Tag Archives: Worldcon 75

Livestream Hugo Ceremony on YouTube

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Catch it here — at 19:30 EEST time (9:30 PDT).

The Hugo Awards Ceremony is the absolutely unmissable event at Worldcon 75! Come join Toastmistress Karen Lord and presenters from around the world to be the first to hear who has won the most prestigious awards in science fiction!

Update: Livestream not working. But realtime transcription of what people are saying is here — https://121captions.1capapp.com/event/hugoawards

 

YA Award Passes

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The proposed YA Award (unnamed) passed 65-27 at the Worldcon 75 business meeting on August 11.

A motion to name the YA Award the “Lodestar” also passed, subject to ratification next year.

However, there was also a ruling that the name cannot be retroactive. So for the first year it will run as simply the YA Award.

Coverage of the business meeting debates can be found on Alex Acks’ blog, and a concise summary of today’s progress through the agenda has been reported by Kevin Standlee.

Filer Meetup at Belge Bar & Bistro

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Courtesy of Eric Wong, here are photos of Thursday’s File 770 meetup at Belge Bar & Bistro in Helsinki. (The last shot is from the place’s own website.) Identifications to come, hopefully.

Update: Hampus Eckerman identified the Filers in the first photo, going clockwise around the table: Björn Eckerman, NickPheas, Heather Rose Jones, Anna Feruglio Dal Dan, Kendall, Chad Saxelid, Greg Hullender, Jonas Eckerman.

Second Day of Worldcon 75

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BARBARIANS AT THE GATES

OVERCROWDING

JJ sent a link with this comment:

Lots of complaints on Twitter again today of people not getting to see panels… long queues (in one case, 400 for a room holding 60); people are required to vacate the room after each panel, so no chance of getting back into the same room or most any other room, either; some people are reporting only getting a panel every other session, spending the alternate sessions standing in a queue for an hour; some people report not being able to get into ANY of the panels they want to see.

They have made arrangements with Messekeskus to move some of the programming to larger rooms.

https://twitter.com/kc_shaw/status/895701819237822464

I suppose if you’re a Lego astronaut, it’s easy to find space.

PROGRAM

https://twitter.com/davidsuculum/status/895611545983569920

https://twitter.com/Books_Pieces/status/895638811128025088

CLIPPING

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN SIGNING

https://twitter.com/dreamingofblogi/status/895735294825308160

Today I cueued for 90 minutes for the privilege to talk to GRRM for a few moments.

Me: “Did you already read Tad Williams’ new Osten Ard novels?”

GRRM: “No but I intend to. Are they as good as the old ones? I love the old ones.”

Me: “For me they are.”

GRRM: “Great to hear.”

 

RIBBONS

https://twitter.com/Sahhmi/status/895668732328128512

I RECOGNIZE THEM

https://twitter.com/SkiffyandFanty/status/895733104001904640

VOLUNTEERS

ROBERT SILVERBERG HAS ATTENDED EVERY HUGO AWARDS CEREMONY

PARTIES

https://twitter.com/LeonardonRasia/status/895719766316527616

IMPATIENCE

MULTI-TASKER

https://twitter.com/kc_shaw/status/895700658510331906

SARTORIAL SPLENDOR

https://twitter.com/SayaLF/status/895704817649242112

COMING ATTRACTIONS

DIGEST FORM

WORLDCON 75 PROGRAM ON YOUTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT_U7RhKFr-If4pusZY6g8A/videos

Worldcon 75 Closes Membership Sales

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The Worldcon 75 committee was unprepared for the turnout on the convention’s first day and has responded to numerous complaints about overcrowding and inability to attend program items by announcing the “Closure of membership sales”:

The first day of Worldcon 75 has seen repeated problems with the capacity of our programme rooms, which have led to people being unable to get into items that they have wanted to see. We apologise to our members for this, and deeply regret the disappointment that this has caused.

