Last summer there was a SFRA (Science Fiction Research Association) Conference in Albany, NY. One of their guests was David Weber. He consented to be our Author Guest of Honor.

David is probably best known for his "Honor Harrington" series of novels, starting with "On Basilisk Station". He has also written "Honor of the Queen," "In Enemy Hands," and about a dozen other Honor Harrington books. Rumor has it that his newest novel should be coming out around the time of the convention. David has collaborated with Steve White and one of our previous GoH’s David Drake, on numerous military science fiction books, but, space opera isn’t all that David does. He also writes fantasy, and runs a wicked D&D game.

Our Artist Guest of Honor Ruth Thompson is one of the best fantasy artists around. As with all of us science fiction and fantasy fans Ruth was bitten very early by the bug. Her parents told her stories of goblins, fairies, and dragons. When she got old enough to put crayon to paper, she started drawing them.

Her artwork has been used by Wizards of the coast for "Magic: The Gathering" cards, "Dragon", and "Dungeon" magazines. Her other works include Steve Jacksons "Gurps", and the cover art for Royal Fireworks Press’ line of children's books. Another person who played D&D.

We regret that our Fan Guest of Honor, Forrest J. (Forry) Ackerman, has had to cancel for health reasons.

Our Filk Guest of Honor is Michael "Moonwulf" Longcor. I first heard him at Arisia a few years back. His "Privateer," "Rhinotillexomania," as well as some of his other parodies, and ballads make him a very respected and sought after filk guest. One of our earlier Filk Guests of Honor, Mark Osier won a filk contest at OVFF with a filk entitled "When I Grow Up I Want To Be Michael Longcor."

Outside of filk, Moonwulf is an active member of the Dorsai, Baron of Rivenstar, which is one of the Ohio Baronies of the SCA. He is another who played D&D. His concert will be one of the highlights of this years’ convention.

We will be privileged to have some of the classiest and most respected writers and artists attend our convention as program participants: Lois Gresh, John Allen Price, Mark Garland, Dr. Dave Stephenson, Dr. David DeGraff, Nick DiChario, Lloyd & Yvonne Penney, Ed Covannon, and many other local and not so local science fiction, comic book, and gaming professionals. One note, Robert Sawyer who usually attends our convention will be in South Africa as head writer on a new science fiction detective series! That is great news for him but we will miss his jovial demeanor at the con. But, you never know.

We intend to provide you with guests who are thought provoking as well as easy to approach. We have a history of our guests being interesting and very "fan friendly".

Hotel:

Once again we will be at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 120 Main Street, Rochester, New York 14604. It was our first year at this venue last year. And the space was pretty good. But this year we will be expanding the art show and dealer’s room.

As we are at a downtown hotel, there is limited on-street parking. Parking at a meter is usually free on the weekends, but, it is very hard to find an unused meter. The hotel has parking which is very inexpensive. The parking at the hotel is $3.50 if you are a hotel guest. Otherwise it is $6.00 per day.

But alas, it is one of the few hotels downtown that don’t have a heated indoor pool. They do have a fitness center though, and all the rooms have a coffee maker and data ports.

The hotel connects to the convention center, and through the convention center, connects to Midtown plaza. Where you can go and do some shopping if the con doesn’t have everything you will need.

Now the real information you want about the hotel. The rates! The Four Points Sheraton is providing us with the rate of: $75 per night, for anything from a single through a quad! We know how fen are. You want to save your money on the more important things at the convention. The dealer’s room and the art show. This makes it a very inexpensive weekend for a group of fen to share a room for the weekend. Staying at the con is one of the best things about going away to cons. No commuting, and you have a place to put all the stuff you buy while at the con. No lugging bags of books around the con. Just drop them off in your room.

You can call them at: (585) 546-6400 or toll free 1-800-325-3535 just mention Astronomicon to get the convention rate when reserving your hotel room.

Reservations.

While our block of rooms is full, THERE ARE STILL ROOMS AVAILABLE, AT
THE CON RATE, until 10/18.  To reserve a room, call the hotel direct
at (585) 546-6400, and ask for ON SITE RESERVATIONS (Susan Goodwin or
Angel).  Tell them you would like to book for the Rochester Fantasy
Fans convention, at the con rate ($75/night).
 

Directions:
Driving from the South:

390 North to 490 East, follow to exit 13, Plymouth Avenue, Downtown West. At stop light, turn right. Go to second stop light and turn left onto Main Street Go through four lights and the hotel will be on the left.

Driving from the East:

Take exit 45 (Rochester I-490). Follow 490 West approximately 15 miles to exit 16, Downtown Clinton Avenue. Stay on your left on Clinton Avenue. At the third light, turn left onto Broad Street.

At the third light Turn right onto Exchange Street. Follow one block and take a right onto Main Street. The hotel is one block on

the left.
Driving from points West:

Take exit 47 (Leroy I-490). Take exit 490 East toward Rochester
(20 miles). Follow 490 East to Plymouth Avenue, exit 13. Follow the directions as above.

Driving from points North:

Either come in from the South, East or West, or have a pleasant swim across lake Ontario. The Ferry won’t be ready for this convention.

By Greyhound or Trailways bus:

We are about two blocks from the terminal. Head west on Main street until you get to the hotel. Which is the second traffic light.

By Train:

We are a short walk from the train station. Head south on Clinton Avenue to Main Street. Turn right heading west on Main Street. The hotel is about one block away on the right.

