Tuesday, February 20, 2024

OzCon 2024 announcement


Hello, everyone!

This year, we will return to Kellogg West Conference Center and Hotel in Pomona, California, from July 19-20. Yes, that's two full days of programming at Kellogg. Additionally, we are looking into events outside of Kellogg for an early meet-up on Thursday evening to warm us up for the convention with extra activity in the planning stages for Sunday. To finish, you can once again hang out with your Oz buddies on a trip to Disneyland on Monday, 22.

This year, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of OzCon International, our major theme is celebrating the Royal Historians of Oz. We wouldn't have the Famous Forty Oz books without them! There would be no MGM classic movie musical (which celebrates its 85th anniversary this year) or Wicked (which is getting the first part of its film adaptation this year) without the stories by Baum, Thompson, Neill, Snow, Cosgrove or the McGraws.

In addition, we're also exploring the many Oz games invented over the years, allowing fans to interact with Oz in fun and competitive ways. I've even been preparing a presentation looking at the evolution of Oz video games, even touching base with some of the people who made the earliest games.

Colin Ayres and I have been working on a schedule of events with early volunteer presenters (thank you!) to be sure to have a great convention ahead.

Last but definitely not least, we are celebrating sixty years of OzCon. Our programming will offer plenty of opportunity for cozy chats with new and old friends, one of the features that make our conventions so memorable. We'll still have favorites such as Show and Tell to showcase your treasures; the Masquerade costume contest to channel your favorite characters, and the return of the Treasure Hunt to find some Ozzy treasure.

We will be having a single track program this year, aside from having alternate activities during the auction on Saturday. You won't need to miss a thing!

Do you have an idea for a presentation, panel or activity? Do you want to be on a panel about a particular Ozzy topic? There’s still plenty of time to put yourself forward. Don’t miss a chance to join our Ozzy lineup! We’re accepting presentations for proposals until March 31. Go ahead and email Colin and me at chair@ozcon-international.com

You can follow updates on our social media outlets on Facebook (OzCon International) and Instagram (ozconinternational), The OzConnection on YouTube and for the first time, we have a Discord server! If you're not familiar, Discord is a messaging platform. A server is a space specifically for a group of users to chat and share information with each other, with it being further broken into specific channels for specific topics. Using Discord, OzCon attendees can get breaking announcements, find people to share rooms with, meet up before and after the convention and quickly get in touch with convention organizers. To join the OzCon server, follow this link, sign up for Discord and get in there. Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon!

Jared "Jay" Davis

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