Kia Ora!

We’ve been working hard to turn CoNZealand into a virtual convention. We first put together a group to determine the needs of each of our divisions while researching various folks we could partner with. These led to our partnerships with The Fantasy Network and with Grenadine, and we’ve all been running ever since.

CoNZealand’s Technology Services have been working closely with our partners and the other CoNZealand Divisions. Our newly created Platform Services Division is coordinating the work, and has set up an Architectural Council, with representatives from each of our Divisions, to guide us. We tested our work this past weekend during the CoNZealand All-Staff meeting, trying out our platform and the various components. We wanted to see how the systems worked and, importantly, if we could break them in order to improve them. The weekend testing was very successful, and we are now working on integrating the components into a seamless experience.

What are those components? We can now announce that we will be using the following: 

The social hub of the CoNZealand platform will be Discord. From here, you will be able to enter, talk with bidders at their bid tables, hang out in our social spaces and attend parties.

Programme items will be in Zoom, with the type of item determining what type of Zoom meeting we will use. Most events will be streamed to members and will also be available on The Fantasy Network’s app.

Our schedule will be in Grenadine, where you can read about our Programme Participants, plan your convention schedule, and get to the programme items.

Finally, we will greatly expand the CoNZealand website to provide information on exhibits, dealers, and the art show, and a wealth of information, including the Convention Newsletter and other convention publications.

These will all be tied together with a single sign-in point for authentication through the CoNZealand registration system, while meeting standards for maintaining the privacy of our members.

We have backup components for the platform, and we may add other components as useful. We will announce minimum system requirements to access the platform in mid-June.  

We thank our entire Committee for their very hard work as we switch from an in person Worldcon to a virtual Worldcon. There are big changes, and subtle changes. None of this would be possible without the hard work and cooperation of everyone involved, and we especially want to thank our Technology Services Division, our partners, and Matthew Gray, our Lead Developer, and a cast of many more for the hard work that they are putting in to creating the virtual environment for our convention.

We hope you are looking forward to CoNZealand as much as we are!

Norman Cates

Kelly Buehler

The Going Under Fan Fund, or Get Up-and-over Fan Fund, known as GUFF, was founded in the mid-70s to exists to send SF fans from Europe to Australia and New Zealand, or vice versa, to meet fans and further fannish ties between continents. The fan funds exist only through the generosity of individual fans.

This year’s GUFF delegate is Alison Scott of London, UK. 

Alison has been active in fandom since the mid 80s. An enthusiastic con-goer and con-runner, she’s chaired the Eastercon (UK national convention) twice, and run many smaller cons. As part of the Plokta Cabal she’s won the Best Fanzine Hugo twice, and won the Rotsler and Nova awards for her fan art. However, she’s perhaps best known in her local fandom for staying up too late and partying too hard, and is spending lockdown actively working on finding ways to make that happen virtually.

She’s promised to make a trip to Australia and New Zealand when circumstances allow, but in the meanwhile she’s going to both attend CoNZealand and tour the continent virtually. She’ll be not flying to Western Australia in mid-July,  switch to Australian time, and will then work her virtual way across Australia, reaching New Zealand a few days before the Worldcon starts. She’s hoping to meet as many local fans as possible, along with spending time in every available time zone and fitting in as many virtual tourist attractions as possible. So if you’re planning any virtual events during the period 11 – 29th July, why not get in touch with Alison (alison.scott@gmail.com) and invite her along?

Why do a virtual trip? Partly as a challenge; longtime fan Rob Jackson opined that it wouldn’t be possible to have much of a trip while sitting at your computer, and Alison wants to prove him wrong. But partly because SF fandom started, way back in the 1930s, in the letter columns of magazines, as fans from around the world got to know each other without ever necessarily having any expectation of meeting.

It seems likely that we aren’t going to be able to travel as freely as we like for some time. GUFF exists to forge closer links between European and Australian and New Zealand fandom, and if we can’t do that in person it’s worth trying to do it online. 
 
Alison is planning her trip on a Facebook group, www.facebook.com/groups/virtualguff2020/ and you’re welcome to come and join in the planning there. To find out more about GUFF and how you can support the fund, go to http://ozfanfunds.com.

CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, has announced the finalists for the 2020 Hugo Awards, Lodestar and Astounding Awards and the 1945 Retro Hugo Awards.

First presented in 1953, the Hugo Awards are the longest-running fan-voted awards in science fiction and fantasy. They recognise both professionals and fans, honouring written fiction and dramatic presentations, artists, editors and others.

The video announcing the finalists is available for viewing on the CoNZealand YouTube channel.

“Congratulations to all those announced today. Being a finalist for a Hugo Award signifies the high esteem in which the fan community holds your work. Getting to this stage is a huge achievement,” said CoNZealand Co-Chairs Norman Cates and Kelly Buehler.

