Hi everyone! It’s spring (or very nearly) and the sap is rising so to speak, surely a great opportunity to gaze at photos of our boys and get inspired – is that the clattering of keyboard keys we can hear in the background or not more rain?!
REGISTRATION: We need more! If you haven’t already – please sign up so we can plan for numbers. The con needs to meet a minimum number in order to go ahead so we need your help in spreading the word (& not the virus!) within the K/S community of course. We have created a short teaser - watch it here. Don’t forget, it doesn’t cost anything to register, as we are happy to take your payment in full or in instalments.
PANELS: Social media – what is it, what is out there for K/S & how to navigate it? We thought it would be great to have a panel about social media. We need a volunteer (or volunteers) to run it. As fandom is mostly kept alive using online options these days, it can get confusing on how to handle it. We want to keep K/S active (and we know they keep active!) so let’s all learn together about great ways to do that. Panel topics/ideas of your own are also still open - so get those thinking caps on!
SHOW AND TELL: This is a chance to share your love of fandom. Examples could be what was the first zine /story you read and what that felt like, or how you first heard about K/S, your first K/S con, when you met any of ‘our boys’, your favourite Star Trek photograph or K/S zine etc. We all got into K/S somehow…now’s the time to share and we’re sure that whatever you say, there’ll be someone in the background saying, “Yeah, me too.” Please let us know if you would like to tell your story.
ZINE: We are still looking for submissions for the con zine. These can be stories, poems, pictures, photo manips. If you’ve never submitted a story before, this could be your ‘first time’.
ART: If you are planning to submit, we hope the work is coming along nicely. We will be producing a form to be completed for any submissions, so keep going!
VIDS: We can’t wait to see them. The deadline for submissions is 1st July, and there are vid competition details on the website. The best way to submit is via a file transfer site and there are lots of free options eg WeTransfer. But don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any specific questions.
VENUE: As you probably know, the con is at a new venue this year. Moor Hall in Cookham is a training centre owned by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. We have been in discussions with them since last year and are very happy that the space will work well, and the team at the venue are supportive and friendly. If you haven’t taken at look at their website please do here https://cimmoorhall.co.uk/
Corona virus Covid-19: We are monitoring updates and working with the venue to keep the virus situation at the top of our planning agenda. The venue has all the correct measures in place as they have to comply with UK Government guidelines. Please be assured we do not want to cancel the event. However, if we do have to cancel (if matters are taken out of our control), dependent on the date, we will do our best to refund as much as possible to everyone (including us). As we state on the membership tab, if you cancel after 1st June, again we will do our best to refund as much as possible. We are running the con as volunteers (& we pay the full reg fee too), and make no money for ourselves, so we are all in the same situation. Any funds that are realised over and above expenditures go to the con charity. We will communicate updates as soon as we have any. LL&P
JANUARY 2020 UPDATE
Happy New Year to one and all!
Welcome to the first of many updates for KiSmet 2020 – who can believe it’s only nine months until the convention (so if you’re thinking of writing an mpreg story for the con zine, now’s the time!!) We know that some of you reading this will already be registered and are busily writing, drawing, painting, vid-making and generally panicking ready for September (wait, that last bit just applies to us). But if you’re not booked yet, but are thinking of attending, it would be great if you could register via the Membership tab above. It doesn’t cost anything to register, as we are happy to take your payment in full or in instalments over the coming months. PANELS: We’ve already had a number of great suggestions for panels/talks, but if you have a brilliant idea for a panel and would be happy to host it, please get in touch. Alternatively, if you have a brilliant suggestion, but don’t want to chair it, just let us know and we’ll do our best to find someone who will help. Don’t forget, we’re only a small convention and are a very friendly bunch, so most panels are more of a discussion group than a ‘presentation’. NEW FOR 2020 - We’re planning several “Show and Tell” 15 minute slots during the con. This is your chance to share your experiences or stories of being a fan and of course you can bring along any mementos you might have (space is limited, so that full-scale shuttlecraft you bought on e-bay might not be a good idea!) Some examples could be how you first heard about K/S, your first K/S con, when you met any of ‘our boys’, your favourite Star Trek photograph or K/S zine etc. We all got into K/S somehow…now’s the time to share and we’re sure that whatever you say, there’ll be someone in the background saying, “Yeah, me too.” Please let us know if you would like to tell your story. ZINE: We are still looking for submissions for the con zine. These can be stories, poems, pictures, photo manips, we’re not fussy. Well, we are actually, but you know what we mean – we just want a zine full of wondrous stories of our boys getting it on…er, enjoying each others company. If you’ve never submitted a story before, this could be your ‘first time’. We are certain that everyone reading this will have written a story or two in their minds, even if they’re never written them down. Well, this is your opportunity to get yourself in print and you don’t even have to use your own name. ART: We hope you’re all working on your art/photo manips and crafts for display, competition and auction (if you can bear to part with your finished creation). We’re not setting a theme this year, as we didn’t want to limit your imagination. We don’t ask much, we just want art, photos, images of Kirk and Spock and LOTS OF ‘EM. We just love going home after a K/S con with the feeling that we’ve spent all weekend just looking at the boys….which, of course, we have! VIDS: There’s also no specified theme for the vid competition this year, so just use that amazing song that you can’t get out of your head and make a breath-taking vid for us to watch on Saturday night. We know that vid making is an art form beyond most of us, but we’re hoping to have a couple of panels on how to start, what equipment you’d need and a guiding hand to make the whole process a lot less scary. There are vid competition details on the Vidding tab above, but if you have any specific questions in advance please get in touch and we’ll do our best to answer them. COSPLAY/FAVOURITE T-SHIRT: If you haven’t been involved in cosplay before, don’t panic. It’s not compulsory, but it does give you the chance to dress up as an Andorian Slave Dancer or anything else that might take your fancy! NEW FOR 2020 – here’s the moment to design and print your own t-shirt with a K/S theme and as per the Cosplay, we’ll ask everyone to vote for their favourite one...and there’ll be a prize!
We’ve got some fun competitions lined up and are working on the Great KiSmet Quiz, so we hope you’re spending every waking hour watching episodes and movies, because who knows what obscure piece of knowledge will come in handy! We already have a great selection of raffle prizes to raise money for the con charity, the British Lung Foundation (in memory of Leonard), but if you would like to donate something for the raffle OR have anything you’d like us to include in the con packs, that would be wonderful. Just let us know and then bring the items along on the day. We’re very excited to be running this con, but we really need your support to make it a great success. We look forward to hearing from you with all your wonderful submissions. Let’s all keep the KiSmet tradition and K/S fandom alive & kicking (kissing!)! LL&P