Do not look directly into the eyes of the World Science Fiction Society.

January 29, 2015 8:40 AM

Worldcon is the "world science fiction convention." It's been around in one way or another since 1939 and is typically hosted at a different existing convention every year. (The Hugo awards are voted on by Worldcon members.) Last year it was in London; this year in Spokane. To get the event hosted at your convention, there is an elaborate bidding process. There is a long tradition of hoax con bids (which sometimes take on a life of their own, as in this Westercon story). The latest in the tradition: Nightvale Worldcon. If you have further questions regarding the bid, please contact the Help Desk with your bloodstone.

Previously: Around the Worldcon, Hugo I Go We All Go to Worldcon.

posted by wintersweet (27 comments total)

Darn I was so eager to check out that Night Vale podcast but their YouTube link says it was taken down for copyright infringement or something??
posted by Mooseli at 9:11 AM on January 29, 2015

For the record, the Worldcon doesn't replace an existing convention in most cases. It's created anew each year by a different committee, usually with a different corporation behind it.
posted by eriko at 9:13 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

That website....and...those con names....I just...
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:23 AM on January 29, 2015

Darn I was so eager to check out that Night Vale podcast but their YouTube link says it was taken down for copyright infringement or something??

If you want to listen to the podcast on YouTube, you can now do so on their official channel.
posted by Shmuel510 at 9:24 AM on January 29, 2015

I see a great need for The Last Alternate Worldcons.
posted by Zed at 9:31 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Eriko, true, but sometimes the local crew is exhausted and, for example, canceled like the Philcon after the 2001 Worldcon in Philadelphia.
posted by Blackanvil at 9:35 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

For the record, the Worldcon doesn't replace an existing convention in most cases. It's created anew each year by a different committee, usually with a different corporation behind it.

Oops, I knew I was going to mess up something. I have yet to get a chance to attend a Worldcon. (In the next few years, I hope.)
posted by wintersweet at 10:16 AM on January 29, 2015

Coincidently I'm wearing my Helsinki in 2017 t-shirt. If you want a chance to have the Worldcon in Europe, this is your next change.

Want to be able to vote on site selection during this year's con for 2017? Make sure to become a supporting or full member of Sasquan, this year's Worldcon.

(Other candidates are boring old Washington DC (nice people though), Montreal (ibid) or Japan (ditto).)

After that, it's Dublin in 2019.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:24 AM on January 29, 2015

And if you'd like to vote for the Hugo ballot/shortlist and aren't yet a member of Sasquan nor were a member of Loncon3, you got until, erm, Saturday to become one so that you can vote. The nomination deadline itself is March 10.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:26 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

I am almost certain that this website is not from the actual creators of NightVale, but is instead the work of fans.
posted by dejah420 at 10:46 AM on January 29, 2015

I'm sure it says somewhere that it's a fan effort, but I can't seem to find it now.
posted by wintersweet at 10:48 AM on January 29, 2015

wintersweet: "I'm sure it says somewhere that it's a fan effort, but I can't seem to find it now."

A lot of their language uses inclusive pronouns; we, us, ours, etc. They are clearly trying to give the impression that it *is* a Nightvale thing. Which only seemed weird when I got to the "donate" button. (Currently disabled.) At which point, I found the site to be problematic.
posted by dejah420 at 10:56 AM on January 29, 2015

Really? It's a group thing, so why wouldn't they use those pronouns?

I also think that many of the names listed here are actual people, rather than Night Vale characters, and names like Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor are not there. That should make it fairly obvious that it's not an official Night Vale thing.

