Alt.Polycon 7 Announcement 1.08
Ian K. Hagemann
alt.polyamory, so the Chair asks that nobody cross-post this
announcement to other newsgroups or to any other locations.
CHANGES: There are no notable changes.
DEADLINE REMINDERS:
March 15 - last day to postmark a T-Shirt order.
March 31 - last day to mail a membership (and get into the brunch).
April 1 - last day to reserve a hotel room at the convention rate.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS: We currently have 68 members, which is more than 1/2
of the maximum number of 125 (and only 3 short of the membership at
apc1). We expect the convention to sell out, so you may want to buy
early, especially if you want to attend the Sunday Brunch.
SPONSORED MEMBERSHIP NEWS: There are two (2) indirectly-sponsored
membership available.
REGISTRATION FORM: The registration form is available at the end of
this post, or on the web at http://www.scn.org/~ianh/register.htm.
alt.polycon 7
Friday, April 27, 2001 through Sunday, April 29, 2001.
Seattle, Washington, USA
alt.polycon 7 is the seventh in a series of regular, international
conferences for those who read the newsgroup alt.polyamory and their
partners and friends. alt.polycon is a warm, supportive, social
setting to share stories, learn, talk about polyamory in all its
diversity, and have fun face-to-face conversation and socializing. The
hosting of this con is not a profit-making endeavor: all funds will be
directed towards facilities and services for participants, with any
surplus funds remaining after the con is over to be channeled into the
next alt.polycon and/or the alt.polycon fan fund.
CON COMMITTEE ("CONCOM")
Ian K. Hagemann, Chair and Hotel Liaison
Betsy Lundsten, Programming
Jane E. Hawkins, Con Suite
Kylee Peterson, Program Book and Local Guide
Stonering, At-Con Registration
Ruth Anne Ladue, Roommate Matching
RJ Johnson, Dance
Jay Denebeim, Internet Kiosk
Freddie Baer, T-shirts.
YOUR NAME HERE, any and everything else.
If you would like to be on the ConCom, we could still use somebody to
organize childcare and kid programming (or there won't be any).
VOLUNTEERING
You can also do other things if you would like to, such as volunteer
in the Con Suite or lead one of the meal expediations.
ACTIVITIES:
The main activities at alt.polycon revolve around "panels". These
"panels" are actually more like newsgroup threads, though, with a
small group of "panelists" leading the discussion (starting the
thread?), and then the other people attending can have their say.
Panels will take place Friday evening, Saturday all day, and Sunday
afternoon after the brunch.
Panel suggestions should be e-mailed to Betsy. We currently have
several potential panels, but a full panel schedule with descriptions
has yet to be developed.
PLEASE NOTE that we expect to fill the panels with people who
purchased memberships before January 15, 2001.
Informal socializing will take place in the con suite. This is a
hotel suite which we will be using as an informal gathering area, to
relax, take time out, meet and talk to other attendees, and nosh on
some light snacks and goodies. If you have any ideas for the con
suite, contact Ian and he'll pass along your suggestions to Jane.
alt.polycon 7 will follow in the footsteps of alt.polycon 6 and
alt.polycon 2 in that we will post a "Nanoprogramming" board for
things to do during programming breaks throughout the convention.
"Nanoprogramming" might include a meal at the various local
restaurants, dancing, a pub crawl, small group discussions, a poker
game, a walking tour of Weird Seattle, or anything else you may want
to do. If you have any ideas for nanoprogramming, contact Ian. We
will be trying to get local people to lead groups as much as possible,
since they will know the area and places the best... We will also be
attempting to book reservations at several restaurants in advance,
(under the name "Mr/Ms. Poly"), - just to be sure we have tables set
aside for dinner on the Saturday night.
HOTEL:
University Plaza Hotel
400 NE 45th St.
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 634-0100
1-800-343-7040
The University Plaza Hotel has been the home of several small science
fiction conventions such as Corflu, Janecon, and Potlatch, and is a
fine hotel for conventions between 80 and 250 people. Alt.polycon has
reserved all of the function rooms on the main floor, so it's unlikely
that we'll be running into other large groups in the hotel (the only
other function space is in the basement).
