Welcome to Demicon
DemiCon Fhannish Film Festival
The deadline has pasted for submissions
Get those Cameras running and join us in 2013! You know you have always wanted to make a movie or you have one that is hidden away and you want to show it. Here is your chance! So send your movies our way, you need not attend DemiCon to enter.
Our Entry Guidelines are as follows:
- Movies must be no longer than 30 minutes in length
- Entry must be PG-13 or less (if it were rated)
- Topic must be Anime, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Gaming, Fandom or Parody, Trailers (ie: Movie Trailer)
- Entry must be submitted in DVD format. Preferred video types are .avi, .mpeg, .mpg, .wmv
- Each entry must be on it's own individual disc
- All entries must be original works by the entrant(s)
- Entrants are limited to 5 entries, either film, trailer, or Animated Music Video for the DemiCon 24 contest at this time
- Previous winning presentations are not allowed to enter
- All entries must be postmarked no later than April 10, 2013
- DemiCon takes no responsibility for discs lost or damaged during the contest.
- Please provide copies only, not originals or "Masters".
- DemiCon 24 reserves the right to show the movie during the convention. DemiCon 24 reserves the right to select the movies to be shown.
- Judging will take place prior to the showing of the videos at DemiCon 24. Videos will be broadcast throughout the convention via the DemiCon 24 Video Channel.
- We ask that you do not put your personal name on the movie credits or introduction so the judges do not know who presented the movie.
- Prizes will be awarded for Judges Choice and Fhannish Choice at Closing Ceremonies of DemiCon 24.
- If you want your entry returned, you must include a self-addressed envelope and return postage.
- When submitting an entry, include: Your name, address, email, phone number; length of entry, your company name (if applicable), category, whether or not permission is given to display your work on the Fhannish Film Festival page at www.demicon.org or a link to your work or website. If you choose, an entry form can be found on the website by clicking the link!
Email any questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Entries should be submitted to:
DemiCon 24
Fhannish Film Festival-F3
3208 Garden Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50310
Past Winners
2011- DemiCon 22
Sailor Moon Take - Vanessa Reusch
2010 - DemiCon 21
Species Felis Dominarus - Jason P. Hunt
2009 - DemiCon 20
On the Road - Tammy Mohning
2007 - DemiCon 18
Fhan Choice
Man vs. Child - Tee Morris
Judges Choice
Man vs. Child - Tee Morris
Formal Masquerade
The Formal Masquerade is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 4th, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
- Contestants are required to attend the Masquerade meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and should bring a completed entry form and any music they plan to use. The preferred format for music is compact disc.
- Contestants are required to take a rehearsal walk across the DemiCon stage. For the convenience of all, rehearsal walks will be scheduled by sign up. All props, music and footwear are to be brought to the rehearsal walk.
- All contestants will be required to arrive in the green room prior to the beginning of the Masquerade. Adult contestants must arrive in the green room no later than 7:00 p.m. Contestants age 13 and under should arrive in the Green Room by 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise instructed.
- There are two categories for competition and one for display.
- Apprentice - costume designed and executed primarily by someone under 13 years of age on the event date of May 4th, 2013.
- Artisan - costume designed and executed by someone 13 years of age or above on the event date of May 4th, 2013.
- Exhibition - costume worn for display / non-competitive purposes.
- The Masquerade Coordinator will be available at posted times during the convention to answer questions and assist with forms.
- Any and all prizes, ribbons and awards are at the sole discretion of the Judges.
Hall Costume Contest
Here’s the scoop: To be considered a Hall Costume entrant and eligible for the major awards, you must have your photo take by our photographer between 9 PM and 10:30 PM Friday night. There you will receive your Ribbon of Participation. Only those with Ribbons of Participation are eligible for the special hall awards, which include ribbons for those who best remain in character, or what anime we like best, or super workmanship (among others). The major awards, presented during Masquerade on Saturday, include rosettes for the following: ARTIST'S CHOICE, AUTHOR'S CHOICE, FGOH'S CHOICE, and of course BEST in HALL.
In addition to rosettes, something special (taken straight from the annals of time) will be awarded to the lucky Hall Costume winners. Photos of this special item will be posted later on our website, www.demicon.org, but you can check the Demicon archives there to see what the lucky winners received last year!
SPECIAL HAT CONTEST
“YOU HAT ME AT FLASH GORDON!”
In keeping with Demicons of the past three years, we are once more having a special Hat Contest! The theme of this year’s contest, of course, will be all things dedicated to science fiction’s “Golden Age” (not necessarily limited to “Flash Gordon!”) and how you can best represent your idea on a hat (or some other form of headgear)! There are subjects a-plenty out there, folks; you are limited only by your imagination! Your entry will be judged as you come for your photo! Have fun, and do your best! As with prior hat contests, a rosette and a special prize will be awarded to one lucky winner!
