Trade Winds Selling Out
We are quickly approaching our capacity for players in our Trade Winds Tournament! If you’d like to play in our tournament – and join a team like the Wizard Ties Trolls or the Knight 62442 Werewolves – we recommend that you purchase a tournament ticket very, very soon. (Once the Trade Winds has sold out, we’ll be able to place players on teams and get that information out to everyone.)

As a side note, all attendees and even the public are welcome to attend the Quidditch matches at no charge. The matches will be played in Grant Park across the street from the Hilton Chicago Hotel, and it’s so close that it will be easy for attendees to run across the street to catch their favorite team’s matches during the day.

For those still interested in Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge, we are still sold out, but we have a waiting list. Please e-mail us at games@terminus2008.org if you’d like to be on it.

Tournament Schedules
We know everyone is working busily on their conference schedules, and while we don’t have the detailed schedules for the Trade Winds Tournament and Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge on the website, we are finished with them and we wanted to give everyone some information about them.

( Trade Winds Tournament and the House Cup )

( Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge )

If you have any questions whatsoever about Quidditch or Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge, please e-mail us at games@terminus2008.org. We’re always happy to help!

Those of you who are subscribed to one of the Phoenix Rising, Terminus, or Narrate Conferences newsletters, as well as those of you who have registered for either Phoenix Rising or Terminus, have already heard the news: The Phoenix Rising compendium is now available! You can find out more information about the included papers and presentations and how to obtain a copy here. Thank you again to all the presenters who contributed!

Last week, we highlighted a few of our roundtables in The North Star. Today, we'd like to highlight several fanart portfolios. These portfolios allow artists to share more pieces than they might be able to in the gallery as well as to share the stories behind their art. This is the first time we've had fanart portfolios as part of our programming, so we hope you'll enjoy them! All of the portfolios below will be presented on Artists and Authors Night, which is Saturday, August 9.

Rana Raeuchle
This portfolio, created with watercolors, pencils and ballpoint pens, features “cover art” for fanfics, character studies, and watercolor portraits of a few favorite characters.

Generalmanda, Renee L. Antoine
Many fans have created fascinating, detailed costumes inspired by the Harry Potter books and films. This living art portfolio will feature wizarding attire. Cameras are welcome! If you have a costume that you’ve created that you want to show off, please meet us at PDR 1 at 10:30 p.m. to join the portfolio.

Shae Merritt
This portfolio includes a collection of Harry Potter-themed purses and bags created with electrical tape.

To see more presentations, please visit the accepted proposals page.

The North Star, the official conference newsletter for Terminus, will be delivered approximately once a month between now and August of 2008. Most regular editions of the newsletter will be presented outside of a cut tag because the newsletter is also part of the Terminus website. Between regular editions, the terminus2008 community will post occasional updates and reminders, as well as in-depth articles on preparing for a programming submission, traveling to Chicago, and so on. The North Star is also available by e-mail; subscription information can be found at www.terminus2008.org/newsroom/subscribe.html.

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THE NORTH STAR
The Official Newsletter of Terminus
Delivered via LiveJournal, Mailing List, Forums, Myspace, and Divination
Volume 2, Issue 5

Read the last issue here!
Volunteering
Are you interested in helping host more than 1,000 Harry Potter fans during Terminus? If you can find a morning, afternoon, or evening free, please consider volunteering. Helping hands will be needed to check in attendees, to emcee programming tracks, to act as stage managers to keep the technical magic running, to check badges and help operate programming and events, and to provide attendees with directions and information. If this interests you--and it's a great way to meet new people if you're attending alone--please fill out our Volunteer Form and then follow the instructions to join the Terminus team. Once the programming schedule is posted in late May, our Volunteers Coordinator, Linnea, will match you with a volunteer position that meets your interests and availability. Volunteers make the conference friendlier, safer, and more fun for everyone, so thank you in advance for your help.

