Norwescon Filking

Below is a copy of my current music related notes for Norwescon. (These are my regular working notes, so please forgive the vagaries of phrasing.) I'm sending this out as it is a critical time in Norwescon planning: If you have anything you would, or would not, like to see; a suggestion on someone else to invite; or whatever; PLEASE LET ME KNOW NOW. This is your event, to participate in and enjoy, and your feedback makes a difference. Comments can be directed to <quarong at eskimo.com>; other con info is available via the means in my signature below.

I look forward to seeing you there!

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ATTENDANCE:

• YES = Heather Alexander, Betty & Dave Bigelow, Jeff Hitchin, Scott MacHaffie, Jane Mailander, Darragh Metzger, Miki Nelson, Phil Obermarck, Pipin Sardo, Joe Warton-Banks.

Avalon Rising (Margaret Davis = yes. Kristoph Klover, Deirdre McCarthy, Beth Milne, and Anthony Medina = unknown.)

• NO = Joe Bethancourt, Cecilia Eng, Lee & Barry Gold, John Hedtke, Rebeccca Neason, Cynthia McQuillin, Stephen Prescott, Spider & Jeanne Robinson, Jane Robinson, Steve Savitsky,
• UNKNOWN = Maya & Jeff Bohnhoff, John Bunnell, TJ & Mitchell Burnside-Clapp, Steve Dixon, Duras Sisters, Quentin d’Or, Cat Faber, Lynn Gold, Arlene Hill (Clarrisse), Jordin & Mary Kay Kare, Kathy Mar, Anne Prather, Telynor, Larry Warner, Leonard Zubkoff,

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FILKING PANELS [* Item with one participant indicating interest in speaking on. ** = two participants, etc. Data as of 1/25/98.]

• ANTIQUE INSTRUMENTS = Racketts, hurdy-gurdies, and crummhorns. You see them at Folklife, but where did they come from and how do they operate? Our afficienados of strange noise-makers will conduct the introductions.
  • CELTIC DANCE WORKSHOP = Have you seen Riverdance? Come learn a few of the simpler social dances of celtic culture. It's fun and easier than they make it look. (Scott MacHaffie, instructor. Ideally 2 hours, Friday or Sat daytime.)
• CLASSIC FILK = “Lime Jello” and “Dawson’s Con”: What were the popular songs when Norwescon was young? What stories do they have to tell us about science fiction history?
  • DRUM CIRCLE = Bring your percussion instruments, (or boots, notebooks, or anything else that makes noise), and join us for some wild rhythms! (Dave Tackett. Friday during the day would be good, or that night somewhere *away* from the concerts. He’d prefer 9-11pm on Friday.)
  • FILK 101 = Whether you're new to the circle or an experienced participant, come with your questions and your comments. (Should be Thur evening or Fri morning)

MUSIC & MOVIES = You're busy with the plot and the dialog, so you don't even notice it's there, but without music movies and television shows lose much of their impact. What makes a good soundtrack, and how do the technicians put it all together?

• MUSIC AND OUR LIVES = What draws us to filk music? How do songs affect our moods and preserve our history?
• PARTICIPATORY JAM = Bring your voice and your instruments, and join us for a round of instruction and experimentation. (Heather Alexander, Moderator. Ideally 2 hours, daytime.)
  • RECORDING INDUSTRY, THE = What are the technical, legal and marketing aspects of producing your own album?
    • SONGWRITING WORKSHOP = Bring a song you’ve been working on, a few chords, or just some ideas. Our experienced filkers will answer your questions, and demonstrate the songwriting process in front of your ears. (Jeff Hitchin, Moderator. Ideally 2 hours.)
    • THEME PANEL: CHILDREN’S FILK = Young and old, come join us in KidKon for some fun sing-alongs. (KidKon at Westercon was willing to do this, but we never got it organized; it would be nice to try it again.)
      • THEME PANEL: MEDIA FILK = Babylon 5, Star Trek, Star Wars, and our other favorite shows captured in song.
      • THEME PANEL: MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE MUSIC = Period music from the SCA and sources far older, and in a variety of languages. (If the SCA will be doing a demo on Sunday, that would be a good time to do this, especially if I could coordinate with some of their people for additional bodies.)
    • THEME PANEL: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SONGS = Computers, genetics, and spacecraft, oh my!
    • TOP 20 FILK SONGS = “Heart of the Appaloosa”, “Signy Mallory”, “Tech Support”, and “Banned from Argo”. Come enjoy some of the most popular songs of this genre. Lyrics will be provided. (Immediately after Filk 101 would be good.)