Contests
There are a wide range of contests available at DemiCon from costumes to storytelling that all are welcome to participate. This year we will have a few contests to match our theme. Stay tuned!
Please click the links below to learn about each contest we will be having.
Registration for Dealers Room
- Tables are now $35 each for DemiCon 24.
- A membership must be purchased separately for each person working your table. There is a limit of three tables (or table spaces) per dealer.
- You can reserve your tables by checking the box on your registration form and including the table cost with your membership payment.
- If you have already purchased your membership and wish to add a table (or three), you can e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
- Please remember to let us know if you have any special requirements: wall space, electricity, table space but no tables, specific number of chairs, etc.
- Tables are not "reserved" until we receive payment. If you do not know if you have sent a payment or are registered please look on the Dealer's Room Page to see the list of reserved dealers.
- Also send us your website information to
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
and we'll create a link on the main dealer page for you!
PLEASE NOTE: WALL SPACE IS SOLD OUT!!!!
The Dealer's room will be open for setup at 9:00 am Friday morning. Dealers may unload at the front door of the Holiday Inn Northwest. You will find the Dealer's Room located nearby, in the first section of the ballroom.
Dealer's Room layout
DEALER’S ROOM RULES/GUIDELINES
- Permit and Sales Tax: The state of Iowa requires that all dealers collect and remit sales tax on dealer table purchases. If you do not have a sales tax permit you may get a temporary permit by contacting the Iowa Department of Revenue. (insert link to http://www.iowa.gov/tax/ ) Please have your tax permit with you during the convention as you will be asked to provide this information.
- Weapons: All edged weapons and other sharp, breakable or potentially hazardous merchandise must be displayed in a safe and appropriate manner. Do not sell swords, knives, etc. to minors without the parent's permission.
- Display: Please display any adult themed merchandise in a tasteful manner.
- Safety: No open flames allowed (e.g. no burning of candles, incense, illudim 348, lit canons etc.) Do not "flow" your merchandise and displays into the aisles or other dealer spaces.
- Sound: Music and Video are permitted in your dealer area, however please keep the sound to a volume that does not annoy your neighbors. If it is too loud you will be asked to turn it down.
- Membership: All people working your table(s) must have a DemiCon membership. Badges must be worn at all times.
DEALERS ROOM SCHEDULE:
- Friday
Set up: 9am - 2pm
Business: 2pm - 6pm - Saturday
Room opens for Dealers: 9:30 am
Business: 10am - 6pm - Sunday
Room opens for Dealers: 9:30 am
Business: 10am - 2pm
Contact/Registration Information
- Mailing Address:
DemiCon 24
P. O. Box 7572
Des Moines, IA 50322-7572 - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Pay Pal is operational on the registration page
- If you wish to register via mail please use this form. Fill out for each individual attending.
Masquerade Registration
The Formal Masquerade is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 4th, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
- Contestants are required to attend the Masquerade meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and should bring a completed entry form and any music they plan to use. The preferred format for music is compact disc.
- Contestants are required to take a rehearsal walk across the DemiCon stage. For the convenience of all, rehearsal walks will be scheduled by sign up. All props, music and footwear are to be brought to the rehearsal walk.
- All contestants will be required to arrive in the green room prior to the beginning of the Masquerade. Adult contestants must arrive in the green room no later than 7:00 p.m. Contestants age 13 and under should arrive in the Green Room by 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise instructed.
- There are two categories for competition and one for display.
- Apprentice - costume designed and executed primarily by someone under 13 years of age on the event date of May 4th, 2013.
- Artisan - costume designed and executed by someone 13 years of age or above on the event date of May 4th, 2013.
- Exhibition - costume worn for display / non-competitive purposes.
- The Masquerade Coordinator will be available at posted times during the convention to answer questions and assist with forms.
- Any and all prizes, ribbons and awards are at the sole discretion of the Judges.
FORMAL MASQUERADE - Forms and Rules
This is a structured costume contest. There are entry forms to fill out as well as a meeting and rehearsal walk to attend. There are rules and guidelines. Contestants get to strut their stuff on our generous stage in front of a live audience. Contestants can include theatrical sound and lighting to enhance their presentations.
Please check out this year's Masquerade rules - printable version
For any questions, clarifications or considerations not addressed by the rules, FAQs or general information please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. prior to April 30th, 2013.
And why wait? Start asking your questions now!
If you would like to fill out the form here is a printable version - Form
PREVIOUS DEMICON MASQUERADE PHOTOS
Masquerade and Hall Costume photos from several previous DemiCons are available for purchase at the following website: www.wookphoto.com.
Formal Masquerade contestants will be photographed in the Green Room on Saturday night. The photos will then be available a few weeks after the convention via an online gallery.
