Potlatch 15: Progress Report 2
POTLATCH 15
February 24-26, 2006
Best Western Executive Inn, Seattle, WA
http://www.potlatch-sf.org/
Membership $45/more at the door
PROGRESS REPORT #2
Edited by Stu Shiffman
Potlatch n. (1) A ceremonial feast among certain Native American
peoples of the northwest Pacific coast . . . at which the host
distributes gifts requiring reciprocation [Chinook<Nootka patshatl,
to make a potlatch gift]. (2) A gathering of the writers and readers
of literary science fiction and fantasy at which participants
exchange ideas.
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
Ulrika O'Brien
Lawsy, time sure flies when you're putting on a convention. Already
it's December, and Potlatch is only a couple of months away. We've
got a lot to look forward to this February. For Potlatch 15, we're
mixing things up a bit. We're kicking off Friday by expanding into
bigger quarters - opening ceremonies and program will be in the
Seafair ballroom starting Friday, culminating in a rowdy and eclectic
rock dance. And we're bringing a bit of SF potlatch to Potlatch -
come to opening ceremonies with wealth to share. Bring a mathom* to
give away, and you may take a different mathom home with you.
Saturday night we'll be auctioneering our fool heads off, hard on the
heels of the SF Trivia Bowl. After you're done dodging CMD**, be
prepared for raucous fun bidding on major cool stuff in support of
Clarion West. We'll provide a no host bar so y'all can get likkered
up and spend even more money in a good cause. Yeah! And the evening
party in Hospitality will be hosted by Foolscap - the Seattle comics,
art, and SFF literature convention - stop by and say hello. On Sunday
after our signature Northwest brunch (buy your tickets now!), we'll
proudly present an original play by Andy Hooper, based on our Book of
Honor. We're prepared a weekend of serious frivolity, fresh
conversation, and convivial relaxation with our friends, old, new,
and the ones we haven't met yet. Won't you come out and play?
*What is a mathom? According to J.R.R. Tolkien: "Anything that
Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away,
they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather
crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand
to hand were of that sort." Use your imagination, look about you -
what precious treasures are you lumbered with that deserve to be
passed on to someone else? Potlatch is about sharing our collective
wealth, after all.
**Chocolates of Minimal Destruction
PLEASE NOTE THIS VERY IMPORTANT ADDRESS CHANGE
Due to circumstances entirely within our control the original batch
of Potlatch 15 flyers had the wrong address on them for the
convention. Our
correct address is:
Potlatch 15
C/O S. Tompkins
PO Box 25075
Seattle, WA 98165
http://www.potlatch-sf.org/
HOTEL INFORMATION
Suzanne Tompkins
For Potlatch 15, we are back at the Best Western Executive Inn,
located near Seattle Center, the Space Needle, and the Experience
Music Project (think SF Museum!), just north of downtown on Lower
Queen Anne Hill.
NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS! Only a few of you
have done so as of December 14th. Our Room Block will drop on
January 24th, so please get ahead of, or plunge right through, the
Holiday Busy Season and make those reservations now!
BEST WESTERN EXECUTIVE INN
200 Taylor Avenue North
Seattle, Washington 98109
Phone: 206-448-9444
Fax: 206-441-7929
Toll Free Reservations: 800-351-9444
http://www.bwexec-inn.com/
info@bwexec-inn.com
New at the hotel:
The Executive Inn now has free Wi-Fi, with adapters available.
The hotel is now the downtown Seattle stop for the Quick Shuttle,
which runs from downtown Vancouver, BC to SeaTac Airport.
(http://www.quickcoach.com/)
There's also a free shuttle that picks up and delivers hotel guests
anywhere within a grid that goes south as far as the sports
stadiums/train station, east as far as Broadway (Capitol Hill), and
west-ish to Queen Anne area. It can pick up and deliver
arriving/departing train and bus passengers, and take and/or pick up
dinner parties, shoppers, etc. There is only one shuttle so it may
not always be available right away, but it's a good perk. Shuttle is
available between 7 AM - 11 PM.
