2004 - Year in Review

Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/28/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 06/03/08.

2004: THE YEAR IN REVIEW (Part One)

PROGRAMS & ATTENDANCE

The year was very much a half empty / half full glass of water affair. On the minus side of the ledger were scheduling problems with our guests during the summer months, as well as a lack of name draw speakers.

The optimist argues that there are few, if any, science fiction groups in the world who month in and month out present such a diverse background of quality guests. The names Peter Apruzzese, Anna Genoese, Joel Greengrass, Ed Hulse and Linda Zimmermann wold mean nothing to the average fan, but they made riveting presentations about 3 - D films, paranormal romance, Douglas Adams, pulps, and ghost investigations.

Per meeting attendance was down again, but this too is a matter of interpretation. Figures were skewed downward by weak summertime attendance which was in turn caused at least in part by last minute speaker difficulties and other unusual conflicts. Actual membership in the S F A B C is up by ten from this time last year. Perhaps even more important, 12 of the 73 members currently on the books joined the Association in 2004, so there is a lot of new blood coming into the group. Hopefully they will remain involved with the club for many years.

A list of our Year 2004 speakers appears below, along with the Attendance Totals of the past five years. Note that figures are for officially attending adults, it does not include children, people who left before the meeting was formally called to order or arrived after the meeting had officially concluded. The total includes the speaker and any guest (s)he brought.

Date Type Speaker/Program Attendance

(A=Artist, E=Editor, F=Filmmaker, I=Investigator, P=Publisher, V=Video, W=Writer)

2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

01/10/04 W Ann Tonsor Zeddie 29 36 35 21 32

02/14/04 * Peter Apruzzese 31 30 41 30 29

03/13/04 F/V Joel Greengrass / D Adams 36 28 37 42 34

04/10/04 W/I Linda Zimmermann 34 31 52 42 30

05/08/04 W Gregory Frost 32 36 43 38 36

06/12/04 */V Steve Gold / Video 22 25 43 33 31

07/10/04 W/V Pauline Alama Video 19 30 32 42 33

08/14/04 E/P Ed Hulse 21 24 30 26 27

09//11/04 A Alan Pollack 34 33 39 32 34

10/09/04 W Shane MacDougall 30 38 32 41 22

11/13/04 E Anna Genoese 35 37 43 35 30

12/11/04 V Videos / Holiday Party 26 25 21 35 35

Total: 349 373 448 417 373

Per Meeting Average: 29.0 31.0 37.3 34.7 31.0

NON MEETING EVENTS

The Livingston Chapter of the Final Frontier held its last gathering at Border Books in Livingston, New Jersey in March of 2004. This had been our flagship bookstore event for a number of years, and we regret its demise, but too many core people had drifted away. Fortunately, moderator Vincent Carlucci agreed to trek up to Bergen County and revitalize the event as a pre meeting activity. The Science and Science Fiction Group moved from Barnes & Noble in West Paterson, New Jersey to the store's Clifton, New Jersey store. After a weak first quarter, the group appears to be finding its way. The Fantasy Gamers Group was revitalized by changing venues and games during the second half of the year.

The Topic Discussion Group and Films To Come both enjoyed strong years, but the Author Discussion Group moderated by Todd Ehrenfels surpassed all expectations. Eight of the gatherings had double digit attendance, and the September discussion of Thomas Harlan not only set a new record for a bookstore event, but actually drew more than one of the club's general meetings.

Generally speaking, discussion groups tend to function best when there are at least six to eight people present. Most of our events draw at least that many on a regular basis.

The following table shows attendance at the various S F A B C non meeting events of the past year. The Anime Associates and the Bergen County Final Frontier are not listed as they are effected by the meeting attendance.

C = Canceled Event. X = Event Not Scheduled. ? = Records Not Found.

Month

Art of the Fantastic 9 9 6 10 10 8 4 7 8 8 8 X

Author Discussion 9 9 C 14 11 10 14 12 20 11 11 X

Classics of Science F 5 4 7 10 8 6 9 11 14 8 8 X

Fantasy Gamers C C C 5 5 5 5 C 7 7 9 11

Films To Come 11 11 5 8 7 10 9 11 8 11 10 X

Monsters of Horror 4 5 6 7 7 5 6 4 8 7 6 X

Science & S F C 7 2 3 6 6 4 8 9 10 5 X

Special Activity 12 7 ? C 8 7 C ? 5 68 C 6

That's Science Fiction! 8 8 8 7 9 12 9 9 11 11 9 6

Topic Discussion C C 7 11 12 10 8 14 5 7 11 X

Writers' Critique 4 8 5 5 5 5 6 4 6 C C 4