Meet Up and Go Out
Terminus has two programs designed to help you meet other attendees. The first is Excursions, a series of mini-trips that will be hosted by conference staff and volunteers. If you're in town early or planning to stay late, we'd love to have you join or co-host one of the Excursions to places like Navy Pier, the Sears Tower, and even a White Sox game. To go on an Excursion, just meet at the clock in the lobby of the Hilton Chicago Hotel at the Excursion's start time. You'll be responsible for any transportation, entrance fees, and extras.

We also have a program called Intersections for attendee-created meetups. These unofficial events are arranged by attendees, and we're happy to provide listings so that communities, friends, and people who share interests can find each other during the conference. Instructions on how to set up an Intersection can be found here along with some resources for planners. The last day to make changes to an Intersection and have it listed in the Terminus program book is May 25, 2008.

Academic Programming
The academic and educational programming for Terminus touches on all sorts of topics. In the coming weeks, we'll point out a few of the presentations on our Accepted Proposals page to help you get an idea of just how diverse and interesting the programming schedule will be! Today, we'd like to highlight a couple of roundtable discussions. Roundtable discussions are scheduled in rooms that hold around 25 people so that all of the session's attendees can take an active part in the conversation--and so that the moderator can ensure that everyone has a chance to participate. As you can imagine, these presentations are very popular, and luckily, many presenters indicated their willingness to repeat sessions during Terminus so you'll have more than one chance to attend.

Censorship in Fandom: How Taboos, Mainstream Culture, and the Law Affect Fan Creativity
Maria Englert
Recently, online fandom has been faced with growing issues in the area of creative fanworks. Harry Potter fans especially have felt the pressure from online communities, such as LiveJournal, to censor fanart and fanfiction or risk being banned. The most notable example of this became known as Strikethrough 2007. This roundtable will offer a chance to discuss and offer opinions on how much of this censorship is legally based, how much of it is influenced by cultural taboos, and what we as members of fandom can do about it.

Family of the Year
Saber ShadowKitten
For the orphaned Harry Potter, family has a particularly strong meaning. Through his eyes, we see how rotten the Dursleys are, how the malicious Malfoys use their position and power to ensure that Draco gets his way, and how the Weasleys are warm and wonderful, the picture-perfect family. But take away Harry’s glasses and what do we really see? From the absentee Grangers to Neville’s strict Gran, from Seamus’s mum to dead Remus and Tonks, who really has it best? Should the Malfoys be taking home the trophy for Family of the Year?

Questioning Tradition: A Discussion of Sorting at Hogwarts School
Cody Wild
Ever since the four founders left the school, students have been sorted into one of four houses by the Sorting Hat. For all these years, Sorting has been taken for granted as a part of Hogwarts life. But what are the real disadvantages and advantages of this system? Does it strengthen the wizarding world or contribute to conflicts? We will discuss sorting and its pros, cons, and implications within wizarding society.

See more roundtable discussions here.

Terminus Registration
The last price jump before the end of online registration was very early May 1. Registrations are still available for $180 until July 1, 2008, which is the last day to register online. All payments for registrations and tickets must be received no later than July 7, 2008, or they will be cancelled, even if that's less than thirty days from the time you added a registration or ticket.

Tickets for the keynote presentation "Potter Past: Lessons from the Harry Potter Series" with Guest of Honor Cheryl Klein are sold out, as is participation in Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge. A limited number of tickets remain for the keynnote presentation "Potter Future: The Changing Face of Fantasy Literature" with Guest of Honor Tamora Pierce, participation to play Quidditch in the Trade Winds Tournament, and for Wrock Chicago.

To be added to the waiting list for "Potter Past," please write to registration[AT]terminus2008.org. To be added to the waiting list for Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge, please write games[AT]terminus2008.org.

You may purchase a registration, or purchase tickets without a registration. To add tickets to an exiting registration, or to make any other changes, please log in to the registration system to access your registration.

Hilton Chicago Hotel
Thank you to those people who have released their rooms after finding roommates! For those of you holding a registration at the conference rate with one or more days at a higher rate, you may find that you can now call the hotel and have your higher rate room modified to the TEM rate for standard and King rooms, as some have become available. If not, we do recommend keeping in touch with the hotel every other week for now and weekly in July, as well as during the week before the conference (as that's when most people realize that they have reservations that they don't need and then their canceled room nights will be available again). If you have any questions, or if you need clarification on any problems with a reservation, please e-mail help[AT]terminus2008org.

Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I check in/how do I get my tickets/where will I look in the hotel for you?
We will e-mail all attendees approximately once a month between now and mid-July with updates about the conference, and the July message will include instructions for checking in to Terminus as well as about how to pick up tickets without a registration. In the meantime, please know that we don't want to give you information that could change, so we'll update you with complete and correct information in mid-July. We'll also keep you updated via our newsletters, of course!

Where's the daily programming schedule?
The schedule will be released later in May. Presenters had until April 15 to register and make updates to their summaries and names, so we've been busily verifying their attendance, making their updates, and taking on the massive project of scheduling about 180 presentations--and we want to make sure that presenters don't need to be in two places at once! (We do also attempt to accommodate as many audio-visual requests as we have equipment for, among other factors such as scheduling presentations in intimate rooms for roundtables and larger rooms for panels, so scheduling is sort of like a big game of Sudoku.) Additionally, we group presentations into themed tracks so that if you're really interested in a topic, you can spend a morning or afternoon immersed in it. Please watch this space for more information toward the end of the month.

Questions? Concerns? Please e-mail us at help[AT]terminus2008.org.

If you want to learn more about Terminus, or just chat with other current or future attendees, please join us for our next official chat! Terminus staff members will be on hand to host, and everyone is welcomed.

Date: Saturday, May 3rd
Time: 10 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern
Location: Terminus Chat

No special software or messenger system is required. When the chat begins, the page will turn into a chat room.

We hope to see you there!

Very early in the morning Thursday--at 12:01 a.m.--the price for the basic Terminus package will jump to $180. Currently, you can purchase five days of conference, including more than 150 hours of programming, three evening events, two full meals and a conference t-shirt, for $160. Why pay more? Register now!

Also, our Fandom Sponsors Fandom program, by which fandom can sponsor Artists and Authors Night, our fandom showcase event, is also coming to an end early on Thursday. We have already raised $2000, and if we receive another $500 before Thursday, we'll donate 20% of that $2500 to Book Aid International. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has already donated! You've helped make Artists and Authors Night an amazing event for fandom.

Finally, be sure to submit your art for the gallery and any last applications for the beta, sketch, and art critique booths this evening so that we can recognize you in the program book. If you've been hesitant to jump in, please don't be--we'd love to have you participate!
Questions? Concerns? E-mail us at help[AT]terminus2008.org.

See you in Chicago!

Very early in the morning Thursday--at 12:01 a.m.--the price for the basic Terminus package will jump to $180. Currently, you can purchase five days of conference, including more than 150 hours of programming, three evening events, two full meals and a conference t-shirt, for $160. Why pay more? Register now!

Also, our Fandom Sponsors Fandom program, by which fandom can sponsor Artists and Authors Night, our fandom showcase event, is also coming to an end early on Thursday. We have already raised $2000, and if we receive another $500 before Thursday, we'll donate 20% of that $2500 to Book Aid International. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has already donated! You've helped make Artists and Authors Night an amazing event for fandom.

Questions? Concerns? E-mail us at help[AT]terminus2008.org.

See you in Chicago!

We are quickly approaching another price jump! This Thursday, at 12:01 am, the price for the basic Terminus package will jump to $180. Currently, you can purchase five days of conference, including more than 150 hours of programming, three evening events, two full meals and a conference t-shirt, for $160. Why pay more? Register now!

We also need to announce that Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge has sold out. If you'd like to be placed on the waiting list for tickets, please e-mail us at trivia@terminus2008.org. (Also, please remember that Cheryl Klein's keynote address is also sold out. You may request a place on her waiting list by e-mailing registration@terminus2008.org.) We still have tickets available for Tammy Pierce's keynote, the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament and Wrock Chicago, but we do encourage you to buy soon.

