With Escapade 18 behind us–and all grown up–we look forward to Escapade 19 spreading her wings and deciding to get a little wild. *g* Currently we’re in the process of selecting a weekend in March 2009 that conflicts with as few other regional and/or slash conventions as possible. Now is the time to let us know if you know of March, 2009 conventions, so we can do our best to schedule our con around them. Continue reading “It's Escapade 19!”
At-convention Prices Extended through 3/31/08
Our Filemaker host is experiencing technical problems that have prevented us from generating the new reg database for Escapade 2009. We hope to have it sorted out this weekend. As a result of this SNAFU, we are extend the at-convention rate (only for people who were members of Escapade 2008) until 3/31/08. We’ll send a message as soon as the new database is working.
At-convention pricing is $85 for membership, $35 for dealers tables. You can always send a check to: Escapade, P.O. Box 1753, Goleta, CA 93116. Or you can paypal the money to info@escapadecon.net.
Escapade Debt Retired, with Our Thanks
As you all know, Escapade had a potentially huge shortfall this year and we asked for your support to help retire the debt. The support was… phenomenal. So generous that we were deeply moved by your contributions. The total amount contributed to retire the Escapade debt was $2,456.
And then we lucked out with the hotel. Due to some very sharp negotiating from Charlotte, we reached a settlement that was covered by our initial contract plus an mount far less than the $5,000 Jenn feared and, in fact, far less than the $2,456 you contributed. So. If you wrote a check directly for the debt retirement fund, we have torn up your check and will contact you privately. THANK YOU—we’re grateful for your support, and grateful that we are able to return it to you. If you contributed via the art show charity auction (thereby receiving a valuable service *g*), or in cash, any remaining funds are in a kitty that we’re trying to decide what to do with. More on this below. If you contributed in your pre-reg check for 2009, we can refund you by check or paypal, or place your contribution in the kitty to be discussed below. We will contact you privately via email and act per your wishes. Again, our thanks to all of you.
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO. So. We have approximately $600 in cash remaining in the debt retirement kitty, and no clear idea to whom this money belongs. Because part of our negotiation involved a much more strict contract for next year (that we believe we’ll be fine with—we were very careful about our room guarantees and such), it might be wisest to leave this money sitting in case there is a shortfall next year. If there is NOT a shortfall (and we should know this based on room blocks by early February of next year), those of you who so generously contributed would be “sponsors” for the post-convention dead dog party, with some really nice food and drink. If there is a shortfall, then the hotel would get it anyway. 😉
We’re open to ideas about how to identify contributors and return the money to you, or to any other thoughts you have on what to do with the remains of the contribution. To those of you who contributed, please email us with your thoughts or comment here or on the con LJ, and let us know what you’d like us to do.
Post-convention Hangover…
Well, it’s almost 96 hours since we finished negotiating with the hotel to close out the bill for Escapade 2008, and we’re already in the planning stages for Escapade 2009. There has been much sleeping, and some re-engagement with real life.
Closing out 2008 includes:
Mailing art (and payment) to non-attending artists– DONE- Mailing vids to non-attending vidders – scheduled for this weekend
- Mailing reg packets and vids to supporting members – scheduled for this weekend
Making the bank deposit(DONE) and closing the books – scheduled for this weekend
Planning 2009 includes:
- Creating a new database (with enhancements per comments from attendees) – this weekend
- Choosing dates – today
- Update critical information on the website – this weekeend
- Begin plan to revise & expand the website info – rest of the month
Submission of Songvid Info Fixed
Due to an error in the permissions structure, the submission of songvid info was not working. That’s been fixed now. To enter your vid info, you’ll need to log into the reg database. If you don’t haven’t recieved login info yet, you may need to create a new record. Just click the “Sign Up/Sign In” link at the right side of this page, and then select Guest Account, and follow the directions. If you’re a non-attending vidder, be sure to put that information in the notes field, so I don’t start hassling you to pay your reg balance.
