Continuity 2024 convention – 6-7 July 2024, Wellington

SFFANZ is pleased to announce that Continuity, the 2024 New Zealand National Science Fiction Convention, will be held on 6-7 July 2024 at the West Plaza Hotel in Wellington, as well as online.

As the name suggests, Continuity aims to restart the New Zealand NatCons, building on last year’s reConnect virtual convention, with a number of the reConnect team working on Continuity too.

To that end, with the support of SFFANZ and SFFCONZ, prices for Continuity will be held down. However, donations towards to the costs of running Continuity will be gratefully accepted.

Continuity’s first Guest of Honour is noted horror author Allyson Bird. Allyson has won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in First Novel [2011], The British Fantasy Society Award for Best Collection [2009]. She will be joining us in person, having moved to New Zealand from the United Kingdom in 2011.

In addition, Bill Geradts, founder of the Armageddon Expos, has agreed to be Fan Guest of Honour.

Discussions are in progress for other guests, both in-person and virtual.

Work is underway on the convention programme which will start mid-Saturday and end Sunday afternoon. The programme will include the presentation of the Sir Julius Vogel Awards and SFFANZ Annual General Meeting; should you have ideas for programme items you would like to see or participate in, please do get in touch.

Similarly, volunteers to help organise the con and run it on the day would also be greatly appreciated.

Continuity’s policy on masking will follow the guidelines from the New Zealand Ministry of Health at the time of the convention. At present, masking is recommended but not mandatory.

To register for Continuity, please go to:

• https://bit.ly/Continuity2024; or
• https://continuity2024.zohobackstage.com.au
• 

For any enquiries, offers of assistance or to get in touch in general, email enquiries@continuity2024.sffanz.nz

Please also feel free to share information about Continuity with anyone you feel might be interested.

More information will follow soon, including details of lead-in events. We very much look forward to seeing you at Continuity, whether in person or online.

A message from the current committee of Continuity 2024.

For the past three years a small but hardy bunch of fans have tried to revitalise conventions in New Zealand in the wake of the pandemic and CoNZealand. The former has made conventions difficult to host, and the latter made those who’d run events want to hide in a corner going wibble.

Sadly, that’s meant that a very small number of people, who are also members of the SFFANZ board, have been left holding the baby that is Continuity 2024. We’ve asked for assistance from fandom at large, and whilst a few volunteers put their hands up, they suddenly lost interest or ability to help when we had our first meeting. Now we who are left are running out of steam, and wondering if we have the spirit and time to continue. We want conventions in New Zealand to continue as we see value in them. We want to gather with friends to discuss our passion for the genre. But we can’t do it alone.

For the past three years we’ve hosted a revitalising fandom discussion, which has been robust, but every year the same thing happens. People want, want, want, but there’s no give, give, give.

At a recent fannish gathering, a number of fen asked what plans were for Continuity 2024, when bookings could be made etc. Not one person offered to put their hand up to help or run anything. It seemed to that people wanted to be entertained rather than to participate. Oh, and we have to make the event as long as possible (meaning we need to find more information/panels/events to entertain people) so that it makes it worthwhile to attend, otherwise they won’t. And, not unnaturally given the times, everyone expects that events will be both in person and online making the effort involved greater again.

There are many conflicting issues going on here, we realise. Fandom, as a group, is not getting any younger. We all have lives, and things we want to do, but unless more of us put in an effort to keep momentum in conventions alive, then SF cons in New Zealand will go the way of the dodo.

We do have some ideas, such as holding a SMOFcon South, a con-running event, alongside a day where we celebrate fandom in New Zealand, but this idea is in its infancy. We’ve got a date, a venue, ideas for guests, events, and of course the Sir Julius Vogel Awards to host. But we need ideas, fresh ones, to assist us to get this plan across the line. And we need more people to volunteer to make that happen.

We will be hosting a meeting on February 25 at 10am to discuss where we go from here with Continuity 2024. I invite you to register here for the zoho meeting. If we don’t get sufficient interest, we will be turning Continuity 2024 into a one-day event again, and that will be it. We won’t try again. 

Fandom is what you put into it. It requires active engagement and participation to make it thrive and grow. This is where you come in, yes YOU.

We hope to see you on the 25th.

Continuity Concom.

SFFANZ is pleased to present the 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Award winners. Congratulations to all our winners, and our thanks to the finalists for letting their works stand for nomination.