Upload
central-florida-slug-club
View
220
Download
6
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
The Central Florida Slug club presents our quarterly newsletter: the Central Florida Quill!
Citation preview
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Stephanie Shive
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Elizabeth Buckeye
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
James Buckeye
Stephanie Shive
Alyssa Chvala
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Laci Dyer
Grace Quandt
Angel Tellgren
Diane Lewis
Kristen Holmes
Rafael Ufret
Stephanie Zoutenbier
Rubina Kandiah
Chelsea Caballero
Shakira Jones
Kara Brown
Megan Stump
Stephanie Shive
Mary Hosford
MEET THE SLUG CLUB
“If I could bring back any character from the
dead it would be Dobby. He was the
hardest for me to lose because he
was so sweet and caring. I would love to
befriend Dobby and join S.P.E.W with him
and Hermione!”
My favorite Harry
Potter movie is Goblet
of Fire.
I liked the way it was
done and really enjoyed the
integration of the other
wizarding schools and the
celebrations. I would attend a
Yule Ball in a heart beat, no
questions asked.
I prefer Diagon
Alley, I love
the way they
did Knockturn,
and I really
enjoy the
exclusivity of
the area.
Once you are in, you completely
forget it is a part of Universal. I also like the
Ollivander's experience so much more. I
would love to see the expansion of
merchandise to incorporate more of the
other Houses. We aren't all Snakes
and Lions, you know.
Grace Quandt
MEET THE SLUG CLUB
Hello! My name is Laci Dyer! I am
22 years old and from the Space
Coast city of Palm Bay, FL. I am a
recent graduate of
the muggle University of Central
Florida and have two degrees: one
in Event Management and the other
in Hospitality Management with a
specialization in Theme Parks.
At the university ,
I founded The Harry
Potter Club which is
still going strong in my
absence. I currently
work at The Three
Broomsticks so my
friends call me an
“official witch”.
Picture?
While I enjoy my job at the restaurant, I think it
would be cool to work within a
department in the ministry; something with a desk
job where I have to use
the floo network and crazy
elevators to get to my office.
In terms of book and movie I ALWAYS
go with The Half-Blood Prince. I am not shy
about my infatuation with a Tom Felton and this
movie has the most scenes of him. Not only that but I loved
the character transition JKR made with him. The previous
films showed him as a stuck up bully with no logical reason as to why he
hated Harry Potter. During this movie, however, you see Draco struggle
with his obligation to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his parents and
wanting to do the right thing. I was very emotional
watching Draco constantly fight
with his emotions and although he
inevitably chose the dark side he eventually switched back
in the final film and developed a respect with Harry. Laci Dyer
MEET THE SLUG CLUB
While I love Hogsmeade and sitting outside the Hogs
Head, having a beer, staring at the beautiful castle, Diagon
Alley is my favorite. Something about sitting inside
Diagon Alley and finally being fully immersed in the
Wizarding World makes my soul smile. I could spend an
entire day shopping, eating, drinking, playing, watching
shows and completely forget the muggle world
around me. To me... it's home. I would love to see the
Ministry of Magic expansion that's
been rumored. I'd also like
them to expand on Hogwarts.
Add a great hall café or the
Black Lake. But honestly,
I'll take whatever
they'll give us!
I would still be in the medical field in the
Wizarding World.
Probably still a nurse.
Maybe a healer.
I love how they expand on St Mungo's
in the books and you learn about that side
of life as a witch or wizard.
I think it would be an amazing career!
I've never actually attended a Harry Potter
convention, but I'm hoping and praying to attend
the next Misti-con!!!
I did get to attend the Celebration of Harry Potter
this year and it was one of the
most amazing
experiences
of my life.
It's a feeling you
can't really put into
words.
Angel Tellgren
MEET THE SLUG CLUB
Diane Lewis
I was an educator for 30 years, so I’m
sure I would have been a teacher at
Hogwarts. I can’t imagine a more
rewarding and exciting career.
Since my field is
science in the
muggle world, I
would imagine I
would have
taught
Care of Magical
Creatures,
Potions, or Herbology.