Happy New Year from Escapade!
Just a quick progress report to bring things up to speed.
Panels. It’s time to begin submitting your suggestions for panels. This is where the convention really begins to take shape, and it’s your opportunity to have it reflect your current interests. Look around at the topics that you’ve been discussing in groups or on LJ, wanting to discuss, or the unanswered (fannish) questions that have been preying on your mind.
The things to include with your suggestions are:
- Category: general, fandom-specific, tech/workshop
- Title. Note: Catchy titles get more votes. Panels with more votes are more likely to make the final cut.
- Description. Two or three sentences about the panel.
- Your badge name.
You can submit them any of the following ways:
- Respond to this post on the Escapade page
- Comment to this post on LJ
- Email to info@escapadecon.net with Panel Suggestion in the subject line.
Deadline for panel suggestions is January 23.
Once we’ve collected the panel suggestions, we’ll conduct online voting for the most popular panels, and begin creating the Escapade schedule.
Hotel Update.We’ve heard from some people that they’ve had trouble getting the rooms they want at the hotel at the convention rate ($125/night). I just spoke with our hotel representative today, and they have made more double rooms available at this rate. If you already booked your room and did not get the convention rate, please call the hotel. They should be able to accommodate you. Those of you who have not yet reserved your room, please do so as soon as possible, as the hotel is expected to fill up well before the convention weekend. We want to make sure you have a place to stay.
Escapade Scholarship. Each year we are delighted to offer a scholarship to someone who’s never attended Escapade before. We love to have new faces (and voices) at the convention. If you know someone who’s active in fandom (in the past we’ve had writers, vidders, artists, and essayists) that you think would be an asset to our community, let us know! Also, we gratefully accept contributions from the membership to help defray the cost of bringing this person to the convention. If you’d like to make a contribution to the scholarship fund, we’ll be adding a link to the Charity page on the Escapade site.
Getting Logged In to the Database
The content of the Escapade site is available without the need to login. However, to access registration information, you will need to log in using your unique username and password. Access the registration database by clicking the Sign up/Sign in for Escapade! link at the right of this page, not the “Login” link at the bottom of the page. That’s for page maintenance, and yes, we’re going to try to move it or change the text so it’s not so confusing. Login information went out by email. If you didn’t receive an email but think you should have drop us a line and we’ll get you hooked up.
Oh my god! Things are working!
I can’t believe we finally finished the new website and registration database. As I type this, emails with personalized login info for the new database are going out to all users.
At the new site, you don’t need to sign in for any of the information pages. However, to check your registration details or see the list of all registered members, you’ll have to log in to the registration database. There’s a link at the right side of the page that says Sign up/Sign in. If you had a login to the old site, I’ve sent an email to your private email address that has your new account name and password. If you’ve never had a login, you can sign in as a guest, then create your account.
We’ve tested the system as completely as we can, but there’s no substitute for a dozens of people poking around. Go, try it out! And if things seem to be weird let me know. We expect to be sorting it out over the next couple of weeks.
The New Website
As promised (if later than anticipated) we’re rolling out a new website for Escapade. This is the bare bones, but it will be growing and changing over the next few days, including up-to-the-minute online registration information. Stay tuned!
Escapade 2008…Whaddya Mean March?!?!
Yes, it’s true. Escapade is exploring new territory (at least as far as the calendar goes). Due to constraints from our new hotel, and guided by responses to our very first LJ poll, we have moved Escapade into the first weekend in March.
When: March 7-9, 2008 (with early registration on the evening of Thursday, March 6)
Where: Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach
Attending Registration: $100 through December 31, 2007, then $125
Supporting Registration: $35 (receive reg packet, DVD, and our undying gratitude)
Dealers’ Tables: $35 each
We will be updating the look of the website, and the database that supports it over the next few weeks. Don’t worry if you come back and things look like they’re under construction. They probably are.