The overcrowding has resulted from unexpectedly high membership and day pass sales in the last few weeks – a remarkable success for the first Worldcon to be held in Finland, but one that has caused serious and unforeseen logistical issues today.

We are therefore taking steps to reduce the problems. With immediate effect, we are closing the advance sales of day-passes and all attending memberships. We are sorry that this will disappoint potential attendees over the rest of the convention, but believe that our obligation to those who have already paid to attend the convention must come first.

Recognising that not everyone will have the opportunity to see this announcement before arriving at Messukeskus to pay for admission on the door, we will still offer a very limited number of day passes (100) on each of the remaining four days of the convention. However, this limit will be closely managed to avoid further exacerbating the problems.

The Trade Hall will continue to be accessible to the public without charge as has always been Worldcon 75’s intention. However, if the numbers in that area approach the safety limits, we will again take action to prioritise the existing membership and close public access to the Trade Hall.

In addition, we are in urgent discussions with the management of Messukeskus to obtain further programme space within the venue, which will become available over Thursday and Friday.

By limiting any potential further increase in numbers, and by creating additional space for programme items, we believe that we can alleviate the issues experienced today, and allow our members to enjoy all that Worldcon 75 has to offer.

Opening Day of Worldcon 75

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It’s already happened! Here are highlights, and some issues that have come up.

OPENING CEREMONIES

POPULAR PROGRAMS

https://twitter.com/CherylMorgan/status/895277051061686272

CROWDING ISSUES

https://twitter.com/charliejane/status/895243246951071744

https://twitter.com/ThornCoyle/status/895306015205228544

https://twitter.com/loanndra/status/895347523832991745

ONE REASON FOR SEATING SHORTAGE?

EXHIBITS

RIBBONS

https://twitter.com/raekahillock/status/895334239222112257

https://twitter.com/INeedNewHobbies/status/895277377193988097

A PARTY

BIDDING

CLIPPING

https://twitter.com/SSuvereeni/status/895271471962050560

Filer Meetup #1 at Worldcon 75

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Greg Hullender says of today’s Filer meetup at Worldcon 75, “It was a fun event, full of smiles and laughter.”

Eric Wong snapped these photos of the group:

Hampus Eckerman identified the group — going around clockwise:

  • Hampus Eckerman (who has his arms over his head in both photos)
  • My father Björn
  • Cora Buhlert
  • Heather Rose Jones
  • Chad Saxelid
  • Sylvia Sotomayor
  • Kendall
  • Greg Hullender
  • My brother Jonas
  • Greg Machlin
  • Ingvar

Greg Hullender identified people in the second photo:

  • Hampus Eckerman
  • His father Björn
  • Kendall
  • Heather Rose Jones
  • Chad Saxelid
  • Cora Buhlert
  • Sylvia Sotomayor
  • Greg Hullender
  • Jonas Eckerman (Hampus’s brother)
  • Greg Machlin
  • Ingvar
  • Rick Moen

2019 Site Selection: Validating Postal Votes

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[Facing]: Johan Anglemark, Mark Linneman, Eemeli Aro, Emma England. [Opposite] Paul Taylor, Ben Yalow, Kate Secor.

By James Bacon: (Chair of the Dublin in 2019 bid). I’m observing the postal vote process. The administrator and the team are assisted by members of the Dublin in 2019 team and committee, people from six countries are taking part. Walter Jon Williams has joined us for a few moments, as I look on. Neutral separators are handling and ensuring it’s all correctly managed.  Worldcon 75 staff check against, their data and the level attention to detail and slow and steady methodical progress is taken seriously. The integrity of the procedure is impressive and I’m stunned at the knowledge of those here who deal with inevitable errors that may have occurred.

Here with me from the Dublin Team are Emma England, Ben Yalow and Paul Taylor. The bids are welcome and indeed expected to help and participate in the whole process, everything is run by volunteers, although this is something I have not done before and it feels like we are momentarily connected to people from far-flung places who want to participate in the decision-making process of who will get to host the Worldcon in 2019.

