The Examiner @ SpoCon 2009

The Art Show is off limits to any unofficial photos or video. You shouldn't have a problem with taking photos any other place during the convention though. We just ask that basic courtesy be shown--if someone requests to not be photographed, please respect that, etc. Pretty obvious.

As John mentioned, if you wish to use any official photos of the convention, I'm the point of contact for that. I would also appreciate receiving any photos you take that you wish to send my way. I have a limited number of cameras and crew; we can't be everywhere or at every angle, so the more people who send in their photos or video of SpoCon 2009, the better!

We're on top o' things round here.

Enjoy yourself at SpoCon, say hi when you see the guy in the ConCom shirt running around with a camera. It'll be me.

You're welcome to bring your recorder, but for courtesy's sake I suggest speaking with the panelists beforehand to ask permission to record. I doubt most of our guests or pros would mind at all. I've seen others with personal recorders in panels many times. I'd recommend against doing any audio recording of the filk, especially without asking permission from the performers beforehand, in order to prevent any misunderstanding.

It's ok, I didn't know what filking was until like a week before last year's convention I was afraid to ask too hehe

The best explanation I've seen of it is on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk

"Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom...."

I can tell you that there is often a lot of taping at filk performances

It is absolutely traditional!

While filk is a fairly new experience to this area, it has a fine, long tradition. Some of the greatest names in sci-fi and fantasy's list of honorables have written filk. One of the most beautiful pieces I've ever heard was written by Pohl Anderson, for example ("Mary O'Meara" - my wife had the honor of singing that to his widow in a quite corner of a convention a couple of years ago ).

Indeed, "Filk" was a typo... it was supposed to say "Folk singing" in the program, but ended up saying "Filk singing," and it was immediately adopted. Now, it is a small subcatagory of folk music, with thier own conventions worldwide, and a part of most sci-fi/fantasy conventions. They even have thier own grammy-like awards (the Pegasis Award) and a hall of fame (of which our Musical Guest, Kathy Mar, was one of the first inductees).

The thing about filk is that it is whatever the participants want it to be. It is non-judgemental... participation is encouraged, even if you don't have a perfect voice, or are just beginning to try your hand... or even if you just enjoy listening. The songs are funny, sad, bawdy, ecclectic, esoteric, parodies, and any other thing you can think of. Many are inspired by favorite books, characters, or authors. Some are inspired by the sciences, or just plain imagination. One famous filk was even the official wake-up music on a shuttle mission. Some filkers were street performers, or authors; some are rocket scientists (literally).

It is truly the music of fandom, in all of its flavors and colors.

So, please *do* come and enjoy the filking... and feel free to bring along your recorder.

Randy
(Guest/Pro Liaison, and husband to a filker, and friend to many more)

Words cannot describe the awesome...

I LOVE FANS!!!