Minicon Monthly,

Volume 1 Issue 3, August, 1996

If at first

..you don't succeed, try again. As with many new processes, the first regular issue of the Minicon Monthly hit a few snags. One complication led to another, resulting in a newsletter that most people received after the date of the August meeting. We are aware of the problems, and the editors are working to resolve the issues and get the newsletter out to you prior to the next meeting.

August Summary

At the Minicon Meeting on August 11, the business section consisted of Divisional and Departmental reports.

Kelly O'Donoghue said that Dealer's Room table request forms will be mailed out after September 1st, and Kris Spiesz said that Art Show Panel request packets will be going out in January.

Kate Carey, Registration head, announced that there were 763 people currently registered for the convention, not counting the stack of registrations she had just received. She reminded everyone that if they receive the Minicon Monthly (this sheet of paper) that they are registered for Minicon. The Minicon Monthly is only going out to those people registered for the convention.

Finally, Derrick Dasenbrock gave a short presentation that he called Minicon 101. Derrick reminded everyone that just because they know what was going on at the meetings, and at Minicon itself, it didn't necessarily mean that everyone knows what's happening. He complimented Minicon for valuing the people who attend, stressing that membership means participation, not just coming and buying a ticket. A lot of the events at Minicon are unique, examples used were Krushenko's and Mpls in '73 but, Derrick pointed out, many people don't know what they are. He suggested that if the convention members knew about the various events available to members of Minicon, the quality of the overall convention would be higher, because the general frustration level would be lower.

The Discussion topic for this meeting was programming content led by Anna Bliss and Jody Wurl, two of the three Programming chairs. They laid out the goal of the department and went over their mission statement:

Programming will focus on science fiction and fantasy literature in order to promote a more robust programming image at and outside of Minicon, thereby increasing Programming's visibility. Special focus will be made on literary criticism, professional writing, hard and soft sciences as well as media and fandom.

They then reviewed the nine programming areas, explaining that they preferred the word area to the word track because area denoted expansive, overlapping space where as track seemed more restrictive and narrow. The areas are: Minicon 101, Literary and Criticism, Science and Technology, Fandom, Professional, Media, Amenities (things like Krushenko's and Mpls in '73), Children's Programming and Mainstage.

Questions arose over the September 15 deadline that Programming had announced for panel topics. Anna explained that this was for those topics where Programming would need to arrange participants. If people came to Programming with ready-made panels/events before December 1, programming would be happy to look at those with an eye towards including them. When concern was raised that people might be missing deadlines because they hadn't registered for the convention yet, Anna replied that anyone who needed information on programming could contact the heads via e-mail at programming@minicon32.mnstf.org or could call her (before 10:00 p.m.) at 827-6112. She also reported that the Programming Division would be sending a mailing out to all local pros and those who had participated in programming previously.

Concerning the number of programming items running during any given time, Programming would like to see as many items running as there is space, which, including the Media theater and mainstage, would be 10 items. A lot of what programming puts on depends upon what people are willing to volunteer for. There is no "quota" for each programming area.

Several suggestions for programming items were given, including several items for the Minicon 101 area, and a suggestion was made to have a costume ball or hall costume contest. Anna requested that submissions, ideally, be done in writing or via e-mail.

Victor Raymond, Martin Schaeffer and Erik Baker (the Executive Committee for Minicon 33 in 1998) announced that brainstorming for Guests of Honor for Minicon 33 will be before the next Minicon 32 meeting on September 8 at 1:00 PM in the Captain's Quarters at the Radisson South. Everyone is welcome.

The discussion topic for the September 8 meeting will be 'Adult Issues'

Qvarks

Advance limited number T-shirt sales are open. Tell us what size and what number you would like(100 - 199 this year). This year's Qvarky sayings have not been picked yet. More ideas are welcome! T-shirts are $15.00 apiece with a $1.00 refund for every hour of volunteer work done for Qvarks. Sponsorships are still open at the $25, $50 and $100 levels.
To reach us: Qvarks c/o TJ Starbuck, PO Box 62243, St. Louis Park, MN 55426.

Registration for Minicon 32

If you are receiving this newsletter, the chances are good that you have already registered for the convention. So far we have almost 1,000 people preregistered. However, you probably have friends who have not, so here is the registration schedule:

Now through October 31 1996 (Halloween)

Adult drinking:	$25	Over 12 and under 21:	$25
Children:	$12

A reminder that children must be registered to participate in children's programming.

November 1 through February 14:

Adult drinking:	$30
Over 12 and under 21:	$30
Children:	$12

After February 14, memberships are only available at the door at the $60.00 rate.

Because the convention is so early this year, we are going to need to be firm about the deadlines to allow time to produce nifty registration badges among other things. If you have any questions regarding your registration status, please e-mail them to registration@minicon32.mnstf.org or write to the Minicon PO Box.

Minicon Meetings

Minicon general meetings are open to all interested parties. The meetings are held at 2:00 p.m. and will take place at the Radisson South unless otherwise announced. Upcoming 1996 dates are: Sept. 8, Oct. 6, Nov. 3, and Dec. 1. In 1997, the meetings will be held Jan. 19, Feb. 2, Feb. 16, March 2, & March 16.

Operations Notes

All convention volunteers who are not current with First Aid and CPR, and who are interested in attending training, please contact operations by September 15, 1996. Use the P.O. Box, Voice Mail or e-mail ops@minicon32.mnstf.org. Thank you for your interest and cooperation.

Programming! Programming!

We're looking for some really cool and spiffy ideas for panels and events at Minicon this year. We've asked you before - we're asking again. What's your dream panel for Minicon? Your best friend wants to moderate a discussion of the political implications of the "X-Files"? You've always wanted to read your paper on the birth of galaxies? You're an editor dying to tell the world about how you wish they'd submit manuscripts to publishers? You think someone should take an hour or so to explain just what Minicon is to newcomers, including how they can get involved and where to go to volunteer?

Send us your ideas!! It's not too late! We'd like to get rolling in late September on lining these things up, so the sooner you can write us, the better. If you are part of a club, and you would like to present us with "ready-made, pre-personelled panels" let us know that too (you don't necessarily have to know what you might do just yet, only that you're interested in doing a few panels). You may reach us through the Minicon PO Box or at programming@minicon32.mnstf.org.

Thank you!!!

Hotel Update

We are now 7 months away from the convention and things are getting busy in the hotel department. As we stated, here is the first of our updates and it is simply basic information that may of may not be known. Of course, we are occupying three hotels that border the junction of Highways 494 and 100. The Radisson, our "home base" hotel, has 580 rooms, of which approximately 475 will be allocated for convention guests. The remaining rooms are for Minicon and the Radisson's needs. Our first sister hotel is the Sofitel, in which we have a room block that numbers 200. Our second sister hotel is the newly remodeled Holiday Inn, in which we have blocked 80 rooms. All three hotels are giving special rates to convention attendees and reserve the right to charge regular rates to those guests who are not registered for Minicon. Reminder, to receive the special room rate you must reserve your room through the Minicon Hotel Department. In future months we will keep you updated on room and type availability.

Minicon can be reached at:

US Mail:

Minicon
PO Box 8297
Lake Street Station
Minneapolis, MN 55408

MNStf Hotline:

612-824-5559

Minicon Voicemail:

612-333-7533

E-mail (general):

request@minicon32.mnstf.org

E-mail (Minicon Monthly):

updates@minicon32.mnstf.org

E-mail (Hotel):

hotel@minicon32.mnstf.org

Minicon FAQ:

info@minicon32.mnstf.org