Finally, our Fandom Sponsors Fandom program, by which fandom can sponsor Artists and Authors Night, our fandom showcase event, is also coming to an end early on Thursday. We have already raised $2000, and if we receivev another $500 before Thursday, we'll donate 20% of that $2500 to Book Aid International. Thank you so, so much to everyone who has already donated! You've helped make Artists and Authors Night an amazing event for fandom.

May 1 is our last day for Fandom Sponsors Fandom. We've been inching toward enough to also make a donation to BookAid, and we'd love to add more groups, communities, and so on to the list here. We've raised a little over $1600, but we have to reach $2500 to pass on the BookAid donation. If you've been waiting to donate, now's your chance to jump in and support the fan community, as well as Artists and Authors Night at Terminus--which is all about the incredible creativity produced by you!

Of course, we'd love to have more of you participate, too. Do you create 2-D art*, such as drawings, photos, or scans of your art? Can we put it on display at Terminus at no cost to you? Please feel free to spread around and to send people to the gallery submissions by April 30, and e-mail us at galleryATterminus2008.org if you'd like us to print your art for our display. We'd also love to have some more art booth staffers who can sketch miniature pieces on badges, art critiquers who can give budding and experienced artists an extra set of eyes, and beta readers. The same deadline applies, and booth staffers must be completely registered to take part.

*We have lots of fabulous 3-D art, but the only 3-D art we can take at this point has to be something that can stand alone or that can come with its own display materials.

Finally, Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge is sold out, so if you still want to play, you should probably head over to the forums and pick up a ticket there, or e-mail triviaATterminus2008.org to get on the waiting list. Cheryl Klein's keynote has been sold out for some time, though those interested in getting a ticket may e-mail registrationATterminus2008.org to have their names added to the waiting list for that event.

Questions? Concerns? E-mail helpATterminus2008.org.

See you in Chicago!

--the Terminus staff

In January, we announced our Fandom Sponsors Fandom...and More! program. As many of you know, we rely on sponsorships to keep the registration prices for our nonprofit conferences as low as possible and to present programs that we otherwise couldn't afford, and we've been very lucky to have such wonderful support from individuals, businesses, groups and organizations.

For Terminus, instead of having a corporation sponsor Artists and Authors Night, our event dedicated exclusively to fandom creativity, we've invited the fandom to sponsor the event collectively: in other words, Fandom Sponsors Fandom. We invited you to show your support for the authors you read, the artists you admire, the fan film makers, the costumers, the crafters, the podcasters, everyone who makes the Harry Potter fandom such an amazing place. We invited you to not only participate in the community, but support the community as we give fandom a stage all its own for one night of Terminus.

We also pledged, as part of Fandom Sponsors Fandom, that if fandom meets our fundraising goal of $2,500 by May 1, 2008, we would donate 20% of that amount to Book Aid International, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating illiteracy -- and one of J. K. Rowling's and fandom's favorite charities. Moreover, we pledged that, if fandom raises more than $2,500 by our goal date, we'll donate half of anything over that amount to Book Aid as well.

Everyone who donates will be recognized on our website, in our program book and at the event, at least at our First Year level. Depending on how much you or your group donates, you may achieve a more advanced level, and if you reach Seventh Year status at $250, we'll also give you or your group a complimentary table at Artists and Authors Night and a mention in our custom Fandom Trail game.

While we haven't yet reached our goal, we wanted to acknowledge and thank those who have donated -- and we wanted to encourage everyone to consider donating any amount before our deadline next week. We've already raised $1,590 in hand, and we have a pledge for another $300; together, that's 76% of our goal.

Seventh Years
FictionAlley
FictionAlley eMentors
HPANA
On-line Wizarding Library

Sixth Years
Swiss Shippers

Fourth Years
Harry/Hermione Shippers
Terminus Staff

Third Years
atypically.knit
Betas Anonymous

Second Years
The Sugar Quill

First Years
Wizards in Chicago (fanWICH)

Thank you!