I loved so many of the
teachers for many
reasons – but for this
question, I’ll select
Lupin. He was a
gentle and intuitive
teacher, providing hands-on,
practical and exciting lessons. But
above that, he was kind and
nurturing to Neville, believing in
him even in the face of Snapish comments!
He won me over forever when he
chose Neville to lead the class in
banishing boggarts!
It’s hard to choose when one
experience gives you the view of
Hogwarts peeking above the
crooked roofs of Hogsmeade,
and the other is an
overwhelming immersion
with a dragon breathing fire at you!
But, pressed to choose, I prefer
Diagon Alley because it is a more
fully realized world. More streets, more
shops, more shows – and well designed to provide
shade and cover from the elements! As Universal
continues to expand the WWoHP, I look forward to
increasing the immersion. If the rumors of a
Ministry of Magic are true, then I’m excited to see
how they will provide more ways for us to
experience the wizarding world through rides,
shows and interactions. Who knows – maybe they
will let us get some revenge on Umbridge while
we’re there!
Through the Brick Wall
My relationship
with Harry Potter started in a funny way:
Harry Potter was my teenage rebellion. It’s an odd thing to say these
days, when Harry Potter is such a part of pop culture, but many of us
will remember a time when Harry Potter was not so popular. When I
was 11 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was first released in
the United States, quickly followed the next year by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. At the time, my family attended one of
those dreaded churches that actually burned the books. Needless to
say, when my grandmother sent me copies of the books to read, they
were promptly thrown away. This only increased my interest in the
books.
Fast forward to 2001 and Harry Potter mania gone into full
swing with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone coming out in
theatres. Just before our winter exam period, I managed to convince
a friend from school to loan me her copies of Harry Potter. I could
only manage to convince her to loan me one book at a time “in case I
didn’t like them”. I devoured them. Within three days I had read the
first three books, she had them all back before break even started.
For Christmas, my step-mom and dad bought me my own copies of 1
-4 and ended up giving them to me early so I’d stop borrowing my
friend’s copies. It took me a week to get through Goblet of Fire, but
only because I almost got caught reading the books at night with a
flashlight. From there on out, I had to be extremely careful with my
Harry Potter habit. Until I graduated from high school in 2005, my
step-mom (whom had also by this point become a rabid fan) secretly
acquired me copies for the books, memorabilia, and anything Harry
Potter related. We would quickly read through them, re-read them,
and share our theories and favorite moments. All of this, however,
was done behind the back of my mother and step-father.
Eventually, thanks to a reading program at my little sister’s
elementary school, paired with her shared problem of running out of
books, she began reading Harry Potter in 2004. Being the dutiful
sister, I “read” the books with her. My entire family eventually
watched all the movies, and my mom even eventually started buying
me Harry Potter stuff.
But why stick with the fandom if it had been such a difficult secret to keep? The characters. I was
always the nerdy kid in class, the kid who was always picked on. I was the kid who ran out of books to read in
the school library by the end of grade 4. I was proud of that fact, even if it did mean that friends, real friends,
were few and far between. My parents always taught me to embrace my intelligence, just like Hermione did.
The story of Harry Potter to me was one of not just good versus evil, but of embracing yourself: your strengths,
your weaknesses, and your individuality. Now those taunts of “Hermione” in class weren’t just taunts about
my intelligence, they told me I was strong, smart, brave, and proud. Now I had Harry, Ron, and Hermione; I
had Neville, Fred, George, Ginny, and a host of other friends that I would never get to meet in the real world,
but who would always be there to welcome me home.
By Kristen Holmes
Greetings, my fellow witches and wizards and welcome to
another edition of Herbologistics! In this article, we will talk about an
herb found in most kitchens and used in a variety of culinary creations,
but little is known of its magical/medicinal uses. I’m talking about the
Allium Cepa, known in the Muggle and Magical worlds as simply the
onion.
The story of the
onion and its use by mankind
is older than writing itself.
Remnants of it have been
found in Paleolithic caves in
Eurasia. Onions grew in
Chinese gardens as early as
5000 years ago, and they are
referenced in some of the
oldest Vedic writings from
India. In Egypt, onions can be
traced back to 3500 BCE.
