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General
Northwest Regional
Science Fiction
Clubs and Organizations
Updated
July 2, 2008
Other
Non Northwest Regional Clubs & Organizations
Media
Clubs & Organizations
- The Emerald City
Androgums is a Doctor Who club that
gets together once every month or two to watch some "Doctor
Who" and
the various new spinoff shows, catch up on the news,
and eat Check them out if this is of interest to you.
- Starship
Achilles Star
Trek club in the Portland/Vancouver and surrounding
area. Official chapter of Starfleet International.
Group has monthly meetings, attends movies, conventions,
special events and more. A small but growing
club.
- The
House of Kiln or Jesters of the Empire is
a klingon club that cherishes humor, especially
at the expense of Star Trek. Not sure what else
is involved, but check the page for details.
Their convention page indicates they will be
visited some of the local conventions.
- IKV
Deathgrip! is a is a Klingon enthusiast
organization stationed in the Seattle/PugetSound
area of Washington State
- The
IKV T'Mar is an independent Klingon based
general Science Fiction club in Tacoma, WA who
perform random acts of charity and community
service, in and out of costume.
- The
IKV Raptor is a Klingon enthusiast
based general Science Fiction club located in
the Portland, Oregon area and who also does acts
of chairty and community service.
- KIDC
Washington State - Consulate Station -
This is an affiliate of the Klingon Imperial Diplomatic
Corps located real time in Walla Walla, WA. They
describe by saying 'We're fairly new in that we've
been an online recruiting station for about a year
and are just wanting to get started real time in
the local area.' (note that their free servers
has popups and you might wish to keep popup blockers
going)
- Imperial
Starbase Society They describe themselves
as follows 'This is the dedicated Web Site for
the Fan Club formerly known as Imperial Starbase
Seattle.The originalImperial Starbase Seattle
folded January 1st, 1996. However, due to the
fact that there was still a lot of interest in
this organization and with the permission of
the original founders we decided to bring it
back. As you may have noticed, we have renamed
the organization to Imperial Starbase Society.
The reason for this is simple: we don't want
to limit ourselves to just the Seattle area.'
- The
International Federation of Trekkers (IFT)
describe themselves as being 'one of the world
leaders of Star Trek fandom founded with the help
of Gene Roddenberry. We are a non-profit Star Trek
fan club and organization with Star Trek chapters
in the United States and around the world. IFT
members and our IFT chapters raise funds for charities,
perform public services, attend Star Trek conventions
and events, write Star Trek fan fiction, and otherwise,
have a lot of fun! We are also the official Star
Trek fan club for New Voyages, a Star Trek fan
film and fan movie that has become a huge online
hit. Please explore our website to learn more about
us and our goal of living TODAY Gene Roddenberry's
dream of the future when he created Star Trek.'
A nice page with links to a Granite Falls, Washington
group and an Oregon based regional link.
- Home
of the MFI/USS John F. Kennedy - This is an
Meridian, Idaho based group that describe themselves
as: 'We are a general science fiction club located
in Meridian, Idaho. Our members like all kinds
of science fiction, horror and many other genres'
- Region
5 for Starfleet
International is the local northwest
region including Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington
for one of the premiere star trek organizations
available. Either the region site or the general
Stafleet International site are good places to
begin to find out more about what is available.
In particular, this is the first place to look
for a local ship in your area.
- Omega
1 Fleet is a Salt Lake City based group
with a Star Trek emphasis. They describe themselves
as follows 'We are a local based Star Trek fan
club organization looking to expand the fleet
by accepting existing ships, helping people to
create new ships in their area, and recruiting
new crewmembers for ships already in the fleet.
Add your ship to our online database of fan clubs:
The Omega 1st Fleet Alliance!'
- S'harien
Online is an adult star trek/science
fiction/fantasy club for the Vancouver, BC, area.
Check out their webpage for details about their
social events and newsletter.
- The
Seventh Fleet describe themselves as
being 'a Family of Star Trek Friends dedicated
to having fun and helping our local communities
in the spirit of the 24th Century. Headquartered
in Salt Lake City, The Seventh Fleet also has
chapters and corespondence members in other states
and on US military assignments. There are no
membership dues and remember to have fun every
day.'
- The Stormrider Fleet KAG West is another way to group the ever expanding population of "klingon" living among us. Not being quite sure how one group intersects with others or overlaps I add them because I noticed that they list our site and am happy to link back.
