Radio Rustycon

Premiere Video Edition - May 1, 2007

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Transcript

Hello there and welcome to this premiere “video” edition of Radio Rustycon! I am your host, JC, coming to you from the Seattle Center International Fountain.

If you're coming in from YouTube, you might be wondering just what Rustycon is. Rustycon is an annual science-fiction and fantasy convention held in the Pacific Northwest. Now when you hear the words science-fiction and fantasy convention you might initially think of the type of convention often mocked in sketch comedy where a bunch of geeks sit in a large auditorium and listen to a celebrity yap for a couple of hours and then stand in a really long line for a $50 autographed head-shot. Rustycon prides itself on being considerably more interactive with our programming.

We have a broad range of topics for all types of congoers: gamers, videophiles, science & technology buffs, amateur writers, filk singers, art lovers, SF/F poets, costumers and many others. Our programming tracks include interactive panels where you are encouraged to engage with the panelists and not just listen to a bunch of talking heads. We also have Dances, the Masquerade contest, 24 hour video programming and much more.

As Rustycon is celebrating its 25th anniversary, we decided to make it a year round event and these video and audio podcasts are just the first of what we hope to be many extra features for Rustycon this year. We'll have interviews with the movers and shakers of Northwest Fandom, highlights and special coverage of upcoming sci-fi & fantasy events and of course, updates on the progress of Rustycon 25.

This year we are thrilled to have Nebula Award winning author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough as our writer guest of honor. Elizabeth won her Nebula Award in 1989 for her novel “The Healer’s War,” and has written more than thirty other novels including the Petaybee and Acorna Series collaborations with Anne McCaffrey and her own collections such as the Godmother Series, Songkiller Series and Cleopatra Series. Some of her stand alone novels include “Nothing Sacred”, “Last Refuge” and “Carol for Another Christmas”. Having Elizabeth join us for our anniversary is going to be a real treat.

We are also pleased that the Elan Empire will be joining us as our Fan Guest of honor. The Elan Empire is one of the longest running Live-Action Role-Playing fan groups in the Pacific Northwest. They are best known for their extravagent formal courts and cross-genre political functions, and they sure know how to throw a good room party! They too will be celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary which makes this year's convention even more exciting.

If you are interested in joining in on the fun or even learning more about who and what we are you can visit our website at www.rustycon.com. If you want to help us out as a staff member you can send me an e-mail at webmaster@rustycon.com with your request and I'll make sure it gets to the right person.

Before I go I just want to give you a little bit of history about our locale, the Seattle Center International Fountain. Built for the 1962 worlds fair, the original fountain had large iron nozzles that protruded from the dome and sat in a similar basin but was surrounded by sharp-edged white rocks. Although it looked quite majestic, the fountain was redesigned in 1995 and rebuilt into the more “visitor friendly” version you see here. To find out more about the fountain or the Seattle Center, please visit www.seattlecenter.com.

Well that's it for this premiere edition of Radio Rustycon. Once again, stop by our website to learn more about us and our Guests of Honor. That URL is www.rustycon.com. I'd like to thank the Seattle Center for allowing us to shoot here this afternoon. Until next time, this has been JC for Radio Rustycon.