November ConCom Meeting
Would you like to help plan, organize, and create the Pacific Northwest’s premier science-fiction and fantasy convention? Norwescon is always looking for volunteers, and our monthly Convention Committee planning meetings are a great way to get involved! Come pull back the curtain, meet the masterminds behind the event, and find out where your particular talents can be put to use!
November’s Norwescon 35 planning meeting will be held:
DATE
Saturday, November 10th, 2012
TIME
- 10:00 a.m.–12:00 noon: Executive Team Meeting
- 12:00 noon–1:00 p.m.: Lunch
- 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.: Convention Committee (ConCom) Meeting
PLACE
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport
18740 Pacific Highway South
SeaTac, WA 98188
206-246-8600
For directions and a map, please see the hotel’s website.
NOTE: There is a discounted charge of $8.00 for parking.
Please consult the hotel readerboard when you arrive for the location of the meeting room.
FUTURE EVENTS
- December ConCom: 12/8/2012
- January ConCom: 1/12/2013
- February ConCom: 2/9/2013
- March ConCom: 3/9/2013
- Stuffing Party: 3/24/2013
- Norwescon 36: 3/28–31/2012
- Post-Con ConCom: 4/20/2013
Norwescon is looking for Game Masters!
Are you into tabletop, card, roleplaying, or miniature war games? We’re looking for Game Masters to sign up to run games in our Scheduled Gaming room! Our gaming rooms are some of the first to open and last to close every Norwescon.
Game Masters who sign up to host 12 or more hours of games over the weekend will be granted Pro Game Master status, giving you access to everything our other Norwescon Pros get! Plus, sign up to run games before November 15, 2012, and your name will be printed in all publications where we announce the scheduled games.
For more information and for our online registration form, please head over to our gaming page!
Art Show Now Accepting Registrations
The Norwescon Art Show consistently highlights some of the best in fantasy and science-fiction themed artwork of all types. Featuring work by our Artist Guest of Honor plus many regional artists, we delight in bringing the best possible artwork to you.
Along with Artist Guest of Honor Lee Moyer and our other great artists, we are excitedly looking for new participants to bring to the art show. If you’d like to participate in the Norwescon 36 Art Show, head on over to our Art Show page to check out the policies and get info on how to register!
Norwescon, Sakura-Con, and Easter Weekend
We’re often asked why Norwescon and Sakura-Con are both scheduled for Easter weekend each year. Both are big geek-friendly events, and while there’s a slightly different focus (we have a literary foundation but encompass virtually all aspects of fandom, including anime, while Sakura-Con focuses on anime and Japanese culture), there are many who would prefer to attend both, rather than having to either split time between the two or choose one over the other.
Here’s an overview of the history of the two conventions, based on conversations with current and former Norwescon and Sakura-Con organizing committee members, and some ‘net-based verification (using the past convention dates from Wikipedia for Norwescon and Sakura-Con and this table of Easter dates).
Norwescon got its start in 1978 (for more on Norwescon’s history, see this page). Historically, Norwescon has been on Easter weekend for the majority of its existence, and the past 18 years consecutively:
- On Easter Weekend: NWC 1, 11, 14, 17, 19-36
- Near Easter Weekend: NWC 2-10 (and Alternatcon), 12, 15-16, 18
Sakura-Con is 20 years younger than Norwescon (for more on Sakura-Con’s history, see this page) — and actually got its start when anime fans at Norwescon, hungry for more anime-centric programming than Norwescon could provide, decided to start their own convention. During most of the first decade of Sakura-Con’s existence, Sakura-Con used weekends other than Easter weekend specifically in an attempt to not conflict with Norwescon, due to the amount of fan crossover between the two conventions.
- On Easter Weekend: SC 10, 12-15
- Near Easter Weekend: SC 1-9, 11
So, in a sense, Norwescon does have the elementary schoolyard ability to stick its tongue out at Sakura-Con and stamp its feet, saying, “We were here first!” But that would be silly.
So why did Sakura-Con move to Easter weekend, since they at first attempted to work around Norwescon’s established schedule?
Simply put, it’s business. Easter weekend isn’t one of the big travel holidays, and conventions are more able to negotiate better usage rates (in everything from space rental fees to discounted room rates). It’s a win-win for both the convention and the hotel: the convention gets to use the hotel for as little money as realistically possible; the hotel gets a huge amount of business on an otherwise traditionally slow weekend.
So, as Sakura-Con grew in popularity, and needed to expand to find more and more space, it simply worked out that the best deals it could get for space (claiming space at the downtown Seattle Convention Center) and its fans (at the downtown hotels) were going to be on Easter weekend.
So yes, at times, it can be a little frustrating to have two major local conventions with a fair amount of cross-pollination in their fanbase going on over the same weekend. However, it’s a friendly competition, and there are always some fans who do their best to bounce between both cons, or at least stop by the other convention once they’ve established a “home base” at one. Doing so is even easier than ever now, since Seattle’s Central Link light rail is in operation: from Norwescon, just take a shuttle from the DoubleTree to the airport, hop the Link downtown, and you can probably be at the Washington State Convention Center and in the midst of Sakura-Con in right about an hour.
The most important part, though: Whether you settle in at Norwescon, Sakura-Con, or bounce back and forth between the two, have fun!
Our thanks to Norwescon ConCom member Michael Hanscom for the original version of this post, which appeared on his website in 2010, to former Sakura-Con staff member and chair Isaac Alexander for his contributions to the original post, and to the many geeks and fen of all flavors who have made both conventions (and the many other Seattle-area conventions) so successful.
DoubleTree rooms are going, going…
Nov. 29, 2012: The hotel is officially sold out on all nights. The last day people can cancel their reservation and get their one night deposit back is Dec 27th, these rooms will be added back into the block but it may take a week or so. I would suggest checking the last couple weeks in December and early January.
Nov. 27, 2012: As most people know we are over 100% of our room block at Norwescon. There still a few rooms available for Friday and Saturday night. As of this morning I see on the Doubletree’s website there is at least 1 single King bed room available for all 3 nights. Book it before it is gone…
Oct. 30, 2012: If you want a room reservation for ALL 3 nights (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), do it right now. Unless I can get the block bumped there are only 3 rooms left for Thursday night. We still have about 40 for Friday and Saturday.
Oct. 29, 2012: Hotel rooms are almost gone, they are going very quickly. As of today the room block is at 98% full, with only about 50 rooms left. we are actually over our block on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. If you have any problems making reservations let me know and I’ll see if I can get the hotel to bump those nights again.
Oct. 19, 2012: Norwescon room block is now at 89.5% filled. If you have issues reserving your rooms, contact me at hotels@norwescon.org
Oct. 12, 2012: Norwescon room block is now at 86% full. Don’t wait to long to make your reservation as we have been going up about 5% per week. If you have issues reserving your rooms, contact me at hotels@norwescon.org.
Oct. 5, 2012: Norwescon room block is now at 81% full. Still rooms left, but don’t wait to long. If you have issues reserving your rooms, contact me at hotels@norwescon.org.
Sep. 18, 2012: The Norwescon hotel room block is approaching 70% full. Reserve your room for Norwescon 36 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport before it’s too late!
In other words, if you’d like to stay on-site during Norwescon 36 but haven’t reserved your room yet, it’s time! Find all the reservation info and rates on our hotel page.
