2012 Hugo Awards Livecast Scheduled

~ Kevin

Can’t attend this year’s Worldcon? You can attend the ceremony virtually by following our online coverage. As we did last year, TheHugoAwards.org will provide live text-based coverage of the 2012 Hugo Awards ceremony from Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, September 2, 2012 at 8 PM Central Daylight Time.

Bookmark our 2012 Hugo Award Live Coverage page for the gateway to the event coverage on CoverItLive.

Kevin Standlee and Mur Lafferty will cover the event from the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and we’ll incorporate the official @chicon_7 and @TheHugoAwards Twitter feeds, as well as Twitter posts using the #hugos, #hugoaward, #hugoawards, and #thehugoawards hashtags.

Our coverage is text-only. Chicon intends to provide live streaming coverage of the ceremony on UStream. We’ll include a link to the live-stream from within our coverage.

We’ll be “on the air” shortly before the scheduled 8 PM CDT start. Join us to watch, read, and discuss the results as the Worldcon presents our field’s top honors.

Our thanks to Chicon 7, the 2012 Worldcon, for their cooperation and funding of live coverage of the 2012 Hugo Awards ceremony.

2012 Hugo Voter Packet Released

~ Kevin

Chicon 7, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, has released the 2012 Hugo Voter Packet. This package includes electronic versions of many works nominated for the 2012 Hugo Awards. It is available only to Supporting, Attending, and Young Adult members of Chicon 7, and only through the close of voting on this year’s Hugo Awards.

These Hugo Award-nominated works are made available to the members of Chicon 7 through the generosity of the nominees and publishers for the purpose of familiarizing voters with this year’s nominees.

To access the Hugo Voter Packet, you will need a PIN issued to you by Chicon 7. For more details about the packet, including how to obtain your PIN if you do not have one, see the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards web site.

Note: The 2012 Hugo Awards are administered by Chicon 7, the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention. Direct all questions about the Hugo Packet or any other aspect of the administration of the 2012 Hugo Awards to Chicon 7’s Hugo Award Administrators. If you send your question to us here at the Hugo Awards web site, your answer will be delayed until we forward it to Chicon 7.

Online, Paper Hugo Ballots Issued

~ Kevin

The electronic ballot and paper (PDF) ballots for the 2012 Hugo Awards are now online and available from the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards web site. To vote online, you will need a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Chicon 7 will send all members PINs by e-mail or paper mail. You must be at least a supporting member of Chicon 7 in order to vote (you can join at the time you vote), and Chicon 7 must receive your ballot by the voting deadline, which is Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 11:59 pm PDT.

You do not have to attend Chicon 7 or have an attending membership in order to vote. A supporting membership is sufficient. Members of last year or next year’s Worldcons were able to participate in the nominations process, but are not eligible to vote on the final ballot (unless they are members of Chicon 7, of course.)

2012 Hugo Voting Process Underway

~ Kevin

According to Chicon 7, the final ballot process for the 2012 Hugo Awards started on Monday, April 9, 2012 and will continue until Tuesday, July 31, 2012. Voting will be available online and by paper ballot distributed to all members of Chicon 7 and through their website. You do not have to attend Chicon 7 to vote, but you must be either an attending or supporting member of the convention. (Members of last year’s and next year’s Worldcons could nominate on this year’s Hugo Awards, but cannot vote on the final ballot unless they also join Chicon 7.)

We have as yet received no official word about a Hugo Voter Packet of nominated works; however, informal reports indicate that Chicon 7 is working on this and will make an announcement when such a package is available.

For more information about the 2012 Hugo Awards, see the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards page. If you have specific questions about this year’s Hugo Awards process, contact Chicon 7’s Hugo Administrators directly through Chicon 7’s website. If you send your questions to us here at TheHugoAwards.org, we will forward them to Chicon 7, but there may be a delay in getting your question to the right people.

2012 Hugo Nominations to be Announced Saturday, April 7

~ Kevin

On Saturday, April 7, starting at 3 PM Central Daylight Time, you will be able to see this year’s Hugo Award Nominations announced live in person at five conventions in the United States and Europe, with the announcements simultaneously carried live over the internet on UStream. Special guests will be present at some of the live announcements as well.

The UStream channels will be opened shortly before the start of the announcement, giving you the opportunity to follow whichever location’s broadcast you prefer. If you’re attending one of those conventions, check your convention’s schedule for details of where the announcements will be presented. Otherwise, pick the one you want to watch:

The 2012 Hugo Awards will be presented at Chicon 7, the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, August 30 to September 3, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. All members of Chicon 7 (both attending and supporting) will be eligible to vote on the 2012 Hugo Awards.

Hugo Nominating Ballots Break Record Again

~ Kevin

Chicon 7, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, has announced that they received 1,101 nominating ballots for the 2012 Hugo Awards, a new record, eclipsing last year’s high-water mark of 1,006.

