WSFS to Create Trial Committee for Chengdu Hugo Scandal
The second session of this year’s virtual WSFS Business Meeting was held Sunday, July 13. The entire meeting was held in executive session, meaning details are intended to be confidential. An overview of the proceedings is available at Seattle Worldcon 2025’s Business Meeting page.
(This correspondent, being a WSFS member this year, attended the meeting, and can confirm the summary covers everything notable.)
The biggest news is that the meeting voted to move forward with proposed disciplinary proceedings over the irregularities in Hugo Award vote counting for the 2023 Worldcon. As the summary says:
The Business Meeting voted to impanel a trial committee to evaluate the evidence regarding whether the conduct of certain members of WSFS as part of the administration of the 2023 Hugo Awards tends to bring WSFS into disrepute, disrupt its well-being, or hamper its work. The meeting will elect, by ballot at the session held July 19, a committee of five members to conduct any necessary trials. This committee is to be composed of members who were neither elected to the Hugo Investigation Committee, nor makers of the motions referred to it. Charges and specifications of conduct were approved to be referred to the trial committee. Warren Buff and Randall Shephard will act as managers for WSFS’s case at any trials.
Anyone at the meeting could nominate just about anyone, and did. The summary includes the names of everyone who did not immediately decline nomination (in many cases, because they were not present at the meeting).
Fallout from the Hugo scandal has included multiple rounds of resignations from WSFS committees, and one more has reportedly just happened. File 770 reports that Ben Yalow, who was co-chair of the 2023 Worldcon, has now resigned from the WSFS Mark Protection Committee. No official announcement has yet been made.
In Brief
Field of Games will not be holding an event this year due to changes at its regular venue, and is currently searching for a site for next year.
WasabiCon PDX (Portland, Oregon) has been postponed to November 29-30 “due to circumstances beyond our control”.
Pretty Heroes (Toronto, Ontario, July 19-20) has added Purrblind, Bear Sailor Moon, and Tracey Hoyt.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Gabriel Iglesias and Drake Bell.
San Japan (San Antonio, Texas, August 29-31) has added Nozomu Sasaki.
Long Beach Comic Con (Long Beach, California, August 30-31) has added Howard Chaykin, Ian Pitt, and Ashleigh Popplewell.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Barbara Eden, Sting, Mick Foley, Lita, and Trish Stratus.
PonyCon Holland (Zeist, Netherlands, October 25-26) has added Rebecca Shoichet.
Event Calendar
Weekend of July 18-20
Estcon 2025 (Estonian national sf convention), Udu, Estonia
Celsius 232, Avilés, Spain
Imaginarium Convention, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Readercon 34 (books only), Burlington, MA
Fur-Eh!: Retro Barkade (anthropomorphic), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Furway 2025 (anthropomorphic), Brandbu, Norway
Brazil FurFest 2025: Heróis & Vilões (anthropomorphic), São Paulo, Brazil
Eufuria 2025: Solarpunk (anthopomorphic), Albany, New York, USA
QuinCon 38 (gaming), Quincy, Illinois, USA
Festival Ludique International de Parthenay (gaming), Parthenay, France
Gem State Gaming Convention, Boise, Idaho, USA
Con of the Lakes (gaming), Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, USA
Go Play NW 2025 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA
Open Gaming Convention 2025: Legend of the Temple, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
ConsimWorld Expo 2025 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA
Venger Con IV: Post-Modern Apocalypse (RPGs), Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA
Historicon 2025: 250 Years of the US Army (miniatures gaming), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
TennoCon 2025 (Warframe), London, Ontario, Canada
Tosho-con (anime), Cranford, New Jersey, USA
Delta H Con (anime), Houston, Texas, USA
Dokidokon (anime), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Tekko 2025 (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Pretty Heroes (female-centered anime), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ConnectiCon XXII (media), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
ATL Comic Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Greater Austin Comic Convention, Cedar Park, Texas, USA
Hershey Comic Con, Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA
Florida Supercon (media), Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Vampire Fan Weekend (Vampire Diaries), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Weekend of July 25-27
Confluence 2025, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA
NärCon 2025, Linköping, Sweden
Aurawra (anthropomorphic), Sydney, Australia
Continuum (gaming), Cranfield, UK
Ropecon (gaming), Helsinki, Finland
World Boardgaming Championships, Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, USA
Epic45 With Intel (LAN gaming), Kettering, UK
Classic Game Fest (retro video games), Austin, Texas, USA
Metrocon (anime), Tampa, Florida, USA
