Noreascon Four

Nearly Done...

Boston's Big Dig took one more enormous step towards completion this past weekend when the southbound tube opened to traffic (the northbound tube opened last February.) This opens the entire new road to traffic.

All that remains to be done is tearing down the old Central Artery (already begun!), relocating a few connections, and building parks where the old road was. By the time of N4, work on the parks will be started, but not complete — but the benefits to downtown Boston will already be visible!

PR5 Available Online

Noreascon 4 Progress Report 5 is now available online. The hard copy version is in the mail and should start reaching people in the next few days.

One Ring to Rule Them All!

Did you love the Lord of the Rings movies? The Lord of the Rings Exhibit is coming to the Musuem of Science in Boston from August 1 through October 24, 2004. Lucky us - it will be here during Noreascon 4.

Here is your chance to see props, jewelery, weapons, costumes, and models from the Lord of the Rings movies. The exhibit includes the most important piece in the movie the "One Ring". Interactive/immersive experiences will allow your image to be shrunk down to hobbit/dwarf size or enlarged to wizardly proportions, and many of the digital effects used in the film will be explained.

Why not see the exhibit with a group of friends? (Lord of the Rings costumes optional) Please contact Joyce Carroll Grace, Noreascon 4 Tours & Tourism if you are interested in going to the LOTR Exhibit during Noreascon 4.

Dec 3 Meeting Report Available

A report on the Dec. 3 Noreascon 4 meeting is now available on the Meeting Reports weblog.

Nanny Ogg's Fashion Show?

We're wicked excited (that's Bostonian for "very pleased") to announce that Harper Collins Publishers will offer a US$500 prize at Noreascon Four for the best masquerade entry based on N4 Guest of Honor Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. So sharpen up your sewing needles, and get ready for the Noreascon Four Masquerade.

Oh, and all CMOT Dibblers are advised that Massachusetts guidelines on health and safety will definitely prohibit you from selling your version of "food" anywhere in the Commonwealth.

PR5 Coming Soon

Noreascon 4 Progress Report 5 was scheduled to go to press last Thursday (Dec 4) and should be mailed in about a week to get to most people before the end of the year. PR 5 is 48 pages long, and contains Hugo nomination ballots and hotel reservation information. The PR label will include a PIN number to allow you to make your Hugo nominations online; for those people who do not get Progress Reports (for example, when multiple members in a household have chosen to get only one set of PRs), the PINs will be sent on separate postcards.

Education? Yeah...we've got that

The Worldcon can be a very educational experience for its attendees, but at Suffolk University in downtown Boston, Noreascon Four has been the focus of an entire semester's work for more than 20 students who adopted the 62nd World Science Fiction Convention as their public relations client.

Students in the Communication and Journalism Department taking an advanced public relations course with Dr. Jane Secci spent the semester researching science fiction and fandom. On Monday, December 1, the class met with N4 Chairman Deb Geisler (who also teaches at Suffolk University) and Deputy Publications Division Head Geri Sullivan to discuss how to get the word out to New England that Noreascon Four's coming.

Four student groups provided amazing amounts of materials gleaned from hundreds of hours of leg work and research. Included in the presentations were details about how to get in touch with all of the Boston-area university newspapers and science departments, the prices of billboards in Boston metro, notes about the N4 web site, and radio ads -- some in script form, and one audio version.

We couldn't resist taking pictures of the student presentations, and we think you might like to see what these enormously creative public relations students developed. If you want to hire one (or more) of them, please email us, and we'll happily pass the word along!

TAFF nominations are now open

TAFF (The TransAtlantic Fan Fund) has announced that nominations for the 2004 race are now open. TAFF will select a fan to be sent from Europe to attend Noreascon Four. The deadline for nomination is February 28th; for more information, see their web site.