The hotel does have an outdoor pool, but it's unclear whether it will
be open in time for the convention. The hotel itself doesn't have a
hot tub, but you can rent a room with a hot tub 10 blocks away for
about $17 per person per hour (with a 20% discount for groups of six
or more).
We have also reserved a block of rooms from Thursday, April 26 through
Sunday, April 29. Rooms are $85 single or double, and $95 for triple
or quadruple, and you can extend your stay before Thursday or after
Sunday at that rate if you choose. When booking your room, be sure to
specify what day you want to check in on as well as what day you want
to check out on, and be sure to say that you're with alt.polycon 7 in
order to get the listed room rate. If they have any problems finding
the room block, their reservation confirmation number for the group is
40972.
PLEASE NOTE that you will need to specify that you're with alt.polycon
7 and make your reservations on or before April 2 in order to get the
block rate.
TRANSPORTATION:
Seattle is in the Northwest portion of the United States, and is on
Interstate 5 and Interstate 90. SeaTac International Airport is
served by all major airlines as well as Southwest, Frontier, Sun
Country and Alaska, and is only about 45 minutes away from the hotel
by a shuttle shuttle costing about $15, about 30 minutes away by cab
(costing about $40), or about 2 hours away by public transit (costing
about $2). Amtrak, Greyhound, Green Tortoise, and Trailways also stop
in town. Public transit directions from the airport are available on
the alt.polycon website at http://www.scn.org/~ianh/bus2apc7.htm; for
other public transit information (or to get that information in a
different format), contact King County Metro at (206) 553-3000 or
e-mail the chair.
For locals or those intending to drive, the University Plaza offers
free parking.
FOOD:
The hotel is located about 10 blocks from the middle of Seattle's
University District, which offers a wide variety of ethnic restaurants
as well as the dreaded Dennys and International House of Pancakes.
About 15 blocks in the other direction is Seattle's Wallingford
District, which has several upscale restaurants including several
which are very affordable. An extensive local guide was produced for
a pair of science fiction conventions held at the hotel on consecutive
weekends early in 2000, and will be included in the membership packets
(we'll even update it, although we'd be happy to have more locals
working on it :-).
In addition, we will have a variety of healthy and not-so-healthy
options available in the con suite. There will, of course, be the
obligatory decadent Sunday brunch for attendees who pre-register
before April 1 included in the price of their membership.
PLEASE NOTE that there may not be space available at the brunch for
those who register after April 1.
T-SHIRTS:
T-shirts will cost $10 and will need to be pre-ordered and paid for by
March 15th (postmark dates acceptable). They will be designed by
Hugo-nominated Freddie Baer (who did the T-Shirts for alt.polycon 1
and 3, and also does t-shirts for The James Tiptree Memorial Award and
San Francisco's Queen of Heaven parties). A copy of the design will
be available on the web once it is completed.
DANCE
There will be a dance from 10 PM until midnight on Saturday night, so
be sure to pack your dancing shoes! The dance will be organized by RJ
Johnson, who will be asking for musical suggestions from the
newsgroup.
REGISTRATION:
To register, please print out the registration form and send it by
postal mail along with your cheque(s) payable in U.S. Dollars to the
person at the address at the end of the form.
Registration for adults and teenagers is $80 per membership through
March 31, 2001, and will be $100 at the door. Registration for
children aged 6 to 12 is half of the then-current adult membership
price. Registration for children aged 5 and under is free.
This amount includes access to all alt.polycon programming and access
to the consuite.
Anybody can buy a membership for any specific person (in fact, several
people already have bought memberships for sweeties and friends). This
happens all the time at conventions (why send two checks when you can
send one?), and if anybody wants to buy a membership for anybody else,
nobody but the purchaser and the recipient ever need know that it
happened or whether the recipient repaid the purchaser. The Chair
assumes that nobody is buying any memberships for folks who don't want
them.
