Rebadging Worldcon Ribbons

[Introduction: Towards the end of the 2019 Worldcon, I set about modifying a set of the Dublin 2019 ribbons I had been given, and handed some out, writing an article about it in 2020. That piece went to Banana Wings, but long story short it has not yet appeared in print, and Claire and Mark are happy for me to send it to File 770, so here it is with a recent postscript.]

By Alan Stewart: In the Fan Fund auction at Dublin 2019 Julian Warner bought a set of Dublin ribbons and gave them to me. Though purportedly a “complete set”, comparison with a framed set of the ribbons on display in the Exhibits Hall showed that my gifted set was missing Chair, Chair’s Staff and Worldcon Widow, but I had two versions of Volunteer (also VOLUNTEER). It also included Featured Artist which was not amongst the framed set.

After looking through the set I decided it would be a nice idea to suitably modify them and hand some out to people at the convention. Checking that it was okay with James Bacon, who reiterated the message that they were not to be worn at the convention, which he had anecdotally included while auctioning the set, he also agreed that it would be a very fannish thing to do. So I set out on my rebadging project with the help of some stickers provided via the art show staff.

I distributed ribbons on the last afternoon of the con, with the expectation that they would be added to badges later that day, and also at Titancon in Belfast the next weekend.

The modifications were made based on my knowledge of the recipient, maybe something that had happen at Worldcon, or whim. I believe they were received with good grace. A couple were at the suggestion of Karen Babcock.

The following table details the recipients and the modified text of the ribbon presented to them.

RecipientModified ribbon text
Alan StewartPast Worldcon Bid Chair
Andrew TrembleyBrainstorming Champion
Ben YalowFacilities Free in 2021
Brian NesmittHelp I’m At Point Square
Carolina Gomez LagerlöfEurocon Organiser
Cheryl MorganWSFS Business Meeting Widow
Claire BrialeyPast & Present Fan Fund Hero
Craig MacbrideHugo Losers’ Ceremony Guest
Espana SheriffRibbon Facilitation
Geri SullivanAlan Crashed My Literary Beer
Geaeme BathoSpocking Hall Costumer
Ian McDonaldGreat Publications
James BaconDublin’s Finest Worldcon Chair
James J StylesI’d Like Access All Areas
Lawrence HoggFan Tables Staff Hero
Lucy SussexFantastical Ireland Explorer
John CoxonRibbon Dealer
Joseph MeltzerI Could Be A Rocket Scientist
Julian WarnerMr Warner
Karen BabcockEditing McEditface
Kevin RocheOnce More With Houselights Please!
Lori MeltzerSvelte Stage Ninja
Lynelle HowellI Found the Dragon! In NZ
Maree PavletichI Made CoNZealand Happen
Mark PlummerFan Funds’ Superfriend
Matthew PavletichProject Tahiti Via CoNZealand
PRKPeople Superstar!
Robin JohnsonPast Worldcon Guest of Honour
Rose MitchellKaffeeklatsches Are Me
Simon LittenI Was A Retro Hugo Acceptor
SpikeQuiet Please, I Am Analyzing Stuff
Teddy HarviaI Found A Site Selection Ballot
Tom BeckerO’Bleak!
ToriCreators Alley Next Year
  
Chris Garcia[Chair] ‘s Friend *

*             Sticker only, given to James Bacon to add to a spare Chair ribbon and then to be forwarded to Chris.

At the time, expecting to see people at CoNZealand, I made this offer:

If you would like to be added to the project please contact me at [email protected]. Feel free to nominate the original Dublin ribbon (if known, and still available) and the final modified text you would like. Otherwise the choice of ribbon and modification will be up to me. As long as ribbons (67) are still available, I’m happy to post them out or prepare them for delivery at CoNZealand at which time I will declare the project closed (last-minute modification and issue at the con may be possible). An extra distribution table could be published later next year.

