A Mile Closer to the Stars
The Worldcon is an eclectic mix of annual meeting, exhibition, awards ceremony, opportunity for making publishing deals, and old home week for science fiction fans and professionals. The Worldcon is an opportunity to share ideas, experience, and the love of the fantastic. Unlike many other genre conventions, the Worldcon prides itself on being run by and for its membership, not for profit.
Each Worldcon selects a few guests to honor during the convention. The guests of honor for Denvention 3 are Hugo-award winning author Lois McMaster Bujold, astronomical and Star Trek artist Rick Sternbach, guitarist and singer Kathy Mar, and longtime fan and bookseller Tom Whitmore. Our toastmaster will be science and fiction writer Wil McCarthy. We also have a "Ghost of Honor," with special items based around Robert A. Heinlein (who was the Guest of Honor at Denvention 1 back in 1941). In addition to these guests, several hundred other writers, artists, scientists, editors and fans will participate in convention programming.
Over 1,200 science fiction books were published last year, demonstrating the continuing vitality of the science fiction industry. Science fiction movies are among the most-watched movies of all time, and science fiction on television has undergone a resurgence. While Worldcons emphasize the science fiction publishing industry, all types of science fiction are exhibited and discussed during the five day convention.
Worldcons have grown impressively since their humble beginnings in New York City in 1939. The first Worldcon had about 50 young male attendees, mostly from the East Coast. Since then, Worldcons have attracted up to 8,400 members (in Los Angeles, 1984); nearly half of the Worldcon attendees are female; and attendees come from all over the world (except for Antarctica). In 2007, the Worldcon took place in Japan for the first time. In 2009, the Worldcon will be in Montreal. Worldcons are one of the few large conferences run exclusively by volunteers.
Activities at a Worldcon include:
Denvention will host a few activities not previously seen at a Worldcon before, including:
More descriptions of "What Is a Worldcon?" from recent Worldcon Websites:
The World Science Fiction Society is overseer of the Worldcon process. WSFS holds business meetings at each Worldcon.
Every year, Worldcon members give out the Hugo Award. This ceremony will be Saturday night, 7:30pm, at Denvention. Most Worldcons have also featured a Masquerade. This year's Masquerade is on Friday night, 7:30pm. Both of these events will be held in the Wells Fargo Theater of the Colorado Convention Center.
Worldcons don't sell tickets, they sell memberships. An attending Denvention membership gives you the right to attend Worldcon, vote for the site of the 2010 Worldcon, receive publications, and vote for the Hugo Awards (if you buy your membership before the voting deadline).
One day memberships will be available at the door; we don't know what the prices will be yet. Prices will be announced on the Web site once we know.
While memberships are not refundable, you may transfer your membership to another by notifying Prereg.
Membership transfers can't be easily automated and do require human intervention. You should receive some sort of E-mailed confirmation from Denvention Prereg if you have bought transferred membership. When you come to register at the con, bring along any E-mail from Prereg and a copy of the letter from the person who transferred the membership to you.
The Program participant list is up!
Hotel booking information is up. However, note that all hotel blocks have closed, so you cannot get a room at the convention rate.
The balloting for this year has closed. Winners will be announced at the Hugo Award Ceremony on August 9 at 7:30pm.
Posting a message to a LiveJournal community is non-intuitive, but once you've done it once or twice, it's not too bad.
Log into your Live Journal account.
Go to the Denvention 3 Community Live Journal.
At the your account toolbar at the top of the page, one of the options is Post to this community. Click on that option. The Post an Entry box appears. Give your posting a title, write a message, and click the Post to denvention3 button at the bottomof the screen.