catrina and I with the duties of supervising it, and for keeping the suggestions, comments, ideas, rewards and trinkets flowing throughout the weekend, and for all the help that she offered.

With any luck, we will be back, bigger and better than ever (or at least last year) for Norwescon 29. The think tank is already filling quite rapidly with ideas, suggestions, improvements, and grand ideas.

Your Teen Runner Lackey
Jeromie Foulger

Programming Department

By Ali Grieve

Reflecting on the achievements, excitement, and charm of this past convention, the only way to describe Norwescon 28 is: the best ever. From the beginning to the conclusion of our Science Fiction and Fantasy weekend, the wondrous magic and high energy level was felt by one and all. So many people left Norwescon 28 with fond memories that they will have for a lifetime. It would not be surprising if future fen assess the success of a Norwescon by comparing that con to Norwescon 28. Every SF/F convention is like a giant jigsaw puzzle in which the planners hope that, in the end, a lot of the pieces will fall into place, in spite of some rocky bumps along the way. To make a landmark convention, such as Norwescon 28, most of the pieces fit smoothly together and helped make the con a memorable for everyone.

Guests of Honor:

Norwescon 28 was honored to have some of the most talented and gifted Guests of Honor in the science fiction field.

Michael Bishop, our Writer GoH, was busy from the moment he arrived in Seattle. He shared stories of the past as well as the present. He made himself available to the members and displayed the graciousness of the south. He was a delight to be around and could often be found chatting with a group of his fans. It is GoHs like Mike that make one wish that the con could last just a few more days.

Dr. Suzette Haden Elgin favored us with her knowledge and insight about languages and their creation. This amazing woman entertained the members of Norwescon with her knowledge, humility and grace. Her workshops were a tremendous success. She was so quick witted she even gave Richard Stephens a run for his money. This articulate woman also had her artwork on display in the art show!

Our Artist Guest of Honor, Stephen Hickman, shared his remarkable talents with us by displaying his incredible works in the art show, giving us a glimpse of the world of art on several panels, and presenting a slide show of his paintings for all to view. Late at night, some of us were fortunate to be serenaded by Stephen strumming on his guitar. He is truly a man of many talents.

When meeting Alan Dean Foster (our Special Guest of Honor) for the first time, I was amazed to find him so easy to talk to and so full of such interesting tales from around the world. Alan was busy on panels and meeting with members all weekend long. Even with that full schedule of panels, interviews, readings, and autographing, Alan always seemed to have the time to meet with the fans.

Our Spotlighted Publisher was Tom Doherty and Tor Books. Tom is the person responsible for creating Tor Books as well as donating the thousands of books for convention members to read and enjoy! As a native of New York, I was able to share New York tales with him. A big Norwescon “Thank You!” goes to Tom, and everyone at Tor Books, for that generous literary contribution. I’ll look forward to visiting him and all the Tor folks in New York this summer.

Track Programming:

Norwescon 28 was so much more than just the Guests of Honor. Norwescon prides itself as being a literary convention and the program shows how serious we are in that endeavor. The largest selection of panel choices for the convention weekend were about writing, reading, and discussing the language of fantasy and science fiction. Entire tracks were devoted to horror, poetry, fantasy, science fiction, publishing/editing, and general literary discussions. This was in addition to a full track of panels, workshops, and demonstrations on how to write fiction. On top of all that there was a World Building Workshop series, our annual Writers Workshop, and over 50 readings by the authors themselves.

Norwescon is a convention that has a little bit of something for everyone. This year was no exception with programming from such tracks as art, computers, filking, costuming, gaming, fandom, linguistics, medieval, SF/F media, and alternative lifestyles. The Programming team worked hard to provide a variety of panels and workshops that enabled every fan to find something of interest to them. From the author readings to the dances to the masquerade to Norwescon Honors, which is a wonderful program that showcases our GoHs, to art demos and our popular Clay-o-Rama, we offered fen many diverse panels and events to keep them busy the entire four days.

