Hugo Participation Remains High

Worldcon 75 says the number of Hugo nominating votes this year will be the second-highest total ever. The record of 4,032 was set last year by MidAmeriCon.

That means Helsinki’s number is higher than Sasquan’s figure of 2,122.

Not that we’re spoiled or anything, but this ends at eight the string of consecutive years in which a new voter participation record was set.

[Thanks to JJ for the story.]

What’s Five Thousand Miles?

By John Hertz: My antennae tingled. It turned out Inoue Hiroaki was in town. He was Guest of Honor at Animé L.A. XIII, 27-29 Jan 17 at the Ontario Convention Center. Over 9,000 attended.

Chaz Baden started ALA, chaired it for years, and is now Chair Emeritus. With help from him and a host of others, a few hours’ driving time, and a few dollars at Registration, I arranged to meet Inoue-san on Sunday afternoon at 3.

To animé folk he’s the producer of Tenchi Muyou! (which I suppose we may call a franchise, an ongoing stream of animé, novels, manga, video games, soundtrack records – isn’t a Compact Disc a record? – radio, role-playing-game books, and whatnot).

Tenchi Muyo! means “Right side up with care” or “No need for Tenchi” – if you think you’re a punster, you ain’t seen nothin’ – and has been running over 25 years.

Also he teaches animé in Japanese university courses. He addressed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology fifteen years ago. I might say something about a list of achievements as long as your arm, but we’re talking about animé, who knows how long that might be?

To me he’d been the chair of Nippon 2007, the 65th World Science Fiction Convention, the first in Asia, the first in Japan. Fame, like obviousness, is relative – obviously.

I’d had a fair lot to do with that bid and that con, and was sent there (and brought back) by a one-time traveling-fan fund HANA (Hertz Across to Nippon Alliance; hana in Japanese is “flower” or “blossom”, a word much used in poetry) started by Murray Moore; you can see my report here (first half) and here (second half).

In earlier days of ALA I had myself been a feature on Sunday afternoons. But that’s another story.

“Where,” I’d asked Chaz, “is this meeting?” He said “I’ll work on that.” When I arrived, a Chaz-gram awaited me. A staffer said “You’re John Hertz! This is for you” and another said “I’ll take you there.”

Inoue-san and I rejoiced. I bowed, so he shook my hand.

The Nippon 2007 bid had formally begun in 2000. But you could say it began in 1957 – or 1927, the year Shibano Takumi was born.

I told Inoue-san on Sunday, “Nippon 2007 was only possible because of three giants: Shibano-sensei [“teacher”], Peggy Rae Sapienza, and you.” None was available for the Shizuoka bid. For 2017 my Helsinki friends beat my District of Columbia, Montréal, and Shizuoka friends. But another Japanese Worldcon may come.

Mason Beninger interpreted for us. We may have overloaded him. This had happened before.

At the 8th NASFiC (North America Science Fiction Convention, held when the Worldcon is overseas) Inoue-san, who was Animé GoH, joined Marie Cooley and me judging the Masquerade. He was very perceptive, but only because of the extraordinary interpreter Karahashi Takayuki could we manage any speed.

I’ll spare you other stories, like the time an interpreter from the Yokohama Tourist Bureau – oops.

Inoue-san asked how Peggy Rae’s widower John was doing. I said “Well; but his heart hurts.” Of course that’s true for all of us.

All around were animé folk, many in costume; signs, dealers’ tables; lines and clumps. It was the Exhibit Hall.

We marveled at this flourishing of one part of the Imagi-Nation while, in the United States anyway, there wasn’t much cross-fertilizing. I’d been one of the Masquerade judges who gave Best in Show to an entry based on Trinity Blood at the 64th Worldcon. But mostly They don’t come to our village and we don’t go to theirs.

Diversity takes a lot of work.

Still,

What’s five thousand miles
And two languages between
Fans who seek the stars?

Val and Ron Ontell Leading Scandinavia Tour

By Val Ontell: Congrats to Helsinki for filling the Toastmaster position with such a good choice.  It adds to a great guest lineup.

Ron and I are looking forward to the con and “old home week” with friends we only get to see once a year, including many of the people who have been on our tours in the past – and hopefully make some new friends – and we’re going all that way only to attend the con — NOT.

