Seattle2011 LiveJournal Feed

Thursday I will be in Philadelphia on my way to PHILCON 2008,  Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill NJ.

 

I was last in Philadelphia for Millenium PhilCon, the 2001 World Science Fiction Convention. Greg Bear was GoH. He wanted strong using SF in the classroom programming. I headed Developing the Young Reader and Educator’s Saturday. The staff included.

 

Developing the Young Reader was possible because local fen plus people from Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Texas and other places worked. together.

 

Seattle-in-2011 Worldcon bid will have a table and a party. I hope to see old friends.

 

  

 

AmaZed and CorfluZed (PDF) is the first progress report of Corflu Zed, which will be held in Seattle next March. Corflu is a fanzine con, and so this progress report includes an article reprinted from the Seattle fanzine Cry of the Nameless, whose staff were also involved in putting on the 1961 Worldcon in Seattle.

Hey folks,  I printed some of your b&w flyers and dropped them on the info table at Gaylaxicon this weekend and talked up your bid parties to anyone who hadn't attended Denvention... but FYI: Reno was actually there and ran a party in the con suite Sunday night.

I saw on the Seattle 2011 website that there is going to be a table and a party at the con, and I was wondering who was coming up. I'll be at the hotel from Thursday to Sunday.

Where will you be in the future?

In my neck of the woods we have Loscon on Thanksgiving weekend coming up.

The Endeavour Award is for "a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author or authors and published in the previous year." This year's nominees have been announced:

• The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari
  
• Bright of the Sky: Book One of the Entire and the Rose by Kay Kenyon
  
• Not Flesh Nor Feathers by Cherie Priest
  
• Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin
  
• The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper
  

The winners will be announced at Orycon 30 in November.

And now a plug: I got to read all five of these, plus many other fine books, for free as an Endeavour Award volunteer! And you could be one for next year's award!

In order to pick the nominees from all the books submitted for the award, each book has to be read and scored by 7 different people. With more and more books submitted each year, there is a need for more and more people to help read them. If you are a Portland-area resident with a taste for a wide range of sf, why not contact the Endeavour committee and volunteer to read a few books?

Here are my WorldCon pictures, mostly from the Saturday Seattle in 2011 bid party.
 
                                             

Cheryl has some interesting thoughts on Denvention. Others have posted information that is good for us to be aware of... please take a look at http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/?p=1588

I found Cheryl's evaluation to be concise and informative and I think you will too!
I found some of the comments VERY interesting:

This is snipped from Vincent Docherty's comments

When I last asked the committee, I was told D3’s warm body count was about 3700, including day/kids, but we’ll get the final figures in due course.

I was asked about Denvention’s low numbers by a few people. I found it useful to start with Mark Olson’s rule of thumb about where Worldcon members come from:
- the regulars who attend most Worldcons, regardless of location (and who usually participate in the Hugos and site selection)
- travelling fans within a day’s drive
- local fans

That model predicts that Worldcons in cities with small catchment areas and few population centres within a day’s drive (or equivalent in Europe) will tend to have a lower membership total, and vice versa. I suspect there is some truth in that model, and comparing the city and metropolitan populations of Denver with Chicago/Boston/LA seem to show some correlation. Of course there will be other factors such as how well the committee engage with local fan groups, students etc.

The 2008 Hugo Awards were given out at Denvention onSaturday, August 9, 2008. The Master of Ceremony was Wil McCarthy.

 

 

Novel: The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon(HarperCollins; Fourth Estate)

 

Novella: "All Seated on the Ground" by Connie Willis(Asimov's Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)

 

Novelette: "The Merchant and the Alchemist'sGate" by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007)

 

Short Story: "Tideline" by Elizabeth Bear(Asimov's June 2007)

 

Non-fiction Book: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionaryof Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)

 

Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust Written byJane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Illustratedby Charles Vess Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)

 

Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Doctor Who"Blink" Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)

 

Professional Editor, Long Form: David Hartwell

 

Professional Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder(F&SF)

 

Professional Artist: Stephan Martiniere

 

Semiprozine: Locus, edited by Charles N. Brown, KirstenGong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi

 

Fanzine: File 770

 

Fan Writer: John Scalzi

 

Fan Artist: Brad Foster

 

Campbell Award: Mary Robinette Kowal

 

 

 

Photo of Statue:  <ahref="http://www.denvention3.org/images/08hugophoto.small.jpg">http://www.denvention3.org/images/08hugophoto.small.jpg</a>

 

Full Voting Breakdown: http://www.denvention3.org/hugos/Final-Report.pdf

 

 

 

 

Laurie Mann

Denvention Hugo Award Ceremony Co-Head and Webmaster

The Seattle in 2011 bid would like to invite you to join us at Denvention, the 66th Worldcon. We will have parties each of the 4 nights of the convention and of course a table in the Colorado Convention Center. During the day we will most likely be out and about volunteering or prepping for the nightly festivities but feel free to knock on the Suite door (on the 22rd floor of the Sheraton hotel) if you would like to chat.

Yesterday’s tomorrow: A Steampunk Adventure
Wednesday Aug 6 through Friday Aug 8 from 9pm to 1am

You, our intrepid explorer, boldly adventuring into the unknown, seeking golden cities, mysterious artifacts, fame and glory find a wonderful place to relax, unwind and share a bite with other explorers. Your explorations continue, as sample tasty treats from the Pacific Northwest and share stories with other explorers. While you are here, share a taste of our no-bake apple pie, or a “Van Gogh’s Breakfast” made with Absinthe. Be present at midnight and your wishes for glory, gold or at least a gift may come true if your number is drawn for a door prize.


After the Hugo’s Decadent Desserts
Saturday Aug 9 from 10pm to 1am

The Imperial Ministry of Insanity wishes to invite you to join us in celebration as we prepare to embark on our latest extraordinary adventure. We prepare our hearts for our yearlong journey to the far off realm of Anticipation. Festivities will begin at 10 pm on Saturday, August 9, on the 22rd floor of the Sheraton hotel. Desserts and libations will be served. Be present at midnight and your wishes for glory, gold or at least a gift may come true if your number is drawn for a door prize.

OMG a Steam Clock


Incorporating a steam engine and electric motors, the clock displays the time on four faces and announces the quarter hours with a whistle chime that plays the Westminster Quarters.

This is one of the coolest artistic endevours I have seen: The Brass Goggles write up is here: http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/?p=913

The French group Les Machines de l'Ile is found at: http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/english/index.html

This group creates working machines straight from the mind of Jules Verne or Leonardo di Vinci -- spectacular mechanical devices on a HUGE scale