News from Norwescon March 2023

Norwescon is excited to welcome Greg Dubos as our Science Guest of Honor! Greg is a French-American systems engineer with expertise in robotic planetary exploration. He contributed to missions for the European Space Agency and Ball Aerospace before working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the past decade. At JPL, he has been part of the engineering team for the Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, and the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Greg has a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech, and has co-authored over 20 publications on space system design.

As a reminder, Norwescon 45 is requiring all attendees to provide proof of vaccination and to wear a mask while they are in official convention space, unless actively eating or drinking in designated areas. Proof of vaccination will be satisfied by any complete series of vaccination against COVID-19. We strongly encourage all members to ensure their vaccination is up-to-date with the most recent booster.

Children ages six and up will also need to show proof of vaccination and mask while in convention space. Vaccinations and masking are highly recommended, but not required, for children under six. Please forward any requests for special accommodations to safety@norwescon.org.

Norwescon will offer a full schedule of programming for all our Norweskids this year: youth (ages 0-8), tweens (ages 9-12), and teens (ages 13-17). Here’s just a taste of what we’ve got planned – storytime, crafts, and dance parties for youth and their families, plus writing workshops, art sessions, and science discussions for tweens and teens. The Monster Mash is back, we’ll have Easter takeaway bags, and so much more! memberships can be purchased here.

The Norwescon 45 Masquerade is now inviting participants to register! Learn more about the Masquerade here. And fill out the form so you can participate!

Calling all gamers! We have open gaming, scheduled games, and game libraries available! Visit here for information on the schedule!

Come dance the night away at Norwescon 45. Visit here for our schedule and request a song!

The Norwescon Speculative Film Festival is back for another year. The festival is a great way to see some of the best cutting edge science fiction, fantasy, and horror short films from around the world. This year we will be showing you 37 films, from 14 different countries. Running on Thursday and Friday evenings, each session will contain four hours of film, split into two blocks, with a brief intermission in between. If we are lucky some of the filmmakers may even show up for a brief Q&A session after each block.

Norwescon 45 is once again using Guidebook as its convention app. There you can full information about our schedule, guests, and events. The app also includes hotel maps. food menus, club table, dealer, and artist descriptions and weblinks, and more. Or at least it will include those things–as we add them over the course of the next several weeks! Please look for norwescon45 in the Guidebook app or go here for more information and to find a download link. Be the first to log in!

Greetings again my fellow travelers in space and time!

As your hotel liaison I want to remind you that the deadline for booking a room or suite for this year’s convention is soon approaching. March 16 at 11:59 p.m. is the cutoff date for the convention discount to apply. There’s a lot of fun to catch up on, so why travel back and forth when you know you’d rather stay up until 2 a.m. dancing, gaming, and seeing your friends? The best way to book your room is through the website, or use this direct link

Yours truly, Pat Booze, Norwescon 45 hotel liaison.

We are pleased to announce the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association, or SFWA, us a nonprofit association to promote, advance, and support science fiction and fantasy writing. You can learn more about them here.

Remember that instead of holding a charity auction, this year we will be selling special items in the art show, Also, we will once again have Santa and Krampus photo opportunities available, and the proceeds will also benefit SFWA. Please submit items for donation by contacting charities@norwescon.org.

Norwescon has volunteer opportunities both pre-con and at-con. Interested in helping with the Masquerade? Lazer Tag and Nerf? Fundraising? These are just some of the opportunities we have available. Visit here to learn more!

Norwescon is providing space at Norwescon 45 for teen members, teen staff, and teen professional guests to relax in a safe, fun space that is planned and run by teens. The area is located in Concourse A near the lobby and swimming pool.

The key to the success of this area is that teens will plan and run the space. Please contact personnel@norwescon.org if you are a teen member and are interested in participating in the plan and design! Or tell us what your wish list for the space would be.

The Little Free Library needs your donations! Bring your unwanted books (and other assorted geekery media) to the Little Free Library table in the lobby at Norwescon and we’ll find them a good home!