Speeding ahead to August 2023, of course that 2020 and CoNZealand interaction never happened. So I’d like to conclude the project by the finish of Glasgow 2024 next year. In the meantime if you contact me about receiving a modified ribbon, maybe you recall a Dublin 2019 one in particular you’d like modified, and supply the details, if it is one of the 67 still available I can do that using the white stickers, nail scissors and a pen which did the work the first time around. (Please see the photo above for one example, and others appended to the end of this article.) Snail mail should be able to deliver a modified ribbon in packaging as a standard airmail letter. Best contact is probably via email [email protected].

Next year I’ll take the last ribbons to Glasgow, and the essential scissors and stickers, and set about finalising the project, by request if people catch up with me, and again at my whim. I’ll record details to prepare a sequel to the table above which might also appear in File 770 next year.

Here’s some more photos from 2019, modified ribbons prepared in my hotel room, ready for distribution. [Click for larger image.]

Dublin 2019 Makes Convention Videos Available

Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon has made a series of video recordings available, including the 2019 Hugo Awards Ceremony.

Chair James Bacon announced them with these comments:

I would like to apologize for the delay in making these videos available. I underestimated the workload involved in undertaking what may seem straightforward, and that was a mistake. I am sorry it’s taken quite so long.

I’m exceptionally grateful to all involved in helping achieve this and want to especially note the hundreds of hours that James Turner has spent working on editing.

We are all volunteers and sometimes things don’t work out as we had hoped; we faced many challenges, our teams had worked so very hard to deliver the convention itself, unsurprisingly energy was limited afterwards. Technical difficulties, locating, retrieving, moving the huge files to where they needed to be, then editing, tidying, checking, adjusting, it all took a long time. Meanwhile, within six months of the con, the world took an unexpected turn, curtailing badly those in person opportunities to reconnect, re-energize and enthuse. These are in no way intended to be excuses, just sharing the realities faced in an open way.

Thankfully, with gratitude to the hard work of fans and of course the patience of professionals who support cons so much, the good news is that we have a series of videos available now. We hope to add more later, while our team is continuing to improve or enhance where they can, but we hope you enjoy these.

Links to the available videos follow the jump.

Continue reading

Dublin 2019 and CanSMOF Award SMOFcon 39 Scholarships

Dublin 2019 announced today there were 18 successful applicants for its scholarships to attend SMOFcon Europe in Lisboa, Portugal, being held December 3-5. The committee said in a press release:

Following in the footsteps of CanSMOF, there was a very positive response to our scholarships and the winning applicants have already been notified. Dublin 2019 worked cooperatively with CanSMOF to ensure that we could facilitate as many applications as possible to broaden the field of con-runners who could participate in SMOFcon. Successful applicants are travelling from Canada, USA, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the UK and Ireland.

Dublin 2019 recognizes that, like many areas, convention running has had a rough time of things lately. We are glad we were able to facilitate bringing new people to SMOFcon Europe as an extension of the goodwill we hold towards fans of all nationalities and fandoms. 

Vincent Docherty, the Co-Chair of SMOFcon Europe said: “It’s great to see so many international fans coming to SMOFcon for the first time and we are looking forward to their involvement in our programme and the fresh perspectives they will bring for discussions. With the opening of our hotel bookings, we’ve seen an increase in interest and membership uptake and look forward to hosting fans in person as well as virtually this December.”

Meanwhile, CanSMOF itself announced that due to a lack of response they ended up awarding only one of three available scholarships offered for the purpose of attending Smofcon 39. That scholarship is going Joro Penchev of Sofia, Bulgaria.

Dublin 2019 did not publicly name the recipients of its scholarships.

Dublin 2019 Scholarships to SMOFcon Europe

Dublin 2019 welcomes applicants for scholarships to attend SMOFcon Europe in Lisboa, Portugal, to be held December 3-5, 2021.  

