72nd World Science Fiction Convention

The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Loncon 3, was held 14–18 August 2014 at ExCeL London in London, England.[1][2] The convention committee was co-chaired by Alice Lawson and Steve Cooper and organized as London 2014 Limited. Loncon 3 sold the most memberships (10,833) and had the second largest in-person attendance (7,951) of any Worldcon to date.

Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention
Loncon 3 logo
GenreScience fiction
Dates14–18 August 2014
VenueExCeL London
Location(s)London
CountryEngland, United Kingdom
Attendance7,951 (on-site)
Organized byLondon 2014 Limited
Websiteloncon3.org

Guests of Honour
John Clute during his Guest of Honour interview.

The Guests of Honour for Loncon 3 were:

  • Iain M. Banks: a writer who received both popular and critical acclaim for his science fiction novels published over 25 years, including the Culture series, and for 15 other books published under the name Iain Banks. Banks died in June 2013, having announced just two months earlier that he had inoperable cancer.[3]
  • John Clute: a critic and writer of international renown, whose extensive work in the genre includes co-editing The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and The Encyclopedia of Fantasy.
  • Malcolm Edwards: currently Deputy CEO and publisher at the Orion Publishing Group, and who has also been a science fiction editor, critic, and writer, as well as a fan for over 40 years.
  • Chris Foss: an artist whose ground-breaking images revolutionised SF paperback covers from the early 1970s and shaped the way a generation visualised science fiction.
  • Jeanne Gomoll: recognised as one of the prime movers in science fiction feminism in the 1970s, and who has been influential in SF fandom as an artist, editor, writer, and organiser ever since.
  • Robin Hobb: the author of five successful series of fantasy novels, in addition to earlier works written as Megan Lindholm and a collection published under both names.
  • Bryan Talbot: a comics writer and artist whose career of over 30 years in the field includes the creation of the first British graphic novel, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.

Site selection
The Loncon fan village, where the bids had their tables and bid parties.

At the March 2012 filing deadline, only one committee who had announced a bid to hold the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention had filed the required paperwork to be on the site selection ballot.[4][5] That bid, "London in 2014", was chaired by Steve Cooper and Mike Scott.[6][7]

London's bid to host the Worldcon was formally unopposed and won in balloting among the members of the 70th World Science Fiction Convention held in Chicago, Illinois, in 2012.[8][1] With 932 ballots cast, the voting breakdown was 864 votes for London, 29 ballots expressed no preference, and there were 39 write-in votes for various sites, including "Peggy Rae's House", Phoenix, Stockholm, and Tonopah, Nevada.[9]

As a result of London's win, a vote for the 11th North American Science Fiction Convention to be held in 2014 took place at the 71st World Science Fiction Convention in San Antonio, Texas, in 2013.[10] Of the two announced bids, Detroit's bid was certified as the winner with 231 votes over a Phoenix bid that garnered 210 votes.[11] The Detroit convention was named Detcon1.[12]

Staff

Loncon 3 was co-chaired by Alice Lawson and Steve Cooper. Division heads included Helen Montgomery for Events, Farah Mendlesohn for Exhibits, Mike Scott for Facilities, Eemeli Aro for Hospitality, Nigel Furlong for Logistics, James Bacon for Programme, Nicholas Whyte for Promotions, Kees Van Toorn for Publications, and Carolina Gómez Lagerlöf for Services.[13]

Awards

The Hugo Awards, named after Hugo Gernsback, are presented every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The results are based on the ballots submitted by members of the World Science Fiction Society. Other awards, including the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (since 1973; named "John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer" until 2019), are also presented at each year's Worldcon.[14] The 1939 Retro Hugos were presented in 2014 to honor the 75th anniversary of the 1st World Science Fiction Convention.[15]

The convention received 3,587 valid ballots for the 2014 Hugo Awards and 1,307 for the 1939 Retro Hugo Awards.[16] Both figures are record participation by members in these awards. More than 99% of the ballots were cast online with just 16 by postal mail for the 2014 awards and 12 for the 1939 awards.[17] Authors Mary Robinette Kowal and Rob Shearman hosted the Retro Hugo Award ceremony.[15]

On March 1, 2014, the convention committee announced that comedian Jonathan Ross would be the host of the Hugo Award Ceremony; this choice was met with some controversy, and directly led to Farah Mendlesohn's decision to resign from the committee.[18] Ross subsequently tweeted that he was withdrawing from hosting the ceremonies.[19] Authors Geoff Ryman and Justina Robson were later named as hosts for the ceremony.[1][20]

2014 Hugo Awards
Best Novella winner Charles Stross
Best Novelette winner Mary Robinette Kowal
Best Professional Editor, Short Form winner Ellen Datlow

1939 Retro Hugo Awards

Other awards

Masquerade

The Loncon 3 masquerade was held on 16 August. The winners, across four experience-based categories, were:[22][23][24]

Young Fan division
  • Best Time Traveler: "Alberta Gear" by Tali Semo
  • Most Beautiful and Coolest: "Elsa" by Nicole Keller
  • Most Original and Creative: "Lost and Found" by Olivia and Eleah Flockhart
  • Special Judge's Award: "Elsa" by Nicole Keller

