Chicon 8: The 80th World Science Fiction Convention

Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to Chicon 8: The 80^th World Science Fiction Convention!

For a few years now, you’ve known me as one of the Co-chairs of the Chicago in 2022 Worldcon Bid. On behalf of myself, my Co-chair Dave McCarty, and our Bid Committee, we would like to thank you for all the support these last few years! Thank you to everyone who sat at a table with us, hung out at a party in person or on Zoom, and threw a $20 (or more) our way. We’re so excited to now be the seated Worldcon for 2022!

First Things First: Thank You!

We would like to recognize the fabulous work that our dedicated team of volunteers and supporters from so many nations have done to help us win this bid. You’ve put in hours of effort to make the bid a success – thank you for all you’ve done, and for those of you who are continuing on the journey with us, thank you for all you will be doing!

We would also like to offer commiserations (we’ve been there) and thanks to Yasser Bahjatt and the Jeddicon team for their enthusiasm. We wish we could have gotten to see you live on the campaign trail, but we have no doubt that we’re going to see you in the future!

Last but not least, our thanks to CoNZealand for running Site Selection this year – the world is in crisis, and we are proud to be part of the community that adapted with grace and agility in creating the first fully virtual Worldcon.

Taking to the Stars from The City By The Lake!

Allow me to now introduce myself in my new role – the Convention Chair. I am unbelievably thrilled about going forward and putting together this 8^th Worldcon in Chicago and honored that the Bid Committee and Voters felt I was worthy of the job. I will do my utmost to live up to your confidence in me.

In the next few weeks, we’ll be posting several pieces on our website blog and social media about our plans for the convention – talking about our theme, Guests of Honor, plans for choosing Featured Guests in the coming year, visions for all our divisions, volunteering, and the awesomeness that is our city!

Here on the website, we’ve got all the Day 1 details you need. Information on memberships, the hotel, our Guests of Honor, and how you can volunteer to support and help us during the transition from Bid to Convention!

You can also take a look at the first of our Progress Reports, which will all be electronic. We plan to be bringing you lots of news and stories through our website and social media, so please do follow us!

We look forward to welcoming all of you to our annual gathering of the clan, our fannish family reunion, in 2022 in Chicago!

Helen Montgomery
Convention Chair, Chicon 8