Airport Marriott Hotel
Bloomington, MN
March 4-6, 2005
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MarsCon 2005 Airport Marriott Hotel Bloomington, MN March 4-6, 2005 |
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Ahoy, maties!
We are just about ready to weigh anchor and set a course for MarsCon at the Marriott in March. Thanks to all who have recently registered or volunteered for duty. Hope ye are looking forward to going on the account with us. For them as have not, tis not too late to board. We are a merry crew, and the galaxy is full of ships. There be plenty o booty for all. No prey, no pay. Here is an update:
MarsCon is an annual science fiction & fantasy convention sponsored by FenSF, Inc., and run completely by volunteers. Our theme for MarsCon 2005 is "Galactic Pirates and Mercenaries." We will be celebrating our seventh annual MarsCon in fine, piratey style with Guests of Honor:
Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in Star Wars)
Richard Herd (L'Kor & Admiral Paris in Star Trek/John in V)
Timothy Zahn (author of The Thrawn Trilogy)
Stephanie Gannaway-Osborn (NASA)
Todd Coss (Trooper Clerks)
The Great Luke Ski (Dee-mented musical artist)
Ron Ross (Featured Guest Artist)
The convention takes place March 4-6, 2005, at the Airport Marriott in Bloomington, Minnesota, right across the street from IKEA and the Mall of America. Convention activities include concerts by:
Eric Coleman
Tony Goldmark
The Nick Atoms
Possum Willy
Raymond and Scum
Serling's Rod
The Great Luke Ski!
Sudden Death
The Worm Quartet
There will be panel discussions, readings and other events featuring our guests, fans and talented authors:
S.N.Arly
Ruth Berman
Paula Fleming
Walter Hunt
P.M.F. Johnson
Naomi Kritzer
Catherine Lundoff
Kelly McCullough
Lyda Morehouse
Kathryn Sullivan
Joan Marie Verba
Anna Waltz
Others TBA
A Preliminary Program Schedule is posted at: http://marscon.org/2005/programming/schedule.html. Other notable guests participating in programming will be:
Robert Dante (World's Fastest Whip) & the daring Tina
Michael J. Laine (LiftPort Group/Space Elevator project)
Craig R. Lang (MUFON)
There will be sf/fantasy theme parties hosted by fun-loving clubs and individuals. Planned parties include:
A Journey Home, by IKV WarHammer
Cosmic Tulip Lounge
Costume Conclave, by DreamStitcher
Diversicon Party, by SF-Minnesota
D-Notice
The Dread Port Nassau
Eccentric Artists
Firefly Party
The Green Room, by USS Nokomis
Imperial Navy Recruiting Center, by IKV RakeHell
Klinzaa Lounge
The Minnesota Gamer's Guild
MISFITS/CONvergence
MN-stf/Minicon
Odysseycon
Party for Readers
The Source Comics & Games
Tolkien Party
Tales of the Unanticipated
Valleycon
World Defense Force
Gaming will be around the clock and in abundance. There will be open gaming, scheduled games, and gaming parties. Here are some games currently scheduled:
Friday:
Inuyasha, Feudal Grounds-Constructed
Munchkin
Warlord CCG demo & CE tournament
Dork Tower
Toon
Fantasy Bar-room Brawl
Saturday:
GURPS Traveller senario (Delta 3 is down)
DragonBall GT Expanded Regional
SpyCraft CCG & Warlord CCG Demos
Hydra Sanction Tournament
D&D: The Pirates of Ilmwatch
WARMACHINE
D&D for Kids (ages 6-12)
Warlord CE constructed DragonLord tournament
GURPS Traveller scenarios (Space Dogs)
DragonLord Challenge Booth
Ninja Burger
Munchkin
Caveroom Brawl
Destroy All Monsters
Beer & Pretzel Space Marines
Skating Penguins
Sunday:
DragonBall GT, Sealed
Chez Geek
WARMACHINE
Greed Quest
Spar-room Brawl
A Preliminary Gaming Schedule is posted at: http://marscon.org/2005/programming/gaming.html. In addition, there will be science & art exhibits, specialty vendors, movies, singing, dancing, drumming, costumes and more. It's an entire weekend of fun for the whole family.
