Pemmi-Con chairs Linda Ross-Mansfield and Robbie Bourget will take questions about reasons for fans to attend the 2023 NASFiC from Fan Fund representatives Fran Skene (CUFF), Erin Underwood (DUFF), and Mike Lowrey.. (TAFF) in a free Zoom session on March 4.
Pemmi-Con, the 2023 NASFiC, will be held July 20-23 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
CUFF (Canadian Unity Fan Fund) is Canada’s fan fund. A fan delegate representing British/European fandom will be attending Pemmi-Con, courtesy of TAFF (Trans Atlantic Fan Fund). DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) is the other ocean-crossing fan fund: DUFF brings a fan from Australia/ New Zealand to North America.
Winnipeg has been voted the right to host the 2023 NASFiC. The con will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from July 20-23, 2023, and be named Pemmi-con 2023.
There were 343 site selection ballots cast, with 312 in favor of Winnipeg, as reported by Chicon 8. The Winnipeg bid was running unopposed after another bid for Orlando folded last month.
Winnipeg’s Guests of Honor will be Dr. Philip J. Currie, Julie Czerneda, John Mansfield, Waubgeshig Rice, Nisi Shawl and Katherina Vermette. The Ghost of Honor will be Lorna Toolis and the Toastmaster will be Tanya Huff. The convention will be chaired by Robbie Bourget and Linda Ross-Mansfield.
As provided by the WSFS Constitution, the same rules that govern the Worldcon, the NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention) is held in North America in years when the Worldcon is held overseas. In this case, the 2023 Worldcon will be held in Chendgu, China from August 16-20, 2023.
To Be Fair, I Was Left Unsupervised: A Disjointed Chronicle of 79th World Science Fiction Convention, DisCon III – December 19-20, 2021
By Chris M. Barkley:
DAY FOUR
(Author’s Note: As of this writing, I misplaced all of my notes for Day Four. The things I write about here may be a bit truncated, so please bear with me with this day’s events…)
I woke up relatively early (for a Worldcon), at around 8:45 a.m. Dapperly dressed in my Chelsea FC pajamas and socks, I decide to go down to the Information Desk for the latest Dis N’ Dat newsletter for the latest news and Programming changes.
Just as I exited the elevator, I encountered Laurie Mann and Dave McCarty in deep conversation. Mr. McCarty told me that he was on his way to the Site Selection Meeting and was particularly vexed because the contest between the Chengdu and Winnipeg bids was, as of this morning, in doubt.
This was a little peculiar because under normal circumstances, the identity of the winning bid would have been leaked the previous evening by unknown sources and would have been circulating among the parties last night.
But as I inferred from my earlier conversation with Ms. Mann and Mr. McCarty, this did not happen. By now, most of you may know that the statement from Kevin Standlee a few days earlier cast the election in doubt due to what was perceived by some as an infraction of the rules regarding the lack of valid addresses by those voting for the Chengdu bid.
To my understanding of the matter, a majority of the Chengdu voters used as email address because that is how they interpreted the use of that term in China
Mr. McCarty, who is associated with the Chengdu bid, had no idea whether or not the disputed ballots would be allowed or not this morning.
Quickly realizing that either history, a controversy, or both was about to occur, I bolted to my room, got properly dressed, grabbed a tea and a protein bar and raced down to the Palladian Ballroom for the reveal.
The Site Selection Meeting had been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. but that passed by as the room slowly filled with interested parties.
Dave McCarty (center) Jared Dashoff (right) Donald Eastlake III (partial)
Vincent Docherty (center) and other Members
(L-R) Jill Eastlake, Tim Szczesuil and Dr. Perrianne Lurie
Jared Dashoff, who had “NO COMMENT!”
Arrivals to the Business Meeting 9:30 a.m.
A Package of Cookies being Distributed by John Pomeranz at the Meeting
More Cookies!
The Business Meeting Podium, L-R, Todd Dashoff, Donald Eastlake III, Janice Murphy, Linda Deneroff
The Winnipeg in 2023 Committee today announced their bid for the 81st World Science Fiction Convention. The bid has filed the required papers with the DisCon III committee inviting the Worldcon to return to Winnipeg for the first time since 1994.
The Winnipeg in 2023 committee proposes to host the Worldcon at the RBC Convention Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from August 24-28, 2023. The RBC Convention Center has doubled in size since it hosted the 52nd Worldcon in 1994, and is now Canada’s fourth largest convention center.
The bid committee is headed by Terry Fong, an experienced Worldcon convention organizer, and includes John Mansfield, the chair of the last Worldcon in Winnipeg, as a senior advisor. Its 23 members are experienced convention organizers, including past Worldcon and World Fantasy Convention chairs and local convention runners.
The Winnipeg in 2023 bid is a committee of Cansmof, a Canadian not-for-profit corporation that specializes in running and sponsoring fannish events in Canada. The bid is endorsed by WINSFA Inc., which oversees KeyCon, an annual science fiction convention that has been held in Winnipeg since 1984 over the Victoria Day weekend each year. Although the 2020 and 2021 events are virtual for safety reasons, the 2022 KeyCon is planning an in person event again. More information about KeyCon is available at Keycon.org.