The 2012 Hugo Award nominations will be announced on Saturday, April 7 starting at 3:00 PM Central Daylight Time in an announcement ceremony planned to be held simultaneously at these five separate SF conventions:

  • Norwescon 35, one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier science fiction and fantasy conventions, at Seatac, WA (1 PM. PDT)
  • Leprecon 38, Arizona’s annual science fiction and fantasy convention, at Tempe, AZ (1 PM MST)
  • Minicon 47, Minnesota’s longest-running science fiction convention, at Bloomington, MN (3 PM CDT)
  • Marcon 47, the Midwest’s largest annual convention, at Columbus, OH (4 PM EDT)
  • Olympus 2012, the British National Science Fiction Convention (Eastercon) (9 PM BST)

Chicon 7 representatives will be joined for the announcement by special guests including authors George RR Martin at Eastercon and Joe Haldeman at Leprecon, and artist John Picacio at Norwescon.

Chicon 7 plans to broadcast the Hugo Award Nomination Announcements live on UStream. We will post the details of how to follow the results live online when Chicon 7 makes them available. We will, of course, post the nominations here on TheHugoAwards.org shortly after they are published.

More information is available in the full announcement at the Chicon 7 web site.

Hugo Award Nominations Closed

~ Kevin

Nominations for the 2012 Hugo Awards are now closed. Chicon 7, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, plans to announce the final ballot sometime during the Saturday (US time) of Easter weekend at selected conventions, with such announcement also expected to be available as a live stream over the internet. We will post further details of the announcement plans when they are available.

Hugo Nominating Deadline Approaching

~ Kevin

The deadline for making nominations for this year’s Hugo Awards is 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Sunday, March 11, 2012. Anyone who was a member of Renvovation (2011 Worldcon), Chicon 7 (2012 Worldcon), or LoneStarCon 3 (2013 Worldcon) as of January 31, 2012 is eligible to make up to five nominations in each category for the Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Author.

The 2012 Hugo Awards are being administered by the 2012 Worldcon, Chicon 7. See the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards web site for additional details. Contact Chicon 7 with any questions about the administration of the 2012 Hugo Awards, particularly questions requiring urgent replies and voter-eligibility inquiries. Questions directed to TheHugoAwards.org may be subject to delay as we have to forward them to Chicon 7, and we cannot be responsible for such delays.

Your ballot must arrive by the deadline on March 11. Note that Daylight Savings Time takes effect in most of the United States on March 11. We recommend not waiting until the last minute to cast your ballot.

For additional information, see the full announcement from Chicon 7 about the nominating deadline.

2012 Hugo Award Nominations Open

~ Kevin ~ 10 Comments

Nominations for the 2012 Hugo Awards are now open. The 2012 Hugo Awards are being administered by Chicon 7, the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention. Any person who was or is a member of the 2011, 2012, or 2013 Worldcons as of January 31, 2012, is eligible to nominate for the 2012 Hugo Awards. (Even if you’re a member of more than one of those three Worldcons, you may only cast one nominating ballot.) If you are not a member of any of those conventions, you may join Chicon 7 or LoneStarCon 3, the 2013 Worldcon, before January 31, 2012 to become eligible.

Chicon 7 has exercised its right under the WSFS Constitution to add a Special Category for 2012. The additional award category is Best Fancast, defined as “Any non-professional audio- or video-casting with at least four (4) episodes that had at least one (1) episode released in 2011.” (There is an amendment to the WSFS Constitution pending ratification at Chicon 7 that would make Best Fancast a permanent category.)

If you are eligible to nominate, you may cast a nominating ballot through the Chicon Hugo Nominating Website or by paper ballot by mail. No matter which method you use to vote, Chicon 7 must receive your ballot (postmarks/timestamps do not count) by Sunday, March 11, 2012, 23:59 Pacific Daylight Time. (Convert to your local time here.)

If you have questions about specific procedures for the 2012 Hugo Awards, address them to the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards Administrators. TheHugoAwards.org cannot answer specific questions about eligibility or procedures for a given election, since each Hugo Award election is administered by that year’s Worldcon.

Update, Jan 4: According to a statement posted by Jeff Orth on the File 770 web site, voter PINs (the code number required to cast your ballot online) “are being emailed to current members now. PR3 will be in the mail directly. You can also request a PIN at hugoadmin@chicon.org.”

Note: While this is a “nominating ballot,” and we say that you “nominate” people or works for a Hugo Award when you write them on the nominating ballot, only those people or works that appear on the final Hugo Award ballot later in the year are the actual “Hugo Award Nominees.” Merely writing a work in on your nominating ballot does not make that work a “Hugo Award Nominee” unless the work receives enough nominations from other Worldcon members to make the final ballot.

See the Chicon 7 web site for the official press release announcement.