The coming season promises to be eventful and fun for the sci-fi/fantasy faithful.
We hope the Thanksgiving holiday finds you with many happy thoughts for which to be thankful. Now is time to register for MarsCon before the rates go up again on January 31st, reserve your hotel/party room, and solidify programming and gaming schedules. The articles below contain news about MarsCon gaming, an invitation to be kind to pookas or volunteer in some other way, information about a showing of the Princess Bride at Plaza Maplewood, an announcement concerning a new Twin Cities webzine, instructions on how to register and book your room for the convention, and directions to the next MarsCon planning meeting. Read on & enjoy.
We are incredibly grateful for the support we are receiving from various groups and individuals willing to help out with games this year. Thanks, everyone! Our Gaming Suite will be held on the second floor in Appleterrace, a room with windows overlooking the pool area, next door to the hotel's video arcade and fitness room and close to programming. We hope to host all kinds of games there, i.e., RPGs, CCGs, board games, miniatures, whatever can be squeezed into the available space... The Source Comics & Games Store will be running some events there, selling some cool stuff in the Dealers Room, and hosting a thirteenth-floor party as well. TwiRP, an official RPGA Network game club based in Minneapolis, has offered to assist with running some RPGA events. The LAN Party will be upstairs on the thirteenth "parties" floor, close to the elevators. LAN gaming is offered courtesy of Eregion. Thank you, Eregion!!
A gaming schedule is in the works, and we hope to post it on the MarsCon web site shortly. Here is a preliminary list of games you may expect to see at the convention:
If you are planning to attend MarsCon and think you might be available to GM, run a LARP, or other game, or if you'd like more info, please send us email or contact MarsCon via phone or snail mail. Thanks in advance for any help you are willing to offer or any info which might lead to more fun games at the convention.
We seem to be having a little difficulty recruiting volunteers to serve as convention guest liaisons for Harvey. Harvey is a sweet, kind pooka, who only bites gently when entreated to do so by his closest friends. He doesn't mind if his liaison gets a little tipsy during the convention, as long as he stays on time for scheduled events. Harvey, being the helpful pooka that he is, plans to assist with Party Judging on both Friday and Saturday night during the convention, and his liaisons are welcome and encouraged to join him in this pursuit. Harvey has scheduled one autograph session during the convention weekend. He will be signing Program Books at no charge, though there is a modest fee for 8"x10" glossy photos. His liaison would assist with handling all requests for autographs. If you or your friend are interested in serving as Harvey's liaison during MarsCon weekend, please get in touch with our Volunteer Department right away. We are also seeking volunteers for the Art Show, Programming, Charity Auction, Science Room, Security, and, well, just about every other department.
Email: 2003info@marscon.org;
Phone: 612-724-0687.
MarsCon is completely run by volunteers, and we are thankful for any help you offer.
Maah-widge. Maah-widge iths what bwings us togeth-ah today. Come join us for THE PRINCESS BRIDE, featuring Cary Elwes as the dashing rogue-pirate, Robin Wright as the beautiful princess bride, Chris Sarandon as the evil prince, and Mandy Patinkin as the swashbuckling renegade. Show times are Friday & Saturday, November 22 & 23, at 11:30 p.m., at the Plaza Maplewood. The Plaza Maplewood is just off White Bear Avenue on Larpenteur Avenue (south of Hwy 36) in Maplewood, Minnesota.
MarsCon Movie Nights take place at the Plaza Maplewood Theatre on the fourth weekend of each month. Admission price is $4, and ticket sales help us put on a great convention with a reasonable membership rate. Concessions help out the theater, so don't forget your Dots. Have some fun, kick back with popcorn & pop, see a good movie, and hang with other friendly folks!
Coming Attractions:
***Nov 22/23 - The Princess Bride
***Dec 27/28 - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
The Twin Cities Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a fantastic web magazine featuring stories and poems by local authors, launched this past September. In case you would like to submit your own work, the editor is particularly interested in stories that are set in the Twin Cities area, though stories set on Mars and other locales are also considered. To find out more, please visit: http://www.tcmsff.com.
