The San Jose in 2018 Worldcon bid invites the sf community to suggest potential guests of honor, thus “ensuring worthy candidates are not overlooked.”

Or as the committee phrased it in the press release, their bid is “crowdsourcing guest candidates” in the event they win the right to host the 76th World Science Fiction Convention.

Worldcon’s Guest of Honor appointments function as a sort of lifetime achievement award for contributors to SF & F literature, arts and the community. SJ in 2018 asks people to send guest recommendations to [email protected], and to include in their recommendation how the candidate meets the basic criteria for consideration and why they think the candidate should be honored.

Recommendations will be accepted through December 15, 2015.

The traditional criteria for Worldcon Guest of Honor consideration identified by the San Jose bidders include —

• An established career, usually considered to be 30 years from entry into the field.
• Current relevance, usually considered to be current activity and notability. In the case of writers, availability of their back catalog in print/distribution is an excellent yardstick.
• No prior recognition as a Worldcon Guest of Honor (for past guests, see http://www.smofinfo.com/LL/TheLongList.html).

San José in 2018 is considering honoring guests in the following genre fields:

• Writing
• Editing
• Art
• Music
• Science
• Fandom

The Guest of Honor selection process is confidential. Guests of Honor cannot be named until after the 2018 Site Selection process is completed and the 76th Worldcon has been awarded.

The full press release follows the jump.

[Thanks to Kevin Standlee for the story.]

Press Release 2015-2

SAN JOSE IN 2018 WORLDCON BID CROWDSOURCES GUEST CANDIDATES
SAN FRANCISCO SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS, INC.

A California Non-Profit Corporation
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
[email protected] http://www.sjin2018.org

For Immediate Release: October 30, 2015

San José in 2018 Worldcon Bid Crowdsources Guest Candidates

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid is asking the science fiction & fantasy community’s assistance in ensuring worthy candidates are not overlooked as the bid considers its choices for Guests of Honor for the 76th World Science Fiction Convention.

Worldcon’s Guest of Honor appointments function as a sort of lifetime achievement award for contributors to SF & F literature, arts and the community. SJ in 2018 asks people to send guest recommendations to [email protected], and to include in their recommendation how the candidate meets the basic criteria for consideration and why they think the candidate should be honored.

Recommendations will be accepted through December 15, 2015.

The traditional criteria for Worldcon Guest of Honor consideration are:

• An established career, usually considered to be 30 years from entry into the field.
• Current relevance, usually considered to be current activity and notability. In the case of writers, availability of their back catalog in print/distribution is an excellent yardstick.
• No prior recognition as a Worldcon Guest of Honor (for past guests, see http://www.smofinfo.com/LL/TheLongList.html).

San José in 2018 is considering honoring guests in the following genre fields:

• Writing
• Editing
• Art
• Music
• Science
• Fandom

The Guest of Honor selection process is confidential. Guests of Honor cannot be named until after the 2018 Site Selection process is completed and the 76th Worldcon has been awarded.

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid is bidding to host the 2018 Worldcon in downtown San José, California. If the bid is successful, Worldcon 76 will be held Thursday, August 16 through Monday, August 20, 2018 at the San José McEnery Convention Center, the San José Marriott Hotel, San José Hilton Hotel, and other downtown San José hotels.

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid is offering “pre-supporting” memberships for $20 and a variety of other types of memberships to help fund the bid. Joining the bid helps pay for the cost of promoting the bid. Membership forms and additional information about the bid are available on the bid’s web site, http://www.sjin2018.org/.

Worldcon is the longest-running traveling-location general science fiction convention in the world, with a history stretching back to 1939. Different groups host Worldcon each year in a different city. Members of the 2016 Worldcon in Kansas City will vote on where to hold the 2018 Worldcon.

San José in 2018 is a committee of San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (SFSFC), the non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that hosted the 2002 Worldcon in San José and the 1993 Worldcon in San Francisco, as well as several past Westercons and World Fantasy Conventions.

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Contact:

San José in 2018 Worldcon Bid: Andrew Trembley [email protected] http://www.sjin208.org/

SFSFC Inc.: Kevin Standlee [email protected]

General information about Worldcon: http://www.worldcon.org/

San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. is a California non-profit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under US Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

“Worldcon” and “World Science Fiction Convention” are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.