SMOKERS TAKE NOTE (CHANGES SINCE PR#1)
There are two big changes at the Hotel over which we have no control
that you need to be aware of:
In PR #1 we mentioned that the Executive Inn had gone to all
non-smoking sleeping rooms, but we had arranged for a few smoking
rooms at a nearby hotel with the same owners, the Best Western Loyal
Inn, and that the Hotel Bar/Lounge would be available for use as
usual to accommodate smokers all through our con.
This has completely changed because of the November election just
past: a law was enacted that bans smoking in all public places
including restaurants, bars, and most hotel spaces. The owners of the
BWEI and BWLI have made all of the sleeping rooms in both hotels
non-smoking, so using the Loyal Inn is now pointless.
However, they did acquire another hotel in the same general vicinity
which they are in the process of renovating, and it will have a few
smoking rooms available. The room comes with a super "deluxe"
continental breakfast and a parking pass for the Executive Inn.
If you need a smoking room, contact me and I will arrange for your reservation.
Unfortunately, this also means that the lounge at the Exec. Inn is no
longer available as it, too, is now a non-smoking area. We apologize
for the inconvenience, but the voters have taken this out of our
hands.
How to Reserve Rooms
We have great room rates for downtown Seattle, where most rack rates
are above $100 even for fairly low-end accommodations. Potlatch rates
are: $79.00/single or double occupancy; $99.00/triple or quad plus
tax.
There is one caveat to having these convention rates:
PLEASE DO NOT USE BEST WESTERN'S ON-LINE RESERVATION SERVICE OR
NATIONAL "800 #" TO MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS.
Please call in your reservation directly to the hotel (they have
their own "800 #," see above) or email them directly (numbers and
email address listed above).
You may want to check out information about the hotel on their web
site, but please use the hotel's toll free number to reserve your
room, and remember to say that you are with Potlatch. Doing so will
assure that we make our room block and do not have to pay more for
function space.
The final PR will have info on getting to the hotels via all
transportation modes and other last minute details. Our web site
should also have this info up well before Potlatch 15.
If you have questions about the hotels or need help with a
travel-related problem, please email Suzanne Tompkins at
hotel@potlatch-sf.org
BOOK OF HONOR
(It was with great excitement that I discovered that Potlatch 15 had
selected this fine collection by one of my favorite authors in the
field! A marvelous choice, and one that is sure to illuminate the
work of this master. - Stu Shiffman)
The Avram Davidson Treasury
Jerry Kaufman
By selecting The Avram Davidson Treasury (Tor 0-312-86729-8, Oct
'98), edited by Robert Silverberg and Grania Davis, as our Book of
Honor, we're paying special attention not just to a book but a
career. The Treasury includes Davidson's best known stories from each
decade of his writing life as well as lesser-known but equally
evocative tales.
There's "The Golem," "Help! I Am Dr. Morris Goldpepper," "Or All the
Seas with Oysters," "The Sources of the Nile," "Manatee Gal Won't You
Come Out Tonight" - to name the best known and most obvious.
There's also the sweet and paranoid nostalgia of "Take Wooden
Indians"; the strange Dr. Eszterhazy adventure of "Polly Charms, the
Sleeping Woman"; or the appreciation and parody of ethnic tradition
and rivalry of "The Slovo Stove."
What do we like about Davidson's work? Among his virtues we find his
way of telling a story from within the viewpoint of his characters,
drawn from many levels of society; his subtle and slantwise approach
to the point of his tales, often leaving the revelation just beyond
the last sentence; his love of historical and suggestive detail; his
accuracy and precision in capturing the rhythms of speech; his way of
using standard genre materials to his own unique ends; even his
distrust of modernity and nostalgia for earlier eras that, for him,
maintained the truth of individual accomplishment.
