From ahrvid@sfbbs.edvina.se Fri Dec 24 01:26:45 1993 Received: from mail.swip.net (mail.swip.net [192.71.220.11]) by godot.lysator.liu.se (8.6.5.Beta3/8.6.5.Beta3) with ESMTP id BAA10749 for ; Fri, 24 Dec 1993 01:26:40 +0100 Received: from c3po.edvina.se by mail.swip.net (8.6.4/2.01) id BAA02798; Fri, 24 Dec 1993 01:26:18 +0100 Received: from sfbbs.UUCP by c3po.edvina.se (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA02316; Fri, 24 Dec 93 01:26:03 +0100 Received: by sfbbs.edvina.se (1.64/waf) via UUCP; Thu, 23 Dec 93 23:48:19 GMT for matoh@lysator.liu.se To: virklist@sfbbs.edvina.se Subject: Baltnews #1 From: ahrvid@sfbbs.edvina.se (A Engholm) Message-Id: Date: Thu, 23 Dec 93 23:36:39 GMT Organization: Science Fiction BBS tel +46 (0)8 6424077 Status: R Not: Virkbilagan kommer strax ocks}! =============================================================== BBB AA L TTTTT N N EEEE W W SS 1 ............. B B A A L T NN N E W W S S 11 .............. BBB AAAA L T N NN EE W W S 1 .............. B B A A L T N N E W W W S 1 ........ ...... B B A A L T N N E W W W S S 1 ......... ...... BBB A A LLLL T N N EEEE W W SS 111 ......... ...... --------------------------------------------- ......... ....... Newsletter of the Baltic science fiction con- ........ ....... vention.Editor: Ahrvid Engholm, ahrvid@sfbbs. .. .... ....... edvina.se, ahrvid@stacken.kth.se, ahrvid@idg. ..... .. se; Renstiernas Gata 29, S-116 31 Stockholm, . ... ...... Sweden. Baltcon (Lituanicon 94) is in Vilnius .. ... ..... Lithuania, June 24-26. Please support the ..... ....... Baltcon! You may spread Baltnews freely. The ... ....... newsletter is preliminary and irregular. #1. ................. =============================================================== CONTENTS: Pressrelease about Baltcon 94 - Intro - Bids for 1995 - Baltcon 94 Sup- port Fund - Visiting Lithuania - About the pre-Baltcon - Final Note - Ps PRESRELEASE FROM SF CLUB DORADO: Dear Sirs, Please inform your friends, club members and other science fiction and fantasy fans that the first Baltic Science Fiction Convention, the Baltcon, and the Lithuanian National Science Fiction concention Lituanicon will take place in Vilnius from the 24th to the 26th of June 1994. Baltcon is the convention for sf/fantasy fans from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The program includes masquerade, films, panels, debates, role playing game tournament, exhibitions, etc. If you want to participate in the program, contact us now. Attenting membership of Baltcon is 25 US dollars. (*) For more detalied information please contact: SF Club Dorado G Beresnevicius Antakalnio 65-33 2040 Vilnius Lithuania If possible, please print this information in your fanzine or magazine. Many thanks for your support. --Gediminas Beresnevicius Preseident of SF Club Dorado (*) Ed's note: Presumingly this is the fee for Western fans attending. The fee for Eastern European fans is not announced in this letter, but is probably lower and not in USD. INTRO Two years ago I went to Lithuania for the first time, to the Lituanicon 92, then held in the beautiful city of Kaunas. Before going I was full of questions. What would fandom be like in Lithuania? What's their cons like? Would they be interested in cooperating with fandom in other countries around the Baltic Sea? Already then I had this idea in my mind of starting a Baltic SF Convention, intented as a Northern European regional convention. Once we used to have the Scandinavian Scancons, a convention series that unfortunately died. A Baltic con fitted with the new times. The Baltic countries had become independent, the communist regimes had fallen in all of Eastern Europe, all borders where open (though new Economic borders seems to rise). I had a very good time in Kaunas in 92, and I also returned there for the 1993 Lituanicon. I couldn't find anything of importance that differs the Lituanicon from an ordinary medium sized Western con. And the fans were very keen to open the connections with fandom in other countries. After discussing the Baltcon concept with the Lithuanian fans we decided to do something about it. In Stockholm, august 1993, we organized a con- vention called Conscience 93, and invited people from all over Europe to come. We billed it as a "pre-Baltcon". I drafted a constitution for a Baltic SF Convention Society, which was passed on a constituting meeting in Stockholm, which some modifications. The meeting was attended by fans from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Rumania, England and USA. The principles of the Baltic SF Convention Society are these: * The main objective with the Baltcon is to open up fannish connections. And to establish the Baltcon