Discworld Fans Celebrate Terry Pratchett On Twitter Today With #ILovePratchett Hashtag

Twitter friends

We are celebrating 

Sir Terry Pratchett today with

 #ILovePratchett

Use the hashtag and

read the great tweets 

collected and re-posted 

by Terry's YA editor 

at Harper Collins

Anne Hoppe

@AHedit on Twitter

Think Geek and Denver ComicCon Step Up to Help Aurora

This just in:

Members of the Denver Comic Con are working with state officials to organize a candlelight vigil this Sunday, in Aurora.

"We are also working on some fundraising efforts and will be releasing specific details soon. Our thoughts are pouring out to all the people who were affected by this tragedy. We love you"

I found this note via @thinkgeek on Twitter. Think Greek posts that:

(Denver ComicCon is) working with the Mental Health America of Colorado to provide grief counseling during the vigil. They're also working on fundraising efforts, so keep an eye on their tweets for more news.  

Think Geek just donated $1,000 to the chapter of the Red Cross local to the Aurora shooting.

Their website also posted ways in which you and I and all our friends can help the people of Aurora:

If you're local to Denver and the Aurora area, you're encouraged to give blood--actually, no matter where you are, now's a good time to be reminded that blood banks could always use your donation. The Bonfils Blood Center in Colorado sounds booked for today, but you can set up an appointment.

Denver magazine and website 5280 has some helpful information for Denver locals, including a crisis counselor hotline (Aurora Mental Health Center, 303-617-2300) and community gatherings scheduled for tonight and this weekend.

---

7/25 update: Yet more ways to help!
As more time has passed, more ways to help have been made available. Such as Giving First which has an extensive list of charities that are doing amazing things for the Aurora shooting victims and their families.

There are also drives gathering money to help individual victims with their medical expenses, such as Caleb Medly's fundraising site and an IndieGoGo to help Petra Anderson.

Well done.

dj

Art: Remember Aurora ribbon by Mark Rantal 

Cruel Shoes: How the Discworld Seamstress Guild Is Rocking Facebook

Fans of the Discworld, history, fashion, art, humor and culture have found a meeting place at the Discworld Seamstress Guild page on Facebook thanks to the fabulous content provided by Patty Panek.

Great job, Patty. Thanks.

The Seamstress Guild now has a page on Twitter. Mrs Palm posts as  @DWSeamstress

Mrs Palm writes: The Seamstress Guild will attend the North American Discworld Convention with bells on (in various and interesting places).  

Enjoy,

dj 

Photo: Skull Shoes - Black magic by digital artist Natalie Shau

The Twitterverse Reacts to NADWCon 2013 Announcement

Oh...my...stars.

You know what happens when Terry and Rob post a link to your little blog on their Twitter page?  44,000+ people read it.  Which explains why the post announcing which city has been chosen to host the next NADWCon has suddenly received thousands of visitors from:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, England, France, Ireland, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and pretty much every part the U.S.

in just one hour.

I've been following the response on Twitter which is full of !!! and Yeahs! and tweets along the lines of "Now, I can finally go to NADWCon!"   Many of us felt it might well be time for an East Coast con (after holding the last two in the Southwest and Midwest) and we're very glad to hear that the fans are so happy about this choice.  (1)

Thanks, guys!

Um..Richard? I think we're gonna need a bigger boat.  

Dj
@ItBodes 

P.S. NADWCon has a twitter page: @nadwcon 

Update 12/20: Udupi, Karnataka, India just stopped by.  Nice! 

Tech Notes: Counting Visitors While Honoring Privacy: For those who have asked: I use Site Meter to track visitors to the blog.  It does not give me your name or your email address and it does not attach a cookie when you visit. It does tell me what city and country you're from (based on the location of your IP address), how long you were here and what pages you looked it.  The basic software package is free and you can get one for your own blog or website at the link above. 

Endnotes:

(1) I wonder who we'll see bids from for 2015?  Boston? Florida? Nova Scotia? One of the Southern States? Or is California dreaming of this? Stay tuned. 

