Westercon 50
Progress Report 0
Table of Contents
Journey to the Emerald City
Follow in Daugherty's footsteps and follow the golden road of Westercons past to the Emerald City. Those of us on the Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee (SWOC) are proud and pleased that you have selected Seattle as the site of the 50th Westercon. We plan to justify your choice by giving you a golden conventions that will stay in your memory for many years to come.
Our theme is "100 years of Westercon". We plan to have guests and panels that span the past 50 years and the 50 to come. We will explore the Golden Age of science fiction and project the world of the future.
But we aren't satisfied with stories and speculations, we want a taste of the real thing. So, we will be mounting a large scale role playing game to make our theme real. We will have real-time members of Westercon 1 and time traveling members of both Westercon 1 and Westercon 100. We're sure to have a time portal or two, and maybe even a time machine!
At Westercon 50, you will encounter three writer/media Guests of Honor, the GoH of Westercon Past, the GoH of Westercon Present, and the GoH of Westercons Yet to Come. You will also find the spirits of Art, music, Science and Fandom as embodied by some of the finest representatives of each of those areas.
So, without further ado, our Guests of Honor:
J. Michael Straczynski
JMS was chosen as our GoH of Westercon Present, not just for his many contributions to science fiction, but also as a symbol of the convergence of broadcast media and print.
Creator, writer and producer of Babylon 5, JMS will be gearing up for Bab 5's fifth and, it is rumored, last season in the summer of 1997. Perhaps he will share some of Bab 5's future with us.
Martin Harry Greenberg
Martin Greenberg, editor extraordinaire, is our representative for Westercon 1. One of the best who worked with all of the best. No SF library is complete without his work.
Amy Thomson
Amy Thomson is the winner of the 1994 Campbell Award. She represents the future of science fiction. Amy's first novel, "Virtual Girl", was released at Westercon 46. We expect that, by Westercon 50, she will have many more kudos and, by Westercon 100, her books will be classics.
Victoria Poyser-Lisi
Local artist makes good! Once a struggling young artist in Olympia, Vicki's cover art now graces many current books, winning her worldwide recognition. Welcome home!
Spider and Jeanne Robinson
We've read their writing, now we want to hear their filking. Long time filkers and founder of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon and Mary's Place, who better to represent the past, present and future of science fiction music?
Walter J. Daugherty
Walter is the founder of the Feast. Without him, there would be no Westercon. It was he who suggested to Forry Ackerman that there be a West Coast convention for those who couldn't go to the early World Cons, and it was he who did the legwork for that first Westercon and laid the foundation for all the Westercons to come.
Walter, we are in your debt!
To celebrate the first 100 years of Westercon at Westercon 50 in Seattle, programming is undertaking an ambitious project. With the assistance of fan and pro members of the convention, we will "fold time" and create a nexus of people and events from Westercon 1, 50 and 100. We have created the outline of a shared universe that people representing Westercon 100 will use as their 'playbook.'
This outline is intended to be used as the starting point for our shared universe. Everyone who participates - volunteers to create and play a character from 2048 at Westercon 50 - will have the right to submit suggestions for ways to flesh it out for their own areas. Because this is a shared universe, the Programming Division retains the ultimate decision on whether to accept submitted updates.
Updates, corrections and enhancements to the shared universe will be worked into the master version. The resulting shared world will be available to anyone who wants to play along (We have copies available by mail for a SASE and the cost of copies, or on floppy for the cost of the disk.)
With this shared universe as a basis for our role-playing, we can have rational and compelling panel discussions, presentations, interviews and other events involving people who have studied life in the late 1940's, people aware of the world today and people ad-libbing around the group fiction of Westercon 100.
To join in, contact Phil Zack at (206) 878-5881 or email him at wester50@isomedia.com
- Chair :Sally Woehrle
- Vice Chair : Larry Baker
- Treasurer Linda Deneroff
- Site Services : William Sadorus
- Information Services : TBA
- Programming : Phil Zack
- Administrations Manager : Rick Bligh
Our staff is active in Puget Sound fandom and represents many of the area's conventions and organizations. The cumulative experience of our core members exceeds 150 years of convention planning, including Westercon 46.
Who We Are could be you, too! If you would like to help make Westercon 50 a reality, contact us through one of the channels listed below:
Use the Westercon 50 Volunteer form
Contact us at:
Westercon 50
Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee
P.O.Box 283
Seattle, WA 98111-0283
(206) 742-8943
Email c/o wester50@isomedia.com
At the first official meeting of the Westercon 50 Organizing Committee, the Executive Committee:
- Ordered 100 cases of duct tape for Child Care.
- Adopted as policy the organizational structure as published at the Opening Ceremonies of Westercon 46.
- Adopted a redesign of the "Fannish Resume", a Copy of which appears below.
Keep On Smiling!
We need volunteers for all of the usual jobs in a convention of this size: techies, hospitality, office staff, programming ops, guest relations, gophers, etc.
In addition, we have a special need for people to help with the Westercon 50 time-fold theme. This will include the following types of people:
- Costumers for Westercon 1 and 100 hall costumes
- People to play Westercon 1 and 100 members
- Games Masters to set up scenarios
- Set designers
- Prop makers
Westercon 50 Progress 0 is provided to all members of Westercon 50. We welcome Letters of Comment from our members. Please write to Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee, P.O. Box 283, Seattle WA 98111-0283. Letters may also be sent via e-mail to wester50@isomedia.com
The paper version of this issue was printed on a Data Products LZR960 laser printer using Adobe PageMaker 5.0 with the majority of text done in Arial MT 12 pt.
"Westercon" is a registered service mark of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc. "West Coast Science Fantasy Conference" is a service mark of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc.
Contents © by the Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee. Edited by Deborah Hardy with copious help from William Sadorus and Phil Zack.
Return to Westercon 50 Homepage