NEWS AND FORUMS

 

The North American Discworld Convention 2011
July 8 - 11, Madison WI - http://www.nadwcon.org
June 10th Newsletter


As the time draws nearer, expect to see more news from us, chock full of tidbits and information regarding our fabulous convention!

Good news! You no longer need to pack those heavy hardcovers!

Due to both consideration for Sir Terry's health and well-being and the sheer number of Discworld fans who will be attending our amazing convention, it has been arranged that in place of traditional signing sessions, we will be hosting meet-and-greet sessions in which each attendee will have the opportunity to receive a special signed bookplate from The Man Himself.  The bookplate that you will receive personally from Sir Terry will be a limited edition made just for our convention, and will indicate that the plate was signed at the NADWCon2011!

Bookplate session tickets will be assigned randomly, and may be swapped between attendees at a Friday swap meet session that will be indicated on the program schedule. Please be aware that just like with a traditional signing, you will need to bring your ticket to the session to be admitted and receive your bookplate.  More details to come!

Please note: No flash photography will be permitted during these sessions, nor will photography while at the front of the line be permitted.  Non-flash photography from the sidelines that does not slow Sir Terry or the line will be allowed.  We also request that out of consideration for Sir Terry and out of fairness to all of the attendees, you do not approach Sir Terry at any time with requests for signatures. Approaching him with offers of a beer or interesting topics of conversation, or just to say hello or have a chat is fine, however!

But wait! There's more!

There will be a special Monday signing session where Sir Terry will personally sign a limited number of books or other items.  This session will be open solely to those who have won items in the Charity Auction that they would like signed, and for the lucky folks who win a Signature From Sir Terry in the Charity Auction. We will have 20 lots of one signature each available for bidding.

Where is everyone coming from?

Curious about where your fellow Discworld addicts are from (Besides the Agatean Empire, Foureks and Quirm)? We’ll we’ve got a way to find out!

Check out our map on zeemaps: http://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=233622&add=1.

Need a roommate, rideshare or just seeking a bargain?

Found out too late about the convention and can’t afford the full membership price? Need a roommate or a floor to sleep on? What about a ride to and from Madison?

Check out our:
Membership Transfer (http://www.nadwcon.org/SaleMemberships.html),
Hotel Roomshare (http://www.nadwcon.org/Roomates.html), and
Ride Share (http://www.nadwcon.org/RoadTrips.html) webpages.

Banquet deadline set for July 1

Not sure if you’re going to the July 10 Gala Banquet? Well, the July 1 deadline is looming! Even though spots at the guest tables are sold out, a few tickets remain for the banquet. Get ‘em now!

Banquet Information:

The great city of Quirm is undoubtedly the jewel of the Sto Plains. We are the number-one vacation and retirement spot for the Ankh Morpork elite. Our beautiful city is home to one of the finest educational institutions on the Disc, and our breathtaking floral clock is one of the wonders of the modern age, but the true glory of Quirm comes, of course, from our world famous cheeses.

The Duke and Duchess of Quirm do hereby open their city to the travelers attending the North American Discworld Convention, and invite you to join them for an evening of dining and entertainment.

Tickets for the banquet are $67 and for more information on our offerings, visit http://www.nadwcon.org/GalaBanquet.html.

Announcing the North American Premiere of the New BBC Documentary "Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die"  

The North American Discworld Convention 2011 is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the North American premiere of Sir Terry Pratchett's newly finished BBC documentary, "Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die."

The program will be aired, with permission from the BBC, during The North American Discworld Convention 2011 (taking place at the Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin from July 8-11, 2011), and will feature an in-person introduction by Sir Terry Pratchett and his assistant Rob Wilkins, as well as a post-airing question and answer session by the same.

This documentary will premiere first in the UK at Sheffield Doc/fest on June 11, 2011, and follows on the success of the Scottish BAFTA Award-winning “Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer’s.”

According to the BBC press release:

In “Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die,” world-renowned author Sir Terry Pratchett explores the realities of medically assisted death. Diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's disease in 2008, Terry considers how he might choose to end his life as his condition progresses. Terry meets men suffering from degenerative conditions and is with a British motor neurone sufferer as he carries out an assisted death at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

Sir Terry says: "I am a firm believer in assisted death. I believe everybody possessed of a debilitating and incurable disease should be allowed to pick the hour of their death. And I wanted to know more about Dignitas in case I ever wanted to go there myself."

Sir Terry has said that he would like to choose to end his own life rather than succumb to his degenerative condition. However, he acknowledges that there are a number of people who are against assisted dying for religious, moral or practical reasons and at present, assisted death is both an ethically contentious and illegal act in the UK.

In a moving BBC Two documentary, Sir Terry meets those who, like him, would like to control the way they die.

From across Europe he compares other countries' legal positions with that of the UK and asks what the future is for assisted death in the UK.

