The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Loncon 3, was held on 14–18 August 2014 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom.[1][2]
The convention committee was co-chaired by Alice Lawson and Steve Cooper and organized as London 2014 Limited.
Participants
Attendance was 7,951, out of 10,833 paid memberships.
Guests of Honour
John Clute during his Guest of Honour interview.
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]
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.
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[7]
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[7]
Overall
Best in Show: "Aratalindalë" by Ian Spittlehouse et al.[7]
The World Science Fiction Society administers and presents the Hugo Awards,[8] the oldest and most noteworthy award for science fiction. Selection of the recipients is by vote of the Worldcon members. Categories include novels and short fiction, artwork, dramatic presentations, and various professional and fandom activities.[8][9]
The convention received 3,587 valid ballots for the 2014 Hugo Awards and 1,307 for the 1939 Retro Hugo Awards.[12] 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.[13] Authors Mary Robinette Kowal and Rob Shearman hosted the Retro Hugo Award ceremony.[11]
On 1 March 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.[14] Ross subsequently tweeted that he was withdrawing from hosting the ceremonies.[15] Authors Geoff Ryman and Justina Robson were later named as hosts for the ceremony.[1][16]
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.[18]
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.[19][20] That bid, "London in 2014", was chaired by Steve Cooper and Mike Scott.[21][22]
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.[23][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.[24]
Two committees announced bids and qualified to be on the site selection ballot for the 74th World Science Fiction Convention: "KC in 2016" for 17–21 August 2016, in Kansas City, Missouri, and "Beijing in 2016" for 14–19 August 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, 17 August 2014.[28][29][30]
^ ab"Article 3: Hugo Awards". WSFS Constitution. World Science Fiction Society. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
^ ab"2014 Hugo Award Statistics"(PDF). Loncon 3. 17 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Ross, Jonathan (1 March 2014). "I have decided..."Twitter. Retrieved 1 March 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.
^"2016 Site Selection". London: Loncon 3. 16 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
