What is a World Science Fiction Convention?

By Alan Stewart.

The Worldcon is an annual event held in a different venue throughout the world each year. The 1998 Worldcon will be in Baltimore, and the 2000 one in Chicago. But the 57th Worldcon, known as Aussiecon Three, will be held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1999. Australia has hosted two previous Worldcons, both also in Melbourne, in 1975 and 1985.

The official business of a Worldcon is to administer the awarding of annual Awards, known as Hugos, and to select the site of the Worldcon 3 years hence. Both these decisions are based on votes of the members of the Worldcon.

Apart from that the main emphasis is to meet people, discuss mutual interests and have fun.

Worldcons are attended by thousands of Science Fiction (SF) devotees from around the world.  Attendees are all ages, colours, races and professions. Of course there will be authors, publishers and people with particular interest in television and film.

A large number of authors attend Worldcons at their own expense and enjoy the opportunity to interact with their readers. It's one of the few times when entertainers and their fans mix so freely. Some of them are happy to sign books at any time, but there will be organised signing sessions. "Chat with an author" or "Kaffeeklatsch" meetings may also be arranged. These are informal discussions and are open to the first ten or so convention members to sign up. The numbers of attending authors for Aussiecon Three are not fixed at the moment, and could change due to last minute problems, but for sure Australia's attractions will encourage some to attend.

You can attend panel items. Some Worldcons have run up to 20 program streams, but Aussiecon Three won't be quite that ambitious. Still, there will probably be times when you want to be in two places at once! (Not yet possible).

Panellists may range from young authors through to heads of publishing companies; from special effects artists to designers of a web page; doctors or lawyers; but all sharing an interest in science fiction.

Worldcons are not a speciality convention catering for a particular special interest, such as Horror, costuming, fantasy, or one TV show, but are rather a smorgasbord. It will have some things you are familiar with as well as a lot of new ideas and sights to interest you.

Some attendees will be Worldcon veterans, others will have only attended one or two, and for some it may even be their first SF convention. They may have heard word of mouth reports of the earlier Australian Worldcons, or read about them. As well as hanging out with friends, it's a great opportunity to meet new people.

Science Fiction fandom is a community, and Worldcons are a place where that community gathers together.
 

World Science Fiction Society, WSFS, Worldcon, Science Fiction Achievement Award, Hugo Award and NASFiC are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

Aussiecon 3 Webmaster: Tim Richards.  Website queries: webmaster@aussiecon3.worldcon.org.  General queries: info@aussiecon3.worldcon.org