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Let’s face it; you’re still Snape-ing…at least we are. The last book in the Harry Potter has been released, and the story of The Boy Who Lived has finally come to an end, but for some reason you’re can’t stop thinking about that snarky Potions Professor with the billowing robes and the hooked nose. Don’t worry because there are plenty of other depraved lunatics out there who also can’t get enough of the Greasy Git.
The Portus 2008 newsletter Portal has just announced SNAPEFEST!
Yes that’s right. This year, we’re all going to meet up one last time to Snape together in honor of the Professor and his premature journey beyond the veil. We’re teaming up with HPEF to bring you the very first Snape-centric convention.
SnapeFest will take place on July 9, 2008 (the Professor’s half birthday) in Dallas, Texas at the Hilton Anatole . Formal programming will include presentations, roundtable discussions, panels, trivia contests, competitions, displays of fan art and videos, costume fashion shows and much more. Afterwards, SnapeFest attendees are welcome to attend a candlelight vigil for Professor Snape held outside the Hilton Anatole and a dinner at a nearby restaurant.
This one day conference will be free to all Portus attendees; however space is limited to
50 Snape fans and you must be over 21 years of age to attend. Registration will be open on the January 9, 2008 and will be on a first come first serve basis. Please see the SnapeFest web site and our FAQ there for details. Also be sure to check out our section of the Portus message board.
We hope to see you in Dallas in July and until then Happy Snape-ing!
On November 24th, 2007 severn said:
aaaaaaaaaaa, i am so cross about this, i am 15 so i can’t go
*sob*
you will all have to much bloody fun! eeeeek
On November 24th, 2007 veronica said:
i feel your pain. i’m only two hours away from Dallas but i won’t be going because i’m only 17. i’m not appreciating this ageism people!
On November 26th, 2007 Snapecast said:
RE: The age requirement
To clarify the reason for the SnapeFest age requirement…
SnapeFest is not organized by the Portus Staff, or by HPEF. SnapeFest is organized by Snapecast LLC with is not a 501 (c) (3) organization. Therefore Snapecast was free to determine our own age policy for SnapeFest.
In doing so, we first looked to Portus’ policy which requires attendees between the ages of 14 and 17 to have a chaperone. Like Portus, the formal programming at SnapeFest is aimed towards an adult audience; therefore we decided that our age policy should be at least as strict as Portus’ policy. We chose to make it even more restrictive (plus 18) because we cannot be responsible for making sure that the 14-17 year olds have a chaperone during formal programming. Allowing chaperones would also make the costs of SnapeFest increase because all participants will receive a free meal paid for by Snapecast LLC. If Snapecast LLC had to pay for the meal of an underage person plus a chaperone, the costs would be too high to justify holding the event. Remember that SnapeFest is limited to only 50 people.
The above reasoning explains why the policy requires attendees to be over 18 . We chose to impose the additional requirement that SnapeFest attendees be over 21 because during informal programming (the dinner after the formal programming) there will likely be drinking. SnapeFest is a small conference and has no sponsors other than Snapecast LLC; therefore it is too much of a legal risk for us to be responsible for making sure that underage people do not consume alcohol during the informal programming. Snapecast LLC is already expending a great deal of money to hold SnapeFest and is not even breaking even in terms of costs. We do not want to risk the additional expense of a costly lawsuit. The easiest way for us to avoid this liability is to make the event 21 plus.
So we are very sorry that underage Snape fans cannot Snape with us at SnapeFest. However, in the past Snapecast has held informal meetups for fans of all ages that have been very successful. We would like to encourage Snape fans under 21 to organize these events because they will be just as fun (if not MORE fun) than SnapeFest.