2014 Corflu

Corflu31-logo_s

The inventors of the Effless Corflu, Nic Farey and Ken Forman, invite you to Cor31u in Richmond, VA from May 2-4, 2014.

Looks like Nic and Ken generously squeezed a few letters out of the convention’s title so they could donate them to their hotel. A former Holiday Inn, the venue now has more names than a purebred dog — the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Richmond-Midlothian. Corflu’s room rates will be $94/night (plus taxes).

Memberships in the convention are $80 full, $25 supporting (£50/15 UK).

More information is in Progress Report #0 (July 2013).

Other committee members are John Nielsen Hall and Randy Byers.

Why Westercon?

Before long, says Tom Becker, all issues of the Westercon 66 daily newzine Tardum Flumen will be online. Til then here’s an appetizer from the final issue, #7, an interview with John Hertz conducted by Randy Byers:

John Hertz has been attending Westercon regularly since the 1970s. I asked him why, and here’s what he said.

Westercon is bigger in scope than a local convention, and smaller than a continental or Worldcon. That’s nourishing for me.

To me Westercon is 2,500 people, but that was the 80s. However, it’s interesting that the people coming to these 600-, 800-, 900-person Westercons are the knowledgeable fans. These are people who go to Worldcon. They’re very involved. A lot of bidders come to Westercon because there is an unusual proportion of Worldcon voters here.

There’s also something that a general-interest convention has to offer which a special-interest convention hasn’t, and that’s cross-fertilization. At a general-interest convention you can meet people you didn’t know you wanted to meet. Your chances are better at a regional than at a local.

“Better to promote the good than to rail against the ill.” That’s Tennyson. The poetry fellow. Another way to put it is a version of the 80-20 rule. We should put 80% of our resources – time, money, energy, creativity – into strengthening what’s going right, as far as the person looking at the situation is concerned; 20% to curing what we think is going wrong. There’s plenty of diversity because you and I will have different ideas about the things which need strengthening.

That’s one reason I do these Classics of Science Fiction talks. Not that we should write those books now; we’re not living then. But I think we should stand on their shoulders. We should try to do as well in our way as they did in theirs. Let’s spot what that is and turn it to our own purposes.

Corflu Bid From the Mysterious East

“It’s been noted by many that the eastern part of the US has not been well-served by Corflu locations over the last several years,” writes Nic Farey. “So with that in mind, a distributed team has virtually assembled to redress this omission.”

The crack team assembled to bid for the 2014 Corflu is led by Nic Farey and Ken Forman, co-chairs, John Nielsen Hall, Treasurer and UK Agent, and Randy Byers, Assistant Treasurer and US Agent, supported by Warren Buff, Aileen Forman, Nathan Madison and Curt Phillips.

They want to hold the Corflu 31 in Richmond, VA at the Holiday Inn Koger Conference Center (also home to RavenCon) over the May 2-5 weekend in 2014.

Their bid will be considered at the Corflu XXX (Boomchikawawa) business meeting.

2012 FAAn Award Winners

The winners of the 2012 FAAn Awards were announced April 22 at Corflu Glitter. Here are the results posted by Geri Sullivan.

Best Website: eFanzines.com, hosted by Bill Burns

Harry Warner Jr. Memorial Award Best Letterhack; Robert Lichtman

Best Perzine: A Meara for Observers, ed. Mike Meara

Best Single Issue or Anthology: Alternative Pants,ed. Randy Byers

Best Fan Artist: Steve Stiles

Best Fan Writer: Mark Plummer

Best Genzine or Collaboration: Banana Wings, eds. Mark Plummer and Claire Brialey

#1 Fan Face: Mark Plummer

Hertz: Byers’ Blue-Ribbon WOOF

By John Hertz: Only a few days after Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon, WOOF contributors who could not attend had received their copies of WOOF 36 by mail or courier.

WOOF, the World Organization Of Faneditors, was one of Bruce Pelz’ ideas, an amateur press association in which zines are collated annually at the World Science Fiction Convention.

Most s-f apas are collated quarterly, or monthly.  There have been dozens over the years.  FAPA (Fantasy Am. Pr. Ass’n), our first, founded in the mid-1930s, is still ongoing.  So is APA-L (Am. Pr. Ass’n – LASFS, produced at but not by the Los Angeles S-F Society), another Pelz project, founded in the mid-1960s, collated weekly – a shocking frequency before the rise of E-mail, still remarkable; so is WOOF, founded in the mid-1970s.  The chief procedural honcho and Great Panjandrum of an apa is the Official Editor (sometimes by local custom, or deserving, called other things).

