Art by Richard Sardinha
Dear Necon Campers:Well, we did it once again! In July, 1999 we had yet another successful convention. Roughly 130 attended our annual gathering, making it the most attended in a number of years. Kim Newman, Tom Tessier, Mike Mignola, Rick Hautala and Paul Dobish were our Guests of Honor and provided much excitement for Necon.
As always, numerous people helped make Necon what it has become over the years: Bob and Mary Booth, who started the gathering 19 years ago, and the rest of the Necon committee, including Craig Shaw Gardner and Barbara Barron, Chris Golden, Jose Nieto, John McIlveen, Andy Dangelas, Joe Crawford, Patty Anderson, Dawne delaCruz, and John & Dot Godin. Also, a number of people provided invaluable services to the convention as volunteers, including Richard Sardinha & Mickey Birner, Paul Riendeau, Erik Anderson, John & Diane Buja, Sara Booth, Matt Bechtel, Darrell Schweitzer & Mattie Brahen and George Gismondi.
Thursday night saw the second annual Necon Ghost stories, where the early arrivals were entertained by our guests of honor and other talented writers. A tour of Lovecraft's Providence was on the agenda for Friday morning and Friday night we had our annual Authors Signing Party. The fifth-annual Necon Softball game (won by the writers!), Artists Reception and Talent Show (won by Chet Williamson) highlighted Saturday's festivities. For the second year in a row, Teresa Minambres provided funds for an "after hours" party on Saturday night. Our incredible web-mistress Yvonne Navarro, Gerard Houarner, Linda Addison, Gordon Linzner and John Platt provided additional refreshments to help make it a success.
On Sunday the second-annual Necon Auction helped raised funds for the Necon 20 book. Ginjer Buchanan, Yvonne Navarro, Dave Hinchberger (The Overlook Connection), Joe Crawford, Jill Bauman, Les Daniels, Dawne delaCruz, Darrell Schweitzer and others (if you donated something and we didn't mention your name, we apologize). We raised approximately $900 of the money neccessary for the cost of publication for this enormous book, which will be given away free to all Necon 20 attendees.
Well, now that we've recapped all the excitement of Necon 19, it's time to get ready for NECON 20. The dates for Necon 20 are set for July 13-16, 2000 (we secured those with the University as of the Monday after Necon). There may be a slight price increase next year (our price has been steady for 3 years now), but the convention is still a bargain (an air-conditioned room, meals from Friday on, panels, numerous parties and receptions, and other goodies are included in the price). For the twentieth installment of the party Necon has become, we're inviting all former guests of honor, guest artists, toastmasters, roastees and legends to join in the celebration. We've included a list at the bottom of this email to illustrate the incredible luminaries who may be present. If you see someone's name on the list you know and they haven't been in a while, twist their arm and urge them to return to help make NECON 20 a celebration to remember.
One of the things that makes Necon unique is the family-like atmosphere. We guarantee this won't change because of Necon 20. Our limit has been set at 200 and we're hoping they'll all go pretty fast. All past guests will have a space reserved for them, as will all attendees of Necon 19, until April 1st. If we haven't heard from you by then, we can't guarantee space will be available. As the policy was this year, absolutely no reservations for rooms will be accepted after July 1st.
As always, we're looking for suggestions about how to make Necon a better experience for everyone involved. Please feel free to use the following information to contact us for any reason whatsoever during the year. Of course, walk-ins (those attending Necon without room and board) are always welcome-- until we reach that magical number of 200.
Once again, many thanks to all who helped make this year such a success and we look forward to hearing from you soon as we prepare for NECON 20. And be sure to KEEP READING below -- we have more great stuff to tell you!
Sincerely, Dan Booth,
Necon Chairman
GENERAL INFO:
Necon 20 Registration
Mary Booth
(401) 726-2003Necon 20 Dealers Room
John McIlveenNecon 20 Art Show
Richard Sardinha
(401) 781-5481Necon 20 General Information/Questions
Dan Booth
(516) 326-6140
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