Synopsis by Elaine Walker
Festive happenings is the programme booklet for Swancon 22 giving the schedule of the events, any screenings and synopses of panels. I shall be including a small selection of panels from each day. All typos reproduced as faithfully as possible
The cover page had the title (festive happenings) with each letter in a little box and the year in Roman numerals (MCMXCVII) bracketed by parallel double ended arrows, horizontal and vertical.
Page 2 had the map of the venue on it giving information on where the registration was, the main panel rooms (City Lights, Panorama North and Panorama South), the fan lounge, general purpose rooms (mostly gaming I think) and Banksia Room which was where any video screenings were. And of course the stairs, labelled clearly as being ‘downstairs to the bar’.
Pages 3-4 were Friday.
There was a schedule giving the events in each panel room at the top of page 3, then a list of panels. It should be noted that dinner was usually one and a half hours and lunch an hour. I think most people were eating at the hotel so that made it easier.
7:30pm Going Home Again Book Launch. Event
Howard Waldrop our Guest of Honour, reads “Scientifiction”, original to his new collection, Going Home Again. Once the reading is through we will move to the City Lights room for the launch party.
8:30pm Big Guns in Space. Panel
Need I say more, is space opera eternal, what will develop when war reaches space?
Danny Heap, Dave Luckett, Rob Masters, Sean Williams
There was an Illuminati tournament that evening, and various items being screened.
Pages 4-8 were Saturday.
Page 5 contained the schedule, and the panel lists were before and after that.
Selected panels:
11:00am SF Rock & Roll. Panel
Is Buddy Holly “more popular than God” in SF publishig? “Do Ya, Do Ya Wanna, Wanna Dance?”
David Cake, Russell B. Farr, Howard Waldrop, Sean Williams
2:30pm Women in Medieval Literature. Discussion
Discussion on the portrayal of women in Medieval Fantasy. Did they exist, or could they have existed in the way they are portrayed in this genre?
Gina Goddard, Emma Hawks, Jenny Smith
3:30pm I can’t believe I read that. Discussion
We’ve all done it, we read a book and it’s so bad that you had to finish it to make sure it is as bad as you thought it was, or, even worse, you enjoyed it.
Sally Beasley, Stephen Dedman, Rob Masters, Leece Smith
7:30pm The Great Debate – “The Anti-hero has murdered the Hero”. Event
The audience decides the winner.
Sue Ackermann, Gina Goddard, Grant Stone, David Luckett, Ian Nichols, Grant Watson, Julian Ackermann
9:30pm Bad SF Monsters of the recent past. Panel
There are lots of them out there, why do we like them so much. A panel of monster junkies discuss why we should all watch them.
Danny Heap, Robin Pen, Howard Waldrop
Saturday also had the Market Day in Panorama North until dinner.
Today’s video was brought to us by Simon Oxwell, entitled ‘TechnoGeek’. I’m fairly sure some of the “pm”s on page 7 were meant to be “am”s.
Pages 9-12 were Sunday.
Selected panels:
9:00am Rumble in the Hong Kong Bronx. Presentation
Hong Kong has the third largest movie industry in the world and Jackie Chain is arguably the biggest action star in the world. Come find out why this industry is influencing the American market and what makes their films so much fun!
Warning this panel is rated MA, Violent scenes.
David Yeates
1:00pm Shaggy God Stories-and the man behind the curtain. Panel
Science fiction and fantasy comments and critiques on the real world religions.
Stephen Dedman, Nick Evans, Sean Williams
3:00pm Do it yourself Conspiracy
Yes everyone is out to get you. Watch and participate as a conspiracy is created before you very eyes.
David Cake, Danny Heap, John Parker, Robin Pen, Sean Williams
Schedule was on page 10.
In an interesting scheduling choice the Masquerade was scheduled to start during the dinner hour. Though the judging not till 6:30pm. Possibly people grabbed food afterwards, or during the fireworks.
8:30pm Danny and Robin let down their… Discussion
Danny Heap and Robin Pen do what they do best, have a couple of drinks and bullshit on about anything and everything.
Danny Heap, Robin Pen
The main specified gaming on Sunday was the Magic tournament [which I think I entered but didn’t place in – ed.]
The video stream on Sunday was John Samuel presents ‘Not all Dubs are Evil’
Pages 12-15 were Monday
10:00am The Auction. Event
Come bid for the rare, strange and common. These auctions are like no other.
11:00am Mini Quiz. Competition
Cone test your knowledge in the mini SF&F quiz. Questions ranging from the easy to the hard to the impossible.
Grant Watson, David Yeates
2:30pm Interurban Queen: the best alternate universe story in this world. Panel
Howard Waldrop and others discuss R.A. Lafferty’s brilliant story and pose the question, “What is the best alternate universe story”?
Howard Waldrop, Jack Dann, Russell B. Farr, Grant Stone
3:00pm Glorantha. Panel
A panel of people rave about their favourite Fantasy universe.
David Cake & friends
Thank you to everyone who appears on any programme item, has helped suggest any item, or helped in any way with the programme in general. Special thanks to the following: Robin Pen, Dave Cake, David Yeates, Danny Heap, Sean Williams and Martin Livings.
The main gaming for Monday was a Free Form in Panorama North.
For the video for Monday Grant Watson presents ‘Anarchy in the UK’
The following people deserve thanks: Grant Watson, Simon Oxwell, John Samuel, David Gunn, David Yeates, Anna Hepworth, Elizabeth Trump, Brian Trump, Rick Jakins, Geoff Tilley, Scott Barkla, Jump Point, Mike Groeneweg, Guy Dyson, Russell B. Farr, Tom Edge, Craig Greenbank, Ian Oxwell, Andrew Bailey and Rebecca Bradley.
Finally…
This booklet contains almost everything you’ll need to know about the events of this convention: what’s on, who’s on it, where is it, what is it? Plus some other stuff you may find useful such as
Things to say to guests:
“Hi, I’m a huge fan of your work. Can I buy you a drink?”
Things to say to the committee:
“Hi, great con. Can I buy you an extremely alcoholic drink?”
In order to facilitate this, we have arranged with the Metro Inn, “happy hours” during the dinner break each night, cheap drinks so you can buy all of us one. Just make sure your badge is prominently displayed.
Finally if you have any queries, see the Registration Table. If they can’t help you, they will know how to find a committee member who can. They’ll know all about the breakfast and lunch deals with the Metro Inn, gossip, and the capital of Washington State.
Enjoy!
The back page contains the wording (in comic sans):
caveat emptor
programme booklet for SwanCon 22
The Festival of the Imagination 1997