You can find some of the stories in other collections or, if you're a
collector, in their original appearances. But that won't get you the
gestalt of this gathering or the wealth of forewords and afterwords
that Silverberg and Davis wrote themselves or garnered from other
writers. If you want to buy the book itself, try the usual on-line
suspects. You can also learn more about Avram Davidson himself at
Henry Wessels' website, www.avramdavidson.org.
PROGRAMMING
Blunt Jackson
(1) Call for Panelists.
We're looking for folks who are interested in and believe they have something
to add to our programming (listed below). At Potlatch, panels are generally
considered a dialog among equals: we usually expect that there will be people
in the "audience" who will be as knowledgeable as (or more so than) the people
on the "panel" -- but it is still our desire to find the most passionate and
experienced people to guide the discussion. So if you think this means you,
let us know: send a brief message with your interest in the topic, and any
relevant background, to Blunt Jackson (bluejack@bluejack.com).
(2) Potlatch Programming, 2006
** Note: This is not a full calendar of events, only panels.
[Fri: 7:30 PM] "Entry Points & Points of Contact"
What was the first work of science fiction or fantasy you read?
What made you a fan? Discuss and list your earliest favorites then,
what kinds of books bring new readers now, and we all honor Andre
Norton. (Note: This is more of a discussion-in-the-round and less
of a "panel".)
[SAT 10:00-11:00] "Are Science Fiction and Fantasy the Same Thing?"
Are science fiction and fantasy bundled together for marketing
purposes -- a strange frankenstein hybrid concocted in the backroom
labs of the New York publishers -- or is there some essential
connection between the two?
We analyze the history of these two genres, their inter-
connections, what sets them apart, and what similarities draw
them together, and reserve the right to consider other related forms
such as alternate history, historical fantasy, magical realism, and so
forth.
[SAT 11:15-12:15] "Apocalypse Now: Welcome to the Dystopia They Used
to Imagine"
Political deterioration, environmental collapse, the end of oil,
fascism and democracy converging on a corporate totalitarianism,
the rise of the omnipotent corporations... is this the beginning of
the end?
We look at science fiction as political tool, and political prophecy.
*** LUNCH : 12:15 - 1:30 ***
[SAT 1:30 - 2:30] "The Avram Davidson Treasury"
Come prepared to discuss, analyze, and learn more about the life
and works of Avram Davidson.
[SAT 2:45 - 3:45] "Evolution of Short Fiction"
Once upon a time, short fiction was the premier vehicle for the
genre. Magazines thrived, and produced riches of brilliant and bold
ideas, while only a few books came out each year. Now, the top-tier
magazines are in a slow decline, while SciFiction -- the top paying
market for science fiction writers -- has shut down completely.
Subscription numbers are negligible, and barely holding on. Yet: more
new writers are producing more innovative new short fiction every
year. Gardner Dozois has declared this the golden age of the short
story. How is the nature and the role of short fiction changing?
[SAT 4:00 - 5:00] "The Bleeding Edge"
Science Fiction has always been about new ideas. What are
the new ideas in science fiction now? New writers are bringing
new life to the genre: who are today's "new" writers, and what
are they doing that is different from last year's sci-fi? What
established writers are pushing the boundaries of the genre?
In a world where most cutting edge science requires years of
study to even comprehend, what is the role of science in science
fiction?
Come prepared to share your thoughts on the brightest, the best,
the boldest... the bleeding edge.
THE PLAY'S THE THING
(Andy Hooper, playwright, director and producer - the Orson Welles of
North American fandom - has been in seclusion working on his latest
epic. Rumors have been circulating of variously a Broadway-style fan
musical adaptation of The Man Who Would be King, a blank verse
Neuromancer and the long-awaited Kabuki version of The Walt Willis
Story. Now, all can be revealed! - Stu Shiffman)
Avramania!: A Reader's Theater Production for Potlatch
Avram Davidson's short stories have a powerful effect on their
readers, but can they affect the nature of reality as well? When a
group of fans spends a whole year reading the same anthology, they
notice disturbing parallels in "real life" - self-replicating
bicycles, alien dentists and clairvoyant beans are just the
beginning. Didn't Borges have something to say about this? A reader's
play in one act by Andy Hooper.