Hosting a Room Party
This year on Friday and Saturday nights, DemiCon will have room parties on 5th floor, the same level as the ConSuite. Only rooms in the designated party areas of the hotel will be allowed to hold parties. Please let us know if you wish to host a room party so that we can arrange for your room to be located on the correct floor. Also if you can let us know which night and what your theme is we will post them on this web site page.
Anyone wishing to host a room party must let us know in advance so that we can make certain your room is in the designated area for room parties. You can let us know when you register by checking the "I wish to host a room party" box, or you can contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and tell us that way. Since we will not occupy the entire hotel, we are assigning room parties to specific areas of the hotel.
No room parties will be allowed outside of the designated areas.
Here is our current list of parties!
OsFest
Brass Falcon Airship
KC in 2016
Honorverse
Chamber of Champions
Brass Gears Adventure Society
Joe and Angel Kifer
Karaoke Party Hosted by John Garner
Registration for Gaming
DemiCon will feature scheduled and open gaming events. Also the gaming room will be available throughout the entire convention.
We are proud to announce that Chamber of Champions will be running gaming this year at DemiCon. You must be registered for DemiCon to participate but you can purchase memberships at the convention. To view membership prices please follow the link to the convention registration page.
Here is a list of gaming that is planned at this time.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR GAMES!
All Weekend: The Story Mechanist - original living-word game
FRIDAY
Call of Duty Black Ops II Tourney $100 for 1st/$50 for 2nd
Settlers of Catan
How to Play Magic Panel
Magic The Gathering Booster Drafts (All day)
7 Wonders
Shadowrun RPG
Pathfinder High-level RPG
SATURDAY
Scrabble Tourney $100 for 1st/$50 for 2nd
Talisman
Magic The Gathering Booster Drafts (All day)
Fluxx
The Adventurer's Guild - Pathfinder Organized Play
Cribbage Partners Tourney $100 for 1st/$50 for 2nd
Munchkin
The Stars Are Right
Bananagrams
Magic The Gathering Pauper's Tourney $100 for 1st/$50 for 2nd Set
The Great Dalmuti
Legends of Arcanis RPG
SUNDAY
Canasta
Partners Tourney $100 for 1st/$50 for 2nd
Magic The Gathering Booster Drafts (All day)
The Adventurer's Guild - Pathfinder Organized Play
Do you have a game that you would like to host at DemiCon? Tell us about it!
Professional Guests
Check back here to see the ever expanding list of professional guests who will be attending this year’s DemiCon.
The following guests have been confirmed so far!
Glen Cook
Author ~ Glen is best known for his stellar military fantasy series, The Black Company. Glen can be found in the Dealer's room, with a great assortment of literature for you to purchase
Glen Cook Wiki
John and Denise Garner
Artists ~ This husband and wife duo are an art powerhouse.
Denise's Website
John's Website
Lettie Prell
Author ~ One of our own Des Moines Science Fiction and Fantasy writers. Lettie uses the blend of technology and magic for her wonderful works.
Mary Wilson
Author ~ Mary is one of our own Des Moines authors. She is also a publicist for the metaphysical.
Sean Faircloth
Author ~ Richard Dawkins asked Sean Faircloth, who served ten years in the Maine legislature, to serve as opening speaker for numerous Dawkins US speaking engagements. Sean Faircloth authored "Attack of the Theocrats, How the Religious Right Harms Us All and What We Can Do About It"
Adam J Whitlatch
Author ~ Iowa author of dozens of short stories and poems spanning science fiction, fantasy, and horror.Tom Ashwell
Author ~ Offbeat serlalized science fiction for young adults and adults.
Taylor Kent
Author ~ The Adventures of The Snarky Avenger Comic
Taylor Kent is a writer, podcaster, voice actor, software developer, reviewer (of books, audio books, movies, etc), and gamer. His work has appeared on Flashshots, Fear and Trembling Magazine, and Abattoir Magazine; and he has done voice work for Brokensea Audio Productions, Gypsy Audio, Zombie Astronaut’s Frequency of Fear, and the Sonic Society.
