Ascendio 2012

The Hogwart’s Professor is back!  John Granger, the leading expert on the subject of the artistry and meaning of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, is back for Ascendio.

He’ll be participating in three program events including a formal session, the MuggleNet Academia podcast and a special Meet-up.

MuggleNet Academia will be hosting a live podcast located in Ascendio’s Common Room on Friday at 11 a.m. If you’re not already familiar with Academia, it’s a fresh section of MuggleNet that explores, in detail, the politics and themes of the Harry Potter books (from an academic standpoint) and how they relate to our world. Orchestrated by MN Staffer Keith Hawk and “The Hogwarts Professor” John Granger, Academia has hosted several special guests from all over the fandom even in its infancy, and we have no reason to doubt that Ascendio’s show will be any different. Read More…

We just posted an exciting update about Night of a Thousand Wizards 2!

Each NoaTW 2 ticketholder will be able to enter Universal’s Islands of Adventure® starting at 2 PM on Thursday, July 12, and will also be given a $20 voucher for dinner that can be used that evening. After 10, NoaTW2 ticketholders will have exclusive access to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where we’ll be featuring an extensive menu of dessert and beverages on the streets of Hogsmeade – and they’re included with your NoaTW 2 ticket! We’ll have a a DJ spinning music, lashings of Butterbeer, and so much more!

Click here to register, or to add your NoaTW2 ticket to your registration!

Longtime HPEF-convention presenter John Granger shared his memories of our events going back to Nimbus – 2003, and his thoughts on Ascendio, on his website this week. John is going to be hosting a discussion of all things Potter in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter during Night of a Thousand Wizards; tickets are still available here, and we hope to see you there!

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!  

We’re thrilled to update the list of Wrockers who’ll be performing at Ascendio on Wrock On Thursday:

• Hawthorn & Holly
• Lauren Fairweather
• Carpe Geekdom
• The Whomping Willows
• The Blibbering Humdingers
• The Gryffindor Common Room Rejects
• Alex Boyd
• The Butterbeer Experience
• Seen and Unforseen
• The House of Black
• Undesireable #1
• Bella and LeStrangers!

Remember – a Thursday-only registration for Ascendio costs just $50, and includes access to all the wrock concerts that day, as well as the Common Room, Vendor Room, Art Gallery and Saturday night’s To The Manor Ball, and you can purchase up to two tickets to Night of a Thousand Wizards 2, which includes admission to Islands of Adventure starting from 8 PM, and to our private event – featuring rides, amazing experiences, dinner, desserts and Butterbeer until 1:00 in the morning.

Ascendio is proud and pleased to host pitch sessions with literary agents Carlie Webber, Lindsay Ribar and Joanna Volpe (more may be added)! Take this unique opportunity to do literary agent “speed dating,” pitching your completed novel to three agents at once! If an agent is interested in your novel, they will request sample pages or the whole manuscript — you never know what could happen!

How do pitch sessions work? Agent pitch sessions are like speed dating — you’ll get five minutes to sit down with an agent, give them an elevator pitch for your book, and if they are interested, they will request sample pages/your full manuscript. After five minutes, your time is up and the next person sits down, and you can move on to the next agent.

Two pitch sessions are scheduled: Friday from 4-5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9-11 a.m. This means the agents will get to hear approximately 40 pitches each; more sessions may be added later due to demand.

We will be allowing online sign-ups for approximately 25% of the session slots (using the below form), in order to accommodate those who won’t be able to sign-up in person, on a first-come, first-served basis. The remainder of the session slots must be signed-up for at Ascendio, either at our Thursday afternoon Book Fair or at the Meet & Greet table on Friday/Saturday.

Click here to sign up now!