CONvergence Convention

Planning to Hang Posters at CONvergence 2014?

Posted on June 26, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Hotel, Policies

As in recent years, CONvergence members may begin hanging posters around the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel at 6:00pm on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014.

DO NOT Hang Posters:

In the center of the escalator
In the elevators
On elevator doors or frames
On First Floor lobby walls
In the hotel restaurant
On the hotel light fixtures
In hotel entryways
On room doors
On door frames

DO Hang Posters:

Virtually anywhere around pool-side/garden court/cabanas
On the walls in the North tower plaza
On the walls outside elevators (except in the main hotel lobby)
On the walls in the public restrooms
On the walls in CONvergence Central
On the pillars in CONvergence Central
On the walls connecting the North and South tower on the second floor

If you are unsure whether you should hang your poster in a particular location, please find a CONvergence volunteer or stop by The Bridge and ask!

Remember to use the One True Tape! Anything affixed to the wall or other surfaces at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel MUST be secured with 3M Safe-Release Painter’s Tape, product #2080.

Any posters found to be secured using other kinds of tape will be taken down without notice. 3M Safe-Release Painter’s Tape can be found at most hardware stores. If you run out of tape during the convention, stop by The Bridge – they may have some available.

We do not have currently have any signage guidelines from the Sheraton Bloomington or the Crowne Plaza hotels, but please respect the wishes of the hotels’ staff with regard to hanging anything up.

Additional Crowne Plaza Rooms Available

Posted on June 25, 2014 by CONvergence Webteam Tayefel Posted in Hotel

Crowne Plaza just opened up more rooms for us that will be available at the convention rate until the 3rd of July.

Also, if anyone previously booked a Double because there were no Kings available at the time of reservation, you can call the Crowne Plaza and inquire about changing to a King.

Room Rates
Standard King – $104.00 + tax
Standard Dbl – $104.00 + tax

Crowne Plaza
5401 Green Valley Drive
Bloomington, MN 55437
Phone: 952-831-8000

For information on other hotels, please check out Get a Room.

Greg Weisman Fancy Bastard Pie Competition

Posted on June 23, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Guests of Honor

Are you good at making desserts? Are you a fan of Young Justice? Then this is the event for you!

Geek Partnership Society is excited to host the Greg Weisman Fancy Bastard Pie Competition in the CONvergence GPS Clubhouse (room 110) at 9:00pm Thursday July 3, 2014. It is open to all CONvergence members who wish to participate!

The goal is to make a pie that CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor Greg Weisman, herein to be known as “Fancy Bastard”, likes best.

Winners will be told super-secret Young Justice spoilers.* Find out what would have happened in Season 3!

*Must swear to secrecy to claim prize.

In the interest of full disclosure, Fancy Bastard would like all to know that he especially likes the following pies:

Apple
Berry (pretty much any kind of berry or a mix of same)
Peach
Apricot
Pumpkin
Banana Cream (herein to be known as the funniest pie)

Combinations of some of the fruit pies can be great.

Contestants are welcome to try other pies at their own risk.

Fancy Bastard does NOT especially like the following pies:

Pecan
Anything with Chocolate
Raisins in Apple Pie
Almost never Cherry (though he has tasted the rare exception)

See you in the GPS Clubhouse (Room 110) at 9:00pm on Thursday! Bring a pie… and your appetite!

Save a Life at CONvergence!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Events

Now is the time to sign up in advance for the 14th Annual USS Nokomis American Red Cross Blood Drive!

This year’s blood drive will be on Saturday, July 5, 2014 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington, MN. Appointments are scheduled every 15 minutes, with the latest appointments starting at 3:45pm.

Great News! We will have the “Rock Star” this year – the super-sized Bloodmobile with three intake bays and five donation beds! This means your life-saving donation will be faster than ever! (We still recommend you set aside 45 minutes to 1 hour for your donation appointment.)

And remember, if you sign up in advance, then find out that you need to change your appointment time at the convention, you’ll have priority for re-scheduling. Why wait? Save a life at CONvergence!

CONvergence 2014 Swag Preview!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Merchandise, Volunteers

Are you ready to see what cool CONvergence stuff will be available at this year’s convention?

Good news! The full lists of CONvergence 2014 Volunteer perks and Merchandise are now available online! Take a moment and check out all the awesome swag that you can take home from CONvergence 2014: A Midsummer Night’s Dream!

Ready to become a CONvergence volunteer? Check out the Volunteer Positions page or contact the Volunteers Department to see what you can do to help!

Have questions about CONvergence merchandise? Contact the Merchandise Department!

New CONvergence 2014 Mobile App!

Posted on June 16, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Programming

Keeping track of your CONvergence schedule during the convention is now easier than ever! New in 2014, we are excited to announce the release of an official CONvergence 2014 mobile schedule app for both iOS and Android!

Download the App:

The app is free to download and use. If you have any questions about the CVG2014 mobile app, please contact CONvergence Programming.