PLEASE NOTE that memberships *received* (not postmarked) after April
15, 2001, may not include the Decadent Sunday Brunch.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE that alt.polycon 7 will be limited to 125 members.
*************************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTE ON CURRENCY: The tradition at alt.polycons has thus far
been for the concom to require that the funds be sent in the currency
of the country where the con is being held. alt.polycon 7 broke with
this tradition by selling Pre-registration memberships at last year's
alt.polycon 6 in Canadian funds because apc6 was held in Canada, but
it is no longer possible for apc7 to accept any currency other than
U.S. Dollars.
Thank you for your understanding about this!
*************************************************************************
SPONSORED MEMBERSHIPS
There will be a few sponsored memberships for those unable to
otherwise pay to attend because a few generous individuals are
donating them.
Anonymously sponsoring a membership is easy: you can either do so
directly (by purchasing a membership for a specific person) or
indirectly (by sending money for any person to use). Purchasers and
receivers of sponsored memberships can remain anonymous if they
choose, and all sponsored membership money that's not used will be
returned to the sponsors.
Anybody can directly sponsor others by sending in money for as many
membership(s) as they wish to buy, specifying that it's for a
sponsored membership, and noting who it's for. In the case of
directly-sponsored memberships, the Chair will privately check with
the person to confirm that they want to attend and let the sponsor
know whether their sponsorship was accepted.
The easiest way to get a directly-sponsored membership is to let
somebody who can afford it know that you want one, perhaps by placing
a explicit request for sponsorship on the newsgroup (and specifying
whether the sponsor should make contact directly or go through the
Chair).
Anybody can also indirectly sponsor membership(s) by sending in any
amount of money they like and specifying that it's for a sponsored
membership, in which case the Chair will hold onto that money until
somebody asks to use it to pay for all or part of their membership.
The only way to get an indirectly-sponsored membership is to ask the
Chair via e-mail. The Chair will distribute that money on a
first-come, first-served basis. Indirectly-sponsored partial
memberships are also available; just specify how much you can afford
and the rest will come out of the indirectly-sponsored membership
fund. If you ask for a sponsored membership and don't get a timely
reply, please try contacting the Chair again because sometimes e-mail
doesn't go through.
PLEASE NOTE sponsored memberships won't include lodging costs, but
there are several hostels in Seattle - and while none of them is very
convenient to the hotel, they're still better than nothing.
ALSO NOTE: If a person who gets a sponsored membership can't attend
the convention, the Chair would hope that they would check with the
Chair before transferring it to somebody else and the Chair would also
hope that they wouldn't sell the membership at a profit. However, it
is not the Chair's job to police the morals of the membership (as if
that were possible :-) so it's up to the sponsoree to choose what they
want to do.
FAN FUND:
The alt.polycon Fan Fund will help pay someone's expenses to get to
the con! astral alice will be running the fan fund for alt.polycon 7,
and there will be periodic announcements about it on the newsgroup.
CHILDREN:
alt.polycon 7 will have the same policy on children as alt.polycon 6.
As of this writing, there is nobody in charge of childcare or kid
programming and there will be neither unless someone volunteers to
make it happen. The University Plaza Hotel iteself doesn't have any
childcare facilities or personnel.
If you do choose to bring children, keep in mind where you are going.
The University Plaza (and the University District) may not be terribly
child-friendly with respect to the amenities that kids typically
enjoy. The hotel itself has no video arcade, although the University
District has The Wizards of the Coast Game Center, and the hotel's
(outdoor) pool will probably be closed. There are nearby playgrounds
in areas with families who have children, but kids will naturally need
supervision at all times.
Just keep this in mind as you make your plans.
The apc6 policy is reproduced below for reference.
>alt.polycon 6 is a kid-friendly, but adult-oriented convention.
>Parents will be permitted to bring their kids to most panels,
>accepting full responsibility for whatever discussion about polyamory
>(and other topics) the kids hear.
>Children under 13 will be welcomed to the extent that they do not disrupt
>activities (children who repeatedly disrupt activities will be politely
>asked to leave the room, accompanied by the responsible parent), and
>must be supervised by a parent or other responsible adult
>who has consented to watch the children, at all times.