Our home for 2003, the Holiday Inn Select is by I-494 & 34th Ave South in Bloomington, Minnesota, conveniently near the Mpls/St. Paul Airport and the Mall of America.
Sleeping room rates at the Holiday Inn Select for MarsCon weekend will be $89.95 + tax per day for a regular room or $99.95 + tax per day for a suite. To reserve a sleeping room at the Holiday Inn Select, call 952-854-9000 or 1-800-HOLIDAY, and make sure to mention "MarsCon" in order to get the reduced rates. Renting a room at the hotel is a wonderful way to enhance your convention experience. It gives you a home base, a place to park your stuff, entertain friends, and land whenever you finish with partying throughout the convention weekend ... not to mention it makes the host hotel very happy with the convention.
The thirteenth floor of the Holiday Inn Select will be our party floor for 2003, with additional parties on the twelfth floor. A map of the thirteenth floor has been posted on the MarsCon web site, along with a closeup map and list of parties. If your group or party is not listed, but you plan to throw a party at MarsCon, please let us know asap. Party floor rooms are $109.95 + tax per day, and must be booked through the convention. Party rooms are assigned on a first come, first served basis. To reserve a party room, please contact MarsCon directly via Email 2003info@marscon.org, phone 612-724-0687, or snail mail at P.O. Box 21213, Eagan, MN 55121.
Take a break, and register for MarsCon! Registration forms for MarsCon may be found at most local conventions, many comic/gaming stores, at our movie nights, and, yes, even on the MarsCon web site. If you're on the MarsCon mailing list, you'll receive progress reports which also contain registration forms. (If you're not on the mailing list or if your address has recently changed, let us know via one of the methods listed below, and we'll fix it.) Just fill out the form and mail it in to register for the convention. On-line registration through PayPal is also available via the web site.
Rates:
**Adults $40 or Children (6-12) $15 until 1/31/03
**Adults $50 or Children (6-12) $25 At the Door
**Supporting Memberships $15 before 1/31/03 + $25 when you arrive at con
MarsCon planning meetings (also known as ConCom Meetings) are generally held on the third Sunday of each month, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Meetings are open to all, volunteers and spectators alike, and we encourage you to attend if interested or even mildly curious. [It's a little-known fact that these meetings can actually be fun. Shh...] Here is the schedule for upcoming ConCom Meetings which will all be held at the Holiday Inn Select, I-494 & 34th Ave S, Bloomington, MN:
Directions: Driving EAST from Bloomington, etc: Take I-494 to the 34th Ave exit. Turn south -- away from the airport -- and drive to 80th Street, the first light. Turn east -- left -- and the hotel entrance will be immediately to your right.
Directions: Driving WEST from St. Paul, Wisconsin, etc: Take either Highway 5 (St. Paul) or I494 (Wisconsin) to the 34th Ave exit. In either case turn south -- away from the airport -- and drive to 80th Street, the first light. Turn east -- left -- and the hotel entrance will be immediately to your right.
Special items on the agenda for November's meeting include finalizing the weapons policy and brainstorming programming ideas. See this clever map for further directions to the hotel. Hope to see you there!
MarsCon 2003: "No One Here Is Exactly What He Appears"
Holiday Inn Select, I-494 & 34th Ave S, Bloomington, MN
Feb. 28-March 2, 2003 -- All Weekend Long!
HOW TO CONTACT MARSCON
E-Mail Address: 2003info@marscon.org
Snail Mail: MarsCon, P.O. Box 21213, Eagan, MN 55121
Web Site Address: http://www.marscon.org
Phone: 612-724-0687 (no collect calls, please)
© 2002 FenSF, Inc. All rights reserved.
See you there!
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This page last revised January 12, 2006 at 01:51 PM