 Ascendio Keynote Lunch: Generation Potter: 15 Years Later
We are pleased to announce the details of the Ascendio keynote! Join us Saturday, July 14 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.for an engaging panel discussion, accompanied by a delicious lunch.
Harry Potter has not merely influenced a generation, but fundamentally changed it. In our keynote panel GENERATION POTTER: FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, we will examine and discuss the worldwide phenomenon of Harry Potter and its impact on public discourse. How have Harry Potter fans changed publishing, academia, religion, activism? How is “generation Potter” — those who experienced Harry Potter as children and are now media-savvy, Millennial adults — shaping culture? Join panelists Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, Connie Neal, Ben Schrank and Catherine Tosenberger for an engaging discussion from four diverse perspectives.
All registrants can purchase a ticket for this keynote; the luncheon is going to be fantastic, and tickets are $80 each; it’s already included with a Merlin’s Circle registration. To purchase a keynote ticket, jump to our registration portal!
Formal Programming Update
All Formal Programming sessions have been reviewed by our vetting committee and acceptances have been sent out! If your proposal was accepted and you have not yet filled out and returned the Speaker Release & License, please do so ASAP and return it to formalprogramming@hp2012.org. Don’t forget to register! To be included in the programming schedule, all presenters must be registered to attend Ascendio by Sunday, April 15, 2012.
The full programming slate and schedule will be posted on the Ascendio website in the coming weeks, so look out for it! We think formal programming at Ascendio will, once again, be stellar. Thank you to everyone that submitted — we can’t put together such amazing programming slates without the attendees!
Night of a Thousand Wizards 2
Have you bought your ticket yet? If you already have a Full registration you can get a ticket for NoaTW 2 now! The price is $140 for all Ascendio registrants. NoaTW 2 tickets are also now available to non-registrant friends and family of Ascendio registrants for $155.
Join a thousand of your friends and fellow Harry Potter fans for Night of a Thousand Wizards 2, HPEF’s next exclusive, after-hours event at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter® at Universal Studios, Orlando.
NoaTW 2 will take place the evening of Thursday, July 12th in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, starting at 8 p.m. and running until 1 a.m. Friday morning. Fans will enjoy extraordinary experiences, seeing Hogwarts™ castle lit up into the early hours of the morning, gallivanting through Hogsmeade™ in full costume (a privilege extended exclusively to our event!) and zipping through lines for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™, Dragon Challenge™ and more!
The ticket price is $140 for all registrants. Registrants can also add a second ticket at $155 for a friend or family member. Merlin’s Circle registrants already have their ticket included as part of their registration. And keep your eye on Ascendio on Facebook and Twitter because in April, we’re launching a way for your friends and family to get NoaTW 2 tickets without going through your registration.
Each NoaTW 2 ticketholder will get a voucher for dinner that can be used between 8-10 p.m., and after 10, 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 DJ spinning music, and lashings of Butterbeer™.
Click here for more information and to get your tickets! See you in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in July!
The Quill Track has seen several new additions to the already bursting slate of authors, editors and agents who will talk about Harry Potter, publishing and writing at Ascendio. Among the new special guests are Ben Schrank, President of Razorbill, Penguin’s YA imprint; Molly O’Neill editor at Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins; Saritza Hernandez, e-pub literary agent at L. Perkins Agency, specializing in erotic fiction; and two HP fandomers-turned-professional erotica writers — Kele Moon and Diana Copland.
We’re still working out the exact details of the reading/signings for all the authors, but the formal programming parts of The Quill Track are available to check out now! The track features such programming sessions as:
- Accio Books! How Digital Publishing Has Made Gatekeepers Of Us All
- After the Apottercalypse: The State of Fantasy Post-Potter
- Dystopia in YA Fiction
- Publishing 101: How to Get Published
- Query Me This: How to Write a Killer Query Letter
- Say Yes to Gay YA: LGBTQ and Diversity in YA Fiction
- Wielding the Red Quill: Editing Strategies for Writers and Beta-Readersand more!
For full program summaries and presenter information, click here!
Wrock Day!
Thursday, July 12th is Wrock Day at Ascendio but that’s not all! There will be acoustic shows in the Common Room at different times throughout the rest of the con, and wrockers will be taking part in WxWxW (Wands by Wands by Wizards).
