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Discworld Convention 2006 …
Tags: 4a, 7a, a5, convention attendees, east midlands, east midlands airport, exit m6, hinckley, island hotel, journey, london, m1, m69, milton keynes, motorway network, motorways, taxi, transport media, watling street,Pages: 2
Language: english
Created: Sun Jul 30 11:19:12 2006
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Discworld Convention 2006
Pre-Con Information
The following information is designed to be useful for getting to the Discworld Convention 2006 and
knowing what to do when you arrive. We'll see you all there on the 18th August!
Getting to the Convention
Hinckley Island Hotel, A5, Watling Street, Hinckley, Leicestershire, LE10 3JA
By Road:
The town is at the centre of the motorway network and easily accessed from the M69, which links the M1 and
M6 motorways.
From North (M1 Southbound): Leave M1 at junction 21 onto M69. Exit M69 at junction 1. Turn left on to
A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is approximately 300 yards on the left.
From North (M6 Southbound): Leave M6 at junction 2 onto M69. Exit M69 at junction 1. Turn right at the
roundabout onto the A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is approximately 300 yards on the left.
From South-East (M1 Northbound): Leave M1 at junction 19 onto M6. Exit M6 at junction 2 onto M69 and
exit M69 at junction 1. Turn right at the roundabout onto the A5 (signposted London & Milton Keynes). Hotel is
approximately 300 yards on the left.
From South-West (M5): Leave M5 at junction 4A onto M42. Exit M42 at junction 7A onto M6 southbound.
From here, follow "From North (M6 Southbound)" instructions above.
However, you won't really need a car to get there, as Hinckley's also well served by rail, air and assorted
other transport media.
By Rail:
If you are travelling to the Convention by rail, you may decide to walk to the hotel from the station. This is
not recommended as the hotel is effectively inaccessible by foot -- the journey involves crossing a number of
busy roads (most notably the A5 and M69). Other Convention attendees will be arriving at the station on both
Friday and Saturday -- why not arrange to meet up with other attendees and share a taxi?
By Air:
East Midlands Airport (EMA) is not too far to the north. There are regular buses from the airport to
Loughborough railway station, where it's possible to pick up direct trains to Hinckley. Birmingham International
Airport (BHX) is not too far to the west. Regular shuttle buses connect the airport terminal to Birmingham
International railway station, from where it's easy to take a train to Coventry and change for Hinckley. Finally,
Stansted Airport (STN), one of the numerous airports claiming to be in London, has regular and direct, albeit
slow, rail services to Hinckley station. This may be of interest as many of the "low-cost" airlines serve Stansted.
Further Information:
National Rail Enquiries on +(44) 8457 484950 to ensure that trains are running okay and aren't being
affected by overnight or weekend engineering works.
Hinckley Station Taxis (at the train station!) can be contacted on +(44) 1455 238000 or +(44) 1455 614444
Useful Websites:
Birmingham International Airport: http://www.bhx.co.uk/
East Midlands Airport: http://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/
Stansted Airport: http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/stansted/
National Rail information: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
An independent public transport information site: http://www.pti.org.uk/
Extra! Extra!
Any budding thespians who would like to be involved in very small parts in the play, or any
budding Stage Managers who want to have a go at back stage work, should report in to Suzi
in the Dysk during Thursday or Friday or turn up to the specialist gopher session on Friday.
Also, don't forget if you've always fancied seeing how Theatre Tech of any kind works then
there's also the "Teach Yourself Tech" event (to be found in the Programme Schedule).
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Registration
Once you have arrived at the hotel and settled in you should find the registration desk to pick up your all
important information and badge. Registration can be found in the Hub and will be open on Friday and
Saturday from 10am until 6pm. If you arrive outside Registration's opening hours GO TO OPS.
Thursday Quiz
The now traditional pub quiz on Thursday night will be held in the
bar from 9pm. Get yourselves into teams of no more than six people
Weapons Policy
and meet the challenge of Roundworld questions based around Guild All weapons will be checked in with Ops
themes. Alchemist? Better know your science. Fool? Polish up on your as soon as possible following hotel
comedy. Seamstress? If you're lucky, we'll ask you about zips. check-in. There are no exceptions to
the "check-weapons-in-with-Ops"
Thursday Buffet policy. Permission to wear weapons is
conditional on the approval of the
Thursday evening, a hot and cold 3 course finger buffet will be Watch, in conjunction with Ops, to
served to attendees in the Lakeside Suite at 7:30pm. Places for this whom all weapons should be brought.
were pre-booked along with hotel accommodation requests. Payment
to be by cash/plastic at the till or by tickets issued by reception at If you're not sure what constitutes a
point of check-in. The cost of the buffet is £8 per head. weapon, you should bring it up to Ops
anyway, just to be sure. There are 800
Pre-ordered Convention T-shirts people in close quarters for the
duration of the convention, and you'd
and Polo shirts be amazed at the damage that one
person with a scythe can cause. Well,
Those who ordered tshirts or polo shirts with instructions that they all right, maybe you wouldn't be that
wished to pick them up at the event can collect them at the surprised, but if Death turns up at the
Convention table in Sator Square. Con, we'd like to think that he'd be
thoughtful enough to check his scythe
and sword with Ops. You may think
Maskerade that a weapon which stays in your
room and only comes out for the
For those entering the maskerade please bring to Masquerade does not need to be
registration: Copy of the completed Maskerade registration form CD brought to Ops. You would be wrong;
or MiniDisc with music and/or sound effects for the entry Four copies ALL weapons need to be brought to
of any script (organisers, tech crew, backstage and MC). Details of Ops, as soon as possible following
any other special requirements check-in.
To the rehearsal: All of the above if you didn't make it to the You may think that a weapon which
registration. Dimensions of any large items (e.g. costumes or props) will not be brought out of your hotel
room does not need to be checked with
To the Maskerade: Yourself, your costume and any props. Ops; it is the experience of The Watch
that at two in the morning someone
Book Signings will decide to go up to their hotel room
and get their edged banana so that
We have organised a series of book-signing events over the course they can show it to their friends.
of the convention. These events are very popular so please help us
make them run smoothly, so that everybody gets a fair chance. Please do not do this.
There is a queue to see the Guests so please don't jump it. There is
a three-book limit. The guests will be happy to chat to you as they Ops will summon The Watch to
sign your books but there will be a queue of eager people waiting examine all weapons brought to their
behind you, so if the guests or the Watch ask you to move on, attention. Determination of what
please help them out. There are plenty of other opportunities to talk constitutes a weapon is at the sole
to the guests (hint: try buying them drinks.) discretion of The Watch and Ops teams.
People who disregard the weapons
Dead Monkey Party policy may have their Con membership
revoked and be asked to leave the
Officially the convention ends on Monday afternoon. That said, many Convention.
of us feel unable to leave so quickly after all the fun and excitement
of the previous days and the hotel will still have a lot of Discworld Please help us help you to have a
fans staying over on the Monday night. If you will be one of them, happy and safe Convention.
come along to the Dead Monkey Party, where you can relax with all
the friends you've made over the weekend and wave smelling salts
under the noses of shell-shocked committee members. It'll be another two years before you get to do this
again, so make it last.
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