Continuum 8

The committee is a bunch of sf fans who have all been to conventions and liked them! So now we are helping to run this one. You can help out too: we’re all volunteers. To contact the committee, email info@continuum.org.au or see the contact page; or get involved yourself! We’d love to have your help.

Ordinary people like yourself volunteer their time to the running of these events. As a rule they do not get paid for this work, they do it for the joy of it. It can sometimes be a little hard, but is very rewarding. They organise everything from the badges, booklets and t-shirts through to the advertising, the venue, the program and of course, the guests. Most conventions are one-off’s: a group gets together to run one and once they’ve run it they go back their lives. Sometimes the same group will run a number of events. In the case of Continuum, we have a gradually changing committee with very diverse backgrounds and interests.

Programs differ from convention to convention, which might run for just a single weekend or for an extended period of time at either end. Continuum 8 will run over four days, including the public holiday on Monday. We’ll open late Friday afternoon, and begin early on the other days. We tend to run until late on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and finish up in the afternoon of Monday with the Closing Ceremony. Closer to the convention, you will be able to check our programming page for further and more precise information about the timing of specific events, and updates to the program and timetabling changes.

Yes, you do need to take out a membership to attend a convention. There are various kinds of memberships available at different rates, including single day memberships which allow people to come along for just one day if they prefer not to attend the entire four-day event. See this page for more information about joining the convention – Day Membership rates will be set closer to the date.

We’re sorry to say that this is not possible. The Dealers Room is within the convention area where only paying members are permitted access. If you don’t wish to attend the entire convention, you are more than welcome to purchase a Day Pass.

Yes, of course! There are two ways to do this:

1. You can take out a supporting membership, which entitles you to convention publications, and the opportunity to upgrade to full membership if you find you can make it after all.
2. You can support us by making a donation. Donors of amounts equal to or greater than the supporting member rate will be considered ‘Supporting Members’. Contact info@continuum.org.au for details.

A fan usually has a range of interests of which science fiction or related fields are their main one. The media perception is that fans are all geeks and nerds obsessed with a single show or aspect of the genre. While this is true for a few, the vast majority are ordinary people like yourself. The best analogy is a sports one. Just as you will find some people who have their one sport or team that they are insanely passionate about, you will find that most like a variety of games and events. The guy who paints his house in team colours, names his children after favourite players and watches the same game endlessly is an oddity. Most fans watch a few TV shows or movies, read a few books and have other interests besides science fiction. Chances are, if you’re reading this page and considering coming to our convention, you’re already a fan.

Whatever they like. Most people are in it for the social side, to mix with people who like the same things. Some are in it to learn about writing or TV work or art or all manner of things. Many people who started as fans have gone on to have professional careers. Some just like to watch panels, some like to participate in running things. Chances are you will find other folks who are interested in the same activities, be that serious creating or meeting up for a drink to talk about the latest films.

In Australia we have a yearly National Convention (or NatCon for short) at which awards are given to various professional and fan related fields. Perth has a yearly regional convention called Swancon, Canberra has Conflux, and Continuum is the Melbourne version. On the world stage, there is the yearly WorldCon, a massive event where you get anywhere up to 10,000 fans and professionals attending. The highly prestigious Hugo Awards are given out there. Australia has hosted four World Cons now, in 1975, 1985 1999 and 2010.