Volunteering FAQs
Norwescon is a 100% volunteer run convention. Many of our volunteers work year-round to plan and organize the convention, but many more join us during the convention weekend. We’d love to see you stop by the Volunteer Lounge in Olympic 3 during the weekend to see how you can help keep the convention running smoothly! Here are some FAQs about volunteering for Norwescon…
What kind of things would I be doing?
Because Norwescon is entirely volunteer managed and run, EVERYTHING is done by volunteers! That means you could be doing everything from taking registrations in the lobby, checking bags in the art show or cloak room, running errands for the staff, counting heads and timekeeping in the panels, to washing dishes in hospitality.
How long would I have to work?
We can use any amount of time you are willing to give! An hour spent washing dishes in hospitality would be wonderful! Two or three hours spent doing badge check at the dance is fabulous! Five minutes to watch a table while someone runs to the restroom is really nice (Especially for the person going to the restroom)!
If you have time, and there isn’t an immediate need, you can certainly cop a squat in the Volunteers Lounge and something is bound to come up!
How do I go about volunteering?
On Wednesday you can just come on down to the hotel. You will see several people running around unloading trucks, putting this here, that there, and building this or changing that. Just ask, and you’ll get pointed in the right direction.
Thursday through Sunday, go down Wing 7 and make a right at the Volunteers Lounge! There will be a warm and friendly person there who will sign you in and tell you where to go. It’s as easy as that! If you have something specific you want to do, they will either try to get you lined up for it or, if it’s too late to do something this year, give you info for doing it next year.
Why should I volunteer?
See question one! As a member of the convention, it is your right and privilege to be part of it. Simply attending may be lovely, but at the end of the day, when you have worked to make Norwescon a wonderful experience for you and 3,000 of your closest friends, you can sit back and say to yourself (and the other volunteers): “Look at what we did!” Norwescon is an amazing experience, and our volunteers make it so.
Why else should I volunteer?
Because you’ll have the opportunity to get and do things that non-volunteers don’t! Our Volunteer Lounge is one major perk. Not only are there ribbons, freebies, and tchotchkes you can’t get any other way, we see to it you are fed, watered, and praised!
This year we’re doing something a bit different: We’re having a volunteer celebration every day!
Wednesday the event is being hosted by our Chair, Shawn Marier, in the evening.
Thursday at 3pm we’ll have cake & goodie give-aways.
Friday at 3pm we’ll have ice cream floats & goodie give-aways.
Saturday at 3pm we’ll have strawberry shortcake & goodie give-aways.
Sunday at 1pm we’ll have pizza & goodie give-aways.
What kind of goodies?
All kinds! Things donated by our pros, dealers, publishers, and so on; things in the crafting corner; discounts to your membership for next year; and even a free membership to Norwescon 36! Come down to the Volunteer Lounge to see what’s available!
Hugo Award Nominee Announcement
The 2012 Hugo Award nominees will be announced simultaneously at five conventions in the United States and Europe on April 7. Arrangements are also being made to broadcast all five convention presentations via Ustream.
This is the fourth consecutive year Worldcon members have cast a record-breaking number of Hugo nominating ballots. Chicon 7 received 1,101 nominating ballots, exceeding the 1,006 received by Renovation last year. Prior to that Aussiecon 4 received 864 in 2010 and Anticipation received 799 in 2009, each a record-setting figure at the time.
Conventions taking part in the announcement are:
- Norwescon 35, a Pacific Northwest sf convention, at Seatac, WA (1 p.m. PDT)
- Leprecon 38, an annual Arizona sf convention, at Tempe, AZ (1 p.m. MST)
- Minicon 47, Minnesota’s longest-running sf con, at Bloomington, MN (3 p.m. CDT)
- Marcon 47, an annual Midwest sf con, at Columbus, OH (4 p.m. EDT).
- Olympus 2012, the British Eastercon, (9 p.m. BST).
The final ballot voting deadline will be July 31, 2012, midnight PDT. The winners will be announced at the Hugo Awards Ceremony on Sunday, September 2.
The full press release from Chicon 7 follows the jump.
Who is DJ TOX2MUCH?
The mysterious Norwescon DJ veteran DJ TOX2MUCH has quietly laid in stasis preparing for the time the world would need him once more. That time has now come as he brings the MasterMix Café back for one singular special event, Friday from 9pm-2am at Maxi’s. 21+ with ID and con badge. The more you drink, the better he sounds.
He brings with him his patented retro swing through fannish favorites all night long. This will be totally old skool; close confidant Keith Johnson says the enigmatic DJ promises all the things you came to expect from his 20 years of dances. The hits, the special mixes, the surprises, the talking–it’s all there! Yes, including the infamous “Experiment in Terror.”
When pressed for details, TOX2MUCH would only say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, take your positions please! The Istan bull is time warping Major Tom something good. Dare to be stupid because we can (can). Never trust a Star Trekkin’ Klingon, it’ll make ya wanna shout!”
Babelfish was unable to provide a proper translation.
Day Pass Info
T-minus eight days…and high on the list of things to do is getting the “Norwescon Sold Out” banner trimmed and ready to hang! For both of the past two years we have sold all our available memberships on Saturday of the convention and have had to close registration and turn folks away from that point on. If you are planning on attending Norwescon we highly encourage purchase of a full-weekend membership (the best deal!) on Thursday or Friday.
Coming for just a day? Our registration system will only allow purchase of one-day memberships on the day they will be used. If you plan on only attending Saturday or Sunday please arrive early and check our website and/or Twitter feed (the #nwc35 hashtag will have the most current info) before you travel. We’ll keep you up to date on the status of registration.
REGISTRATION HOURS
Thursday: noon – 10 pm
Friday: 9 am – 10 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 10 pm
Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm
REGISTRATION/MEMBERSHIP RATES
Full-weekend: $70
Single-day admission rates (as available):
Thursday: $40
Friday: $50
Saturday: $50
Sunday: $30
Lost badge replacement fee: $50
March Progress Report
Every day brings us that much closer to this year’s convention, and if you’re all as excited as we are, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve just dropped our March progress report mailer in the mail to you — and if you don’t want to wait for it to show up in your mailbox, you can check it out right here (1MB .pdf)!
Get the latest word on our plans for programming, the daily ‘zine, open volunteer positions, music, muggle quidditch, Maxi’s, and more!
