DisCon III Events Division Head Gadi Evron, as part of his temporary role coordinating between the Worldcon and Hugo finalists, sent an email to finalists today covering the changes in convention leadership and the con’s efforts to start making collaborative decisions with them.

Toward a great DisCon III experience

Dear Finalists,

As you may have heard, DisCon III announced yesterday that Bill Lawhorn has resigned from his position as Convention Chair. We thank Bill for his hard work and dedication in bringing Worldcon to Washington, DC, and for his contributions to DisCon III. The Baltimore-Washington Area Worldcon Association (BWAWA) has begun the process of finding a permanent replacement. Until the position is filled, the DisCon III Division Heads and staff will continue with the business of the convention, including continuing to finalize plans for the Hugo Award Ceremony.

We are also pleased to announce that Linda Deneroff, the former WSFS Division head for Sasquan (the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention), the division that holds the responsibility for the Hugo Awards balloting, has graciously accepted the same position for DisCon III and will also lead the Hugo Administration team for the convention. 

We are emailing you to share a plan for moving forward, and we would appreciate your input on it. But first, we’d like to answer a few of the more urgent inquiries we received from you:

• As noted in our last email, the four-person limit has been rescinded and all Finalists and their plus ones are welcome at the Reception and Ceremony.
  
• Day passes will be provided at no cost to Finalists and their plus ones for the entire day of the Reception and Ceremony. If you cannot attend in person, we will be glad to have you attend virtually.
  
• Finalists will be able to participate in the Hugo Ceremony remotely.
  
• DisCon III has a virtual membership option. There will be virtual panels and other participatory online program items, as well as livestreams of several program rooms at the hotel. We will be running online program items for every time zone around the world, and online panels and presentations will be recorded for later access. One function room at the hotel will be dedicated to showing online program items, including overnight, for those at the hotel who do not have computers.
  
• We welcome you to join us on the program and kindly remind you to complete the form if you haven’t already: https://discon3.org/forms/program-participant-application/.
  
• An FAQ about the program will be posted on the website this week and will cover both in-person and online program questions. The program team will be holding two open forums through Zoom on July 10th and July 11th, accommodating people in various time zones.

DisCon III will be reaching out to you shortly with an attendance survey. Further, we’ll be setting up town hall meetings (also accommodating people in various time zones) to discuss issues directly with you. We will come with some ideas that reflect what we’ve already heard from you, but mostly with open ears to listen to what you have to say so that we can make informed, collaborative decisions.

Please reach out to me directly with anything by emailing [email protected] (CC’d).

Once again, congratulations on being Hugo Award Finalists. We look forward to December!

Thanks,

Gadi.