POTLATCH HOSPITALITY
Anita Rowland
The hospitality area (aka con suite) at Potlatch is the crossroads,
the heart of the con. If you want to find a con member, this is a
good place. If you don't know many con members, volunteering here
will get you acquainted with folks quickly! This year at the
Executive Inn, it will be close to the main programming area (right
across the hall), so very convenient. We'll be holding special food
events at various times because the hotel likes it like that.
I plan to make it cozy and flexible, with refreshments and tasty
beverages. Toys, too!
The whole hotel has Wi-Fi, so bring your laptops.
POTLATCH 15 BANQUET
Suzanne Tompkins
Our Brunch Banquet is on Sunday starting at 11:00 AM. Tickets are
$22.00 and can be purchased via PayPal or by mailing us the
membership form along with payment. You can find the form and the
PayPal link on our web site.
If you need a special diet meal (vegan, Kosher, etc.), please contact
me by Feb. 10th at: hotel@potlatch-sf.org. We will do our best to
accommodate you.
Note another change this year: Instead of the usual mix of breakfast
and lunch items, we are offering a fabulous Pacific NW Buffet:
* Local Baby Greens with raspberry-hazelnut dressing
* Oregon Shrimp Louis salad
* Braised Lentil-3 Bean salad
* Yakima Red & Golden Delicious Apple Salad
* Alder Smoked & Grilled Pacific Salmon
* Mediterranean Pasta (fresh veggies, plum tomato sauce, Kalamata
olives, feta)
* Garden Vegetables
* Scalloped Potatoes Gratinee
* Focaccia bread
* Washington Berry cobbler
* Coffee/Tea
Sound good!?! Please order your banquet tickets now. We'll need to
know our head count as early as possible.
Questions? Special Meal? Contact me at hotel@potlatch-sf.org.
WRITERS WORKSHOP
David Levine
Aspiring writers are reminded that, once again, Potlatch will be
holding short story workshops. In addition to the traditional Taste
of Clarion workshop, this year for the first time we are experimenting
with a Journeyman workshop for more advanced writers. If you would
like to participate in either workshop, send your manuscript (maximum
7500 words) along with a cover letter and a check or money order for
$10 (payable to David D. Levine) to:
Potlatch 15 Writers' Workshop
c/o David D. Levine
1905 SE 43rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97215
-->All submissions must be RECEIVED by January 15, 2006.<--
Please check the Potlatch 15 website
for more information. If you have any questions, email me at
dlevine@spiritone.com.
NANOPROGRAMMING
The heart of Potlatch is sharing - an exchange of our wealth ...
wealth of ideas, of experience, of tastes and knowledge. Fun things
happen when people who love speculative fiction get together and
share the stuff that they get excited about -- talk about SF, talk
about technology, sample scotch, or share an interesting meal. To
help that fun happen, we have "nanoprogramming." Nanoprogramming is
an excuse to get together, swap book lists, break bread, go on an
expedition. Here's how it works: fill out a sign-up sheet in the
Hospitality suite. Provide a time, a meeting place, and a catchy
title, as well as a brief description of your event, at the head of
the sheet. Sign yourself up for the event. Post your nanoprogram item
on the bulletin board we provide, and then at the designated time and
place, meet up with your group, and go to it! Or, sign up for
somebody else's nanoprogram. Or do it all! What sort of event makes
good nanoprogramming? Whatever you think Potlatch people will want to
do or talk about. Something that sounds really cool to you is usually
a good place to start. Past nanoprograms have included a Saturday
mystery discussion breakfast, a visit to a robotic wine bar, a scotch
tasting, expeditions to local museums, bookshops, and dinner outings
for fans who hang out in the same online spaces. This year we'll be
trying out a Writing Date - an hour for writers to sit together in a
room and write, 'cause sometimes what you really need is peer
pressure to make you do it. Call it PoFiWriHo*, if you like. So, what
should be in the Nanoprogram? You decide. The only limits are your
imagination and your stamina. And Washington State, and local
ordinances, of course...