Dublin 2019, following in the footsteps of CanSMOF, is offering a series of scholarships to attend SMOFcon, the annual convention runners’ convention.

Dublin 2019 wishes to encourage fans who wish to develop, learn and share experiences in conrunning. They recognize 2020 and 2021 have been very unusual and difficult years and hope this offer will help fans. 

Dublin 2019 is offering a total of 17 scholarships. 

  • 5 X €50 to local fans 
  • 4 x €250 to European Fans 
  • 4 x €250 to Irish fans 
  • 2 x €250 to worldwide fans 
  • 2 x €750 to worldwide fans 

Successful applicants will also receive a free membership to SMOFcon Europe, which supports all initiatives to bring fans safely together in Lisboa. The con will be held at the VIP Executive Art’s hotel.  

A Google form is available for application here: https://forms.gle/QyX6K53DCBdeNnHW8

James Bacon, the Chair of Dublin 2019, said: “Please do not self exclude. If you are involved in conrunning, or if you aspire to be, this is for you!”

Deadline for applicants is September 24, 2021, 23:59 Dublin time.   

If you have any queries, concerns, or questions, or if you cannot access the Google document, please email chair(at)dublin2019(dot)com

[From the press release.]

“Walls and Windows” To Get Full Play Performance at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre

By James Bacon: Walls and Windows by Rosaleen McDonagh, directed by Jason Byrne, will be performed at  Dublin’s Abbey Theatre this August. 

The performance will be livestreamed from the Abbey Stage on August 27th and 28th. It will be available on-demand for two weeks until 11th September.  

Dealing with heartfelt matters that one of the most discriminated and marginalised peoples of Western Europe must face, this is a hard and difficult play, full of raw honestly and thoughtfulness about how relationships should overcome all adversity, demonstrating how cruel we are to our own, and how destructive hatefulness and  bias can be. Julie and John are good people, wonderful, with hopes and plans and like anyone, desiring to live happily on their own terms. 

The impact that the naked racism has upon this couple is heart rending, and the story has a particular perspective, that may resonate but yearns for empathy and understanding to our fellow humans. 

Excerpts of Walls and Windows by Rosaleen McDonagh (https://twitter.com/paveebeoir) were presented at Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon on Saturday 17 August 2019, and was warmly received by the membership, who understood the importance of sharing this work. The convention worked closely with Rosaleen to bring a number of projects to the membership, including a presentation by Kathleen Lawrence on the Beady Pocket. 

Rosaleen McDonagh

Rosaleen is a Traveller woman with a disability.  Originally from Sligo, she is the fourth eldest in a family of twenty children.  She worked in Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre for ten years, managing the Violence Against Women programme, and remains a board member. She is a regular contributor to the Irish Times and has written extensively within the framework of a Traveller feminist perspective. McDonagh’s work includes The Baby Doll Project, Stuck, She’s Not Mine, and Rings. Rosaleen has a BA in Biblical & Theological Studies, an MPhil in Ethnic & Racial Studies & an MPhil in Creative Writing, all from TCD. She is currently a PhD candidate in Northumbria University.

Rosaleen attended Dublin 2019.

The Dublin team worked with Pavee Point to reach out and welcome, those who might otherwise feel excluded, and to welcome the traveller community, while working hard to ensure that the artistic aspects of the community that would resonate with fans were brought to light.

The Beady pocket is one such craft.  Beady pockets were a hip pocket that Traveller women wore. In modern times the beady pocket could be seen as a purse or a practical handbag. Women kept small items; a comb, sewing kit or spare buttons in it. When families were being moved on or evicted, women gave each other buttons as a keepsake of their friendship and time on the road together. The buttons would be then sewn on to the outside of the beady pocket. Over the course of a lifetime, a woman’s beady pocket would be full with an eclectic range of buttons. 

Rosaleen McDonagh’s Beady Pocket written piece captured the historical years of the beady pocket phenomena with a modern twist, while many fans recognised the community of buttons, badges and ribbons. 

