By Helen Montgomery, Chicon 8 Chair: The World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), an unincorporated literary society. Worldcon started in 1939, and Chicon 8 will be the 80th Worldcon.

We are running a silent auction now through Saturday, December 18 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The auction benefits the Chicago Worldcon Community Fund, and can be found here: https://www.32auctions.com/chicon8

Chicon 8 is a group of fans who love Chicago and love Worldcon! Some of us have a lot of experience in running conventions, and others are new to convention running. The Worldcon will be returned to Chicago for a record eighth time, and we plan to build upon our previous experiences to show the world our beautiful city, and either introduce them or welcome them back to our amazing local fandoms.

The best thing about Worldcon is the people. Worldcon is an event where amazing, awesome people come together to create, to learn, to make, to do, and to participate with one another as we build our community together.

Our community becomes amazing when we are able to help as many people as we can join us.

This auction is to raise funds for our Chicago Worldcon Community Fund (CWCF), which is here to facilitate bringing more people into our community by attending the Worldcon in Chicago in 2022. The CWCF is a special fund to help defray the expenses of attending Chicon 8 for the following groups of people:

• Non-white fans or program participants
• LGBTQIA+ fans or program particpants
• Local Chicago area fans of limited means

By participating in the auction, you will be helping fans from around the world be able to attend Chicon 8! And you’ll get cool stuff!

Again, the auction can be found here and will be open until Saturday, December 18 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

For more information about the Chicago Worldcon Community Fund and the link to donate to the Fund, please visit our website.