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.

Due to a lack of registrations for a physical event, the SFFANZ board has made the decision to go virtual for the one-day event on August 13th. 
Details of what will be in place will be released as soon as possible. 
We’re disappointed that we can’t get together to discuss things in person, but hopefully by going virtual we can get more attendance. 
At this stage we’ll be using Zoom. We’ll be hosting the AGM, the SJVs and a session on planning next year’s natcon at a minimum. Id you’d like to be part of a virtual panel, please contact lynelle@sffanz.nz asap and we’ll see what we can arrange.
Please contact the above address if you have any questions.

Lynelle Howell
PresidentSFFANZ

SFFANZ is pleased to announce that we’ve got a new date for the one-day event – August 13th. You can find all the details, and register to attend on this form. Please register by July 30th so that we can determine whether the event can go ahead. IF we get insufficient in-person attendance, we may pivot to a virtual event.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

The SFFANZ board has decided to extend voting in this year’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards until June 30 as insufficient votes have been received to date.  If there are still insufficient received at that time, no awards will be presented this year. The board feels such action is necessary to protect the value and prestige of the awards. 

The one-day event will also be moved to allow for the extra voting time. The registrations for this event had also been lacklustre, so it’s hoped the new date will attract more people to attend. We expect, at this stage, that this will be in mid-July, pending confirmation with the venue. 

The voting paper and voter packet will be available again shortly on the sffanz website www.sffanz.nz. The one-day form will also be shortly updated to reflect the new date once we’ve spoken with the hotel.

For those who have already cast their vote, please note we will continue to hold those safe until the extended voting period closes.

We apologise to those who may already have made travel plans for June 25, however, we feel this action is necessary. 
Lynelle Howell
President
SFFANZ

SFFANZ is pleased to announce it will hold a one-day event on  Saturday, June 25, 2022 at West Plaza Hotel.

While planning is still preliminary, it’s expected the day will start with meet and greet, followed by panels. The SFFANZ AGM will be held at 2pm, followed by a planning session for the next New Zealand national convention. 

The Sir Julius Vogel Awards for 2022 will be presented in the evening.

Registration for the day is free and open to all fans, but only members of SFFANZ may vote at the AGM.  Click join SFFANZ for details on joining the organisation. Any donations to SFFANZ on the day will be gratefully received.

You can register your attendance using this form

As this is a free event, you can attend as little or as much as you wish.  The intent of the day is to have a relaxed chance to get back into the swing of larger fan gatherings and to move forward with future planning for fandom in general. If you have suggestions for panel items, please indicate that on the form above.

Due to the orange COVID setting, the hotel has recommended masks be worn in communal areas of the hotel. As responsible hosts, we encourage and support mask wearing, though it is not mandatory. We understand that our hearing-impaired members may find this challenging, and are investigating ways we can assist them to enjoy the day.

Accommodation is available at West Plaza Hotel and details about costs will be provided as soon as they’re available.

Preliminary Programme (still subject to change)

9am Registration Opens.

10am Panel 1 – Send us your ideas.

11am Panel 2 – We really need them!

12noon Panel 3- Please!

IF you would like to be part of any of the discussions, please contact lynelle@sffanz.nz.

1pm lunch break

2pm SFFANZ AGM. Please note that to vote in the AGM you must be a member of SFFANZ.

4pm Let’s plan a NATCON. No idea is too big and outrageous, or too small. Let’s let our imaginations run wild and see what craziness we can come up with!

6pm – Dinner break. Wellington’s Matariki fireworks display will either be held at 7.15pm on Friday June 23, or Saturday June 24 (depending on the weather) on Wellington’s waterfront. The fireworks will last 10 minutes, we understand. For this reaosn, we’ll be having a longer dinner break to allow people to attend the fireworks and get back in time for the ceremony.

8pm Sir Julius Vogel Awards presentation and social. A light supper and the bar will be available from 7.30pm.