9worlds
Hello! I thought I was most likely to find con runners here.

I have a small number of fan organisation/not profit con tables available at 9worlds in August. It's a new and varied event! Details here.

https://nineworlds.co.uk/

Please mail me if you would like one. First come first served. £20 per person for the weekend gives access to evening events. No other charges. (Redemption, you are already booked. Everyone else, you aren't even if you think you are because you thought someone else was going to confirm and they haven't got back to me, etc etc))

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Iain M Banks Odyssey 2010 GoH Interview
We have put up Iain M Banks Guest of Honour Interview conducted by Jane Killick at the Odyssey 2010 Eastercon. This hasn't been previously available but we felt this could be something we could do to remember him with.

Please feel free to share.

http://vimeo.com/68002562

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TAFF Podcast

jimtrash has just released Pips #5, an audiozine featuring interviews with all four candidates in the current TAFF race. Coming on the back of ceemage's online interview with myself and fivemack in 2009, UK fandom definitely seems to be leading the way when it comes to bringing TAFF to the audience of a wider audience.

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Al Darragh RIP
The death occurred on the night of Saturday 4th December 2010 of Alistair Darragh, known to all as Al. Al was a well-known and enthusiastic attendee at science fiction and gaming conventions in Belfast and further afield, at events like Mecon, Octocon, and Q-Con. He was a founder member of Dragonslayers, the Queens University Belfast Gaming and Anime Society.

Al died suddenly of a heart attack following an infected wound in his foot which was complicated by his suffering from diabetes. He was in his mid-forties.

A Book of Condolences is being held in the house. Anyone unable to attend in person can e-mail lannie@kimphieland.fsworld.co.uk who will include it on your behalf. Details of the funeral will be posted as soon as they have been finalised

A wake will be held at the house at 30 Bendigo Street, Belfast, from 5:00pm on Wednesday the 8th of December. The funeral is the following day, Thursday the 9th of December. There will then be a short service at the house starting at 1:30pm followed by the burial at Roselawn cemetery at 2:30pm.

Al Darragh’s wife Joanne has requested that no flowers be given but instead donations may be given to Diabetes UK through the funeral directors James Brown and Son, 300 Newtownards Road, Belfast.

On behalf of everyone in Irish SF fandom south of the border, I offer our condolences to his family, and particularly to his wife Joanne. He will be missed.

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This community
I'm not sure this community serves a purpose any more. Any objections to me just deleting it? Or does anyone else want to take over moderating it? Moderating requires zero effort - nobody has attempted to post anything since June and most of the content now seems to be public announcements that are posted elsewhere anyway.

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Ansible 275: BSFA meeting glitch
Ansible 275 (June 2010) gave the usual fourth-Wednesday date (23 June) for this month's BSFA pub meeting. The information that it had moved to 30 June for football-related reasons reached me too late — the emailed Ansible went out with the wrong date. Don't be fooled!

I've since updated the website edition, the London meetings page, etc.

Dave

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GUFF result

Candidate	Shields	Spencer	Hold Over Funds	No Pref	Total
No. of votes	53	37	0	10	100

James Shields is selected as the GUFF delegate for 2010 and will attend Aussiecon4 in Melbourne, 2-6th September

http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/

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UK in 2014
The UK 2014 Worldcon bid has been confirmed, and is for London.



(Thanks to various on Twitter for the news, and John Coxon for the photo.)

ETA: LJ community already set up at londonin2014

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Live webcast from Corflu
We will be doing a live webcast from Corflu this weekend.

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conventions and serious sexual assault.
A lot of you will already have seen this, I suspect:
http://rosefox.livejournal.com/1601246.html

There was a lot of discussion on this in 2005-7: we need to get back to it in the UK, I suspect.
Kari

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Corflu Cobalt - info
For anyone like me who was a bit shocked to look online and see the con hotel apparently booked solid for the con Fri and Sat - it's not true. Their system really is borked , innit. There is a note saying this but as it's dated November I thougt they might have fixed it by now!! Anyway I got a single room no probs, and at con rate for Fri-Sun.

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The Future of the Novas
The Future of the Novas panel was a dark and stormy one, but, in complete defiance of fannish traditions, did actually manage to agree a way forward. Rog Peyton, on behalf of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group (who are, after all, the 'custodians' of the Novas in the same way that the WSFS Business Meeting is the 'custodian' of the Hugos), announced the setting up of a small group to spend the next year looking at the options for change. Based on feedback from the panellists, the audience, and anyone else who cares to give any.

Possible options already suggested range from minor tweaks (adding a new electronic fanac award) through more major surgery (replace existing categories with a "Best Fan Activity" Award) to the nuclear option (scrapping the awards altogether after 2010, which would be their 40th year and a nice round number). It also looks as if there was pretty strong support for (a) extending the electorate beyond Novacon attendees in some way, and/or (b) reducing the number of fanzines a voter needs to see in order to be eligible to vote (currently 6).

