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The WSFS also sponsors the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) which is when the silver rocket trophies are awarded to the winners in fiteen different categories, from Best Novel to Best Fan Artist.

The nominees for the 2010 Hugos were recently announced, and have been posted on the Hugo Award website. Some works, like Charles Stross‘ “Palimpsest” and “Overtime” are even available online for free.

Compared to other awards that are based on the criteria of a few people, the Hugo nominations and the awards themselves are based on the votes of fans from around the world. In order to cast a vote for a potential nominee, you must have been a member of the previous or current WorldCon. This means you’ve purchased at least a “supporting membership” to the convention – you don’t have to actually attend. To vote on the final ballot, you much be at least a supporting member of the current WorldCon. For 2010, that means AussieCon 4.

The Hugos are also unique in that the trophy, a shiny silver finned rocket, is always the same, but the base it rests upon changes. Each WorldCon committee is responsible for design the base for that year’s awards. Having seen, and briefly held a Hugo trophy, I can tell you these bases are works of art in and of themselves.

So if you would like to have a say in who is nominated and who wins future Hugo Awards, become at least a supporting member of WorldCon. And if you go to the convention, try and attend the awards ceremony – it is a thrill to see the winners accept their statues. You can even imagine yourself up there some day.

John Locke: Hugo!
- LOST, “Confirmed Dead”, 4.2

robot flowers

As I am interested in writing fantasy and science fiction, there are two local conventions I attend every year, ConDFW and FenCon.

For the past two years I have attended the World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) and this will be the first year I go to the World Fantasy Convention.

Since joining the DFW Writers Workshop, I attend their writing conference every year as well – great place to pitch an agent, BTW.

Conventions are a great place to meet authors, sometimes agents and editors, and other people who like the same kinds of things you do. You don’t have to attend the parties, you don’t have to go to a panel every hour, and it’s okay if you don’t hang out at the bar. Some day you may want to do one or more of those things because they can be fun. It’s taken me a few years to get to that point myself, so it is possible.

But you’ll never know until you pick a convention and go to it.

Grail Knight: You have chosen… wisely.
- Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade

PROS

• easy access to your room if you need a break from the masses
• a close place to store all the stuff you buy in the dealer’s room so you don’t have to haul it around all day
• you never know who you’re going to see or meet

CONS

• may also be the “party hotel” so be prepared for late night noise
• elevators can get overloaded and sometimes have a line
• likely more expensive than other hotels associated with the convention

goal one

For me, the last Pro – you never know who you’re going to see or meet – outweighs all the Cons.

I don’t enjoy loud, crowded parties, so my chance to talk and meet with people happen during the day-to-day activities of a convention.

Talking to John Picacio in an elevator at Worldcon, sitting and listening to Bernard Pearson tell stories in the courtyard at the first North American Discworld Convention, having dinner with Peter S. Beagle and Connor Cochran at ConDFW are moments I treasure.

And all of those happened because I stayed at the main hotel of the convention, and was at a right place at a right time.

I can control what hotel I stay at. The ‘right place at the right time’ is something I trust will happen on it’s own because I’m making the effort to be there and be engaged in what’s going on. And it does.

Mr. Ecko: Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.
- Lost, “What Kate Did”

Worldcon is held in a different city each year. In 2008 it was held in Denver, Colorado. In 2010, it will be held in Melbourne Australia. Hopefully, Worldcon 2013 will be held in San Antonio, Texas, my home state and a city that is less than a day’s drive from my house.

My first Worldcon was last year. I had been to many local science fiction and fantasy conventions, but this was “Worldcon” and I wasn’t sure what I was in for. Turns out, more of the same. The same approachable authors. The same love of fandom. The same excitement and vibrant energy of people talking about what they love in hallways and restaurants and bars until they get kicked out or order breakfast. And more: editors from major publishing houses, scientists, professional artists, dealers selling books you can’t find in retail chains without knowing to ask for them.

worldcon II

This year was my second Worldcon; it was even more fun than the first. I Strolled with the Stars, saw panels and editor/author interviews, caught up with old friends and made new ones. I went to two parties (a big deal for my introverted self) and willingly signed up to have my picture taken for a potentially published project (an even bigger deal for my introverted self). I waited in line to get a ticket to wait in another line, bought a famous someone dinner, and hung out with a posse.

My shelves now have ten new books, six of which are from authors I have never read before, but now that I know them, I will. One of the ten is a portfolio book of cover illustrations that I bought as a result of an elevator conversation about my Texas badge. And I have three books that now contain personalized autographs and that will make fabulous Christmas presents.

If you like science fiction, if you write or read that genre and want to talk to those authors and editors, set aside the money and time to attend a Worldcon. It’s a phenomenal amount of fun.

Douglas Anders: Science fiction is an existential metaphor that allows us to tell stories about the human condition. Isaac Asimov once said, “Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinded critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence, has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.
- Stargate SG-1, Season 10, “200″