[A couple of other panels not technically part of this track, but of possible interest = How poetry & music have affected history, Midi technology, How to make your own cd-rom,]

OPEN CIRCLES:

• 1 room for Thur, maybe 2 rooms for Fri and Sat night). Some time Sun afternoon would be nice too. Evergreen 3 & 4 has worked really well in the past for the main room, the secondary room could be in the Cascade wing.
• Starting Times = Thur 8pm would be nice as many people have already done a full day at work. Fri we can start the small room at 8 or 9pm, and the main room after the concerts. Sat there are folks who will filk opposite the Masquerade, this can be the small room at 7; with the main room at 9pm.
• We can abide by a 4am rule like at Orycon if necessary, but I’d really rather the hotel wasn’t bugging us before at least then. (Realistically, Thurs will probably die by 2am, Fri is at least 3am, Sat is the really late one, as a rule.) If morning programming doesn’t start until 10am, there should be no reason for them to clean before about 6am; especially as that’s when morning shift usually starts and it’s bigger than the night shift. This worked at Westercon.

PANEL ROOMS:
-- Figure “The Recording Industry will draw about 20. 101 and MaoL will be
up to 30. The Cascade rooms could work for these.
-- The Theme panels can go up to 50, and the general Concerts to 75, 100
for the professional groups. The former could probably be in one of the Evergreen rooms, the Concerts would need both.
-- Don’t put anything before 11am, and try not to schedule much of this
opposite each other, it’s already a limited audience.

CONCERTS:
-- I’d like at least one 4-5 hour block that I can divide into 1/2 hour
segments. Friday evening from about 6/7 to 11pm would be best. (Thursday there’s not yet enough a crowd to be really fair to the performers, use it for Circle, Panel or a Theme Hour. Saturday is the Masquerade which draws most of your potential audience. There will be folks who want to do a Circle during it, but shifting from Circle to Concert is tough.)
-- Heather Alexander and Avalon Rising have each requested an hour slot,
and given that they are professional musicians, they’re worth it! These can be day or evening.
-- Evergreen 3 & 4 (or 1 &2) would be ideal.

• The technological backup to do this right would also be really nice; it makes a major difference in quality, and therefore enjoyment. For the professional groups, it’s almost essential. At Westercon, we had 4 boom mikes, a 6 input mixer/amplifier, two speakers on poles, and another speaker as a monitor. This worked nicely, and I don’t think cost all that much. I can scam the bodies (or do it myself) to run the equipment, but I’ll need tech support to setup it up/break it down.

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TIMELINE LATE JANUARY = Programming will know what rooms and how many timeslots are available to schedule things into. All of the survey data entry will be done; and the process of matching panels, speakers, and timeslots will begin.

FEBRUARY = The panel wrangling nightmare will continue. (For those of you who’ve never done this before, think of the worst variable juggling problem from your junior high math class & multiply by 2000. :)

FEB 15th = All biographies must be received by Publications for printing in the Program Book.

MARCH 1ST = All panel descriptions and the associated list of speakers must be submitted to the Program Book. Itineraries will be sent out in the first week or so: Please let us know immediately if anything needs to be changed on yours.

MARCH 7th = All room layouts and equipment needs must be turned over to the Technical and Hotel depts.

MARCH 15TH = Deadline for the Pocket Program, which will contain the grid of which panels are occuring at what time.

APRIL 9-12 = THE CON!

I think that’s it for now. Comments and questions are always welcome.

Quarong  

<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Karen Rall, Music Programming Coordinator for Norwescon 21. Please reply to <quarong at eskimo.com>. --- NWC will be held April 9-12, 1998 at the DoubleTree hotel in SeaTac, WA. General info is available at <nwc at eskimo.com> or <www.webwitch.com/top/sf>. Received on 02/02/98