Working with Pavee Point helped create a wonderful relationship between Rosaleen and Dublin 2019, who contributed greatly to the convention.  

Rosaleen herself enjoyed the Worldcon and noted –

I had read little or no Sci-fi other than Ursula Le Guin. It was very impressive at the convention to see panels discussing representation of Science Fiction from black and ethnic minorities. That was a huge surprise and I really enjoyed it… It was a sheer joy to meet so many strong women wheelchair users in positions of authority and influence. Role models in action are the best way of checking yourself and learning’. 

The Dublin 2019 team are delighted to hear that the performance will make its full stage debut at The Abbey, and hope that those who have not yet had the opportunity, know that this heartfelt play comes highly recommended. 

Waiting For Online Hugo Voting And The 2021 Voter Packet

Animated GIF by DemonDeLuxe (Dominique Toussaint), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

By JJ: Enquiring Hugo voter minds want to know: When will we be able to vote online? When will the Hugo Voter Packet be available?

In the fine tradition of similar File 770 posts on the subject in years past, and using my highly-refined statistical skills gained while acquiring my Master’s degree from Cattimothy U*, here is a comparison of the deadlines and availability dates of recent Worldcons.

Because what the hell, we’ve got time to kill. And a year from now, someone is going to ask about this again, the way they do every year.

Notes:

  • In 2008 and 2009, the Hugo Voter Packet was put together by John Scalzi
  • In 2012, the Hugo Voter Packet was released in stages starting on May 18, becoming fully available on May 30
  • In 2008, 2010-2015, and 2018, the Finalist Announcements were made on Easter weekend

Timing Observations:

  • Aussiecon 4 in 2010 had online nominations available the earliest, on January 1.
  • Renovation in 2011 and Loncon 3 in 2014 had online nominations available the longest, at 82 days.
  • Chicon 7 in 2012 and Renovation were the Worldcons which had online voting up and running the fastest, at 2 and 5 days following the announcement of the Finalists.
  • Chicon 7 had online voting available the longest, at 113 days.
  • Denvention 3 in 2008 and Renovation were the Worldcons which had the Hugo Voter Packet available the most quickly, at 3 and 4 weeks following the Finalist announcement.


1 – days between online nominations becoming available and nomination deadline
2 – days between nomination deadline and finalist announcement
3 – days between finalist announcement and online voting becoming available
4 – days between finalist announcement and Hugo Voter Packet becoming available
5 – days between online voting becoming available and voting deadline
6 – days between voting deadline and the start of Worldcon


While you’re waiting for the Hugo Voter Packet, here’s a list of links to read the 2021 Hugo Finalists which are available for free online.

*The Camestros Felapton University for Beating Statistical Horses Until They Are Thoroughly Dead

How DisCon III Memberships Match Up To Other Recent Worldcons

After DisCon III, the 2021 Worldcon, shared their membership update last month it seemed reasonable to guess that the coronavirus pandemic is creating a lot of suspense and having a dampening effect on fans joining DC. Just how true is that and how severe is the effect?

The Dublin 2019 and CoNZealand chairs agreed to furnish benchmark numbers from late in the year before their cons to make the comparison.

WORLDCONDublin 2019 11/30/18CoNZealand 12/28/19DisCon III 11/20/20
ATTENDING375116731535
SUPPORTING669730635
TOTAL442024032170

Dublin 2019 chair James Bacon commented about their November membership totals: “I’m still astounded and how we got to our final figure. This is indicative of something else though, fans especially local fans really came on board late.” Dublin finished with 6,525 attending and 8,430 total members.

Even so, Dublin 2019’s trajectory is in general what might be expected from a large Worldcon in ordinary times.

