SNG Singapore Sci-Fic & Fantasy Convention

Just reviving an old idea that was discussed many eons ago here.

Do you think one day we can have our very own convention that cater only to Science Fiction and Fantasy?

Is the Science Fiction and Fantasy communities in Singapore still Shy , Scattered, Divided, Leaderless and some fractions driven by Ego, Selfishness , Commercialization or Sterotyping?

What made me asked this question is the existant of a good convention of such nature annually in our neighbouring country Philippines that I had been drooling over since it first started and plan to attend next year if nothing clashes with it:

The 2nd Philippine Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

Add to that my recent discovery that Malaysian's Sci-Fic & Fantasy Fans shared a common Website/Mailing, from where they they channel out to the specific titles.

MySciFiFan, Malaysia?s Science Fiction and Fantasy Community

Then for those familiar with the Cosplay Progress in Singapore, will know just how many events former Miyuki Animation Club (MAC) and Singapore Cosplay Club had been able to organize the past few years since Cosplay gain great popularity in Singapore, many with sponsorship from local companies.

So one fine day (or even next year!), do you think we can have something similar? Will each of us be able to cast away all over Ego and Selfishness blah blah to be united in organizing or participating in that ONE Event one fine day? I'm willing but the rest?

And then, Where do you think we should organize it and Who we can beg for sponsorship?


For a start, these titles do (or used to ) have a good following in Singapore:
- Star Wars
- Star Trek
- Lord Of The Rings
- Harry Potter
- The Matrix Trilogy/Saga
- Alien
- Predator
- Buffy/Angel
- X-Files
- Xena/Hercules


I open the floor for your Opinions, Recommandation and Flaming.

Ps: Unnecessary Eggs and Vegetable will be used to make my Salad while Flames used to barbaque my Salmon Steak.

 

If you wish to have this convention first how big is the fan base of sci-fi & fantasy, next is who can be its major sponoer, which to market and advertise the convention. Besides our group should have a leader not just with a post and do nothing to bring the group together.

So I suggest a group gathering sometime in dec, in which I trying hard to push for one. We can have gathering to keep each other updated with Ep 3 till it opens in Singapore.

 

> Besides our group should have a leader not just with a post and do nothing to bring the group together.

You really had been behind time and very ininformed about most members here schedules. We had been having outings and gatherings and meetup that goes under OTHER names quite regulary.

And since you don't come here often, you don't know what this board had gone through and what somebody had to do to clean or correct it up.

 

If I have wronged you sorry, cuz for 2 yrs I was in NS and hardly log on to my comp and can't meet you guys. So anything coming up for next month?

 

Hi Darth Eagle,

I've been trying to contact fans here...

Im Reno and i did mention Im working with major studios in Singapore for costumes meet & greet.

Im have LOTR project coming up and I neer costumers in Dec.. Im not getting paid but i can manage to get goodie bags worth $250 per costumer for 3 hrs per day just to walk around in the cineplex.

Next year Star Wars is going to be BIG!!! One whole month of events and I need SW costumers also..

I hope we can work together and Im keen to put in my resouces for the Sci Fi Convention..

Pls call me at 96189788 so that we can discuss further

Regards

 

Why not a ComicCon cum Movie Sneaks Fest(or something like that), where it can bring more ppl to the show. But one thing is is the market for all these big enough.

 

Market might not be big enough for a comicon but a movie sneakfest sounds reasonable. The way ROTK drew the crowd as a closing to the trilogy should give a good idea of the pulling power of ROTS. Wonder if anyone will be up for a movie marathon of the whole saga of six

 

I'm IN!!!!!! I WANNA PUBLICISE!!!

 

Same! Gotta hype things up a bit =D

 

> Market might not be big enough for a comicon but a movie sneakfest sounds reasonable. The way ROTK drew the crowd as a closing to the trilogy should give a good idea of the pulling power of ROTS.

I agree that there isn't a good market yet for a ComicCon version of SW or even Sci-Fic/Fantasy Convention. It take years and even decades for conventions like ComicCon or GenCon or DragonCon to reach the standard and size it is now.

What we should look forward to first is a small scale one in a good location where both the fans and public can easily access. If you look at the link for the Phillippines one, it's conducted at a public area and in the open. Each society/club only have a good sized booth to itself but there is ample place around the con area for fans to interact, pose and the public to comfortably walk around to check out the place.

Even when MAC Cosplay started "officially" in 2000, it was only in 2 small conference room in Suntec Convention Hall. CosFest was luckily, it began in that Onion-Hall (forget name lah! ) in Downtown East and there are sponsors. Even then, those who went to it saw how sparse the place was but that luckily changed by last year and this year.