as a forum for discussion, exchange of ideas and let people from the East and West get to know each other. * The Society are the organizers of nomination and voting for each year's Baltcon. The board consists of people from previous Baltcons (for 1993-94 Conscience and Lituanicon 94 are in the board). * The Baltcons are organized every second year in a West Zone (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany) and every second year in an East Zone (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Poland). * The members of each year's Baltcon (supporting or attending) are also members of the Society, with the right to vote for the site selection. Voting is by mail and on the Baltcons. * Special considerations for the weaker economy in the East Zone. Western cons bidding are urged to subsidize Eastern fans when they go to a West zone Baltcon. Sudsidizes are not fixed, and are of course dependent on what the con-com can manage. Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it! But there are of course obstacles on the road. To establish a regional convention takes lots of work, and we are dependent on the support from all the fans around the Baltic Sea. There are prejudices to fight against. And the economy is of course a very special problem. BIDS FOR 1995 The important thing now is to get support for Lituanicon 94 (the first official Baltcon). Next we need to organize a West Zone Baltcon for 1995. I have in different forms tried to investigate the interest of possible bidding conventions. The Norwegians regret that they're not sure they'll have a con in 1995. The con-com for the Finnish 95 con (if any) isn't formed yet. A regional Swedish con hasn't answered my inquire. Please read this: BIDS FOR THE BALTCON 1995 ARE OPEN UNTIL DECEMBER 31ST. You may E-mail your bid to me, and a bid shall state: 1) Name of your convention. 2) Site and date. 3) Names of chairman, secretary and treasurer of the bidding committe. 4) How much, in cash, you are willing to subsidize travel expenses for East Zone fans visiting your convention. The con fee for East Zone fans should also be very low. If no bid arrives before the deadline, we will organize a Swedish bid. The Conscience committe is a bit tired after the 93 convention, but we'll try to get something together. This thing about "subsidizing" should be explained. The thought with this is that a West Zone con could simply put aside a certain percentage of the confee for subsidizes. If you expect 200 attendees from the West that pay 25 USD each, and put 10% aside you have 500 USD. That gives 25 USD to 20 East Zone visitors (ca. one month normal pay in Lithuania). Organize how to transfer the money to the visitors, and you got yourself a number of interesting fans coming. A subsidizing scheme is voluntary for the bidder, but it improves your chance of winning the bid so it should be carefully considered. BALTCON 94 SUPPORT FUND Other ideas of supporting fans going to the Baltcon and the Baltcon itself are of course welcome. In Sweden we have collected some IBM PC compatible computers that have been donated to the sf clubs in Kaunas and Vilnius. We paid the tickets for seven of the Eastern European fans that came to Stockholm. I now also announce the "Baltcon 94 Support Fund". The Vilnius fans have told me how expensive (in local currency) organizine things are becoming. Already Rolandas Maskoliunas of the 1993 Lituanicon was very doubtful if they could afford it. We will therefore collect money, in Scandinavian fandom and elsewhere, to help the con-com with their expenses. Donations are welcome in the following forms: * Money to my Swedish Postal Giro 436 43 00-9 (Fanytt/Engholm). * Smaller sums in envelopes to my address (Renstiernas Gata 29, S-116 31 Stockholm, Sweden; sending money to Lithuania is more risky). * Checks, payable to Ahrvid Engholm. (Note: ca. 10 dollars will be lost cashing the check, due to Swedish bank fees.) * We'll also bring more computers to Lithuania next June. PC compatible computer equipment or peripherals are welcome. Contact me first about what is needed. Transportation is a problem. The more modern equipment you have, the better. * Anything that can be sold is useful. If it is difficult to transport organize a Baltcon suppord auction at your next local convention, and send the money to the Baltcon 94 Support Fund. * Is there any foreign pro interested to become GoH on Lituaniacon? The deal is that you must pay your own ticket, but the con-com will take care of costs inside Lithuania. Airfares are very expensive in Lithuanian currency, and the resources are small. It's also very important the spread the news. Write about Baltcon in your fanzine. Include it in