The Portal - September Edition

[elphabapotter]

Letter from the Editor

This time of year is always full of changes: the start of a new
semester, changes in the weather, and (as we are excited to announce) a
new look for the Portus website <http://www.portus2008.org/>  . Our
Chair of Website and Graphics, Melanie Wilke, has been hard at work
giving Portus a pretty facelift. Be sure to check out our MySpace page
<http://www.myspace.com/portus_2008>   too as it has also been re-done.

Along with our new look, you'll notice a few other extras as well, most
notably in The Portal. Our first extra will present our additional
content in different and exciting ways - the Portus Previews podcast.

The Portus Previews podcast is your source for news, updates, and
interviews. The interviews will feature some of the special guests and
wizard rock bands who are a part of Portus' programming. There are
several ways you can listen to the Portus Previews:

1. You can subscribe through iTunes by searching for "Portus
Previews" (bear in mind that since it's so new, it may not be
available yet).
2. You can enter the following: http://www.hp2008.org/podcast.xml into
your podcast player's "Subscribe" field.
3. For some users, clicking the link directly will work too.

Another change to our newsletter is our method of distribution. Instead
of sending a link to the latest edition of The Portal, we will be
emailing the edition in its entirety to everyone who subscribes through
The Portal's main page <http://www.portus2008.org/news.htm>  ,
including non-registrants.

We hope you like it!

Best Regards,
Aziza Aba Butain
Editor-in-Chief

Announcements

Announcing our Friday Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Dr. Henry Jenkins

"Beyond the Borders of the Book: The Transformative Power of Fandom in
the Age of Media Convergence"

A generation of young people have learned to read, to write, and to
transform the world through their engagement with Harry Potter. So what
happens next? In some ways, the success of Harry Potter might be seen as
the last gasp of the old mass culture -- since there are few people on
the planet who have never heard of the book, the films, the games, or
the assorted tie-in products. In some ways, the success of Harry Potter
might be seen as a foreshadowing of the new participatory culture and of
niche media, given the role which all kinds of grassroots activities
have played in sustaining and expanding interest in the saga. Would
Harry Potter have been the success it is without LiveJournal, blogs,
podcasts, social networks, fan fiction sites, and the like? What happens
now that the book series has ended? This is up to us.

Henry Jenkins is the head of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program.
He is the author of twelve books, including several which deal with fan
culture: Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture;
Science Fiction Audiences: Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Their Followers;
Fans, Gamers, and Bloggers: Exploring Participatory Culture, and
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (which includes a
chapter on Harry Potter fandom). He blogs five days a week at
Confessions of an Aca/Fan, http://www.henryjenkins.org.

We are very excited to have Dr. Henry Jenkins as the speaker for our
Friday Keynote Luncheon. His expertise and unique perspective on fandom
makes him one of our most exciting speakers yet. Tickets will go on sale
next week. Please visit our registration page 
<http://www.portus2008.org/registration.htm>  to purchase your ticket.

Who's Hungry?

Keynote Luncheons, Feasts, and Afternoon Teas

We now have our scrumptious menus for the Friday and Saturday keynote
luncheons, the welcoming and leaving feasts, and the Friday and Saturday
Afternoon Teas. You can find them here
<http://www.portus2008.org/feasts.htm#top>  .

How Do I Add These Additional Options to My Registration?

To modify your registration, visit our registration page
<http://www.portus2008.org/registration.htm>   and click on Register
Now.

1.  You will need to supply your first name, last name and the email
address under which you registered - the system should recognize that
you are already registered and direct you to the Summary Page.

2.  Select "Modify" under the My Registration section and enter your
registration confirmation number. (If you can't remember or have
misplaced it, you can ask to have it emailed to you.) This will take
you to your personal information page.

3. Make any necessary changes on the first page of your registration
details, then click "Next".

4. If desired, order luncheon tickets on the second page of your
registration details, then click "Next".

5. When prompted, enter your credit card details to pay for any extra
items, then click "Finish" to update your registration.

Water Quidditch

Portus is pleased to revise an old favorite, water quidditch. Be sure to
bring your goggles and gillyweed! The tournament will be held on
Saturday from 5:00 to 8:00 pm
<http://portus2008.org/schedule.htm#saturday>  . Sign-ups will begin in
January 2008.

Call for Proposals

August Prompts: Time
By Jenn Clack

"How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon.
December is here before it's June. My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?"
Theodor Seuss Geisel

Time is an important theme in the Harry Potter world, and one example is
fandom reeling from the fact that the "Summer of Harry Potter"
came and ended before our minds could comprehend our favorite canon
characters' journeys through seven years.  Here are some
time-related topics to help kindle your programming ideas.

•    The final battle through Omnioculars – a deconstruction of
events
•    Where did those 19 years go?  Theories of what exactly happened
in those 19 years for any surviving characters.
•    Are all the Time-Turners really gone?
•    Memoirs of a fandom – looking back at the Harry Potter
fandom
•    Fandom Forecasting – where will we be in another 10 years?
•    Growing up with Harry Potter
•    Timelines of the series
          o    Characters
          o    Places
          o    Families
•    A look back at fanfiction
          o    The Slash Phenomenon
          o    Popular Authors
          o    Shipping Wars
•    "Time is money." – The accumulation and transfer of
wealth in the Wizarding World
•    Divination
          o    "It is often said there are two types of forecasts ...
lucky or wrong!"
          o     "Prophecy is a good line of business, but it is full
of risks." – Mark Twain

Hopefully, this first set of prompts has inspired your masterpiece
presentation, roundtable, or workshop! If that's the case, visit our
Calls for Proposals page
<http://www.portus2008.org/call_for_proposals.htm>  to find out how you
can submit a proposal.

Volunteer Spotlight

After attending Lumos in 2006, Melanie Wilke was so impressed by the
coordination and passion of that year's team of organizers and
volunteers that she swore to become one herself one day. When not at her
"real life" job as a graphic and web designer for the ASU Foundation,
the fund-raising arm of Arizona State University, she can be found
reading steamy fanfiction, watching Star Trek reruns, or playing as an
ogre-killing gnome mage in World of Warcraft. She continues to write
passionate love letters to Alan Rickman, but mysterious gaps in the post
have thus far stymied her intentions.

Melanie has been a truly indispensable asset to the Portus team. Her
artistic talent and creativity is indisputable. Always cheerful and
eager, she is an absolute delight to work with. We finally got the
chance to meet Melanie at Prophecy this past August and were impressed
by her enthusiasm for the series. Every volunteer she worked with had
nothing but positive things to say about her. We are sincerely honored
that she has chosen to share her talents, her bubbly personality, and
passion for Harry Potter with Portus. You can see some of Melanie's
work at her website. <http://www.wilkedesigns.com/>

If you have questions or comments concerning the Call for Proposals,
programming, etc., please contact us at info at ....

If you have any questions or comments about The Portal or the Portus
Previews, please feel free to contact us at portal at ....




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