Other Events:

Norwescon again utilized our MC, Richard Stephens, for Opening and Closing ceremonies. He has become a mainstay of the convention and we look forward to his colorful costumes!

This was the second year of the Artists Alley. While some things were better, we still have room for improvement. Next year we will endeavor to have more signs posted leading to the area. We also should have more artists involved to help make this event a bigger success for everyone.

The Norwescon 28 Writers Workshop was an overwhelming success. This year we reached a record 43 manuscripts for review! Suffice it to say that this was a crowning jewel on the con’s tiara for this year.

Sunday’s SCA Faire was a rousing event as always, and the Laser Tag event on Saturday night was busier than ever. There were packed audiences for the Foglio’s Transylvania Polygnostic University (TPU) Student Orientation and Talebones: Live! Even the early morning Writers Koffee Klatch attracted quite a crowd.

All in all, there were quite a number of events, panels, and workshops that made this convention a very special one indeed.

Norwescon 28 Masquerade Awards

For Presentation

Best Novice
Tinky Winky of Borg by Christie VanWinkle

Best Journeyman
Princess Fiona by Willow Clark

Best Master
Femme Animale by Julia Clayton

Judges Choice
Paul Atreides by Erik Prill

Judges Choice
Wizard of Oz Unfaithful by Julie Hoverson

Best in Show
Life Is War by Lance Ikegawa

For Workmanship

Best Novice
All That Glitters by Kelly Nary

Best Journeyman
The One That Got Away by Lisa Satterlund, Greg Sardo, Lynn Kingsley

Best Master
Femme Animale by Julia Clayton

Best in Show
Life Is War by Lance Ikegawa

Thanks to all who competed in and worked so hard to organize and present the Masquerade, the judges, the wonderful tech crew, Tsunami Taiko who performed that fantastic half-time entertainment, and especially to Masquerade Director Audrey Schmidt.

Editors note to readers: Check out the pictures of the Masquerade winners on our website Galley, “About Norwescon”.

Single Pattern Contest Awards

Judges Choice in the Novice / Intermediate Division
Dragon Pirate by Liane Sperlich

Judges Choice in the Master Division
Victorian Riding Jacket by Julia Clayton

Best Workmanship in the Novice / Intermediate Division
A Wizard’s Flying Robe by Janet Borkowski

Best Workmanship in the Master Division
Reversible Woman’s Coat by Teresa Miller

Best in Show
No. 42 in the Muchausen Collection by Katrina Marier

Many thanks to all who entered their beautiful wearable art in this contest, to Laura Reilly and the Art Show staff for our wonderful display space, and to the judges Julie Zetterberg and Melissa Quinn.

Anita Taylor
Special Events

Laser Tag The Team of Perrin and Fellows

Laser Tag went well. We played until closing and people were asking to play longer. If people want to play longer, they should send their comments to the convention committee.

Membership Services

By Eric Weber

My first year as member services director was both fun and scary. Fun because I was involved in a much broader cross section of the convention operations, and scary for the same reasons.

Overall most things in my department went smoothly, and I hope that most members were satisfied with their experience. However, there is also clearly room for improvement in some areas, such as registration and the art show, and I will be working with next year’s department heads to make improvements.

I’d like to thank all of my staff for their hard work in putting on a great convention. I don’t have room to list them all here, but I’d especially like to thank Sunny Jim for her three years of hard work in hospitality, Laura Reilly for her persistent efforts to put on a great art show despite technical problems, and Charlie Knoedler for running the dealers room so smoothly I didn’t have to worry about it.

Even though the IT department does not report to me, Rory Clark and Ben Schreiber also deserve my special thanks for putting up with all the demands from me for new software features, and Scott Serber for recovering the registration database when we thought it was lost.

Norwescon 28 Hospitality Post-Convention Report

Jamie “Sunny Jim” Morgan

Well folks, it’s been swell, but the swelling’s gone down. This was my third and last year as your Hospitality hostess, and I hope you’ve had as good a time as I have. I know that, even when I’m not running the show there anymore, I’ll still stop in and volunteer a couple of hours here and there.... and so should you!

