The following form layout is intended to serve two functions. It is intended to remind you of the information that will be helpful to those who will be browsing my convention list page and to enable you to organise your con info in a way that can be put in an email in the form that I use.

I like to think that I present convention information in the most logical order for a diary type display. This is why the date must come first. Next comes the event planned for the date or dates. The event will have a name and a very brief description.
The place where it will be held is next in importance. The precise location must be stated in plain language without abbreviations.
SF, Fantasy and Media cons like to advertise that prominent personalities will be at the event as guests of honour. For many fans, the chance to meet famous guests is a very good reason for attending the event. Please do not include information about the guests like actors' roles etc.
After the guest list there is the possibility of listing other attractions that the event can offer.
The next item has to be the cost of attendance at the event.
In most instances the fans will need somewhere to stay if the event lasts for longer than one day. This may be the hotel where the event will take place (please say so if it is) or one that is nearby and not too expensive. If accommodation is arranged for fans at preferential rates, these should be quoted.
The last items tell the fans how to contact the organisers and how to find out more information. These will usually be an email address and a web page. If you can think of a better sequence of items, please tell me.
NEW NOTE (24/07/2003)
Anyone can make mistakes so please try to arrange that someone else proof reads the info that you intend to send to me before you send it to me. It is very hard to proof read your own writing. For example, you won't want to advertise accommodation at GBP 30.00 per room when it is GBP 30.00 per person.
Please do not include any symbol characters. If you wish to add asterisks or other symbols, please create a graphic logo that includes them and send me the logo with your con info. Do not include them in the text.

The Form Layout

Date: dd/mm/yyyy - dd/mm/yyyy
NAME OF EVENT Type of event (Caps for the name of the event and upper and lower case for the short description.)
[Please do not write the words NAME OF EVENT or Date in your submission to me. Just write the date and name of your event in CAPS.]
Location: The Convention Hotel, 42, Convention Street, Conventionville, Conventionland. (No abbreviations please.)
Guests of Honour: Hugo Gernsback, Herbert George Wells, Jules Verne and Jonathan Swift. (No actors' roles or author's works here.)
Membership: USD 100.00 until dd/mm/yyyy, then USD 120.00 until dd/mm/yyyy. USD 150.00 at the door. Include supporting and junior rates if they apply.
If the last date for the cheapest membership rate has already passed by, use the date for the next cheapest rate if there is one. Very few fans have time machines these days.
(Please use USD 100.00 or GBP 100.00 or Euro 100.00 etc. not $ or other currency symbols. For example: GBP 120.00 because most currency symbols do not show correctly in many non-English language fonts.) Please don't use 100.00 USD or 100 GBP. The substitutes for currency symbols should precede the figures as the usual currency symbols do.
Accommodation: Say where if not con hotel or say same as con hotel. Quote room prices for single double, triple and suites if available. Also say if con is organising accommodation and if any discounts are applicable.
Note: This can include any useful info likely to help or attract fans. (A short optional item)
Contact: This will usually be a name and a snail mail address. Do not use non-standard abbreviations. (optional item)
Telephone: (mine is +44 (0) 1462 620 737) Please include the international dialling code for your country if you include a phone number. (optional item)
Fax: As for telephone. (optional item)
Email: (written as spoken in the UK to reduce spamming. Mine is wilf dot james at ntlworld dot com) (recommended item)
Webpage: (This one is: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wilf.james/con_form.htm) Don't leave out the http:// bit

Please do not include headings for which you provide no information.

Notes for USA fans.
PLEASE do not abbreviate the state name where the con is located. Is Ma Massachusetts, Maryland or Minnesota or your mother? Is Mi Michigan or Minnesota or half of Mimi?  Few non-USA fans know what the two letter abbreviations mean. Only use the usual abbreviations in the snail mail contact address.
Please be sure that you use the dd/mm/yyyy date format that is normally used in Europe and most of the British Commonwealth.
Double check that 05/04/2005 means the 5th April and not 4th May. I started the con list using this format and it is too late to change now.

A Special Request
I get so much spam now (more than 100 a day) that I have to be careful that I do not delete wanted emails inadvertently. To help to alleviate this problem, when you send me your convention details in an email, please make sure that the word Convention is in the subject line. You can add your convention name to this as in "Fannish Convention - Concourse" or "Fannish Convention - Swecon". I have set filters to ensure that such emails are directed to a Conventions folder automatically and do not end up in the SPAM or TRASH folders where they might be lost.

dd/mm/yyyy - dd/mm/yyyy
NAME OF EVENT Type of event (Please do not include the words NAME OF EVENT etc. - I know what convention names are like.)
Location:
Guests of Honour:
Membership:
Accommodation:
Note:
Contact:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Webpage:

Note that I normally use Verdana font in BOLD for the Headings and normal for the rest of the text.
However, don't bother to try to make headings bold in the email you send to me.
Bold and other attributes are lost when copied from an email to the web page image on my hard disk.
Please don't use stars (asterisks) or other symbols in the text. Brackets and parentheses are acceptable.
A lot of fans who view my convention list do not use English as their native languages.
In consequence, the font sets on their computers will not show the same symbols as will be shown on a computer using an English font set.
NEVER PUT ANYTHING EXCEPT THE CON NAME IN CAPS.
If you put other info in CAPS I have to retype it.

Please avoid double spacing too.

If you copy the way I put con info in my convention list in your email, it is then a straight copy job for me that saves me time and avoids possible mistakes.
Changed dates or locations are usually shown in red.

Logos
I will supply an image of your national flag and one of the following logos unless you wish otherwise. The British flag is only shown for Eastercons and for Northern Irish conventions where it is shown jointly with the Irish flag. If you have a logo that you would like me to use, that you do not mind me using later for other similar events, please send it to me as a JPG or GIF preferably at 300 pixels high and 450 pixels wide if you can. I can make an exception for the odd tall logo like the Tardis. On the con page it will usually appear as 40 pixels by 60 pixels. The larger version will appear on my logos page. Here they are mostly shown at 60 pixels by 90 pixels for clarity.

Wilf James,106 Jarden, Letchworth, Herts. SG6 2NZ, UK.
E-mail: wilf dot james at ntlworld dot com
Recent Past Conventions   SF Clubs
Read Hairy Undepoldus Music
SF Short Story Page
Science and Inventions Page
Advice Pages

Back to My Convention List