*Potlatch Fiction Writing Hour
WEBSITE INFO
Anita Rowland
If you are an RSS user, we now have an RSS feed so you can be
notified of website updates: http://www.potlatch-sf.org/rss.xml
To spare our bandwidth, set your aggregator to look for updates once
a day or so.
Also on the site, you can purchase memberships, banquet tickets, and
now, T-SHIRTS! via PayPal. Buy your membership early; the first 150
members get a nifty cloth totebag and other goodies.
DEALER ROOM
Jerry Kaufman
As always, we're pleased that we can present Potlatch attendees with
a Dealer Room stuffed with the finest book dealers in the Pacific
Northwest. You'll be able to find bargain used books, current mass
market and trade releases, imported and collectible editions, and the
complete catalogs of several leading small presses.
Here's the lineup:
Aqueduct Press, www.aqueductpress.com
A Sense of Wonder Books
B. Barrett Books/Wysiwyg Books
Book Universe (AmyCat)
Fairwood Press/Talebones Magazine
Lady Jayne's Comics and Books
Tom Whitmore
Wrigley-Cross Books (Debbie Cross & Paul Wrigley),
Elise Mathiessen, Jewelry and Adornment
POTLATCH 15 CLARION WEST SCHOLARSHIP AUCTION
Kate Schaefer
This year's auction will be a whooping, hollering, chocolate-eating
orgy of intemperate purchasing and swooping down on bargains in
support of deserving students of writing.
To stage this extravaganza, we need cool stuff to sell. Donations
we've already received include rare old books, advance reading copies
of new books, vintage Freddie Baer T-shirts, jewelry, art-to-wear
clothing, beaded sea creatures (as seen in Science News online).
Got something nifty to donate? Send me email at kate@clarionwest.org
to make shipping arrangements.
As in the past, the auction will have two parts: silent and loud. The
silent auction will take place during programming on Saturday. Items
with multiple bids, intrinsic interest, or great amusement value will
go to the loud voice auction on Saturday evening, after the trivia
bowl.
Cash, checks, and credit card will all be accepted. All proceeds will
go to the Clarion West Scholarship Fund to help aspiring SF writers
attend the Clarion West Writers Workshop. The Potlatch auction has
been the largest single source of scholarship funds for Clarion West
students since the first Potlatch in 1992.
More information on Clarion West is available at the Web site.
Clarion West is a qualified 501(c)3 organization, and all
donations to it, whether items to auction or monetary,
are tax-deductible.
COMMITTEE LIST
Chair - Ulrika O'Brien - chair@potlatch-sf.org
Auction - Kate Schaefer -auction@potlatch-sf.org
Con Suite - Anita Rowland - consuite@potlatch-sf.org
Dealers Room - Jerry Kaufman - dealers@potlatch-sf.org
Goodies & Free Stuff - Marci Malinowycz - freebie@potlatch-sf.org
Hotel & Banquet - Suzanne Tompkins -- hotel@potlatch-sf.org
Programming - Blunt Jackson - programming@potlatch-sf.org
Publications - Stu Shiffman (content) and Jane Hawkins (mailing)
pubs@potlatch-sf.org
Registration & Treasurer - Denys Howard - registration@potlatch-sf.org or
treasurer@potlatch-sf.org
Website - Anita Rowland - website@potlatch-sf.org
Writers Workship - David Levine - workshop@potlatch-sf.org
Or write to info@potlatch-sf.org
TIPTREE AWARD BAKE SALE
Andi Shechter
The Tiptree Bake Sale returns!
