Hi everyone,
Octocon is coming along nicely, and we hope to have some exciting news to relate to you fine folks soon. But this update is to let you know that the dates for Octocon have changed - they are now the 18th to 19th of October 2008.

So write that in your calenders, and I'll see you there!
Brian

...and that's because it is
Octocon is done for another year. All that's left is for me to thank everyone who attended (it couldn't happen without all of you), our wonderful guests (without which it would just be the committee on panels, and nobody wants to hear us, trust me), our traders (if they didn't come, there'd be nothing for you guys to blow all your hard-earned cash on), and a special thank you to the rest of the committee (my job was only possible because they are all much smarter than me)

Of course, that now brings us to Octocon 2008. We will be officially announcing our Guest of Honour and Location on new years day, so make sure to check back then.

If you have any photos from the con, it'd be great if you could send us them, or a link to them if they're already online somewhere, and we'll gather them all together here for the people who didn't go to see what they were missing

If you want your hit of Irish convention goodness before next October, then don't forget that pcon (http://www.pcon.ie) is in March, and MeCon is upcoming too

See you soon
Brian
Octocon-Chairman

Yep, you've read correctly! The full timetable for Octocon is now up - just click the "Timetable" button there on the left. Go on, it won't bite...
Brian,
Co-Chair

Yep, as the title says, the timetable for Saturday is now online - just click on the "Timetable" button on the left there (but, you being fabulously intelligent and good looking people, you've all already figured that out).

Sunday's timetable should be up within the next day or so :)

See you in (gulp) five days

Brian
Co-Chair But wait through the magic of editing there's more news. Now I know with just a few days to go everyone has probably dug up that old signed first edition of Lord of the Rings for the charity auction or that Action comics #1...I'm here to send you back to look for something else Badges. Yes those stinkin badges. Of course you'll have to wear yours throughout the convention, but I'm talking old badges. If you were at both Mecon and Pcon this year bring your badges with you and we'll give you €5 off your Octocon 2008 membership which are already at a this convention only low low price. Plus next year you'll get a special badge marking your support of all three cons. Now I can hear the gnashing of teeth...if you'd only known. Well the same deal will hold next year too. I'm sure someone from Mecon and Pcon will sell you a 2008 membership...and what the heck by them this weekend and we'll pretend you made both this year. See you this weekend. Randall co-footstool

Octocon is just 12 days away and as you go to pull our your suitcase in order to pack for the weekend why not clean out the closet a bit to help a great cause. As many of you know last year the charity Octocon supported was for Oesophageal Cancer research. This was in memory of David Stewart a well known Irish fan, many times organiser of Octocon and dear friend to many of us. Well this year Octocon is again supporting the same charity in memory of David, so reach deep into closets, attics, bookshelves and your own creativity to donate items for the charity auction Sunday afternoon. We've already had a computer donated that will be available after working hard all weekend for Octocon media presentations. Peter Harrow has a special Cthulhu sculpture and John Vaughan has donated an item that you must be over 18 to bid on! Speaking of John I'll take the lazy segue and tell you that he has a very very special surprise in store for Octocon...a surprise on a planetary scale. Plus he'll once again be hosting his infamous Video Vault of Horror. You must be present to enjoy, so sign up. Online registration is available via paypal or we'll take your money at the door. See you at the con, Randall

Hello again everyone,
Just a short note to point out that Irish Horror writer Derek Gunn will be joining us at this years octocon. This is his first appearance at Octocon, and we're really excited to have this rising star of horror in our lineup!
Go have a gander at his bio on the guests page, and while you're there familiarise yourself with all our guests!

See you in October
Brian

Hello everyone - only a month to go to the con, and things are heating up here in Octocon headquarters.

First off, a bit of bad news - Harry Harrison (a regular guest at Octocon for many years) won't be able to make it to this years convention. We're disappointed, as Harry is always an entertaining and interesting guy to talk to, but hopefully he'll be able to come to Octocon 2008!

In other, happier, news, the wonderful Juliet E. McKenna has agreed to run a writing workshop for us at Octocon this year! Her expertise and advice will be invaluable for any potential writers, so remember to book a blace as soon as you get to the convention (this can be done on the front desk) - as seats are limited.

That's all for the moment - you may have noticed a lack of email newsletters lately. Well, that's because of some confounding technical problems (I am forever reminded of a quote by the late, great Douglas Adams "The essential uselessness of computers is often masked by the sense of achievement you get from getting them to work at all"), but we should hopefully have those all sorted soon, and be moving to a nice stable solution.

See you all in October (and don't forget to click the "Join" button there on the left - we've also fixed the link for the sign-up sheet, by the way!)

Brian, Co-Chair

Hello everybody, and welcome to the new Octocon site! Now, not much has changed on the outside, but a lot has changed behind the scenes (thanks to our tamed-hacker, Niall) so it should be easier then ever for us to keep the site up-to-date from now on.

So I invite you to have a browse through our various wonderful guests, peruse the hotel, see how easy it is to get there, and sign up!

See you in October

Brian,
Co-chair