Maryland SF Update

[Dale Arnold]

COVID NOTE ABOUT BSFS BUILDING EVENTS:

We are pausing public events inside the Baltimore Science Fiction Society Building one more month due to to Delta COVID so in-person items moved to an Open in October. BALTICON and BSFS Meetings are teleconference only during September and the Movie Night with a premier also moves to the third Saturday in October. We will of course review at the end of September, but hopefully between vaccinations, and resisters gaining immunity the hard way, COVID will have exhausted much of its easy food supply by then.  See more details below.




Book Club Meeting at BSFS Goes Spiced:

The next book club discussion will be on September 25, 2021 at 7:30 PM as ZOOM Teleconference. Featured Book: Dune by Frank Herbert. Reread the book, it is that good. Join Zoom Meeting at https://zoom.us/j/94129016253?pwd=LzRMVEZmVGtnUi9jOUc3MnFOcHFHQT09
Meeting ID: 941 2901 6253 Passcode: 041896




Film Night at BSFS:

 Paused in September. Next held October 16, 2021 from 5:00pm-11:30 pm. (Building opens at 4:00 PM for early arrivals) We will screen Troll Bridge an authorized Terry Pratchett fan film at 7:00 PM and before then at 5:00 PM a recent Terry Pratchett professional production and then after a break for  Troll Bridge we will continue the rest of the continuing the pro production. The Pro Production this month will be all episodes of the BBC production “The Watch” All on our 10 ft screen off a blue-ray source! Our license gives us the right to show, but we are not supposed to advertise on the web but can distribute info to members so you all are getting this by email…   BSFS member and supporter Marty Gear donated to the production of Troll Bridge before his death in 2013 (and his will left all SF stuff he had [except vampire and consume which went to other fan organizations] so the producers of Troll Bridge honored the will) by giving us permission to do a public exhibition. So join us in Marty's last premier in the BSFS Building!



Balticon 56 Hotel Room Block is Open:

Balticon 56 will be held May 27-30, 2022 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, 202 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA, inside the Baltimore Inner Harbor Entertainment District. See https://www.balticon.org for the incredible list of headliners.  Online registration for hotel sleeping rooms is now open at https://www.balticon.org/wp56/hotel/ with a room rate of $155.00 per night (City and State taxes additional 17.5%) for King Bed or Double Queen beds rooms. The block closes on 5/6/2022 so book your rooms well before that date, but some folks like to book early and so we open reservations now to accommodate. The Balticon-Hotel webpage also has helpful hints to make the reservation process smoother.




Tabletop Role-Playing Game Event at BSFS:

Held on September 26, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM as a Meeting on the Discord server at https://discord.gg/5U3s2YzPzQ   To participate by Discord you do need to register for Discord if you have never done so before, but the process is fairly easy. For more info before the event contact BSFSEvents at bsfs dot org or just follow the directions at bsfs.org to join.



Anime Social at BSFS:

Next held on September 25, 2021 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. This is usually a day of anime watching and just general hanging out in-person but given COVID it is paused for another month till we are more convinced things are getting better so this will be conducted as a watch party on the discord server. Just go to the Discord Server at https://discord.gg/5U3s2YzPzQ and select from the available channels #wach-parties. You do need to register for Discord if you have never done so before, but the process is fairly easy.  For more info or suggest titles for the future contact anime at BSFS dot org



Capclave Returns to Rockville Maryland:

Capclave focuses on the short story format and will be held at the Rockville Hilton & Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852 during October 1-3, 2021. Capclave this year will require proof of vaccination. Come see in-person Guests of Honor authors Eric Flint and Peter S. Beagle and participate in the 2021 Ring of Fire Con held this year during Capclave as an entire track. Capclave is sponsored by the fine folks at the Washington Science Fiction Association.  See more details about what WSFA plans at https://www.capclave.org/capclave/capclave21/

 

Alphabet Soup Board Gaming:
This event is by its nature a in-person so will return October 10, 2021 at the BSFS Building from 12:00 Noon til 5:00pm (under a new manager and will no longer be going on hiatus for the fall months as in past years) Board gaming using the Hal Haag Memorial game collection. For more info contact paulo at bsfs dot org



Balticon Planning and BSFS Business Meetings:

These meetings in September will be teleconference by Zoom only. To attend in September by Zoom using your computer use link https://zoom.us/j/97614691479?pwd=aDJscVhySGJ5TUpOZTNXRXBTaHJadz09
Passcode: 463191
Or iPhone one-tap : US: +13017158592,,97614691479#,,,,*463191# or +19292056099,,97614691479#,,,,*463191# Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 301 715 8592 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833
Webinar ID: 976 1469 1479 Passcode: 463191
International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/ac59gxWAiW

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society business and discussion meeting will be held at 8:30pm on September 11, 2021. Drop on by on Zoom to share ideas, watch us warp traditional parliamentary rules, hang out etc., This is the yearly election meeting for those who have paid dues. See above for connection details.

The Balticon 56 Planning Meeting next held September 11, 2021 at 7:00 PM. Drop in on Zoom and share your ideas about how to improve future Balticons. (or volunteer)

Writers Circle at BSFS:

BSFS sponsors a Writing Circle 6:30-8:30pm usually meets every second and fourth Thursday of the month inside the BSFS Building, however, near term this means teleconference only by zoom on and 09/09/2021 and 09/23/2021. This is a SF and Fantasy focused writing group. If you write check it out. At least Seven stories work shopped at this writer's circle have been sold to professional markets in the last three years. This is a recurring meeting so any Writer's Circle meeting use: Join Zoom Meeting at https://zoom.us/j/91064908740?pwd=TENjZ25HenRNOHhtcHFaRlZnOGE3dz09
Meeting ID: 910 6490 8740 Passcode: 805110
For more info contact BSFSEvents at BSFS dot org



International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards:

Returning to Baltimore the weekend of October 2 & 3, 2021 the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards will see the return of  in-person stage, vendors and tours with all proceeds to benefit The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. Check out many details at https://poefestinternational.com/