Here’s a list of the confirmed bands so far. The list is still in flux in development so stay tuned for more Wrock News!
- 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
Don’t Miss Team StarKid at Ascendio!
They performed in the round at Azkatraz. They premiered A Very Potter Sequel at Infinitus 2010. And they’re coming back for Ascendio!
Yes, on Friday and Saturday (July 13/14) members of Team StarKid be participating in panel discussions, special viewings of their shows, signing autographs and hosting a special meet & greet for about 150 Ascendio attendees! All panels, discussions, autograph sessions, photo ops and the Meet & Greet are open to Ascendio registrants only! Click here for information about the different types of registration. Please note that if you are Merlin’s Circle, you will need to RSVP for ticketed events and to get an autograph ticket. More information will be sent to you via email.
Friday Schedule:
3-4 p.m. – Potion Master’s Corner
11 p.m. – StarKid Video with Live Commentary
Saturday Schedule:
9 a.m. – From YouTube to Hollywood Panel w/Pat Brady
11 a.m. – Lang Brothers Tell All
2:30 p.m. – StarKid Meet & Greet
Team StarKid Memories: A number of Starkids who attended Infinitus will also be at Ascendio. Check our website for the full listing.
Documenting Fanfic at Ascendio
Documentary producer Hansi Oppenheimer (Color Me Obsessed) is interviewing fan fiction writers and readers for film project, and is currently shooting in the tri-state (NY/NJ/CT) area; she’s interested in discussing the history of fan fiction, the writing/beta process, and related topics with fanfic writers – and readers – and she’ll be conducting interviews during Ascendio. If you’re interested in participating, please email Hansi at heoppenheimer@gmail.com as she’ll be coordinating directly with interviewees. It sounds like a terrific project, and Ascendio is excited to be participating in it!
Vendor News
Ascendio 2012 is pleased to welcome the following Vendors who have signed up to be part of our event:
And more to come! Check out our website for the latest list of Vendors:
If you or anyone you know is interest in setting up a vendor booth at Ascendio 2012, they can get more information at vendors@hp2012.org or go to: http://hp2012.org/?page_id=653
Strut Your Stuff at the Fashion Show
Saturday, July 14 at 7 p.m., Ascendio is putting on a Fashion Show on the main stage! Come see some of fandom’s most ambitious and passionate costumers show off their digs, with styles ranging from “traditional” to fun wizarding takes on fashion staples, such as mod, avante garde and more!
The Fashion Show is FREE, included with your registration! More information coming soon, including a call for costumers and models. In the meantime, check out the Fashion Show Facebook Group!
Ascendio Travel Discounts
There are many ways to get to and from Ascendio, and our team of Witches and Wizards has gotten some special discounts just for Ascendio attendees to make travel a bit easier!
Mears Airport Shuttle
The MEARS shuttle offers roundtrip service to and from Orlando International Airport to the Loews Portofino (or whichever hotel you book with). There are many options, but the cheapest is their shared van option. Ascendio has a special coupon deal with Mears: click here for a coupon that’ll give you $3 off the MEARS round trip from the airport to our host hotels. That will bring the $30 roundtrip cost down to $27, which is about half the cost of a one-way taxi ride.
Virgin America
Virgin America has flights to Orlando from several major cities on the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle, and is offering Ascendio attendees 5% off their flights when they book.
Not only can you fly to Ascendio in comfort — Virgin seats are large, comfy & have tons of legroom! — but Virgin already offers some of the best prices to the East Coast from the West — and with your 5% Ascendio discount? Coming to the con just became a lot more affordable!
Virgin America is one of the Ascendio chairs favorite airlines, not only for the leg room, but for the in-seat entertainment — Virgin boasts a state-of-the-art digital system for each customer where you can watch movies, listen to music and even play video games — and you can also plug-in at your seat — no more relying on your laptop battery to get you through the flight.
Just use the following code to get your discount, and see you at Ascendio!
Group discount code: MCVXEVNTMCO
Discount: 5% off
Booking dates: Now through 7/16
Travel Dates: 7/8 through 7/18 |