We’re doing a two-week pre-con mini “Grand Tour” of the Baltic:  Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm, Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg (Russia), and, of course, Helsinki.  We’re also going on a one-week post-con tour of Iceland – and yes, there will be a few Game of Thrones sites.

Anyone who’d like to come along can go to our website, ontell.org/scandinavia.

Worldcon 75 Developments

Karen Lord. (Photo by Marlon James.)

Karen Lord. (Photo by Marlon James.)

(1) Karen R.A. Lord has been named Worldcon 75’s Toastmistress.

(2) Worldcon 75 has released Progress Report 3. Download it free here.

If you have paid for paper publications, you will also receive a printed PR3 in the post early next month. If you have not paid for paper publications, you are still welcome to print out this PR3 and savor its wisdom and knowledge in a nice warm sauna or elsewhere, or to enjoy its pixels directly on your screen.

(2) PR3 contains articles on:

  • Words of Wisdom from our Guests of Honour
  • We introduce our Toastmistress!
  • Hugo Nomination information and ballot
  • Finnish foods and where to find them
  • A brief history of Finnish fandom, part 2
  • and much more!

(4) Storycom will provide support for two Chinese fans to attend Worldcon 75 who are willing to work this year’s con and help with a future Chinese Worldcon bid. Here is the bilingual link for the funding: http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DN8UO45YFxeANe_IReUExQ

Worldcon 75 Attending Funding for Chinese Fans

In order to encourage Chinese fans to take active part in Worldcons and enhance the communication between Chinese and international fandom, Storycom sets up this Worldcon 75 Attending Funding. 2 active Chinese fans will be selected and granted RMB 10,000 each, for their attendance in and work for Worldcon 75, which will be held in Helsinki in August 2017. The beneficiaries should buy attending memberships for Worldcon 75, book their flights and hotels, as well as apply for visa by themselves, with the help of Storycom. The beneficiaries should also volunteer to work for Worldcon 75 and promise to take active part in attending and organizing both domestic and international science fiction activities in the future.

1. The applicant must be a Chinese citizen and live in mainland China.
2. The applicant must be a science fiction fan and have experience in organizing science fiction activities.
3. The applicant must be available during August 9-13, 2017 and can attend Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland. He/she should also volunteer to work for Worldcon 75 before the con actually takes place.
4. The applicant should promise that he/she will help with future Chinese Worldcon bid if there is any.
5. The applicant’s English proficiency should meet the requirements of working for Worldcon 75.

Applications will be judged by:

  • Xia Jia, science fiction writer, Associate Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University
  • Jukka Halme, Chair of Worldcon 75

Take Online Survey of Shortlisted YA Award Titles

The Worldcon’s YA Award Committee asked fans last year to suggest a name for the prospective award, which received its first passage at MidAmeriCon II and is up for ratification at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki.

The committee received 1,138 responses, giving them 460 unique names to winnow.

Some names have been eliminated because they are already attached to other awards: The Stargazer, the Codex, the Nautilus, the Silver Tree, the Beacon, the Portal, the Unicorn, and the names of authors like Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton, Jane Yolen, and Anne McCaffrey.

Other names have been ruled out to avoid copyright and trademark issues: Golden Snitch, Earthsea, Bilbo Baggins, etc.

And the committee enjoyed but also won’t be using any of the funny suggestions — the Read It and Reap Award, the Rodent of Unusual Size Award, and the Chesterfield Sofa.

They have settled on a six name shortlist and are asking everyone for their opinion in “The <blank> Award for Best Young Adult Book Shortlist Survey”.  The names are —

  • Anansi
  • Lodestar
  • Ouroboros
  • Spellcaster
  • Tesseract
  • Worldcon

The survey will be open until March 15, 2017.

In addition to the survey, the committee is listening to feedback from groups of experts on cultural sensitivity and trademarks, and will also incorporate advice from a panel of three Young Adult authors.

[Thanks to JJ for the story.]

Worldcon 75 Adds Two Vice Chairs

Worldcon 75 Convention Chair Jukka Halme has appointed two Vice Chairs to assist him, Karoliina Leikomaa and Colette H. Fozard.