Having an actual crew of people in charge made all the difference this year. If you liked Hospitality, you really should thank Kevin, Bea and Shannon for keeping it running. I did the easy part - shopping! For the most part, however, we all saw people having a good time, and that’s the best thing about working in Hospitality. So, to wrap up my three years, here’s a few tidbits from the kitchen:

You’re still a hungry bunch. This year’s shopping list started with 200 pounds of meat, 100 pounds of cheese, 125 pounds of vegetables, 2 gallons of ranch dressing, 18 Costco-sized boxes of crackers, 15 Costco-sized boxes of cookies, 800 hotdogs (and buns), bags and bags of chips, mountains of fruit, 18 bags of mini-bagels, and four cart loads of frozen meatballs, egg rolls, taquitos and other snacks. We started the weekend with 105 cases of soda, and had to go buy more every day.

Unfortunately, we just don’t have enough staff to stay open and keep the food flowing 24 hours a day. However, we did keep Cascade 11 open long into the night, with some snacks and coffee available for folks who just didn’t want to go to bed. You also seemed to like the trays of sandwiches we provided during the two hours we’re closed each afternoon to clean and get ready for the 6 pm rush. Sometimes it’s the little things, and a little egg salad, tuna fish, and PB&J in Cascade 11 meant that re-opening at 6 looked more like Hospitality, and less like a scene from a bad zombie movie.

Over the last three years, I’ve tried to steer us toward more healthy choices, and that includes more breakfast foods! Daniel’s Bakery has provided us with really great muffins in reasonable sizes, and with quiche for brunch on Sunday. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed our morning fruit salads and juice, and not missed the large bowls of candy.

The decoration on the bar this year had food sayings in some of the invented alphabets from fantasy and science fiction books, movies and TV shows. Represented were Tenctonese (Alien Nation), Tengwar (Lord of the Rings), Atlantean (Disney’s Atlantis), Aurek-Besh (Star Wars), Klingon (Star Trek), and the alphabet created for the Futurama TV show. The big one across the top read, “You are what you eat”.

List of Lobby Tables at the Convention

By Table Master Jerry Gieseke

4 Corporate Tables: NSS/Mars Society, SFM-HOF, Global Resources, Seattle Museum of the Mysteries

9 Reoccurring or Seated Conventions: Gen Con, Anglicon, Rustycon, Orycon, Cascadia Con, Due North, Foolscap, Dream Con, Bay Con

4 Convention Bids: Westercon 60 Bay Area, Worldcon 2008 Chicago, Worldcon 2008 Columbus, Worldcon 2009 Montreal

18 Clubs Larps, Misc, and Etc: Beyond Reality Costumers Guild, NWSFS, The Whitching Hour, The Vicarious Theatre Company, ISS, New Dimension Games, IKV Deathgrip, Klingon Gray Council, SOTA, Geeks Without Borders, Puget Sound Scapers, Cult of Scott Bacula, Alpha Base (Red Legion), Blue Squadron, Legacies Live Action Role Playing, Unification LARP, CBR, Science Fiction Museum

Report from Registration

Registration at Norwescon is fun, and being in charge of registration is a bit like running a three ring three- ring circus.

Before we get to the numbers, I’d like to thank my wife, Jeri Lynn Cornish, for the hours she put in acting as my secretary. She also put in many many hours at registration during the convention, and many hours before the con making sure that all the badge labels printed out, babysitting a somewhat cranky printer for a few days.

I also want to thank my second, Jwyldragon, and my other assistant Dragonmom. Jwyl provided invaluable ideas for speeding up the check in for pro guests, getting supplies, putting in the typical insane number of hours, and just being a wonderful person. Dragonmom, a veteran at reg, also put in many hours and was also invaluable.

Also, Norwescon I.T. did an incredible job of keeping us up and running. Our reg system gets better every year it seems.

So, we had 1817 persons register for the full weekend before and at the con. 349 persons registered for a single day. We had 163 children registered at no cost. We also had 437 Pro memberships, but this also includes press passes and the single day memberships for the SCA event on Sunday.

