Ascendio 2012

Sort of. Glockgal, Ascendio’s Artist in Residence, will get creative in the Ascendio art gallery (connected to the Common Room) – she’ll be drawing throughout Ascendio, and her works will be available at Sunday’s Charity Art Auction.

ArtInsights Animation and Film Art Gallery will have on display an exclusive collection of original art used in the making of the Harry Potter film series and new exclusive not-to-be-missed limited editions never before available in the US! Whether you are a Weasley fan or a fan of he who shall not be named–there will be something for every art lover, and only at Ascedio!

At 11 AM on Thursday, July 12, the Art Gallery will open with a splash and a reception, and the Gallery will stay open through the afternoon. On Friday and Saturday, the Art Gallery will be open from 9 AM til 7 PM, and in addition to the fantastic collection of art from official Harry Potter artists and talented fan artists, there’ll be a space for artists and crafters to get creative individually or on group projects. Come by and draw, sketch, color or paint – or admire the works created by your fellow fans.

Because Ascendio’s  pricing structure is so flexible, you can mix-n-match a number of ways to personalize your StarKid experience – and fit your budget as well. Remember that any level of registration includes admission to our Ball on Saturday night and all non-ticketed items on the day that the registration is valid.

Are you going to the Arisia Science Fiction Convention! HPEF/Ascendio is sponsoring a Harry Potter-themed party for adults only, in Room 462 at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel on Saturday, January 14 from 9 til midnight.
Costumes encouraged, especially if you would like to win a prize. We will have Cauldron Cakes! Butterbeer! Ascendio Swag! Members of all four Houses are welcome, as are alumni from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang! Those without a house may be Sorted! Muggles may need a wizard or witch to help them enter.
CLICK TO RSVP

October 13 is International Beta Reader Appreciation Day, or possibly International Beta Readers’ Day, but never International Beta Reader’s Day, as it’s a day meant to celebrate all beta readers around the world.

The Harry Potter fandom has been marking Beta Readers’ Appreciation Day since at least 2000, when the ZENDOM mailing list hosted a Beta Reader Appreciation Day questionnaire and discussion. By 2002, October 13 found LiveJournal full of authors praising and thanking their beta readers for making them better, more thoughtful writers.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a beta reader is someone who reads a draft of your story and edits it for continuity, compliance with the canon (such as the Harry Potter books, or films), grammar, spelling, and, of course, magical spells. Some sites, such as SugarQuill, required new authors to work with a site-approved beta reader before posting a new story, while other sites allowed authors to choose their own beta readers, but would not post fics that had significant grammar or spelling issues.

Cons have consistently provided opportunities for authors to meet longtime beta readers in person, sometimes for the first time. Other attendees find a beta reader at cons, either in a formalized workshop setting or through informal conversations. At Azkatraz, Pokeystar was introduced to C by a mutual friend, and once they were home from the trip – and had caught up on their sleep – they started working together regularly.

If you’ve been a beta reader, or used a beta reader, why not propose a programming session about an aspect of beta reading, host a workshop to teach others how to be a good beta, or organize a meet-up of beta readers? Our meet-up request form is here, and information about submitting a programming proposal for a round-table or workshop can be found here.

Come meet Team Ascendio as we take a break from our site visit/planning meeting to check out City Walk! We’ll be at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday, October 9 from 7 PM til about 9.We’ll be talking about our plans for Ascendio, recruiting volunteers and introducing most of Ascendio’s Senior Staff. We may have a few sneak previews of Ascendio news, too!
Appetizers are on us! (But, like at our Feb. 2010 get together, everyone pays for their own drinks & dinner if you order some). Parking at Universal City Walk is expected to be $3 if you come to the parking lot after 6 PM.
If you’re on Facebook, please RSVP on our event page; if you’re not on Facebook, just post a comment on this post.
Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you soon!

Birds of a feather flock together!

Find other like-minded fans at Ascendio by hosting or organizing a meet-up. From shippers to doll enthusiasts, for fans of specific fan groups, wrock bands, sites and teams and fandoms (Hunger Games! Merlin! Game of Thrones!), meet-ups are a great way to connect with other con-goers who love the same things. Our Meet-Up Chair, Noe, is happy to assist groups in finding space to meet at the convention. We will have limited rooms available during formal programming hours, but most rooms will be available to book after-hours — large and mid-sized meeting spaces will be allocated to groups on a first-come, first-served basis. You can bring your own snacks in, so now’s the time to plan that Remus/Sirius indoor picnic! Meet-up information sent to HPEF before May 1, 2012 will be included in a special section of the program, so like-minded fans can find you. All meet-ups submitted to us by that date will also be included on the Ascendio website.

To request meet-up space and/or submit your meet-up information for the Ascendio program, please use this form.

We are! We’ll be at a table on the floor below the lobby at the HYATT from Friday through Sunday (possibly Thursday afternoon and Monday morning, too) from 10 AM til 8 PM with pins, pens, info about Ascendio (and the HP Alliance, and the International Quidditch Association), and the ability for people to register and pay cash!

Come by, say hi, get some candy, and please follow us on Twitter – we’re HPEF over there – because we’re going to have some trivia challenges taking place all weekend, where every time we ask a question, the first five people to come by our table with the correct answer win a nifty prize! Also, if you’re registered for Ascendio, or register during Dragon*Con, we have a thank-you gift for you! Just bring your confirmation number & email address to the table, or print out your registration confirmation, and we’ll Thank You For Registering (limited one thank-you gift per person).

Hope to see you there!