your convention list. Ask me for info material to hand out on your convention. And please, come to Vilnius next June! Here's how to do it: VISITING LITHUANIA You can go to the Baltics by land, sea and air. Lithuania now has its own Airline, I don't know it it's services other than that it goes to Stockholm twice a week. Tickets are unfortunately rather expensive. Check with your travel agent. On land you can go by train through Germany and Poland. Train ticket in Eastern Europe tend to be inexpensive. The trains will go slower that you are used to, due to the quality of the rails. You can also take ferries from Stockholm, Sweden to Estonia or Latvia (and then train or bus) or from Finland to Estonia. A return ticket from Stockholm will cost 150-200 USD, and a train Estonia-Lithuania ca. 25 USD. Prices will vary with season, currency situation and if you are entitled to discount (old age pensioneer, student etc). It is cheaper to by train tickets on the spot in for instance Tallinn, than to buy it in a Western travel agency. Lituanicon 94 can organize lodging for you. I have been told that prices would be ca. 30 USD/night. The standard of the hotel rooms I've had during my visits to Lithuania have been fair: clean beds, running water (but only cold), WC, during one stay we even had TV with Eurosport in the room (remember that the Soccer World Cup is during Lituanicon - you can see it in Lithuania). Contact the con before coming (address above), and they will help you organize lodging. Local help with organizing practical things is usually better. Travel agencies in the west will charge you higher prices. You most probably need a visa to Lithuania. For the Nordic countries the visas are free of charge. I believe there is a fee for other countries, but I don't know how much (my guess 10-15 USD). Your local Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian embassy or consulate will help you with the visa. In Stockholm the process takes about two days, but I don't know about other countries. The three Baltic countries have a visa union, meaning that a visa for one country is also good for the other two. You need to investigate the regulations in case they change. Check the customs regulations while you're at it; these are pretty normal (no drugs, limited amounts of alcohol and tobacco, I don't know about pets). If you bring more expensive gifts, get a paper from the con-com that it is indeed a gift so you don't have to pay customs fees. The Baltic countries have very tight border controls. There will be guards with sub-machine guns, but they will be very polite and correct if you have your visa and passport in order. These controls are necessary to stop the Russian Mafia to smuggle things, and to control unwanted Russian troop movements (there are still Russian troops in Latvia and Estonia). They may search your luggage, and then they will wish you a good trip. It is possible to rent a car. I don't know about Lithuania, but you can rent one in Estonia. There's a rental agency in the Airport of Tallinn. In 1992 we rented a car and paid (if I remember it correctly) ca. 400 dollars for one week. You may cross the borders to Latvia and Lithuania with it. Get the optional insurance! Arrange the car to be in an indoor garage when you leave it for longer periods. We rented a Russian Lada, which was similar to a four door Italian Fiat. You need an International Driver's License. Watch out for the speed controls! They are frequent down the big roads of the Baltics (the fine is low, but it is always a good idea to stay out of trouble). Gas can usually be found outside the big cities. The big roads are usually very good. Beware of other cars driving around with broken headlights in the middle of the night! You always use the local currency (by law) but there are plenty of places to exchange: Kroons in Estonia, Lats in Latvia, Litas in Lithuania. These currencies are pretty stable. USD and D-marks are the best to exchange. You may find people offering to exchange on the streets around the railway stations, but they won't give you a better rate than the official currency exchanges. I don't know much about plastic card money, because I don't use it. Carry valuable eqipment like cameras with you. Don't leave unecessarily leave valuables in your hotel room. Split your cash and carry some in your wallet, some in a bag under your clothes, some somewhere else. The food is usually OK (though I was midly food poisoned in Latvia last time), but don't drink the tap water. A bottle of beer cost around 25 cents. Estonia is more expensive than Latvia and Lithuania. You can usually, but not always, make yourself understood in English, and Russian of course. Don't go out alone in the streets too late. There are lots of interesting sights to see, museums, etc in Lithua- nia, but I'm not doing a tourist guide. I'm only giving you some practical "survival" tips out of my personal experience. You will most likely not find it at all difficult to go to Lithuania. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer. Lithuania is a very exciting country. You'll find it different in many respects, but surprisingly similar in other. The Lithuanians are very friendly, especially to people from the West. When you go there you'll have a chance to experience "modern history". It was there the freedom process in the former USSR began. ABOUT THE PRE-BALTCON In Stockholm, August 13-15, Swedish fandom organized Conscience 93, a "pre-Baltcon" with a constituting meeting for the Baltic SF Society. 22 foreign fans from nine different countries attended. The total attendance was ca. 125 (a bit disappointing, we had expected at least 200, and we also lost a bit money). The palce was the citizen hall and the official theme of the con was "Computers and SF". Foreign GoHs were Jerry Pournelle (who came with his wife Roberta) and Mike Jittlov. Both were very appreciated. Jerry talked about his writing and about computers (he does the famous Byte column, as you know). Mike talked about his film "The Wizard of Speed and Time", which also was shown. The program included a number of films, an artshow, a computer room, a bar, talks, panels, banquet and other things. An important panel was called "Science Fiction moves East" starring our Eastern European guests. The "Computer and SF" subjects were things like AI, fractals, Internet, covered in talks, panels and demos. We also had program about Cyberpunk. The fans from Vilnius showed a video about the Lithuanian freedom fight in 1991. The con chairman Jorgen Stadje edited a fine program book, distri- buted with a computer disk with reference texts about sf, fandom, cyberpunk, etc (for instance the first public beta of my Swedish fancyclopedia Fandboken). We had two sponsors, that we are very grateful to, and they contri- buted both to the program and with money: Microsoft, the Swedish division of the world leading software company, and QA Informatik, anti-virus experts and vendor for eg Dr Solomon's Anti Virus Toolkit. Media coverage was good. Apart from some papers, there were reports in some radio and TV-channels. Radio Sweden International interviewed me, Rolandas Maskoliunas and Romas Buivydas in transmissions that could be heard all over the world, in both Russian and English. After the con, each night, I had in informal party in my apartment, where many of the foreign guests participated (and contributed to with vodka!). With guests from Sweden, Norway,Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, England and USA it was one of the most international cons in Sweden ever. Someone told me: - Well, this is almost like a "mini-Eurocon"! If we had a third more attendees and hadn't lost over 2000 USD it would have been perfect. One third of the loss came from the devaluation of the Swedish crown, for tickets we paid in USD! We'll straighten up the economy for future cons. Maybe we'll see you in Stockholm in 1995? FINAL NOTE I have decided against including the Baltic SF Convention Society Constitution here. It would make this newsletter twice as long! You can order the constitution by E-mail from me. I have not yet OK'ed the publication of Baltnews with the rest of the people involved, and that's why this is a "preliminary" newsletter. Don't forget that. I don't imagine anyone objects, though. If you want to bid for the 1995 Baltcon, this is your final notice! The deadline ins December the 31st. My E-mail address is in the beginning of this newsletter. You'll also find my snail mail address and the address to the Lituanicon/Baltcon 94 there. If you haven't heard about Baltcon before, it is better late than never. I've done my best to spread info, by E-mail, to con-coms I know of, in Scandinavia through my newszine SF-Journalen. Baltcon isn't the biggest, best or most faaanish convention - but it could be, with your help! -- Ahrvid Engholm (Stockholm 93-12-23) PS. Two Free Ads: 1) Order my Electronic SF Chatzine "Virkbilagan"! Free of charge, published with ca. 20 K every week - but don't bother if you don't read Swedish. 2) Order the Nordic Electronic SF Address Directory (NESFAD), with E-mail addresses to ca. 200 Nordic fans, from my address or broimola@abo.fi. NESFAD is in English. _Tel: +46 08-6424077 _24h/day V.32/32"_ _ _ (_' _ , _ _ _ _ l_ , _ l_, _ _ l_) l_)(_' ._)(_ l(-'l )(_(-' l l(_ l l(_)l ) l_) l_)._) ahrvid@sfbbs.edvina.se Author: A Engholm, Date:23-Dec-93