KiScon

3rd - 5th November 2023

It's con time

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Newsletter and Progress Report July 2023

Larissa Bernstein (TLara) (she/her) / 12th Jul 2023, 6:25AM
Save the dates:
 
KiScon 2023 (entirely online): 3–5 November 2023
 
Philon Awards nominations: open until 31 August
Philon Awards voting period: 10 September – 1 November
 
Deadline for KiScon zine submissions: 1 August
Deadline for program booklet submissions: 1 October
Deadline for goodie bag submissions: 1 October
Deadline for art show / auction submissions: 1 October
Deadline for vidshow submissions: 1 October
Deadline for cake contest submissions: 1 November

 

Dear K/S friends,
 
Greetings! For many of us, it's a sweltering summer, but there is one thing that is both cool and hot, and that is the concept of K/S. The concom is working hard behind the scenes to prepare a great convention, and it's high time for more announcements and deadline reminders. If you are an active member of our Discord server or take part in our weekly events (Pub Night, Cinema of Squee), then most of this newsletter won't be actual news to you, but we strive to reach out to the K/S fandom as far and wide as possible. KiScon 2023 is only 116 days away, and while that might sound like a damn long time, experience shows that time flies by faster the closer we get to the con weekend. (Seriously, there must be a scientific explanation for this phenomenon, or just take our word for it...)
 
1. KiScon 2023 Registration:
 
If you haven't already signed up, here's your reminder that you can join KiScon 2023 by following the link on the KiScon website, or by going directly to Conline. There are three membership tiers available: Attending (entirely online, of course), Dealer (same as Attending but in addition you get dealer space to sell your merch, art, collectibles etc, and ad space in the con book), and Supporting (if you can't attend the con, but would like to support us).
 
Feel free to get in touch with us, if you need assistance with signing up: concom@kiscon.org. We will happily walk you through the process. 
 
If you would like to offer or claim a KiScon scholarship, please let us know at the same email address: concom@kiscon.org.
 
2. Reminder Upcoming Deadline: KiScon 2023 Con Zine
 
The deadline for con zine submissions is coming up fast! Please submit your works until 1 August, 2023, ideally via this form or get in touch with our editor 1lostone at: zine@kiscon.org.
 
We are looking for new (previously unpublished / unposted) works: 
Universes: Any (TOS, reboot, DISCO/SNW, AU, mirror, crossovers), as long as K/S are the main pairing. K&S gen is accepted, but no Kirk or Spock pairings with Others! All ratings welcome.
 
You do not need to be registered as attendee to submit a work to the zine. Every K/S artist and author is invited to contribute.
 
3. Philon Awards
 
KiScon is honoured to announce the relaunch of the Philon Awards. Established by Jenna Sinclair and Shelley Butler in 1997, they were an annual event organised by The K/S Press to honour outstanding authors and artists in K/S fandom. With the permission and support of Jenna and Shelley, KiScon is resuming this beautiful tradition.
 
There are 8 categories:
 
Short fic (word count under 10K)
Long fic (word count 10K-50K)
Novella/novel (word count over 50K)
Podfic
Traditional Art
Digital Art
Poetry
Zines
 
For each category the voters will determine a Gold (first place) and a Silver (second place) winner.
 
Rules
 
Nominating and Voting:
  • Nominations are open until 31 August, 2023. Each fan can nominate up to 3 works per category, but you cannot nominate the same work twice.
  • For a work to make it onto the voting ballot, it needs at least 3 nominations. Before we add it to the ballot, we will get in touch with the creator to ask whether they are fine with this!
  • Voting is open from 10 September to 1 November, 2023.
  • The winners will be announced during KiScon 2023. Each winner will receive a certificate and a small prize.
  • Nominating and voting both take place via Google Forms, and you need to be logged in in order to submit the form; this ensures that people do not nominate or vote multiple times for the same work. If we suspect sockpuppet activity, we will get in touch for clarification. We keep the nomination and voting process completely confidential! Only the KiScon concom will see the submitted forms.
  • While *we* won't talk about who nominated what, *you* can still discuss your faves and promote them, if you feel comfortable doing so. Making fellow fans aware of great works and sharing why you love and want to nominate them, is encouraged.
  • You can submit the nominations form only once, but you can edit your responses if you need to add or change something (just follow the link in the email you receive after submitting the form). Please make sure to include every fanwork you want to see on the shortlist. You cannot edit your responses after nominations have closed.
  • To answer a question we received recently: yes, you *can* nominate (and vote for) your own work(s). We won't judge you. ;-)
Fanworks:
  • The work must focus on the pairing Kirk/Spock or Kirk & Spock. Slash (romantic and/or sexual relationship) and gen (friendship) are equally eligible. If a fic includes Kirk and/or Spock in relationships with other characters, be they canonical or original, this does not disqualify the work for the Philon Awards, as long as the focus is clearly on Kirk and Spock's relationship.
  • Art must feature Kirk or Spock or both of them; additional characters in the artwork are allowed, but no depiction of Kirk/Other or Spock/Other.
  • All universes are welcome: TOS (series and movies), TAS, and reboot, Discovery and Strange New Worlds. AUs and mirror universe are equally allowed. Crossovers between different Trek franchises or between Trek and other media are permitted, as long as Kirk and Spock are the work’s main characters.
  • RPF works (e.g. Shatnoy) are not eligible.
  • All ratings and genres are allowed. If a work among your nominations includes strong elements that would merit a warning on the AO3 (e.g. rape, major character death etc.), we'd appreciate a heads-up on the nominations form, so that we can make sure to include the warning on the shortlist.
  • The work must be complete. It can be part of a series, but the work itself must not be a WIP (missing chapters or a draft/unfinished sketch).
  • The work must have been created and published (print or online) after KiScon 2022. So everything from 7 November 2022 onwards until the end of the nomination phase (31 August 2023) is eligible. Reprints or uploads of earlier works (e.g. a fic you wrote and published a few years ago and uploaded to the AO3 only recently, or a work that you made for the KiScon 2022 zine and published online later) cannot take part in this contest. If a multi-chapter fic was started earlier, but the date of completion falls within the eligible range, then it can also be nominated.
  • For podfic the creation/publication date of the actual podfic counts, not of the written fic that inspired it.
  • AI-generated fic is NOT allowed.
  • Traditional art means that it was hand-drawn or hand-painted; scanning or photographing the finished work in order to publish it online is allowed, of course.
  • With digital art, we mean art that was created by a fan artist directly on a tablet or computer, or art that started out as hand-drawn and underwent significant digital alterations in the next steps. We do NOT allow AI-generated art! Manips based on still images or photos of the actors are not eligible in this contest.
  • Zines: Both e-zines and print zines published between 7 November 2022 and 31 August 2023 are eligible. (For this reason the KiScon 2022 zine is not eligible, as the first edition came out shortly before the con and also contained several works that had been published earlier.)
Last but not least: these awards are meant to be fun and a celebration of the K/S fandom. The shortlist will double as lovely rec list! We get to talk about our faves and let the creators know that we love their works.
 
