We strongly encourage you to download our mobile guide to enhance your experience at Norwescon 37 (2014). You’ll be able to plan your day with a personalized schedule and browse exhibitors, maps and general show info.

The app is compatible with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches and Android devices. Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry users can access the same information via our mobile site at m.guidebook.com.

To get the guide, choose one of the methods below:

• Download ‘Guidebook’ from the Apple App Store or the Android Marketplace
• Visit http://guidebook.com/getit from your phone’s browser
• Scan one or both of the following images with your mobile phone…

The guide is also listed under the “Download Guides” section of the application for manual searching.

See you at Norwescon 37!

There are about 350 posters to find…happy hunting!

• First off, our full Schedule of Events is posted! Every panel and event scheduled for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the convention is now ready for your eager little eyes. Get your pens and highlighters ready, download the grids, print off the webpages, and plan your convention weekend! We will also be using the Guidebook mobile app again this year and expect to have it available for you soon!

• Along with the full schedule, we now also have our nwcMUSIC lineup, including workshops and the full concert lineup, complete with previews from the artists. There are also more nwcMUSIC panels in the daily schedule listings, so there will be plenty of ways to get your music geeking on!

• And finally, registration for the Norwescon Masquerade is now open! This year we are handling Masquerade registration entirely online through this website, and costumers may sign up until 11:30am on Saturday of the convention (April 19).

That covers this update. One month and counting!

So! Now available at a website near you (right in front of your face, in fact, unless you’ve figured out how to use your cybernetic implants to beam this information straight into your brain, in which case, we need to talk, because we need that tech!):

• While the DoubleTree’s rooms are sold out, we have listed a number of alternate hotels close to the convention, including three with special rates for Norwescon attendees! Check the hotel page for the full list.
• Also on the hotel page are hours and menus for the DoubleTree’s restaurant and room service options. Nom nom nom!
• We still have some seats left for our Thursday night Guest of Honor Banquet. This is a great way to kick off your convention weekend with some tasty grub while hobnobbing with our GOHs, and if you haven’t picked up your ticket yet and need a bit more enticement, the menu for the evening is now posted.
• Over 250 panelists will be holding forth on all manner of topics over the weekend. Drop by our Attending Pros page to see who they are!
• The Let’s Make A Movie workshop is always a blast, as participants brainstorm, write, shoot, edit, and finalize a short film in just four days!
  • And if you want to see what the Let’s Make A Movie workshop comes up with, you can see that at the Fandance Film Festival, along with a selection of other locally-made short films! There’s even still time to submit your own short film to the festival!
• Is gaming your thing? This year we’re featuring our usual Open Gaming area in the Rotunda, and Scheduled Gaming will have times for both all-ages gaming and evening 21+ sessions for more risqué adventures! Check the gaming schedule for where and when to show up!
• This year’s Sunday Special Event is all about robots — not the ones on screen, but the real robots becoming more and more common in today’s world, including kid-friendly robotics projects!
• Lots of updates to our various artists and exhibitors:
  • All of the artists in this year’s Art Show are now listed…
  • …as are the participants in Artists’ Alley…
  • …as are the many fine dealers in the Dealers’ Room…
  • …and, of course, the groups and organizations you’ll see at the many lobby tables!
• In addition to the web-friendly graphic banners and buttons, we’ve posted this year’s flyer to our Posters and Banners page, ready to print and post so people know where you disappear to every Easter weekend!
• Media representatives can apply for a press pass to cover Norwescon 37.
• And last, but definitely not least, it’s never too late to get involved! Norwescon 37 is brought to you by a friendly family of volunteers, and we’re always happy to welcome someone new into the fold! We have some open positions listed, but there’s always a lot to be done, and we’d be thrilled to have you join us! Stop by one of the two remaining planning meetings coming up in March and early April, or just swing by the volunteer lounge at the convention and see what you can do to help.

Of course, that’s not the end of the updates we’ll be making — but we have to let our webmonkeys take a break for a few cyberbananas from time to time. Look for more to come in the near future, including our music programming and concert schedule, and our full programming schedule. Until then, dear readers!

We want to know: Are you reading (or have you read) this year’s P.K. Dick nominated books? Have you read any books by our Author Guest of Honor, Michael Moorcock, or our Special Guest of Honor, Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant)?

Join the Norwescon group on Goodreads and tell us what you think! We have a reading challenge set up for the P.K. Dick nominees (can you read them all before the award ceremony at Norwescon 37?) We also have discussion threads for each of the nominated works. Gather with your fellow fen and let us know what you thought of the books and which one you think deserves the award!

Of course, it should be obvious by now that we’re progressing well in our mad scheme to conquer ALL THE INTERNETS! But we can’t do it without all of you: our many attendees, panelists, guests, volunteers, fans, followers, Tumblr users, and pinners — so if you use one, two, or all of these services, take a look! Friend us, follow us, share, reblog, repin, and do whatever else you do to help us continue making Norwescon the best it can be every year!

To recap, you can now follow Norwescon on all of these sites:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• YouTube
• Flickr
• Tumblr
• Pinterest

Collect the whole set!

Ms. McCaffrey had been the Guest of Honor at Norwescon 9, just seven years prior. She was so delightful that we were bringing her back as a Special GoH. Unfortunately, health concerns made it impossible for her to make the long journey from her home in Ireland to Seattle.

What we did instead was accept Ms. McCaffrey’s gracious invitation to send some committee members to Ireland to visit her and make videos to bring back and show at the convention.

Pat Booze (Oros at the time), Chris McDonnell, and David Valentine made the trek and (with the magic of portable VHS cameras) recorded greetings, interviews, and readings to bring back to Norwescon.

We are making the available for your enjoyment today–Anne McCaffrey’s birthday.

Anne McCaffrey’s Videos

Greeting to Opening Ceremonies

Introduction to the after banquet entertainment

Closing ceremonies statement

Interview and house tour

Bonus Videos

Katherine Kurtz Reading: The Templar Treasure

Scott McMillan Interview and Reading

Secretary- Kat Marier
Business- Eric Weber
Treasurer- Kathy Bond
Member Services- Jeanine Swanson
Publications- Pearl Young
Conventions Services- Josh Keegan
Personnel- Shawna Batty
Special Events- Rob Stewart
Programming- Loree Parker

Please welcome the new team and give them your support. You can reach any of them at their executive alias from our contact page in about a week. They would be more than happy to talk to you about any positions they have available.

I would like to thank all those that interviewed for an executive position. We had some tough decisions to make and much talent to pick from. I think we picked a great team to work with this year and I look forward to starting the march toward Norwescon 37.

Peggy Stewart
Norwescon 37 Chairman

A few notes to be aware of…

• Registration is open! A full four-day membership is currently just $50. This price is good through August 31st, 2013, so be sure to get your membership before then to get the best deal!

• Hotel reservations are open! Reserve your room at our host hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton Seattle Airport, at the special convention rate of $126/night.

• Forums are back! After a couple years on hiatus, we’ve brought back the Norwescon community forums. Facebook and Twitter and all are great ways to keep in touch, but not everyone has an account on those services. Now you can register for an account on our website and keep in touch with your fellow unconventional conventionists! The forums are pretty sparse right now, but then, we’ve just brought them back online, so jump in and say hello! Registration and login links are at the bottom right of every page on the site.

• Lots of content is still on the way! Don’t see something listed just yet? That doesn’t mean it won’t exist at Norwescon 37, it just means that we’re still a year away and there’s lots of planning yet to do.

That should wrap everything up. We’re glad to be back, and we’re looking forward to putting together another excellent weekend of fannish fun for all of you next April!