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11 April 2003Sailing the Clyde - February - March 2003 The behind-the-scenes newsletter for Interaction, the 63rd
World Science Fiction Convention
Easter Approaching FastWith Easter drawing near, it's hard to believe that over 7 months have already elapsed since Conjose - or that Interaction is now just 26 months away ! Like most Worldcons, we are finding that the first year after the vote has two distinct halves. The period from Conjose to Seacon has been very busy, as we have set up the administrative infrastructure for the convention and processed all of the paperwork from Conjose itself. With this done, the period from Seacon to Torcon will focus more on the development of our organisation and staff recruitment.
Membership Rate ChangesWe recently announced our first membership rate change (see Press Release #7 for details).. As a result of this change, rates for new members will increase from £75 / $115 to £85 / $135 from 1st June 2003 - these rates will apply until at least the end of November 2003. Although some increase in rates is necessary to stay on track with our budget, we are extending our presupporter and Friends discounts to at least the end of November. We're also leaving the Child rate unchanged, in line with our policy of being as family friendly as possible.
Glasgow to CardiffWe held a very successful Open Meeting in Glasgow on 15th March, with over 40 local fans attending during the day. As well as a "standing room only" Q&A session for the two Vice Chairs (Vince's work having kept him in Nigeria this time around), we also had a full tour of the Moat House and a short visit to the SECC, plus a "staff vs. locals" quiz session ably run (if suspiciously scored) by Sparks. The day rounded off with a trip to Ichibans - highly recommended! Thanks go to Cuddles and Stuart Capewell for their work in organising the day. As advertised in our last issue, our next big event will be our summer staff weekend, Construction. This will be held at the Hanover International Hotel & Club in Cardiff, Wales, from 11 to 13 July 2003. Attendance is open to anyone who is interested in working on Interaction; room rates are £40 in double or twin and £60 in a single. More information on the programme will be announced shortly after Easter but we expect to look especially at staffing and organisational issues; the use of the site and accommodation; and some elements of operations and programming.
Organisational UpdateIt's always good to welcome additional staff and volunteers to the team. We particularly welcome the following staff who have joined us since last issue: The Plokta Cabal - Fan Programme & Fan Lounge Space does not allow us to list all of the general volunteers who have also joined our ranks but they are all equally appreciated ! A key senior appointment has also been made with Steve Cooper being confirmed as head of publications and promotions by the Board. Paul Treadaway will continue to provide oversight of P&P as part of his Vice-Chair responsibilities.
Situations VacantNotwithstanding the announcements above, we still have many posts to fill, and recruitment will be a major theme for us in the coming months. Particular assistance is needed in the following areas:
Anyone interested in these jobs should email volunteers@interaction.worldcon.org.uk in the first instance. Of course anyone who is interested in working with us, at any level, is welcome to get in touch (via the same address) at any time. We have a staff email discussion list and a staff website through which we intend to build up the real community and team spirit needed to make the convention a success - why not get involved ?
Press and PublicationsThis has been a tremendously busy period for the publications team. We sent a Burns Night postcard to all of our Convention members at the end of January, and we are at this moment printing our first full Newsletter, to be mailed out later this month. We will be alternating Newsletters with Progress Reports throughout the run-up to the Convention, with Newsletters providing a more "behind the scenes" view. This first Newsletter includes articles on the history of the bid and on many of our current activities, as well as a showcase of some of the fine fanwriting to come out of the UK and Europe since Intersection.
News From Our AgentsThe Nordic agents met with Paul and Bjorn in Stockholm on February 8-9 to discuss marketing and recruitment in the Nordic countries. The meeting was very successful and generated many new ideas for attracting members to Interaction. Full minutes are available on the staff website. A second meeting, covering Germany, France and Benelux, was held in Liege, Belgium, on April 5-6; a report will be included next issue.
MembershipsThe latest figures for memberships (as of 31st March 2003) are now available, and are as follows Attending (inc. Children): 1001 Total 2,214, spanning 27 countries. New memberships are coming in a steady rate and our Online Registration Service has proved particularly successful with over 40 memberships taken in its first 4 weeks.
ConventionsDuring February Vincent visited the US twice, to attend Boskone 40 and Concave 23. Boskone was held in central Boston for the first time in many years - in fact in one of the hotels to be used next year by Noreascon 4. The con was great fun, much support for Interaction was given, and when many fans were stranded by the Columbus day blizzard they met in the hotel and held 'Snokone'. Later Vincent was GoH at the relaxacon Concave in the Kentucky Cave district. It was great fun to be treated so nicely, (thanks everyone!), to not be allowed to work (much) and of course to visit nearby Glasgow Kentucky for a photo-op which can be seen in Newsletter 1. February was also a busy month for UK convention activities. On the weekend of 21-23 February we attended both Redemption '03 (Steve Cooper and Colin) and Picocon 20 (Pat), running desks at each convention and a "Q&A" programme item at Redemption. Although we did not take a large number of memberships these activities continued the effort to build visibility and momentum across different fan groups around the UK. These are some of the forthcoming Conventions we will have a presence at: Seacon 03, UK (18-21 April). 2nd International Week of Science and Science Fiction, Timisoara,
Romania (19-25 May 2003). Fantastika, Stockholm, Sweden (13-15 June 2003). Finncon/Eurocon, Turku/Åbo, Finland (1-3 August 2003) Swecon, Uppsala, Sweden (15-17 August 2003). National French Con, Flémalle (Belgium) (27-31 August 2003) Torcon III (Worldcon 2003), Toronto, Canada (28 August - 1 September
2003)
Addresses and E-dressesConvention Office - General Queries - info@interaction.worldcon.org.uk Con Website - http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/ "WSFS", "Worldcon", "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. --
© UK 2005 Ltd, 2002-2004. All rights to content
reserved to UK 2005 Ltd, unless otherwise indicated. This page maintained
by webmaster@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.
Page last updated 26th July 2004
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