Many of you may already know that NESFA (New England Science Fiction Association) is the organization behind Boskone. It’s a terrific group that has consistently put on one of the best SF conventions around in addition to doing a lot of work within the greater SF and Fantasy community. BUT did you know that you could become a member of NESFA, too?

Since the question recently came up, I thought it might be handy to cross-post the “Why join NESFA?” blurb from the NESFA web page.

For $16 subscribing annual membership to NESFA, you receive: all issues of Instant Message, detailing the club’s activities and providing information on upcoming events; borrowing privileges from the constantly updated NESFA library, with thousands of books and magazines; up to 40% discounts on most NESFA Press publications (when picked up in person at the Clubhouse or a convention Sales Table); and opportunities to meet fellow fans and get involved in running Boskone, publishing books, and numerous other activities. For those wishing to be more involved, many opportunities exist.

How do I join NESFA?

Send a check or money order for $16 to us at:

Or come see us at the clubhouse.

For more information email us at: info@nesfa.org

Did you miss the crowdfunding panel at Boskone this year? Well, even if you didn’t, you’re still in luck. My co-panelist Julia Rios took amazing notes from the panel and has posted them online. You can access Julia’s notes here. We’d also love to hear any stories you have about your own projects.

Crowdfunding and a Community of Caring
The SF/F/H community has a long, strong history of supporting its members. Now, with the rise of crowdfunding sites (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Peerbackers) and our community of caring projects (auctions to help people in need, the World Travelers Fund, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund), we can tap into our community in powerful new ways. Panelists who have conducted successful campaigns share experiences and advice while discussing crowdfunding pros and cons.
Panelists: Elaine Isaak, John Picacio, Julia Rios, Erin Underwood

After every con, it’s common to debrief with friends and share our favorite moments with each other. So, we thought it might be fun to check in with a few of our panelists to see what their favorite Boskone 2013 moments were!

Do you have a favorite moment? Please leave it in the comments for us all to share.

Christopher Golden: The moment when I realized the guy I thought was just a fan who’d cultivated the George R. R. Martin look was actually George R. R. Martin. I felt certain I’d have known it if he were going to be there, so it couldn’t have been him, and yet it was.

Elizabeth Bear: My favorite Boskone moment was the silly photos.

James Patrick Kelly: My favorite hour of the con was the presentation/panel/whatever that I did on Saturday morning entitled “The Virtual World of The Matrix Re-imagined as a Utopia.” I really didn’t have a plan for this one; I just thought I’d give a rant about the assumptions of The Matrix that I’ve given several times and then see what happened. What happened was that my pal and fellow workshopper Steve Popkes asked in and so I made him my co-presenter and instead of just a handful of people in the audience we had twenty+ really, really interested and interesting folks show up. Steve and I came out from behind the table and pulled up chairs with the audience and once I gave my rant we were off – all of us! We talked about the Singularity, heaven, AR, VR, ethics, immortality, boredom and the multiverse. It just confirmed my opinion that, for certain conversations at least, there are no better people than science fiction people, and the Boskonians are the crème de la crème.

Bob Eggleton: One of the fun panels I was on at Boskone was this “Who Did That Art” in which a slide of an old SF cover is presented and it’s up to three of us to guess the artist.

David Anthony Durham: You know what made me smile at Boskone? Watching a former Clarion student of mine, Gillian Daniels, holding her own on a panel about Genre in the Theater. Being moderated on a panel by Erin Underwood, who I first met when she was a student at another program I teach for, the Stonecoast MFA. Being on yet another panel with a recent Clarion alum, John Chu. And that’s just to name a few. It was being reminded that this community of writers encourages and supports emerging talent wonderfully. That’s rare, and it’s something to be proud of.

Julia Rios: My Kaffeeklatsche conversation went from one signed up attendee to an impromptu table full of enthusiastic con-goers. The group included an agent, a 13-year-old, and several writers at different stages of their careers. We had a fantastic conversation with lots of humor, insightful comments, and shared resources. When the time was up, more than half of us moved into the Irish Pub to continue talking over lunch. That’s exactly the sort of serendipitous event I look forward to at Boskone.

 I am an active internet junkie user. During the con, I was following #boskone on Twitter to see how other panels were progressing, hear others’ experiences and tweet out my own thoughts. On Monday,  I started feeling that post-con letdown, so I checked in with the Boskone Facebook group. Messages started trickling in but something else caught my attention: a link to Vincent O’Neil’s post sharing his Slideshare for his Using Excel to Plot Your story panel. Hmmmm.

This sent me searching the web for videos, photos, blog posts and the like to keep my con going. And, since I’m being honest, maybe find neat fodder for a Boskone blog post.  I found so many great posts on panel recaps, that I thought it a shame not to share with the rest of the Boskone community. 