From Worldcon 75 there is Kate Secor, Michael Lee, Eemeli Aro, Mark Linneman and Johan Anglemark.

The large stack of envelopes is impressive and I’m allowed to photograph some of the stamps which I like. I love post and in many ways this is fabulous post.

Post has arrived at the US address from New Zealand, Germany, Canada and of course United States. The votes arriving at the Helsinki are even more varied with votes from Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, New Zealand, and Germany.

The process takes over two hours but the atmosphere is lovely and it’s an amazing thing to see the mechanics of this process which has existed in this form since 1983.

Science Fiction has permeated so much of our culture that some of the stamps used have particular relevance and make me smile.

More votes will be hand-carried and passed to the voting table from tomorrow and then of course everyone present here is entitled to vote.

 

Worldcon 75 Approaches the Starting Gate

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  • Not exactly a secret:

  • Program decisions

  • Filer Greg Machlin

  • Convention registration

  • Say it ain’t so, Joe!

  • Nap time already?

https://twitter.com/whami/status/894973252740755457

  • No, you may not. 😉

Pixel Scroll 8/8/17 Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Scrolls Of Summer

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(1) THE FLAG IS UP. Kevin Standlee and other selected members of Worldcon 75 attended a reception hosted at the Helsinki City Hall to welcome Worldcon to the city.

Worldcon Reception at City Hall

(2) INDEPENDENCE DAY. Did you notice that Hoboken, New Jersey, is a sovereign country now? At least, it has a line of its own in Worldcon 75’s membership update, just like the Vatican City State.

(3) STAR TREK FAN FILM ACADEMY. “Post-Axanar, CBS unveils first official fan filmmaking initiative in Trek history” – ArsTechnica has the story.

After pushing a nearly year-and-a-half copyright battle with fan filmmakers toward a settlement earlier this year, CBS and Star Trek New Voyages Producer James Cawley announced the creation of a Star Trek Film Academy equipped to train interested creators and produce future fan films.

This marks the first official, CBS-sanctioned fan filmmaking effort in Trek‘s 50-plus year history. The academy will start business in the fall with the first films expected in Spring 2018. Unlike prior Trek fan films or those made under newly announced guidelines, films done through the Star Trek Film Academy will be able to employ people who’ve worked on professional Trek productions.

These Academy fans and films will also have access to the New Voyages sets and facilities [on Ticonderoga, NY]. New Voyages is a fan-made Web series Cawley helmed from 2008 through 2015, creating about one episode per year. Though the series was not officially a CBS production, sets constructed for New Voyages became licensed as a “Studio Set Tour” beginning in July 2016. Throughout its run, New Voyages featured contributions from major Trek players like George Takei (reprising his role as Sulu) and Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. (as a producer).

(4) LOVE FOR DRAGON AWARD NOMINEES. Congratulatory posts show where some of the nominees have their strongest support.

Inkshares for one:

Congratulations to the Five Inkshares Authors Nominated for the 2017 Dragon Awards!

DragonCon, the pop culture, fantasy, sci-fi, and gaming convention based in Atlanta, has announced their round of 2017 nominations for the coveted Dragon Awards. Previous winners include Terry Pratchett, Naomi Novik, and Neil Gaiman.

This year a whopping five Inkshares authors have been nominated! These talented authors will be representing Inkshares in their respective categories and we couldn’t be more proud!

And the Conservative-Libertarian Fiction Alliance for another:

“Multiple CLFA Authors on Final Ballot for 2017 Dragon Awards”

In only its second incarnation, the Dragon Awards have already shot to prominence as one of Science Fiction/Fantasy’s most consequential fan-powered awards. Here at CLFA, we are bursting with pride at the significant number of our members who have reached the Finalist stage of the contest. Scroll down to see which CLFA’ers made the cut; click on any book cover to read more and shop.

