Worldcon: Glasgow 2005

[David Stewart]

Fiona: Anyone who pays an attending membership or purchases a day admission may attend the convention. If you already have a supporting membership and wish to purchase an attending membership the cost of the supporting membership will be credited to you i.e. you only pay the difference. There is no discount available if you decide to purchase a day admission.

Leto: The convention is the WORLD science fiction convention and we are anxious to have as many countries as possible represented. We already have members from 33 different countries including France, Gambia, Spain, the UK, the US and The Vatican. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the first part of your question.

[Leto]

Originally Posted by David Stewart

Hi,
Supporting Membership costs £30 and entitles you to receive all publications of the convention and to vote in the Hugos and site selection ballots. Supporting members do NOT have the right to attend the convention.

I'd just like to know if "all publications of the convention and to vote", also comprise the books which are nominees for the Hugos ?

[David Stewart]

No. The official convention publications are: The Progress Reports which provide information on various aspects of the convention including how to book a hotel room, how to get to Glasgow etc. and the Souvenir Book which contains articles about the guests of honour and other SF-related stuff. If you want to read the Hugo nominated books (or watch the videos) you have to buy them yourself.

[I, Brian]

Just to let you all know, I'm in talks about setting up a stall at the Worldcon, to promote the chronicles network. Promotion of the site will touch a new gear next year, and taking up a position at Worldcon to help connect with the wider science fiction world is simply a part of that.

This isn't going to be billed as a general "chronicles network meet" because I appreciate that not everyone would want to pay to attend. However, there will be a few members already going, and an exhibit stall may serve as a focus point for a few meetings.

And hi, David, and thanks for stopping by to help answer questions raised - much appreciated.

[Kevin Standlee]

Originally Posted by Leto

I'd just like to know if "all publications of the convention and to vote", also comprise the books which are nominees for the Hugos ?

As David Stewart said, Worldcon membership does not include the Hugo Award-nominated books; however, in recent years, most or all of the works nominated in the shorter fiction categories (Novella, Novellette, Short Story) have been available to read online.

The Hugo Awards actually include thirteen standard categories, including Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form and Short Form). In addition, Interaction has decided to use its authority to create a one-shot special category, in this case Best Web Site.

The Hugo Award ballot also includes the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Publications. The Campbell Award is also presented at the Hugo Awards Ceremony.

As its name suggests, membership in the World Science Fiction Society is open to anyone in the world. When you join the Worldcon, you become a member of WSFS -- indeed, that's the only way to become a member of WSFS! A supporting membership gets you publications and the right to nominate and vote for the Hugo Awards (and to vote on where a future Worldcon will be held), but not the right to attend the Worldcon itself. An attending membership includes all of the membership rights, plus the right to attend the convention itself. A single-day admission allows you to attend one of the five days of the convention, but does not include voting rights.

By tradition, each Worldcon is individually named. Interaction is the name of the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention. Future Worldcons include L.A.con IV in Anaheim CA, August 23 - 23, 2006, and Nippon2007 in Yokohama Japan, August 30 - September 3, 2007.

I'm another member of the Interaction committee besides Dave Stewart who is here and available to answer questions. I co-chaired the 2002 Worldcon, ConJosé, and I'm managing Interaction's Events division -- the Hugo Awards Ceremony, Worldcon Masquerade, and other major events such as the play we'll be staging on Friday night. The official WSFS functions (Hugo Award administration and the official Business Meeting, where changes to the governing documents of WSFS are debated and discussed -- all attending members may propose change, debate, and vote on them in a "town meeting" style of government.) are also my responsibility.

Worldcons are truly international activities, with our committee drawn from all over the world. (I live near San Francisco, for instance.) I've attended every Worldcon since 1989 (including Worldcons in The Hague in 1990, Glasgow in 1995, and Melbourne in 1999), and I enjoy explaining how they work.

Worldcons rarely come to the same region more than about once a decade, so if you have any interest in SF & Fantasy literature, art, fandom, etc., I heartily recommend trying to make it to Worldcon when you get the chance.

[I, Brian]

Thanks for the information, Kevin - and welcome to the chronicles network.

Michelle's now put me through to Marah for more information on setting up an exhibit there - should be interesting to see what arrangements I need to make, having never done a major con before.

Worldcons rarely come to the same region more than about once a decade, so if you have any interest in SF & Fantasy literature, art, fandom, etc., I heartily recommend trying to make it to Worldcon when you get the chance.

I absolutely agree - for those in the UK with a serious interest in SFF, it sounds like an ideal opportunity. Especially for those with a working interest in writing, art, publishing, or production, for the potential networking opportunities.

[Lacedaemonian]

Which Fantasy authors will be in attendence?

I have to convince my girlfriend that attending this conference is a 'good' idea.

[littlemissattitude]

Kevin, welcome to chronicles-network from another Californian. And thanks for the information.

