 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy ConventionMemorial Day Weekend May 28 - 31, 2004 Balticon 38 was a tremendous success. Check back here at a later date for news about Balticon 39 to be held May 27-30, 2005. Year round SF activities can be found on our other web site, www.bsfs.org The Baltimore Science Fiction Society congratulates the first prize winners of contests held or
announced at Balticon 38: Guest of Honor:Artist Guest of Honor:Music Guest of Honor:2003 Compton Crook Award Winning Author Patricia Bray THE BALTICON 38 PROGRAM IS NOW ONLINE!! Check the Program page for details on the who, what, where and when for this year's Balticon. A Four Day, 24-hours-a-day Extravaganza! Over 300 Hours of Multi-Track Programming featuring authors, publishers, editors, artists, scientists, musicians and other creative SF luminaries. Join over a thousand SF fans for the area's largest and longest running convention of its kind! Visit our huge art show, dealer's room, concerts, dances, gaming room, computer room and video room. Everything Science Fiction and Fantasy in one huge package. HOURS OF OPERATION:Convention starts at 2:00 pm Friday and runs nearly 24 hours a day till Monday at 3:00 pm. Most areas of the convention will close at 3:00am each night with the exception of Anime, Video, Filk and the Hopkins conversation room and the area outside the Hopkins. These will be open 24 hours a day or as close to that as our volunteers can manage. REGISTRATION:Convention Rates
$52 after April 30th and at the door
Registration for Balticon will be open: Group Discount: Buy 10 memberships and get the 11th one free or buy 20 and next two free. For details write registration@bsfs.org or use mail in form. Active duty military receive free one-day membership on Monday. For Membership by (prior to May 10th only) mail send name, address, email address & phone number with payment to: Balticon 38, PO Box 686, Baltimore, MD 21203-0686 or click here for membership form. HOTEL:Balticon will be held at the Wyndham Baltimore (formerly Omni) Inner Harbor Hotel. Room rates are $120, plus applicable tax for up to four occupants. Members should make their reservations directly with the hotel by calling (410) 752-1100 or by calling toll free, 1-800-WYNDHAM. Even better use the on-line booking link below. The hotel is holding the room block open for Balticon members till May 14, 2004; so make your reservations soon because when the block runs out or after May 14th the cheep rooms at the Wyndham disappear. (See below for overflow hotel) The hotel will provide the Balticon rate on a space available basis right up until the con starts, however, the web site and national 800 numbers may not be aware so call the hotel directly if you are told otherwise. After the 14th it is unlikely rooms will available since the block will be open and your only chance will be if someone cancels and you slip in before someone else. When you call the hotel, remember to tell them that you are a member of Balticon to get the convention rate. If fate prevents you from attending Balticon, call at least 3 days prior to your arrival date to cancel and you won't be charged. You can use your credit card to guarantee your reservation with confidence because the hotel can't charge your card until your arrival date. Last year Balticon members booked so late we lost lost rooms to others. If you are told the hotel is full, e-mail dale@balticon.org and he will make sure. On-Line Hotel Registration:Use this link for the Wyndham and change the dates on the form to those you want a room at Balticon. Fill in the number of people and Wyndham-by-request number if you have one. At the bottom of the form there is a text input box labeled group code. Enter the group code "0526463BAL" if missing and press submit. If you don't get double beds as an option, change number of people in room upward. If the rate is not $120.00 check dates and group code. Reservation site works best with Internet Explorer and fails to display page with some Netscape Browsers. Overflow Hotels:Rooms have been bouncing back into the Wyndham system as people cancel, so if they don't have rooms in one hour check the on-line link later and maybe you can get into the Wyndham at the lower rate. Otherwise you can try... The Tremont Plaza Hotel at 222 St. Paul Place in Baltimore is only two blocks
from the Wyndham. To reserve call 410-727-2222. Since we are so close to the convention they are
no longer offering an official Balticon rate, but as of 5-21-04 they still had a few rooms.
