I'm hoping to show up sometime that weekend, unknown when I can make it and for how long due to work, but I plan to be there to see some friends and well-wish someone a safe journey and safer return from his third deployment to Afghanistan in a few weeks.

Reading again the newsletter that went out last month, this might be the last Polaris convention of its kind this year :

TCON-NEWS
The official e-mail newsletter of
the TCON Promotional Society
Featuring information on
Polaris 26
AND
The 2012 Constellation Awards

Information Line: (416) 410-TCON (8266)
E-MAIL: info@tcon.ca WEB: http://www.tcon.ca/
Twitter: TCONtweets

July 6-8, 2012
Sheraton Parkway North
600 Highway 7 East
(At Highways 404 & 7)
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

In this issue:

1. A MESSAGE REGARDING THE FUTURE OF POLARIS
2. PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JUNE 11, 2012
3. A MESSAGE REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THE CONSTELLATION AWARDS
4. TOWN HALL ON THE FUTURE OF POLARIS
5. WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROPOSE A FUTURE TCON PROMOTIONAL SOCIETY EVENT?

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

1. A MESSAGE REGARDING THE FUTURE OF POLARIS

This is a very important message from the TCON Promotional Society Board of Directors, regarding the future of Polaris.

For those of you who may not be aware of who we are, the TCON Promotional Society is the not-for-profit corporation behind both Polaris and The Constellation Awards, and the role of the TCON Promotional Society Board of Directors is to manage and plan the long-term success of the various events that we produce. (Think of TCON as being the "production company", with Polaris and The Constellation Awards being our two current "productions" every year, each put together by their own production team.) Part of TCON's duty is to decide every year what form our events will take in the following year, and who will lead them.

The last few years have seen a lot of change in the landscape of Toronto science fiction and related fandoms. Once upon a time, there were only a couple of events for our core audience to look forward to every year. That's no longer the case. There are now a multitude of events going on all year, with traditional fan conventions being joined by Comicons and toy shows and autograph shows and pubnights and concerts and charity events of various kinds - there is now a fandom event of some kind in the area on almost every week of the year, especially in the summer months.

This has had a distinct effect on our ability to grow our primary event, Polaris, year over year. It has also had a distinct effect on what our members expect from our events, on how much disposable income the average fan in Toronto has available to them to spend on events, and, perhaps most importantly, on how much time and energy the average volunteer has to invest in helping to make large events such as Polaris happen. We have, as you know, held two town halls to get a better understanding of what our members expect from and value in our events, and what level of volunteerism they are willing to invest in us.

Having reviewed all of this, the Board has had to face a new reality: We have come to the conclusion that it is not feasible to continue to run Polaris as it now exists and reach the levels of success that we would like to achieve as an organization.

What does this mean? It means that we’ll be producing an event in 2013, but that event will reflect this new reality. We'll be soliciting proposals from the community, looking for new ideas, new types of events - and new leaders to help make those ideas a reality. We have in fact already received one high-level proposal that is being refined and reviewed for the fall of 2013, which we are very enthusiastic about.

Some may see this as an "ending" or even as being the "death" of our event. Not so. At all. This is a move forward - an evolution rather than a termination. Even, to borrow a term from Doctor Who, a regeneration. What comes next will be something new and different, but built on the 26 years of experience and on the spirit that you have told us is what distinguishes Polaris from the other events in the city. The spirit that was Toronto Trek and is now Polaris will live on in something new, something different, something exciting!

Certainly more details on this will be announced in the coming months. The most important message we can give you right is now is that this does not impact Polaris 26 at all! The pressure will now be on all of us to make Polaris 26 the best one yet. To that end, we are extending the pre-reg deadline to June 11th to give you all an extra chance to join us this year.

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

2. PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JUNE 11, 2012

As noted above, we have extended our pre-registration rates for one more week - but only via our online registration system. Registering in advance will still give you a $10 savings over paying at the door. Don't miss out on all of the guests and activities and discussions and socializing and fun! Just head to our online registration system at http://www.tcon.ca/registration/ and sign up - But hurry! The online registration system will be shutting down after June 11th.

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

3. A MESSAGE REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THE CONSTELLATION AWARDS

We ARE planning to continue running The Constellation Awards in 2013. Obviously with this news, the Awards Ceremonies will be looking to take place at a different venue, either as part of another event or in a new standalone format. More details on this will be made firmed up in the coming months. With this change, the Constellation Awards team will be looking for more team members to run the event and help with the transition. If you are interested in being a part of that, please contact constellations@tcon.ca

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

4. TOWN HALL ON THE FUTURE OF POLARIS

We understand that many of you will have questions on today's announcement. For this reason, we will be holding a short town hall during Polaris 26 to discuss this with our members. The town hall is tentatively scheduled to take place on Sunday, July 8th, at 4pm. Check your Pocket Programme Guide when you arrive at this year's Polaris to confirm the time and location.

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

5. WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROPOSE A FUTURE TCON PROMOTIONAL SOCIETY EVENT?

Have you ever thought about running an event tied to science fiction or a related genre, but you didn't know how to go about it, where you could get support and funding, or how to handle the legal and financial aspects of event running? We'd love to hear from you! Send an email to tconboard@gmail.com and we can help get you started on putting together a proposal for a future TCON Promotional Society Event. Who knows, your idea could become the area's Next Big Fandom Event!

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


For more information on these and other TCON Promotional Society Events, please visit http://www.tcon.ca/

_________________
Sid, that Jayne Cobb (Firefly) & Snake-Eyes (GIJoe) costumer & member of
"Baldwin's Badasses" UAS MacDonald - A07/TQ1.0.12147E1 Rank PFC

I'll be there all weekend.

Kind of shocked to read the news of the future of the convention. I been attending off and on since 1995.

I hope they are able to salvage something worth going to. I'd hate to have to make something like Fan Expo my big "to do" weekend in Canada.



Kevin

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I hear ya, I've stopped going to the Fan Exploit event since 2003 and the crap they pulled lately endears me even less to the state of fandom in Toronto.

As much as I feel for Polaris' predicament, I have trouble with catchphrases like 'new reality'... last time I saw it used it was by the soon to be quit-fired adastra chairman who hadn't grasped the depth of his incompetence and endangerment to that convention. I'll try to stop beating the dead horse, but that term comes across as a lame excuse for not being able to accept reality when it's right there in your face for years.

_________________
Sid, that Jayne Cobb (Firefly) & Snake-Eyes (GIJoe) costumer & member of
"Baldwin's Badasses" UAS MacDonald - A07/TQ1.0.12147E1 Rank PFC

I heard that!


Kevin

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

LOL! Right on.

_________________
Sid, that Jayne Cobb (Firefly) & Snake-Eyes (GIJoe) costumer & member of
"Baldwin's Badasses" UAS MacDonald - A07/TQ1.0.12147E1 Rank PFC

As mentioned previously, I'll be making brief appearance as I am working the entire weekend.

Awesome!

I'm not bringing armour, maybe a set of camo and velcro UACM Patches and perhaps Vera the PR

_________________
Sid, that Jayne Cobb (Firefly) & Snake-Eyes (GIJoe) costumer & member of
"Baldwin's Badasses" UAS MacDonald - A07/TQ1.0.12147E1 Rank PFC

I'm attending a Con In Sarnia,but Wizard Con was awesome this year and will be my fav to attend as Predator,Alien and Shadow trooper.Really well organized and much easier to suit up in April Have fun guys;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBiGT5YCPnM