Progress Report #2

admin 2020-01-27

Letter from the Chair: It is amazing how time flies by. It has been almost 18 months since we won the bid to run Westercon 73. We have managed to put together a diverse and knowledgeable convention committee. Now in the next six months we will be working hard to give you a great experience. In order to bring music to Westercon 73 our local sister filking convention, Conflikt, will be organizing an exciting music track for us. We are pleased to present our Filk Guests of Honor Jeff and Maya Bonhoff who have some fun stuff planned for us! There will also be concerts, paneling, and a room dedicated to open filking. We are also working to attract other interesting groups and activities for your pleasure. We are looking forward to welcoming you to Westercon 73, July 2-5, 2020, in Seattle (actually SeaTac). 

Sally Woehrle, Con Chair 

Westercon 73 Registration Information January 1st 2020 to June 10th, 2020 – $70.00 At the Door: $75.00 Children: Ages 1 day to 5 years old – Free 6 years old to 12 – $25.00 13 years old to 17 years old – $35.00 (Note: children prices do not change) If you pre-supported / pre-opposed when you were at Westercon 71 in Denver, we need you to register on the website. When Registering and it asks you method of payment, click on “pay by check” then email Gene at gene@westercon73.org and he will adjust your membership. 

Keep up to date with Westercon 73 Web page: westercon73.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/westercon2020/ Twitter: twitter.com/westercon2020 Telegram: https://t.me/Westercon2020 

Westercon Dealer Room 

Westercon will have a Dealer Room filled with goodies for you to peruse and purchase! There will be books, filk music CDs, jewelry, costume accessories, more books, other accessories and more! Please come visit us to find fun and entertaining additions to your Westercon experience. If you have any questions please email dealers@westercon73.org. 

Westercon 73 Hotel Report DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport 18740 International Blvd. Seattle WA 98188 

Party Suites So, this time we will be using the penthouse floor for all room parties. There are 2 – Presidential Suites, 5 – Parlor suites and 9 Standard rooms on the top floor for parties all weekend. Yes, you will be able to have open door room parties. They will be opening up at the end of the month please keep watch on the web site. 

Washington has some very weird laws about room parties and we are working hard to make it as painless as possible. 

Art Show Report – 

Westercon will accept entries on a first come first serve basis and all entries must be of science fiction, fantasy or of fannish interest. Artists or artists’ agents may enter artwork in the Art Show. Agents will be asked to provide written authorization from the artist(s) they represent. 

Panels (4’x4’) and tables (2 1/2’ x 3’) are $15 each. You may have a maximum of four panels and two table spaces. The convention will take 10% commission on all sales. 

Entries must be matted, framed or otherwise ready for display. Artwork in any medium will be accepted. If your work requires special handling (electricity, special lighting, etc.), please notify us in advance. For full rules please go to the web page. 

Programming Report 

The invites have started to go out so if you haven’t heard from programming yet contact programming@westercon73.org or gibbitt@westercon73.org and let her know you want to help. We are working on some exciting things and when they are locked in we will let you know on via the web site and social media. 

Staff and Volunteers 

We are still looking for staff and volunteers to help out with the convention. Without you all volunteering these conventions don’t happen. 

Club Tables 

Have your con or club got there table yet? Go to our website and get your table reserved now before we run out. https://westercon73.org/venue-hotel/club-tables/ 

Convention Flyers We appreciate anyone who wants to help us publicize our convention. A convention flyer suitable for printing at home will be available on the website. Feel free to print out flyers and post them in your home town!

January Meeting Notes

admin 2020-01-06

Started at 2:27

Chair report – Exec meeting happened this morning.
PR 2 almost done and will be posted 1/15/2020. Please send any announcements to gene@westercon73.org

Vice chair/Hotel – Shoulder dates continue to be an issue; the room nights were added to again last week. Make a reservation for what you CAN get and contact gene@ to extend your reservations.

Memberships – Staff was reminded to complete membership purchases along with directions on how to obtain the staff rate. There are still many outstanding supporting memberships that have not yet converted.