This bid was developed with the support of Tourism Winnipeg. The last Worldcon in Winnipeg generated an estimated Canadian $9M in economic activity and drew nearly 4000 attendees from around the world. The last Canadian Worldcon in Montreal in 2009 had similar numbers..
The Winnipeg bid is competing with Chengdu, Sichuan, China and Memphis, Tennessee to host the 2023 Worldcon
Copies of their submissions to Site Selection can be downloaded here.
More information about the Winnipeg bid is available from the committee’s website, winnipegin2023.ca. Direct queries for additional information can be sent to [email protected].
Loscon 42 co-chairs Robbie Bourget and Marcia Minsky have announced that the con is holding a Writing Contest for aspiring writers. Entries are being taken now.
There are three categories:
Youth (6-12)
Young adult (13-20)
Adult (21 plus)
Prizes are still being decided.
Bourget and Minsky say:
We are looking for your best fantasy or science fiction between 500 and 1000 words; the youth and young adults may supplement their word count with illustrations (each one worth 50 words). We will be having a professional writer (to be named later) judge this competition.
All submissions must be received by October 31, 2015. Submit your entry to [email protected].
Loscon 42 takes place November 27-29 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Guests of honor are Jim C. Hines, Bobbi Armbruster, David B. Mattingly, and Theresa MacWillie.
The Executive Committee of Sasquan, the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention, would like to address the matter of actions taken by Mr. Lou Antonelli with regards to one of our Guests of Honor, Mr. David Gerrold. On August 1st, Mr. Antonelli participated in a podcast in which he stated that he had written a letter to the Spokane Police Department, in which he stated to them that Mr. Gerrold was “insane and a public danger and needs to be watched when the convention is going on”.
Normally, online communications between members is not something in Sasquan’s purview to referee. However, Mr. Antonelli’s letter, which requested police action against Mr. Gerrold during the time of the convention, is within our purview. As such, we found that there was a strong possibility this act was a violation of our posted harassment policy[1], particularly if the letter had, in fact, been sent.
The Executive Committee then turned the matter over to our Operations Head, Ms. Robbie Bourget, who initiated formal proceedings in accordance with that policy. During these proceedings, it came to light that Mr. Antonelli had issued a formal apology to Mr. Gerrold and admitted culpability: he actually sent the letter, not merely claimed to have sent it.
We thoroughly reviewed all available data, including email from both involved parties, social media postings, discussions with key committee members, and so forth. The inescapable conclusion was that Mr. Antonelli had violated our Code of Conduct in this matter. The recommendation was to refund Mr. Antonelli’s membership and prohibit his entry to any convention location or function.
However, after the recommendation was made, Mr. Gerrold, as the aggrieved party, specifically requested that the Executive Committee set aside this recommendation on the grounds that Mr. Antonelli did apologize, is sending a retraction to the Spokane Police Department and because, as a Hugo Nominee, he deserves to attend the ceremony.
The Executive Committee has chosen to accept Mr. Gerrold’s request, and considers the matter closed as of this time. Ms. Bourget has spoken and corresponded with the Spokane Police Department, and they also consider the matter closed. We would like to thank Ms. Bourget for the calm professionalism she lent to the proceedings, and Mr. Antonelli and Mr. Gerrold for coming to a settlement that benefits not just them, but the Worldcon and its members.
While some wonder why the committee has not taken official notice of Antonelli’s interaction with Carrie Cuinn as well, perhaps that is explained by the statement “online communications between members is not something in Sasquan’s purview to referee.”
Earlier this month René Walling, who co-chaired with Robbie Bourget, announced the amount each of the three Worldcons is receiving has been raised to US$22,500 in total.
Simply multiply by three and it works out that Anticipation’s surplus was at least $67,500, which is remarkable coming from one of the smaller Worldcons.
The pass-along policy is a commitment to distribute at least one-half of a Worldcon’s surplus to the next three Worldcons that make the same promise. A con may pass on much more than 50% if it chooses, of course. In any event questions about the size of Anticipation’s surplus will be answered by its financial report to the Aussiecon 4 business meeting (or earlier, if Robbie and René decide.)
John Picacio has posted video from a newscast aired by the Denver NBC affiliate at the beginning of Denvention 3. Picacio recognized these faces:
John Hertz and his propeller beanie got a lot of love. Look for a funny cameo by SCI FI editor Scott Edelman. Looks like the blonde, braided head of LOCUS‘ Amelia Beamer is in the background at the :59 mark (looks like her, anyway). FACT‘s Laura Domitz pops up at the :57 and :56 mark. And oh yeah — News9 has apparently discovered a new way to spell my name — “Piacacio” instead of “Picacio”. Now I know how Paolo Baciagalupi feels….
There also are glimpses of Marty Massoglia, Robbie Bourget, jan howard finder, Gail Barton, Dennis Caswell, and plenty of others. Are you there, too?
