Minicon Monthly,

Volume 1 Issue 5, October 1996

Please note: Due to the upcoming Holiday Season, there will be no Monthly for December. See you all in January!

October Open Meeting Summary

Business section:

Tom Juntunen announced that Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden and Tom Doherty, all of TOR Books, have agreed to be Minicon Guests of Honor.

Hotel announced that they are dealing with the requests that were received by the September deadline. There will be a discussion on Hotel policies at the November meeting at the Sofitel.

Operations announced that they are still looking for people to head Cuddle Squad and Bozo Bus Tribune; they are currently talking to people who have expressed interest.

Programming announced that they had received, to date, 250 panel ideas. They are hoping to have approximately 150 panels at the convention. People are still needed to head up the Literary/Criticism and Professional areas.

Registration is currently at 1,029 people. They are still looking for a person to handle the Voodoo Message Board, volunteers should contact Registration.

Discussion Section:

Questions were raised about Childcare (see following article), the Emergency Evacuation policy (being planned by Operations along with the Radisson South), Smoking areas (a meeting will be announced by Operations in the near future), and the possibility of a Coat Check (suggestions are welcome).

One issue that was discussed in more detail was that of copyright issues for the Filmeo area. It used to be that SF & F conventions were considered 'too small a target' to go after for copyright violations when they showed films in their film/video rooms during conventions. Due to the increased legal activity of the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, this is no longer the case. The Motion Picture Licensing Corporation is actively enforcing the copyright of their clients, to the point of contacting every licensed day care center in the U.S. and demanding a royalty of $1.00 per child per year for videos shown at the day care centers.

Over the last several years, the single largest portion of the Filmeo budget has been the costs of securing the rights to show movies at the convention - this was one of the major reasons why Filmeo did not happen last year.

In light of this, Minicon 32 will be showing only films/videos that are either in the public domain, or that the copyright holder has given Minicon 32 permission to use. In line with other Minicon 32 policies regarding room parties in the convention hotels, Minicon 32 will not be responsible for people showing videotapes at their own room parties.

The Discussion section for the November 3rd meeting will be Hotel Policies. The December 1st meeting topic is Volunteers and perks. Come if you have any questions or concerns on these issues that you'd like addressed.

Childcare Update

At the halfway point 'till the next Minicon we have received fewer than 20 requests for Childcare information. We are still determining a practical course of action for Childcare at Minicon. It appears the only way to ensure an acceptable level of safety and service is to engage professional services off site. The details of this are still being decided. Make sure to send in a Childcare form, or ask to be added to the list of interested parties via e-mail to: request@minicon32.mnstf.org in order to receive any future mailings or other info concerning Childcare.

At the last Minicon meeting it was mentioned that Childcare used to be a parents cooperative for baby-sitting many moons ago. If a group of parents wishes to organize such a thing, Minicon would be willing to provide space in the Radisson for it. If you are willing to participate in such a group, please contact Thomas Juntunen via the Minicon P. O. Box or the 'request' e-mail address listed above.

Open Programming Meeting!

Find out what's happening with Minicon 32 Programming, what panel ideas we have received and add any you may have!

Minicon 32 Programming will have an open meeting on Saturday, November 2nd at 2:00 PM at the Radisson South Hotel.

Come and share your ideas!

Qvark's

Qvark's needs help!

Volunteers are needed to be dealers or bartenders.

Be a sponsor, get stuff!

Although everyone who walks into Qvark's gets 5 chips for walking in, if you become a sponsor you get:

For $25.00: A certificate and 30 chips.

For $50.00: A certificate, bumper sticker and 55 chips.

For $100.00: A certificate, a bar of gold-pressed latinum, 5 chips and a T-shirt.

Don't forget to bring hard currency (US$) for the hourly raffle ($1.00 a ticket) and the nightly auction.

Quark's can be contacted at:

P.O. Box 62243
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Voice Mail: 612-518-5003

Moved?

Address changes should be sent to the P.O. Box or via e-mail to: registration@minicon32.mnstf.org

Masquerade

The Masquerade has chosen a new Emcee.

Corvus Elrod has been signed on as the Emcee for Minicon 32's Masquerade.

Corvus comes to the Masquerade with an extensive background in local theater. We welcome him to the team and know he will do an excellent job.

On a secondary note, Kat Pepmiller, Masquerade Director, is looking for people to be Masquerade Judges. Two Performance Judges and 3 Workmanship Judges are still needed. If interested, please contact Kat via the Minicon P.O. Box.

Registration Rates:

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: Nov. 3 (will be held at the Sofitel), and Dec. 1. In 1997, the meetings will be held Jan. 19, Feb. 2, Feb. 16, March 2, & March 16.

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