OryCon offers programming, workshops, small group discussions, an art show, a dealers' room, filking, dances, gaming, masquerade, the Susan Petrey Scholarship auction, an Internet cafe, and much more!
Writer Guest - Melanie Rawn
Editor Guest - Laura Ann Gilman
Artist Guest - Real Musgrave
Gaming Guest - Mike Stackpole
Friends of Filk Guest - Steve McDonald
One more thing before I go: this con runs on Blood, Sweat, and Volunteers. I invite you to join us in making OryCon 23 your convention. See you in November!
She lives in Arizona, where the saguaros are tall and the air conditioners are rumored to outnumber the coyotes.
Clearly, Steve will fit right in around here....
Hello from Cereal & Toons!
I’m Monica Olsen and I’ll be doing Cereal & Toons again this year. If you have any requests for what Toons you would like to see or Cereal you would like, please E-mail me at <demonica@clueserver.org>.
I am new to convention planning, but not new to children or childcare. I have contacted people who’ve handled childcare at previous OryCons, and will have a lot more information for you soon.
We will be using a bonded & licensed professional nanny service to provide care, probably the same one we’ve had at recent conventions. For security purposes, parent and child will have a picture taken together when the child is dropped off, and there will be a sign in (and out) sheet to keep accounting of times and who drops off and picks up the child. We’ll have toys, games, videos, and books. Staff cannot accept more children than they can handle legally and safely.
Please contact me if you have questions and/or suggestions.
There have been an amazing number of responses from dealers from previous OryCons, so much so that the traditional lottery amongst new dealers was limited to one person. All tables and booths are taken, but please feel free to contact me if you’re interested in the waiting list.
Greetings from Gaming! The gaming Guest of Honor this year is Mike Stackpole, author and game designer. His credits include a number of Tunnels and Trolls modules, articles in Grimtooth’s Traps, and a number of T&T novels.
Gaming will also be hosting a number of RPGA Network tables. Genres will include; Living City (Forgotten Realms D&D), Living Greyhawk (also D&D), Living Force (Star Wars), Classic (early D&D; characters provided). Plus, possibly Living Death (1800s horror) and Living Jungle (Pulp adventure a la Tarzan).
Bruce Baugh will be running a session or two of Nobilis. (A daytime LARP, what a concept.) The Camarilla will be present, too. Tim Meyer, once a story design team member for AEG’s Deadlands CCG, will be back with an unofficial storyline tournament of the CCG. (Unfortunately, for fans of the game, AEG has dropped the game.) Prize materials will be provided by Fantasy Flight and others.
John Weiner will be hosting a Magi-Nation Tournament. Better hone those CCG skills, friends. Magi-Nation’s head designer, Dan Tibbles is coming down from Seattle to play! David "Ronin" Mohr will host the Lost Worlds Tournament, once again. Game and prize materials are being provided by Flying Buffalo.
More game material and prizes will be provided by Flying Buffalo. (Thank you, Rick Loomis!) The AoG Field Agents will host sessions of their increasingly popular Babylon 5 Wars and a new Babylon 5 planet-side tie-in called GROPOS. Plus, a possible session or two of the Snarf Quest CCG. David "Mack" MacDonald will be back, with his GURPS/Traveller (characters provided - to save time) and plans to host a board game or two. I will be running a continuation of the MERPS/Fantasy Hero hybrid, set in an alternate medieval England, from Westercon. You need not have been in that game to play in this one.
There still are some openings left. Anyone interested in running an RPG or hosting a card, board game or LARP can contact me at the above e-mail address or phone number.
Oh, my! What are you wearing this November? Something to keep you warm or something to keep others warm? Whatever it is, I and my associates from the Greater Portland Area Costumers’ Guild will be watching for the best costume (wearer/s) to surprise with a Hall Costume Award ribbon.
We hope to be able to take pictures for display somewhere on site during the event and (later) on the guild’s "This Year at OryCon" web page. (If we do take photos, we will have model’s release forms to keep everything legal.)
We also want to give an extra "something" to the best costume(s) worn that weekend. Don’t know what yet. Got any suggestions? Email me.
