Chicon 8, the 2022 Worldcon in Chicago, has posted Progress Report #2 [PDF file] (also available to nonmembers).

GUEST OF HONOR FEATURES. The Progress Report spotlights Guests of Honor Charles de Lint and the late Erle Korshak. It also introduces three new Featured Guests: Dr. Eve L. Ewing, Gene Ha, and Erik Wilkerson

TRAINING. Chair Helen Montgomery’s message announces that some committee members will receive antiracism training.

In other news, we made a decision very early on that we wanted to work on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with Crossroads Antiracism in Chicago, and our Division Heads and a few others will be participating in a training with them this coming January. We know that we are only one event, and so part of our focus is learning how we can take the tools of anti-racism and bring them into the community in other ways – including through working on our local conventions and future Worldcons. In addition to this training, we are exploring training options for all of our staff in bystander intervention work, helping them to become more comfortable in making our convention as safe and inclusive as possible.

2022 HUGO AWARDS. Remember there is a deadline for acquiring a membership – December 31 – if you want to be eligible to nominate for the 2022 Hugo Awards.

Nominations for the 2022 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer will be opening in January 2022. Any person who is a voting member of at least one of the 2021 or 2022 World Science Fiction Conventions as of 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST; UTC -8) on December 31, 2021, may cast a nominating ballot for the 2022 Awards

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS. People who want to be considered as program participants and receive a program survey must separately fill in Chicon 8’s program participant interest form. They say: “If you do not fill in the interest form, you will not receive an invitation to fill in the prospective participant survey.” Also —

Chicon 8 will be using an opt-in program development model. During our signup phase in 2022, program participants will select specific program items that they would like to be on. They will be asked to provide information as to why they are a great choice for the topics that they choose.

INTERNATIONAL VISA TEAM. Chicon 8 has a Visa Team, a part of Member Services that helps international attendees by providing links to resources for getting to the United States. Members planning to attend from outside the United States are encouraged to check out the International Travelers page on the convention website for information and links about visas, passports, and other requirements.

MEMBERSHIP DEMOGRAPHICS. Chicon 8 currently has 1,478 members – 1,084 attending and 394 supporting.

In total, there are 1,228 members from the U.S. The other countries with the most members are the United Kingdom (75), Canada (44), Germany (22), Ireland (18), Australia (16) and Finland (15).

Somewhat surprisingly, China has only one (supporting) member.

ROOM RESERVATIONS. Chicon 8 room bookings will open in February 2022. Fans are advised to check Twitter or their website regularly for announcements of the exact date and time, which will come about a week before bookings open. All room reservations must be made through the Hyatt booking page – which will not accept reservations beforehand.