Nominations for the 2020 and 1945 Hugo Awards were submitted by the members of CoNZealand, the 78th Worldcon, and Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon. 1,584 people submitted 27,033 nominations for the 2020 Hugo Awards, and 120 people submitted 1,677 nominations for the 1945 Retrospective Hugo Awards.

Only CoNZealand members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners. You can still purchase a Supporting Membership on the CoNZealand website to be eligible to vote. Information on how to submit a voting ballot is available here.

The awards will be presented at CoNZealand which will now run online from 29 July to 2 August 2020. These will be the first Hugo Awards in history to be presented in this format. More details will follow soon.

Please direct any questions about the administration of the 2020 and 1945 Hugo Awards to the CoNZealand Hugo Award Administrators at hugohelp@conzealand.nz .

Hugo Awards 2020: Final Ballot

Best Novel

• The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan)
• Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK)
• A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
• Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK)

Best Novella

• “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom”, by Ted Chiang (Exhalation (Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf; Picador))
• The Deep, by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes (Saga Press/Gallery)
• The Haunting of Tram Car 015, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
• In an Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing)
• This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Saga Press; Jo Fletcher Books)
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager; Hodder & Stoughton)

Best Novelette

• “The Archronology of Love”, by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed, April 2019)
• “Away With the Wolves”, by Sarah Gailey (Uncanny Magazine: Disabled People Destroy Fantasy Special Issue, September/October 2019)
• “The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye”, by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, July-August 2019)
• Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin (Forward Collection (Amazon))
• “For He Can Creep”, by Siobhan Carroll (Tor.com, 10 July 2019)
• “Omphalos”, by Ted Chiang (Exhalation (Borzoi/Alfred A. Knopf; Picador))

Best Short Story

• “And Now His Lordship Is Laughing”, by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons, 9 September 2019)
• “As the Last I May Know”, by S.L. Huang (Tor.com, 23 October 2019)
• “Blood Is Another Word for Hunger”, by Rivers Solomon (Tor.com, 24 July 2019)
• “A Catalog of Storms”, by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2019)
• “Do Not Look Back, My Lion”, by Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, January 2019)
• “Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island”, by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, May 2019)

Best Series

• The Expanse, by James S. A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• InCryptid, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)
• Luna, by Ian McDonald (Tor; Gollancz)
• Planetfall series, by Emma Newman (Ace; Gollancz)
• Winternight Trilogy, by Katherine Arden (Del Rey; Del Rey UK)
• The Wormwood Trilogy, by Tade Thompson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Best Related Work

• Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood, by J. Michael Straczynski (Harper Voyager US)
• Joanna Russ, by Gwyneth Jones (University of Illinois Press (Modern Masters of Science Fiction))
• The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick, by Mallory O’Meara (Hanover Square)
• The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, by Farah Mendlesohn (Unbound)
• “2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech”, by Jeannette Ng
• Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry

Best Graphic Story or Comic

• Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker, by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image)
• LaGuardia, written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin (Berger Books; Dark Horse)
• Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image)
• Mooncakes, by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil (Oni Press; Lion Forge)
• Paper Girls, Volume 6, written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher (Image)
• The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: “Okay”, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Clayton Cowles (Image)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Avengers: Endgame, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Marvel Studios)
• Captain Marvel, screenplay by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios/Animal Logic (Australia))
• Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Amazon Studios/BBC Studios/Narrativia/The Blank Corporation)
• Russian Doll (Season One), created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, directed by Leslye Headland, Jamie Babbit and Natasha Lyonne (3 Arts Entertainment/Jax Media/Netflix/Paper Kite Productions/Universal Television)
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, screenplay by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams, directed by J.J. Abrams (Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm/Bad Robot)
• Us, written and directed by Jordan Peele (Monkeypaw Productions/Universal Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• The Good Place: “The Answer”, written by Daniel Schofield, directed by Valeria Migliassi Collins (Fremulon/3 Arts Entertainment/Universal Television)
• The Expanse: “Cibola Burn”, written by Daniel Abraham & Ty Franck and Naren Shankar, directed by Breck Eisner (Amazon Prime Video)
• Watchmen: “A God Walks into Abar”, written by Jeff Jensen and Damon Lindelof, directed by Nicole Kassell (HBO)
• The Mandalorian: “Redemption”, written by Jon Favreau, directed by Taika Waititi (Disney+)
• Doctor Who: “Resolution”, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Wayne Yip (BBC)
• Watchmen: “This Extraordinary Being”, written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson, directed by Stephen Williams (HBO)

Best Editor, Short Form

• Neil Clarke
• Ellen Datlow
• C.C. Finlay
• Jonathan Strahan
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas
• Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form

• Sheila E. Gilbert
• Brit Hvide
• Diana M. Pho
• Devi Pillai
• Miriam Weinberg
• Navah Wolfe