Novice division
  • Most Creepy: "The Slender Man" by Andrew Wishart
  • Best Recreation: "70's Doctor Who Monsters" by Christine Halse and Joseph Halse
  • Honourable Mention for Fabric Manipulation: "Fish Pond" by Emma Roberts
  • Best Workmanship: "Puff & Perry on the Other Side of Boring" by Petra Kufner and Antje Brand
  • Best Presentation: "Tribal" by Rebecca Lale
  • Best in Class (Group): "Puff & Perry on the Other Side of Boring" by Petra Kufner and Antje Brand
  • Best in Class (Solo): "Tribal" by Rebecca Lale

Journeyman division
  • Judge's Favourite: "Life is a Dream" by Loretta and Tim Morgan
  • Best Workmanship: "A Glamorous Evening of Galactic Domination" (Dalek ball gown costume) by Jennifer Skwarski
  • Best Presentation: "A Message from the Ministry of Magic" by Sabine Furlong
  • Best in Class: "Coliseum" by Peter Westhead

Master division
  • Most Beautiful: "The Odyssey Dress" by Miki Dennis
  • Workmanship and Attention to Detail: "We Dance" by Laura Hunt
  • Best Workmanship: "Aratalindalë" (Vala from The Silmarillion) by Ian Spittlehouse, Maggie Percival, Mike Percival, Marcus Streets, Liz Caldwell, Alex Davidson, Lawrence Percival and Helen Armstrong[25]
  • Best Presentation: "Aratalindalë" (Vala from The Silmarillion) by Ian Spittlehouse, Maggie Percival, Mike Percival, Marcus Streets, Liz Caldwell, Alex Davidson, Lawrence Percival and Helen Armstrong[25]

Overall
  • Best in Show: "Aratalindalë" by Ian Spittlehouse et al.[25]

Future site selection

Two committees announced bids and qualified to be on the site selection ballot for the 74th World Science Fiction Convention: "KC in 2016" for August 17–21, 2016, in Kansas City, Missouri, and "Beijing in 2016" for August 14–19, 2016, at the National Convention Center in Beijing, China. The 2016 site selected by the voters, Kansas City, was announced during the convention's final World Science Fiction Society business meeting on Sunday, August 17, 2014.[26][27] The vote was reported as 758 total votes with 651 for Kansas City, 70 for Beijing, and miscellaneous sites receiving 1 or 2 votes each.[28]

References
  1. Barnett, David (July 23, 2014). "Science fiction takes over London as Worldcon and Nine Worlds land". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  2. Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (August 15, 2014). "World Science Fiction Convention 2014 beams into London". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  3. Banks, Iain (3 April 2013). "A personal statement from Iain Banks". Official website. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  4. "Chicon 7 Announces London as Sole 2014 Site Selection Bidder" (Press release). Chicon 7. March 7, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  5. Glyer, Mike (March 8, 2012). "London in 2014 Bid Files". File 770. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
  6. Silver, Steven H (April 2, 2010). "London In 2014". SF Site. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  7. Langford, Dave (May 2010). "Rumblings". Ansible. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  8. Mitchell, Petrea (September 2, 2012). "2014 Worldcon in Loncon3". con-news.com. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  9. Glyer, Mike (September 3, 2012). "2014 Worldcon: Loncon 3". File 770. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  10. Fox, Rose (September 3, 2012). "Worldcon Breaking News". Genreville. Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  11. Glyer, Mike (August 31, 2013). "2014 NASFiC Result". File 770. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  12. DeNardo, John (January 9, 2014). "Detcon1 Announces the Detcon1 Awards for Young Adult and Middle Grade Speculative Fiction". SF Site. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  13. Glyer, Mike (July 27, 2012). "London in 2014 Names Worldcon Committee". File 770. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  14. "Hugo Award FAQ". The Hugo Awards. World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  15. "1939 Retro Hugo Award Winners". Loncon 3. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  16. "2014 Hugo Award Statistics" (PDF). Loncon 3. August 17, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-19. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  17. "Loncon 3 announces record participation in the 2014 Hugo Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Loncon 3. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  18. Stross, Charlie (March 1, 2014). "The latest Hugo awards storm". Charlie's Diary. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  19. Ross, Jonathan (March 1, 2014). "I have decided..." Twitter. Retrieved March 1, 2014. I have decided to withdraw from hosting the Hugo's @loncon3 in response to some who would rather I weren't there. Have a lovely convention.
  20. Standlee, Kevin (August 17, 2014). "2014 Hugo Award Winners". The Hugo Awards. World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  21. "1939 Retrospective Hugo Award Statistics" (PDF). Loncon 3. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  22. Silver, Steven H (August 17, 2014). "Loncon 3 Masquerade Winners". SF Site. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  23. "Loncon 3 - Masquerade". Sci-Fii 4 Ever. August 28, 2014. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  24. Parker, Carole (January–February 2015). "Loncon3 Masquerade" (PDF). International Costumer. XIV (1): 3–5.
  25. Helen, Daniel (24 August 2014). "Tolkien Society members triumph at Worldcon Masquerade". The Tolkien Society. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
  26. "2016 Site Selection". London: Loncon 3. February 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  27. "Worldcon and NASFiC Bids". Worldcon.org. July 1, 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  28. Glyer, Mike (August 17, 2014). "Kansas City Wins 2016 Worldcon Race". File 770. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
Preceded by
71st World Science Fiction Convention
LoneStarCon 3 in San Antonio, United States (2013)		 List of Worldcons
72nd World Science Fiction Convention
Loncon 3 in London, UK (2014)		 Succeeded by
73rd World Science Fiction Convention
Sasquan in Spokane, Washington, United States (2015)
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