OokiiSoraCon (anime), Helena, Montana, USA
Kami-Con HAI (anime), Huntsville, Alabama, USA
AnimeIowa: Beach Episode, Coralville, Iowa, USA
Anime Town Utah, Sandy, Utah, USA
Anime Impulse Bay Area, Santa Clara, California, USA
Comic-Con International, San Diego, California, USA
Alias Entertainment Expo: Legend of the Shogun (media), Tunapuna, Trinidad & Tobago
GalaxyCon Raleigh (media), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Comic Con Manchester, Manchester, UK
MegaCon Live Manchester (media), Manchester, UK
Comic Con Saar, Saarbrücken, Germany
Really Cool Comic Con, Flint, Michigan, USA
TrotCon 2025 (My Little Pony), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Weekend of August 1-3
AMA-CON, Amarillo, Texas, USA
KrähenFee (fantasy), Krefeld, Germany
SFRA 2025: Trans People are (in) the Future (symposium), Rochester, New York, USA
Costume College 2025: The Costumer's Journey, Los Angeles, California, USA
CanFURence 8: Furries of the Wastes (anthropomorphic), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Anthro Weekend Utah: Anchors Awu, Layton, Utah, USA
StarCon (gaming), Rye, New Hampshire, USA
Gen Con Indy 2025 (gaming), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Berlin Brettspiel Con 2025 (gaming), Berlin, Germany
World Boardgaming Championships, Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, USA
AnimagiC (anime), Mannheim, Germany
Anime Revolution, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Just added: Superstar Anime, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Anime-zing!, Rock Island, Illinois, USA
JoMoCon 2025 (anime), Joplin, Missouri, USA
AFA Creators Super Fest 2025 (anime), Singapore
Advík 2025 (anime), Prague, Czechia
Bell County Comic Con, Belton, Texas, USA
Enid Comic Con, Enid, Oklahoma, USA
Tampa Bay Comic Convention, Tampa, Florida, USA
Armageddon Expo Palmerston North (media), Palmerston North, New Zealand
Starfleet International Conference 2025 (Star Trek), Houston, Texas, USA
Weekend of August 8-10
Geek Out at Staten Island, Staten Island, New York, USA
PulpFest 2025, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Key City Steampunk Convention: The Adventurer's Guild, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Furrydelphia 2025: Hoagiecon (anthropomorphic), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Just added: Great Escape on the Lakes (gaming), Bradford, New York, USA
PixelCon 2025 (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (video games), Garden City, New York, USA
Fragapalooza 2025 (LAN gaming), Leduc, Alberta
Utah Retro GameXpo 2025 (retro video games), Davis, Utah, USA
AniNite 25 (anime), Vienna, Austria
AnimeCom: Isekai Saga, Kingston, Jamaica
Otakuthon (anime), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Otakon (anime), Washington, DC, USA
AniBash (anime), Rochester, New York, USA
Chibi-Con (anime), Winterthur, Switzerland
Just added: Tokonatsu (anime), Henlow, UK
Just added: Conjutsu (anime), Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Animate! Orlando (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA
Abunai!: The First Roar (anime), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Anime 414, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Kogan Con 2025 (anime), Grand Haven, Michigan, USA
TERRIFICON (media), Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
Just added: Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
Fan Expo Boston (media), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Monsterama (retro media), Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
TFNation (Transformers), Birmingham, UK
Rebel Scum Con (Star Wars), Allen, Texas, USA
STLV: Trek to Vegas 2025 (Star Trek), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Weekend of August 15-17
Seattle Worldcon 2025 (83rd World Science Fiction Convention), Seattle, Washington, USA
Epic Nerd Camp, Darlington, Maryland, USA
IndyFurCon: Roll Fur Initiative (anthropomorphic), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Texas Furry Siesta 2025: Angels (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA
HandyCon17 (gaming), Milton Keynes, UK
Phoenix Con (gaming), Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
MaricopaCon 2025 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA
GriffCon25 (miniatures gaming), Harlow, UK
Nashcon (miniatures gaming), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Grand Tribunal (Ars Magica RPG), Cheltenham, UK
Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
RakuCon Manchester (anime), Manchester, UK
Comic Market 104 (fan comics), Tokyo, Japan
New World Comic Con 10, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Stars of Time (media), Weston-super-Mare, UK
Fan Expo Chicago (media), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
UniCon 2025 (media), Riga, Latvia
Flame Con 2025 (LGBT+ media), New York City, New York, USA
Monster-Mania 64 (horror media), Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
EnchantiCon (fantasy media), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Vampire Fan Weekend (Vampire Diaries), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Coda
Cat helps discover two rodent viruses (Newsweek)
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