Author: Kevin Standlee

2020 Worldcon Announces Virtual Convention Plans, Revised Rates

~ Kevin Standlee

As previously announced, CoNZealand, the 2020 Worldcon in Wellington, New Zealand, will be held online only due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In a statement posted on April 15, 2020 on their web site, CoNZealand has announced a collaboration with The Fantasy Network to host the virtual convention. CoNZeland has also reduced their attending membership rate to NZ$300 for an attending membership, with other rates also changed. An attending membership is required to participate in the online convention. Information about requesting refunds is also available on the CoNZealand web site.

Please contact CoNZealand through their web site with questions about their convention arrangements. Every Worldcon is independently organize. The Worldcon, WSFS, and Hugo Awards web sites do not operate any Worldcon.

Washington DC to Host 2021 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

Washington, DC, USA was selected as the site of the 2021 Worldcon by the members of the 2019 Worldcon in Dublin, Ireland. The unopposed bid from DC received 798 of the 878 votes cast. A full breakdown of the voting, including the write-in votes and the votes cast per day, is available in this document.

Worldcon 79 will be called DisCon III. The convention dates are August 25-29, 2021. Further information is available from the convention website.

UK in 2024 Worldcon Bid Selects Glasgow Venue

~ Kevin Standlee

The UK in 2024 Worldcon bid has announced that they have selected the
Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow (formerly known as the Scottish Exhibition & Convention Center) as the venue for their bid to host the 2024 Worldcon.

Under its previous name, the Glasgow SEC hosted the 1995 and 2005 Worldcons. According to the bid’s announcement, the venue “has seen considerable growth in the last few years, including new onsite hotels and reworking and expansion of the spaces inside the convention centre. The SEC has recently announced a further £200 million development plan to support the growth of conventions around the campus.”

The site of the 2024 Worldcon will be selected at the 2022 Worldcon. The formal launch of the bid will be at Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon, the 2019 Worldcon in Dublin, Ireland. For more information about the bid, see the Glasgow in 2024 website.

Voting Open for 2020 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

Voting has started for the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention. Worldcon 76 San Jose has published the 2020 Worldcon Site Selection ballot on their web site and distributed it to their members, according to an announcement on their web site.

Members of Worldcon 76 in San Jose, California are eligible to vote on the site of the 2020 Worldcon upon payment of a $50 Advance Supporting Membership (“Voting”) Fee. This fee purchases a supporting (voting) membership in the 2020 Worldcon, regardless of who wins or how you vote. It is unrelated to any “pre-supporting memberships” (donations paid to any bid committees). Members can vote before the convention through conventional paper mail by printing the ballot and mailing it with payment, or they can e-mail a signed PDF of their ballot, or they can vote at the convention. Payment mailed in advance must be by check or money order in US dollars. If voting by e-mail or paying by credit card, members can purchase a “voting token” from the Worldcon 76 membership web site using the instructions published on the ballot. If voting at the convention, payment can be by cash, check, or credit card in US Dollars. You can also designate someone else to deliver your ballot to the convention on your behalf.

Voting in advance closes August 11, 2018. Worldcon 76 must receive your ballot by that date. (Postmark date does not count.) Voting at the convention opens on the afternoon of Thursday, August 16, 2018 and closes at 6 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Saturday, August 18, 2018.

Bids for future Worldcons are listed on the Worldcon Bids page. One bid qualified for the 2020 Worldcon Site Selection by filing the required documents with Worldcon 76: New Zealand in 2020. However, World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) rules allow for write-in votes and votes for “None of the Above,” and should no qualified bid receive a majority of the votes cast, the WSFS Business Meeting will select a committee to host the 2020 convention.

The results of the election will be announced at the WSFS Business Meeting on the morning of Sunday, August 19, 2018.

Dublin to Host 2019 Worldcon

~ Kevin Standlee

Dublin, Ireland will be the site of the 2019 Worldcon (Worldcon 77). In the site selection vote at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Dublin, running unopposed, received the overwhelming majority of the votes cast.

The 77th Worldcon will be known as Dublin 2019 – An Irish Worldcon. The convention will take place at the Convention Centre Dublin. The Guests of Honor will include Bill and Mary Burns, Diane Duane, Ginjer Buchanan, Ian McDonald, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, and Steve Jackson. For further details of the convention see their website.

2021 Worldcon Bids: Boston Out, DC In

~ Kevin Standlee

Two bids for the 2021 Worldcon made announcements on June 12, 2017, with one bid folding its tent and another one launching.

A proposed Boston in 2021 bid announced that they were “not able to find affordable, workable space for 2021” and have decided not to bid after all.

Meanwhile, The Baltimore-Washington Area Worldcon Association (BWAWA) announced that they will bid for Washington DC in 2021. This bid was originally announced for 2024 but has been changed its bid to 2021.

For more information about Worldcon bids, see the Worldcon bidding page.