[I, Brian]

I'm not actually sure there will be any specific fantasy authors present - WorldCon, so far as I understand it, is a specifically Science Fiction convention:

http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/goh.htm


For Fantasy conventions, I think you would need the WorldFantasy convention

[Kevin Standlee]

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonian

Which Fantasy authors will be in attendence?

One of our guests of honour, Jane Yolen, has been a well respected figure in fantasy for decades. As to others, we've had quite a few "big names" buy memberships (everyone except the Guests of Honour has to pay his/her own way, as do all of us working on the convention, even the convention chairs), but we are not sure what their plans are yet. We are in the process of writing to them to check that they would be happy to be on panels, do signings and so on.

We expect to be able to start making announcements about programme participants sometime in January, and I expect that we'll have a list on the convention web site listing those people who have told us they will attend. That list, of course, is likely to be constantly changing, and will be subject to last-minute cancellations, particularly because everyone is attending on their own.

Originally Posted by Lacedaemonian

I have to convince my girlfriend that attending this conference is a 'good' idea.

What sorts of thing would you (and her) consider the most compelling reasons to attend? To meet authors? To see the Art Show and Dealers' Room? To attend the Hugo Awards Ceremony? To see the many different program items that will be on offer? To look at the many exhibits about science fiction, fantasy, and fandom? To meet other SF & F fans from around the world?

Originally Posted by I, Brian

I'm not actually sure there will be any specific fantasy authors present - WorldCon, so far as I understand it, is a specifically Science Fiction convention.

Good heavens, no: While the convention name is "World Science Fiction Convention," the term "science fiction" includes "fantasy" in this context. Indeed, if you look at the definition of the Hugo Award, you'll see that it reads:

3.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year. [emphasis added]

I happen to have a spare Hugo Award trophy left over from 2002, and the plaque on the base reads:

2002 HUGO AWARD

for Achievement in

Science Fiction and Fantasy

As I mentioned above, one of our Guests of Honor is well-known for her fantasy writing. While once again the list of guests for any other Worldcon is no guarantee that any of those people will appear at another one, a look at the list of program participants at the 2004 Worldcon should show that Worldcon is a "big tent" gathering, covering the full spectrum of science fiction and fantasy literature, as should the 2004 Worldcon's program list.

Besides, it's sufficiently difficult to define "science fiction" and "fantasy" (think about The Dragonriders of Pern, to use a common example) that drawing any hard-and-fast line between them is usually a waste of time.

I hope this reassures people that both science fiction and fantasy will be well-represented at Worldcon.

[David Stewart]

I'll just reiterate what Kevin has said. The World Science Fiction Convention celebrates all forms of fantastic fiction. Many of the former Worldcons still have active Websites where you can take a look at the sort of programming they ran. For a list go to http:/www.worldcon.org. (You will also find links there to the 2006 and 2007 conventions.)

[I, Brian]

Thanks for the clarification, Kevin and DAvid - much appreciated. I had actually laboured under the misapprehension that the sff conventions were split under Worldcon for Science Fiction, and WorldFantasy for Fantasy.

Which Fantasy authors will be in attendence?

Peter, have you checked last year's participation list Kevin linked to? That's one heck of an industry gathering.

[Kevin Standlee]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Thanks for the clarification, Kevin and DAvid - much appreciated. I had actually laboured under the misapprehension that the sff conventions were split under Worldcon for Science Fiction, and World Fantasy for Fantasy.

The World Fantasy Convention is certainly (and by design) a convention much more highly focused on fantasy. With its membership limits and general tone, WFC is more of a conference for Professional Fantasy Authors with some fans allowed to attend if they behave themselves. Worldcon, OTOH, is the "gathering of the tribes" event; it's bigger, more boisterous, and covers more territory than focused events like WFC or the World Horror Convention.

Cheryl Morgan, whose online fanzine Emerald City won the Hugo Award for Best Fanzine last year, attends both Worldcon and WFC, and you can read her reviews of the most recent WFC in issue 111 and of the most recent Worldcon in issue 109, along with pictures and reviews of other previous WFCs and Worldcons in the EmCit archives. [Bias alert: I'm one of Emerald City's proofreaders and a good friend of Cheryl's, and she's my assistant running the Events division at Interaction, so I can't be expected to be all that objective.]

[Lacedaemonian]

That's a huge list! I have family in Glasgow too, so lodgings will not be necessary. Food for thought.

[Kevin Standlee]

Interaction, the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow, has started an Interaction Announcements Blog where we'll be making announcements about the convention. For example, a recent announcement was that the Hugo Awards Nominating Ballot is now online, both in downloadable PDF and online voting form. You need to become a member of Interaction by the end of January in order to nominate.

In case it wasn't clear by the messages above: anyone in the world may become a member of the Worldcon, and if you want to become a member so you can vote, but don't think you can attend the convention, you can buy a "supporting membership" that gives you the right to vote and to receive the convention's publications.