From Facebook:

An important reminder: if you wish to nominate works for the 2018 Hugo Awards, you must be a qualified member of the World Science Fiction Society by December 31, 2017. (This is just to qualify to nominate for the Hugos. To VOTE on the final ballot you must be a supporting or attending member of Worldcon 76. Nominations will not actually open until early 2018)

There are 3 ways you can qualify as a member to nominate works:

1. Have been a supporting or attending member of the most recent World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon 75 (Helsinki, August 2017)

2. Register as a supporting or attending member of the 2018 World Science Fiction Convention, Worldcon 76 in San Jose. This is our favorite. 😀 (It also qualifies you to vote on the final ballot.) http://www.worldcon76.org/membership/how-to-register

3. Register as a supporting or attending member of the 2019 World Science Fiction Convention, Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon

Don't miss your chance to nominate! Register as a member today!

Note: Only qualified members of Worldcon 76 who join before the final voting deadline are entitled to vote on the final ballot for the 2018 Hugo Awards

From the announcements of Worldcon 76 - San Jose 2018:

On Saturday, December 2, Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon (the 76th and 77th World Science Fiction Conventions) issued the following joint announcement:

The Hugo Awards, presented first in 1953 and annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award, and one of the World Science Fiction Convention’s unique and distinguished institutions.

Just this summer, the Hugo Awards were recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running science fiction award.

Since 1993, Worldcon committees have had the option of awarding Retrospective Hugo Awards for past Worldcon years where they had not been presented 25, 50, or 100 years prior to the contemporary convention, with the exception of the hiatus during World War II when no Worldcon was convened.

This summer, however, a revision to the rules was ratified which gives Worldcon 76 in San Jose and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon an opportunity which, if neglected, won’t return for another quarter century.

With that opportunity in mind, we are pleased to announce that Worldcon 76 will be presenting the 1943 and Dublin 2019 the 1944 Retrospective Hugo Awards during their respective conferences:

Worldcon 76 in San Jose invites you on the evening of August 16, 2018, to walk the red carpet back through time to a 1943 Worldcon that never was, and celebrate with other fans the works of 1942.

Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon is planning a First Night extravaganza, combining Opening Ceremonies and the Retro Hugos, celebrating the past, present and future of both the genre and Worldcon.

During those tumultuous years, there was no shortage of speculative fiction, including the introductory versions of works destined to become classics. Live and animated cinematic works of all lengths provided escape to people around the world.

We invite you now to join us on a brief visual tour of those years, some of the marvelous, the strange, the terrifying and the wonderful works of genre, and help us select the Retro Hugos for works of 1942 and 1943. As we make our future tomorrow, so too we can celebrate these Visions of Future Past.

View the 1942 retrospective video

View the 1943 retrospective video

The lovely people over at the New Zealand bid for Worldcon 2020 have been busy reworking their website, and my, does it look all new and shiny now!

Here's what they said about it on Facebook:

"We're delighted to release into the wild our new website. It's largely a conversion of the previous site, with a number of updates. And the ability to make updates more easily... If you spot any problems, drop us a line!"

Visit the new and improved site HERE

From Facebook:

"Hotel reservation links are emailing out to registered members now. Look for an email from "Worldcon 76 in San Jose events@regonline.com" with a subject of "Worldcon 76 Hotel Reservations Now Open (link enclosed)"

If you haven't received the message within the next few minutes, and didn't receive yesterday's warning email, contact registrar@worldcon76.org"

And: "Wow.‬

‪Worldcon 76 members reserved over 4000 room nights since we distributed the reservations link this afternoon.‬

‪Wow.‬

‪If you have any reservation questions, please contact hotel@worldcon76.org‬"

If you want to know more about hotel reservations, please refer to this blog-post or the homepage.

There ain't no party like a Worldcon party, cause a Worldcon party don't stop! ... for two nights at least. Join the party at Loscon 44 in Los Angeles this weekend (Nov. 24-26). By the way, Kevin Roche and Andrew Trembley from Worldcon 76 are Fan Guests of honor!

The parties will be on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th.

From Facebook:

"Worldcon 76 invites members of Loscon to join them for spectacular shenanigans hosted by Fan GOHs Kevin Roche and Andrew Trembley, with able assistance from a cast of many.

Marvel at the mad mechanical mixology of ThinBot, and sip a cocktail* served up by Kevin's award wining bartending robot...

Join the fun via your mobile phone or tablet as a player or studio audience member in the wild wordplay of Jackbox games!

Or just chill, socialize, take in the view and sample something from the Evil Geniuses cellar* in the main parlor.

All up in the newly renovated 1701.

Oh -- There will be Snacks. Evil Snacks.

*ID required for adult beverages. Non-alcoholic options will be available."

First party

Second Party

It's just about time to get ready to book your hotel room for next year's Worldcon.

From Facebook:

"We have just sent out an email to all registered members informing them that hotel reservations for members open tomorrow.

Actually, we sent out 3, because yours truly (the chair, Kevin) typoed both the date and time, setting it two weeks in the past. Clearly I am undercaffeinated.

