RavenCon chose the Huntington’s Disease Society of America for 2013’s Charity Auction beneficiary as a way to honor the memory of an attendee who passed away at the 2012 convention.
In March 2000, the Huntington’s Disease Society of America named the University of Virginia Health System a Center of Excellence for the care of patients with HD and their families. The UVA HD Program was one of the first ten Huntington’s Centers of Excellence in the nation and is the only one in Virginia.
The beneficiaries of 2012’s RavenCon charity auction were the American Cancer Society and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. A member of the RavenCon family, Mike Manning, lost his mother, Reba, shortly after the 2011 convention due to undiagnosed breast cancer. We would like to honor her memory and that of everyone close to us that has lost a loved one to cancer.
Thank you for helping us raise $1500 to support cancer research.
The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) was founded to acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft which were flown by all military services of the United States, and selected aircraft of other nations, for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans.
Much thanks to our donors for making this possible! With their help, we raised $1500 for the CAF.
Fan Table Director“Starfleet utilized a little known reactivation clause. In other words, Admiral, they drafted me!” —Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Yes, this is how it all began. I, a past commander of the USS Chesapeake, was drafted by the current captain to join RavenCon.
I am Cheryl Lynn “Chessie” Jones, and I am the Fan Table Director for RavenCon.
I have volunteered at conventions for over fifteen years. I was president of the USS Chesapeake (a chapter of Starfleet International) in Richmond for eight years, now I’m second in command. The Chesapeake is a non-profit charity organization that supports Ronald McDonald House, the Battered Women’s Shelter, and other charities in the Richmond area.
Crystal Ritchie is a convention veteran. She is constantly networking and mixing with con-goers all across the South. Her mission is to find out who they are reading, what topics they are interested in, and who they would like to see as Guests of Honor at their “dream convention”. When she isn’t in con-mode, she can often be found acting as hostess at the Baen Barfly’s Hospitality suite.
Hi, I’m Bill Truesdale and for years I’ve attended conventions as a fan and I’ve also been working them too, mainly con security, from San Diego Comic-Con to Shore Leave, Dragon*Con, and ImagineCon 2000. I hope to make our panels run smoothly so that our con-goers can have a great time going to them. Any questions on the convention, or Con-Ops, please e-mail me.
Paul attended (and staffed!) his first convention his freshman year in college at Virginia Tech (that was Technicon 1—if you know the con, you do the math). Over the years he has run Operations, Security, Dealers, and Art Show for several cons (but not at the same time). He has also twice been Chairman for Katsucon. RavenCon marks his sixth convention as Art Show Director. Of all con departments, Art Show is his favorite—it gives him plenty of time to keep an eye on the pieces he intends to buy for himself!
Vanora is a veteran of too many Art Shows to count. She earned her BFA from the Corcoran College of Art in Washington, DC (and still works retail when not attending cons). Her art has been published in the 2006 and 2007 editions of Imagine. Her work has even garnered a celebrity endorsement from Aaron Douglas of Battlestar Galactica. As well as submitting her work to around ten cons per year, she also represents several other artists at many cons. She was first “volunteered” into running Art Shows when the artists at one convention staged a coup to take over a show that apparently had no staff. And she has not been able to escape it since!
The art show team is rounded out by the incomparable Krissie Hadley.
Way back in 2004, Mike (along with Tee Morris and Tony Ruggiero) came up with the crazy idea of hosting a convention in Richmond, VA. He’s been chairing RavenCon ever since.
In addition to running RavenCon, Mike Pederson was the publisher/editor/graphic designer responsible for the fanzine Nth Degree (2002-2019). Mike began his career as a writer/publisher in 1988 when his SF short story, “Dust Storm,” won first place in a local writing contest. In the 1990s, he wrote and published the Raven comic book series (with artist Robert Quill) and edited and published Scene, a Virginia-based entertainment magazine. In 2001, Mike was part of the “Best in Class – Master Division” winning presentation (Pre-Emptive Strike) at the Millennium Philcon Masquerade. Three months later he started Nth Degree. In 2007, he wrote a chapter on “Writing for Magazines” for Dragon Moon Press’ Writing Fantasy: The Author’s Grimoire. During the pandemic, he edited and published CORVID-19: A RavenCon Anthology and is working on CORVID-19: The Second Wave.