Entrance fee is also another factor. In Singapore, most of the time, it must be FREE unless there is something very special shown at the exhibition or we know for sure fans will attend it (and that means at least 50-100)

Okay, I'm not sure if this can happen as a starting point:
We have an Official SW Line Party this May 2005 at Shaw Lido as we had the LOTR one tho' I recommand it to be a whole day event and also includes a few booths by shops like Simply Toys, Alaric's, Action City, Caeser's etc etc. This will allow SW Fans from all arena (Costumers & Props Makers, CCG, Collectors, General Fans) and the public to interact with one another.

And hopefully, Shaw Lido, 20th Century Fox and can help to sponsor it as the LOTR Line Party one is.


> Wonder if anyone will be up for a movie marathon of the whole saga of six

I'm up for it. I survived the LOTR one (the night one some more!) and thinking of pressing for another so SW one shouldn't be any different.

 

there was a comic con this year very small one. I saw this on sgcollect.com, since with this I guess you need to pull in ppl to do the show.

 

Hi, Fanforce Rep from the Philipines here.

It would be great if you guys will have something like that there.

Maybe you should check if there are many fan groups in existence other than the Starwoids over there. Working with other groups makes it easier.

Then you create a central committee that will oversee everything.

But if your activity does not coincide with our Convention here next year (we're holding it on the weekend before Episode 3--rest assured it's going to be the biggest Sci-Fi and Fantasy Convention yet!), you guys are invited to come over here! We're only an hour away.

Represent!

 

oooh! Phillipines sounds good....
But most of us here are busy to the max that even 1 hour away wud sound packed.

Thats ok, i'll settle for pictures!! I wanna see some Phillipino chicks!!

 

Hahahahahaha. Yazid, remember. We have one planning too...

 

Hi, StompboXX!

Thanks for the encouragement.

> Maybe you should check if there are many fan groups in existence
> other than the Starwoids over there. Working with other groups makes it easier.

Ya, that is a good idea. One thing for certain, I know that the Star Trek FanForce is going pretty strong and well connected to the Malaysian one.

But the Lord Of The Rings one is a little scattered, divided and the only ones showing some response when the needs arises in recent year is those who are members of this forum. Maybe it's due to lack of support or its youth; Malaysia is lucky that they have the backing of the newspaper The Star, who provided them with a Forum and a website that features some of their official activities. Being a member of their forum,I'm quite familiar with their level of activity.

Xena/Hercules, think there used to be one from the search I did online but hasn't read anything in recent years. No idea if there is a "central" or active FanForce group for The Matrix, X-Files, Buffy/Angel, Harry Potter, Baybalon 5, Stargate etc etc.

Guess, the problem is each series/title fanforce here lack supports, is scattered & divided or certain people choosing only to concentrate on one part of the fandom or just plain shy.


> But if your activity does not coincide with our Convention here
> next year (we're holding it on the weekend before Episode 3--rest assured
> it's going to be the biggest Sci-Fi and Fantasy Convention yet!),
> you guys are invited to come over here!

Don't worry, it won't. I myself am planning to come down if it doesn't clash with the Charity Premiere here and I got the money to spare.

If we are to start with a SW one, I'm looking for it to be on May 18th, the day before ROTS is released here in Singapore in the form of a Line Party like the LOTR one but bigger & longer and with more supports from local collectors' stores and certain companies.

The things it, it takes TWO hands to clap so we need people with connections and knowledge in organizing similar events to come forwards to offer some help and be part of it.

 

For those who are wondering how the LOTR Line Party is like in Dec 2003, this is my rough explaination of it:

Line Party is originally an unofficial event where groups of LOTR Fans come together on the eve before the next LOTR Movie is release in their local theater to buy tickets and thus meet each other. It's encourage by TheOneRing.net who hosted the Line Party Website/Pages. I understand, in recent years, it also came with the support of the local cinema involved in that event and even local LOTR Film distributors, thus more activites was organized.Many fans also choose to come in costumes or come with their CCG Cards/Board Games. Something like the SW Line that formed up in US countries when the movie tickets first go on sale, tho' for LOTR, it was just a day affair and smaller.

I went to the Dec 2003 one after accidentally discovering a local LOTR ML on Y!Asia Group where it was announced. Then again, sad to say that the event was underpublized so the only people who came were members of that ML, their friends and my group members.Most people came in costumes.