Oh, and, um ... despite my lead-in sentences .... keep it relatively PG-rated.... :-)
If you haven’t yet made your reservations, now would be a good time -- the hotel is (surprise!) filling up fast. The hotel’s direct number is (503) 283-2111, and the form with all the usual information is available in the back of the PR. Our $92 room rate covers up to four people in a room; each additional person adds $15 for rollaways. If you specifically ask for a river-view room you’ll pay $10 extra.
Parties: The Interstate Wing is designated as a "party wing"—if you plan to hold a party, you need to make sure your room is reserved there. As before, the hotel will charge a $100 deposit against damage/cleaning for open parties (they do this for all groups, not just OryCon). To date, however, all such deposits have been completely refunded and the hotel has been very happy with us. Open parties also need to be registered in the convention office, so that we can coordinate with the hotel and help you get needed trash bags and cleaning supplies from the hotel.
If you have any problems with the hotel I would be more than willing to help in anyway possible.
The I-Cafe will be open from 4PM-9PM Friday, 9AM-9PM Saturday and 9AM - 4PM on Sunday. Extension of those hours would require more volunteers. Eager volunteers who are comfortable with both IE and Netscape are urged to contact the I-Barista, John Bartley, now at john@503bartley.com or 503-BAR-TLEY (503 227 8539). You need not be a technomage (although if you are, your skills will be put to good use)
OryCon will gladly accept castoff computers for Internet Cafe and other use. If your tax situation would benefit from a donation to a (verifiable) 501(c)3 (depends on whether you now itemize deductions on your income tax), please email or call me. I can also arrange for the local pickup of donated equipment.
OSFCI, the sponsoring organization for OryCon, will provide a letter for tax-deduction purposes to the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue. This tax deductibility can also be useful to non-OryCon members. Even the corporation you might work for could benefit from the tax break which OryCon can provide them for the donation of obsolescent hardware and software. If you are asked about what OryCon would do with the equipment, you might note the donated computers help us organize and run use our cons, and the proceeds from cons fund scholarships to writing workshops, support a medical emergency fund for needy Northwest writers and for literacy support programs.
Castoff computers, if received in adequate quantities, will allow us to experiment with 802.11b wirelessness this year, to better serve our surfers.
Greetings from your Masquerade Director! I’m Twilight (aka Sue Mohn in the mundane world) and will be running your Masquerade this year. It’s nice to come home and hang with old friends again (ok, I’ve been gone long enough that only the committee is old enough to really remember me, but allow an old woman her illusions :->). [Editor's note: Old? Who's old? You're just . . . . experienced. --JCB]
So who should be in an Orycon Masquerade? We have lots of classes for lots of people to compete and we’d love to fill them all this year! We have the traditional Novice, Journeyman and Master for presentation, as well as Workmanship and Media Recreation. In addition we have Nova (0-10, "mommy made") and Rising Star (0-14, self-made).
Nova is designed as presentation -- all will receive something. Rising Star bears a little more competition (there will be a Best in Class), but kids always leave my stage with something for having the guts just to get up on it. If you’re older child would like to compete with the adults, that’s perfectly fine, but please be sure he or she is ready to be in a win/loss situation -- we don’t treat kids differently once they leave Rising Star. More info will be available shortly on the Masquerade Web site <http://www.masquerade23.com>.
So -- what’s it looking like this year? We’re in the Riverview Ballroom, which means good sight lines. The stage is 18" high and it’s 24’ by 24’, centered in the alcove. There are stairs off both sides of the stage -- I have to see more of the set up to tell how realistic entry from both sides is for a HUGE costume -- but most folks should be able to enter from both sides. Since the theatre seating only seats 650, the sight lines should hold. The "green room" is created with pipe and drape behind the stage -- I’m working on mirrors, enough chairs, some tables, ice cubes and bendy straws. I’m working on some other things as well, but I don’t want to announce them till I have them. You’ll want to check the Web site to see what additional information we have. We’ll be updating that right till we launch OryCon!
I’m waiting on final word, but I’m hoping the event will begin at 8pm on Saturday, November 10, kids first. Whatever time slot they confirm (and that will be on the Web site as well), we will start promptly -- my background is theatre and late curtains make my teeth itch.
Please remember that if you with to do anything which might be considered "dangerous" or that you mother might yell "you’ll put an eye out", you need to get the official OK of the masque director (or her designated stage manager) before you do it. Forgiveness is not easier than permission; in this case -- it will result in disqualification if you don’t get permission first.