There is evidence that the
Sumerians were growing
onions as early as 2500 BCE. It’s one of the most versatile vegetables
known to man and a great creator of flavors for a variety of dishes. The
genus “Allium” encompasses several plants, all used in culinary: leeks,
garlic, shallots, bear’s garlic and chives. In fact, allium is the original
name for garlic in Classic Latin, which became the name of the genus
for all related plants. Onions may be one of the earliest cultivated crops
because they are less perishable than other foods, were easy to
transport, and could be grown in an array of soils and climates. Plus, the
onion was useful for sustaining life. Onions prevented thirst and could
be dried and preserved for later consumption when food might be
scarce.
Now, let’s talk about its properties. It is proven that onions
have curative powers because:
The particular fiber in an onion MAY LOWER your chances for
stroke, heart attack and heart failure.
When the bulb is crushed, cut, cubed, or sliced two phyto-
chemicals are released and combined, which create allicin. This
combination is believed to have anti-diabetic properties and
protect people from cancer and hypertension.
Helps to reduce inflammation and it’s great for sufferers of vertigo,
bronchitis and neuritis.
It acts as a diuretic and is believed to promote healthy hair,
fingernails and toenails.
Lowers cholesterol
Has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties
Provides relief from the common cold, flu, bronchitis, insomnia,
bacterial infections, and asthma.
It is high in vitamin B, which prevents osteoporosis
And we can go on, and on, and on! There are many different types of
onions. Some but they are all highly beneficial, whether we consume
them as part of our latest culinary creation or we make a concoction to
treat a cold, or an essence to naturally eliminate grey hair (which I am
trying at the moment!). Onions are your friends!
One last tip, onions should be stored in a cool, dark loca-
tion away from moisture. You can keep them in a refrigerator. However,
they must be used quickly before they reach room temperature
because the change accelerates the spoiling process. If the skin turns
black, time to trash it! But no worries because, as you know, they are
highly inexpensive!
Thank you so much for reading! Until we meet again…
EVANESCO!!!
Herbologistics
Lucius’ corner
Hello everyone, Lucius Malfoy here.
I am finally able to produce Lucius’ Corner again. Pureblood’s rejoice!
This newsletter, I thought we would cover the runes that were depicted in my Azkaban
placard; everything has a meaning and I don’t need to explain how important runes are
to our universe.
As aforementioned, a variety of Elder Futhark runes are depicted on my
Azkaban placard. How unfortunate it was that I was caught at all; but you
must understand that I had to do what was necessary to protect my
family. At least in Azkaban, I was safe and I knew the Dark Lord wouldn’t
dare go after Draco and Narcissa until I was released.
The easily identified runes, found on the top row, are, from left to right:
Othila, which means "inherited property- estate, heritage, group order,
possession, experience" and the like. This ties to the Malfoy family with-
out explanation… unless you’re a mudblood. But even then, have
you seen my estate? My peacocks? Come now… I have many
servants who keep it up to appearances.
Next, Ansuz means "Vision, Leadership, Power of words” and encom-
passes the very best qualities that any Malfoy or Pureblooded witch or
wizard would have.
Next, taking a look at the bottom right line of runes, we find “Teiwaz”
which means “Justice, Authority, Analysis and Rationality”- everything I
believe I stand for and want for my family. Authority and Justice
can be purchased, alongside influence.
Raido is next, standing for “Travel, Relocation and the dance of life”-
doing what I must do for my family with the return of the dark lord is the
perfect example of how life shifts continuously, but we do what must be
done.
Othilla and Ansuz are next and are back- allusions to my mass
wealth, pureblood status, superior personality, and collection of
material possessions, of course.
Next is “Algiz”- but it is inverted. Let us be honest with each other… I am not one to ward off evil, ha! There is no good or evil! Instead, this
inverted Algiz means “Hidden danger, taboo, and warning”- which, if
you have met me, you would know to think twice about trusting me
unless you are of use to me.
Next is a rune from an Danish adaption of the Elder Futhark series of
runes, but it’s meaning does not have a rule binding or fortune tell-
ing connotation associated with it. Fehu is next- “Money,
Success, Happiness”… everything
that makes me proud to be a Malfoy.