Our highest badge number was 2898.

So far, we have 316 pre-registrations for Norwescon 29.

Finally, Registration has an award to recognize a volunteer who went above and beyond in giving their time and effort. This year was hard because we had so many good people. In the end, we awarded the ‘Touched Typist’ to Rachel Joyce (aka ‘Black Kat’). Thank you Rachel!

Jeffrey Cornish
NWC 28 Registrar

Art Show Awards

Award	Artist	Title
Best in Show	Stephen Hickman	Spirits White As Lightning
1st Place	Michael Whelan	Illusion
2nd Place	Heather Hudson	Remembering Spring
3rd Place	Stephen Hickman	Man-Kzin Wars 10
Best Black and White	Todd Lockwood	Kali
Best Mixed Media	Theresa Mathers	A Gift of Amber
Best Color	Raven Mimura	Hangin’ Judge
Best Jewelry	Sheroyn “Sherri” Ballum	Scarab and Amber Crown
Best Textile	Cymbric Earlysmyth	Velvet Enchantment
Best 3D	Rebecca Schumacher	Noni Wood Elf
Guest of Honor Pick	Lauryn MacGregor	Ice Queen
Attendee Pick: Best of Show	Tracy Moore	Ledger of Dreams
Attendee Pick: Best Horror	Eden Celeste	Mira
Attendee Pick: Best Fantasy	Lauryn MacGregor	Ice Queen
Attendee Pick: Best Humor	Jeff Spackman	Gargoyle
Attendee Pick: Best Sci-Fi	Michael Whelan	The Wilding
Staff Honorable Mention	Lori Burtis	Unicorns Garden
Staff Honorable Mention	Elizabeth Fellows	Gold Fire Lizard
Staff Honorable Mention	Phillip Brugalette	The Lost World
Staff Honorable Mention	Monika Livingstone	Lighting the Way
Staff Honorable Mention	Todd Lockwood	Tangled Webs

Personnel Department

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers that worked so hard to make this year’s Norwescon so successful.

We had 133 people volunteer, working a total of 1960 man hours from the start of move-in Wednesday through the beginning of move-out Sunday evening. There were about another 400-500 volunteer hours worked in Security and Dispatch.

The top areas for using volunteers were Registration, Art Show, Hospitality, Stage Management, and Tech. Our top volunteer for the second year in a row is Jeri Lynn Cornish who logged in 78 hours in a least 3 different areas, the most being in Registration.

The Staff Support people kept the volunteers, staff, and back stage people for the masquerade and dances well fed and watered during the convention.

I want to invite all of the Norwescon staff and volunteers to the Volunteer appreciation picnic on Saturday, August 13 at Steel Lake Park in Federal Way. The picnic starts at 11 am for set up and goes until whenever. It is at picnic site #2, which is an uncovered site without electricity and with water nearby. It does have grills, so we will be having the usual hot dogs and burgers. Norwescon will furnish the beverages, hot dogs, burgers, vegi burgers and all the fixings. Salads, deserts, etc are on a potluck basis.

The famous “lost & found” auction will be held at the picnic as usual. Autographed Norwescon 28 program book covers will also be available.

See you there!

Sally Woehrle
Personnel

The Philip K. Dick Memorial Award Ceremony 2005

By William Sadorus

The setting was Grand Ballroom 2 on a Good Friday evening, March 24th, 7:00 p.m. The room doors were thrown open to the eagerly awaiting attendees as the smell of delicious desserts wafted through the air. A cello and violin played lively tangos as background to the murmuring of voices, the scrapping of chairs being moved, and the sound of flatware against plates. Extra chairs had to be brought in for the overflow crowd of 200+. Several individuals in the crowd nervously sipped a beverage, unable to bring themselves to eat anything; some just chatted quietly with their friends.

Those without appetites probably had good reason. They were the nominees for this year’s Philip K. Dick Award.

