Conference noted::sf

      Me.
      
      Dave C.

	I'll be there (working as usual).
	
	Tamzen

      I'll be there also.  (Working)
      
      -Andy-

    I'm not going to be attending the convention, per se. But if
    I decide that I need a little break from work that weekend, I
    may drive down there to party for a couple of days.
    
    --- jerry

    I'll be there, working in Operations, at the Nesfa table, and
    at the 1989 Worldcon voting table.
    						Ann B.

    So who else will be there? I can't believe that this is all the
    Noters who will be there.
    
    Tamzen

Well, friends from the West decided to come out here on Labor day, otherwise
I'd be going... :-)

Jim.

PS.  Anybody know where the future WorldCons for the next few years will be?

    Next year it's in Brighton, UK.
    
    The next 2 years (1988 & 1989) are being voted on at this year's
    convention. 
    
    FYI, Boston is the only name on the ballot for 1989. It's basically
    a foregone conclusion. (And boy, are we going to need help ;-).
    
    Tamzen

    So tell us, who won what?  How was it?
    
    					andrew

    Turns out that one of the entertainment or magazine shows had a
    crew at the con, and we got to see some clips about it on Friday.
    They had one item that I might like - one of those square yellow
    "Baby on Board" things, but this one said "Cthulhu on Board!"
    
    Wish I'd gone...
    
    -b

    Hugo Winners:
    
    Novel: ENDER'S GAME (Orson Scott Card)
    Novella: "24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai" (Roger Zelazny)
    Novelette: "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (Harlan Ellison)
    Short Story: "Fermi and Frost" (Frederik Pohl)
    Non-Fiction: SCIENCE MADE STUPID (Tom Weller)
    Dramatic Presentation: BACK TO THE FUTURE
    Pro Artist: Michael Whelan *
    Pro Editor: Judy-Lynn del Rey **
    Semi-Pro Magazine: LOCUS
    Fanzine: LAN'S LANTERN
    
    (I didn't catch the other categories.)
    
    * I heard (but not first hand) that Whelan announced in his
    acceptance speech that he's disqualifying himself from future
    ballots.
    
    ** Lester del Rey wrote a letter that was read by the "acceptor"
    turning down the award to Judy-Lynn. He felt that it was clear
    that she won because she had died, and he didn't feel that she
    should get a Hugo Award for dying.
    
    
    Didn't see much of anything else, especially some people that I
    wanted to meet, but I had reasonable fun. I did catch a promo for
    the new movie musical version of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS that looks
    like it's going to be great! It's directed by Frank Oz and stars
    Rick Moranis, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John
    Candy, and Paul Dooley. And there was someone wandering around in
    a wonderful Alien costume.
    
    --- jerry

    New Orleans won the '88 Worldcon bid, and Boston won the '89 bid.
    
    --- jerry

I thought that WORLDCON was held in the US only during the even numbered years?

Jim.

    re:.14
    
    No, there is a 3-year scheme that divides the US and Canada into
    three zones (East, Central, and West), and bidding eligibility
    rotates among these three zones. Non-US bids are eligible in any
    year. Sometimes the details get modified, but this is the basic
    scheme that's been in operation for quite some time. There was a
    motion this year, to make a very complicated 9-year rotation scheme,
    but it was voted down.
    
    --- jerry

    re -.1
    
    Another peice of con trivia for you, Boston holds it every 9 years.
    This has been the status qou for has long has i could find out.
    This is the reason that the 89 ballot was a forgone conclusion,
    no one would dream of going against noreastcon (in any seriousness,
    a few local cons entered on the ballot for '89 more as a token
    challenge than anything.)
    

    Having never been to a con I'd like to ask a few questions. Are
    they really worth going to if you aren't praticularly interested
    in heavy partying or dressing up in odd costumes? Can you go to
    a World Con without having been to any other con? Do you actually
    get a chance to hear authors speak or get to talk to them? The impression
    I've gotten from reading SF magazines in that the answer to all three
    questions is no.
                                                                

    I'm not interested in either dressing up in odd costumes or heavy
    partying and I feel that cons can be worth going to.  You can go
    to a WorldCon if you pay for your admission.  You can go hear authors
    talk on panels or deliver speeches -- about writing, about science,
    about sf in society, about a number of other things.  You can talk
    to the authors yourself if your timing is right.
    