TRAVEL:Directions:From points north, take 1-95 south through the Fort McHenry tunnel. Take Exit 53(1-395) toward the Inner Harbor. Proceed north on 1-395 until it becomes Howard Street. Continue up Howard Street four blocks until you are just past the Baltimore Arena, and then turn right onto Baltimore Street. Proceed east on Baltimore Street for one-and-one-half blocks, looking to your left for the Wyndham Hotel. Because the front of the hotel has valet parking and the center of Fayette has the Edison Self Park, I advise you to proceed east on Baltimore to North Charles Street and then turn left. Proceed one block north on Charles to Fayette and turn left. This puts you at the front of the hotel after passing the Edison Self Park entrance. The hotel is bounded by Baltimore Street on the south, Fayette Street on the north and Liberty Street on the west. From points south take 1-95 north to Exit 53(1-395) and follow the directions above. From 1-83: At the southern end of 1-83, turn right onto Fayette Street. The Wyndham is approximately eight blocks on your left. Public Transportation:For folks coming from BWI, or who have parked at a commuter lot of the light rail system, the University Center/Baltimore Street Light Rail stop, which is at the corner of Baltimore and Howard Streets, is the closest to the Wyndham. Walk east on Baltimore Street to Liberty Street, then north on Liberty to the front of the Wyndham, which is 3/10ths of a mile. The closest Metro subway stop is the "Charles Center on Baltimore Street, near Charles Street and Baltimore Street, near Calvert Street" station 4/10th of a mile east of the Wyndham hotel on Baltimore Street. To find the front of the Wyndham come out on the Calvert Street side, walk north on Calvert Street to Fayette, turn left and you will see the entrance to the Wyndham. The Metro is less useful to folks commuting from outside the city due to the limited route. Check www.mtamaryland.com for subway, light rail and bus schedules. Try the Baltimore MTA bus routes 3, 61 and 64 that pass the Wyndham as the best connections. There is a Greyhound Bus terminal just northwest of the Wyndham within visual distance; for their schedules check www.greyhound.com Amtrak has a number of trains available to reach Balticon. Check www.amtrak.com for your preferred schedule. From the Amtrak station, ride the light rail to stop near the hotel (see above). Parking:The Wyndham parking has 280 spaces available 24 hours a day. Valet parking at the front of the Wyndham is $22.00 per 24 hours or $15.00 for the day. Wyndham is Valet parking only this weekend and they are giving priority to Balticon Members. Tell them you are with Balticon if you wish to use Valet parking otherwise they will tell you the lot is full because they are saving spaces for Balticon people. The entrance to the self park at the south side of the hotel will say full even as they are still Valet Parking Balticon members. There are several other underground parking lots near the Wyndham. The largest, closest, cheapest and best for availability garage open 24 hours is Edison Parking with 650 spaces. Edison is entered by a ramp in the center of Fayette street right in front of the Wyndham, so approach it on Fayette from the east. The ramp looks long but there are cameras covering the ramp and ticket machine with an attendant waiting to resolve any problem. Price is $15.00 per 24 hours Monday- Friday and $7.75 on Sat-Sun. Edison Parking is located at 100 West Fayette Street, phone: 410-659-5824. The facility is under 24 hour security with an elevator exit right across the street from the Wyndham. The second largest underground lot open 24 hours is Arrow Parking at 210 West Baltimore Street (410-727-6811) just one block west of the Wyndham. They have 550 spaces and charge $10.00 per 24 hours. Both lots have signs indicating if they're full. Above ground parking is limited around the Wyndham but there are a few open-air lots nearby. Guilford and Baltimore Street lot is 3/10th of a mile east on Baltimore Street. Rate is $7.00 a day on weekends. Pratt & President Streets lot (Little Italy parking lot) is $8.00 per day maximum and a $7-8 cab ride or a 6-block walk to the hotel. (parking prices subject to change) PARTIES: Sunday Night is Party Promotion Night!If you throw a room party on Sunday night as well as any other night a friend of Balticon will pay the Sunday night party fee for you. Yes, Sunday Night is free of the masquerade, so parties can expand and grow like they never could on Saturday and we are encouraging you! Open parties will be registered and grouped on a low floor easily accessible to everyone. Registering your open party will ensure that you are covered by Balticon's corkage agreement (allowing you to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks), and that your neighbors don't mind the noise generated. Parties will be open until 3:00 am. Alcohol is not permitted at open room parties. There is a $25.00 per party night cleaning fee that Balticon will collect and pass to the hotel based on the number of nights you plan to hold an open party. If you plan on holding a private party you should let us know at party@balticon.org; we will put you with the other open parties so you can stay up all night talking and laughing without worrying about potential noise complaints. If your room is on the party floor, but you are not throwing an open party, you will not be charged the additional cleaning fee. Please check the box on the registration form if you would like to receive the open-party information packet or send mail to party@balticon.org. Following these rules means we can continue holding open room parties at Balticon VOLUNTEERS:Balticon is an all-volunteer managed convention and we can always use more help. Show your SF community spirit by volunteering a few hours at the con. Volunteers who work more than 10 hours receive our exclusive volunteer T-shirt. Work more than 20 hours and next year's Balticon membership is comped. Sign up at the convention or check the Volunteering box on the registration form. ADVERTISING:BSFAN:The BSFAN is our annual color-cover, 8 1/2 x 11 souvenir book distributed to all attendees. Submissions of art, short stories, research articles and poetry are greatly encouraged. Advertising Rates:Full page ad: $220; Half-page ad: $120; Quarter-page ad: $77. There is a 50% discount for fan organizations. Camera-ready business card sized ads are available for $33. Rates for center spread may be negotiated. Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2004. Submissions and questions should be sent to the main address, attention BSFAN or e-mail: bsfan@balticon.org. ADVERTISING OUTSIDE BSFAN:For only 7 cents per item, your brochure, catalog, flyer or novelty item will be placed in each registration packet by our enthusiastic volunteers. Of course our freebie table is still free for your use, but if you want to make a firm impression and have your items placed in the registration packet contact us at seth@balticon.org Special rates for sponsorship of events such as con-suite or program room "banner hanging sponsorships" are available upon request by contacting chair@bsfs.org. POLICIES:Smoking and Pets:Maryland law prohibits indoor public smoking except in designated areas. The Wyndham provides designated smoking hotel sleeping rooms and smoking sections in the restaurant and bar. Pets are not allowed in the hotel. Costume Weapons:Costume weapons must be inspected and peace bonded. Taking costume weapons outside the hotel will create conflict with the police; please do not take anything that looks like a weapon outside the hotel. ACCESS:If you require special access services from the convention, please contact us before March 1, 2004 and we will attempt to accommodate you HOME PROGRAMMING SPECIAL EVENTS EXHIBITS & FUNCTIONS CONTACT All materials copyright © 2003 Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc., unless otherwise noted. |