Should you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to register ahead of time (that is allowed :->), please contact me at the above e-mail address.
[begin recorded message]
I’m sorry, Daniel can’t come to the Progress Report right now.
Don’t panic;, however. Daniel has advised your friendly neighborhood editor that he’s hard at work rounding up performers, working out concert schedules, coming up with workshop ideas, and generally making sure that filking and music at OryCon will be the cheerful and enjoyable experience it always is (even when the hotel puts pulsating rock bands in the bar downstairs, which Melanie keeps telling us they’re not going to do this year). If you have ideas, questions, or other thoughts about music programming, don’t hesitate to e-mail Daniel at the above address -- note that it’s new, replacing the one from the last Progress Report. Also feel free to e-mail general missives of encouragement, assuring him that coordinating music is a much easier job than he thinks it is. (Musicians are much easier to herd than cats.)
Please leave your message after the beep. [BEEP!]
[end recorded message]
Greetings from the Publications Group. This year we will be doing something a little different. We will be publishing the programming schedule on the OryCon Web site. Pocket program books will have the panel descriptions in them instead of the Program Book. The Program Book will change in format to be more of a Souvenir Book. The Souvenir Book is finalized, and will go to the printer shortly after 2001-10-10.
For all submissions:
Authors and artists retain all copyrights in their original works; in the case of works selected for publication, OryCon 23 will exercise only the one-time right to publish submissions in the Souvenir Book. Unfortunately, our budget does not permit us to pay for submissions that are published, so please understand this before you submit. We cannot be responsible for lost or misdirected submissions.
In the case of e-mailed submissions, written work should be submitted in plain-text (ASCII) format, either in the body of your message or as an attached file. Art may be submitted as an attached file. Be sure to compress large files using PKZip or a compatible utility, and query before submitting large attached files.
The publication
release, or an accurate copy thereof, must be included with all submissions
whether sent by regular or electronic mail. (Our lawyer recommends that
if you e-mail your submission, you should also send a signed copy of the
release by regular mail.)
That’s especially important this year, because rising costs have finally forced us to modify our rate structure. Current membership cost is $45 (last year’s at-the-door rate). This rate applies until Oct. 31, when we jump to a $50 at the door rate, up $5 from last year. As before, we do not plan to sell one-day memberships. Children 5 and under are admitted at no charge; those ages 6 through 12 are half price. All children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult attending member of the convention.
If you’re already a member, your Progress Report mailing label includes your name, address, badge name (if you asked for one), and membership number. A /T indicates that your membership is attached to a dealers’ table; a /G indicates that you are the guest of another member.
Join with the proud, we few, we band of lunatics, and volunteer - contact
Ralph Strauser, volunteer coordinator at <lsagan1@home.com>, or the
committees directly at http://www.orycon.org/orycon23/committee.html
The deadline for receiving (not postmarking) submissions was Sept. 14, 2001.
Children ages 5 and under are admitted to the convention without charge and will receive a hospital-type ID bracelet. They must be under the supervision of an adult, or in the official child care area, at all times. If a young child is found unattended, he or she will be delivered to the child care area and the responsible adult(s) will be billed.
Children ages 6 through 12 are admitted at half the adult price and may operate independently as long as they cause no problems. Those not capable of operating responsibly on their own must be kept under adult supervision or taken to the official child care area.
All children of ages 12 or under must be under direct adult supervision after 8:00 pm. Children may work as convention volunteers, but those under age 12 may do so for no more than 4 hours per day. Those of ages 12 through 16 may do so for no more than 6 hours per day.
Any weapons purchased in the Dealers’ Room must be securely wrapped.
"Weapons" includes (but is not limited to): guns, blasters, swords, knives, spitwads, flame throwers, nuclear or non-nuclear explosives, squirt guns, whips, slingshots, peashooters, or unpleasant-looking devices. (The committee reserves the right to define what constitutes a weapon.) Keep them in your room. Period..
This content originally created by David D. Levine, dlevine@spiritone.com, and altered for test purposes by John Bartley, john@503bartley.com.
OryCon 23 is a production of Oregon
Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI), a non-profit, tax-exempt
corporation.
copyright (C) 2001 by Oregon
Science Fiction Conventions, Inc.