>Children 13 through 17 may attend by themselves
>if the concom receives a signed note from a parent (or legal guardian);
>the parent must be known to the concom, and the child's attendance
>is at the discretion of the concom.
>
>Some panels may not be open to children under the age of 13,
>and others may not be open to children under the age of 18.
>Prior to the convention, the panelists and/or the programming chair
>will decide whether or not a particular panel is open to children,
>and their decision will be clearly printed in the program book.
>This information will also be announced in a posting to alt.polyamory
>as soon as the programming schedule is finalized.
>Children will be welcome in the consuite between 9AM and 8PM.
SEATTLE INFORMATION:
GENERAL: Seattle has a fair amount of sprawl, but the city itself is
fairly dense. With Puget Sound to the west and the Cascade Mountains
to the east, the city offers some spectacular views as well as several
excellent museums and assorted recreational activities.
Weather: Seattle gets a lot of precipitation but it's usually in the
form of a drizzle which locals ignore because it doesn't get very wet
at any one time. One local joke is that if you don't like the weather
just wait a half-day because it *will* be different (not necessarily
better, but different). Long pants, a sweater, a turtleneck, and a
light jacket should be fine if you dress in layers like the locals
(who don't know how much they need either, so don't feel too bad). You
will not need sunscreen.
OTHER THINGS TO DO IN THE CITY: No touristy visit to Seattle is
complete without a visit to the 1962 World's Fair grounds, which
feature the Space Needle, a pretty good Science Center, and the new
Experience Music Museum. Other attractions are the Pike Place Market,
where you can buy food and crafts directly from the producer. Seattle
is also home to several excellent museums, the Archie McPhee store,
and many pleasant parks. You can rent canoes and kayaks to go out on
the Lake Washington Ship Canal or you can rent bicycles which come
with maps for rides of up to about 60 miles.
THINGS TO DO IN THE REGION: There are many excellent hikes for folks
nearby as well as hot air ballooning, horseback riding, and touring
several factories. There will be more information on both of these
later.
ALT.POLYCON 7 REGISTRATION FORM
Print out this entire form and complete it.
Make your check payable to IAN K. HAGEMANN in U.S. funds.
Send the entire, completed form and your check to:
Ian K. Hagemann
PO Box 85273
Seattle, WA 98145
United States of America
Please remember: T-Shirt orders must be postmarked by March 15, 2001.
Also remember: membership orders must be postmarked by March 31, 2001.
Registration Cost: Age
Postmark Date: Adult (13+) 6-12 0-5
Jan. 16 through Mar. 31, 2001 US $80.00 US $40.00 Free
At the Door US $100.00 US $50.00 Free
T-Shirt Cost: (all sizes)
through Mar. 15, 2001 US $10.00
Amount of money enclosed:
$___________ in U.S. funds for ____ adult membership(s)
$___________ in U.S. funds for ____ kid(s) ages 6-12.
$___________ in U.S. funds towards sponsored memberships.
$___________ in U.S. funds for ____ t-shirts in size(s) ________.
(T-Shirts will come in M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL, and XXXXL)
(T-SHIRT PURCHASES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY MARCH 15)
$___________ in U.S. funds is the total amount enclosed.
ATTENDEE INFORMATION
All information given will appear on your badge
(unless you specify that you want something omitted).
Convention badges will read as follows:
First Name (or Other Name)
Full Name
E-Mail
Where You Live
Name Other Name (if any) E-Mail Address Where You Live
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
______________ __________________ ______________ ______________
SPONSORED MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION:
If you wish to directly sponsor a member,
please indicate their name and how the Chair can contact them below:
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Will you be bringing children? (Y/N)
Please indicate if you would like to volunteer to help with
Alt.Polycon in any of the following areas:
___Planning
___Scheduling
___Setup
___Cleanup
___Consuite
___Registration
___Children's Activities
___Anywhere I/We can
Comments/Questions about Alt.Polycon?