The CONvergence 2014 schedule is also available online via the internet browser on your computer, mobile phone or tablet. It can be accessed directly at http://schedule.convergence-con.org or navigated to from the Schedule page of the CONvergence website.

The schedule will continue to be updated as we get closer to the convention, so keep checking back for updates!

CONvergence MasterArtist Competition

Posted on June 13, 2014 by CONvergence Webteam Tayefel Posted in Artists

CONvergence presents a unique competition:

MasterArtist!!!

Amateur Artists are now invited to compete for the title of CONvergence MasterArtist. In this competition Artists will be given a subject to create a piece of art within a specific time limit using a defined medium. As they create, they will be observed by a panel of judges who will critique their efforts during the creation process. When time is up, the judges will confer, select out the best of the offerings and from there determine who is the MasterArtist!

Our judges for the 2014 title are CONvergence 2014 Guest of Honor Sarah Clemens, former CONvergence Guest of Honor Ruth Thompson, and Wausibi-con and Anime Detour Artist guest webcomic artist Daniel Mohr.

Contestants will vie for the title, a MasterArtist trophy, and an invitation to participate in Art Impossible, another premiere CONvergence Art Offering and to have their MasterArtist piece hung in the CONvergence Art Show.

Amateurs who do not regularly produce art for art shows, publications, websites, etc. are invited to show if they have what is necessary to attain the title of MasterArtist. Drop an email to info@convergence-con.org and let us know you want to compete!!! We are looking for six competitors and these will be selected from the interest shown – so present your best to info@convergence-con.org. You can submit a representative sampling or just a short essay on why you should compete for the title!!

Please contact us by 5:00pm CST on Wednesday, June 25 2014 to participate.

Good luck!

Run a Game at CONvergence! Get Volunteer Hours! Excelsior!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by CONvergence Social Media Posted in Gaming, Volunteers

Attention Gamers and Game Masters! CONvergence Gaming still has open slots on the 22nd floor for those wishing to run a scheduled game at the convention!

Thursday and Friday each have several open slots, but a very few remain for Saturday and Sunday. If you’d like to run a scheduled game, please contact CONvergence Gaming. All information for your game must be received by 6/21/14 for your game to be included in the online schedule.

The time spent preparing your game before the convention, as well as the time spent running it, counts as volunteer hours!

As always, GMs must be registered members of the convention.

Hotel Guarantee and Other Reminders

Posted on May 29, 2014 by CONvergence Webteam Tayefel Posted in Hotel

Have you contacted the DoubleTree to guarantee your room for CONvergence 2014? Any reservations not guaranteed by June 15, 2014 (11:59 p.m.) may be cancelled without notice. Once cancelled the reservation may be lost, so call and guarantee yours today! Guaranteeing is easy – simply call (952) 835-7800. When prompted, go to the Guest Services Department and ask for IN-HOUSE reservations. This is best done between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. We do not recommend choosing the Reservations option as this takes you to the central, off-site reservations line who may not be able to help you. There are many reservations still not guaranteed, so if you leave a message please allow 2 BUSINESS days for them to get back to you. If you run into any challenges, please contact the CONvergence Hotel Department at hotel@convergence-con.org and we can help you

You will need a credit or debit card. For credit cards, no charges will be made until you check out. For debit cards, the hotel will pre-authorize the amount of your stay and lock up your funds, so please be aware.

Do you need to make changes to your reservation? If so please contact the CONvergence Hotel Team at hotel@convergence-con.org and we will expedite it for you. These changes include transferring the reservation to another person, changing check in and out dates and most importantly cancelling a reservation. It is important to let the CONvergence team know if you are cancelling as we can match that reservation to someone else. Leaving it with the hotel means that non-convention guests could be housed and thus harsh the squee for many people.

We are finalizing the shuttle schedule and details and should post information prior to the convention.

As always, please contact us for hotel info.

The CONvergence Hotel Team

Access to the Volunteers Den Has Changed

Posted on May 29, 2014 by CONvergence Webteam Tayefel Posted in Volunteers

In response to the growing popularity of the CONvergence Volunteers Den, we have changed the access requirements for 2014. We hope this change will help ensure that everyone who volunteers a generous amount of their time to make CONvergence great will be able to enjoy the services they’ve earned in the Volunteers Den!

From Thursday – Friday at Noon you will need to have volunteered a minimum of 4 hours and will receive a green ribbon.

From Friday at Noon – Saturday at Noon you will need to have volunteered a minimum of 7 hours and will receive a blue ribbon. If you already have 4 hours, you only need 3 more.

From Saturday at Noon – Close on Sunday you will need to have volunteered a minimum of 10 hours and will receive a red ribbon. If you already have 7 hours, you only need 3 more.

Ribbons can be collected at any time during CONvergence from the Volunteers Table in CONvergence Central or from the Volunteers Den. Once you have volunteered 10 hours total, you will receive all three ribbons and will be clear to enter the Volunteers Den for the duration of the convention.

For Volunteers Den hours and more information, visit the Volunteers Den Page.

If you have questions please contact the CONvergence volunteers department.