Discworld Convention 2006 Pre-Con Information The following information is designed to be useful for getting to the Discworld Convention 2006 and knowing what to do when you arrive. We’ll see you all there on the 18th August! ============================================ Getting To The Convention Hinckley Island Hotel, A5, Watling Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire, LE10 3JA By Road: The town is at the centre of the motorway network and easily accessed from the M69, which links the M1 and M6 motorways. From North (M1 Southbound): Leave M1 at junction 21 onto M69. Exit M69 at junction 1. Turn left on to A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is approximately 300 yards on the left. From North (M6 Southbound): Leave M6 at junction 2 onto M69. Exit M69 at junction 1. Turn right at the roundabout onto the A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is approximately 300 yards on the left. From South-East (M1 Northbound): Leave M1 at junction 19 onto M6. Exit M6 at junction 2 onto M69 and exit M69 at junction 1. Turn right at the roundabout onto the A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is approximately 300 yards on the left. From South-West (M5): Leave M5 at junction 4A onto M42. Exit M42 at junction 7A onto M6 southbound. From here, follow "From North (M6 Southbound)" instructions above. However, you won't really need a car to get there, as Hinckley's also well served by rail, air and assorted other transport media. By Rail: If you are travelling to the Convention by rail, you may decide to walk to the hotel from the station. This is not recommended as the hotel is effectively inaccessible by foot - the journey involves crossing a number of busy roads (most notably the A5 and M69). Other Convention attendees will be arriving at the station on both Friday and Saturday - why not arrange to meet up with other attendees and share a taxi? By Air: East Midlands Airport (EMA) is not too far to the north. There are regular buses from the airport to Loughborough railway station, where it's possible to pick up direct trains to Hinckley. Birmingham International Airport (BHX) is not too far to the west. Regular shuttle buses connect the airport terminal to Birmingham International railway station, from where it's easy to take a train to Coventry and change for Hinckley. Finally, Stansted Airport (STN), one of the numerous airports claiming to be in London, has regular and direct, albeit slow, rail services to Hinckley station. This may be of interest as many of the "low-cost" airlines serve Stansted. Further Information: National Rail Enquiries on +(44) 8457 484950 to ensure that trains are running okay and aren't being affected by overnight or weekend engineering works. Hinckley Station Taxis (at the train station!) can be contacted on +(44) 1455 238000 or +(44) 1455 614444 Useful Websites: Birmingham International Airport: http://www.bhx.co.uk/ East Midlands Airport: http://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/ Stansted Airport: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/stansted/ National Rail information: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ An independent public transport information site: http://www.pti.org.uk/ ============================================ Extra! Extra! Any budding thespians who would like to be involved in very small parts in the play, or any budding Stage Managers who want to have a go at back stage work, should report in to Suzi in the Dysk during Thursday or Friday or turn up to the specialist gopher session on Friday. Also, don't forget if you've always fancied seeing how Theatre Tech of any kind works then there's also the "Teach Yourself Tech" event (to be found in the Programme Schedule). ============================================ Registration Once you have arrived at the hotel and settled in you should find the registration desk to pick up your all important information and badge. Registration can be found in the Hub and will be open on Friday and Saturday from 10am until 6pm. If you arrive outside Registration's opening hours GO TO OPS. ============================================ Thursday Quiz The now traditional pub quiz on Thursday night will be held in the bar from 9pm. Get yourselves into teams of no more than six people and meet the challenge of Roundworld questions based around Guild themes. Alchemist? Better know your science. Fool? Polish up on your comedy. Seamstress? If you're lucky, we'll ask you about zips. ============================================ Thursday Buffet Thursday evening, a hot and cold 3 course finger buffet will be served to attendees in the Lakeside Suite at 7:30pm. Places for this were pre-booked along with hotel accommodation requests. Payment to be by cash/plastic at the till or by tickets issued by reception at point of check-in. The cost of the buffet is £8 per head. ============================================ Pre-ordered Convention T-shirts and Polo shirts Those who ordered tshirts or polo shirts with instructions that they wished to pick them up at the event can collect them at the Convention table in Sator Square. ============================================ Maskerade For those entering the maskerade please bring to registration: Copy of the completed Maskerade registration form CD or MiniDisc with music and/or sound effects for the entry Four copies of any script (organisers, tech crew, backstage and MC). Details of any other special requirements To the rehearsal: All of the above if you didn't make it to the registration. Dimensions of any large items (e.g. costumes or props) To the Maskerade: Yourself, your costume and any props. ============================================ Book Signings We have organised a series of book-signing events over the course of the convention. These events are very popular so please help us make them run smoothly, so that everybody gets a fair chance. There is a queue to see the Guests so please don't jump it. There is a three-book limit. The guests will be happy to chat to you as they sign your books but there will be a queue of eager people waiting behind you, so if the guests or the Watch ask you to move on, please help them out. There are plenty of other opportunities to talk to the guests (hint: try buying them drinks.) ============================================ Dead Monkey Party Officially the convention ends on Monday afternoon. That said, many of us feel unable to leave so quickly after all the fun and excitement of the previous days and the hotel will still have a lot of Discworld fans staying over on the Monday night. If you will be one of them, come along to the Dead Monkey Party, where you can relax with all the friends you've made over the weekend and wave smelling salts under the noses of shell-shocked committee members. It'll be another two years before you get to do this again, so make it last. ============================================ Weapons Policy All weapons will be checked in with Ops as soon as possible following hotel check-in. There are no exceptions to the "check-weapons-in-with-Ops" policy. Permission to wear weapons is conditional on the approval of the Watch, in conjunction with Ops, to whom all weapons should be brought. If you're not sure what constitutes a weapon, you should bring it up to Ops anyway, just to be sure. There are 800 people in close quarters for the duration of the convention, and you'd be amazed at the damage that one person with a scythe can cause. Well, all right, maybe you wouldn't be that surprised, but if Death turns up at the Con, we'd like to think that he'd be thoughtful enough to check his scythe and sword with Ops. You may think that a weapon which stays in your room and only comes out for the Masquerade does not need to be brought to Ops. You would be wrong; ALL weapons need to be brought to Ops, as soon as possible following check-in. You may think that a weapon which will not be brought out of your hotel room does not need to be checked with Ops; it is the experience of The Watch that at two in the morning someone will decide to go up to their hotel room and get their edged banana so that they can show it to their friends. Please do not do this. Ops will summon The Watch to examine all weapons brought to their attention. Determination of what constitutes a weapon is at the sole discretion of The Watch and Ops teams. People who disregard the weapons policy may have their Con membership revoked and be asked to leave the Convention. Please help us help you to have a happy and safe Convention.