______________________________________________________________________
Envoy
>
>HOTEL:
>
>University Plaza Hotel
>400 NE 45th St.
>Seattle, WA 98105
>(206) 634-0100
>1-800-343-7040
>
>The University Plaza Hotel has been the home of several small science
>fiction conventions such as Corflu, Janecon, and Potlatch, and is a
>fine hotel for conventions between 80 and 250 people. Alt.polycon has
>reserved all of the function rooms on the main floor, so it's unlikely
>that we'll be running into other large groups in the hotel (the only
>other function space is in the basement).
<just called to reserve a room>
I don't think I have ever, in my 15 years of congoing, encountered a
more genuinely friendly and pleasant hotel person than the individual
I just spoke with to reserve a room at that hotel. Wow.
Carla
>
> On 17 Feb 2001 23:20:22 GMT, ia...@scn.org (Ian K. Hagemann) wrote:
>
> >
> >HOTEL:
> >
> >University Plaza Hotel
> <just called to reserve a room>
>
> I don't think I have ever, in my 15 years of congoing, encountered a
> more genuinely friendly and pleasant hotel person than the individual
> I just spoke with to reserve a room at that hotel. Wow.
I have to ditto this. My contacts with the hotel personnel have been
extremely pleasant.
Cheers,
Carla
----
http://home.earthlink.net/~sardonyx/
Elise Matthesen
Carla wrote:
>
> Envoy wrote:
> >
> > On 17 Feb 2001 23:20:22 GMT, ia...@scn.org (Ian K. Hagemann) wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >HOTEL:
> > >
> > >University Plaza Hotel
>
> > <just called to reserve a room>
> >
> > I don't think I have ever, in my 15 years of congoing, encountered a
> > more genuinely friendly and pleasant hotel person than the individual
> > I just spoke with to reserve a room at that hotel. Wow.
>
> I have to ditto this. My contacts with the hotel personnel have been
> extremely pleasant.
If you feel like telling the hotel that, it might be a very good thing.
Reinforce good behavior and all that, yah?
Not that anybody has to do that. But people who complain are so much
more frequent than people who praise, and most times, somebody's boss
has no idea of all the satisfied customers, because the satisfied
customers just go away satisfied and don't make a peep.
Elise,
who in an old job used to tabulate customer comments, and who remembers
doing a bit of math on it all and constructing a working hypothesis that
given an equal number of satisfied and unsatisfied customers, the ratio
of positive to negative comments will be 1 to 35 (in that job setting
anyhow, which was different, but still.)
Aahz Maruch
Elise Matthesen <el...@lioness.net> wrote:
>
>Elise,
>who in an old job used to tabulate customer comments, and who remembers
>doing a bit of math on it all and constructing a working hypothesis that
>given an equal number of satisfied and unsatisfied customers, the ratio
>of positive to negative comments will be 1 to 35 (in that job setting
>anyhow, which was different, but still.)
I've seen a few different published surveys on this, none of which were
particularly clear about methodology. Anyway, the ratios I've seen have
ranged from 1:7 to 1:20.
--
--- Aahz (Copyright 2001 by aa...@pobox.com)
Androgynous poly kinky vanilla queer het <*> http://www.rahul.net/aahz/
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6
Why doesn't "Just Say NO" include caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, Prozac,
and Ritalin? --Aahz
Elise Matthesen
Aahz Maruch wrote:
>
> In article <3A901721...@lioness.net>,
> Elise Matthesen <el...@lioness.net> wrote:
> >
> >Elise,
> >who in an old job used to tabulate customer comments, and who remembers
> >doing a bit of math on it all and constructing a working hypothesis that
> >given an equal number of satisfied and unsatisfied customers, the ratio
> >of positive to negative comments will be 1 to 35 (in that job setting
> >anyhow, which was different, but still.)
>
> I've seen a few different published surveys on this, none of which were
> particularly clear about methodology. Anyway, the ratios I've seen have
> ranged from 1:7 to 1:20.
