Press Release #4

Special Cyber Monday Sale for Chicon 7 Memberships

Press Release #4 / November 23, 2011

On November 29th, 2011, (also known as Cyber Monday), Chicon 7 will be offering special holiday sale on Attending and Family Memberships.

For this day only Chicon 7 will take $15.00 off an Adult Attending Membership and $30.00 off every Family Membership. These special rates will begin at at midnight, (12:00 am) Central Standard Time, November 29, 2011 and expire 24 hours later.

Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex in Chicago, Illinois.

The current membership rates are:

• Attending Membership:$195.00
• Young Adult Membership (Ages 17-21): $100
• Child Membership (Ages 5-16): $75.00
• Family Membership (Two Adults and All Children plus $25 per Young Adult): $540.00
• Supporting Membership: $50.00
• Upgrade (Supporting to Attending): $145.00
• Upgrade (Supporting to Young Adult): $50.00

*Attending*: An Attending membership includes all publications, as well as voting and attending rights. If you voted in the 2012 Worldcon Site Selection election at AussieCon 4 and you were a Friend of the Chicago in 2012 Worldcon bid, then you are automatically an Attending member of Chicon 7 as a result of paying your voting fee.

*Supporting*: A Supporting Membership includes all of the rights and privileges of an attending membership except the right to attend Chicon 7. You can always upgrade your membership from Supporting to Attending by paying the difference between the "New Supporting" and "New Attending" membership rates in force at the time of conversion. If you voted in the 2012 Worldcon Site Selection election at AussieCon 4, you are automatically a Supporting member of Chicon 7 as a result of paying your voting fee.

*Young Adult*: A Young Adult (YA) Attending membership is identical to an Attending membership but it is only available to people aged 17 to 21 as of August 30, 2012. This class of membership carries the same rights as an Attending membership (see above) including voting rights and receiving all convention publications. Individuals in this age group can also be included in Family Memberships (see below). YA memberships can only be transferred to people who also meet the YA age criteria.

*Children and Kids-in-Tow*: Child memberships are available for all children aged 16 or under as of August 30, 2012 and will include some hours of free professional childcare for children aged 12 or under. (Child care provisions will not be finalized until much nearer to the convention, but all children in any convention-provided child care facility will need to be registered members of the convention.) Children aged 6 or under as of August 30, 2012 may alternatively be registered free of charge as Kids-in-Tow. Although there is no charge, we encourage you to register your Kids-in-Tow as it helps us to understand the number of young children who may be at the convention. Kid-in-Tow memberships do not include child care. Children and Kid-in-Tow memberships include admission to Chicon 7 under the supervision of an adult, but do not include publications or voting rights for the Hugo Awards or Worldcon Site Selection. Children and Kids-in-Tow may have Attending memberships (and thus have publications and voting rights) instead of Child or Kids-in-Tow memberships, but must still be supervised by an adult at all times.

*Family Memberships*: Family memberships can be purchased for 2 adults and 2 or more Children (aged 16 or under as of August 30, 2012) or Young Adults (see definition above). Children under 12 will receive the same number of hours of free childcare as a separate Child membership. The current price for a Family membership is US $540, less any applicable voting/supporter discounts. Young Adult family members, aged 17 to 21 as of August 30, 2012 may be included in a Family membership for the additional cost of US $25 for each young adult. Please contact registration if you wish to purchase a family membership.

Installment Plan

The Chicon 7 Installment Plan enables fans to spread the cost of an Attending membership over a number of monthly payments. Under the Plan, you buy a Supporting Membership first and then pay the amount for conversion to Attending Membership in a series of installments. The charge for your Attending Membership will be frozen at the time your application to join the Plan is received and accepted.

The benefits of the Plan are the lock-in of the rate (protecting you against future rate increases) and the opportunity to spread your costs over an extended period. Minimum payment per installment is US $30 (US $60 for a Family membership). You can make your payments by credit card or by check (US$ only, please) sent to our US office. Final payment must reach us no later than June 30, 2012. You can cancel your Plan at any time and any payments apart from the initial supporting membership will be returned to you.

Installment Plan memberships are not transferable until the full amount has been paid. If you fail to make the minimum payment, the rate will be unlocked and you will need to pay the current membership rate. Note that we are only able to provide Installment Plans for members paying in US$ by credit card or by check to our US office.

To begin an Installment Plan, print out, fill out, and mail in the Installment Plan form (see link below). As an Installment Plan must begin with the purchase of a Supporting membership, you may either print out, fill out and mail in the Membership form along with your payment, or you may purchase a Supporting membership on-line. If you wish to do a Family Installment Plan, then the 2 adults in the Family must each purchase a Supporting membership. Also, as an FYI, we need to have a paper form because we need to have a signature on file acknowledging that we will be automatically billing your credit card, or that you understand that you must make monthly payments by check.