This year at Potlatch, we'll be hosting a Tiptree Bake Sale on
Saturday afternoon. The proceeds from these events support the James
Tiptree, Jr. Award - "an annual literary prize for science fiction or
fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender" (see
http://www.tiptree.org/ for information.)
If you're interested in baking for the sale, please let me know by
emailing me at roscoe@drizzle.com. Tell me what you'll donate, it's
that simple. We'll accept anything from candy and cookies to cakes,
cheesecakes, savory nibbles (cheese straws anyone?) Gingerbread?
Fudge? Baklava? Cupcakes (very trendy, you know). Above all, Things
with Chocolate (chocolate things?) I'll ask for an ingredient list
to go with your item to assist folks with food allergies or
sensitivities.
If you're interested in helping but not baking, we could probably use
either set-up help or stuff like serving utensils, paper plates and a
few loans of display copies of the Tiptree cookbooks (some of us have
food-stained versions and would love to display a pristine copy.)
Email me and we'll talk.
The sale will take place Saturay afternoon in the hospitality area
(aka Con Suite) The items will be very reasonably priced and all
the money goes directly to the Tiptree Literary Award Council.
Plan to come by and buy. While you're there, pick up a Tiptree Award
Consideration Form (we'll print off some of the on-line forms for you
to take away). Get a tattoo that shows you're a member in good
sitting of the Secret Feminist Cabal! (non-permanent, available at
the bake sale!)
And remember, any baked goods or sweets that are consumed in a good
cause contain no calories. It's one of the unwritten rules. Oh,
wait, I just wrote it. That's okay, you can still believe it. Would
I lie to you about something so important?
- - -
LIST OF CURRENT MEMBERS as of December 16, 2005
Aahz (B)
Matt Austern
Freddie Baer
Bryan Barrett - B.Barrett Books
Allen Baum
Tom Becker
Jack Bell )B, T)
Alan Bostick (B)
Berni Phillips Bratman (B)
David Bratman (B)
David Bray - A Sense of Wonder
Linda Bray - A Sense of Wonder
Llynn Burton (B)
AmyCat - Book Universe
Ian Carruthers (B, W)
Paul Caspell
Lyman Caswell
Debbie Cross - Wrigley-Cross Books
Scott Custis (B)
Jules Dickinson (B)
L. Timmel Duchamp - Aqueduct Press
Lise Eisenberg
Entwife Judy (B)
Doug Faunt (B, T)
Jack Foy B
Don Glover
Jeanne Gomoll (B)
Cynthia Gonsalves (T)
Glenn Hackney
Mary Hart (B)
Jane Hawkins
Liz Henry (B, T)
Denys Howard
Bill Humphries (T)
Julie Humphries
Blunt Jackson
Jordin Kare
Mary Kay Kare (B, T)
Jerry Kaufman (B)
Janet Lafler
Jane Larsen - Lady Jayne's Books
Ruth Leibig (B)
Marci Malinowycz (B)
Stef Maruch (B)
Luke McGuff
Vonda N. McIntyre
Fred Moulton (B)
Janice Murray
Gerald Nordley
Debbie Notkin (B)
Ulrika O'Brien
Lyn Paleo
Spike Parsons
K. Dawn Plaskon (B)
D. Potter (B)
Cat Rambo
Neil Rest
Alan Rosenthal
Anita Rowland (B, T)
Anita Rowland (B)
Ruth Sachter
Peggy Rae Sapienza (B)
Kate Schaefer
Karen Schaffer
Stu Shiffman (B)
Allegra Sloman
Ian Stockdale (B)
Cathy Sullivan
Suzle Tompkins (B)
Thom Walls - WYSIWYG Books
Mike Ward
Donya White
Tom Whitmore - Bookseller
Gayle Wiesner
Sarah Withee (B. W)
Paul Wrigley - Wrigley-Cross Books
Keith York (B)
B = Banquet ticket
T = T-shirt
W = Writers' Workshop participant
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