Three of the seven PKD nominees weren’t in the audience. They had reasonable alibis... Gwyneth Jones (Life) was in the Lake Country, North England on a family holiday and Geoff Ryman (Air) & Liz Williams (Banner of Souls) were at Eastercon. The remaining four were waiting with hopeful looks and practiced smiles; Minister Faust (The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad), Eileen Gunn (Stable Strategies and Others), Lyda Morehouse (Apocalypse Array), and Karen Traviss (City of Pearl). Professional Administrator Gordon Van Gelder and Ceremony Coordinator William Sadorus took turns introducing the nominees. The crowd was treated to a reading of an excerpt from each of the books up for the Award. Whether read by nominated author or designated reader, the readings were well received and applause resounded through the ballroom. The final excerpt had been completed.

The suspense built; a hush had fallen on the crowd. The time had finally come for the winner to be revealed. The PKD Award for Best U.S. Published Original Paperback Book was given to Gwyneth Jones for Life and a Special Citation of Excellence was given to Lyda Morehouse for Apocalypse Array. Photos were taken and the crowd disassembled.

The following individuals are guilty of aiding and abetting the production of this year’s Ceremony: Adrienne ‘Handcuffed’ Loska (Stage Manager), George ‘I-Didn’t-Do-It’ Nyhen (Award Program Book), Beth ‘Bawdy’ Beeman (Usher), Aviva ‘Chainsaw’ Leonard & Sarah ‘Slippery’ Stone (Strings), Judy ‘Light-Finger’ Suryan (Book Cover Posters), and Lisa ‘Hatchet’ Van Every & David ‘Snake-eyes’ Bigelow (Contingent Readers).

As always, it is important to remember that the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the ceremony is presented at Norwescon with the auspices of the Northwest Science Fiction Society. The professional administrators of the PKD Award are David G. Hartwell and Gordon Van Gelder. Science Fiction is written for you. It’s a crime not to read. Thank you for your time.

NORWESCON 29 GUESTS OF HONOR

Writer: Lois McMaster Bujold
Artist: Donato Giancola
Toastmaster: Robert J. Sawyer

Spotlighted Publisher: DAW
Represented by
Betsy Wollheim & Sheila Gilbert

Theme: Journeys, Adventures, and Quests of Fantastic Fiction

Whether it is simply a journey within the mind, an adventure through the far reaches of space, or a quest to save mankind from some nefarious evil, science fiction and fantasy literature abound with the escapades of the protagonist. Norwescon 29 will examine why these tales of exploration and escapades fascinate us as much as they do. What are the components? Are they an integral part of the genre? How do you recognize them and what can they be about?

Come and join us for a literary weekend as we explore Journeys, Adventures, and Quests of Fantastic Fiction.

SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME FALL EVENTS

SPACE EXPLORATION: ENVISIONING THE FUTURE OCTOBER 13TH AT 7:00 PM JBL THEATRE, NEXT DOOR TO SFM IN EMP 325 5TH AVE. N. SEATTLE, WA 98109 FREE

This panel of award-winning SF writers and scientists will discuss current thinking about space travel and inspire us with their visions of the future. Our panel features the following special guest speakers and others: Vernor Vinge, professor, mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author well-known for his 1993 essay The Technological Singularity. He is also the author of a number of science-fiction stories, including True Names, Marooned in Realtime, A Fire Upon the Deep, and A Deepness in the Sky. The last two items each won the Hugo Award for best science-fiction novel of the year. Since then, he has won best-novella Hugos for Fast Times at Fairmont High and The Cookie Monster. His near- future novel Rainbows End is scheduled for May 2006 publication by Tor Books. Vinge holds a PhD (Math) from the University of California, San Diego. From 1972 to 2000 he taught in the Department of Math and Computer Sciences at San Diego State University. He has now retired from SDSU to write science-fiction full time.

