Even More Chengdu Worldcon News
Some customary Worldcon-related information is emerging more slowly than usual this year.
New attendance record… sort of?
Chengdu Worldcon has announced on Facebook (found via Ansible), “We have had about 1500 guests and estimated 20k attending members.” The meaning of “guests” in this context is probably people who received free memberships or other assistance in attending the convention.
20,000 members may smash a record which has stood somewhere between eight and 39 years, depending on how you want to count. The previous largest number of people on site at a Worldcon was 8,365 at L.A.con II in Anaheim in 1984.
However, the largest total membership was at Sasquan in Spokane in 2015, with 11,742. This was due to an unusually large number of supporting members who had joined to fight an attempt to bloc-vote the Hugo Awards that year.
If you want to put an asterisk on 2015, the next highest total was Loncon 3 in London in 2014, at 10,718.
But there is another way to slice and dice membership numbers which barely applied in previous years. Current Worldcons have the option of offering presale memberships which do not make a person a full WSFS member, granting them no right to vote on site selection or the Hugo Awards. In the past, only day memberships sold at the convention itself did not have these rights.
Chengdu Worldcon has not yet provided a breakdown of membership types, but it is likely that many of those 20,000 members did not buy the membership level that includes voting rights. L.A.con II may still hold the record for full members on site.
Bespoke venue gets attention
CNN is one of several outlets writing glowing articles about the convention venue, the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum. But CNN’s article also reveals that the museum was built specifically because Worldcon was coming to town:
The museum was commissioned in 2022 to host this year’s 81st annual World Science Fiction Convention, nicknamed Worldcon. A building of this size and complexity would typically take four to five years to build, says Flores. But the 59,000 square-meter building — which is three times the size of the Sydney Opera House — went from concept to completion in just 12 months.
Chengdu Worldcon’s original announcement about the change of plans this past January only noted a change in date and venue, and not this additional information. Still unclear is whether this was the real plan all along and the original bid venue was just a smokescreen, or whether someone got a wild idea after Chengdu won its bid. The latter is certainly a thing that happens with Worldcons, but not usually on this scale.
Business Meeting videos available
The Worldcon Events YouTube channel now has full videos of this year’s WSFS Business Meeting sessions. Non-bilingual viewers looking for the full blow-by-blow on the more noteworthy Business Meeting items may be disappointed, though.
Simultaneous translation was provided through headsets, and was not available to combine with the video recordings. Attempts were made to record the translations being displayed on a CART screen, but those translations were machine-generated and frequently inaccurate.
For those wondering how this tech oversight could happen, the Business Meeting videos are not an official production of the Worldcon, but are recorded and edited by volunteers acting on their own initiative.
In Brief
Filk News on Mastodon reports announcements from the Ohio Valley Filk Festival last weekend in Worthington, Ohio:
Winners of the fan-voted Pegasus Awards for filk were announced. Filk News notes that “Die Puppen” is the first ever non-English Pegasus winner.
Guests for next year’s OVFF (also Worthington, Ohio, October 25-27) will be Pair O’Dice (Guest of Honor), Franklin Gunkelmann (Toastmaster), Xap Esler (Honored Listener), and Heather Preston (Interfilk guest).
Anime Festival Orlando 2024 (Orlando, Florida, June 28-30) has announced Dante Basco as its first guest.
Baycon (Santa Clara, California, July 4-7) has announced its guests of honor will be Ryka Aoki (Author GoH), Elizabeth Leggett (Artist GoH), MariNaomi (Artist/Cartoonist GoH), Bonnie Gordon (Actor/Singer GoH), and Lady Phoenix (Community Guest).
Ohayocon 24 (Columbus, Ohio, January 19-21) has added Gabrielle Ruiz and Richard Epcar as guests.
Norwescon 46 (Seatac, Washington, March 28-31) has added Dr. Raychelle Burks as its Science Guest of Honor.
Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New Jersey, May 31-June 2) has added Armin Shimmerman as a guest.
The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28-29) has added Chris Claremont as a guest.