- You
can now get information about the Official Robert
Picardo Fan Club from their Official
Robert Picardo Home Page
- USS
SOL NCC-1733 otherwise known as the Fairbanks
Ak. Star Trek Club describe themselves as being
"Fairbanks Alaska's one and only Science
Fiction Club." For those in Fairbanks it sounds like
a good place to start.
- Alpha
Base is the Washington Chapter of Rebel
Legion, a costuming group for those
interested in the Rebels of Star Wars. The group
has monthly business meetings, costume and prop
workshops, attends conventions together and does
appearances in support of charities.
- The
Cloud City Squad describes themselves
as being "The Portland/Vancouver based Cloud
City Squad of Garrison Titan is part of the 501st
Legion - a Star Wars costuming fan club that
currently holds a 1000+ membership in all 50
U.S. states and 21 countries worldwide. From
Stormtroopers to Snowtroopers, Bounty Hunters
to Sith Lords, the 501st is the premier Imperial
Star Wars costuming fan club in the galaxy!" Check
out their web site for more details.
- The Dark
Side Troopers describe themselves as being a "Star
Wars costume enthusiasts serving in the Greater Portland,
OR area. The purpose of our group is to bring together
Star Wars costume enthusiasts and to use that enthusiasm
for the good of our community by contributing to
non-profit/not-for-profit organizations by making
special appearances."
- Emerald
Squadron is Seattle based Star Wars group. In
small letters you will find Seattle Star Wars Society.
The site looks good. Check it out if this has interest
for you.
- Jedi
Council of Spokane appears to be a fledgling
Star Wars club making its inaugaral in the east
side of Washington. Quoting from its founder
'Hi all, I am Jedi Los and I just moved to spokane.
I'm one of the founders of the Jedi
Council of Texas. I just moved here
to Spokane and I would like to meet other fans
in the area. I'm looking to talk about making
a fan film, working on costumes and props and
also getting together to go to any conventions
that may be headed our way in the state of
Washington. Thank you for your time' If
you are in the Spokane area you might wish
to check it out
- Mos
Everett Cantina is a chapter of
the Fanforce USA, Pacific regional division.
Their base of operations is in Everett, Washington
They describe themselves as being 'a rag-tag
band of Star Wars fans who also enjoy the Sci-Fi
and Fantasy genre of movies, books and television.
We plan fun activities and Convention Trips at
our regular monthly meetings, and just BS about
Sci-fi, Fantasy and Anime media. Besides fun
sci-fi related activities, we also get involved
with our communities through food drives and
children’s gift drives.
- Outerrim
Squadron 501st. is a B C Squadron of
the 501st Canadian Garrison belonging to the 501st
Legion "Vaders
Fist" Unofficial
Costume Club specializing on cannon accurate costumes
of the Empire in the Star Wars universe.
- The Spokantina describe
themselves as being "the
Spokane, WA chapter of theforce.net's Star Wars fanforce
clubs. We were started in August of 2004 and have
members from Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, ID. We have
an active costuming group, enjoy gaming, collecting,
and attending conventions"
- The
Jaffa Legions are a Stargate
SG1 / Atlantis fan club dedicated to spreading
charity awareness, and to having an enjoyable
time in charitable service. They regularly host
LAN gaming parties and other events at sci-fi
conventions held in the Northwest. The Jaffa
Legions are based in Seattle, WA.
- NW
B-5 is
the web presence for Babylon 5 in the Lower Mainland,
Vancouver Island, and Northern Washington state.
Specifically, this is an online group of people
who meet primarily either via mailing lists or
the usenet and occasionally as they indicate
on their main page 'occasionally get together
for functions at local coffee shops
- Vancouver Firefly/Serenity Meetup
Group is a group of Firefly and Serenity fans that meets in the Vancouver, British Columbia region. Check out their meetup web site and see if it fits in for you.
- Canadian Browncoats is
a group with more than 400 members from across Canada who are getting to
know each other, attending Shindigs, sharing ideas, stories, pictures,
artwork, news articles, convention info and just about anything related
to Firefly, Serenity and the Jossverse in general.
Steampunk in the Northwest
- The Seattle Steamrats is a steampunk organization in the northwest that describes itself as being "a resource for members of the Steampunk community residing in and around the Seattle area". If you are unaware of this phenomena check out the wikipedia article on it.
Animation
Clubs and Organizations
- ASIFA-Northwest describes
themself as being "the Pacific Northwest’s
foremost organization for the animation community,
with a collective membership of professional animators,
filmmakers, students, teachers and fans as well
as affiliated professions such as voice-over actors,
composers, puppeteers, illustrators and cartoonists.