Charlotte Moore, Commissioning Editor for Documentaries, says: "Assisted death is an important topic of debate in the UK, and this is a chance for the BBC Two audience to follow Sir Terry as he wrestles with the difficult issues that many across Britain are also faced with. I hope this sparks a constructive debate that people across the spectrum of opinion can engage in."

Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die is an exploration of one of society's most sensitive issues and reunites the best-selling author with the award-winning team that made Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's.

Craig Hunter, Executive Producer for KEO North: "This intensely personal film, by one Britain's best loved authors, tackles a deeply taboo subject with sensitivity and with Pratchett's idiosyncratic humour. It's a valuable contribution to the increasingly urgent debate as to who determines when and how we die."

Terry Pratchett: Choosing To Die (1x60-minutes) was commissioned by Charlotte Moore and executive produced by Craig Hunter for Keo North and Sam Anthony for the BBC.

A Note from The North American Discworld Convention 2011:

Please be aware that this film covers a controversial topic, and that it features the assisted death of a man on screen. The North American Discworld Convention neither endorses nor disagrees with any occurrences or opinions contained within this documentary. The purpose of this convention is to provide a weekend of programs and events which focus on the life and works of Sir Terry Pratchett, and as such, we are honored to have been given permission to include this documentary in our program schedule.

BBC Press Release:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/04_april/15/pratchett.shtml

Sheffield Doc/fest:
http://sheffdocfest.com/events/view/1872

A change of plans regarding one of our honored guests

Rod Brown, our friend and honored guest from Prime Focus Productions, has sadly had to cancel his convention appearance due to business obligations.  He sends his apologies and hopes we all have a fantastic time! Rod, we'll miss seeing you but wish you luck with your business endeavors!

Got a question for our special guests?

We have many wonderful guests who will be spending the convention weekend with us! Got a question regarding writing or Discworld for Sir Terry? Maybe something about  what it’s like to be on set of Going Postal? Worry no more about whether you’ll get to ask those questions or not -- instead, just e-mail questions@nadwcon.org!

We’ll be collecting those questions to ask our guests during the convention.

Going Postal movie props up on the auction block

We are pleased to announced that not one, not two, but a plethora of movie props from Going Postal will be featured at our charity auction during NADWCon2011, July 8-11!

Among the items are Sergeant Angua's City Watch costume, Moist Von Lipwig's prison "outfit" (no, we don’t know where the pants got to, but his shirt and vest are the finest in Ankh-Morpork prison-wear!) and four newspapers featured in the film! Not to mention all those lusciously pristine sheets of uncut stamps! (Stop drooling, flatalists, and start stashing away some cash for these beauties!)

In addition to this, we also have items donated from the UK Discworld Convention, as well as foreign language Discworld books, Discworld related games, items from guests and Discworld notables, and more!

For more information about the props and an in-progress list of items up for auction, visit: http://www.nadwcon.org/CharityAuction.html.

Please Note: We are still very happy to accept donations for the auction (please give us things for charity! Think of the monke---ow ow ow ow ow THE ORANGUTANS!!) and if you have any items you wish to donate to our auction, or if you have questions about our charity auction, please contact us at auction@nadwcon.org.  All proceeds from this auction will go to The Orangutan Foundation and The Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

Shop early to ensure that you get your Discworld souvenirs!

Don’t forget to check out our merchandise webpage at http://www.nadwcon.org/Merchandise.html. There you’ll find many ways to help stimulate our economy and aid our convention -- be it a special brass pin, your very own cuddly Death of Rats or even a t-shirt!

All convention merchandise is to be picked up by the customer upon their arrival at the NADWCon 2011, and will not be mailed to the customer prior to that time.

Pre-ordering merchandise means you do not have to worry about it being sold out at the convention. This also helps the convention by providing it with earlier funds from sales and helps us determine the popularity of a particular item. As a thank you for helping the NADWCon 2011 in this way, we are making a few items slightly cheaper when you pre-order.

Want to Volunteer? It’s become even easier!

Thanks to our talented volunteers, you can now fill out a form to volunteer for the convention! The form can be found here: http://www.nadwcon.org/Volunteers.html Why should you volunteer? Well, it’s one of the easiest ways to get to know your fellow Pratchett fans and also get into the thick of things. It’s also a great way to help our convention be the best that it can be!

In addition to helping out with the day-to-day convention duties, panelists are needed for the following panels:

The Family That Reads Together …
Join us for a discussion of the young adult and children’s books by Pterry. We’ll talk about what they mean to us, what they teach our kids, what our young people think about these books, and how we can get more of them into the hands of teachers and librarians.