You can fill in the nominations form embedded on the KiScon website, or (if your device does not display it properly) you can find it at this link.
 
4. KiScon 2023 Programming Ideas:
 
We are steadily collecting ideas for panels and activities, and we will send out a Program Survey again at the end of August. We welcome any and all ideas, be they vague topics or concrete suggestions! If there's something on your mind that you would like to see or do at KiScon this year, please let us know at: conchairs@kiscon.org. 
 
5. KiScon Art Show / Auction:
 
A virtual con means a virtual art show, but we want it to be as glorious as in person. This fandom is rich in talent and creativity, and we hope to showcase a great variety at KiScon 2023.
 
Just like last year, the art show will be presented via a slideshow vid that will be accessible all throughout the convention weekend, much like an exhibition in the Rec Room. You can submit both digital art and traditional art (paintings, drawings/prints, but also three-dimensional artworks like sculptures, amigurumi, fibre craft, jewellery etc.); the latter needs to be either scanned or photographed. The show itself is purely digital and welcomes pieces from all K/S fans, not only registered con attendees. If you would like to see for yourself what this art show will be like, please have a look at our 2022 vid.
 
Please submit your artworks or the scans/photos of your artworks via this form. Deadline: 1 October 2023.
 
Good-quality files in jpg or png format (300 dpi) are recommended. Please include your exact artist name and the title of your works, plus any kind of information (e.g. medium, year of creation) that you would like us to mention. The artworks do not need to have been created for the convention, but can be as old or new as they come. 
 
If you would like to not only show your art but also offer it for sale in the auction, please make sure to tell us for each artwork you submit and include the starting bid. In the case of digital art, the winning bid will then get a very high-res file of the work (to set it apart from the version featured in the vid and auction catalogue). In the case of traditional art, you will send it to the buyer in its physical form. The online format of KiScon 2023 does not make it possible for us to organise the actual exchange of money for art; it would not be feasible for us to store the physical artworks and send them across the globe to the winning bidders. This is also why we will not take any commission this year!
 
We'll gladly help buyers and artists to keep track of all purchases and match you up with contact details, and we will keep a watchful eye on the process to ensure fairness and accountability, but each buyer is ultimately responsible for transferring the money to the artist, and each artist for making sure the artwork gets safely delivered to the buyer. 
 
If you would like to dedicate one of your auctioned artworks or a percentage of it to charity, to the support of KiScon itself, or to Ukraine, please let us know at the time of submitting the artwork.
 
Artworks submitted by their artists for auction will not only be in the art show vid, but also featured in an auction catalogue / gallery that will be part of the digital goodie bag each con attendee receives via Conline.
 
Should you want to offer an artwork or item in the auction that you have not created yourself, for example something that you once bought for your collection but now would like to send to a good new home, then it will only be featured in the auction catalogue / gallery, not in the slideshow vid, as we cannot ascertain the permission of the artist.
 
For any and all questions regarding the art show and auction, please get in touch with us at artshow@kiscon.org.
 
6. LOOKING FOR: K/S Fanart by Shelley Butler
 
Shelley is looking for fans who acquired artworks (originals, not prints) by her in the past, be it at conventions, directly from her, or via re-sellers. She would love to get high-resolution digital scans of her works or even buy some works back, as she has very few records of her earlier art; much of it was sold at a time when digitisation was not yet a thing and the early digital photo cameras did a rather poor job.
If you would like to help Shelley complete her art archive and preserve her oeuvre for future generations of fans, please get in touch with her at: thesbutlerdidit@aol.com
 
7. Where to find KiScon information & announcements:
 
Official website
KiScon Discord server
Tumblr blog
Twitter
Conline
Facebook Group
Dreamwidth
YouTube
 
Past newsletters:
Post-con Newsletter (Nov 24th, 2022)
The K/S Gazette – January 2023
The K/S Gazette – March 2023
 
Yours in K/S,
T’Lara and StarshipLillian
 
PS: Do you have something wonderful to share? A fic rec? Letter of comment? An announcement of your zine project? A picture of some amazing K/S or Trek merch you found? Then please send us your content to: newsletter@kiscon.org