The Northwest has a rich history of experimental
and independent animation, as well as commercial
production in the areas of stop-motion, computer
graphics visualization, interactive and video game
animation. The mission of ASIFA-Northwest is to
promote the art of animation and foster the development
of the animation industry in the Pacific Northwest,
including Oregon, Washington, and Western B.C.
Canada."
- The
TeleFantasy Appreciation Society of Canada is,
in their own words, 'TASC (aka "Telefantasy Appreciation
Society of Canada") is a fan appreciation dedicated
to classic and current British and American
science fiction, fantasy, telefantasy and cult
television programs. ' If you are anywhere
near where they having events, socials and
more you might wish to check this site out.
Quite elegantly laid out, as it happens.
- Quickdraw
Animation Society (QAS) describe
themselves as being " incorporated as a
non-profit society in 1984. QAS’s mandate
is to support and encourage the production of
innovative independent animation and to develop
the appreciation of all types of animation as
a viable artistic medium. The principles engaged
in at QAS are: inclusion, co-operation, active
participation by youth, and positive support
and encouragement among the members." They
are a Alberta, Canadian based group.
Convention
Enertainment and Service Oriented
- Bio-Hazard is
noted for some of the more over the top entertainment
(aka parties) that you might see at Norwescon. They
maintain a web site for the organization that puts
on these events. Please note that there is the potential
of nudity in some places on the site. However, if you
interested in what these parties are and how to contact
the people who put them on, this is the place to go.
- Clan
Burnout is a long standing
service organization at cons as well as live
role playing. Their web site is a forum for
those activities.
- DevaWeb describe
itself as being 'the realm of the nefarious Merchants
of Deva Fan Organization. Purveyors of refined debauchery,
distillers of alcoholic concoctions man was not meant
to know. Pan-dimensional partiers extraordinaire,
responsible for imposing the outré events
of Demolition Drinking, the S.L.A.V.E. Auction, Invasion:
FIFE and The Gauntlet upon unsuspecting conventions
far and wide. The Merchants of Deva: Music, Mayhem
and Mixology.' They certainly are all that and more.
Look for them at the upcoming Westercon in Portland
- The
Oregon Festivals & Events Association is
a collaboration of the many organizers and
groups that accept the social, artistic and
economic challenges of promoting and managing
Oregon's community Festivals and Events. We
explore the business and art of producing festivals
and events through continued education, sharing
knowledge and comparing the all the resources
available.
- The Emerald Forest Filk Society describe themselves from their web site as "a group of people devoted to extending the knowledge and experience of the musical form known as Filk throughout the region of the Greater Puget Sound (Oregon, Washington, and parts of British Columbia). "
- DenverFilk is a closed yahoo group for Denver Filkers.
Anime Clubs,
Organizations and Resources
- Anime
Checklist (a comprehensive
listing of Japanese Animation since
1917)
- Anime
News Network Most trustworthy
anime & manga news source on the
net. Also, the encyclopedia is one
of the largest collection of anime & manga
on the world wide web.
- NAAPAC is
a non-profit organization dedicated to
promoting Anime Conventions throughout
the United States (including offshore territories)
and Canada. NAAPAC is not a convention,
nor is it a legislative body. NAAPAC does
not determine policy. NAAPAC exists to
offer financial (through grants), material,
and advisory support to Anime Conventions
in an effort to help them grow and prosper.
NAAPAC functions as "guild" of
anime conventions in order to promote the
sharing of ideas and create a spirit of
unity among anime fans.
Science
Related Fannish Clubs
- The
Oregon L5 Society is a
northwest Portland based group with
the goal of educating the public on
the uses of space and establishing
a spacefaring civilization.
- NSS
Seattle or
the western Washington chapter of the
National Space Society is a Seattle
based group with the focus of educating
the public about space and getting
us into space.
- The
Vancouver Robotics Club is
based in BC and among other things
sponsors a Robotics Competition. Check
their web site and details for time
and place.
Artist
Clubs and Organizations
- The
Portland Graphic Artists Guild describe
themselvess as being "a national
union of art professionals who have
come together to pursue common goals,
share experiences, raise industry standards,
and improve the ability of visual creators
toachieve satisfying and rewarding
careers.The Guild is made up of individuals
who work in many disciplines including:
illustration, graphic design, photography,
cartooning, web design, multimedia,
surface design and others. The experience,
wisdom, and activism of our members,
accumulated over 32 years, is by far
our greatest resource."