Geoffrey A. Landis, a scientist and a science-fiction writer who has won two Hugos and a Nebula for his short fiction and a Locus Award for his novel Mars Crossing. Landis is a scientist with the NASA John Glenn Research Center, worked as a member of the Sojourner Rover team on the Mars Pathfinder Mission and is currently a member of the science team on the Mars Exploration Rovers Mission, making spectacular discoveries while driving the rovers Spirit and Opportunity around on the surface of Mars. He is also the Ronald E. McNair-NASA Visiting Professor of Astronautics at M.I.T.

Jordin Kare is an astrophysicist who has recently won a NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 1 award for work on laser launch technology. He was a member of the Special Projects Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and currently operates an independent consulting service, Kare Technical Consulting, providing technical support to large and small aerospace companies interested in applying new technology to space missions. He continues to work on laser propulsion systems

SFM Classic Science Fiction Film Series Explores Alien Encounters

Hosted by Top Seattle Film Critics and Special Guest Douglas Trumbull

Each of the films in the Critic’s Choice fall film series, titled Alien Encounters, is hosted by one of Seattle’s top film critics. A special Halloween Chiller Theatre screening of It Came From Outer Space in 3-D (3-D glasses provided) will be hosted by critics Robert Horton and Mark Rahner with special appearances by “The Host” and “Dr. Z.,” and live music provided by the Withholders.

October 16: Solaris hosted by Sean Axmaker
October 28: Halloween Chiller Theater In 3-D – It Came From Outer Space hosted by Robert Horton and Mark Rahner with special appearances by “The Host” and “Dr. Z”, live music by The Withholders
November 13: Silent Running hosted by film Director Douglas Trumbull
November 27: Dark Star hosted by Andrew Wright
December 04: Alien hosted by Kathleen Murphy
December 11: Star Trek “The Wrath of Khan” hosted by Tom Keogh

FEATURED EVENT

November 13: Silent Running
Hosted by film Director Douglas Trumbull

The featured event of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fames fall film series is the November 13th appearance of Academy Award® winning* Director and Visual Effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull at the screening of his science fiction film classic “Silent Running.” Trumbull will speak about the making of the film; take questions from the audience, and talk about his current work with film and virtual reality. SFM offers a public science fiction film series every quarter to promote and encourage awareness, appreciation and understanding of the art of science fiction cinema.

Where: JBL Theater
When: 4:00 PM Matinee
Tickets: $6 General Public, $5 SFM and SIFF Members
Series Tickets: $16 General Public; $12 SFM and SIFF Members

*1992, Scientific and Technical Achievement

About the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM) is the world’s first science fiction museum, presenting visitors with thought-provoking, entertaining experiences that promote awareness and appreciation of science fiction while paying homage to notable SF creators and their creations.

NORWESCON 29

The Annual Northwest Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

APRIL 13-16, 2006

featuring:
Philip K. Dick Memorial Award

Multi-track Programming and Events on:
Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, Art, Science Workshops, Dealers, Art Show, Art Auction, Author Signings & Readings, Masquerade, Costuming, KidKon, Gaming, Dances, Media

This year’s Theme: Journeys, Adventures and Quests of Fantastic Fiction

Please Join us in welcoming:

Writer Guest of Honor: Lois McMaster Bujold
Artist Guest of Honor: Donato Giancola
Science Guest of Honor: TBA
Spotlighted Publisher: DAW Books represented by Betsy Wollheim & Sheila Gilbert
Toastmaster: Robert J. Sawyer

Membership Information:
Norwescon
206-270-7850
www.norwescon.org

DoubleTree Hotel Seattle Airport 1-800-222-TREE

flyer art “Otherness” c 2005 for Donato Giancola

More Choices to Register for Norwescon 29! Pay-Pal Now Available!

You can now Register through our website and use pay-pal or if you prefer just download the registration form from the site and mail it in with your payment!

But HURRY the rates go up on Jan 1.

Picture Pictures Picture

If you’d like to check out pictures from Norwescon 28 go to “More about Norwescon: Gallery”

Norwescon 29 Looking for a Few Good Fans!

The Norwescon 29 organizing committee has started the planning for next years convention and we have lots of positions open. Check out our website for meeting dates-times and locations and drop by and check out what you could do to help. And watch our website for more volunteer announcements.