The online bios of the two new Vice Chairs show they have a wealth of conrunning experience.

Karo Leikomaa

Karo Leikomaa

Karo Leikomaa has been organising events since the late 90s. Since 2008 Karo has been on the committee for several Finncons, in roles such as Vice Chair, Finance, Venue and Logistics, Gophers and Security, and GoH Liaison. She has chaired three Tampere Kuplii Comic Book Festivals and one Åcon. Karo worked for several conventions every year in Finland before moving to London, UK, in 2014. She has been active in Soroptimists International Finland since 2011. She is currently studying towards her MA at University College London.

 

Colette H. Fozard

Colette H. Fozard

Colette H. Fozard has been helping to keep SF and anime conventions running for over twenty years. She has served as Convention Chair or other senior staff of several US East Coast cons including Arisia, Balticon, MAGFest and Zenkaikon, as well as many others. Her love of working at conventions has blossomed into a professional career in event planning. She is the Director of Operations for the Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival in Washington, DC each spring – the largest one-day celebration of Japanese Culture in the United States. She also serves as venue liaison for several other clients.

Worldcon 75 started out with three co-chairs, Jukka Halme, Saija Aro, and Crystal Huff. Aro resigned in May 2016 and Huff resigned in November 2016.

The Helsinki committee has also announced their next rate rise is at the end of January. Adult attending rates will increase from €145 to €170, and Youth rates from €90 to €100.

[Thanks to JJ for the story.]

2017 Hugo Nominations Open

Worldcon 75 is now taking nominations for the 2017 Hugo Awards. All members eligible to nominate may do so either by sending in a paper ballot, included with the convention’s Progress Report 3 and also separately downloadable from the Worldcon 75 website, or voting online by individual links supplied to voters.

Helsinki worldcon-only-you COMPAll nomination ballots must be postmarked by March 17, 2017 or submitted by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on March 17.

Eligible to vote are all those who have purchased membership in Worldcon 75, MidAmericon II or Worldcon 76 in San José by January 31, 2017. Both attending and supporting members have the right to vote for the Hugo Awards and in Worldcon Site Selection for 2019.

Hugo voters are encouraged to nominate up to five works/individuals in each category that they believe are worthy of the award. The most popular nominees will go forward to the Final Ballot.

According to Karl-Johan Norén, online voting —

…uses a new system with personalized links, which should not be shared. Once you have logged in, you can make as many changes as you like up to your nomination ballot until the deadline. Your current ballot will be emailed to you an hour after you stop making changes to it.

The final ballot will be announced in early April, and the awards will be presented August 11 at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland. Only Worldcon 75 members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners.

As in previous years, voters may nominate up to five possible finalists in each category. However, the World Science Fiction Society’s Business Meetings in 2015 and 2016 made some changes to the way nominations will be tallied this year to produce the final ballot. These include:

  • Final ballots in each category will now have six rather than five finalists (but the maximum number of nominations that a voter can make in each category remains five);
  • A new system for counting nominations, which will reduce the extent to which a small bloc of voters can dominate individual categories;
  • No more than two works by the same creator(s), and no more than two stories from the same series, can appear on the ballot for any one category;
  • The requirement that all finalists in a category must receive more than 5% of nominations has been removed.

Worldcon 75 also is using its right under the rules to run a one-time Hugo category by giving a trial run to the proposed Best Series category, which received its first passage at the 2016 Worldcon Business Meeting and will become permanent if the 2017 Business Meeting ratifies it.

The Hugo base this year will be designed by a Finnish artist, to be selected by the Worldcon 75 committee.

The Hugos are the most prestigious award in the science fiction genre, honoring literature and media as well as fan activities. The awards were first presented in 1953.

More information about the Hugo Awards, including details about how to submit a nominating ballot, is available at http://www.worldcon.fi/wsfs/hugo/

Rotsler Award Exhibit at Midamericon II

mac-rotsler-4-kenn-bates-min

Rotsler Award exhibit at MidAmeriCon II. Photos by Kenn Bates.

By John Hertz: Midamericon II was the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, held at Kansas City, Missouri, August 17-21, 2016. The 34th, now known as Midamericon I, was there in 1976.