- The
Seattle Graphic Artists Guild describe
themselves as promoting and protecting "the
economic interests of its members.
It is committed to improving conditions
for all creators of graphic art and
raising standards for the entire industry.
The Guild is a national union that
embraces creators at all level of skill
and expertise who produce graphic art
intended for presentation as originals
or reproduction."
- Vancouver
3D Club This
group describe themslves as bringing " together
professionals, hobbyists and those
with general interest to exchange ideas/techniques
and to promote/host functions related
to 3D imaging processes.'
Comic
Book Clubs and Organizations
- Cartoonists
Northwest describe themselves
as " An Association of professional
and amateur cartoonists, animators,
and illustrators based in the Pacific
Northwest."
- Comic
Book Legal Defense Fund describe
themselves as being "founded in
1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization
dedicated to the preservation of First
Amendment rights for members of the
comics community." Although they
have a northeast base, this should
be of interest to northwest comic artist,
writers and others as well.
- Friends
of Lulu describe themselves
as being "a national nonprofit
organization whose purpose is to promote
and encourage female readership and
participation in the comic book industry." They
have an active group in New York with
dormant groups formerly in LA and San
Francisco.
- National
Association of Comics Art Educators(NACEA) This
Vermont based group describes themselves
as follows "The National Association
of Comic Art Educators is an organization
committed to helping facilitate the
teaching of comics in higher education.
The increasing numbers of young artists
who have chosen comics as their medium
of expression continues to grow rapidly.
Colleges and universities have been
slow to acknowledge and engage these
students."
Readers,
Writers, Artists or Literary Genre Groups
- Tai
Pan: Tales of the Tai Pan Universe is
a fanzine with an emphasis on furry
fandom or anthopomorphic art and fiction.
They also have several social events
during the year including at least
one on an SF theme that does not relate
to their own project. Check their web
site out and contact them via email
for details.
- Telgar
Weyr: A Dragon Riders of Pern Fan Club
- The
Northwest Tolkien Society is
just as it sounds, a the Northwest
Branch of the Tolkien Society, a group
dedicated to all things Tolkien. They
are also the sponsors of TolCon, the
Seattle area based Tolien convention.
- Writers
Cramp is a West Seattle
based writers group that has been going
for a number of years. Genre based
in their choice of material, they have
several Clarion graduates numbered
among their members as well as a Writers
of the Future winner.
Costuming
and Props Clubs and Organizations
- Beyond
Reality Costuming Guild cover
Oregon, Washington and a bit of British
Columbia. They are a local affiliate
of the International
Costumer's Guild web site as well.
They are located out of Auburn, Washington
and have among others members as far
away as Colorado.
- The
Greater Portland Costumers Guild is
a Portland, Oregon, organization centered
around an endeavor near and dear to
any and all attendees of a science
fiction convention, namely costuming.
Check out this local organization.
- The
Candiana Costume Society of British Columbia
and Western Canada is a north of
the US border celebration of all things costume
related.
- Northwest
Propmasters is 's a club
for prop makers of all skill levels
looking to share knowledge and improve
their skills in all aspects of prop
design and construction. Electronics,
casting, model making, working with
plastics, metal, wood and wax in prototype
construction.' Check out their web
site or their mailing
lists for contact information
Gaming/Modeling
Groups
and Organizations
- Dragonflight is
the organization side of the Seattle based gaming
group that has three main activities designed 'to
promote gaming in the area, sponsor a gaming club
called the Metro Seattle Gamers, and to put on an
annual gaming convention called Dragonflight'
- MegaGamers
Club at Pacific State University -
This is a Portland, Oregon based group with a
gaming emphasis. Check them out and see if they
are right for you.
- nwgamers.org describes
itself as being 'Portal to gaming in the greater
Spokane area.' It certainly is a virtual community
from which you can probably find more info about
what is happening in the Spokane area.
- Oregon
State Univeristy's gaming club.
They describe themselves as follows: "Every
Friday during the term, we gather to socialize
and play a muliltude of board games, card games,
role playing games, cheap-ass games, home-brewed
games, and many others. All level players are
welcome, and we provide instructions for all
the games that we play! Check out the schedule
page for every meeting location and time, and
also take a look at our links section for resources
to many of the games we play"
- The
University of Oregon Gaming Club describe
themselves as being "a student-run organization
for gaming enthusiasts of all kinds. We play
board games, role-playing games, CCGs, large
group games, and just about everything else under
the sun, and we are always open to new games
and new people! Just bring yourself, your friends,
and your games to us, and we'll give it a try. "
- Seattle
Sputnik is a Seattle based group
for game developers that meets monthly. Check
their web site for details about their mailing
list and information about their group.