And whichever figure winds up being closest for a particular situation,
it's still unfortunately true that people are more likely to take the
time and trouble to complain than to praise.
Which makes it like USENET, I guess.
Elise,
smiling wryly
Carla
>
> Carla wrote:
> >
> > Envoy wrote:
> > >
> > > On 17 Feb 2001 23:20:22 GMT, ia...@scn.org (Ian K. Hagemann) wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > >HOTEL:
> > I have to ditto this. My contacts with the hotel personnel have been
> > extremely pleasant.
>
> If you feel like telling the hotel that, it might be a very good thing.
> Reinforce good behavior and all that, yah?
Oh I will, face to face, probably at checkout.
I was in the hospital once, and the nursing staff was so over and above
excellent, I wanted to call someone to let them know. I was looking in
the hospital brochure for a number, and all I found was one for
complaints, so I called them. I asked who I should call for
compliments, and the guy I was talking to was just dumbfounded. He said
no one *ever* called in compliments, but he'd be happy to pass my
message on to nursing administration. Later, a couple of the nurses
came by to thank me for making the call.
I've tried to make a point of doing that, since then.
Roger
Hi Ian,
On 17 Feb 2001 23:20:22 GMT, ia...@scn.org (Ian K. Hagemann) wrote:
snip
>
>SPONSORED MEMBERSHIP NEWS: There are two (2) indirectly-sponsored
>membership available.
Well, I guess you had better make that three memberships available.
Unfortunately, due to a conflict with a performance of the Bernstein's Mass,
John (Niss) will not be able to attend. This was a tough call for him to
make but, as he has been publicly railing against the practice of performers
dropping out of the spring concert series, he feels compelled to sing with
the choir instead of coming up to Seattle.
snip remainder..
Regards,
Roger
Cally Soukup
in article <f3229tk5gv6ar9ati...@4ax.com>:
I'm sorry to hear that. At least it's a beautiful and challenging
Mass. (Well, I've always been fond of it, anyway!) It would be much
nastier to miss alt.polycon for a really annoying or overplayed
work....
--
"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend
to the death your right to say it." -- Beatrice Hall
Cally Soukup sou...@pobox.com
Roger
>Roger <freeran...@bellsouth.net> wrote
>in article <f3229tk5gv6ar9ati...@4ax.com>:
>> On 17 Feb 2001 23:20:22 GMT, ia...@scn.org (Ian K. Hagemann) wrote:
>
>>>SPONSORED MEMBERSHIP NEWS: There are two (2) indirectly-sponsored
>>>membership available.
>
>> Well, I guess you had better make that three memberships available.
>
>> Unfortunately, due to a conflict with a performance of the Bernstein's Mass,
>> John (Niss) will not be able to attend. This was a tough call for him to
>> make but, as he has been publicly railing against the practice of performers
>> dropping out of the spring concert series, he feels compelled to sing with
>> the choir instead of coming up to Seattle.
>
>I'm sorry to hear that. At least it's a beautiful and challenging
>Mass. (Well, I've always been fond of it, anyway!) It would be much
>nastier to miss alt.polycon for a really annoying or overplayed
>work....
Hey Cally,
Yeah, I was disappointed with the timing as well. I haven't ever seen it
performed either but John has invited me to come to the dress rehearsal
before the Con so I will get to see it anyway.
Roger
astral alice
"Ian K. Hagemann" wrote:
>
> FAN FUND:
>
> The alt.polycon Fan Fund will help pay someone's expenses to get to
> the con! astral alice will be running the fan fund for alt.polycon 7,
> and there will be periodic announcements about it on the newsgroup.
The alt.polycon Fan Fund was won by Janma. Thanks to the three vote
counters for collecting money, and to the 8 individuals and families who
contributed towards the fund. You all rock.
alice.
--
* astral alice: bi, poly, goth | http://www.death.org.uk *
* alice on Surfers | telnet://surfers.org 4242 *
* --------------------------------------------------------------------- *
* What's the name of the word for things not being the same always? You *
* know... the thing that lets you know time is happening? - The Sandman *