I Just Voted for Helsinki in 2017
I just cast my vote via e-mail in favor of Helsinki’s bid for the 2017 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon). WorldCon is the granddaddy of all scifi and fantasy conventions each year and has been in existence since 1939. This year it’s being held in Spokane, Washington. Next year it’s in Kansas City, Missouri. But you know where it’s never been? Finland. And it’s time for that to change.
As an American, it’s certainly convenient for WorldCon to be in the United States nearly every year, but the fact that WorldCon defaults to the United States doesn’t make it very worldly. In fact, counting next year’s convention in Kansas City, 55 of the 74 WorldCons will have been held in the United States—nearly three quarters of them. Add Canada to that total, and it’s 60 out of the 74 that have been held in North America—81%.
Though they have a whole host of separate problems, one of the things I always liked about international sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup is that you really do get to see different parts of the world every time an event is held. For example, of the 33 summer Olympic games (including the next two in Brazil and Japan), 4 have been held in the US. Add the games in Mexico City and Montreal, and that’s a grand total of 6 games held in North America—18%. In fact, there have been more summer Olympic competitions in Helsinki (2) than Canada (1). Without a doubt, the summer Olympics are fraught with controversy and have their own issues (e.g. there’s never been a summer Olympics in Africa, the first games in South America will be next year and they’re fraught with controversy, etc.), but if one were forced to say, “Which event is more international: the summer Olympics or the World Science Fiction Convention?”, one would be forced to say the Olympics. That, to me, is a shame.
But it need not always be that way! This year, for example, we have the ability to vote on not one, but three non-American bids for the 2017 convention: Montreal, Shizuoka and Helsinki. We have the opportunity to continue to move WorldCon in the direction of becoming a truly international convention and I think we should. Regarding the bid itself, I of course support helsinkiin2017 for a number of reasons. First, of course, I’ve always wanted to visit Finland, and this will be as good an excuse as any, but in addition, the committee for helsinkiin2017 was ready to host this WorldCon more than two years ago. They actually put together a truly impressive bid for the 2015 WorldCon, but lost to Spokane. Since then, they’ve put all their time and energy into 2017. They were already the most professional and best-prepared bid back then, and now they’ve only improved on that reputation. George R. R. Martin has shown his support for the bid—twice—and he’s experienced Finnish hospitality first hand at several different conventions. I think it’s time to bring the World Science Fiction Convention to the birthplace of Moomins, Linux, Kalakukko, and Angry Birds. It’s time to bring WorldCon to Helsinki!
Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I’m mentioning it today… As of the time of posting, there is about 11 hours left to vote for Helsinki in 2017 via e-mail. You may still vote in person if you plan to attend Sasquan in Spokane, of course, but if you want to make your voice heard and you can’t attend Sasquan, you may vote for Helsinki by doing the following:
If you are not already, become a supporting member of Sasquan (the cost is $40) by filling out the requisite form here. Retain your membership number, as you will need it later.
Become a supporting member of the 2017 World Science Fiction Convention (this is good no matter who wins the bid). You can do so by going here and filling out the info. The cost is $40. Retain your voting token, as you will need it later.
Open up this .pdf ballot and fill in your preferences. Before printing, be sure to enter your membership number and your voting token from above. Both numbers will be needed in order for your vote to count.
Sign your ballot in the designated slot.
Scan your ballot (can be done with your phone using something like CamScanner).
E-mail the scanned .pdf to ballot2017siteselection “A T” sasquan “D O T” org.
And that’s it! I know it’s kind of a complex process, but it’s to ensure that everything is done fairly. Again, if you don’t make it in in the next 11 hours, there are still ways to vote! You can vote in person at Sasquan, or you can send a signed paper ballot with a friend who’s attending Sasquan and can hand deliver it. Since there’s still time to do it online, though, I wanted to be sure to pass this info on. Hopefully two years from now we’ll be celebrating together in Helsinki, where the sun never sets! (During the summer, anyway.)
blakekathryn
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