Contents Greetings from the Chair 4 2017 Site Selection Results 6 Guests of Honor 8 Membership 12 Hotels 13 Culture 16 Exhibits 19 Programming 21 Charity 22 Hugo Awards 25 Worldcon 76 in Helsinki 26 Call for Bids 29 Volunteer for Worldcon 30 Members List 32 Editor: Chris Castro Contributors: Ric Bretschneider, Christine Doyle, Jill Eastlake, Marsha Glassner, Diane Osborne, Kevin Roche, Kevin Standlee Graphic Design: JC Arkham Layout: Chris Castro “World Science Fiction Society”, “WSFS”, “World Science Fiction Convention”, “Worldcon”, “NASFiC”, “Hugo Award”, and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. From the Chair OK, here we go—the first Official Progress Report from Worldcon 76 in San Jose! The World Science Fiction Convention is, to me, the World’s Fair of fandom. No other event brings together fans and creators, regardless of genre or medium, under one “big tent” with the face-to-face intimacy of Worldcon. There are lots of big pop culture conventions (quite a few bigger than Worldcon), but none of them feature the “everybody creates this event together” culture that makes Worldcon such a unique international gathering. Just last month at Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland, I had the privilege of announcing our final two Guests of Honor, artist John Picacio and musician Frank Hayes, who join GoHs Spider Robinson, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Pierre and Sandy Pettinger, and our posthumous Ghost and gHost of Honor Edgar Pangborn and Bob Wilkins. We look forward to sharing their talents in person with you next August, and I’m sure they are working on cunning plans with my Program and Exhibits divisions already. Peruse this report to get a taste and feeling for what we’re preparing for you… Inside, you’ll find initial info about our location, our hotels, our events, our exhibits, our program plans and our take on Worldcon culture. Our theme is “Make The Future,” but our motto is Spectacular, Spectacular! Everyone on the committee is working to think outside of the box on ways to make Worldcon 76 a truly unique, enjoyable, and memorable experience for all members, fan and pro alike. When I put forward my name for consideration to chair, I knew it would be a tremendous amount of work. That is certainly true -- and few weeks go by where I am not surprised by some detail under the covers of convention management that would not be apparent to even a long-time attendee of Worldcon -- but 4 more importantly, I see the incredibly talented and dedicated people who’ve joined the team working to plan, design, and deal with the challenges of such a diverse event. It typically takes about 10% of the membership of a Worldcon to actually run it—I hope you’ll consider adding your talents to the mix in some fashion! “Make the Future” is a deliberate reference to the booming worldwide “maker culture,” which has strong roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. And it celebrates our deeper philosophical belief that it is by the choices we make together that we steer not only the fan community, but humanity in general, towards the brighter future we aspire to build. Please join with us to make that future! Kevin Roche aka [evil] Kevin* Conference Chair *If you’ve ever wondered about my [evil] nickname, it is short for “Evil Genius” and was acquired in the course of a long series of cunningly plotted and themed parties and events, and my penchant for building fiendishly useful contraptions such as my cocktail-making robot. I hope Worldcon 76 will be remembered as both a cunningly plotted event and a fiendishly useful contraption! 5 2018 Site Selection Results First Ballot Mail-in Wed Thurs Fri TOTAL New Orleans in 2018 49 74 176 295 594 San Jose in 2018 82 121 209 263 675 Winner None of the Above 1 0 3 0 4 Invalid Ballots 3 1 0 0 4 Xerps in 2010 0 2 0 0 2 Weehawken, NJ 2 0 0 0 2 Minneapolis in 1973 1 0 0 0 1 Traincon ‘18 on the Canadian 0 0 3 0 3 Peggy Rae’s House 0 0 4 1 5 I95 in ‘95 0 0 1 0 1 Highmore SD 0 0 1 0 1 Slab City 0 0 1 0 1 San Juan 0 0 0 1 1 Billings in 2018 0 0 0 2 2 Highmore ND 0 0 0 1 1 Reykjavik 0 0 0 1 1 Michael Nelson’s House 0 0 0 1 1 Yoyodyne Systems 0 0 0 1 1 Minneapolis in 2073 0 0 0 1 1 Total with Preference 138 198 398 567 1301 Needed to Win 651 No Preference 20 Total Valid Votes 1321 6 Guests of Honor Pierre and Sandy Pettinger • Fans Attending conventions since 1981, and active in costuming since 1983, Pierre and Sandy Pettinger won their first costuming award at the World Science Fiction Convention in 1986. Their expertise and love of the form