What happened was that we have 3 segments that evening:
- Quiz
- Sketch/Short Play Contest
- Costume Contest

The event was sponsored by Warner Brothers Singapore (prizes, permission?), Singapore Science Centre (prizes) & Shaw Lido (location).


For Star Wars, we can have an extended version of this event i.e. make it a whole day affair from noon till night. I can recommand these activities:
- CCG Cards Games Competition
- I donno what u call it; buncha small figurings on a terrain table and you play it using rules set in the RPG Guide Books/Manuals
- Small Exhibition of Fan-Made Customized Action Figures (all sizes), costumes, props etc
- Quiz
- Sketch/Short Play Competition
- Costume Contest

All the activites listed above will occur at certain timings during the day with 1 or 2 like the CCG Cards Games finale by late evening.

On the sideline, we can have a couple of booths from local shops like Simply Toys, Falcon Hanger etc selling SW-related stuffs, and even fan-run booth selling legal/innocent fan items like Doujinshi/Fan Comics, Wares etc etc.

Location: I can only think of Shaw Lido due to its size and location, and to accomodate other SW fans who happen to pop by that cinema on their way to watch ROTS to join our activities on the spot (assuming that ROTS get Dec 18th Evening Premiere or there is a SW Prequel Marathon organized on that day).

Sponsors: We need the permission & support of 20th Century Fox Singapore (they are the ones in charge of SW Films distribution in Singapore rite?).
We also need the permission & support of Shaw Lido to use their location for that event.
Other than that, it'll depend on what will happen in the next couple of weeks.

Publicity: I'm sure once the event is confirmed, each members here will help to do their part by publizing it at other forums/ML where local SW Fans hang out at.
We can also put up notices at MRT/Bus Stations at the Free-To-Post Notice Boards & spread the words at our schools, polytechnics, workplace etc and even get the help of local newspaper to mention our event in their SW Articles which surely get publish leading up to the release of ROTS in Singapore.

The point is, we need support from people who have the means to help, in effort or in knowledge to first conceive this idea and do the negotiation/asking for sponsorship to let it happen.

 

Here is an ad from sgcollect.com:
DOTCON 2005
South-east asia's premier collectibles convention
5th - 6th of March 2005
Grand Ballroom, Peninsula. Excelsior Hotel Singapore

 

Ooooh, DE, if need to borrow props I can lend all of mine.

 

Xeno, we see what we can arrange first lah. But first must exploit and pull a few strings first with the help of the people who are actually capable of doing it rather than just talk cock.

 

Wah, I am very sure that the dude capapble of it will have stuff to display as well.

 

I hope you don't mind me plugging guys. Hope this doesn't conflict with any of your May activities. Darth Eagle, this one's for you, and all you other people who can afford to drop by!


PHILIPPINE SCI-FI CON ANNOUNCEMENT:

NEW WORLDS EPISODE 3: The 3rd Philippine Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention will be held on May 23 and 24 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City. This year's host is Star Wars Philippines, in commemmoration of the last great movie of the Star Wars saga. The event is presented by the New Worlds Alliance, Mellow Touch 94.7, the British Council and the Ayala Center.

Activities will include a performance of sci-fi and fantasy themes by the British Council Youth Orchestra, a video conference with British actors and crewpeople from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and more, cosplay contests, and a fanfilm festival.

The NWA is the first organization of science fiction and fantasy fan groups in the country. Formed in 2003, the NWA is currently composed of Pinoy Harry Potter (PHP); PinoySlayers?The Filipino Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the Series Fan Club; Pinoy X-Philes (PXP)?The Filipino X-Files Fan Club; Star Wars Philippines (SWP); The Matrix Philippines; The Talon?The Filipino Smallville Fan Club; Pinoy Fremen?The Filipino Dune Fan Club; Alliance for Eclectic Gamers and Interactive Storytellers (AEGIS); The Philippine Tolkien Society (TPTS); and Via Astris Inc. (VA)?The Star Trek Club of the Philippines.

http://www.starwarsphilippines.ph

 

Sry I'm not sure if this is off topic but I heard that Science Centre is going to have a Star Wars exhibition at the end of this year. is this true?

 

Ssshhhhh!!!!

It NOT suppose to be publically announced yet as the contract isn't signed yet tho' from the phonecall from my "supervisor" today, they are getting closer. They don't want the Press to know about it till they signed the contract and confirmed it and going to do the Press Conference. This is not like the LOTR Exhibition which was already known since it first debut in New Zealand.

If you want, I can PM you the infos as far as I know since been bugging them since last year!

 

wow really! *sheepish look* heh didn't realise it wasn't supposed to be known...
please do? thank you!!