As for CoNZealand, South Pacific Worldcons (Aussiecon 2, 3, and 4, and CoNZealand) as a class are the four smallest Worldcons of the past 35 years. However, CoNZealand was by far the largest of that group, finishing with 2,685 attending and 1,939 supporting members, a total of 4,624. As much as the committee would have preferred a primarily in-person con, going virtual did not keep CoNZealand from surpassing the 2010 Aussiecon stats.

Since a U.S. Worldcon in ordinary times would be on track for high attendance, the effects of the pandemic seem evident from this comparison, and don’t come as a surprise.   

Dern — File 770’s Dublin 2019 Coverage

BY DANIEL DERN: Between September 2017 and mid-July 2020 (when I very-belatedly filed my own final Dublin 2019 report), File770 had, according to my searches and calculations, roughly 90 “Scrolls” (posts) either completely about, or with “Items” (sections) relating to the August 15-19 Dublin 2019 Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention).

This included roughly thirty dedicated Scrolls with 300+ photos and roughly 12,000 words of reports (not counting comment wordage, nor this post’s) from various Filers (Chris Barkley, Cora Buhlert, yours truly, Hampus Eckerman, and Rich Lynch), some of who sported Media ribbons that gave us front-row (and line-skipping) access to events and sessions. We covered a mix of official stuff like the opening press conference, the Masquerade, panels and readings, and the Closing Ceremonies, along with pictures of fans schmoozing, wearing hall costumes, buying books, and having fun, and of and around the fair city of Dublin.

The other sixty dedicated-to-Worldcon Scrolls and non-dedicated Scrolls with one or more Worldcon-related items included everything from announcements and reminders (Hugo voting deadlines, “Program is posted!”) — of interest not only to Attending (going to/at the convention) and Supporting (can vote for Hugos) members, and to the generally-curious, along with reports regarding and from Hugo and WSFS (World Science Fiction Society) planning and meetings, along with meet-up plans, restaurant guides… and yet more reports, plus links to other reports posted to Facebook, peoples’ sites and blogs, and elsewhere. So not all might be considered “media coverage,” admittedly.

(And I’ve made some judgement calls, such as not including all of Hugo items where they weren’t also about or at the Con, and also haven’t factored comment content in.)

Here’s a list of File770’s coverage of (and from!) the Dublin 2019 Worldcon:

(If you feel I’ve omitted something that belongs, let Mike Glyer know.)

Thanks again to Mike Glyer for all the work he did getting all this into File770 — and to everybody else for there being stuff to write about, and for reading about it!

DUBLIN 2019 WORLDCON REPORTS AND PICTURES FROM FILERS:

From Chris Barkley:

From Cora Buhlert:

From Daniel Dern:

From Hampus Eckerman:

From Rich Lynch:

FULL LIST OF FILE770 DUBLIN 2019 WORLDCON COVERAGE (CHRONOLOGICALLY):

Again, if you think something’s missing, let Mike know.

The Art and Artistry of Dublin 2019

By Sara Felix, Iain Clark, and James Bacon: The Dublin 2019 team have continued to work on a number of matters, even though the Worldcon is now a fond memory, and one of the projects that captured their imagination was having a record of the Art and Artistry that occurred for and at Dublin 2019 An Irish Wolrdcon. 

Sara Felix, James Bacon and Iain Clark have worked with Serena Culfeather from the Dublin 2019 Art Show and a host of brilliant artists on a post con publication for a while now, looking at and celebrating the Art and Artistry of Dublin 2019. 

As the team did this themselves, they found out things they had missed!

If you follow this link, you can then download the 46-page electronic PDF of The Art and Artistry of Dublin 2019.  

We are so very grateful to all the amazing artists who allow us to share and enjoy their work, and brilliance.  While we celebrate them, they brought so much to Dublin 2019 and we hope that as you enjoy this, you pursue and look for more of their fabulous work. 

We hope you enjoy it. 