I don't have any comment on the nonfunctioning Donate button. (Since it's nonfunctioning...)
posted by wintersweet at 11:04 AM on January 29, 2015

It did not occur to me for a moment that anybody would have taken this as an official site from the makers of the podcast. It is very, very obviously a fan creation, and clearly meant to be taken as such.
posted by Shmuel510 at 11:05 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

In order to raise money, bid committees started selling "presupporter" memberships. Then one of them got the clever idea of selling "preopposer" memberships, people who contribute money and promise to vote against the bid.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 12:04 PM on January 29, 2015

Is it too late to propose that the 2020 worldcon be held in Germany in 1933?
posted by blue_beetle at 1:46 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Currently the 2020 race is hotly contested between Boston (at Christmas) and Providence.

The non-hoax bid for 2020 is New Zealand. A current list of Worldcon bids is here.
posted by penguinliz at 4:59 PM on January 29, 2015

It did not occur to me for a moment that anybody would have taken this as an official site from the makers of the podcast. It is very, very obviously a fan creation, and clearly meant to be taken as such.

I made the first comment about the website. I know nothing about Worldcon, followed the first link "worldcon" and was taken to a site called worldcon.org, how was I to think that it was anything other than an official website. I guess i'm just an internet rube.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:46 PM on January 29, 2015

Was stunned to see this post was not by MartinWisse.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:11 PM on January 29, 2015

OHenryPacey, I believe dejah420 is speaking of the main focus of the post, which is the joke site nightvaleworldcon.org. Shmuel510 is, presumably, replying to me and dejah420 about nightvaleworldcon.org.

The very first link, worldcon.org, is indeed the official website for Worldcon.
posted by wintersweet at 8:25 PM on January 29, 2015

Yup.
posted by Shmuel510 at 9:03 PM on January 29, 2015

Wait wait wait... what? This is going to be held in SPOKANE this year?

Holy crap!

Any mefites wanting to make the pilgrimage (Portland and Seattle, I'm looking at you, maybe Vancouver also) we could entirely do a meetup.

Spokane has a lovely convention center, a brand new hotel (that is scheduled to open in Summer 2015), a really amazingly lovely historic hotel (a bit of a hike to the convention center, but not THAT far), lots of fascinating stuff in a downtown that has revitalized itself in the past decade (I've watched it happen), lots of varied food across the concentrated downtown area which is very walkable...

(The convention is $190, maybe more? Well, yeah, I'd still go. Looks fascinating!

MeMail me if you might be interested... Enough interested and I'll post an IRL.
posted by hippybear at 1:00 AM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Ah, con membership goes up to $210 Feb 1.

I'd still go. I mean, it's RIGHT HERE!
posted by hippybear at 1:03 AM on January 30, 2015

Yeah, I kind of want to go to the Spokane one myself, but we're already making a PNW trip in June, so the timing is terrible. Also, it's actually after the fall semester starts for us. :/
posted by wintersweet at 8:01 AM on January 30, 2015

Last Worldcon I went to was as a teen in Atlanta in 1986. Be nice if 2016 is in the DC area so I can make a 30th anniversary (well, for me) return.

I happened to be walking around the sales floor on the first day with someone we knew in Miami who ran small cons there. We turn a corner and he says "oh hi Ray." We then stood and chatted with Ray Bradbury for five minutes, who was a super nice guy. If he was just suffering the penalties of fame he gave no indication.

It's hard in some ways to remember how different being a fan was thirty years ago. Not just because of my beer-pickled brain; we had such a different relationship with creators then, or even ten years ago. These cons were the only way to get something slightly closer to actual interaction with these folks, a marginal improvement over magazine interviews or profiles (if they ever happened). Now you might very well tweet back and forth with them, read their blog posts, watch them interact back and forth with other creatives. In some ways the internet is a daily collection of panel discussions.
posted by phearlez at 9:01 AM on January 30, 2015

... and the reflection off my bloodstone clearly caused me to misread that it's 2017 up for grabs not 2016. Oh well. I'll have to buy a voting membership for 2016 so I can support boring old DC.
posted by phearlez at 9:14 AM on January 30, 2015

thanks for the clarification wintersweet. I am actually stoked that this is happening nearby this summer and will try to take my son if we can swing it.
posted by OHenryPacey at 10:38 AM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]