Next year Australia is hosting Worldcon. Of course it also needs to hold a national convention where it can give out the Ditmar Awards. Different countries have different approaches to this.
– The Americans don’t bother to hold a natcon when Worldcon is in the USA, or when it is in Canada.
– The British won’t be moved from the Easter date for their natcon so they hold it anyway and everyone complains about how much work this is and how poorly attended it will be.
– The Canadians generally elect the Worldcon to be their natcon as well.
– And the Australians hold a natcon separate from but coincident with the Worldcon – hence Dudcon III.
Why do the Aussies do this? Well one very good reason is to raise money to support the Ditmars. If you can charge membership for the natcon and all you have to do is hold the award ceremony and a party then you can raise a fair chunk of cash. Why would anyone be so daft as to pay good money to be a member of such a dud of a convention? Well, because they want to support Australian fandom, perhaps because they want to vote in the Ditmars, and perhaps because the idea of a membership category called “Protector of Kittens” is too cute to resist.
Alternatively people might have a hankering to be GoH at a convention. The Aussies are putting both their local and international GoH slots up for auction.
Further information, including how you can get to be a GoH, help protect kittens, or even design your own custom membership category, can be found on the Dudcon III web site.
Back in the day, Minicon (Easter weekend) absolutely refused to accept memberships before January 1, because they couldn’t be bothered. The first relaxation in that policy came with the introduction of the (non-exclusive) Sucker Guest of Honor; you could pay $500 to join before Jan. 1, which made you Sucker Guest of Honor.
I don’t recall if any further privileges came with the distinction.
Thanks for spruiking Dudcon! We really can use the money, and we think we can manage an excellent party.
Wearing my Ditmar supremo hat, I should note that as a Conjecture member, you were already eligible to vote in the 2010 Ditmars. But if you join Dudcon, you will also be eligible to vote in the 2011 ones!
David:
I do believe that I am already a proud Protector of Kittens.
“The Americans don’t bother to hold a natcon when Worldcon is in the USA, or when it is in Canada.”
I thought it wasn’t that we “don’t bother to hold” NASCFIC if Worldcon’s in North America…but rather, that we only bother having one if Worldcon’s not in North America. (Sorry if this is too nit-picky.) IMHO it’s not a natcon like the other ones you mention.
Anyway, thanks for the amusing Dudcon info. I like the $100 membership level…but then, my mental age is 12 tonight, I guess. 😉
Kendall:
I’d say that NASFiC is more not a natcon in that it theoretically covers Canada (and possibly Mexico) too, even though Canada at least has its own natcon (Canvention). The fact that it is held so rarely makes it seem very different, but that hasn’t stopped people campaigning to have it held every year.
What might be interesting was if NASFiC was a continental convention in the same class as Eurocon and similar events on other continents, and Worldcon was a class above that, but I think we have a long way to go before we achieve that.