- Regional
Role Players Guild This group is
a Non-Profit Organization for Role Players based
in the Boise Idaho Area. They also are actively
involved in a new gaming convention for the Idaho
area known as Oktobercon.
- Greater
Oregon Mayhem Committee - This Wilamette
Valley gaming group describes themselves as follows:
'We are a group of Gamers, part of the Willamette
Valley Gaming Society. Along with a wide ranging
interest in all things Gaming, we enjoy demonstrating
our favorite Games at Conventions, Game Stores,
Comic Shops, Gaming Club meetings, pretty much
anywhere that will have us…. '
- Willamette
Valley Gaming Society. They
describe themselves as " A meeting place
for members of the Willamette Valley Gaming Society.
Open to all, meet people, discuss games and stuff,
set up game times, talk about game stores, etc,"
- VCVGC or
Vancouver Classic Video Games Club is a Vancouver
based group with an interest in collecting and sharing
information about classic video games.
- Party
Northwest describe themselves as
follows and let me emphasize that they are a
LAN group " I will start off with "LAN".
L.A.N. Local Area Network. With that said, it
is bascily a bunch of gamers who come together,
hook their computers, plug into the network,
and play games until their eyes bleed. Both men
and women attend LANs, some LANs include tournaments
inwhich the winners may win computer products
sent to the LAN by sponsors. Usally there is
food provided... Pizza and POP... and a cool
drink call BAWLS." Check out their web site
and see if this is a group for you.
- Northwest
Classic Games Entusiasts indicate
on their web site that if it has pixels they
are for it. They also have a NorthWest Classic
Gaming Weekend you might want to check their
web site for.
- SpokLAN is
a Spokane based LAN gaming group. They describe themselves
as follows: 'SpokLAN is a non-religious (and pretty
much no-profit) online and physical organization
devoted to computers, the things we do with computers,
gamers, their social interaction and multi-player
gaming. On a regular basis, usually monthly, SpokLAN
holds an event called a SMo-g. The name SMo-g was
born during a January morning via several IM sessions
between the ones who got all of this going. Rather
than call our event a "LAN Party", which
in essence they are, we thought we needed some kind
of name that stood for something. Thus, SMo-g was
born
- The mission of the LAN
Party Coalition
is to support the proliferation of LAN and online
based gaming in the midwest. While this falls outside
of the northwest focus of our group, this might be
a group fo interest to some of our visitors that
do not live in the northwest.
Models,
Miniatures and Legos
- The
Rocky Mountain Model Club (RMMC)
was founded in 1993 as a model club who's goal
it was to share modeling tips, techniques and
information to further the hobby. The RMMC
is based in Calgary, Alberta Canada.
- IPMS
Edmonton is a club dedicated to
the promotion of model making out of Edmonton,
Alberta.
- IPMS/Aleutian
Tiger Modelers is a model club
located in Fairbanks, Alaska.
- Northwest
Historical Miniatures Gaming Society
- IPMS
Boise, Idaho Maddog Modelers
- IPMS
Seattle, Washington
- IPMS
Tacoma, Washington
- IPMS
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Matchbox
Toy Car Club Page - This
group describes itself as having started a
new diecast club called Matchbox Northwest
Collector's Club. They report that they have
over 40 members from all over Washington, Oregon,
and Bristish Columbia.
- Oregon
Historical Modelers Society(OHMS) Portland,
Oregon
- SEALUG is a group of LEGO™ enthusiasts
living in the pacific northwest.
Service
and Volunteer Organizations
- The
Order of St. Chiros is a Christian
fannish service organization active in many
local conventions.
- AOV
or Association of Operations Volunteers is
a 501C3 organization with a stated goal to
assist other events and organizations. Their
focus stretches far beyond fannish events but
they are actively involved in training throughout
the northwest, providing equipment, personnel
and technical support and producing specialized
equipment.
- Reading
For the Future Northwest - Reading
for the Future is a volunteer organization
whose aim is to increase the readership of
speculative fiction by K-12 students. RFF Northwest
is the Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and
Pacific Northwest Canada chapter of RFF. Working
with teachers, libraries, writers and readers,
RFF provides books, booklists and curriculum
materials that use and promote science fiction.
Online Communities of interest to Fandom
- Trek Passions describes itself as "100% free online community site
for singles with a passion for Sci Fi." I take
no opinion for or against, but include as a
site of possible interest to some.
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