Other than RavenCon, Mike has also run programming for Trinoc*coN, been Fan Guest of Honor for ConCarolinas and Mysticon, co-chaired a successful NASFiC bid (with Warren Buff), headed the Brainstorming team for DisCon 3, and served as Master of Ceremonies for MarsCon. Between Nth Degree and his many convention appearances, Mike has become the East Coast’s go-to guy for interviews. He’s interviewed guests for Balticon, ConCarolinas, ConGregate, MarsCon, Mysticon, RavenCon, and StellarCon. In the last few years, Mike has interviewed a wide range of writers, gamers, artists, and actors. Those interviews have included Aaron Alston, Kevin J. Anderson, Steven Barnes, Elizabeth Bear, Jennie Breeden, Terry Brooks, Jim Butcher, Orson Scott Card, Nicki Clyne, David B. Coe, Glen Cook, Larry Correia, Peter David, Peter Davison, Larry Dixon, Sherilyn Fenn, Phil & Kaja Foglio, Esther Friesner, Charles E. Gannon, Joe Haldeman, Richard Hatch, Jim Hines, D.B. Jackson, Albin Johnson, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alethea Kontis, Katherine Kurtz, Ellen Kushner, Mercedes Lackey, Joe Lansdale, Sharon Lee, George R.R. Martin, Todd McCaffrey, Steve Miller, Rebecca Moesta, Larry Niven, Jody Lynn Nye, Tamora Pierce, Mark Poole, John Ringo, Kim Stanley Robinson, Carrie Ryan, John Scalzi, Delia Sherman, Melinda Snodgrass, Michael Stackpole, Allen Steele, Bruce Sterling, S.M. Stirling, Tony Todd, Lani Tupu, John Varley, Carrie Vaughn, David Weber, Connie Willis, Janny Wurts, Timothy Zahn, and too many more to list.
In 2017, Mike was honored with the Rebel Award for his contributions to Southern Fandom.
Yes, Mike is insanely busy; if you see him around the con please feed him lots of caffeine and/or beer.
Much thanks to our donors for making this possible! With their help, we raised $1200 for the Virginia Aviation Museum.
The RavenCon “family” lost one of their own in 2009. Vice Chair John Jones and Promotions & Publicity Director/Swagmistress Cheryl Lynn Jones suffered a death in the family; Cheryl’s younger brother Kenneth James Williamson passed away after a short illness at the age of 41.
Kenneth J. Williamson (aka “Boomer” or “Ken-ken”), worked at the first RavenCon hotel, the Doubletree at the Richmond International Airport. His co-workers had never seen anything like a science fiction/fantasy/horror convention before, so, as their “go-to” guy, they asked him what was going on. He said, “Why don’t you ask my sister, she’s over there,” and introduced Cheryl to his crewmates. She answered the best she could even though she wasn’t a committee member yet. The next year John and Cheryl stayed at the Doubletree, and he told his co-workers that they would be there; the restaurant provided them with a fruit plate, the apples carved with the RavenCon logo on them. Boomer and his co-workers did their best to accommodate RavenCon—to this day the Doubletree is the standard to which we hold up other hotels.
Boomer loved trains, planes, automobiles, and teddy bears. He was a member of the USS Chesapeake, a chapter of Starfleet International. He would dress up as a giant teddy bear—Major Ursa—for Chesapeake recruiting functions. Kenneth was also an avid science fiction fan, having attended a few of the area Star Trek cons over the years—some of the Creation Cons in Richmond, Big “E” Con in Norfolk and Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, MD.
Boomer died at Memorial Regional Medical Center on July 29th, 2009. His parents requested that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Virginia Aviation Museum, one of his favorite places to go.
The RavenCon committee has selected the Virginia Aviation Museum as the recipient of the 2010 Charity Auction proceeds in his memory.
In 2016, the Virginia Aviation Museum shut its doors but its contents are being held by their parent company, the Science Museum of Virginia. The Aviation Museum’s SR-71 Blackbird is now on display at the Science Museum.
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