Lee Killough
Author ~While Lee began by publishing science fiction, her work has evolved into a combination of SF or the supernatural and her other favorite genre, mystery...producing stories about future cops, space going cops, vampire cops, werewolf cops, and ghost cops. To take a look at some of her ebooks please follow this link http://bookswelove.net/killough.phpBryan Thomas Schmidt
Editor and Author ~ A writer of speculative fiction and nonfiction, Bryan also has experience as a technical writer, musician and composer. His work has been published in a variety of places from online ‘zines to magazines and newspapers and even a few corporate manuals.Christopher Weuve
Wargame designer ~ Chris is a naval analyst and wargame designer, formerly of the Center for Naval Analyses and the Naval War College. He has been the “military expert” for the Discovery Channel’s “Curiosity (Alien Invasion)” show. He was a co-author of House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion.Thomas "Tom" Pope
The co-designer of Ad Astra Games' Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, co-author of Jayne's Intelligence Review, Vol. 1, and Vol. 2, and a moderator of the discussion board on Ad Astra's website. He created artwork for the Grayson Navy Letters Home and the House of Steel companion book. Together with Ken Burnside, he was a founding member of the literary consultant group, BuNine.Lars Pearson
Lars Pearson is an American writer, editor, and journalist. He is the owner/publisher of Mad Norwegian Press, a publishing company specializing in reference guides to television shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Doctor Who, plus the Faction Paradox range of novels and comic books. He is also co-author, with Lance Parkin, of "Ahistory: An Unauthorized History of the Doctor Who Universe," which puts every Doctor Who-related story onto a single timeline from the beginning of the universe to its end.Musical Guests
Friday Night
Orckes & Trolles:
Orckes & Trolles (est.1992) is a high-energy vocal and instrumental music group that performs at Renaissance festivals. During the holiday season, they sing in Victorian garb as the Top Hat Carolers.
Venue D Open Mic
We're revamping what used to be Venue D into an open mic in the music room. Bring whatever talent you like for your time to shine.
Return of the Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing Along
Come participate in a filky sing along setting. At midnight of course.
This year it'll be even less of a "show" and more of a comunal experience. Note that the movie will not be shown, this is just a chance to get together and sing along with your friends to tunes many of us love.
Saturday Night
Beth Kinderman:
Based in Minneapolis, Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters have been bringing their geeky, filk-influenced progressive rock music to sci-fi convention audiences across the Midwest since 2008. Beth's unique and complex original songs are inspired by everything from Star Wars to comic books to Battlestar Galactica to zombies to video games to fantasy novels and beyond. They have released three CDs so far, the most recent of which, "More Songs About Robots & Death," features a blend of original humorous material and cover songs. The band consists of Justin Hartley (percussion, accordion), Elizabeth Greenberg (vocals, keyboards, violin), Beth Kinderman (vocals, guitar), and Dave Stagner (guitar). They're thrilled to be back at DemiCon for the fourth year in a row to share their music.
Cheshire Moon:
Cheshire Moon is the fanciful collaboration of trickster bird Lizzie Crowe and crazed magician Eric Coleman. What began as a simple joining of two talents in song circles, and occasionally during the mad-hatter antics of Eric Coleman on stage, whipped and frothed into the most likely of pairs. Eric’s love of punk, folk and prog rock gives them an eerie, otherworldly sound, while Lizzie brings the voice of that otherworld to life in chorus and verse.
Together they bring about a torrent that is as playful as it is lightly sinister, all wrapped up in a pretty little beribboned box. Do you dare to open it?
Bryan Baker:
Bryan Baker (aka Kaklick Martin in Second Life®) has been many kinds of geek in his life: Band and chorus geek, theatre geek, computer geek, D&D Geek, computer gamer geek, the list goes on. He’s published 4 solo albums and one single. The latest album “Yeah, I’m a Geek” makes use of all that geeky-ness and wraps most of his geekiest songs in one neat package. Zombies and werewolves and Second Life®, oh my!
Tre Critelli:
I have been playing and performing live music for more than thirty years. While my primary instrument is an acoustic guitar, depending upon the venue I may also perform on a kecapi (an Indonesian zither), a MillTone (a metal grove tongue drum) or harp guitar (guitar with 6 additional bass strings.) Over the years I have performed at various locations around the world, be it coffee shops in Japan, restaurants in Indonesia or the streets of London. Other than a couple of National Guitar Summer Workshops, however, I am essentially self-taught.
I have had the most musical success in live, online musical performance in the virtual world known as "Second Life." I have been the featured guest and musician on numerous podcasts, have been a musical guest on virtual world television shows such as "Tonite Live with Paisley Beebe," and was the first musical performer selected for the debut of treet.tv's "Music and Arts on the Isle." In 2007, I was selected to be a live performer at the Second Live Community Convention in Chicago, Illinois, at which time I released my first collection of songs about live in a virtual world, "Tales from the Grid." A year later, my release party performance for my second collection of songs about Second Life, "The SL Man," was streamed to parcels of land located on more than 400 individual sims, or Second Life regions, making it the largest musical event ever held in a virtual world. More info can be found at: www.theSLman.com.
In 2010, I became the subject of a doctoral dissertation research study held by Dr. Deborah Wise at the University of Colorado at Denver. The study, “Life as Art: The Interplay of Identities Among Virtually Performing Musicians in Second Life,” focused on music performers who had successfully crafted virtual identities for live music performances.