Lastly, is Mannaz- “The Self, Human Race, Social Order, and Aware-
ness.” A reflection point of the social order that I work so hard to
keep; wouldn’t want a squib in charge of the Ministry of Magic,
Why not spend some time
taking a look at the Azkaban
Placard of some other
characters? Sirius Black’s
includes allusions to his
position as Harry’s Guardian
and Protector…
By Rubina Kandiah
Hogwarts running club
Accio Books
HP Game Night Wizarding world of beer
Geekycon 2015
Book Club
End of term
Water quidditch
Recipes
What’s in your bookshelf? Sarah Williams
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat It's a nonfiction book by Oliver Sacks, featuring
a collection of fascinating neurological case
studies Sacks had investigated.
Katie Alexis
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
A changeling, named Mackie, is trying to fit into
the normal world until a little girl in his town goes
missing. He goes into the underworld looking for
answers; where he came from and where she
went.
Margaret Lavinghousez
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfuss
Fantastic Fantasy novel set in a world the where
magic and physics are mixed. It's voice is
amazing and I love the view of magic - and who
doesn't love a magical university!
Celia Goodell
The Conspiracy of Us It's about a girl that finds out she's part of a
family that conspiracy stories are based on. A
family that can shut down stores like Prada for
private shopping or start world wars.
Joseph Honaker
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.
It's a love story between a guy and a girl who
both have dark pasts, and have to confront some
of the pasts from their childhood.
Rubina Rose
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.
The sequel to the first A Song of Ice and Fire books, it provides a lot of descriptive details that
the show overlooks.
Angelica Rodriguez
An Abundance of Katherines by John Greene
Though I have to say I'm not super impressed
yet. All his books seem very formulaic.
Leisa Clark
The Retrieval Artist by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The easiest way to describe the books would be
"science fiction mysteries." They're really
complex and the story world is Rowling-level.
They primarily take place in domed cities on the
Moon in the future. "Disappeared" is the first
book.
Sarah Ashleigh Bailey
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by
David Sedaris. It's a literary non-fiction book of
short essays based on different experiences in
his life that range from his childhood, people
he's met, conversations he's overheard, and
places he's been. He adds a lot of humor to
these real life situations while at the same time
making them all feel very relatable.
Stephanie Roman
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
It's about a 1940s nurse (Claire), who is on a
second honeymoon with her Oxford professor
husband (Frank) in Inverness, Scotland. While at
Scotland, she visits the standing stones Craig Na
Dum her and her husband watch Druid
performing a dance, and a day later she goes
back and touches the biggest stones and gets
sent back 200 years to 1740s Scotland, the era
of the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charles. Love
this book, I'm already reading the sequel.
Mary Hosford
Kiss Me Like A Stranger by Gene Wilder
An autobiography of comedian and actor
extraordinaire Gene Wilder. Specifically chroni-
cling his experiences with love and relationships
through his career.
Elizabeth Buckeye
The Lunar Chronicles by Melissa Meyer
An interesting retelling of the Grimm
fairytales we all know inside and out. The first
book is titled Cinder but this isn’t just another rip
off of Cinderella, though we do get those lovely
glimpses. It is the beginning of an amazing cur-
rent trilogy, soon to be series of four that thrusts
the reader into the future following the life of
our heroine Cinder a cyborg mechanic with an
interesting past that unfolds throughout the
books
Oyster review
To all my fellow book-
worms, I highly suggest Oyster. The
$10 a month is totally worth it for
avid readers.
I learned to read when I was three years old. My mother was an avid reader and
my father would read me comic books every night before I went to bed. I remem-
ber once in second grade, I was found hiding in the reading nook of our class-
room completely engrossed in a book instead of at recess with the other children.
By Shakira Jones
Geekycon review
What can I say that hasn’t already been said about GeekyCon? I’m not exactly sure, but I suppose the only thing I can say
is my story. I went to my first LeakyCon last year and it was amazing. I couldn’t wait to get back home this year. It’s been a
rough 365 days that left me feeling uninspired and burned out but GeekyCon was just what I needed.
GeekyCon week started off with a Harry and the Potters show in Tampa. It was at this amazing book and record store and
the show was as equally as amazing as the setting. I also got to meet Claudia IRL and hangout with some super amazing
people. Then I got lost on I4 in the middle of the night but eventually got home.