Art: Twitter feed @terryandrob. Their twitter icon shows Terry and Rob accepting the BAFTA Award

NADWCon on Twitter

As June's newsletter notes, some staff members will be sending "official" tweets from the con. I will be one of them. The subject hashtage is #nadwcon.

If you've been reading this blog, you know I can't just leave it at that.  So I'll throw in some hashtags just for Discworld fans.  I will sign them as dj.

I have a few # in mind already. Any suggestions? 

FYI: 


* You don't need to have a Twitter account to read the NADWCon Twitter site.   It is just like any other webpage.


Here is the Twitter feed for Terry & Rob


* A Twitter account is free. 


* You can read tweets from your smart phone or your computer or any other device that can access the web. 


* Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) recommended Tweet Deck some years back and I've used it on my laptop ever since. If you want to follow multiple accounts or subjects, or post to several sites at the same time, I recommend using a TweetDeck. 


* Here are some Twitter Basics including notes on courtesy. 


Remember the 1st Rule of Twitter:  Thou Shalt Not Bore.   That includes whining, ranting and complaining.  Railing in a witty way, al la Dorothy Parker, is permitted. 

This is like any other party; happy, involved people are far more interesting that those obsessed with Self. Insightful commentary and "slice of life" observations are much preferred.  When in doubt, quote.


See you there,

Dj 
on Twitter as @ItBodes 

Tick...tick...tick...The June Newsletter Is Out

Tick...

Here is the June newsletter, folks.  Hat tip to Vivian Obarski for producing these.

Tick...

A partial list of programs is up on the website.

We lock down the program schedule by midnight tonight.  Our excellent volunteer staff have been warned (politely) that there are to be no more suggestions, bright ideas, last minute notes or "Didn't I tell you that? I'm sure I told you that" emails in our in-box.  In other words, Marilyn and I won't be making any more changes to this schedule unless there is an urgent need * (or there will be blood on the floor, and it won't be ours). **

We then move on to creating the Pocket Program with Ray Friesen's artwork.   Unlike the larger program, this one will contain information on days, times and room assignments for all programing elements, plus some handy notes on local restaurants, etc.

We plan to have the full schedule grid (with days, rooms & times for all program items) up on the NADWCon website by the end of next week, so you will all have time to make your plans. 

At present we have twenty-three Discworld panels listed, plus arts & crafts, talks, movies, special presentations, trips, workshops, meet-ups, games, outstanding parties, and lots, lots more.

NADWCon is organized and run by fans for fans.

Our thanks go out to our volunteers, honored guests, and the Guy In The Black Hat. Their generosity, talents and hard work make this great programming possible.

Tick ...

Vivian writes: 

At-Con News and Communications:

Want to keep up with all the news as it happens during the convention itself? We will have several ways to keep you informed and alerted to where the fun is, was, or will be happening! Here's the latest:

1) At the convention, we'd love to see people share the great time they are having via Twitter, Facebook, their blogs, and more! We encourage you to:

a. Tweet about your fun adventures, using the #nadwcon hashtag!
b. Post to your favorite place to blog, post photos, post videos, etc. and share those posts by sending a link to:conroundup@nadwcon.org. After the con, we will post links to all of the con reports we receive.
c. We are working on creating an official Youtube channel, so keep your eyes open for the NADWCon channel broadcasting videos from the convention!

2) We will also have several committee members tweeting from the @nadwcon account. Each of us will sign tweets with our initials so you can see who's having fun where. Here are some of the folks you'll see sharing their experiences:

Vivian Obarski (VO)
Emily Whitten (ESW)
Missy Hayes (MH)
Denise Connell (DC)
Pat Harkin (PH)

Tick...

See you there, ***

Dj

Photo: Death's Clock by Mark Arling Designs

* Exceptions made for any unintended violations of the laws of physics...grudgingly.

** Truth be told, they've all done an outstanding job.  Kudos to all involved. 

*** Hey guys, what happens when that thing stops ticking?