To donate via PayPal, please enter the amount below and click the button:

Sponsored on behalf of Organization/Name:
Sponsored Amount (in $USD):

To donate via check or money order, please make them payable to Terminus, be sure to write "Fandom Sponsors Fandom" in the memo line, and mail them to Terminus, P.O. Box 149, Sedalia, Colorado 80135. (Also, if you are donating on behalf of a group or organization, please note that as well.)

Again, thank you, to those who have already donated and those considering doing so!

Registration for Terminus is currently $160, but the price will jump to $180 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on April 30.

A registration includes all of the following:

• Five days of programming: presentations, panels, roundtable discussions, workshops, fanfiction readings, creativity booths, and more (here);
  
• Five days of events: our North Star Live! wizarding talk show; Artists and Authors Night, a Bon Voyage Ball, and five days of writing and art, logic and deduction, Quidditch and trivia in our Pan-Magical Games;
  
• Five days of activities: writing and art challenges, games, meet-ups, a Harry Potter-themed vendor room, and more;
  
• Two full buffet-style meals: The Arrival Dinner and the Departure Breakfast; and
  
• A t-shirt available only to conference attendees.

Attendees also may purchase tickets to play in Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge, to compete as a professional player in the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament, to attend the keynote "Potter Future: The Changing Face of Fantasy Literature" with Tamora Pierce (brunch is included), or to attend Wrock Chicago, an all-day wizard rock concert on August 6. Keynote tickets for "Potter Past: Lessons from the Harry Potter Series" with presenter Cheryl Klein are sold out. Some single tickets are available to non-attendees as well.

Though our official hotel is nearly full, many attendees are seeking roommates and travel companions. We invite you to visit our forums or unofficial journal, terminuschat, to meet others attending the conference.

If you have any questions, we're happy to receive e-mails at help[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org. See you in Chicago!

As an update to yesterday's post, we wanted to let you know that keynote tickets for "Potter Past: Lessons From the Harry Potter Series" is now officially sold out. We will keep a waiting list for any tickets that may become available; to have your name added to the list, please write to registration[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org.

Two slots are still available for Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge, and there are still some tickets available for "Potter Future: The Changing Face of Fantasy Literature" with presenter Tamora Pierce, professional play in the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament, and Wrock Chicago.

To add tickets to your registration, please click here. To purchase tickets without a registration, please click here.

For those of you interested in seeing Cheryl Klein speak or joining us in Thoth's Tournament of Knowledge, we strongly suggest that you purchase your tickets immediately. At the moment, there are only three tickets still available for Cheryl's presentation, and only two spots remaining in our trivia tournament!

To add tickets to your registration, please click here. To purchase only tickets, please click here.

If you have any questions or you have trouble adding tickets, please e-mail us at registration@terminus2008.org.

Thank you!
Amy

The North Star, the official conference newsletter for Terminus, will be delivered approximately once a month between now and August of 2008. Most regular editions of the newsletter will be presented outside of a cut tag because the newsletter is also part of the Terminus website. Between regular editions, the terminus2008 community will post occasional updates and reminders, as well as in-depth articles on preparing for a programming submission, traveling to Chicago, and so on. The North Star is also available by e-mail; subscription information can be found at www.terminus2008.org/newsroom/subscribe.html.

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THE NORTH STAR
The Official Newsletter of Terminus
Delivered via LiveJournal, Mailing List, Forums, Myspace, and Divination
Volume 2, Issue 4

Read the last issue here!
We have a long newsletter this month, as we have a lot to report!


Terminus Event Tickets Update
As of now, even if you can’t attend Terminus, you can purchase tickets for most of our events. Non-attendees may purchase tickets for the keynote presentations, the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament and Wrock Chicago by using the Tickets Only option. (Current attendees may add tickets by using the Change My Registration or Tickets option, and of course, new attendees may add tickets during the registration process.) Please note that anyone attending a Terminus event must meet the age requirements.

Also, please note that some of our tickets are becoming very limited. The keynotes are approximately 70% sold out, and Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge, which is only open to attendees, has five slots remaining. Quidditch and Wrock Chicago have more availability, but we strongly recommend purchasing your tickets soon, especially since they are now on sale to everyone.