I can’t even begin to explain how off the chain the Harry and the Potters show at GeekyCon was. That entire show
was just the most amazing thing I’ve ever been a part of. Everyone was playing songs I never expected to hear live
and being surrounded by friends made it even more magical. A new episode of Welcome to Night Vale dropped that
night as well, and a group of us listened to it all together. This experience reminded me that while I might usually
listen/consume stories alone, they are still a communal experience and I was so thankful to share that space with
people who love the podcast as much as I do.
Steph Anderson’s panel #YesAllWitches helped reignite my passion for creating, telling stories and not being afraid
to go out and chase them. I’m questioned a lot when I tell people I want to get into the filmmaking business but at
GeekyCon, I felt that community was behind me cheering me on all the way. Even though it’s emotional being home,
I know it’s not goodbye, it is just see you later.
By Kara Brown
Geekycon review
At the end of LeakyCon 2014, there was an announcement
that LeakyCon would stay in Orlando, but would be now
called GeekyCon. I was a little bit skeptical, as seemed
most people were. It really showed in this year's
attendance. Although as a Con-goer, it was nice, I knew the
people in the Marketplace were seeing a definite decline in
sales. Nonetheless, the Con went on. I was able to attend
because I won day tickets through the Slug Club, as well as
doing some writing and tweeting for Orlando United. So, off
I went to the new GeekyCon.
One thing I really liked about LeakyCon, was the Harry Pot-
ter center. Geeky was supposed to keep Potter at the
center, and although it wasn't really noticeable in the
panels, the Opening Ceremonies started off with "Neville
Longbottom's" first year as a professor at Hogwarts. As the
skit continued, more fandoms showed up, such as Star
Wars, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and
Supernatural. Most of the stars were on stage, including
Anthony Rapp who did a parody of Taylor Swifts' "Bad
Blood" to mock Jar-Jar Binks (Good-I can't stand Jar-Jar)
and my personal favorite, AVByte's Chris Villain. It was a
great way to start off the Con. We immediately had to go
next door to the Marketplace where CFSC's very own
Heather Murphy was playing Quidditch for the Harry Potter
Alliance. My favorite parts of that? Heather hit-
ting some girl in the face with a
ball, and teaching Doctor Who/Torchwood writer James
Moran about Quidditch. Turns out last year when he came
to Leaky, he hadn't even watched any of the Harry Potter
movies! He fixed that-but I still don't think he knows what
Quidditch is...
Cosplay is a big part of cons, and I saw so many awesome
ones. Several Harry Potter ones were there, including a
spot on McGonagall and Snape (who showed up as
Trelawney and Snape as Neville's grandmother one day!)
and an Umbridge that I loved, but hated all at the same
time. There were also a lot of other fandoms represented,
as I saw many tributes from The Hunger Games, about 15
Honey Lemons from Big Hero 6 (regular and superhero),
several other Disney heroes and villains, Gleeks, and the
worst/best cosplay of Augustus Waters from The Fault in
Our Stars. This guy basically ruined everyone's
day on the final day. Not like everyone wasn't al-
ready upset!
I had a lot of fun checking out some of the panels.
Sharknado was a must do for us again this year, and it
didn't disappoint this year either. The Broadway sing-along
is where I was the happiest somehow. Dominic Barnes
(Glee Warbler and Geeky emcee) SLAYED Defying Gravity
from Wicked, Anthony Rapp sang Suddenly Seymour from
Little Shop of Horrors and we all belted Seasons of Love
from Rent together. Plus the one "celeb" YouTube star I
wanted to meet happened to be in the back of the
room. We had been tweeting at each other all day and as
soon as I went over, he saw me and yelled "OMG IT'S
YOU!!" I clearly still haven't gotten over this, he's so nice,
and we had a conversation as people were singing songs I
didn't know. So bonus.
