Octocon 2020
Helen and I are thrilled to be announced today as Fan Guests of Honour for this year’s Octocon in early October . It’s hard to believe that it’s 30 years since the first amazing convention (though not the first Irish convention – keep an eye on this page for more on that). Thank you to the committee for the honour and we are looking forward to the event immensely.
https://2020.octocon.com/2020/05/20/fan-guests-of-honour/
Octocon 2022
We produced a fanzine for our Guest of Honour appearances at the convention. As I can’t quite figure out how to link it here yet you can request a copy by contacting me, Philippa, through the usual methods. The cover is below:
Archive of Irish SF Fandom
So this whole idea has taken off.
I’m working with Antiqueight to create an archive of Irish SF fandom. We have support from various experts who are (or will be) advising us on it. There will be a page where updates will be posted. The first step is to assess what exists and what might be in danger of getting damaged if not saved soon. The idea in this is to be inclusive of genre, comics, horror, science fiction, fantasy, etc. If something isn’t mentioned, it is not being left out. Unless there is a good reason to leave it out then it should probably be included. Just, this is about the fandom around the genre.
There is now an email address for the Archive of Irish Science Fiction and Fantasy Fandom (or speculative fiction fandom). That gives us some small amount of storage to get things started on documentation and processes etc. archiveisff@gmail.com
If you have records, please email this address with what kind of records you have and, if you know, how big that amount is (i.e. are we talking 1 folder, 1 box or 1 attic full, a box of floppy disks (!))
For now, don’t go sending any actual content. We’ll talk about that later. Just who has what and how much of it…and what format (if it’s digital we won’t have to scan it or photograph it etc). Offers of help will be accepted gratefully though until we sort out the details of what we are doing, that’s likely to be taken up slowly. If you have experience of working on an archive please step forward.
Privacy:
Right now Antiqueight is the only one who can read that address and that will remain the case at least until there is a documented process in place for handling unpublished content which could have personal details included; or any other documentation that you flag as a concern.
Below is the general layout of the idea so far.
The details of the Archive:
Who: Any Science Fiction and or Fantasy (incl horror) fandom organisation in Ireland: Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland. This includes all SFF style conventions or publications: anime, cosplay, gaming, professional etc.
What: An Archive of events, people, stories and organisations, comprising any documentation, photos, books, films, audio or other files related to Science Fiction and Fantasy Fandom in Ireland.
When: Ever -> 2020 – Initialisation of the project. Collecting all historical records 2020->Ongoing maintenance of the project
Where: To be decided – Digital archive and physical archive. Theoretically the physical archive will be held by a national or local library, museum or university (longer term TBD). The digital archive is more shortly to be clarified. All possible records will be digitised and held in the Digital archive. Access will be determined by copyright, data and security considerations.
Why: To ensure there is a history of Irish fandom
Existing Records: We are working on a spreadsheet which will detail what records, who has them, who to talk to etc.
There is also a sheet detailing everything we can remember before we start looking at records. This includes notes given by people in previous open Facebook posts etc. Eventually there will be access for people to add to that or a similar document with details.
Records we want to consider (starting point)
Letters and emails, Photographs, Annual and project reports, Visitor books, Leaflets and posters, Letters, Newspaper clippings, Personal diaries, Photographs, Newsletters, Records of the organisers, Meeting minutes, Videos, Pins, Badges, Lanyards, Awards
Oral history and retrospective accounts
We also need to arrange for the collection of oral and written histories. If we have people with podcasting skills they could capture oral histories. Otherwise we ask people to write down their stories or record them themselves and send them in. Go ahead and start writing down your memories so you have them and can send them to the archive later.
NOTES:
*Right now, we only want to know who has stuff, what they have, how much they have, what format it’s in (if it’s paper we’re going to need to scan it and transport it etc). And for now only Antiqueight is reading the email.
Don’t send anything except WHAT you have until YOU are happy that the contents will be dealt with securely and safely. But you can let us know that you have items that concern you and we’ll know to be careful of them.
Also – for the future – what goes into the archive and what becomes public, or accessible with a password, or not accessible at all, is all to be decided. But we know a few people for whom a photo being included in public access could be an issue so that will be taken into account and anything we miss will be taken down asap. We are going to try make sure you all know what is happening along the way so you feel confident of the archive.
My Name is Philippa 
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