Click here to see the compiled list

These are not official recaps and they don’t exist for every panel. Some are more detailed, others, and my personal criteria for what is included was somewhat loose (ie it had to represent the panel content in some fashion, not just “I attended this panel”). That said, there is a ton of great information if you want to take a peek.

If you feel that I’ve missed a video or post that you’ve created, please post a link in the notes and I’ll take a peek. Also, if you have ideas or suggestions feel free to email the Programming Committee.

Did you miss Theodora Goss’s reading of her short story “Beautiful Boys” at Boskone? Thanks to Phil Merkel we have a video to share. We hope you enjoy the story.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79vWXFR3AEc?list=PLKbmzAaPaIsuLMknRJH_LasxDywj2MQIv]

Be sure to mark your calendars for Boskone 2014!

This video is posted here by permission of Theodora Goss and Phil Merkel.

The Boskone Art show is a not-to-be-missed item. Boskone 50’s Art show held up to the its own prestigious standards with more than 100 panels, 2 special exhibits, docent led tours and special art demonstrations.

Congratulations to this year’s award winners!

Best in Show
John Picacio, “Hyperion-Final Figure Drawing”

* note that the link is to the illustration and not the final figure drawing

Chair’s Choice
Omar Rayyan, “Marinating the Goose”

Guard’s Choice (Fri-Sat)
Ruth Sanderson, “Fragile”

Guard’s Choice (Sat-Sun)
Ruth Sanderson: “Fragile”

Popular Choice
Lisa Snellings, “Quantum Circus Cat”

Staff Choice
Tom Kidd, Body of Work

Director’s Choice
Mike Maung, “69th Infantry, 1862”

Guest of Honor’s Choice
TBA

Judges’ Awards
Lisa Snellings, “Quantum Circus Cat”
Greg Manchess, “Bride of Frankenstein”
Ruth Sanderson, “Bird of Time”
Marianne Plumridge, “The Great Migration”
Joleen Flasher, “Sunset”
Jason Cheeseman-Meyer, “Spirit & Sinew”
Tom Kidd, Body of Work

Boskone is sharing the Westin with another event, so Friday’s dinnertime was interesting to say the least.

Plan ahead so you can grab a bite before Saturday night’s Skylark Awards.

Arisia and Boskone worked together to created this amazing Restaurant Guide and the companion Google Map.

Enjoy!

Boskone 50 is now in full swing! A busy Friday night filled with panels, like the popular and packed Singularity: There Can Be Only One with Charles Stross and Vernor Vinge to the ever-popular and delicious Boskone Reception featuring tables and tables of cake.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. Here are some twitter moments from Boskone 50 Day 1.

Check the schedule online or use your pocket program available at Registration. Also check Helmuth, the convention newsletter for updates. Click here for Helmuth Issue 1

As you may have heard, winter has arrived in Boston in the form of a giant blizzard that decorated New England with several feet of snow. (Remember to bring your boots!) However, the city is cleaned up and Boksone 50 is “game on!” 

Panelists, participants, and attendees are beginning to make their way to Boston as I write this post. We’re also looking forward to welcoming some late additions to the convention, including:

• Colin Harris
• George R. R. Martin
• Chad Orzel
• Steven Popkes
• Brianna Spacekat Wu & Frank Wu

If you haven’t checked out the schedule yet, you can access it via this Link To the Boskone 50 Schedule. Not only are you going to find some exciting new panels, but we’ve gone through 50 conventions worth of panels and decided to bring back some oldies but goodies for Boskone’s 50th Anniversary. So, get that highlighter out and start marking your schedules so that you don’t miss the event you have been dying to attend!

Now, go forth and enjoy! See you at the con.

To help your plan of attack for Boskone, the schedule is now available online!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

The Hidden Joys of Collecting: What’s on your shelf? The latest TARDIS coffee cup? A Captain Kirk action figure? A set of Harry Potter first editions? What is it about collecting that is so satisfying…and addictive? What new thing must you have? As you’ll see at the panel: us too.

Boskone Retrospective: Half a Century of Boskone: Join a star-studded roomful of previous Boskone guests as they reminisce about past Boskones. (In some cases, far, far past.) We’ll share what we love about the longest-running SF convention in the Hub of the Universe, and tell why we come back year after year.

Dataliths: Digging the Idea of the Programmer/Archaeologist: Our GOH Vernor Vinge has posited that as computing-based civilizations age, layers upon layers of legacy code build up in vast — let’s call them dataliths. Who gets to dig through them for valuable info? How do they do it? Isn’t our data already in pretty deep doodoo in this regard?

Demonstration: Steampunk Martial Arts: Characters in the perilous worlds of steampunk study a variety of martial arts. Whether to fight off ruffians, prepare for a duel at dawn, or try to fit into their fancy trousers for an upcoming ball, the people of our world’s Victorian age did, too. Come experience the elegant weapons of a more civilized age—the Higgins Academy of the Sword’s Grand Assault, an exhibition of authentic gaslamp martial arts.