Check out the latest Ascendio newsletter now online at http://hp2012.org/?page_id=2490
It features the latest announcements, updates and reminders!
Latest News
Formal Programming Schedule is Officially Out!
The Ascendio team is proud to announce our Formal Programming sessions. It includes everything from JK’s women to Snape’s Redemption to How to Make a House Scarf bracelet. Interested in from Hunger Games or Quidditch or online games? We’ve got that! How about publishing, crafts, law, education, psychology, history, or religion? Whether you are a fan of the Harry Potter books, films or both, there is something for everyone!
Click on this link to see the listing of Formal Programming sessions. There’s also a online grid to help you get a better view of where and when each session will take place. Grid Views: Thursday | Friday | Saturday & Sunday
There are so many different wonderful presentations planned for this year’s event that it’s going to be tough to figure out which sessions to attend. That’s why we’ve created an Ascendio scheduling app using Guidebook. You can download your copy now at: http://guidebook.com/g/Ascendio/
Please remember there are lots changes that happen in conference schedules…even up to the last minute. Please check back frequently for updates including cancellations, session time changes, speaker changes and program additions.
Web Grid views: Thursday | Friday | Saturday & Sunday PDF Grid views: Thursday | Friday | Saturday & Sunday
All programming is subject to change. Please check back frequently for updates.
Harry Potter films’ Padma Patil – Afshan Azad – to attend Ascendio!
Attending her first Harry Potter fan event, Afshan Azad, who played Padma Patil in the last five Harry Potter films, is thrilled to attend Ascendio! Fans will get insight into what it was like working on Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, alongside Dan, Emma and Rupert.
Afshan will be doing a programming session where you can hear about her Potter experience and ask her questions, plus there will be autograph and photo sessions throughout the weekend.
Not only that, but Afshan, who is a true-blue HP fan, will be sitting on one of our thought-provoking formal programming panels, adding to a discussion of privilege and race in Harry Potter.
Afshan had to say of Harry Potter and coming to Ascendio:
“My time filming the Harry Potter films was a life changing experience I will never forget. I have taken away memories to last a lifetime and have met such amazing people along the way! We all wouldn’t be here without the dedication and loyalty of the fans and I can’t wait to visit the Wizarding World and all you out there, so we can all share the magic together! 
Afshan Azad (Padma Patil) xxx”
Excited to meet Afshan? Register for Ascendio! There are many registration levels and types available, and the Full Registration (which comes with two yummy feasts!) is $225 through May 8.
Follow Afshan on Twitter and say hi!
Libba Bray coming to Ascendio!
Just when you thought you couldn’t get more excited for The Quill Track… amazing YA author and Printz award winner Libba Bray will be joining us at Ascendio! Libba is the brilliant mind behind Beauty Queens, Going Bovine and the Gemma Doyle series (witches at boarding school – you can’t go wrong!). If you haven’t read her books (any or all of them!), the Ascendio staff are huge fans and highly recommend them all.
Libba will be speaking about girls in YA, the power of friendship and LGBTQ and diversity in YA fiction on the following panels:
Friday
12:30-2 p.m., Tuscan IV
Katniss, Bella, and Hermione: Finding the Balance Between Asskicking Prowess and Emotional Realism in the Girls of YA Fiction
5-6 p.m., Venetian III
Friendship is Magic: Relationships Beyond Romance in Harry Potter & YA
Saturday
11-12:30 p.m., Tuscan IV
Say Yes To Gay YA:LGBTQ and Diversity in YA Fiction
Additionally, Libba will be doing a reading/signing — details TBD!
The Quill Track is exclusively available to Ascendio attendees and is a unique opportunity to hear all your favorite authors — and new authors you’ll be thrilled to discover — speak on Harry Potter, young adult lit and the publishing industry. Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to meet them, get your books signed and ask your burning questions!
Hotel Update
At this point, Ascendio’s Portofino Bay Resort is sold out on Tuesday/Wednesday (July 10/11) before the con but there are still rooms available from Thursday through Sunday; we are working with the hotel to move things around so more rooms are available at our $210+tax/night rate for the days before Ascendio begins, but you can make a reservation for Thursday-Sunday now and add on the earlier days when they are available. Click on
Reminder: Sign-Ups for Fanfic Readings Close on May 3
Ascendio will be hosting fanfic readings throughout the conference – and the deadline to sign up is this week!
Are you a fanfic writer, or have a favorite fic you’re dying to do a dramatic reading of? Ascendio wants to hear from you! Slash, het, gen, drabbles, epics — anything goes! We invite Ascendio attendees to submit their information to our Fanfic Readings Chair, who will coordinate readings throughout the whole weekend! Authors big and small are encouraged to do readings, as well as fans of stories whose authors will not be attending. However, we do ask, if you’d like to do a reading of someone else’s work, that you secure permission from the author before doing so.
Artists, We Need You!
We’ve been saying it all along – the Portofino Bay Resort is a spectacular convention space. It looks like Malfoy Manor after Narcissa finished redecorating it after the fall of Voldemort, but with slightly more Murano glass chandeliers. You’re going to be amazed by the space!
But it still could use a few touches of wiazarding art to magic up the place, and we need your artistic and creative talents to help us enhance the space!
We’re looking for two kinds of art: (a) 2D and 3D pieces for display in the Ascendio Art Gallery alongside official Mary GrandPre art and special pieces of Harry Potter film concept art, and (b) art that can be used to decorate Ascendio programming rooms and corridors, as well as the Ball.
Decorative Art
Team Ascendio is looking for mural-size art to be shown in common areas; pieces should resemble advertising posters or banners, portraits and street art, and can be as large as 48inx54in. Maximum rating for decorative art is PG-13, and things that look like they are part of canon and/or the wizarding world are preferred. The deadline for submission of drafts is June 1, 2012.
Some possible ideas are Wizard Rock, Quidditch and wizarding product posters/ads for food, fashions, wands and more, collages, caricature drawings, formal portraits and Wanted posters. Art must be mailed to us in Orlando by mid-June, or delivered to the decorating team in person by June 20, 2012. We may be able to print a limited number of pieces.
To submit Art/Decor, or share an idea or draft that you have, send an email with a scan or photo of your draft or completed work to our Decor Chair, Tara, at ready2danc [at] gmail.com, or feel free to email her with any questions.
Art Pieces for Gallery
Are you an artist who would love to see their work on display at in the Ascendio Gallery, which will again connect to the Common Room and main event space? Whether you are attending the conference or not, we would love to display a wide variety of fan work at our art gallery. The deadline for consideration is June 15, 2012.
If you have questions or are ready to send in your submission, email artinsights [at] gmail.com (without the spaces). If you’re submitting your art, please include a clear scan, photo or digital version of your submission and put Ascendio Gallery in the subject. If you’re interested in submitting art for display and inclusion in the Ascendio Charity Auction, you do not have to be registered for Ascendio; we’ll be thrilled to include your contribution!
The Ascendio Gallery is seeking the following:
- illustrations/paintings (sketches, watercolors, acrylic, charcoal, etc.)
- 2D & 3D pieces
- sculpture
- photographic work
- multi-media (except fanvids; see the link above to learn how to submit fanvids)
- textile creations
- arts & crafts
- LEGO- or kit-based creations
The entire Call for Art is here; we can’t wait to see what you submit to the Gallery, and to decorate the halls, rooms and amazing con-space!
Give the Gift of Ascendio!
