Links
Committee
Chris "Keris" Croughton
Chairbeing, Hotel and Guest Liaison, Programming, Membership, Publications
Keris is better known for running a tech desk than for running a convention, but that's what he's doing this time. Instead of being behind the desk, he'll be around the convention.
Not that he's completely new to this. He's been on two convention committees before, both UK filkcons -- Quinze, the 15th UK filkcon, and Van der Filk two years ago, the 22nd UK filkcon. This time, he's chair, hotel and guest liaison, programming, (well, he is a programmer in Real Life!), and membership. Oh, and web page writer. And Chief Cook and Bottle Washer...
Hilary Ann Croughton
Nagger to ConCom
Hilary was intending to do the publications, but Real LifeTM got in the way. She was also on the Quinze concom, and as Keris' sister has the additional duty and privilege of being the concom's official nagger and reminding the rest of us that we need to do things. Like this website...
Matt "Soir" Beswick
Treasurer
Soir has been treasurer for other fan conventions, and volunteered for this one. We think he's the 'responsible' one...
Master of Ceremonies
We've heard that American conventions have a person as 'Toastmaster', which we think is strange because they don't even serve toast. FilkContinental also has a person who introduces stuff and generally keeps people distracted entertained between things, and we think this is a good idea (and means that we don't have to do it), so we've asked Franklin from Germany to do for us something similar to what he does there. We're sure he'll do us proud, and be his usual entertaining self between items.
Mike Whitaker
Acting Hotel & Guest Liaison
Mike is tall, dark and devilishly handsome, with a knack for wringing screeching solos out of electric guitars [note to self: tune up! ], volunteers out of the filk community and better deals out of hotels. This year, all three are proving particularly useful to the con and at least one of its guests. He discovered filk before half the con was born [note to self: must check facts] at a Unicon, followed it up by having the '87 Worldcon as his second convention, and then got mugged on stage by a ghostly figure [note to self: run faster next time] to chair the first FilkCon. Since then, he's missed only two (and wishes he hadn't), and been on the committee for [note to self: get more fingers to count on, would be good for guitar playing too] seven of them, often as Guest Liaison, since he has an extensive address book and lots of air miles from US cons. He's married to Anne, with a drummer [slightly smug note to self: if you can't find one, breed one] and three and a half cats, and next year he's going back to playing music and not helping run the con.
Honest.
Rika Körte
Acting Convention Programming
Throughout her years since her first filk con (HarmonIX), Rika has undergone intensive training in spontaneous, unrehearsed, last-minute helping out with things, whether self-inflicted or externally-induced, and become an expert at doing a reasonable job of doing things he's underrehearsed in without letting it show too badly. (Note to self: rehearsals are good for reducing stress levels & raising confidence levels. ) She is thus these days much better skilled at improvisational winging it than organised advance planning. (Note to self: improve on the planning, structure is helpful. ) Stepping into shoes of all sorts of sizes, she has managed never quite to loose the way-too-big-ones entirely, with steadfast help from friends. (Note to self: stock up on extra shoelaces, insoles & padding. )
Not content at the time with having to travel internationally to go to filkcons, she was a founder member of the FilkContinental Concom in Germany for the first two years, and published a filkcon live tape before moving to the UK, where she kept her concom participation mostly to programming. As opposed to Mike, she's still able to count her concom stints on one hand, just. (Note to self: do not try for a hat trick, you'll run out of fingers! ) She hopes to go back to more music and less orga-ing next year. : )
Paul Bristow
Acting Convention Programming
Paul Bristow arrived in the world in 1965... late, flustered and complaining loudly. Thus was the pattern of his life laid down.
Paul's introduction to filk came after he had dragged a reluctant Miki Dennis to what proved to be a spectacularly badly run Doctor Who convention. Miki retaliated by dragging him to VIbraphone, which they both enjoyed a lot more, and at which Paul wrote his third/fourth/ninety-seventh ever filksong (depending how you count them), "Right Said Ace". Since then he's averaged about 2.178 songs a year, a few of which have even been finished, while analysis of his actual contributions to recent filkcons suggests that he may be the bastard offspring of Humphrey Littleton and Steven Fry, or at least thinks he is.
A man with absolutely no innate organisational ability, he nonetheless persists in trying to run the programme at filkcons (see Decadence, Quinze) and even had the temerity to chair one (Van der Filk). So far, he hasn't quite cocked anything up badly enough for us to impose a permanent ban. [HEAVY SIGH]
Oh, and he wrote that blasted "Bogton Boys" thing. (Don't ask. I t's nine minutes long, and trust me, you don't have them to spare...)
Chris "Azakir" Smith
Acting Publications & Webmaster
Azakir has spent the last few years quietly avoiding convention committee duties while professing his desire to be involved in con running. Little did he know that his cunning bluff would eventually be called and he would be invited to join the committee of Duple Time. Once blackmailed willingly recruited, he set about using his powers of flight, laser vision, and super awesomeness to fulfil his concom duties with style and grace.
Of course, given that he's the one writing his own bio, anything you read here should be taken with a pinch of salt. Preferably three of four, even.
Originally arriving in filk music through being taken to a sWiGGLe meeting by the illustrious Mich Sampson - "Trust me, you're going to love these people" - Azakir's first convention was 16 Tones, at which he performed the 'sequel to the Hamster Song' with sister Stacy. That debut would lead to a team up with Keris to form Dragster, with the trio performing sets at Dixseption, 1812Tone, and AXXIdental. His first solo set was at Van Der Filk, at which he sang about burning toast. No, we don't know where he gets it from any more than he does.