When Worlds Collide: Where Steampunk Meets the Discworld
It can be argued that certain subtle elements of Steampunk can be found on the Discworld, a place that has yet to discover steam power. How does magic come into it?  What about Hex? Is this convergence centered on clothes (little boots!) or is there more to it? The intriguing mix of history, sf, tech, folklore, modern culture, and fantasy is one of the reasons whyTerry Pratchett's books are so popular with a wide-ranging audience, many of whom are also Steampunk fans.  So bring your corsets and your goggles and we’ll see what’s what.

What To Read When You’re Not Reading Pratchett
What? You mean there are other books out there? Fans who share your taste will guide you gently towards other worlds and authors.

If you’d like to volunteer for the panels, contact programming at shewho13@yahoo.com

Parking information

For people staying elsewhere and driving to the convention, yet unfamiliar with the labyrinthine methods of parking in Madison, a few reminders to ensure that you spend your money on fun things you want to spend it on, instead of parking tickets:

Setup for Art on the Square starts at 3 p.m. on July 8, and the city will be bagging parking meters starting at noon to clear room for setup. All cars parked at meters that are in the area of Art on the Square will be towed.

The recommendation is on Friday, visitors should park in the public garages, then on Saturday and Sunday, they park accordingly to the parking directions found here: http://www.mmoca.org/events/artfair/directions.php.

Changes and Additions to the NADWCon Committee  

As you may know, NADWCon recently lost some committee members in key positions due to unforeseen circumstances. Certain volunteers have stepped down recently due to Illnesses, financial difficulties or the needs of family. Fortunately, Discworld fans are a wonderfully helpful breed, and we have been able to quickly fill the gaps left behind with more folks from Wisconsin, dedicated fans from all around the country, and members from the ever-helpful Seamstresses' Guild (Always happy to lend a hand). The North American Discworld Convention is organized by Discworld fans, for Discworld fans, and we are deeply grateful for everyone's help. We know that this is a tribute to the affection and respect they feel for Terry as well as their desire to provide a wonderful experience for those who share their love of the Discworld books. Our first and only concern is that the convention be worthy of the fans who are attending and that guy in the black hat.

Among the committee members lost was our Chair, Joshua Goes, who had to step down due to illness. After much deliberation and discussion, and by mutual agreement, a few key positions have now been shifted to make best use of the experience and expertise of our volunteer staff.

* Emily Whitten (former Vice Chair, NADWCon 2009; Chair, The Guild of Chelonavigators; and co-founder of the 2009 convention) will step into the role of Chair of the committee (and continue in her role as Guest Liaison Coordinator)

* Our former Vice Chair, Jon Lemerond, who has been working with great dedication on this convention for two years will now be serving as Assistant to the Chair, Co-Coordinator of Ambience, and Con Webmaster.

* Marg Grady, coordinator of the excellent NADWCon2009 banquet and convention decor, and a seasoned con-runner, is now serving as our Vice Chair and Treasurer, along with her current duties as Volunteer Coordinator.

* Denise Connell, Founder and Chair of the Seamstresses' Guild will be serving as Assistant to the Vice Chair, along with her current roles as Programming Director and Seamstresses' Guild Parties Producer.

We would also like to welcome these experienced and talented folks to our team:

David Barker (ConOps & Information Coordinator)
Barry Newton (At-Con Treasurer)
Erin Prindiville (Art Show Coordinator)
Fae Townsend (Costumers Dungeon Coordinator)
z! (Tech & Staging Coordinator; Charity Auction Co-Coordinator)

...and we extend our thanks for the continuing dedication of our current committee members, who will continue their work in these positions:

Matt Cira - Hotel Liaison; Sponsorship Director
Ray Friesen - Program Book; Staff Artist; Ambience Co-Coordinator
Matthew Gress - Movie Room Coordinator
Craig Hampton - Security Coordinator
Pat Harkin - Master of Ceremonies
Missy Hayes - Seamstresses' Guild Parties Coordinator; Charity Auction Co-Coordinator
John Ketner - Programming Director
Greg Ketter - Dealers Room Coordinator
Dave Luect - Gala Banquet Coordinator; Hospitality Suite and VIP Lounge Coordinator
Jon Manzo - Co-Guest Liaison Coordinator; Convention Advisor
Neil Miller - ConOps
Vivian Obarski - Communications and Online Publicity Coordinator
Henry Osier - Maskerade Coordinator
Katie Pennell - Pre-Con Registration Coordinator
Michelle Rehbein - Merchandise Coordinator
Ray Rehbein - Game Room Director
Bryan Sennhenn - Message Board Moderator; ConOps

Our recent staffing changes are a positive and beneficial evolution in the con planning process. The convention is on track, and NADWCon will be a unique and very special experience for all our attendees and guests.

Our committee will be working hard in this final month and we look forward to seeing you all in Madison, and to having a great time together!

Sincerely,

The North American Discworld Convention 2011 Convention Committee