While I was worried about Geeky not being for me, and not
able to keep up to Leaky, I ended up having a great time. I
stopped Melissa Anelli after closing ceremonies and asked
her to tell me one thing about this Con. She said
"It's really a family. A family who
aren't afraid to be themselves and
like what they like." You know what? She's
right. So will I go back to Geeky next year? Sure, if it's in
Orlando. I had a great time, met some fantastic people and
caught up with friends that I made at Leaky last year. I also
hung out with Heather quite a bit, and I'm glad I got to
know her better. It made me even more excited that I have a
group of Potterheads that are just as crazy as I am!
By Megan Stump
LeakyCon vs. GeekyCon: A Novice Congoer’s (limited) Experience
I can sum up my experience with
LeakyCon 2014 in one word:
underwhelming.
I seriously was not that impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I
managed to have a fun time doing group cosplays with my
friends, but aside from that, my expectations fell pretty flat.
I wasn’t interested in most panels, and the panels that I did
have an interest in filled up before I could get there. The
special guests? Never heard of most of them. I knew Not
Literally, Jon Cozart and Potter Puppet Pals, who were all
“YouTube famous”. I’m not a big Starkid fan so all of that
hype washed right over me. Wizard rock? No thanks. The
music is catchy but it just isn’t my scene. The age group
also threw me off a bit. I would estimate that the average
LeakyCon attendee was between the age of 18 and 21, with
75% being under 25. I was 26 at the time, attending with
friends who ages ranged from mine to 33. We felt like the
oldest kids at the high school prom, if you know what I
mean.
But my biggest complaint about LeakyCon 2014 is the fact
that, as a Harry Potter con, there was actually very little
Harry Potter-related guests and activities. It seemed to be a
“fandom” convention, which included other YA series,
Marvel, Disney and pop culture shows like Doctor Who,
Sherlock and Supernatural. Now, I enjoy almost all of these
things, but I still expected a Harry Potter con to be focused
more on Harry Potter.
They announced at the end of LeakyCon that they would be
splitting into two separate cons: LeakyCon and GeekyCon,
with the latter focusing more on multiple fandoms and
Leaky returning to its Harry Potter roots. This made more
sense to me, but I still didn’t have an interest in attending
GeekyCon that much after having such a lackluster experi-
ence with LeakyCon.
Fast forward to July 2015, where the HoH’s were contacted
by a marketing agency offering us free GeekyCon passes to
raffle off to our members through contests. They ended up
providing us with a free pass, good for 2 people each. Since
Melissa and Heather already had purchased their passes, I
had a free pass to attend Geeky on Saturday. I wanted to go
check out the merch anyway.
This year, GeekyCon really impressed me. The age group
issue was still the same, but maybe because I was around
less, I didn’t notice it as much. I recognized a lot more
names. Jon Cozart, The Hillywood Show, Anthony Rapp,
Veronica Roth, Tahereh Mafi, Ransom Riggs, and Marie Lu
were a few that I had the pleasure of interacting with. I also
had a friend who gave me her Lit autograph session
wristband that allowed me to get some novels signed
(thanks Yami!).
I felt like this year was a lot more cosplay heavy. Everyone’s
cosplays looked amazing! There was a lot of Disney and a
lot of Marvel, with a sprinkling of Harry Potter.
I also participated in “RibbonCon 2015” and collected all
the badge ribbons I could find, which was really like an
Easter egg hunt and was just completely fun and exciting on
its own. They had badge ribbons last year at LeakyCon too,
but I didn’t make much of an effort at collecting them as I
did this time around. It was quite enjoyable.
I will say, however, that I did not attend any panels or
scheduled programming at GeekyCon. Not much of it
interested me, and I have been completely spoiled by
MISTI-Con. Let’s just be real for a second: no other
convention can really compare to the content of MISTI-
Con’s programming.
Maybe it was the fact that I lowered my expectations that
made GeekyCon more enjoyable than LeakyCon, or maybe
it was that I had a bit more con experience, but either way I
really feel that GeekyCon was much more entertaining and
fun than LeakyCon. LeakyCon will be held next Fall in Los
Angeles, CA, and GeekyCon will be held next July in Orlando
again, which means it will be going up against Leviosa
which is scheduled for July 7-10 in Las Vegas.
What was your experience like? Let us know by replying to
[email protected] and you could be featured on the
blog!