The Rotsler Award, named for Bill Rotsler (1926-1997), is given annually for long-term wonder-working with graphic art in amateur publications of the S-F community. The winner is determined by a panel of judges, currently Mike Glyer, Sue Mason, and me.

Founded in 1998, the Rotsler is sponsored by the non-profit Southern California Institute for Fan Interests, Inc. At Loscon, the annual L.A. convention over the United States’ Thanksgiving weekend in November (Loscon XLIII was 25-27 Nov 16), the winner is announced and a sample of the winner’s work exhibited.

I try to exhibit all the winners to date at the Worldcon. Two exhibits I was particularly happy about were at Denvention III (66th Worldcon; Denver, Colorado, 2008), where Spike contributed those handsome black foam-core panels, and Lonestarcon III (71st; San Antonio, Texas, 2013), where volunteers helped me choose samples visually interesting to folks who might not know fanzines.

Elizabeth Klein-Lebbink contributed her electronic wizardry to the MAC II exhibit; also a fine design sense, and not being very active in the fanzine world she could temper my enthusiasm for reference jokes. For Chicon VII (70th Worldcon; Chicago, Illinois, 2012) she’d helped marvelously with an exhibit in honor of Diane Dillon and in memory of Leo (1933-2012).

With a few hours at Klein-Lebbink’s equipment — well, more than a few, actually — we were able to print a Rotsler Award exhibit on six-foot-long banners. I took them to MAC II and didn’t have to get dozens of images enlarged by photocopy, mounted on colored construction paper, and hung with binder clips from hooks set in pegboard panels.

The banners looked swell. Kenn Bates kindly photographed them.

mac-rotsler-1-kenn-bates-minmac-rotsler-2-kenn-bates-minmac-rotsler-3-kenn-bates-min

Loscon is hosted by LASFS, the L.A. Science Fantasy Society, oldest S-F club on Earth. I rhyme LASFS with joss fuss, but Morris Keesan said “That’s your dialect,” and Len Moffatt rhymed it with sass mass. I miss them.

SCIFI (of course that’s what the initials spell; despite the power of Forry Ackerman, pronounced skiffy) has among other things produced Worldcons, Westercons (West Coast Science Fantasy Conference), a NASFiC (North America Science Fiction Convention, held when the Worldcon is overseas), and the second (1992, hardbound) edition of Harry Warner’s history of 1950s fandom A Wealth of Fable.

mac-rotsler-6-kenn-bates-min

Artwork by ATom.

Artwork by Brad Foster.

Artwork by Brad Foster.

mac-rotsler-9-kenn-bates-min

Artwork by Kurt Erichsen.

 

MAC II Incident Response Statistics

MidAmeriCon II, the 2016 Worldcon, has shared statistics about Code of Conduct issues handled by the Incident Response Team. Although a few instances resulted in public announcements, they generally will not be commenting on any of the details.

MidAmeriCon II received 40 official reports through the Incident Response Team’s report process.

  • 4 of the reports we received were made pre-con.
  • There were 28 distinct incidents reported.
  • 18 of the 28 incidents required additional follow up by the IRT.
  • 8 of the reports included information about previous and/or ongoing patterns of harassing behavior by the person who’s behavior was being reported.
  • 11 incidents included verbal harassment.
  • 7 incidents included physical intimidation or unwanted physical contact.
  • 5 incidents resulted in a response more substantial than a warning.
  • 3 incidents resulted in membership revocation or suspension.
  • 1 incident resulted in removal from a volunteer position.
  • 6 incidents resulted in a warning.
  • 17 incidents resulted in neither warning nor any sort of more substantive action being taken.
http://file770.com/?cat=16
file770.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-30
109078
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:2HPJB6ODTMJOA35N3O2TCFL7RP2R3HP4
<urn:uuid:a4bd769d-15e9-49fc-bc9d-ccaa8951f02e>
2017-03-24T12:07:58Z
192.163.226.215
sha1:T7VN72SZBPRWGMRYSYRMCBE34P2BGSPW
<urn:uuid:24d55463-4a6f-47c7-bcd1-5b77d8c42f2b>
http://file770.com/?cat=16
length
response
<urn:uuid:79f2d07b-4918-45b5-b5f7-227c6fa5f357>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-13
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for March 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf