Chicon 2000

Program Notes

Rev. 29-Sep-2000
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Steven H Silver, prog@chicon.org

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Program Recordings

Chicon 2000, in conjunction with The Conference Cassette Company, has the following recordings of Chicon 2000 programs available for sale, at a cost of $10 per item. Those interested in purchasing copies will find the order form here

00SCFI-010______WHAT IS A PLANET?
00SCFI-020______SELF PROMOTION AND PUBLICITY
00SCFI-030______ALL IS NOT ROOK COVERS
00SCFI-040______GOOD VILLAINS AND BAD HEROES
00SCFI-050______THE SOURCES OF FANTASY:  DREAMS
00SCFI-060______SCIENCE FICTION ON TV AND FILMS: IS IT A CURSE OR A 
                GODSEND TO THE GENRE?
00SCFI-070______WRITING FOR CHILDREN
00SCFI-080______EXTRA-SOLAR PLANETS
00SCFI-090______REVAMPING THE HUGOS
00SCFI-100______GREAT UNSUNG SF FILMS
00SCFI-120______ALTERNATE PREHISTORY
00SCFI-130______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING: GODZILLA THROUGH THE YEARS
00SCFI-140______MELISSA, CHERNOBYL AND MICHELANGELO
00SCFI-150______CHICAGO PROGRAMMING:  DISCUSSING L FRANK BAUM AND 
                1OO YEARS OF OZ
00SCFI-160______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING: IT TAKES A (STRANGE) VILLAGE
00SCFI-170______NO AWARD?
00SCFI-180______MODELING WORLDS
00SCFI-190______SPACE LAW
00SCFI-200______BEYOND THE GENERIC MIDDLE AGES
00SCFI-210______THE PHYSICS OF FANTASY
00SCFI-220______THE SOURCES OF FANTASY:  FOLKLORE
00SCFI-230______KEEPING UP WITH WHAT’S NEW IN SCIENCE
00SCFI-240______USING ROBOTS AND MACHINES TO IMPROVE LIFE
00SCFI-250______RESEARCHING YOUR WRITING
00SCFI-260______IS THIS THE EBONY AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION?
00SCFI-270______BUT HEINLEIN SAID
00SCFI-280______CUBS VS. SOX IN THE WORLD SERIES
00SCFI-290______CHICAGO PROGRAMMING:  DISCUSSING JAMES TIPTREE, JR.
00SCFI-300______WHERE HAVE ALL THE TV VAMPIRES GONE?
00SCFI-310______THE NASA SPACE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
00SCFI-320______CRITICS’ VIEWS OF THE RECENT CROP OF SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES
00SCFI-330______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING:  MILITARY ISSUES
00SCFI-340______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING:  CREATION OF A PUBLISHING HOUSE
00SCFI-350______EARTH’S SEVERE WEATHER
00SCFI-360______TOO GOOD TO BE POPULAR
00SCFI-370______IS IT THE BEST, OR JUST MY OPINION?
00SCFI-3s0______HOW TO UNFAIRLY JUDGE A BOOK BY PAGE 119
00SCFI-390______PULLING FICTION FROM THE REAL WORLD
00SCFI-400______GUEST OF HONOR SPEECHES
00SCFI-410______"START UP" RITUALS OF THE PROS
00SCFI-420______ANIME: WHY DO WE LOVE IT?
00SCFI-430______FAMOUS CRA5HLANDINGS IN SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION
00SCFI-440______IS THERE A MIDWESTERN FANDOM?
00SCFI-4s0______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING:  I’M GOING TO LIVE FOREVER
00SCFI-460______WHY SHORT STORIES ARE STILL WORTH WRITING
00SCFI-470______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING:  IS THERE MONEY ON THE MOON?
00SCFI-480______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING:  ALTERNATE HISTORY: CHANGING THE 
                REAL WORLD
00SCFI-490______THE OBLIGATORY, RUT REALLY COOL, DINOSAUR PANEL
00SCFI-500______NORTH OF THE BORDER, SOUTH OF THE BORDER: WHERE SHOULD WE 
                HOLD THE 2OO3 WORLDCON?
00SCFI-510______AFTER HARRY POTTER, WHERE NEXT?
00SCFI-520______PROS AND FANS AT CONS: WHO’S HIDING FROM WHOM?
00SCFI-530______MAGAZINE’S SUPPORTING CASTS
00SCF1-s40______THE SOURCES OF FANTASY:  HISTORY
00SCFI-550______CRYPTOGRAPHY PANEL
00SCFI-560______SOLAR SYSTEM UPDATE
00SCFI-570______LUNAR LIFE
00SCFI-580______WHAT IS THE IDEAL LENGTH FOR SCIENCE FICTION?
00SCFI-590______THE CAMPBELL NOMINEES
00SCFI-600______DO FAN ARTISTS GET ENOUGH EGOBOO TO SUSTAIN LIFE?
00SCFI-610______IS FANDOM JEWISH?
00SCFI-620______WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY HARD SCIENCE FICTION?
00SCFI-630______MAPPING THE WILD GENOME
00SCFI-650______THE SCI-FI CHANNEL WHERE GOOD AND MEDIOCRE SCIENCE FICTION 
                PROGRAMS GO TO DIE OR BE RESURRECTED
00SCFI-660______THE BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION HUGO WINNERS AND HOW THEY HAVE 
                STOOD THE TEST OF TIME
00SCFI-670______IF I SHOULDN'T LOSE MY DAY JOB, WHAT DAY JOB SHOULD I NOT LOSE?
00SCFI-680______GREAT DEBUT NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
00SCFI-700______CAN YOU REALLY MAKE A LIVING DOING THIS?
00SCFI-710______THE SEARCH FOR ET
00SCFI-720______WHEN BOTH SPOUSES WRITE
00SCFI-730______MY FIRST NOVEL
00SCFI-740______FAVORITE SCIENCE WRITERS
00SCFI-750______THE MYTH OF FANNISH TOLERANCE
00SCFI-760______SHOOT FOR THE MOON
00SCFI-790______CRYONICS, FICTION VS. FACT
00SCFI-800______NANOTECHNOLOGY AND CLARKE’S LAW
00SCFI-810______CRYPTOGRAPHY WITH BRUCE SCHNEIER
00SCFI-820______HOW DID THAT GET PUBLISHED?
00SCFI-830______WHAT MAKES BAD PROGRAMMING?
00SCFI-840______HIDEOUSLY MISACCULTURATED
00SCFI-850______SPACE STATIONS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
00SCFI-860______HOW I BUY WHAT I BUY
00SCFI-870______COLLABORATIONS: MURDER IS NOT AN OPTION
00SCFI-880______WAS STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE AS GOOD AS WE REMEMBER?
00SCFI-890______REMEMBERING OUR LOSSES
00SCFI-900______NOT OVER TIL THE FAT ARISIAN SINGS
00SCFI-910______CHICAGO IN SCIENCE FICTION 
00SCFI-920______SPACE TOURISM
00SCFI-930______GIRL COOTIES
00SCFI-940______MEDIA SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS: HOW WE LAUGH AT OURSELVES
00SCFI-950______WHAT IF WE ACTED LIKE WE WANTED NEW FANS?
00SCFI-960______CARTOONS AND COMICS MADE INTO LIVE ACTION FILMS: 
                IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?
00SCFI-970______NOSTALGIA THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF SF
00SCFI-980______ASTEROIDS AND COMETS
00SCFI-990______THE HEALTH RISKS OF FANDOM
00SCFI-1000______GUEST OF HONOR PROGRAMMING: IS ALTERNATE HISTORY HISTORY?
00SCFI-1010______WHERE NO WOMAN HAS GONE BEFORE
00SCFI-1020______IS THE MEDIA FAN STILL THE BLACK SHEEP OF FANDOM?
00SCFI-1030______THE REBIRTH OF HARD SF
00SCFI-1040______PAST AS PROLOGUE
00SCFI-1050______I FOUND SOMEONE AT THE CON, BUT THEY LIVE FAR AWAY
00SCFI-1060______ASK BWANA-LIVE!

Overall Program Schedule

Program slots are 75 minutes slots with 15 minute breaks between. Daytime program start times are 8:30 am, 10:00 am, 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 4:00 pm, and 5:30 pm.

Thursday will have limited programming at 10:00 am and 11:30 am, expanding to the full slate at 1:00 pm, which is also when autographings will begin. Friday-Monday there will be limited programming at 8:30 am, with the full slate starting at 10:00 am.

Thursday-Sunday daytime programming will end at 6:45 pm, when the 5:30 panels let out. Monday's programming ends at 2:00 pm, when the 1:00 panels are over. (See also Closing Ceremonies.)


From the Programming Director

After much internal debate, the Chicon 2000 committee decided that the convention should include programming. While this was an unpopular decision with those pushing for the title of "World's Largest Relaxacon," the majority of the committee felt that programming was an essential part of a Worldcon. When I mentioned to my wife that I would be running programming at the Worldcon, she gave me all the support you could imagine, beginning by asking if I were crazy. Another con-com member looked at me in astonishment and proclaimed that I really did have the word "Sucker" writ large across my brow.

And so, I find myself running programming for Chicon. I suppose I should say something about my programming philosophy and what I aim to do at the convention.

Perhaps most important, I feel that Chicon should be as inclusive as possible. I want everybody to feel that the convention was programmed specifically for them. If you are an artist, I want you to be able to attend panels, discussions and demonstrations which will teach you more about painting, sculpture, research, etc. If you are a costumer, I want you to be able to attend a similar range of activities which will allow you to expand your knowledge. If you are a fan in general, I want you to be able to attend panels (discussions, demonstrations, etc.) which will expand your appreciation for every aspect of science fiction.

I want Chicon to be your Worldcon. While I have a fantastic staff supporting me and planning panels, etc. for a variety of tracks, none of them can read minds (or if they can, they haven't told me). If you have a particular topic you want addressed, please let the programming staff know. While we can't promise to schedule everyone's idea, if enough people contact us with a related idea, we'll do our best to schedule it.

The program will begin on Thursday morning and run through Monday afternoon. Currently, we are planning for the majority of programming to last for 75-minutes followed by a 15-minute "passing period." In addition to this "regular" programming, we'll have some programming which lasts for longer periods and some demonstrations which are not limited to normal programming space.

Function space for special interest groups can be reserved by filling out the Special Interest Group Space Allocation form found in Progress Report 5 or contacting me directly by 18-May-2000.

You can find a listing of my staff in the Staff and Committee List. We still have openings and if anyone would like to volunteer at any level, please contact me. I can be contacted with questions or suggestions at prog@chicon.org.


The convention doesn't end at six o'clock.

At a Worldcon, you get five days of talking about science fiction, with panels and readings and autographings all day and special events every night. You get lots of panels and programs, all day, on an amazing variety of topics. Science programs; how to behave at a convention programs; how to be a writer (OK, how to sell what you've written) programs; fan meetings, for all kinds of fans - Star Trek fans, ERB fans, gay fans...

If you've never been to a convention like the Worldcon, you'll be amazed at how many different things there are to do, all day, and all night. This isn't a "single-track plus a dealers room" convention or show; this is going to be big, really big. At a recent Worldcon [www], there were at least forty (40) different things you could do just at 10:00 am on Saturday, what with panels, autographs, films, readings, workshops, games, discussion groups, and so forth. And the convention keeps going in the evening and well into the night, with more events, panels, readings, and more open parties than you'll be able to visit in one night.

We'll have some more information for you in just a few weeks, from our Programming Division head. And watch this space over the next three years, as things shape up.


(Taken from Progress Report 1)

Q. "Will the program include [fill in blank]?"

A. Yes. Seriously, while Ross Pavlac's death leaves a degree of uncertainty in the program area, we do have a few firm views (to which any and all are welcome to object):

1. Although fans have a vast variety of interests and a panel on any topic from gardening to baseball to Celtic resistance to the Reformation (a real topic a couple of years ago at a West Coast con) can draw an audience, this particular convention is devoted on a particular subset of interests, i. e., science fiction, fantasy and ancillary subjects. These traditional Worldcon topics cover so broad a range that it is scarcely necessary to pad them out with politics, religion, potted history, self-help, etc., etc. (which is not to say that such topics cannot be part of a "hard-core" SF/F program; the secret lies in the perspective from which they are viewed).

2. The program should have substance, which means that panelists have to know about their topics well in advance and should be challenged to go beyond truisms and platitudes. The dullest panels that I have ever witnessed have been those in which one speaker had an axe to grind, two had books to plug and three hadn't the foggiest idea of why they were there.

3. The whole convention should contribute to the program. The Art Show, for instance, isn't there just to look pretty. It will, if we manage properly, be an integral part of art programming. Similarly, Exhibits and the Dealers' Room offer many resources that can be utilized more fully than in the past. Those are, of course, generalities - but not, I think, meaningless ones. Comments, preferably peace-bonded, are always welcome.

Ad Astra!
Tom Veal, Chairman, Chicon 2000


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