drove them to win more awards than can be listed here, but notably includes 4 Worldcon Best in Show awards. They are also active in costume judging, and masquerade management, as well as serving in executive positions in the St. Louis Costumers Guild (a.k.a. The St. Louis Ubiquitous Tailoring Society, or SLUTS), a chapter of the International Costumers’ Guild. (True Fact: They were committee members for San Jose’s last worldcon, ConJosé in 2002, and ran our masquerade there.) Bob Wilkins • gHost of Honor “Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong!” was Bob Wilkin’s slogan as TV host of several decades of horror and science fiction films programs in Northern California. From Sacramento to the Bay Area, Bob’s dry wit and cheap cigars punctuated the commercial breaks in front of some of the flimsiest sets and craziest props on TV. Whether he was acting out an episodic skit, or hosting as who’s who of fantastic actors, Wilkins was the lynchpin of local television movie night tradition. 8 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro • Author Two life-changing things happened to Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in 1968: she attended her first WorldCon and she sold her first story. Since then, she has attended many more conventions and published 81 works of short fiction in multiple genres and is presently working on her 95th sold book. As well as science fiction, Yarbro writes mysteries, horror, non-fiction, westerns, young adult, and fantasy, most under her own name, but some under pseudonyms. By the time the 2018 WorldCon rolls around, she plans to be at work on her 100th sold book. Spider Robinson • Author In writing, Spider Robinson found a way to escape from his job guarding a New York sewer. Almost immediately he created one of the best known and loved places in Science Fiction and Fantasy; Callahan’s Place. Writing with humor, a singular imagination, and a grounded sense of what people are really all about, his rise to fame was immediate and accelerated. His reputation today is supported by dozens of books, several series, an impressive array of short stories and a wealth of essay’s and reviews. Married for over 30 years to dancer, teacher and occasional co-writer, the late Jeanne Robinson, Spider Robinson provides us with stories displaying signature thoughtfulness, wit, irreverence, and unique insights into the human condition. 9 Edgar Pangborn • Ghost of Honor An American writer of mystery, historical, and science fiction, Edgar Pangborn was the son of a supernatural fiction writer and a dictionary editor. Leaving his Harvard musical studies incomplete, he shifted to a career in fiction. Initially he wrote pulp detective and mystery stories under a pseudonym as he developed his craft, then shifted in the 1950’s to science fiction and mystery writing in a humanist style that would inspire the next generation of writers such as Peter S. Beagle and Ursula K. Le Guin. More than 25 years after his death, Pangborn’s sister left his papers and literary works, including many not previously published, to Beagle who worked to bring the best of them into print. Frank Hayes • Music Armed with a guitar and an ironic, wry sense of humor, Frank Hayes has been filking at science fiction conventions since 1979. Some of his best known pieces are “Never Set the Cat on Fire”, “Little Fuzzy Animals”, and “Like a Lamb to the Slaughter”, a talking blues version of the traditional folk song Mattie Groves. He has been nominated sixteen times for the Pegasus Award for Excellence in Filking and has won five: Best Parody, Best Risqué Song, Best Filk Song, Best Classic Filk Song, and Best Alien Song. His song Cosmos was used to wake up the astronauts on the Space Shuttle. Mercedes Lackey said of him, “funny enough to make people fall down on the ground and gasp for breath at first hearing.” 10 John Picacio • Artist Equally at home with a pencil, a paintbrush, or sitting in front of a computer, John Picacio’s artwork often combines traditional mediums, such as drawing or painting, with digital flourishes. He is noted for the diversity and range of his artistic endeavors. His art has illustrated the covers of books by Robert Silverberg, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Michael Moorcock, and Frederik Pohl to name just a few. His art has adorned magazines including Asimov’s Science Fiction and Interzone. He illustrated the 2012 George RR Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire calendar. His art has graced the covers for works in both the Star Trek™ and the X-Men universes.