Reminder: Hugo Nominations Deadline is Today
February 28th. 11:59 pm, Pacific Standard Time. That's this year's deadline for Hugo Award nominations. Yes, I was among the many who waited until the last day, but I beat the last minute rush by 20 hours. If you're eligible to nominate (i.e., a member of Denvention 3 or Anticipation) and haven't yet done so, please get right on it and see how many hours you can beat the deadline by.
You'll need your Denvention or Anticipation PIN in order to nominate online in English or French
(The webpage says Denvention members need a new PIN issued by Anticipation; the online ballot itself says you can use your Denvention PIN.) To request a PIN, email hugopins@anticipationsf.ca -- and please, don't wait until 11 pm or later to do so! The Hugo subcommittee is already in for one heck of a day (and night).
The Hugo rules include the following very important statement: "You may nominate up to five persons or works in each category. However, you are permitted (and even encouraged) to make fewer nominations or none at all if you are not familiar with the works that fall into that category." I nominated in far fewer categories than usual this year -- I just haven't kept up enough to be an informed nominator even in some categories I usually have firm opinions about.
For those nominating in the fan categories who want a memory refresher without sorting through stacks of paper fanzines that arrived last year, Bill Burns efanzines.com is a great resource. Thanks to it, I found Dave Locke's electronic Time and Again, which I'd somehow missed since he started it up last May. It's the continuation of David Burton's brilliant fanzine Pixel and Dave has not just the look down, the content shines, too. If Pixel had been on the ballot in 2007, it may well have earned my #1 vote. If not that, #2 for sure. Dave published 5 issues of Time and Again last year. Not only is it eligible, it deserves to be on the ballot, just as Pixel did a few years ago. Even if you're not nominating for the Hugos, take a look at it and at the multitude of other fanzines on efanzines.com. Fanzines are alive and well, and Bill is doing a huge service to fandom by providing a central hosting site for them.
As always, "the Magic Mimeograph is the one with a true fan at the handle." That's true of electronic handles as well as the traditional hand-cranked models.
You'll need your Denvention or Anticipation PIN in order to nominate online in English or French
(The webpage says Denvention members need a new PIN issued by Anticipation; the online ballot itself says you can use your Denvention PIN.) To request a PIN, email hugopins@anticipationsf.ca -- and please, don't wait until 11 pm or later to do so! The Hugo subcommittee is already in for one heck of a day (and night).
The Hugo rules include the following very important statement: "You may nominate up to five persons or works in each category. However, you are permitted (and even encouraged) to make fewer nominations or none at all if you are not familiar with the works that fall into that category." I nominated in far fewer categories than usual this year -- I just haven't kept up enough to be an informed nominator even in some categories I usually have firm opinions about.
For those nominating in the fan categories who want a memory refresher without sorting through stacks of paper fanzines that arrived last year, Bill Burns efanzines.com is a great resource. Thanks to it, I found Dave Locke's electronic Time and Again, which I'd somehow missed since he started it up last May. It's the continuation of David Burton's brilliant fanzine Pixel and Dave has not just the look down, the content shines, too. If Pixel had been on the ballot in 2007, it may well have earned my #1 vote. If not that, #2 for sure. Dave published 5 issues of Time and Again last year. Not only is it eligible, it deserves to be on the ballot, just as Pixel did a few years ago. Even if you're not nominating for the Hugos, take a look at it and at the multitude of other fanzines on efanzines.com. Fanzines are alive and well, and Bill is doing a huge service to fandom by providing a central hosting site for them.
As always, "the Magic Mimeograph is the one with a true fan at the handle." That's true of electronic handles as well as the traditional hand-cranked models.