Cereal & Cartoons
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. Since I don’t have my own
E-mail address, yet, be sure to put "Cereal & Toons" in the
subject line.
Child Care
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.
Dealers' Room
Well, the dust has finally started to settle. 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. I still have a table or two available (no booths
left), so please feel free to contact me if you’re interested in
becoming a dealer.
Gaming
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.
Karl Krebiel will be hosting the Nuclear War
tournament. More game material and prizes 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.
Hall Costumes
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.... :-)
Hotel
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.
Internet Cafe
OryCon will gladly accept castoff computers for
Internet Cafe and other use. If your tax situation would benefit from a
donation fo 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 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.
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.
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.
Music Programming
[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]
Registration
The usual advice applies: get your membership now if
you haven’t already! We expect that we’ll reach our 1600-member cap
again this year, and the sooner you become a member, the more you’ll
save.
That’s especially important this year, because rising
costs have finally forced us to modify our rate structure. Current
membership cost is $40. This rate applies
until Oct. 15, 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.
Writers' Workshop
The Writers’ Workshop returns this year with a new
coordinator, but will continue to offer much the same program as in the
past few years -- thorough, Clarion-style critiquing of participants’
manuscripts in a small group setting, with a variety of dedicated and
experienced pro writers evaluating your work.
The specifics are much as they’ve been in recent
years: two divisions, pro manuscript format (if you have questions about
this, see SFWA’s collection of
information on the subject), one (1) manuscript per participant, one (1)
copy of same sent to us along with the usual $10 fee, which helps to cover
postage and copying costs (checks payable to Orycon 23). Divisions are:
SHORT STORY: Up to 30 manuscript pages (about
7500 words).
NOVEL: Up to 60 manuscript pages (2-3 chapters
& synopsis)
Submissions should come to (note that this is a NEW address):
Barbara Oldham
Orycon 23 Writers’ Workshop
7835 SE Morrison
Portland, OR 97215
The deadline for receiving (not postmarking)
submissions is Sept. 14, 2001. Please also either complete and attach the
form below, or supply the information requested on a separate sheet of
paper.
Name
Address
City/State/ZIP
Phone #
E-mail Address (if available)
Badge # (if known)
Short Story Division:
Have you attended a convention writers’ workshop before?
If Yes, about how many such workshops have you attended?
Have you had a story or stories professionally published?
If Yes, about how many stories have you sold?
Novel Division:
Have you completed a draft of the novel you are submitting?
Have you completed any other novel-length manuscripts?
Have you submitted a novel to a professional publisher?
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