Friday
Apr132007
Who are the volunteers behind British filk fandom?
Posted on 
Friday, April 13, 2007 at 9:11PM
Friday, April 13, 2007 at 9:11PM
The UK filk conventions are organised differently with a different concom and different hotel every year. This makes for a wider range of people being involved in the organisation of events than in other countries where they tend to stick to a single venue and an only slightly changing concom (From Lissa Allcock: "not exclusively since the Floating East Coast filk con is a bit like us but I don't know how cohesive their concoms are over the years").
A while back, Lissa Allcock posted about the volunteers who have helped with British conventions over past years, and she gave me permission to re-post this information here:
"Over in the land of LiveJournal there have been a couple of posts recently that need to migrate (or at least be announced) over here since they are of interest to the wider UK filk community and not just those bits of it that are on LJ.
This is a post I made yesterday, with various amendments and corrections made to it. If anyone else sees things that should be added then do please say.
This was sparked by a post that Annie made on her LJ on the topic of volunteering in the land of filk - I do recommend going over and having a look if that's an option for you. It does get a bit long because lots and lots of people have chipped in to the discussion, but it's definitely worth it. You can find it here.
This post sparked a thought in me to investigate how much of UK filk fandom was involved on the running side of things. For this purpose I have excluded performers for no valid reason other than that if I did the list would have taken me even longer and I'd have left out way more people. As it is I know that there are credits I have not given and almost certainly people who should be on there but aren't (especially people who work the cons and/or do tech) and my apologies for that. As I said above, do say if you see things that ought to be added. Perhaps when we're done Rafe can put it up on http://www.Filk.co.uk/ as a monument to our involvement.
The original list was of 64 people, of whom I count 42 (ish - it gets fluffy with the Americans) as being current active members of UK filk fandom. Given we're a community of about 140 (or if you want to count the total number of people who have been involved over time including those who've moved on to other things, perhaps about 200) that's a pretty good proportion.
People who have put a lot into UK Filk Fandom and what they have done
Phil Allcock - committee for Contabile, Con2bile, Obliter-8, Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones, Worldcon in 95 (uncredited), creator/launcher and original administrator of the Sams, now the ongoing UK filk awards.
Mike Whitaker - committee for Contabile, Transept, XIlophone, Contabile Fortean, Worldcon in 95. Hosting of various filkers' websites plus the UK server for FilkHaven.
Anne Whitaker - committee for Con2bile, Transept.
Rhodri James - committee for Contabile, Transept.
Rafe Culpin - committee for Contabile, HarmUni, produces the Wiggle newsletter, maintains contact lists for UK filk fandom that want to be listed, organiser of much filk at Eastercons. Creator of filk.co.uk website, with lots of useful/interesting information about the history of UK filk.
Steve Linton - committee for Contabile.
Valerie Housden - committee for Contabile, Con2bile, Vibraphone, Worldcon in 95.
Gytha North - committee for Contabile, Treble. Instigator of filk (and then of filk cons) in the UK to begin with, responsible for production of original UK filk tapes, launcher of the original filk fund (the Flying Fish Fund, which then became the Flying Filk Fund), editor of original UK songbooks.
Ben Brown - committee for Con2bile, Treble.
Bill Longley - committee for Con2bile.
Chris O'Shea - committee for Con2bile.
Richard the Rampant - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Andy Morris - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Harry Payne - committee for Treble.
Pat Brown/Silver - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Alison Scott - committee for FourPlay.
Mike Scott - committee for FourPlay.
Sue Mason - committee for FourPlay. Much artwork for filk publications various.
Steve Davies - committee for FourPlay.
Giulia De Cesare - committee for FourPlay.
Zander Nyrond - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX, Conthirteena. Artwork for various filk publications. Founder and host of Nycons.
Chris Bell - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX.
Janet Waite - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX, Conthirteena. Artwork for various filk publications. Founder and host of Nycons.
Dave Holladay - committee for Pentatonic.
Clement Nyrond - committee for Pentatonic.
