Help Out AetherFest III

Greetings!

AetherFest needs your help! We're a long lasting institution in Texas and the American Steampunk Community and we thank you for it. As thanks, we're wanting to do something very special this year, but we need your help. We want to make AetherFest a jewel of our movement, with a new beautiful and historic facility, inexpensive rates for our guests ticket and hotel-wise, and with the highest quality speakers and entertainers our movement has to offer.

If you can't donate, please spread the word and if you're someone with a bit of pull in the community, you can help out by creating a video, mentioning us in a podcast, posting us on your blog, and so forth. We want to give you something the likes unseen and we can't do this without you. AetherFest III, we can assure you, will be one to truly remember. Also, for every $500 mark reached, we will be revealing some of the exciting new things we will be doing with AetherFest in 2014 that have not been done before!

FAQ

What and When is AetherFest?
AetherFest is Texas' oldest and largest Steampunk convention, one of the "node" conventions of the national circuit, representing the South-Central area of the United States and receiving attendees internationally, from locations including Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK, and so on. It is known as the "unconventional convention" due to its efforts to create a family reunion feeling to it while maintaining the high quality of its entertainment and productions. We are also a charitable organization, having raised thousands of dollars last year for Autism Speaks and wish to do so again for our chosen yearly charity.

Who's Behind It?
The chairmen, Mr. Saturday (Pablo Vazquez III) and Sixpence (Cameron Hare) are well-known performers, organizers and speakers within the Steampunk movement, working tirelessly to make the San Antonio Neo-Victorian Association, the organization behind AetherFest, a beacon of the movement and a provider of much entertainment and education within Texas itself. There is also a full committee that will be crucial to this year's AF and its operation.

When Is It?
AetherFest currently has a "Summer 2014 TBA" event date, but a more solid date is expected within the month or so once they're able to figure out what they're working with budget-wise and after surveying the prospective attendees.

What's the Theme?
AetherFest: The Grand Unconventional Symposium. Imagine an educational, ancient, respected and mystical academy, which also doubles as a modern-day degree mill. For every speaker you see, every workshop you attend, and so on, you will receive a beautiful certificate to present to those who doubt your knowledge in Steampunk matters. In fact, you will be presented a certificate as an expert in Steampunk for simply attending! More will be revealed on this fun theme soon!

What do you intend to do differently this year visually?
First off, we want a new facility. We loved the St. Anthony for its majestic aesthetic, but the old bird is having issues of its own, ranging from unpredictable elevators, collapsing beds and less-than-desirable service. Our current dream location is the Scottish Rite Cathedral, which boasts a majestic-looking theater (the largest this side of the Mississippi at its time) with many antique backdrops, beautiful decor & architecture, and ample seating for our featured speaking guests and performers. This facility will also allow us to provide you with an elegant tea room, a location that is only a block from the Alamo and the Riverwalk, ample space for vendors, and truly historic and beautiful location that doubles as a museum.

What about programming? What will be different there?
We detest boring panels and panels that repeat themselves year after year. Instead, we're creating two "Tracks" for daytime activities this year: Speakers and Workshops. We will only select the best, most innovative, most fascinating and most entertaining speakers for AFIII, who will have to submit a proposal for their talks like if they were presenting at a Victorian academic symposium. Workshops will allow those not interested in the discussed topics to learn about leatherworking, painting techniques, haberdashery, tailoring, and so on. It will be very different from the usual programming structure of many conventions and trust us when we say that you will love our Featured Guest line-up!

What part of that requires my money?
Mostly? We want to keep doing a historic facility with an excellent proximity to other amazing locations, so that's what a majority of that will help towards. We also want to have more of our budget available to bring you prime guests, a comfortable and enjoyable and new experience, more funds for charity donation, new additional perks for buying a badge (new badges as well!), a full-fledged tea room and library to relax in, ghost tours, historic tours and photoshoots, carriage rides, amazing dinners, and so on. The possibilities are endless and we cannot wait to see what you help us achieve!

Will donating cut down on AetherFest expenses for the attendees?
Absolutely so! We are aiming not only for lower badge prices, but also for lower room rates at the main and alternative hotels, discounts for food and beverage at local facilities and possibly on-site, and so much more. We want you to be able to save your wallet for our fantastic vendors and whatever you wish, so we will indeed be lowering the costs for everyone no matter what.

The AetherFest II website, now outdated, can be seen here:

http://www.sanvaonline.com/aetherfest

All email inquires can be sent to saneovic@gmail.com