If you have questions or concerns about registrations or tickets, please e-mail us at registration[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org. We’re always available to help!

Hilton Chicago Hotel
Terminus attendees plan early--and the Hilton Chicago Hotel is filling up quickly; certain room types are no longer available on some nights of the conference. We recommend making a reservation for as many nights as possible on your preferred room type, and using a different room type for any nights when your preferred type is not available; then, call the hotel weekly to check availability. As other attendees' plans change and they cancel their reservations, your preferred room type and rate may become available again, and in the meantime, you'll be holding a room for each night of your stay under a special rate based on our TEM code rate for a standard 2-bed or King room. If you haven't made your plans yet and are looking for roommates, you're welcome to use our forums to find one or a few.

For those of you who are giving up rooms, we ask that you do so as soon as you know your plans. For the next couple months, all cancelled reservations will be loaded back into the Terminus inventory and will be available for other attendees to reserve. If you wait until mid-to-late July to cancel your reservation, your cancelled room will not be made available to other attendees to use. Thanks in advance!

Our hotel liaison can be reached at help[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org if you have additional questions or problems.

Price Jump
As we approach the conference, registration prices rise accordingly. Registration for Terminus is currently $160, but will jump to $180 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on April 30, 2008. Registration includes more than 150 hours of educational programming all about the Harry Potter books, films, and phenomenon; two buffet-style banquets, the Arrival Dinner and Departure Breakfast; assorted games and challenges as part of the Pan-Magical Games; admission to The North Star Live!, our wizarding talk show; creative fan activities as part of Artists and Authors Night; the Bon Voyage Ball; and a conference t-shirt. Additional tickets are available to hear our Guests of Honor Cheryl Klein and Tamora Pierce speak at the Keynote Presentations, to dance to the bands playing at Wrock Chicago, to test your knowledge of the Harry Potter phenomenon in Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge, and to take the pitch during the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament.

The public is invited to shop in our vendor room and to take in the sights and sounds at the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament, which will be held in Grant Park across the street from the Hilton Chicago Hotel. All other conference activities require a registration badge or an event ticket.

Art Gallery
Yes! We are still accepting art to be displayed in the Terminus gallery. At this time, we can only display 2-D works and items that can stand alone. (We've accepted our limit of fabulous 3-D items with special display needs.) Gallery display is open to Terminus attendees and non-attendees alike, and we will print 2-D works for display by request. For more information, please write to gallery[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org.

Programming and Programming Schedule
Lately, we've had a number of questions about late proposals and presentation waiting lists. All proposals were due at the beginning of February, and the vetting boards have long since made their selections for Terminus and been released from their duties. We are still delighted to receive beta, sketch, and art critique booth applications from current attendees until April 30, as well as gallery art from everyone, but as much as we love educational programming, we unfortunately must direct you to our conference announcement list at <http://www.narrateconferences.org/mailinglist/> for future opportunities.

As for the schedule, we have to say: Not Yet, But Soon. We continue to update our accepted proposals page as presenters register and confirm attendance, and presenters do have until April 15 to do so. Then, we'll be juggling all of the pieces, rooms, and spaces to create the very best schedule we can while still meeting our presenters' needs. Keep an eye out for a schedule in late May!

Panelist Requested
An accepted panel on how people from various religious backgrounds interpret Harry Potter is seeking a couple of registered attendees to represent some missing perspectives. If you are a registered Terminus attendee and practice a religion traditionally sited in the Near East, the Indian subcontinent, the Silk Road, East/Southeast Asia, or the African continent and if you could speak about how you and others of your faith interpret the Harry Potter series, please write 1-2 paragraphs on the topic and send it to programming[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org by April 15, 2008.

Vendors
As with our programming presentations, we'll publish complete information when our vendors are confirmed. Watch this space for announcements on the many vendors of Harry Potter and fantasy merchandise which will be participating in the Terminus Vendor Station! In the meantime, we’re pleased to welcome Sassy Tails and Brigit’s Hearth, and we hope you’ll stop in to see them at Terminus.