Smitty - committee for Vibraphone, Didgeri-douze, Worldcon in 95. Creator of Filklore zine. Artwork for various filk publications.
Minstrel - committee for Vibraphone. Creator of Filklore zine, creator of UK filk BBS, now the FilkUK newsgroup. Creator and administrator of the Filklore award for the most memorable lyrics posted to FilkUK each year. Owns and runs the Filklore online filk music store (mostly CDs but also some hymnals).
Martin GK - committee for Vibraphone, XIlophone, 1812 Tone. Much tech (or possibly much much tech). Creator and host of the Filk Archive.
John English - committee for Vibraphone.
Sue Edwards - committee for Transept.
Robert Maughan - committee for Obliter-8, Contabile Fortean. Filk Fund administrator (past). Creator of the new Filk Fund, including original author of the rules governing it.
Lissa Allcock - committee for Obliter-8, Didgeri-douze, HarmUni, Sixteen Tones, Worldcon in 95 (including songbook). Filk Fund Administrator (current). Sams award creator and decorator (past).
Teddy - committee for Obliter-8. Artwork for various filk publications. Childminder extraordinaire.
FanTom - committee for Obliter-8. Artwork for various filk publications.
Ken Shinn - committee for HarmonIX.
Tom Abba - committee for HarmonIX.
Colin Tuckley - committee for Decadence. Much tech.
Paul Bristow - committee for Decadence, Quinze Filk Festival.
Miki Dennis - committee for Decadence, Conthirteena, DixSeption, Worldcon in 2005. Much artwork for filk publications various.
Erica Neely - committee for Decadence (administered UK Filk Awards which spawned the Sams), Contabile Fortean.
Mike Richards - committee for Decadence, Conthirteena, DixSeption, HarmUni2.
Dan Bennett - committee for XIlophone.
Andy GK - committee for XIlophone. Much tech.
Annie Walker - committee for Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones.
Tim Walker - committee for Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones, 1812 Tone.
Janet Maughan - committee for Contabile Fortean, 1812 Tone.
Rika Koerte - committee for Contabile Fortean.
David Peek - committee for Contabile Fortean. Much tech.
Keris/Chris Croughton - committee for Quinze Filk Festival, Worldcon in 95. Much tech.
Hilary Croughton - committee for Quinze Filk Festival.
Alison Richards - committee for DixSeption, HarmUni2 (uncredited), Conthirteena (uncredited) songbook for Conthirteena & Worldcon in 2005.
Dawn Everett Biddle - committee for DixSeption.
Brian Biddle - committee for DixSeption.
Bill Sutton - committee for 1812 Tone, Worldcon in 2005.
Brenda Sutton - committee for 1812 Tone.
Seanan McGuire - committee for 1812 Tone.
Rob Wynne - committee for 1812 Tone.
Joe Raftery - committee for HarmUni2.
Emily Raftery - committee for HarmUni2, HarmUni3
Anna Raftery - committee for HarmUni2.
Rick Hewett - committee for HarmUni2. Much tech.
Gwen Knighton - committee for HarmUni3.
Mich Sampson - committee for HarmUni3.
Marion Beet - organiser of the Swiggles - first to arrive, last to leave.
Peter Wareham & Gwen Funnell - organisers of silly games at cons in years past.
Omega - Sams award creator and decorator (current).
Melusine - Sams administrator and ceremony organiser (current), bringing class to the role.
Simon Fairbourn - tech and other background work.
Roger Robinson - Founder of Beccon Publications, publisher of the UK filk hymnals. Auctioneer for Filk Fund auctions.
Richard & Marion van der Voort - for many years the only importers of non-UK filk tapes & other materials. Attended most UK filkcons as vendors. Hosted many singing gatherings at their apartment in South London.
Wow! We really are an involved community, and an incredible range of people has run UK cons over the years. It may sometimes look or feel as if there is a small concentrated group of Smofs doing the work but if nothing else this list dispels that theory. Which leads back into Annie's post on volunteering, at least one of the aims of which is to plant the seeds of volunteerism into the minds of any in UK filk fandom who might be receptive to same....