(5) ANOTHER COUNTY HEARD FROM. N.K. Jemisin seems to have learned about her Dragon Award nomination…today?

https://twitter.com/nkjemisin/status/894765262595006464

(6) CHANGING OF THE GUARD. BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow reports “Toronto’s amazing science fiction library, the Merril Collection, has a new head librarian”.

That new head librarian is Sephora Hosein, a “lifelong fan” who has vowed to bring in younger readers and a new generation of fandom by connecting the collection using “social media and programming for people who maybe love science fiction and fantasy, but never dove deep into fandom.”

I think Judy Merril would have loved this approach. I was trepidatious when I heard Lorna was stepping down as the library has been such a fixture in my life, but Ms Hosein sounds like a brilliant successor.

Hosein has taken the reins from longtime collection head Lorna Toolis, herself having moved from managing another formidable research collection — Toronto Public Library’s Canadiana Collection at the Toronto Reference Library.

Gregg Calkins in 2013: a photo from his old blog.

(7) CALKINS OBIT. Longtime fan Gregg Calkins died last week after suffering a fall. He was 82. Gregg got active in fandom in the Fifties and his fanzine Oopsla (1952-1961) is fondly remembered. He was living in the Bay Area and serving as the Official Editor of FAPA when I applied to join its waitlist in the Seventies. He was Fan GoH at the 1976 Westercon. Calkins later moved to Costa Rica. In contrast to most of his generation, he was highly active in social media, frequently posting on Facebook where it was his pleasure to carry the conservative side of debates.

He is survived by his wife, Carol.

(8) COMIC SECTION. John King Tarpinian found a real fish story in today’s Bizarro.

(9) THE MERCURY 13 STILL AIM FOR THE STARS. An early astronaut candidate, rejected for being female, may finally go into space: “This Pilot Is Headed To Space With Or Without NASA”.

Wally Funk has spent her life in pursuit of a dream. The pilot, flight instructor and almost-astronaut longs to go to outer space.

In 1961, she was part of a group of female pilots who took part in tests to determine whether women were fit for space travel. The project was run by the same doctor who developed tests for NASA astronauts and the women became known as the Mercury 13.

“I get a call said, ‘Do you want to be an astronaut?’ I said, ‘Oh my gosh, yes!’ And he said, ‘Be here on Monday to take these tests,’ ” the 78-year-old Funk recounted to her friend and flight student, Mary Holsenbeck, during a recent visit to StoryCorps in Dallas.

…. Funk bought a ticket for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic commercial spaceship and hopes to be on board its maiden voyage into space. Holsenbeck plans to be there, cheering Funk on when she finally blasts off.

(10) NEW VIEW. Using glass may be the best way to fix broken bones.

Thompson’s answer was to build the world’s first glass implant, moulded as a plate which slotted in under the patient’s eye into the collapsed orbital floor. The idea of using glass – a naturally brittle material – to repair something so delicate may seem counterintuitive.

But this was no ordinary glass.

“If you placed a piece of window glass in the human body, it would be sealed off by scar tissue, basically wobble around in the body for a while and then get pushed out,” says Julian Jones, an expert in bioglass at Imperial College London. “When you put bioglass in the body, it starts to dissolve and releases ions which kind of talk to the immune system and tell the cells what to do. This means the body doesn’t recognise it as foreign, and so it bonds to bone and soft tissue, creating a good feel and stimulating the production of new bone.”

For Thompson, the results were immediate. Almost instantaneously, the patient regained full vision, colour and depth perception. Fifteen years on, he remains in full health.

(11) STICKER SHOCK. Langford’s basilisks vs. AI: “The tiny changes that can cause AI to fail”.

The year is 2022. You’re riding along in a self-driving car on a routine trip through the city. The car comes to a stop sign it’s passed a hundred times before – but this time, it blows right through it.