    You can also go shopping in the hucksters' room, look at and bid
    on sf and fantasy art at the art-show, *look* at the odd costumes
    even if you don't care to wear them, go see the free movies.  All 
    these are standard events at a con.
    
    Personally, I like the art show and the movies best, with the panel
    discussions coming next.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

RE: .17

I suspect there will be enough replies on the positive side to your
question. I'm going to give a semi-negative one. First, a disclaimer.
Everything I have to say is personal opinion (of course) and
generalizations. It's not met as an attack upon fen. If you feel
it absolutely necessary to still flame at me about this <sigh> the mail 
address is NUTMEG::BALS. 


> Are they really worth going to if you aren't praticularly interested
> in heavy partying or dressing up in odd costumes? 

Depends on your level of interest in science fiction. Cons are a good
place to find that out-of-print book you've been looking for for years
(although you'll probably pay a premium for it). If you're interested
in science fiction art, original art from book jackets, novelty items
or similar esoterica they're good places too. Bring a fully-laden wallet.

Many cons have excellent video/film presentations -- giving you the
opportunity to see classic films/tv shows uncut and without commercials.

Panel discussions at cons, inmho, are sometimes somewhat interesting
-- more often real boring. Of course, I'm one of those people that greet
discussions about subjects like, "are you the same person after being
teleported?" with a yawn of boredom. :-). I feel the same way about
panel discussions.

> Can you go to a World Con without having been to any other con? 

Certainly. Since there's more to do at a WorldCon, it might even be
preferable.

> Do you actually get a chance to hear authors speak or get to talk to
  them? 

If you're interested in authors, cons are a good place to meet them,
talk to them, and possibly get autographs if that's your thing. Like
"normal" people, some sf authors are genuinely likable and interesting,
some are neither, and some are real turkeys. It's also important to
remember that to any given author at any given con you'll be just one of 
literally hundreds of people he/she will talk to that day. That tends
to warp any normal discussion.

Okay, finally the negative. I'm not a particular fan -- if you'll excuse
the pun -- of fandom-at-large, though I do consider myself a fan of
the genre. Unfortunately, at the cons I attended (and I'll note I haven't
been to one since the late `70s), there was *always* a small group of
people who evidently considered the convention a license to act out
their frustrations and social problems. And no, they weren't always
kids, though they were immature. I saw incidents ranging from an elderly
woman being literally knocked off her feet by a charging wave of convention
attendees rushing out of an elevator, to a particulary vicious verbal
attack on an author who would have been justified in decking the "fan." Two
examples. I could list more.

Every time, every convention, something similar. Now, admittedly, those
incidents were exceptions, not the rule. There are many civilized fans
out there -- in fact, they're in the majority. Unfortunately, the minority
tend to show up at conventions. And being loud, obnoxious, and generally
bad news, they're very noticeable. Which is why I don't go to conventions
anymore. 

Fred

    For those interested in going to cons, and in fandom (.-1 had several
    good points, both pro and con about fandom and cons), I've started note 380
    for this purpose.
    
    Clark.
    

    I noticed your note 380 after I wrote my question. Perhaps the
    moderator could shift my question and the replies to it to 380.
    

      Re .16
      
>    Another peice of con trivia for you, Boston holds it every 9 years.
>    This has been the status qou for has long has i could find out.
      
      Boston bid for the 1967 (I think) convention and lost, but later
      won the bid for the 1971 Worldcon.  They called it Noreascon. 
      
      Some time later, a group of Boston fans formed a new corporation
      and bid for the 1980 Worldcon and were awarded the honor. 
      That convention was called Noreascon II. 
      
      About 3 years ago, a few people decided that we wanted to bid
      for 1989, and noticing that it would be nine years after 1980,
      which was, in turn, nine years after 1971, we invented a "cute"
      bidding slogan:  where most convention bidders had been saying
      things like "Chelsea in 1957", we said "Noreascon n in 1962+9n"
      and we put it on the front of a T-shirt.  The back of the T-shirt
      read "n = 3".
      
      So, if it is a tradition for Noreascons to be nine years apart,
      that tradition is no older than 1980.  
      
      Dave C.