Registration rates go up after January 31st to our at-the-door rates, so please send in your forms now if you haven't already, and make sure your friends and family members are registered.
Current Weekend Rates (through 1/31/05): $42 for adults; $15 for children ages 6-12; Free for children under 6 years of age. At-the-Door Rates (after 1/31/05): $55 for adults; $25 for children ages 6-12; Free for children under 6 years of age.
Group Registration (through 1/31/05): Groups of 10+ can take $5 off each registration if they register as a group. The registrations must be submitted together and payment must accompany the registration forms. This cannot be combined with other discounts.
Supporting Memberships (through 1/31/05): Supporting members pay a reduced rate of $20 and then complete the transaction by paying an additional $25 at any time up to and including at the door.
To register for MarsCon, simply mail in a registration form along with your payment to this address:
MarsCon
P.O. Box 21213
Eagan, MN 55121
Registration forms may be found at many local conventions, at comic/gaming supplies stores, in our Progress Report mailings, or on the web at: http://marscon.org/2005/register/reg_form_v_2.pdf, OR you can register on-line using PayPal at: http://marscon.org/2005/register/index.html. Get your own little slice of Mars, right here on Earth. Register today.
Sleeping room rates at the Airport Marriott for MarsCon weekend will be $79 + tax per day. This year, MarsCon party rooms are the same price as sleeping rooms. To reserve a room of either kind, call 952-854-7441 or 1-800-228-9290, and make sure to mention "MarsCon" in order to get the reduced rates.
If you are planning to host a party, go ahead and reserve your room with the hotel, but also please contact MarsCon directly so we can keep your room close to the other parties, see to your room requests, and include your party on the master list so attendees will know about it. There is a Party Room Request Form and Parties Map on our web site at: http://marscon.org/2005/hotel/parties.html.
Are you planning to drive a long distance to MarsCon with a couple empty seats? Do you want to find a quarter of a room to sleep in? A party room to share with another group? For your convenience, a room share/ride share message board appears on the MarsCon web site at: http://marscon.org/2005/hotel/rideshare.html. Feel free to use this page to link up with like-minded folks. Oh, yeah, and do all that stuff your mother taught you about dealing with strange people... even strange fen...and especially spammers.
MarsCon is run entirely by volunteers. And, guess what? You qualify! Come to one of our final, frantic planning meetings in the remaining weeks before the convention, and allow us to press gang you into service. The perks are priceless. The appreciation, enormous. The behind-the-scenes stories? Well, you can only imagine.
Planning meetings take place at the convention hotel, the Airport Marriot, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and we usually grab a bite together after each meeting to gab some more. Mark you calendar and stop by on one of these dates:
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
March 4-6, 2005 (THE CONVENTION HAPPENS!)
To add yourself -- or remove yourself -- from our email list please surf to http://mail.marscon.org/mailman/listinfo/marstoday and scroll down to "Subscribing to Mars Today" (to add yourself to our list) or "Mars Today Subscribers" (to remove yourself). Follow the instructions and you're in (or out). If you have any trouble at all with your Mars Today subscription tell the MarsCon webmaster via (2005 email addresses disabled - please see the 2006 email addresses) .
Thanks once more to volunteers! We could not possibly do this without you! More volunteers are always welcome & needed!
Current email: info05k@marscon.org (Our email address changes often due to spam, spam, spam, wonderful spam. Surf to: http://marscon.org/stat/aboutus/talktous.html" for how to contact us if ever an address is not working.)
© 2005 FenSF, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This page last revised January 12, 2006 at 01:51 PM
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