Terms and Conditions

• The terms of the plan are as follows. These apply to anyone who registers for the Installment Plan prior to April 31, 2012.
• The Installment Plan is open to all new adult members, young adult members, and people who already hold a Supporting membership. In all cases the Plan will be put in place from the time we accept your application. If you are not already a Supporter, you will begin the Plan by purchasing a non-refundable Supporting membership ($50 for an Individual / $100 for a Family, i.e. a Supporting membership for each Adult).
• While you are on the Plan, you must pay a minimum of *$30 each month* for an Individual Plan or *$60 each month* for a Family Plan.
• You must complete the Plan (make all payments necessary to buy your Attending membership) by no later than *June 30, 2012*. If your remaining balance is more than $30/$60 at the end of June, you will be charged your remaining balance. If paying by check, you will need to submit a check for the remaining balance. If a check for the remaining balance is not received, it will be assumed that you wish to drop out of the Plan.
• We will send out reminders / Plan updates to you each month so that you know how much you have paid so far and how much is still owed. You must provide us with an email contact address so that we can stay in touch with you.
• You can pay your installments by credit card or by check mailed to our US office. For credit card Plans, please provide your credit card authorization when completing the application form. For check Plans, it is up to you to ensure that your monthly payments reach us on time.
• Credit cards will be charged on the last business day of the month and will automatically be charged either $30 (for an Individual Plan) or $60 (for a Family Plan). If you wish to pay more, please contact registration before the last business day of the month.
• Checks should be received before the end of the month. If sending a check, you can pay more per month if you wish.
• Installment Plan members can immediately pay their outstanding balance at any time whilst they are in the Plan to become full Attending members.
• You cannot transfer the membership to someone else until it is paid in full, however you can pay the remaining balance on a membership and then immediately transfer it.
• If you want to drop out of the Plan, we will refund all payments apart from the initial Supporting membership fee, and you will be a Supporting member of Chicon 7.
• If you fail to make a monthly payment, we will contact you. You may choose to leave the Plan and have your conversion payments refunded, or stay on the Plan. If you stay on the Plan, you will lose the benefits of the "lock-in" conversion rate, and your total conversion fee will be reset to the rate in force at the time. Your existing payments will of course continue to be credited towards your conversion.
• We also offer Installment Plans for purchasing Family memberships. The Family Plan works on the same basis as the Individual Plan but with a minimum monthly payment of $60.

Chicon 7's online membership registration is easy, secure, and accepts all major credit and debit cards. You can do this at:

http://www.chicon.org/online-reg.php

We welcome your questions and comments. Chicon 7 staff and committee can be reached via email at:

or via mail at:

Chicon 7
P.O. Box 13
Skokie, IL 60076

Chicon 7 is the 70th World Science Fiction Convention and the seventh Worldcon to be held in Chicago, Illinois. Our Guests of Honor include:

• Author Guest of Honor Mike Resnick was born in Chicago in 1942, Mr. Resnick attended the University of Chicago from 1959 to 1961 where he met his future wife, Carol. He is the recipient of five Hugo Awards for Best Short Fiction and his 34 Hugo nominations through 2010 are the all-time record for a writer.
   
• Artist Guest of Honor Rowena Morrill: Over a career that has spanned over two decades, her paintings and illustrations have graced hundreds of book covers, calendars, portfolios, trading cards, and appeared in magazines such as Playboy. She currently lives in upstate New York.
   
• Astronaut Guest of Honor Story Musgrave was selected for NASA's scientist-astronaut program in August 1967. He was a mission specialist on STS-6 in 1983, STS-51-F/Spacelab-2 in 1985, STS-33 in 1989 and STS-44 in 1991, was the payload commander on STS-61 in 1993, and a mission specialist on STS-80 in 1996. A veteran of six space flights, Musgrave has spent a total of 1281 hours 59 minutes, 22 seconds in space. Musgrave is the only astronaut to have flown missions on all five Space Shuttles. Prior to John Glenn's return to space in 1998, Musgrave held the record for the oldest person in orbit, at age 62. He retired from NASA in 1997. He is also the first astronaut to be honored by the World Science Fiction Convention. He currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky.
   
• Fan Guest of Honor Peggy Rae Sapienza is a second-generation fan originally from the Philadelphia area. She ran Programming and Special Events for Constellation, the 1983 Worldcon in Baltimore. She served as Vice-Chairman for ConFrancisco, the 1993 Worldcon in San Francisco. Her many accomplishments in fandom were crowned by her serving as Chairman of Bucconeer, the 1998 Worldcon in Baltimore. More recently she helped Japanese fandom bring the Worldcon to Japan in 2007 and served as their North American Agent.
   
• Agent Guest of Honor Jane Frank has appeared on myriad panel discussions at cons, and has lead docent tours through art shows. She was Guest Speaker at The Maryland Library Association Annual Conference (2003), was a Presenter at the Sixth Annual Roundtable "Science Fiction Art: Lessons for the Millennium, University of Maryland (2000), and was a Guest Speaker at the Science Fiction Information Forum, hosted by the Library of Congress Professional Association (1996). She's also been a "Behind the Scenes" volunteer at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, for the Star Wars exhibition, 1997-8, and consultant on the 2000, and 1998 editions of The Comic Art Price Guide (Arcturian Press, Kitchen Sink Press).
   
• Toastmaster and author John Scalzi first came to Chicago in 1987 from Los Angeles to attend the University of Chicago; upon arriving in the city, he was heard to remark how amazing it was to see buildings more than thirty years old. Since those days, Scalzi's gone on to write a number of science fiction novels, including the Hugo-nominated Old Man's War, the Norton-nominated Zoe's Tale, and the New York Times Best Seller, Fuzzy Nation. He is the owner/operator of the popular website http://whatever.scalzi.com/ He and his family currently live near Dayton, Ohio.

Chicon 7 website: http://www.chicon.org/ 
Chicon 7 information: P.O. Box 13, Skokie, IL 60076