Travel Tip
You can check in for your return flight and print a boarding pass at the kiosks near the front desk of the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Many airlines now have separate check-in lines for those with luggage who already have a boarding pass, so this can save you valuable time at the busy Chicago-area airports.

Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to wear my badge during the conference? It doesn't match my t-shirt.
Yes, please have your badge visible at all times when you're attending conference activities. The nature of our event space for Terminus is such that you'll pass by badge checkpoints, and if you're not wearing your badge, you'll have to stop and get it out, delaying your progress to the next presentation and delaying those around you who would like to grab a seat. If you do not have your badge, you will be asked to retrieve it or to leave. Please help us keep traffic flowing smoothly by having your badge visible on your person! (And no, you don't need to wear it in your room, in the hotel lobbies or restaurants, or out of the hotel.)

How can I volunteer? How much time do I need to have free?
We'd love to have you volunteer! In fact, it's through our collective efforts that the conference runs smoothly. Please visit our volunteers page and let us know a little something about yourself; when you're done, you'll be directed to the Volunteers mailing list, where you'll need to sign up with the same e-mail you gave us as a contact. From time to time, we have pre-conference projects to work on, but otherwise, presenters and your fellow attendees need the most assistance at the conference itself. Volunteer training is scheduled for the afternoon of Thursday, August 7, and we ask that volunteers commit to a 4-hour time block--either a morning or an afternoon--during the conference, though some blocks end up being shorter (particularly for programming room hosts!). Your donation of time to help attendees and presenters keeps your conference registration costs low, too. We can often schedule you to work with a friend or family member, as well as in your preferred type of volunteering (active, stationary, during your favorite programming, with lots of people-interaction or not), if you sign up early.

If you want to learn more about Terminus, or just chat with other current or future attendees, please join us for our next official chat! Terminus staff members will be on hand to host, and everyone is welcomed.

Date: Saturday, April 5th
Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern
Location: Terminus Chat

No special software or messenger system is required. When the chat begins, the page will turn into a chat room.

We hope to see you there!

For those of you who encountered the vague announcement of some additional guests for Terminus, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies. Our intent was to create a diverse panel of magical flora and fauna. Please know this: We've never had a conference guest eat an attendee!

If you'd like to review our special April Fool's Day announcement, it has been archived here.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce our twenty-fifth band for Wrock Chicago – not to mention our twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth and thirtieth bands!

Yes, that’s right: Wrock Chicago is now a thirty-band event. We had dozens of amazing entries, all of them incredible in their own way, and we tried, but we couldn’t pick just one – so we picked six. We wish we could have picked all of them!

Our official winner is Tonks and the Aurors, from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The band’s music is awesome, of course, and their essay spoke movingly about both the wizard rock community and how wizard rock has brought a family closer together. (And we’re not embarrassed to admit that it might have made us cry!) We’ll be adding Tonks and the Aurors to our list of headliners, so that everyone will have the opportunity to hear the band play.

We’ve also added the following bands to our daytime lineup: The House of Black, Ministry of Magic, Nagini, RiddleTM, and Swish and Flick. Congratulations to all of you! I can’t tell you how amazed we were with your music and your entries, and we’re honored to include you in Wrock Chicago.

We also want to thank, time and time again, all the bands who entered the Twenty-Fifth Band Competition. We were overwhelmed not only by the number of entries, but by the quality of the entries and your love of Harry Potter. We really appreciate that you took the time and the care to put together something as great as each entry was.

( Please click here for some of our favorite quotes from some of our entrants’ essays about the wizard rock community. )

----------------

We also want to announce that tickets are now on sale to those unable to join us for the entire conference! Wrock Chicago, keynote presentations and the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament are now open to the public. Just click here to purchase tickets. (And please note that the tickets-only system is different from the attendee registration system. Whether you are an attendee or not, please make sure that you’re using the correct system.)

Please note that Thoth’s Tournament of Knowledge is not – and will not be – available to the public. We have fewer than ten spots still available, and we’re holding them for attendees.

