UnCONventional 2012 Organisation

UnCONventional will be held in Auckland during Queen’s Birthday weekend 2012.

Some firm decisions must be made in the next few days.  If you have any strong opinions about UnCONventional, now is the time to make yourself heard.

Specifically:
1/  The hotel?
2/  Potential GOH (do you want to pay extra for an Aussie GOH?)
3/  Banquet or alternatives?
4/  Hard-science topics vs the movie-style stuff?
5/  Registration – how do you think we should keep the cost down (without making a massive loss)?

Yes, I know there will be as many opinions as there are replies, but the concom will read them all before making a decision.

Please email your opinions to metric_squid@hotmail.com

Final decisions will be made on Friday 20th May 2011.

The initial progress report will – hopefully – be out before ConText.

Workshop on musical improvisation at ConText

What is improvisation in music?  Donald Wolcott will give a short performance that emphasizes improvisation. Then he will explain some principal concepts and techniques, and open the talk up for questions.

If you may attend this workshop, can you email enquiries@context.sf.org.nz your instrument, musical experience (beginner, intermediate, advanced), and current focus/interests/questions. That way Donald can make sure the discussion is relevant to you and their music.

Just what is ConText?

There have been a few posts recently about ConText and we thought it might be useful to actually let you know what it is and how it relates to SFFANZ.

ConText is the 32nd New Zealand National Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention. It will be held in Auckland from 3rd to 6th June 2011 – that is to say over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. You can find the ConText web site here which contains location, cost, guests and other information. Although for draft programme info, you need to look here.

The national convention is an annual event. The convention is a not-for-profit event which is run by fans for fans. The administration of the bidding process for who runs the event is handled by SFFANZ, but each convention is run by an independent organising committee.

The Sir Julius Vogel awards (the New Zealand SF&F awards) are voted for and presented at the national convention. Members of the convention as well as SFFANZ members are eligible to vote for the awards.

If you have any questions, drop the organisers a line at enquiries@context.sf.org.nz.

ConText Registration is $80 till 31st March

Register online and pay:

• Internet banking – 38-9011-0370470-00, CONTEXT, Kiwibank Wellington
• Credit card – contact enquiries@context.sf.org.nz for details
• Cheque – payable to CONTEXT
• Over the counter – Bookwormz, 24 St George St, Papatoetoe – cash, EFTPOS or VISA/Mastercard

Full	$80
Friday	$20
Saturday	$40
Sunday	$40
Monday	$20
Banquet	$40

 

In April prices will rise:

 

Full	$110
Friday	$20
Saturday	$50
Sunday	$50
Monday	$20
Banquet	$45

 

 

ConText programme

The programme can be found here.

This is only a preliminary programme.

Things will be changed/added.

ConText short story and artwork contests

SHORT STORY

All SF, fantasy, or horror stories of up to 5,000 words in length will be eligible.

To enter, please e-mail your story, as an attachment in .rtf (Rich Text Format), to the convention e-mail address enquiries@context.sf.org.nz.

Include a cover sheet with:

• your name
• contact details
• story title
• number of pages

Pages must be numbered.

DO NOT include your name or other identifying information on the manuscript itself.

Final judging by Catherine Asaro

ARTWORK

All SF, fantasy or horror themed art – 2D, 3D, painting, sculpture, modelling or other forms – is eligible.

Please bring your artwork along to the convention, and present it in person to the registration desk to enter.

Final judging by Frank Victoria

2012 Nat Con

This is a reminder to let fans know that bids to run the New Zealand Natcon for 2012 remain open. Bids are happily accepted. To send in a bid, please contact us at president@sffanz.sf.org.nz.

As most New Zealand fans know by now, there was no convention bid put forward at the 2010 Au Contraire National Convention for 2012.

If bids are received by SFFANZ by 31st March 2011, then voting will take place by email.  Any bids received after 31st March 2011 will be voted on at ConText in June 2011.

To avoid mishap, if anyone is considering putting on a bid for 2012, please let SFFANZ know soon.  It is important for you to drop us a line even if you would like to keep it out of the public domain at this point.

So far, SFFANZ has received no bids. However some con suggestions have been received by SFFANZ. These include having a mini-con, or a 2-day con over a non-statutory weekend or having it on Labour Weekend. Bids from South Island fans for a 2012 NatCon to be held in the South Island also welcomed. SFFANZ itself does not run such events, but we would welcome offers to run such a convention as an alternative to the traditional National Convention.

New Zealand Fan Awarded SMOF Scholarship

Norman Cates has been awarded a scholarship to attend SMOFCon28 in San Jose, December 3rd to 5th 2010. Congratulations, Norman!

Further information can be found at the SMOFCon web site.

Aussiecon Wrap Up – links galore

Whether you were at Aussiecon 4 or not you may be interested in seeing what others experienced. This page from Gary Kemble has a vast number of links to convention reports from a wide range of attendees as well as a few outsider views.