EXILED IN IOWA

EXILED 14

Exiled 14: 7 Years of UNIT will be held on Saturday April 15th at the Urbandale
Public Library here in Des Moines. We will be starting things off roughly at
9am and going until 5:30pm. Since we are celebrating the 7th anniversary of
UNIT and a new era of Doctor Who fandom here in Iowa, we're taking a slightly
different approach to Exiled and remembering the friendships that we've
made over the years, as well as what makes UNIT so special for us.

Here's a quick rundown of what we have planned (in no particular order):

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP:

Yes, we're asking you to do a little homework before you come to Exiled. Part of what
makes UNIT special to us is the amazing discussions we have amongst each other,
mainly while watching videos. This time, we have decided to have a book
discussion group for roughly an hour. The focus of our discussion will be one
of the highest-rated Doctor Who novels on any poll you read, Paul Cornell's
Human Nature. Both Lars and I agree it's one of the best and we encourage
all of you to read it as well. So dig out your novels, blow off the dust and
give it a re-read. And for those of you who don't have a copy or haven't read it,
Human Nature is online and you can read it for free! Just go here
and read it while sitting at your computer or print it off, find your comfy chair and sit back for an amazing read! We'll be chatting about various aspects of this book and I believe it
will be the highlight of the day for Exiled 14.

VIDEOS:

Of course we're having videos! What would Exiled be without some video
watching? On the eve of the second series of Doctor Who premiering in the
UK, we'll be showing the Children in Need special as well as The Christmas
Invasion. We figure most everyone coming to Exiled have already seen the
first season, so we've decided to get everyone primed for the debut of David
Tennant as Doctor Who. And if you ask nicely, we might even include Attack of
the Graske...

GAMES:

One of our long-standing traditions at Exiled is Who, Lose or
Draw and rest assured we will be playing it again, this time including Ninth and
Tenth Doctor clues as well! And I have our resident gaming guru Tim Rose hard at
work trying to create a new game for us to enjoy, so be prepared for something new!

PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

Lars Pearson -
author, publisher and Mad Norwegian - has moved back to Iowa from New Orleans.
He has eagerly offered his knowledge and services to us this year to head up a couple
panel discussions. Since we know that many of you have been watching shows that David
Tennant has been in prior to Doctor Who, we will be discussing his other works (and I
have a feeling the previous works of John Barrowman will probably come up as
well...) We will also be having a discussion about the upcoming second
series of Doctor Who and the expectations of the show as it goes into its
sophomore year on TV. Will it be as good as series one? Will the Cybermen be scarier
than the Daleks? Will Rose stick around? And will Mickey continue to be a fraidy cat?

INFO PACKET:

Many years ago (around Exiled 2 or 4) we gave out an info packet full of random information about Doctor Who. Since it's been so long, Lars and I are busy working on a new one full of information about all the websites, audios, books, DVDs and more that you might be interested in. Want to start reading the Doctor Who novels but don't know where to start? We'll help you figure out which ones to read and which to avoid like The Pit, I mean plague.
Heard about the Big Finish audios but don't want to invest your money on one that will put
you to sleep? We'll advise you on the ones to lookfor, as well as where to find them.

TRADE TABLE/ULTIMATE SHINY THING TABLE:

Tradition dictates that we have both these tables and so we shall! Bring whatever things you have for trade as well as the coolest Doctor Who trinket,knick-knack, bauble or TARDIS to show off of and let everyone see.

FOOD:

Unfortunately, this year we will not be serving food - well, at least not food prepared by us. Last year we spent a lot of money on food and weren't able to recoup much of the expense, so this year we're taking a different approach.We're asking everyone who comes toExiled to contribute $3 per person which will go towards pop and pizza. We apologize
if this is a problem for anyone, however we don't think it's too much to ask and guarantees
that we won't be broke at the end of the day. We will have munchies, such as chips,popcorn and cookies as well. And if pizza isn't your thing, there is a McDonalds across the street from the library that would love to have your business.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Here are some thingsthat don't fit into any of the above categories:

After Exiled: As we normally do, we will be invading Perkin's for dinner and conversation after the conclusion of Exiled. Feel free to join us for fun and frivolity as we eat and chat
after Exiled is over.

Publicity: Since Doctor Who will have been on the Sci-Fi Channel for nearly
two months when we reach Exiled 14, we are trying to reach as many media
outlets and let them know about Exiled. We already have word in with the local
Cityview, Datebook and The Juice here in Des Moines, as well as hopefully being
mentioned in Kyle Munson's Des Moines Register article this coming Friday. If
you know of any other newpaper, magazine or media source that you think we should
contact in hopes of letting more non-UNIT members know about Exiled, please email me
contact info so that I can send them a press release.

Nametags: Along with publicity, we are hoping to see some new faces at Exiled
this year. If you are planning on attending, please post to the list that
you are coming so we can make a name tag for you (as well as spouses and children
you may be bringing with you.) Yes, we know pretty much everyone that's attending,
but it's nice for new people not to have to guess your name.

Like I said, at the 7 year anniversary of UNIT we feel that the thing that
makes UNIT special for us (as well as so many of you) is the friendships we've
made over the years, the conversations we've had and the fun we've had as an
extended family. We want to capitalize on these special moments with discussion
groups and group interaction and think that Exiled 14 - holy cow, have we done
14 of these already? It feels like just yesterday I was planning Exiled 2 - will
be the best one yet. We hope to see you there.

Cheers,

Jeremy Bement