The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists maintains the Doomsday Clock, a visual metaphor for how close we are to destroying our civilization.
The Atomic Hugo Clock is a metaphor for how close you are to forever losing your opportunity to nominate and vote for the 2015 Hugo Awards.
Tonight on January 31st at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time – 2:59 am Eastern Standard Time on February 1st , 1:59 am Central time on February 1st and 12:59 am Mountain time – the ability to register for Sasquan, the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention, will expire.
If there was ever a good reason for a fan to exercise their franchise, this is it. Not only will you get to endorse your favorite stories, novels, television episodes and movies (not to mention non-fiction, personalities and professionals working in the field) your participation ensures a healthy award system, supports diversity in the community and helps keep important fannish traditions alive.
Not to mention: the more people participate, the healthier and more reflective of the SF community’s tastes the awards are.
So exercise your franchise! There are MILLIONS of science fiction and fantasy fans. It’s a terrible shame that only a handful nominate and vote. Lets keep the new tradition of increasing participation going this year.
Supporting members of Sasquan only pay $40 for a membership – and get to vote. Your can register right here.
Fans who supported and attended Loncon3 – don’t forget that you get to nominate also!
Fans who are supporting or attending next year’s MidAmericon2 – don’t forget that you get to nominate also!
Register. Nominate. Vote. Do it.
We are unfortunately entering an era of increased politicization of the Hugo Award nominating and voting process.
Fortunately, it is not necessary to answer this untoward development with more politics. All that is needed is increased participation from fans, regardless of their mundane political affiliations. The greater the total number of participating fans, the more diluted any individual voting block becomes, the less influential it will be.
No one wants a final ballot that is the result of competing socially engineered campaigns: No One. It ought not be necessary to point out the fact that prior success is no guarantee of future success.
It was and is the intention of the Hugo Awards that each nomination and each vote represent an individual’s personal choice. PERSONAL choice. Not a choice influenced by politics. Not a choice influenced by begging, false victimization, commercial appeals or anything other than an answer to the question: of all the stories you read this year, which ones are the best? Which ones did you like the most? Which ones really did it for YOU.
Fans are fiercely independent creatures. Retain your independence and exercise your fannish franchise in a manner you can be proud of for the rest of your life.
Register. Nominate. Vote. Do it.
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