New Gaylaxicon 2009 info

[drewan]

Things are really starting to come together for Gaylaxicon 2009. We have our guests, our hotel. All that's missing is you!

Guests of Honor: Margaret Weis
Co-author of the original Dragonlance stories, and former book editor at TSR, Weis comes to us from southern Wisconsin. She continues to write with collaborator Tracy Hickman, and owns Margaret Weis Productions, LTD, which released the Serenity RPG. Aside from Dragonlance, her other series include both science fiction and fantasy. The Deathgate Cycle, Rose of the Prophet and Star of the Guardians are among her best known works.

Guests of Honor: Andy Mangels
Author, DVD feature producer, journalist and editor, Mangels has had a hand in virtually all aspects of comics creation. He's written comics taking place in most of the major fan universes, such as the DCU, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Elfquest. Author of many guidebooks, and companions, he's working on the forthcoming Wonder Woman Companion, released in 2008 from TwoMorrows Publishing. Former editor for Gay Comics, he regularly writes columns for The Advocate, Star Trek Monthly, Just Out and Back Issue magazines, among others.

Guests of Honor: Lawrence Schimel
Prolific writer and editor in many genres, Schimel currently resides in Madrid, Spain. A Lambda Literary Award winner, he has written fiction, poetry, comics, as well as books on gender studies, sports and even a cookbook benefiting meals on wheels programs for AIDS patients. He has also served as co-chair for Publishing Triangle, the GLBT organization of the publishing industry, and has numerous short story collections, such as the American Vampire series.

Hotel: Doubletree Hotel Minneapolis - Park Place
Rates start at $140 for a 1-2 person standard room. Deluxe and suite level rooms are available. Convention rate registration will start on October 9, 2008 (one year in advance of the con). Click here for more information.

Gaylaxicon 2009 will include: Art Show, Autographs, Cabaret, Charity Auction, Costuming, Dealers Room, Discussion Panels, Gaming, Guests, Local Events, Parties, Readings, Video Program, and more! More details on all of these will be coming soon.

You can now register online!

Watch our website, http://www.gaylaxicon2009.org, for more information!

Comments

[433.livejournal.com]

Not to be rude, but are Gaylaxicons usually so expensive? It's a pricey (by con standards) hotel, and the pre-reg (a year and a half out) is already $60.

What does the higher price go for?

Thoughts from a former gcon chairman...

[dracut.livejournal.com]

Even though I'm not directly involved with this convention, I'll pipe up.

Gaylaxicon's are generally more expensive from a membership perspective than the typical fan run convention. They tend to have activities and features of much larger conventions, (such as international guests!, great consuites etc) with a much smaller attendance 200-300. So I guess you pay a bit more, but personally I've had much more interesting and rewarding interactions with guests and fans at Gaylaxicons than a typical fan-run convention.

Everything I've heard about hotels, is that they've gotten much worse over the last year or two for convention's. Gcon also travels, so there's not a "usual" hotel we can count on to go back to year after year. Hopefully the economy slowing down will help future hotel rates without putting too much of a pinch on the pocketbooks of attendees.

[drewan.livejournal.com]

My off the cuff answer is yes, this is pretty normal for Gaylaxicons. There is a slight increase over the 2008 rates.

We really struggled this year to find a good hotel, and we still ended up with a high F&B. This, plus guest travel, food, materials, and other costs, is only spread out between 200 to 300 members.

Not being a numbers kind of guy (that's why I make websites), the above is only a guess. I'll push your question around the committee and see what the official answer is. I expect we'll get that question a lot from local fans.

Of course, save money... register early!

[dracut.livejournal.com]

Already a member and looking forward to it!

Great set of guests too! I'm happily surprised to see Lawrence Schimel. I thought two major author guests was enough, but I guess it's three and growing!

[drewan.livejournal.com]

Well, I think we are done with our official guest list. If we could afford it, I would really like to add an artist to the list.

[drbombay.livejournal.com]

We will be talking to a number of local writers and artists about attending as pros.

[perkk.livejournal.com]

That reminds me that I need to register. Thanks!