Potlatch 22
February 1-3, 2013
at the
Redmond Marriott Town Center
potlatch n. (1) A ceremonial feast among certain Native American peoples of the northwest Pacific coast ... at which the host distributes gifts requiring reciprocation [Chinook<Nootka patshatl, to make a potlatch gift]. (2) A gathering of the writers and readers of literary science fiction and fantasy at which participants exchange ideas.
Potlatch returns!
Guess what?!? Sooner than anyone thought, it's Potlatch! It's Foolscap! Buy one, get both!!! Yes, soon in a Seattle area near you, now with Extra Bonus Foolscap Content, Potlatch 22 is coming: February 1-3, 2013 at the Redmond Marriott Town Center. We'll be sharing the hotel side-by-side with Foolscap 15. The bonus content: your membership in Potlatch gets you all the usual Potlatchy goodness, plus includes a Foolscap membership, with full access to Foolscap program, art show, chocolate reception, and general silliness, plus some cool new fusion items leveraging the resources of both cons.
Gosh. How did we get here? Serendipitous circumstance, plus a touch of evil genius. Team Foolscap needed to move their convention off their long held September dates, and the Permanent Floating Seattle Potlatch Committee had independently been feeling overwhelmed, over-committed, and understaffed at the specter of pulling together a full Potlatch only a year after the last one, without our usual year off. And yet we had no prospects of another city able to run a Potlatch in 2013. The PFSPC thought we would let 2013 go by the way, then see if we could recruit enough new blood to make another run at hosting a Potlatch in 2014. Cue the Foolscap folk, in the person of Dave Howell, evil genius, who thought it would be a pity to let a year go by without a Potlatch, and also didn't want Foolscap to be seen as encroaching on the Potlatch time slot. So when Foolscap decided to move to February they offered Potlatch a chance to play along: two conventions, one hotel, one hospitality suite, two program tracks, and members mingling freely between the two, getting All the Stuff: Clarion West Alumni Readings. Nancy Pearl, Foolscap GoH. Board game night. Book of Honor: Jo Walton's Among Others. You Build It open programming -- where the members brainstorm and create panels on the spot. Taste of Clarion West writing workshop. Book swap. Reading group. More choice, more stuff, and each committee focusing on what they do best.
We think this is a win for everyone: those of us who have been doing Potlatch get to have another one with a significantly smaller people points overhead -- Foolscap has already settled the hotel, for instance. Meanwhile, Foolscap gets an out-of-town attendee bump in a year that might have been small due to the switch in dates. Everybody gets the synergy and cross pollination of mixing the two compatible but slightly different convention cultures and constituencies. Frankly, I think this will be a very cool, very exciting con -- this is the most excited I've been about running a Potlatch in years. I'm hoping you agree, and would like to come out and play along.
If you would like to join us for this effervescently brave experiment, and try a Potlatch with a bit of Foolscap in it (or vice versa) -- please visit the Memberships page to buy your membership today via PayPal or post.
Membership rates are:
Attending Membership: $50
Student Membership: $25
At the Door Attending: $75.
Hotel rates will be $109 per night, not including parking, and is available through the Foolscap Hotel registration page. Book your rooms now!
This sudden, unexpected Potlatch is brought to you by Jack Bell and Jerry Kaufman, Programming; Suzanne Tompkins, Hospitality; David Levine, Communications and Taste of Clarion West writers workshop; Kate Yule, Local Guide, and [Your Name Here] in a dazzling array of supporting and participating roles. If you would like to help make this an even better Potlatch, please contact potlatch22@gmail.com.
Expect lots more updates and announcements as we plot with the Foolscap cabal, invent new ways to party, and build to a massive February Potlatchy crescendo. Meanwhile check us out on Facebook (Potlatch Convention), Twitter (@potlatch22), LiveJournal (potlatchcon community), or the ever popular Potlatch website (potlatch-sf.org).
But right now, we're on a short time line here, so please buy your membership now, now, now!
See you in Redmond,
Ulrika O'Brien
P22 Chair
Potlatch Hotel Block Cut-off Date Extended - Book by January 18
We have negotiated an extension to our room block cut-off, so if booking your room slipped your mind in the aftermath of the mad holiday crush, now would be the time to make your reservation. We cannot guarantee our convention rate for rooms booked after January 18.
Cirque du Soleil
It has just come to our attention that the Redmond/Marymoor opening night for Cirque du Soleil's current touring show, Amaluna, is January 31 -- the day before Potlatch/Foolscap starts. As You Know, Marymoor is just a stone's throw from our convention hotel, and in fact anyone coming in to the convention on SR-520 will likely see the gaily striped blue and yellow tents from the freeway. If you are coming in from out of town, you might want to plan your travel so that you can catch the show before or after the convention.
Speaking of Travel Plans...
The Washington State Department of Transportation has tentatively scheduled a weekend-long bridge closure for the SR-520 bridge for February 1-3; that is the weekend of Potlatch/Foolscap. Attendees planning to arrive by car or public transit from Seattle particularly should check their planned routes to make sure they are not impacted by the closure. See this WSDOT page for the latest info
Potlatch 22 Local Guide
The Local Guide for the convention has gone to the printer and is now available as a PDF for your pre-con research.
Freddie Baer-Designed Potlatch 22 T-Shirts Will Be Available for Sale at Potlatch!
Due to the pre-con time crunch we have not been able to do pre-orders but beautiful, collectible, original Freddie Baer P22 t-shirts will be available for $18 each at the registration table at the convention. Shirts will be vailable in M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, and 5XL sizes.
Foolscap 15 | Hotel