By Stephanie Shive
As many of us know, GeekyCon took
place from July 30th - August 2nd at
the Orange County Convention Center
[OCCC]. While at GeekyCon, I had the
pleasure of volunteering with the Harry
Potter Alliance at their merchandise
booth, and while I was already
supportive and interested in all the
things they are doing and have done--
working that table, with those people,
gave me a newfound fervor for the
organization.
The Harry Potter Alliance [HPA] was
founded in 2005 and has since worked
to build a wonderful organization
dedicated to fan activism. Centered
around Harry Potter (Although Potter
himself attributes the name to his great
-great grandfather noted philanthropist
Harold Potter) and the world JK Rowling
has created, the HPA uses our favorite
stories to relate current-day issues and
create real-world change.
I was aware of the HPA earlier, but was
not actively invested until they
launched their Not in Harry's Name
campaign in 2010--one of their most
notable successes. Not in Harry's
Name was a campaign dedicated to
getting Warner Brothers to stop using
chocolate produced with child labor in
their Chocolate Frogs. After 4 years of
working toward that goal, Warner
Brothers gave us the best Christmas
present ever last December 22nd by
stating, "By the end of 2015, and
sooner when possible, all Harry Potter
chocolate products sold at Warner
Bros. outlets and through our licensed
partners will be 100-percent Utz or
Fairtrade certified."
Since the HPA began, they have
spearheaded many campaigns focused
on equality, literacy, and human rights
among others. Working the booth at
GeekyCon I had the opportunity to
learn more about their current
campaigns straight from the
hippogriff's mouth.
Firstly we have the Fan Works are Fair
Use campaign. I will be honest that I
had seen the hashtag
#FanWorksTaughtMe floating around
the internet and assumed that this was
something only affecting fanfiction and
things of that nature. At that I tuned out
what the campaign was actually
focused on, and I'm upset at myself
that I did. This campaign is so
important to everyone who participates
in the internet lifestyle. Copyright law is
being adjusted for the first time,
roughly, since it was written and the
HPA has kicked off this preemptive
campaign to keep fan works such as
fanfiction from being removed as fair
use under copyright law. The fear is
that the reevaluation of these laws will
hurt fan works and their creators and
this campaign exists to show
lawmakers how important fan works
are to our culture. You can learn more
and sign up for updates at
fanworksarefairuse.org
Their other current campaign is the
Positive Fandom Campaign. At
GeekyCon they had a card detailing the
effort as well as listing five steps that
attendees could complete over the
weekend and return to receive a ribbon
showing their support. This campaign is
focused on creating a more positive
space within any fandom or internet
community, and I think that the guide-
lines are laid out perfectly as a
reminder that creating positivity for
others around you also includes
creating a positive space for yourself.
In this age of the internet, where
almost anyone has an outlet for their
enthusiasm, it's often easy to forget
that we all started somewhere.
Everyone was new to fandom at one
point in their life--I would certainly not
want to deal with my 14 year old text
messenger speaking self, but everyone
deserves compassion. Fandom,
wherever and whatever it is, should
always be an inviting place and this
campaign seeks to facilitate a
movement in that direction. You can
take the Positive Fandom Pledge at
thehpalliance.org/positivefandom
If you were not aware, the Slug Club
has its own chapter of the HPA where
we can get involved with projects right
here in Central Florida. This year we
donated 3,226 books to IMPOWER
through the yearly Accio Books Drive.
Keep an eye out for future Slug Club
SPEW events, and learn more by con-
tacting our SPEW organizers by
emailing [email protected]
What I Learned About the HPA and Why YOU Should Be Involved with SPEW
by mary hosford
Upcoming Events Book Club
September 28th, 7pm
Location: TBA
Join us for our bi-monthly book club! This month we will be re-reading
and discussing the fifth book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix! Participate in discussions and trivia with other
members!
Knocking Around
Knockturn Alley
October 25th, 10:30 am
Location: Universal Studios
The plan is to dress up as dark wizards, Aurors or
students (or anything in between) and meet at the
entrance to Knockturn Alley at 10:30. There, we
will take cool photos at lots of locations, and
eventually wind up eating lunch at the Leaky
Cauldron. The mayhem can continue into the
afternoon!
House point competition
Current Champion: Gryffindor
242 347 145 105