Programming – Gaming is at work getting some new things onboard. Masquerade, “nerf wars”, Regency dancing, film festival and other science programming is coming along. Kevin Roche’s IBMQ presentation will be a major draw.

Filk programming is also part of the above, as well as some non-Filk music. They will need to coordinate with A/V for available equipment via Dawn and Ian Shaw.

Treasury reported a balance of $11.2K. Art show and Dealer Room fees will also add to this amount.

Program Book people will become Publications once Sally talks to them. Jason will coordinate with them for style and font choices and with Walter for addition to the web page.

Convention Master training is being arranged; more soon.

Calendar of meetings was announced with locations and dates. This will go up on the website this week. All meetings are 2-6 pm. Emphasis was placed on the June meeting which will be at Concomcon. Meeting will probably be Saturday; more soon.

Art Show has stuff to get approved to get up on the website.

Mike Citrak had a layout and would like input from concom as to where their spaces are.

Sign Shop laid out budget reqs for sign completion.

Request for break and break outs to follow. Formal meeting adjourned at 2:55.

DAVID BRIN

admin 2019-09-29

David Brin is a scientist, tech speaker/consultant, and author.

A film by Kevin Costner was based on Brin’s novel, The Postman. His newest — about our survival in the near future — is Existence. Brin’s 16 novels, including NY Times Bestsellers and Hugo Award winners, have been translated into more than twenty languages. Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and the world wide web. Dr. Brin serves on the external advisory board of NASA’s Innovative and Advanced Concepts program (NIAC). David appears frequently on shows such as Nova and The Universe and Life After People, speaking about science and future trends. He has keynoted scores of major events hosted by the likes of IBM, GE, Google, Boeing and the Institute for Ethics in Emerging Technologies. His non-fiction book, The Transparent Society: Will Technology Make Us Choose Between Freedom and Privacy?, won the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association.

JEFF AND MAYA BOHNHOFF

admin 2019-09-29

Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff are a Northern California based musical duo who have been performing together for 40 years.

Maya is a powerful singer with a beautiful voice, and Jeff is a skilled guitarist. After encountering the filk music community in 1995, they became known for their wicked parodies of classic rock songs, as well as for original acoustic/electric rock music. They have released 7 albums, including their latest collection of parodies Schrödinger’s Hairball. Their 2010 parody of Bohemian Rhapsody, Midichlorian Rhapsody went viral on YouTube, with over 830,000 views so far. They have won multiple Pegasus awards as performers and songwriters, and have been Guests of Honor at cons all over the world. Maya is also a noted author, with a bibliography that covers science fiction, fantasy and mystery. Her latest novel is a Gina Miyoko mystery The Antiquities Hunter. Jeff is a recording engineer and producer, with credits including albums by Sunnie Larsen, Betsy Tinney, Seanan McGuire, Mary Crowell, and many others in the filk community.

KEVIN ROCHE & ANDREW TREMBLEY

admin 2019-09-29

They have been hoax bidding many conventions, such as WorldCon 2008 & Westercon 2009.

Kevin Roche has been making costumes since he was 8, and is also the chair of Worldcon 76 in San Jose. In his secret identity as a research scientist at IBM Research Almaden, he’s hard at work wrangling giant robot vacuum chambers and electrons in atomically engineered materials, and is an IBM Q Ambassador, explaining the weird world of quantum computers to audiences around the world.

Kevin and his husband Andy Trembley set out in 2002 to bring Costume-Con back to California, and ~900 hundred costumers showed up at CC26 in 2008 to join the fun. More recently, Kevin and Andy threw an olive tasting/bid hoax party at a Westercon, culminating in their co-chairing Westercon 66 for nearly 800 people in Sacramento July 4 weekend last year

Andy chaired the successful SJ in 2018 Worldcon bid; as a result, Kevin is now the Chair of Worldcon 76 in San Jose, the 2018 World Science a Fiction Convention.

Kevin also created Thinbot, the gold-medal winner in robotic bartending at Robogames, the international robotics competition, in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Thinbot is not infrequently found hard at work serving visitors to Kevin and Andy’s parties at conventions.