Randy Byers was the OE of WOOF for 2011, following Lloyd Penney and Alan Stewart.  WOOF contributions are even less governed by rule than other fan activity.  Byers was bodacious.  In fourscore pages he got a Stu Shiffman cover, photos from Stewart’s 1994 DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) trip to Winnipeg, David Cake the current DUFF delegate, John Coxon the TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) delegate, Claire Brialey & Mark Plummer, Chris Garcia, Guy Lillian, Penney, regulars Dean Gahlon and Roger Hill, and a host of others.

He modestly said he took up the task because some idealist in a funny hat persuaded him.  This like many modest disclaimers is a half-truth.  He’s willing to wade in the water, and he quotes Chuang Tzu.  His bark is worse than his bytes.

Byers: WOOF Reminder

By Randy Byers: This is just a reminder to anyone who is planning to submit a fanzine to WOOF (the Worldcon APA) this year.

Copy count is 69.

I need to know the title and page count of your zine so I can add it to the ToC.

THIS IS A CHANGE SINCE MY LAST ANNOUNCEMENT: If you are mailing your zines to me rather than delivering them (or having them delivered) to the convention, I need to receive them by Monday, August 15th. I had previously said the deadline was the 16th, but it turns out I’m leaving for Reno before mail arrives on Tuesday.

There will be a drop box in the fanzine lounge for anyone who brings their fanzine to the convention. Please drop them off by noon Friday.

Collation will be at noon on Saturday in the fanzine lounge.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions at [email protected].

Cheers,
Randy Byers
2011 OE for WOOF

Byers: The Lead Dog Speaks

By Randy Byers: The World Organization Of Faneditors (WOOF) will once again distribute an APA at the Worldcon this year, and you are invited to contribute a fanzine to the project. Please feel free to share this announcement far and wide.

Since Renovation is the 69th Worldcon, copy count this year is 69. There will be a drop box in the Fan Lounge for your contribution, or if you can’t make it to the convention and can’t find a courier, you can mail your contribution to Randy Byers at 1013 N 36th St, Seattle WA 98103, USA. If you are mailing your contribution, it must arrive at this address by August 16th.

Collation of the distribution will be in the Fan Lounge at noon on Saturday the 20th. Volunteers to help with the collation are welcome to join in the fun.

If you are planning to contribute a zine, please contact me with the title and page count so I can put them in the Table of Contents. You can e-mail this information to me at [email protected], or mail it to the above address.

I’ve already had a number of first-time contributors express interest in participating this year. Whether you’re a first-timer or an old-timer, I hope you’ll take part as well.

[Randy Byers is WOOF’s Official Editor this year.]

Hertz: Byers Will WOOF

By John Hertz: I’m happy to say Randy Byers will be Official Editor of WOOF for Renovation (2011 Worldcon).  

WOOF, the World Organization Of Faneditors, is an apa (Amateur Press Ass’n) collated annually  — yes — another product of Bruce Pelz’ imagination — at the Worldcon. I believe, without looking, this year’s will be WOOF 36. The 2010 OE was Alan Stewart. The 2009 OE was Lloyd Penney.  

Byers is one of the triumvirs who publish Chunga, was the 2003 TAFF (Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) delegate, and is a fine fellow.  

Collation will be at noon in the Fanzine Lounge on Saturday — not Sunday, Monday isn’t a holiday in this year’s Worldcon weekend.

In Zed We Trust

Corflu Zed logo

Randy Byers sends along even more reasons to attend Corflu Zed in Seattle, March 13-15:

The Eaton Collection, in the form of Rob Latham, will be attending Corflu as part of the outreach to fandom that has been written about recently in Earl Kemp’s eI and Chris Garcia’s Drink Tank. Chris and Rob will be on a panel at the convention to explain the Eaton Collection’s mission vis-a-vis science fiction, fanzines, and fandom. The Eaton Collection is also hosting a pizza party in the consuite on Saturday at 6 p.m.

We are organizing a couple of different tours for Friday. Jack William Bell is leading a tour of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, which is pretty much a no-brainer attraction to any hardcore science fiction fan. For those who have already seen the museum we are also talking to the Seattle Architectural Foundation about arranging a guided walking tour of the University District (where the Hotel Deca is located) with a special focus on the imprint left by the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1909, which exactly a century ago played a key part in Seattle’s development. Anybody who is interested in either of these tours should contact us at [email protected] so we can get an idea of the headcount.

Byers also promises there are going to be some interesting characters at this year’s Corflu, including the rare and legendary Tobes Valois.

Meanwhile, you have until March 5 to e-mail in your FAAn Awards votes to [email protected].