2017 Worldcon’s Fifth PR Available

Worldcon 75 has posted Progress Report 5 [PDFfile], the last one before the convention in August. The A4 version is the first to be posted.

Many items in the PR explain aspects of Finnish conrunning that may seem out of the ordinary, like their security arrangements, or provide information and advice about what to see in Helsinki, and how to navigate around town.

Clare Boothby’s clever article “Some Common Book-Related Problems” offers fans solutions for many different needs. Here’s one of the most newsworthy:

I have books in a language I can’t read!

We’re collecting books in all languages for Cittadini del Mondo (Citizens of the World), a small charity in Rome that provides refugees with shelter, medical care, legal assistance, language training, special aid for women and pregnant women, and help navigating the daunting paperwork process of applying for aid from government and international aid programs. They also run an Intercultural Library to help refugees feel connected, respected, and welcome. We’re seeking donations of books, especially in the languages they need most: Chinese, Arabic, Bengali, Urdu, Ethiopian, Hindi, and French, as well as Spanish, Korean, and other African, central Asian, Middle Eastern and eastern European languages. If you have books to donate (maybe you’re a writer and have copies of your work in translation?) then bring them to the donation box in the Fan Lounge.

9 thoughts on “2017 Worldcon’s Fifth PR Available

  1. He, I was so happy yesterday that there was a tram station close to my Airbnb going directly to Messukeskus and now the progress report tells me the trams have been replaced by buses. But at least there is a wonderful DVD-store only 10 minutes walk from the Airbnb. Found so many classics there.

    Btw, anyone thought of how we should arrange a File 770 pub meetup? It makes it a bit harder when the exhibit center isn’t near the center of town. There are a few restaurants inside the Messukeskus and maybe eight outside.

    We haven’t got a park this year, so there is no natural meeting point in the same way.

  2. Yes, it’s unfortunate but they could not know that the construction work on the new Pasila station and bridge would prevent trams 7A and 7B going over just that week when the Worldcon is on. The trams 7A and 7B do go via the eastern route but they just cannot go over the railway tracks to the west. Bus 7X replaces that part of the tram route. Tram 9 will run normally.

    You’re aware that you can sponsor a bench for the Worldcon for 60 €? That could work as a meeting point maybe. http://www.worldcon.fi/exhibits/sponsored-benches/

  3. We could sponsor a craft lounge for 500€, too, if we wanted. All sit around and knit and chat! 😉

    There will also be a SF Fleamarket for books, if you want to bring some books to sell to other fans.

  4. How do these sponsor tools work, like Gofundme? Do I have to have an american account to set something up?

  5. TIL there’s a Young Adult convention in Helsinki called Hel-Ya. And I’m also wishing I was going to Finland. Looks like a blast.

  6. Last year MidAmeriCon II provided quite a bit of information about what the benches and plaques would look like and how the parks would be set up, with a map showing the layout.

    This year Worldcon 75 said “Support a bench for $xx!” and that was basically all they did. I am not going to be in Helsinki to deal with it, and since there hasn’t been any more information put out about what the benches would involve and where they would be, it didn’t look to me as if W75 had their ducks in a row, so I declined to take on the project of arranging for one. There is quite a bit of work involved in doing a GoFundMe for something like that.

  7. As I understand it, you fill in the form showing interest about sponsoring the bench and they’ll come back for you for details. In the form you can already provide the text for plaque. I expect them to give you information how to pay the sum. I don’t expect it to involve a GoFundMe or any similar system. So, if you want to involve a bunch of friends someone would need to collect the money from all others and then pay the sum for the group.

    About the location or the type of bench, I don’t know the details about that but I suppose you can always ask about it. I’d think it’s just a bench (a bench is a bench is a bench, after all…) that will be put somewhere in the Messukeskus hallways to provide a place to rest. It may be that you can give a suggestion about there you’d like it to be but I’m not sure if you can influence that a lot.

    I think it’s nice that they’re offering this opportunity even if one may not provide all information up front. I’m thinking of sponsoring a bench but I’m having a hard time to come up with a nice quote for it… (Too much stuff to do and not enough time to think…) So, if anyone has a good sfnal quote about resting and/or reading, I’d be happy about suggestions. 🙂

  8. Terhi: I don’t expect it to involve a GoFundMe or any similar system. So, if you want to involve a bunch of friends someone would need to collect the money from all others and then pay the sum for the group.

    Last year 61 Filers from 6 countries contributed more than $1300 and we ended up with two parks each containing a bench, plus a third bench. It’s not a trivial undertaking, which is why you need to use something like GoFundMe to be able to handle all the different currencies, as well as tracking all of the donor information, ensuring that they each get personal thank-you e-mails, and providing accountability for the amount of cash received so that people knew I wasn’t pocketing any of it.

    As far as having to ask for additional information? No. If they don’t have their ducks in a row enough to be able to present a good info page up front, then I have no confidence in them being able to carry it off successfully. And since I can’t be there, I can’t ensure that any dropped balls get picked up by the con staff.

    I don’t have a problem if someone else wants to coordinate it. But I’m not willing to do so, given all the warning signs I’ve seen of major organizational problems within Worldcon 75.

Comments are closed.
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