As part of the San Jose Worldcon bid, Kevin designed and constructed the San Jose Galactic LIght Tower, a 32’ tall (1/10 scale) replica of the historic San Jose Electric Light Tower, which was first exhibited at MidAmeriCon II, the 2016 Worldcon. The tower incorporates 3000 addressable animated LEDs, controlled via cell phone app. (photos of the tower are also viewable at its facebook gallery). The SJ Galactic Tower won the gold medal for Static Art Bots at the 2018 International Robogames.

Kevin is also the editor of Yipe! The Costume Fanzine of Record (www.yipezine.com),

Andrew Trembley – Andy found organized fandom in semi-rural Wisconsin when he learned of a SCA shire in his hometown. SCA led to costuming, filking and APAs. Costuming, filking and APAs led to conventions, and that led to attending events all over the upper-midwest. It also led to his move to Milwaukee, and his participation in Lytheria, a fannish rooming house in a big old Victorian neo-Classical mansion. Lytheria was an unmatched crash-course in fannish community and hospitality.

Nearly 20 years ago, he (and a group of friends) drove from Milwaukee to Costume-Con 16 in St. Louis, where he met Kevin Roche. After a whirlwind long-distance year, Andy moved to California.

Andy became more involved in convention running and participation after moving to California, and, with Kevin, hosted convention parties, worked to bring Costume-Con 26 to San Jose, hoaxed the 2008 Worldcon race with “Hollister in 2008,” hoaxed the 2009 Westercon race with “Ahwahneecon,” ran the World Fantasy 2009 hospitality suite, and successfully hoaxed the 2011 Westercon race with “Olive Country in 2013,” resulting in Westercon 66 in Sacramento.

Most recently, Andy ran the “San Jose in 2018: Make the Future” campaign to bring Worldcon 76, the 2018 Worldcon, to San Jose.

He’s looking forward to the completion of a successful Worldcon 76, and having time for new adventures.

ETHAN SIEGEL

admin 2019-09-29

He is a renowned writer for NASA and Forbes, as well as being a published author.

Ethan Siegel was born in New York, got his Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Florida in 2006, and moved to Oregon in 2008, where he became a professor, grew a tremendous beard, and became Portland’s favorite astrophysicist, regularly featured on the KGW news. He has since become a renowned writer for NASA and Forbes, as well as a published author. His work has appeared in publications ranging from ESPN to the Wall Street Journal. His first book, Beyond the Galaxy, is available from World Scientific, and his second book, Treknology, about the real-life science behind the technologies envisioned in Star Trek, has been published by Quarto. With over 3,000 articles behind him and more books and publications in the works, he’s excited to bring the real-life science of the Universe to anyone willing to listen, particularly if it can be done in costume. His goal remains to educate and inspire science and science-fiction enthusiasts all over the world!

ROB CARLOS

admin 2019-09-29

He shows his work at local, national, and international science fiction & fantasy conventions.

Rob Carlos started his art career working as a digital graphic designer for a printing company in Florida, illustrating the D&D games he ran with friends and drawing and painting whenever possible. When that company folded, he started selling prints on his website (the worldwide web was a brand new thing at that point) and was asked to do some paintings for the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time TCG, starting his official professional work as a fantasy artist.

​In 2001, Rob, Jean and their daughter Josalyn moved from Florida to the Seattle/Tacoma area, and discovered the convention world that exists up here. A couple of years later, a bookstore/art gallery in Kent, WA called “Browser’s Books” was displaying and selling work by local artist Amy Brown, and decided to add Rob to their walls as well. Browser’s Books became Rob’s home base for many years, and most of his paintings from that time started as sketches done there in the bookstore.

In 2007, Rob started showing his work at Norwescon, and other sci-fi/ fantasy conventions. For years, Rob concentrated on illustrating for independent and small-press writers and musicians. During that time, Add An Accent produced a line of pewter dragons and ceramic tiles based on Rob’s artwork. Recently, MGL licensing in London has chosen to represent Rob, and there should be many more new products to look forward to in years to come! Meanwhile, Rob stays busy doing both self-directed and commercial painting projects, drawing people’s personal dragons, and occasionally creating enormous murals for locations around Washington and Oregon.