Personnel:

As you know a science fiction convention like Astronomicon is a fan-run event. And being a fan-run event, it runs on volunteers. We need volunteers to help make your weekend a great time. Helping out in the Con Suite, Video Room, Green Room, Programming, Registration, just about everything. You name it, we can use you. You get to see what a con is like from up close and personal. You get the con t-shirt, and you get to meet some great people too. Contact: gophers(at)Astronomicon.info

Filler Art:

As always we need filler art for our program book. We will be asking both pro and amateur artists to send us black & white art to us at the address below. Mark it: Attention Program Book.

Programming:

This year our programming we hope will be as good and diverse as ever. We will be running two tracks of panels, along with workshops, and readings. Some of the ideas that we have for panels include: Religions in the future, Fun, fun, fun, on the infobahn, The history of fandom, Archeology in science fiction, New ideas in fantasy, Gender in science fiction, Suffering for your art, and a lot of what we think will be thought provoking as well as fun. Contact: Programming(at)Astronomicon.info

We are planning a meet the pros party on Friday evening in the con suite. Here you will get to meet the guests up close in an informal type of atmosphere. There will be wine, cheese, light music, and good conversation.

Dealers:

This year we will be moving the dealer’s room to a bigger space in the hotel. Last year, we were really cramped in the room that we had. We had to turn away dealers because we had no where to put them.

Dealers tables are 6 foot long and 30 inches wide. They are $30 each with a limit of three. The reason for the limit of three tables is to promote diversity in our dealers room, but if you need four tables, the earlier you get in, the more accommodating we can be. If you have special needs like electricity let us know.

We will have dealers selling comics, jewelry, fantasy weapons, new books, used books, toys, posters, t-shirts, models, and fannish items too numerous to mention. So bring your want lists, and go to town. It will be a good place to shop right before Christmas. Contact: dealers(at)Astronomicon.info

Art Show & Auction:

One of the highlights to attending Astronomicon is our art show and auction. We bring together one of the largest collections of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic art each year to the Rochester area. Once again as with the dealers room, we have expanded the art show space to accommodate more artists.

There is no fee for hanging art, but we do ask a 10% commission for all art sold at/during the convention. We also need to know how much space you will need. So when you ask for space keep in mind the size of the flats. The flats are 4x4 sheets of pegboard. If you need table space for 3-D art let us know.

The space will be allotted on a first come, first served basis. The space usually goes very quick once the artists on our mailing list have been contacted. The art auction will be held Saturday evening around 9pm. For more information, or to request copies of the bid sheets or control sheets you can contact us at: artshow(at)Astronomicon.info

Advertising:

Advertising in our program book is one of the best ways to draw attention to your business, store, convention, or worldcon bid.

The print run is to be 500 copies, which will be distributed to all attendees. The Size of the book is: 5.5" X 8.5". Deadline of October 1st, 2002.

We prefer all ads to be line work, or to have very small areas of solid black. All ads must be submitted in black ink on white paper, properly sized and "camera ready". Which means your ad should have a .5" boarder all the way round. Any photos should be ready for print work, i.e. halftones must be in black and white. The prices are as follows:

Pro                           Fan

$100.00--------------$50.00-----------Full Page----------4.5" X 7.5"

$50.00---------------$25.00-----------Half Page----------4.5" X 3.5"

$30.00---------------$15.00------------1/4 Page-----------2.25 X 3.5"

Contact: publications(at)Astronomicon.info

Gaming:

As with last year we have a plenty of space for gaming. We are planning on all kinds of games. Board games, role-playing, and live action games are in store for you if you have the time and want to game. You never know since most of our GoH’s have played D&D, you might find yourself in a pick-up game with one of them. Gaming is still being planned so contact: games(at)Astronomicon.info

Masquerade:

Since we are the day after Halloween, don’t put away that costume! The masquerade will be held this year in the Gleason Room The masquerade will be held Saturday evening. You can register to be in the masquerade at the registration desk. Costumes of all kinds will be welcome. This year we will have prizes for the best costumes at the convention.

Video Room:

Once again we scour the world of videos to come up with an eclectic selection of videos. Sure we will have some of your favorites, but we try to select movies that aren’t played at every con you go . If you have a selection that you would like to see you can contact us at: video(at)Astronomicon.info

Anime Room

As with our video room, the anime room was one of our more popular rooms last year. With videos like "Battle Angel", "Ninja Scroll", and "Sorcerer Hunters" you can see why it was so popular. This year we plan on having as good if not better selection of anime for you to see.    video(at)Astronomicon.info

Membership:

Membership rates are $25 U.S. until September 1, 2002. Thereafter and at the door the rate jumps to $40. We have rates for families that want to come to the convention. The family rate is $60. That will get you two adult memberships and two children memberships for the entire weekend. As with all conventions we will offer a daily membership rate. The rate for Friday only will be $15. The rate for Saturday only will be $25. And the rate for Sunday only will be $15. As you can see it would be less expensive if you bought a full membership in advance.

We will be offering discounts if you belong to a science fiction club. All you have to do is to send a copy of your current membership card and you will be entitled to a $5 discount. Only one discount per person. There are some of us who belong to more than one club. So only one discount per registration. This discount applies to a full weekend membership only.

We also offer discounts for groups. Again this will be for groups of five or more. They must all be sent in the same envelope and you get a $5 discount for each person in your group. Again, this discount applies to a full weekend membership only.

N.Y.S. liquor laws require that we check for Proof of Age, so please be prepared to show it when you register. Children under 12 will be free, but they must be accompanied by an adult who has registered for the con.

The registration table will open on Friday from 5pm til 10pm. Saturday from 9am til 7pm, and Sunday from 10am til 2pm. These are tentative hours for the registration table. The actual times will be posted at the con.

Contact Info: