Åcon the Second: 1–4 May 2008

If the rumors are to be believed, the first Åcon wasn’t a complete failure. So we’re doing the same thing again next year! I’m hereby announcing Åcon 2, to be held in Mariehamn 1–4 May next year. More details to follow, but the general idea is to not change a working format. Membership fee will again be 20 €.

Greetings from GoH

Hal Duncan asked us to pass this message along to all our members:

You all helped make the con a roaring success as far as I’m concerned. Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Ålanders — the Nordic nations rock. I’ll be trying to find the time to blog a con report, but I just wanted to say it direct as well… the con was absolutely fucking brilliant and it was a total pleasure to hang out with everyone. I’ll be back to Scandinavia somewhere and somewhen in the future, you can be sure, if I have to swim it!

All the best,
H/Al

Whåt They Are Saying

Con reports and blog posts about Åcon are being gathered here. If you know of some that aren’t mentioned, please put a link to it in the comments, and we’ll add it to the list.

Note: when blogging about the con, please tag your posts with ‘åcon’, so they will be easier to find. The same goes for photos too.

• Nya Åland
• Partial Recall
• Babek nabel
• Anne/Mila Updated Thu
• Jukkahoo
• Marko K
• Ahrvid
• Juha A
• Aleksi K
• see also “Åcon in blogs” in the link bar for recent blog posts mentioning Åcon

Photos:

• all photos on Flickr tagged ‘åcon’
• Tero (more to be added soon)
• Juha
• Jussi, set 2, set 3
• Jonas
• Anders W
  
• Anders R
• Olav
• Tommy
• Sarianna

It’s Åver!

Åcon is over and everybody’s gotten safely (as far as we know) off the island. The organisers wish to thank all the members — and especially our amazing Guest of Honour Hal Duncan — for making this con the success it was!

We welcome feedback (positive and negative) from everybody who attended — you can leave a comment on this post, or e-mail it to the committee if you don’t want all the world to see it. There’ll be a separate post for linking to the con reports, photos, and blog posts a bit later.

GoH Has Landed

Our Guest of Honour Hal Duncan has arrived in Turku. Åcon is almost here! See you tomorrow!

Hal Duncan (on the right) at Turku railway station, with Sari, Jukka, and Mekku.

Programme Skeleton Ready

Yes, we have programming at Åcon! The programme page contains a general structure of the programme items during the convention. As you can see, the programming is quite relaxed, with ample time to see Mariehamn, eat, and find time to talk with friends in the bar.

Book Guest of Honour

Åcon’s “book guest of honour” is Dan Simmon’s praiseworthy magnum opus Hyperion, the first part of a longer work often called the Hyperion Cantos. The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and the sequel The Rise of Endymion extend the original Hyperion pair into a quartet.

There will be discussion about the book and its merits, structure, and influence on the field at the convention, so this might be a good time to go back and refresh your memories of it!

Still Room at the Con

There are a few rooms left at the hotel, and they promised that even though they won’t hold the rooms for us, you can get them while they last at the special con rate by mentioning Åcon. So if you’re still undecided about coming, don’t hesitate but reserve your room now!

The same goes with the ferry bookings – if there are cabins left, you can inquire about the special Åcon rate. No promises here, though.

The Amazing Extending Deadlines

In case you’re in the middle of a mad last-minute rush, here’s a (very) slight bit or breathing room for you: the travel and hotel booking deadlines have been extended until the day after tomorrow, Sunday 15 April.

Last Days to Reserve Your Hotel Room

Remember to reserve your hotel room for the convention. The deadline for the special con price is this Friday (the 13th)! More info on the hotel info page.