Cheers
Lissa"
Comments? Suggestions? Please post below:
A while back, Lissa Allcock posted about the volunteers who have helped with British conventions over past years, and she gave me permission to re-post this information here:
"Over in the land of LiveJournal there have been a couple of posts recently that need to migrate (or at least be announced) over here since they are of interest to the wider UK filk community and not just those bits of it that are on LJ.
This is a post I made yesterday, with various amendments and corrections made to it. If anyone else sees things that should be added then do please say.
This was sparked by a post that Annie made on her LJ on the topic of volunteering in the land of filk - I do recommend going over and having a look if that's an option for you. It does get a bit long because lots and lots of people have chipped in to the discussion, but it's definitely worth it. You can find it here.
This post sparked a thought in me to investigate how much of UK filk fandom was involved on the running side of things. For this purpose I have excluded performers for no valid reason other than that if I did the list would have taken me even longer and I'd have left out way more people. As it is I know that there are credits I have not given and almost certainly people who should be on there but aren't (especially people who work the cons and/or do tech) and my apologies for that. As I said above, do say if you see things that ought to be added. Perhaps when we're done Rafe can put it up on http://www.Filk.co.uk/ as a monument to our involvement.
The original list was of 64 people, of whom I count 42 (ish - it gets fluffy with the Americans) as being current active members of UK filk fandom. Given we're a community of about 140 (or if you want to count the total number of people who have been involved over time including those who've moved on to other things, perhaps about 200) that's a pretty good proportion.
People who have put a lot into UK Filk Fandom and what they have done
Phil Allcock - committee for Contabile, Con2bile, Obliter-8, Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones, Worldcon in 95 (uncredited), creator/launcher and original administrator of the Sams, now the ongoing UK filk awards.
Mike Whitaker - committee for Contabile, Transept, XIlophone, Contabile Fortean, Worldcon in 95. Hosting of various filkers' websites plus the UK server for FilkHaven.
Anne Whitaker - committee for Con2bile, Transept.
Rhodri James - committee for Contabile, Transept.
Rafe Culpin - committee for Contabile, HarmUni, produces the Wiggle newsletter, maintains contact lists for UK filk fandom that want to be listed, organiser of much filk at Eastercons. Creator of filk.co.uk website, with lots of useful/interesting information about the history of UK filk.
Steve Linton - committee for Contabile.
Valerie Housden - committee for Contabile, Con2bile, Vibraphone, Worldcon in 95.
Gytha North - committee for Contabile, Treble. Instigator of filk (and then of filk cons) in the UK to begin with, responsible for production of original UK filk tapes, launcher of the original filk fund (the Flying Fish Fund, which then became the Flying Filk Fund), editor of original UK songbooks.
Ben Brown - committee for Con2bile, Treble.
Bill Longley - committee for Con2bile.
Chris O'Shea - committee for Con2bile.
Richard the Rampant - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Andy Morris - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Harry Payne - committee for Treble.
Pat Brown/Silver - committee for Treble. Much tech.
Alison Scott - committee for FourPlay.
Mike Scott - committee for FourPlay.
Sue Mason - committee for FourPlay. Much artwork for filk publications various.
Steve Davies - committee for FourPlay.
Giulia De Cesare - committee for FourPlay.
Zander Nyrond - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX, Conthirteena. Artwork for various filk publications. Founder and host of Nycons.
Chris Bell - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX.
Janet Waite - committee for Pentatonic, HarmonIX, Conthirteena. Artwork for various filk publications. Founder and host of Nycons.
Dave Holladay - committee for Pentatonic.
Clement Nyrond - committee for Pentatonic.
Smitty - committee for Vibraphone, Didgeri-douze, Worldcon in 95. Creator of Filklore zine. Artwork for various filk publications.
Minstrel - committee for Vibraphone. Creator of Filklore zine, creator of UK filk BBS, now the FilkUK newsgroup. Creator and administrator of the Filklore award for the most memorable lyrics posted to FilkUK each year. Owns and runs the Filklore online filk music store (mostly CDs but also some hymnals).