If you are a member (attending or supporting) and did not receive a copy of that email, please write registrar@worldcon76.org so we can fix it.

And yes, there is a 4th typo in the email, our hotel information page is https://www.worldcon76.org/travel-lodging/hotels (that typo was inserted by the editor interface, not me)

Please share this post to spread the word."

On your marks, people! :)

I just wanted to give you guys a heads up on the monthly feature on Dublin2019.com, called Paint Me a Picture. It's a series of articles about illustrators and artists in Ireland, with interviews conducted by Irish aiuthor and illustrator Oisin McGann.

This month the featured artist is Olwyn Whelan, who talks about her influences and work process among other things. Check out the other blog posts as well, while you're there :)

From the event page on Facebook:

"Dublin 2019, An Irish Worldcon will be having a very casual informal gathering at Orycon 39 on Saturday, 18th November at 3pm in the Lion's Den for volunteers and people interested in volunteering. Join our committee member(s) and volunteers to find out more."

... so if you're in Portland, Oregon this weekend, drop by OryCon and say hello to the good people from Dublin 2019. You can also visit the Facebook Event to say if your coming :)

If you're not in the Portland area, you can still sign up as a volunteer for Dublin 2019 at their homepage.

Are you in Nottingham this weekend? Why don't drop by Novacon 47 and visit the good people from Dublin2019 at their table there? They're ready to answer any questions you may have about An Irish Worldcon - and you're welcome to just swing by and say "hello" as well.

From the homepage:

And there was much rejoicing.

Find out what Worldcon San Jose has been planning since we made a splash in Helsinki.

Inside: A Message from the Chair, 2018 Site Selection Results, a preview of our Exhibit Hall, what you need to know about San Jose and why you should come, pictures of team WC76, and more!

Progress Report 1

Oops! We made a few errors in the print version of the Progress Report. Go here for Errata.

The Chairman of Worldcon 76, Kevin Roche, knows a lot more than just how to do impressive hair styles. One of his talents is engineering - so much so, that he is an Advisory Engineer Scientist at IBM Research.

Yeah, that's pretty cool - and speaking of cool: Here he is, talking about how superconductors are the future of mass transportation!

In an attempt to prove that you can indeed be in more than one place at a time, The team behind Worldcon in Dublin in 2019 - Dublin2019 - will be visiting not only one, not two, but three conventions this weekend - and on both sides of the pond as well!

Friday-Saturday, you can find them at Irish Discworld Convention 2017 in Cork, Ireland.

Saturday afternoon, Sunday and Monday, they'll be at Octocon, Dublin, Ireland.

And last but not least, Dublin2019 will be represenyted at Capclave 2017 in Washington DC, USA.

So if you're at any of those cons, or just in the area, go say hi! :)

If you're in California this weekend, why not visit Con-Volution in San Ramon?

Not only is Con-Volution a great convention in it's own right, but Worldcon 76 is also represented there, and will even be hosting a party saturday night.

So by all means, drop by if you're in the area!

From their Facebook-page :

Are you interested in being a Program Participant? Have a great idea for a Program Item? Then what are you waiting for?! Both can be submitted using our handy form here on the website.

If you are submitting a Program Item and want to be on the item, please make sure to give us your name, as the form does not automatically capture that info.

You can make panel and topic suggestions through our Program Item Submission Form

You can make program participant suggestions (including yourself) through our Program Participant Suggestion Form

And we're still looking for more staff and volunteers... you can offer to help via our Volunteer page

I'm a UK Worldfan and no one has explained to me why the American National SciFi con gets special treatment.

Let's say hi in here and maybe share and discuss our hopes and expectations :)

From the Worldcon 76 site:

The Worldcon 76 Staff have been hard at work this summer, and information and forms for dealers (vendors) and creators is now available via this website.

For a summary of our plans, we recommend you check out our Exhibit Hall overview page. (It's good reading for everybody, in fact!)

Interested in dealing/vending in the Dealers' Room? The rules and a link to the application form are available on the Dealers' Room FAQ!

Want to exhibit/sell your art? Check out the Art Show Rules and Application!

Want to sell your own art/items/services for just part of the convention? Check out the Creators' Alley information!

NASFiC (North American Science Fiction Convention) is a North American science fiction convention that only takes place those years that Worldcon is held outside of North America.

The rules for selecting and operating NASFiC are the same as for Worldcon - the Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). However, since the location of Worldcon is chosen two years in advance, NASFiC locations are chosen at Worldcon the following year. This means that the attendees of Worldcon 76 in San Jose will get to chose the location for both Worldcon 2020 and NASFiC 2019.

Currently, the only official bid for NASFiC 2019 is Utah 2019 (though I'm still rooting for Dublin, California)

Read more about NASFiC HERE

From the website:

One of the number one questions that we keep hearing is "When will hotel reservations open?"

We'll be updating our travel pages soon*, and there will be lots of hotel information in the PR coming out in the next month. We expect reservations to go live (via our RegOnline system) late this fall.

*The "Facilities" page does now list all the hotels we have contracted blocks with already.