What was interesting, for a set of awards that are meant to be 'dying on their feet' was the size of the audience for this panel - I counted over 30, which is not bad for what was, essentially, a fanzine fandom panel on a Saturday evening. Maybe there's life in the old girl yet...

In the meantime, the 2010 Nova Awards will continue under the existing rules, and Martin Tudor will take over from Steve Green as the Awards Administrator, on behalf of the Novacon committee. Best wishes to Martin in his new role, and a happy 'retirement' to Steve Green after (mumble, mumble) years in the role.

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Guff candidates are

James Shields and Douglas Spencer. Online ballot available from Monday

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

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Guff candidates to be announced tonight

At start of Steve green's Taff talk at novacon.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

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Webcasting from Novacon
Anyone who can't make it to Nottingham this weekend might be interested in the webcasting planned from Novacon.

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GUFF nomination deadline.
If you are planning to stand for GUFF then nominations are due to close at midnight (GMT) on Friday 13th November. The candidates are due to be announced at some point during Sunday 15th November.

If you have been thinking about standing and have been umming and ahhing about it then you really do need to contact me before Friday. It is a wonderful opportunity and I would hate for you to miss it because you thought you had lots more time. Also: I can delay the announcement if I have good reason (i.e someone did want to stand but hadn't heard back from a nominator in time) BUT ONLY IF YOU TELL ME.

lister@liv.ac.uk for GUFF race communication, please. More details on the website:

http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~lister/guff/

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Tun
As some of you may know (if you read Facebook status updates), I haven't been able to make it to London for the last few months due to extreme poverty. Was just wondering if anyone had booked the Melton Mowbray for the first Thursday meetings in 2010?

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GUFF Nominations open
GUFF is the Going Under (or Get Up and Over) Fan Fund and transports Fans from Europe to Australasia (and vice versa). Nominations are now open for the Southbound race to transport an European fan (or fans) to Aussiecon 4 the 68th World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, Australia.

If you wish to stand please contact me at the postal or email address below. You will need three European and two Australasian nominators, a 100 word platform as well as a bond of £15 (25 AUD). If you wish to stand and are unsure about how to go about getting any of these things, what the fund pays for or the duties of a GUFF delegate then feel free to contact me in confidence at the email address below.

Nominations are open until the Friday before Novacon 39 (13th November) and candidates will be announced on the Sunday (15th November). Voting will then run until the Monday of Eastercon 2010.

Please disseminate widely.

Ang Rosin
email: lister@liv.ac.uk
post: 26 Hermitage Grove, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 6DR, UK.
http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~lister/guff/

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TAFF 2010 Launched

2010 TAFF Race: Nominations Open

The 2010 TAFF race (eastward: North America to Europe) is now open for nominations. The winning delegate will attend the 2010 Eastercon, Odyssey, in London over the Easter weekend, 2-5 April, 2010. (Odyssey’s website is http://www.odyssey2010.org/.)

To stand as a candidate, you must provide:
Five nominations from known fans, three of whom must be resident in North America and two resident in Europe. All of these should send a signed nomination via postal mail – or, if sending the nomination by e-mail, include a phone number for verification

~ A written platform, not exceeding 101 words
~ A $20 bond (US or Canadian dollars)
~ A pledge you will take the trip if you win

All nominations, platforms, pledges and / or bonds must arrive with either the North American or European administrator (see below) by midnight GMT on Sunday, 4 October, 2009. Provided at least two candidates meet these requirements, the distribution of ballots will begin immediately thereafter. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the administrators. If you plan to run, please alert them as soon as possible.

Chris Garcia (johnnyeponymous, TAFF Administrator, North America)
garcia [at] computerhistory [dot] org
962 West Weddell Dr. #15
Sunnyvale
CA 94089
USA

Steve Green (stevegreen, TAFF Administrator, Europe)
stevegreen [at] livejournal [dot] com
33 Scott Road
Solihull
B92 7LQ
UK


WHAT IS TAFF? The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was created in 1953 to underwrite cultural exchanges for well-known and popular fans familiar to those on both sides of the Big Pond. Since then, TAFF has sent North American fans to European conventions and European fans to North American conventions. It exists solely through the support of fandom. Delegates are selected by interested fans from all over the world, and each vote is accompanied by a donation of at least US $3 or UK £2. These votes, and the continued generosity of fandom, make TAFF possible.

More information about TAFF's history, customs, and practices may be found at the unofficial site maintained by Dave Langford at http://taff.org.uk/.


03-Sep-09

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Aylett live: next Monday

Steve Aylett is performing/reading/doingsomething on June 8 at Dick's Bar, The Green Fingernail (downstairs), 23 Romilly St, Soho, London - part of Salena Godden's Book Club Boutique - 7.00 till late.
Launch of Tim Clare's book "We Can't All Be Astronauts". Also appearing Tim Clare, Joe Dunthorne, Ross Sutherland -
- books etc on sale, live music etc .
http://www.myspace.com/bookclubboutique
http://www.myspace.com/steveaylett

------------------

LINT the Movie:
http://www.myspace.com/lintthemovie

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