Martin GK - committee for Vibraphone, XIlophone, 1812 Tone. Much tech (or possibly much much tech). Creator and host of the Filk Archive.
John English - committee for Vibraphone.
Sue Edwards - committee for Transept.
Robert Maughan - committee for Obliter-8, Contabile Fortean. Filk Fund administrator (past). Creator of the new Filk Fund, including original author of the rules governing it.
Lissa Allcock - committee for Obliter-8, Didgeri-douze, HarmUni, Sixteen Tones, Worldcon in 95 (including songbook). Filk Fund Administrator (current). Sams award creator and decorator (past).
Teddy - committee for Obliter-8. Artwork for various filk publications. Childminder extraordinaire.
FanTom - committee for Obliter-8. Artwork for various filk publications.
Ken Shinn - committee for HarmonIX.
Tom Abba - committee for HarmonIX.
Colin Tuckley - committee for Decadence. Much tech.
Paul Bristow - committee for Decadence, Quinze Filk Festival.
Miki Dennis - committee for Decadence, Conthirteena, DixSeption, Worldcon in 2005. Much artwork for filk publications various.
Erica Neely - committee for Decadence (administered UK Filk Awards which spawned the Sams), Contabile Fortean.
Mike Richards - committee for Decadence, Conthirteena, DixSeption, HarmUni2.
Dan Bennett - committee for XIlophone.
Andy GK - committee for XIlophone. Much tech.
Annie Walker - committee for Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones.
Tim Walker - committee for Didgeri-douze, Sixteen Tones, 1812 Tone.
Janet Maughan - committee for Contabile Fortean, 1812 Tone.
Rika Koerte - committee for Contabile Fortean.
David Peek - committee for Contabile Fortean. Much tech.
Keris/Chris Croughton - committee for Quinze Filk Festival, Worldcon in 95. Much tech.
Hilary Croughton - committee for Quinze Filk Festival.
Alison Richards - committee for DixSeption, HarmUni2 (uncredited), Conthirteena (uncredited) songbook for Conthirteena & Worldcon in 2005.
Dawn Everett Biddle - committee for DixSeption.
Brian Biddle - committee for DixSeption.
Bill Sutton - committee for 1812 Tone, Worldcon in 2005.
Brenda Sutton - committee for 1812 Tone.
Seanan McGuire - committee for 1812 Tone.
Rob Wynne - committee for 1812 Tone.
Joe Raftery - committee for HarmUni2.
Emily Raftery - committee for HarmUni2, HarmUni3
Anna Raftery - committee for HarmUni2.
Rick Hewett - committee for HarmUni2. Much tech.
Gwen Knighton - committee for HarmUni3.
Mich Sampson - committee for HarmUni3.
Marion Beet - organiser of the Swiggles - first to arrive, last to leave.
Peter Wareham & Gwen Funnell - organisers of silly games at cons in years past.
Omega - Sams award creator and decorator (current).
Melusine - Sams administrator and ceremony organiser (current), bringing class to the role.
Simon Fairbourn - tech and other background work.
Roger Robinson - Founder of Beccon Publications, publisher of the UK filk hymnals. Auctioneer for Filk Fund auctions.
Richard & Marion van der Voort - for many years the only importers of non-UK filk tapes & other materials. Attended most UK filkcons as vendors. Hosted many singing gatherings at their apartment in South London.
Wow! We really are an involved community, and an incredible range of people has run UK cons over the years. It may sometimes look or feel as if there is a small concentrated group of Smofs doing the work but if nothing else this list dispels that theory. Which leads back into Annie's post on volunteering, at least one of the aims of which is to plant the seeds of volunteerism into the minds of any in UK filk fandom who might be receptive to same....
Cheers
Lissa"
Comments? Suggestions? Please post below:
Reader Comments (1)
And Robert and Janet Maughan, Erica Neely, Martin and Andrea Gordon-Kerr are the concom for the upcoming 2t0nic.