To you, the stop sign looks exactly the same as any other. But to the car, it looks like something entirely different. Minutes earlier, unbeknownst to either you or the machine, a scam artist stuck a small sticker onto the sign: unnoticeable to the human eye, inescapable to the technology.

In other words? The tiny sticker smacked on the sign is enough for the car to “see” the stop sign as something completely different from a stop sign.

It may sound far-fetched. But a growing field of research proves that artificial intelligence can be fooled in more or less the same way, seeing one thing where humans would see something else entirely. As machine learning algorithms increasingly find their way into our roads, our finances, our healthcare system, computer scientists hope to learn more about how to defend them against these “adversarial” attacks – before someone tries to bamboozle them for real.

(12) STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. ScienceFiction.com transcribed the show’s new intro.

In case you didn’t catch it all, here is a transcript of Martin-Green’s narrations:

As we stand at the edge of an unknown universe, we know our greatest challenges lie before us, that our future is not bound by fear and that our mission is not to conquer, but to discover. That is our destiny, a destiny written in the stars. So, we boldly go where we have never gone before.

And yesterday CBS put out these brief videos of the crew and characters in the new series.

  • Our mission is not to conquer, but to discover.

  • Captain Philippa Georgiou of the U.S.S. Shenzhou

  • “We are creating a new way to fly.” -Captain Gabriel Lorca

  • “My people were biologically determined for one purpose alone: to sense the coming of death.” – Saru

  • Meet Voq!

(13) THOSE AREN’T BABY BUMPS. Nicole Weaver, in “‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Cast Reveals Why the Klingons Look So Different”, reveals, among other reasons, that these Kilingons have ESP!

  1. Klingons will have heightened senses because of their new features

According to the designer, Neville Page, the ridges act as extra-sensory receptors on the Klingons’ heads and backs. Per io9, this is because the Klingons are “apex predators” and would need this to make it to the top of the food chain. One of the Klingon actors, Mary Chieffo, went into detail about this new development.

Obviously the hair was the biggest thing people noticed, or the lack thereof. And I will attest to the fact there is a reason my ridge goes back the way it does. There are sensors and pheromones…There is a whole reasoning behind it that is adhering to what has always been true in Klingon canon…So I deeply believe we are in line with what has come before but is also adding a new kind of nuance.

(14) CAMEO. New York Mets pitcher “Noah Syndergaard was on ‘Game of Thrones.’ He died.” says NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra.

The Dodgers absolutely killed the Mets this past weekend. As they were collectively dying yesterday evening, Noah Syndergaard was dying individually over on HBO.

It was on “Game of Thrones,” which featured a blink-and-you’ll miss it cameo from Syndergaard as a member of the Lannister army. His big moment: he threw a spear and killed a horse. Best throw he’s had all year given the injuries that have sidelined him since April. He’s likely done for the season when it comes to baseball — he hasn’t started throwing yet — but he’ll never come back to Westeros, as he was burnt to death by a dragon. That’ll put a guy on the 60-day DL for sure.

(15) NOT THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE. Adweek finds the drumsticks are bigger in Georgia: “The Giant Chicken From KFC’s Marietta, Georgia, Store Springs to Life in W+K’s New Film”.

It’s not every day you get to see a building in the shape of a giant chicken, let alone one that can get up and walk away. But that’s the delightfully hallucinogenic conceit of a sweet little five-minute animated short from KFC and Wieden + Kennedy, celebrating the renovation of one of its marquee restaurants with a story of a little boy who befriends a roving animatronic fast-food store.

Marietta, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb, is home to The Big Chicken, a KFC franchise famous for its unusual architecture—namely, a towering, 56-foot-tall, angular red hen with mechanical eyes that roll in slow 360 degree circles, and a beak that opens and closes in sync, like some deranged obstacle in an 8-bit video game.

 

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, JJ, Andrew Porter, Chip Hitchcock, Mike Kennedy, Rich Lynch, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew.]