EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 18!

Calling all artists! We’ve got an opportunity for fame and glory…at least among Ascendio attendees – and the creator of the winning design will win a one-day ticket to Universal Studios Orlando. We are looking for designs for the official Ascendio t-shirt, just as we did in the lead-up to past events, including Nimbus 2003 and Azkatraz. You can see a selection of designs for past HPEF events in our CafePress store (still under construction), but don’t feel bound by any styles or fonts we’ve used before.  Instead, since the Ascendio theme is “Flights of Fancy” please let that inspire your creativity.
Click here to read the rules, and learn more.

Thought you ought to know…

We’ve extended our $200 rate for a Full Registration through CyberMonday (November 28), so your Ascendio registration can be a great kick-off to the holiday season! Remember what’s included in a Full registration:

• Two fantastic feasts
  

  The Welcome & Leaving Feast really add to the Harry Potter experience. And ensure you don't forget to eat (it happens).

• Three days of formal and informal programming and meet-ups
• All author readings and signings
• Access to the Common Room, Art Gallery, Vendor Room, Craft Faire and Courtyard
• Pickup Quidditch
• The Afterparty at Malfoy Manor Ball (which we may come up with a better name for)
• Showings of fanfilms, fanvids and some Harry Potter movies
• Podcasts, workshops, drabble and drawble challenges
• The Fashion Show on Saturday evening
• Wrock concerts on Thursday (and acoustic wrock concerts throughout the weekend)
• The ability to purchase a ticket to our private Park event (when they go on sale)

And lots more! Basically, this means that the cost of a Full registration is the same as you’d pay for a daypass for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but since it’s a Full registration, you also get to go to two amazing feasts at the Portofino Bay resort – one brunch on Friday, and one brunch on Sunday. You get the entire Ascendio experience!

Leaving Feast, yum!

Since our first event, Nimbus – 2003, HPEF events have included among their attendees fanfic writers who’ve gone on to write novels that have been on the New York Times Best Seller lists, made into films, and resulted in fandoms that have spawned fanfic of their own. We’re also very proud of our history of showcasing YA, fantasy and genre authors, including Naomi Novik, Sarah Rees Brennan, Karen Healey, Tamora Pierce, Holly Black, Charles De Lint and more, at readings, on panels and in signings. We’ve created programming sessions around and for authors who’ve published with smaller houses, those who’ve self-published, and those who choose to write fanfiction (and these days, there’s definitely some overlap between those categories).

As you’ve seen from our recent announcements, we’re already assembling a slate of terrific published authors for Ascendio, including Aimee Carter, Lev Grossman and Beth Revis – and that list will only grow! We’re planning workshops on pitching novels to agents, writing fanfic and original novels, the NaNoWriMo experience, changes to the publishing industry and more. And as we did at Azkatraz, we’re asking self-published authors who’re registered for Ascendio to get in touch with us if they’re interested in doing a reading and a signing; at Dragon*Con, Janine Spendlove signed up for the first slot.

If you’re an author, and you’re interested in doing a reading/signing, or participating in a panel , please contact our Author Coordinator, Ravenna C. Tan, at authors@hp2012.org. We’re hoping to see you – and read your books! – at Ascendio!

Since we started planning Ascendio back in 2010, we’ve planned to host meet-ups, Common Room activities, the Fan Art Gallery and the Vendor Room on Thursday, but at our site visit last month, it became clear to us that we could do more with our Thursday plans.

First thing’s first:  We’re in the process of adding an afternoon of Wrock concerts and other entertainment, and to make the day accessible to everyone, we’re also introducing a Thursday-only Day Pass, priced at only $50.