You may also notice that ticket prices for attendees are lower than ticket prices for non-attendees. We hope you understand that we’re able to offer attendees a discounted ticket price because we can consolidate some of the administrative costs of their tickets with the administrative costs of their registrations, and we aren’t able to do that for those who haven’t purchased registrations. Also, tickets-only purchases require some additional expenses that we can’t fairly charge to our attendees. As always, we’ve done our very best to keep prices as low as possible for everyone, and to allocate costs as fairly as possible. If you have any questions or concerns whatsoever, please e-mail us at info[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org.

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We hope to see you in Chicago this summer, either as an attendee or at an event or two!

We are thrilled to announce that Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books and continuity editor for the U.S. editions of the Harry Potter novels, and Tamora Pierce, an accomplished young adult fantasy author, will be Guests of Honor for Terminus. We couldn't be more pleased to have them join us; they have been involved with the creation of some of our favorite books and can speak from an expert perspective on what's going on in fantasy literature. Each will present a keynote address on her unique experiences.

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Cheryl Klein will present Potter Past: Lessons from the Harry Potter Series
Friday, August 8, 2008
12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m.
Hilton Chicago Hotel
Cost: $40 per person
Millions of readers have pored over every word of the Harry Potter series for clues to Harry's destiny. Now that the saga is complete, writers can study the series as well to learn valuable lessons about characterization, narrative voice, plot construction, and theme. Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor at Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.) and U.S. continuity editor for the Harry Potter series, joins us to speak on the craft and skill evident in J. K. Rowling's work.

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Cheryl Klein: Cheryl Klein is a senior editor at Arthur A. Levine Books, where she started her career as an editorial assistant in 2000. Some of the books she has edited or co-edited include Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee; Food for Thought by Saxton Freymann; My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C. by Edward Kennedy, illustrated by David Small; The Light of the World: The Life of Jesus for Children by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Francois Roca; The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer; and A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. She also served as the continuity editor on the final three Harry Potter books. You can visit her website at www.cherylklein.com.

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Tamora Pierce will present Potter Future: The Changing Face of Fantasy Literature
Sunday, August 10, 2008
9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Hilton Chicago Hotel
Cost: $40 per person
The bookshelves explode with Harry Potter read-alikes, fantasy films are behemoths with multi-million dollar budgets, and vampires, werewolves and faeries are part of the mainstream. J. K. Rowling’s boy wizard changed not only her world and ours, but the world of fantasy media as well. Fantasy author Tamora Pierce, who published her first young adult novel, Alanna: The First Adventure (about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight), in 1983, and has published more than 20 young adult novels since, will speak on how the landscape of young adult fantasy literature has changed--for authors, for publishers, for readers--in the wake of the 800-pound Snitch.

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Tamora Pierce: New York Times best-selling author Tamora Pierce began writing while studying psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She has written everything from short stories to novels to scripts that were featured on National Public Radio, and has worked in many aspects of the publishing industry, including as a manuscript reviewer and editor. Since her days at Penn, she has published several quartets of young adult fantasy books with female heroes (and millions have adventured with Alanna, Dane, Keladry, Ali and Beka) and featured the magic of a quartet of children in her Circle books. Her most recent works are Terrier, beginning the story of Beka Cooper, and Melting Stones, the latest installment in the Circle series, which was published on audiobook last fall and is expected in print in the summer of 2008.

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Keynote tickets may be purchased as part of new registrations or they may be added to your existing registrations using the change my registration option. Keynote events are scheduled so as not to conflict with any other conference programming or presentations, and we hope that you'll join us to honor these very special guests. If you have any questions about the keynotes, please send an e-mail to help[AT]terminus2008[DOT]org.

Remember that if your band wants to enter and win the final slot on the Wrock Chicago lineup, entries must be postmarked by Wednesday, March 5. That's tomorrow! You'll need to gather the names of your bandmates, write a short essay so we can get to know you, and provide some samples of your musical work. For complete rules and information, please visit the Wrock Chicago webpage or check out this LiveJournal post.