There were six, count ’em, six progress reports for Swancon Twenty3. Unfortunately we only have PRs 2 thru 6. PR 2 says “Did you miss out on Progress Report 1? And do you really, really want to own one? Well, we have 20 copies left, for those who feel that such an item is an essential part of their fandom archives. All you have to do is get in touch with anna at xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx. (or at home, XXXX XXXX)”, but I suspect that this offer is long since exhausted (as are the email address and phone number which I have elided).
The progress reports are each an A3 piece of paper, folded in four so they look like an A5 booklet. Progress reports 5 and 6 are two A3 sheets folded in four, nested one inside the other.
Each has cover art on the “front” quarter, with “SWANCON TWENTY3” in white type on a solid background, and with cover art. Each “back” quarter has “SURFACE MAIL” and “POSTAGE PAID AUSTRALIA” and a blank space for a mailing label (or hand-written address) in the top half, and a “the committee” and “Known Associates” listing in the bottom half, with contact details for the committee. The contact section also says “Have you seen our glorious web page? If not, point your browser at http://www.gu.uwa.edu.au/swancon” That web page is so not there anymore. (I just checked.)
The “inside cover” of each PR has a colophon listing When, Where, Who, What, etc. PR2 lists the venue as The Orchard, and subsequent PRs list it as the Hotel Grand Chancellor, as the hotel had changed hands and changed names. PR2 lists the guest as “TBA”, and subsequent PRs list it as Lois McMaster Bujold.
The internal spreads have chunks of text in varied fonts at odd angles on varied subjects. Each internal spread also features fan art by Colin Sharpe of Mr Frumble, a pig from Richard Scarry fame. In each one, he is seen chasing after some sort of head gear: in PR2 he’s in medieval soldier armour and is chasing after his helmet. In PR3, he’s a Robin Hood pig and his hat has blown off. In PR4, he’s an astronaut chasing after his helmet. In PR5 he’s Batman, chasing after his batmask. In PR6 he appears twice: once as a Pig In Black chasing after a flying suacer, and once as Elvis, chasing a hamburger.