Here is an edited excerpt (a long one) from the January newsletter of RodCon. We’ve already told you why we like it, but for those of you who need more convincing, perhaps this rundown of what will happen during the convention is what you need. Thanks to Kristin M. for a great update.
I. Tickets
Ticket rates are:
Students: P100/one-day pass; P200/two-day pass
Professionals: P150/one-day pass; P300/two-day pass
The tickets will be exchanged for a convention kit and badge during registration. Please keep your tickets. They are non-refundable. For those who purchase 2-day passes, you will use the same badge for both days, so hang on to it!
Also, please note that tickets will only be available at pre-registration rates until January 31, 2007. If you buy your ticket on February 1 onwards, you will be charged registration rates.
Tickets are now on sale at Booktopia.
II. Hotel Reservations
Hotel Intercontinental is offering convention attendees a special flat rate of P5000+++ for both single and twin occupancies from February 3 to February 4. The package comes with a free breakfast buffet at the Jeepney Deli, among other amenities. Please note that the rate for regular hotel guests is P7000+++. If you wish to make a reservation, please contact the RodCon 2007 secretariat at “rodcon dot sec at gmail dot com”. Interested parties are advised to make reservations before January 25, 2007 at the very latest.
III. Online Pre-Registration
Online pre-registration will end on January 19, 2007. People who signed up through the RodCon website will be contacted this week with instructions about where and how to pay for their tickets. They will also be provided with the function room schedule once the final list has taken form and asked to make priority reservations for up to two function room events of choice. People who did not pre-register online will only receive their schedules during the convention.
IV. Registration
Registration will start at 8AM daily. Please try to come on time. Early bird registrants will receive special kits. The Dealers Room will be open at exactly 9AM. Opening ceremonies–with speeches by the Guests Of Honor and keynote speakers–will last until around 10AM. Function room events will start at 11AM.
V. Guests of Honor / Live Performances
National Artists Virgilio Almario and F. Sionil Jose will be this year’s Guests of Honor.
Noted Filipino bands Radioactive Sago Project and Up Dharma Down will also be performing live in the Grand Ballroom on February 4, 2007. The bands will be debuting songs from an upcoming concept album produced by Read or Die featuring bands from innovative indie record label Terno Recordings. All the songs in the album will be original compositions based on Filipino literary works. New Terno Recordings artist Swissy will also be coming to the con to perform.
VI. Activities
RodCon activities will take place simultaneously on several fronts:
1) Function Rooms: Or the panel discussions, lectures, and workshops which will run continuously throughout the convention.
2) Stage: Film screenings, raffles, auctions, contests, special performances.
VII. Update: Portrait of the Filipino as a Reader
Photographers (or anyone) are encouraged to bring their photographs to the convention and paste or tack them onto a community wall. People can then vote for their favorite photos on the spot through a ballot box. Winners will receive special prizes.
Photos must at least be 3R in size and must conform to the theme. Attendees may submit as many photographs they want, just be sure to register your participation at the registration desk.
VIII. Read or Die Interactive
New! Specific areas of the convention have been set aside for meet-ups and (very) informal discussion circles. While these sessions are technically free, groups and individuals who do participate will be asked to pay some sort of toll fee (amount optional, money optional). It’s to supplement the donation to AHON, as per usual.
1) Readers Corner : Where readers can meet up and talk about books to their hearts’ content. Facilitated by Read or Die. Schedule/list of books to be discussed to follow. The swap area can also be found here.
Convention attendees are encouraged to bring their secondhand books to either swap or donate.
2) Writers Corner : Writers are notoriously hard to pin down but several writers have been asked to consider making time to meet their readers. If one is seen wandering around the convention, an announcement will be made on the PA. Or, if you’re a writer or you belong to a writers’ group and would like to use RodCon as a meeting place, please contact the secretariat so they can schedule your slot in the Writers Corner. Slots can only last for an hour.
3) Artists Corner: Artists may likewise avail of a spot in the convention where they can meet up or chat with their favorite comic artist. Please note that, as in the case with Writers Corner, there is no guarantee that your favorite artists will in fact appear or will be willing to sit for an hour and sign autographs. But if you are a comic artist and would not mind donating your time to meet with your readers (and acolytes, extant or otherwise), please do so. You can either email the secretariat to avail of your slot (or fill out the web form in the site) or sign up during the convention itself. First come first served.
4) Publishing Depot: Publishing representatives are invited to make time to meet readers or to field inquiries from potential authors in the Publishing Depot. Writers are advised to bring their manuscripts with them for the convention
IX. Press Releases
Ads and a feature article on Read or Die have appeared in the Inquirer, Star, Tribune, the Manila Bulletin, Manila Times, Malaya and other magazine publications. RodCon would like to thank Dee Mandigma for his efforts on their behalf.
X. Further Notes
The New Worlds Alliance members will be coming in costume. Other hobby organizations who wish to attend the convention in costume or cosplay are free to do so. You do not have to ask prior permission from the secretariat. There will be no official cosplay competition, however.
XI. Wrapping Up
We hope to see you all in RodCon. We end with a quote from the British novelist Zadie Smith:
“But the problem with readers, the idea we’re given of reading is that the model of a reader is the person watching a film, or watching television. So the greatest principle is, ‘I should sit here and I should be entertained.’ And the more classical model, which has been completely taken away, is the idea of a reader as an amateur musician. An amateur musician who sits at the piano, has a piece of music, which is the work, made by somebody they don’t know, who they probably couldn’t comprehend entirely, and they have to use their skills to play this piece of music. The greater the skill, the greater the gift that you give the artist and that the artist gives you. That’s the incredibly unfashionable idea of reading. And yet when you practice reading, and you work at a text, it can only give you what you put into it. It’s an old moral, but it’s completely true.
I would add that talented writers begin as talent readers, though I’ve scarcely heard it remarked upon.
The two activities are not only fundamentally similar, they’re the necessary halves of a single human activity.
The reader completes the arc.
If there is no reader, there is no text.”
Here’s to the readers.