Dern: My Final Report From the
Dublin 2019 Worldcon

By Daniel Dern:

AKA — Spider Sings! Timothy, Is That You? Hampus In My Mind

With just shy of fortnight to go before the CoNZealand 2020 Worldcon starts up as I dispatch this to OGH (Our Gracious Host at File 770), here’s my final report from/for the Dublin 2019 Worldcon, saving the best for last.

(1) SPIDER ROBINSON IN CONCERT! Spider Robinson was at the convention… and while he wasn’t on any panels, readings or talks (that I know of), he was listed for and did a concert.

Inaugurating File 770’s new YouTube channel is Spider Robinson, singing The Beatles’ “I Should Have Known Better” — enjoy!

His set included singing some songs, reciting some lyrics/poems he had written over the years but not set to music, talking, and being joined on stage at some point by a few other musicians. (One other of my pictures from this concert was in my, cough, previous Dublin 2019 report.)

Spider sang a handful of Beatles tunes — In addition to “I Should Have Known Better,” he also did “Yesterday” and “Till There Was You” (which was from Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man), and also a non-moptopper, Jake Thackray’s “Isabel Makes Love Upon National Monuments”. (See Jake’s video  here).  

His recitation/readings of things-not(yet?)-set-to-music included “When I Heard You Sing the Blues in The Dark,” “North Mountain Crazies,” and “What Lasts.”

Showing I had clearly not learned my lesson from the press conference that preceded Dublin 2019’s official opening — namely, when you’ve got a video recorder with more than enough capacity, start rolling and keep rolling (that press conference turned into a rollicking, informative discussion by the panel’s long-memory fans. Yes, Chris Garcia got audio, which he posted to Journey Planet.) Memo to future con planners – please video events like these!

Foolishly, I didn’t keep “rolling tape,” so I can’t give you Spider’s own origin story of how he got into writing science fiction, began selling to Analog, etc.

But I did record several (specifically, the songs and recitations named above), and (after searching my photos, web-sussing LinkedIn and Facebook and even here at File 770 — where I found a key breadcrumb in one of Chris Barkley’s Dublin posts,  “Barkley — So Glad You (Didn’t) Ask — Special Irish Worldcon Edition, Day Five” — followed by a modest email back-and forth), Spider has graciously granted permission (to post one video and also this quote): “Sure, what the hell.  Permission granted.  I’m amazed someone recorded it, and kinda look forward to seeing it.”

So, thanks, Spider, for singing and permitting! (And to Stephan and Colin for helping sort out and confirm said permission.)

(2) A FINAL PHOTO GALLERY: TIMOTHY? AND TOAST. Here are two more photos from Sunday and Monday, in no particular order:

(Fewer than I’d originally intended to include here, but I looked back and saw that several were already in my Monday, August 19, 2019 post.)

  • A White Cat (probably not Timothy) near the Convention Center:

From the Closing Ceremonies: Here’s one more picture, in addition to the ones in my previous Dublin Worldcon post:

  • A toast to all who helped:

(3) HAMPUS ON (IN) MY MIND. An item submitted to File 770 in early September 2019, which OGH suggested would be best as a comment to something. That didn’t happen, but I hung onto it. Here it is. (I’ve added some slight clarifications to my original, [in square-brackets].)

@Hampus — perhaps in part because, since we met during [this] WorldCon, I now know what you look like — you had a brief non-speaking cameo in one of my dreams a night or two ago. We were [in my dream] at some Worldcon event [in the Con’s main auditorium where the Masquerade and other events were done, in the upper level — see the room-full-of-people picture below]. You were a few rows back, I was going to go say hi, but then the event started… and then, it being a dream, cue dream equivalent of a jump cut to some other scene. But it was clearly you.

And once again, thanks to Dublin 2019 Worldcon — the committee, the staff(s), program participants, volunteers, hucksters, the good folks at the Convention Center and other venues, Dublin, and, of course, attending and supporting members.

And with that, I conclude my final final Dublin 2019 Worldcon report.