Event Calendar
Weekend of November 3-5
Les Utopiales, Nantes, France
ArmadaCon 2023, Plymouth, UK
Lodge Con 2023, Peotone, Illinois, USA
Y/Con 9 (LGBT sf), Paris, France
Doxacon X (sf and Christianity), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Virtual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts: AAAA! - AI, Algorithms, Automata, and Art (symposium), online
Furry Blacklight: Welcome to Olympus, Tremblay-en-France, France
PAW '23: Tu-deer England (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
Kee Con VI (gaming), Cherokee, Iowa, USA
Lucca Comics & Games, Lucca, Italy
Spellen Spektakel (gaming), Utrecht, Netherlands
FLAG Con (gaming), Ithaca, New York, USA
TimpCon (gaming), Provo, Utah, USA
Tampa Nerd Con (gaming), Clearwater, Florida, USA
Spielwiesn (gaming), Augsburg, Germany
Rock-Con (gaming), Rockford, Illinois, USA
AcadeCon (gaming), Dayton, Ohio, USA
Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA
Twincon (gaming), London, UK
BottosCon 2023: A Mere Matter of Gaming, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
TableCon 2023 (gaming), Springdale, Arkansas, USA
AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), Troutdale, Oregon, USA
Good Game Fest (video games), Westminster, Maryland, USA
LoBsterCon XXV: Silver Jubilee (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK
LAN All Night VIII: For LANdetta (video games), Grapevine, Texas, USA
Fall In! (miniatures gaming), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Warfaire Weekend (wargaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
J1-Con (anime), Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Anime Pasadena, Pasadena, California, USA
Kaiga Anime Convention, Perth, Australia
HotaruCon (anime), Milton Keynes, UK
NekoCon 2023: Little Witch Catademia (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA
Youmacon 2023 (anime), Detroit, Michigan, USA
Con Nichiwa 2023 (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Coosacon! (media), Rome, Georgia, USA
Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
Twin Cities Con (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Creation Jacksonville (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
NC Comic Con, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Rhode Island Comic Con, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
D. A. M. Con 2023 (Japanese live-action media), Dallas, Texas, USA
H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Mobile, Alabama, USA
Pony Friends Forever (My Little Pony), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Weekend of November 10-12
Novacon 52, Buxton, UK
TusCon 50, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Windycon 49: Adventure is Out There!, Oak Brook, Illinois, USA
OryCon 43: Phoenix Rising, Portland, Oregon, USA
OmegaCon Fall 2023 (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA
New England Crime Bake 2023: deadactually (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA
Steampunk November, Venus, Texas, USA
Vermont Steampunk Expo, Essex Junction, Vermont, USA
Howloween: The Nightmare BeFur Christmas (anthropomorphic), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Hexcon (gaming), Trondheim, Norway
Mythic Con (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Save Against Fear (gaming), York, Pennsylvania, USA
Compass Games Expo Fall 2023, Meridien, Connecticut, USA
Spielewelt in Bielefeld (boardgames), Bielefeld, Germany
EuroQuest 2023 (Eurogames), Annapolis, Maryland, USA
Phantasm 33rd (RPGs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
The Long Con (RPGs), Longview, Texas, USA
Arcade Expo, Houston, Texas, USA
TORG Gaming Expo 2023 (video games), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Oni-Con XX (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA
Animaine 11: I Died and was Reincarnated as the Animaine Mascot?! (anime), South Portland, Maine, USA
Animaga (anime), Melbourne, Australia
Nishicon (anime), Eindhoven, Netherlands
Anime Iwai: Horizons, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
anime expo chibi, Ontario, California, USA
Rocky Mountain Con X (comics), Denver, Colorado, USA
Thought Bubble (comics), Harrogate, UK
Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA
Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA
Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Twin Tiers Comic-Con, Horseheads, New York, USA
Weekend of November 17-19
Philcon 2023, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
CONjuration (fantasy), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Dragonsteel 2023 (Brandon Sanderson works), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
LIL-CON 7 (gaming), Lockport, New York, USA
Con-Densed (gaming), Worthing, UK
DAU Barcelona (gaming), Barcelona, Spain
BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA
Meeple-A-Thon (gaming), Kansas City, Missouri, USA
U-Con (gaming), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Dragonsteel 2023 (gaming), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Gridcon 4 (boardgames), Taunton, UK
Free Play Florida (retro video games), Lakeland, Florida, USA
SNAFU Con (anime), Reno, Nevada, USA
Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA
Colossalcon North (anime), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA
Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA
Anime Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
Anime Town Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA
Naiccon 2023 (media), Nairobi, Kenya
Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands
Memphis Comic & Fantasy Convention, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Weekend of November 24-26
Westercon 75/Loscon 49: Enchanted Loscon, Los Angeles, California, USA
Imladris XXI, Kraków, Poland
ChamBanaCon 52: The Final Fannish Family Reunion (relaxacon), Normal, Illinois, USA
Consequences P: Passionate Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK
GobbleCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
LFG Canberra (boardgames), Griffith, Australia
Asian Board Games Festival 2023, Singapore
De Bello Ludico (wargaming), Bracciano, Italy
Anime Festival Asia, Singapore
Anime Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA
Akimatsuri (anime), Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Milan Games Week & Cartoonomics (media/gaming), Milan, Italy
Stars of Time Comic Con, Weston-super-Mare, UK
Fan Expo San Francisco (media), San Francisco, California, USA
GalactiCon 2023 (media), Denver, Colorado, USA
Chicago TARDIS (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA
Starbase Indy: The Past is Prelude (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of December 1-3
Smofcon 40 (con-running), Providence, Rhode Island, USA and online
TeslaCon: The Curse of Anubis & the Arcane Mystery Machine (steampunk), Middleton, Wisconsin, USA
Midwest Furfest: Snow Days (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Dragonmeet (gaming), London, UK
PAX Unplugged (tabletop gaming), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Emerald Con (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Bellevue, Washington, USA and online
Otaku U II (anime), Livonia, Michigan, USA
Wintercon (media), New York City, New York, USA
GalaxyCon Columbus (media), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
Abilene Comic Con, Abilene, Texas, USA
Comic Con Okinawa, Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan
L.A. Comic Con, Los Angeles, California, USA
Abilene Comic Con, Abilene, Texas, USA
CCXP 23 (media), São Paulo, Brazil
For the Love of Sci-Fi 2023 (media), Manchester, UK
Coda
Man Poses as Mannequin to Steal Jewelry (plus the backstory of the Dunning-Kruger effect) (New York Times)
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.