Best Professional Artist

• Tommy Arnold
• Rovina Cai
• Galen Dara
• John Picacio
• Yuko Shimizu
• Alyssa Winans

Best Semiprozine

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editor Scott H. Andrews
• Escape Pod, editors Mur Lafferty and S.B. Divya, assistant editor Benjamin C. Kinney, audio producers Adam Pracht and Summer Brooks, hosts Tina Connolly and Alasdair Stuart
• Fireside Magazine, editor Julia Rios, managing editor Elsa Sjunneson, copyeditor Chelle Parker, social coordinator Meg Frank, publisher & art director Pablo Defendini, founding editor Brian White
• FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, executive editor Troy L. Wiggins, editors Eboni Dunbar, Brent Lambert, L.D. Lewis, Danny Lore, Brandon O’Brien and Kaleb Russell
• Strange Horizons, Vanessa Rose Phin, Catherine Krahe, AJ Odasso, Dan Hartland, Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz and the Strange Horizons staff
• Uncanny Magazine, editors-in-chief Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, nonfiction/managing editor Michi Trota, managing editor Chimedum Ohaegbu, podcast producers Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky

Best Fanzine

• The Book Smugglers, editors Ana Grilo and Thea James
• Galactic Journey, founder Gideon Marcus, editor Janice Marcus, senior writers Rosemary Benton, Lorelei Marcus and Victoria Silverwolf
• Journey Planet, editors James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, Alissa McKersie, Ann Gry, Chuck Serface, John Coxon and Steven H Silver
• nerds of a feather, flock together, editors Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, Vance Kotrla, and The G
• Quick Sip Reviews, editor Charles Payseur
• The Rec Center, editors Elizabeth Minkel and Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Best Fancast

• Be The Serpent, presented by Alexandra Rowland, Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace
• Claire Rousseau’s YouTube channel, produced & presented by Claire Rousseau
• The Coode Street Podcast, presented by Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
• Galactic Suburbia, presented by Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts, producer Andrew Finch
• Our Opinions Are Correct, presented by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders
• The Skiffy and Fanty Show, presented by Jen Zink, Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, Alex Acks, Trish Matson, David Annandale, and The Skiffy and Fanty Crew

Best Fan Writer

• Cora Buhlert
• James Davis Nicoll
• Alasdair Stuart
• Bogi Takács
• Paul Weimer
• Adam Whitehead

Best Fan Artist

• Iain Clark
• Sara Felix
• Grace P. Fong
• Meg Frank
• Ariela Housman
• Elise Matthesen

Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book (not a Hugo) 

• Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
• Deeplight, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
• Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (Disney/Hyperion)
• Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher (Argyll)
• Riverland, by Fran Wilde (Amulet)
• The Wicked King, by Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

Astounding Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines (not a Hugo) 

• Sam Hawke (2nd year of eligibility)
• R.F. Kuang (2nd year of eligibility)
• Jenn Lyons (1st year of eligibility)
• Nibedita Sen (2nd year of eligibility)
• Tasha Suri (2nd year of eligibility)
• Emily Tesh (1st year of eligibility)

Retro Hugo Awards 1945: Final Ballot

Best Novel

• The Golden Fleece (Hercules, My Shipmate), by Robert Graves (Cassell)
• Land of Terror, by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)
• “Shadow Over Mars” (The Nemesis from Terra), by Leigh Brackett (Startling Stories, Fall 1944)
• Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord, by Olaf Stapledon (Secker & Warburg)
• The Wind on the Moon, by Eric Linklater (Macmillan)
• “The Winged Man”, by A.E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull (Astounding Science Fiction, May-June 1944)

Best Novella

• “The Changeling”, by A.E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, April 1944)
• “A God Named Kroo”, by Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1944)
• “Intruders from the Stars”, by Ross Rocklynne (Amazing Stories, January 1944)
• “The Jewel of Bas”, by Leigh Brackett (Planet Stories, Spring 1944)
• “Killdozer!”, by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)
• “Trog”, by Murray Leinster (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944)

Best Novelette

• “Arena”, by Fredric Brown (Astounding Science Fiction, June 1944)
• “The Big and the Little” (“The Merchant Princes”), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, August 1944)
• “The Children’s Hour”, by Lawrence O’Donnell (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction, March 1944)
• “City”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1944)
• “No Woman Born”, by C.L. Moore (Astounding Science Fiction, December 1944)
• “When the Bough Breaks”, by Lewis Padgett (C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner) (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)

Best Short Story

• “And the Gods Laughed”, by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring 1944)
• “Desertion”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944)
• “Far Centaurus”, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Science Fiction, January 1944)
• “Huddling Place”, by Clifford D. Simak (Astounding Science Fiction, July 1944)
• “I, Rocket”, by Ray Bradbury (Amazing Stories, May 1944)
• “The Wedge” (“The Traders”), by Isaac Asimov (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1944)

Best Series

• Captain Future, by Brett Sterling (Edmond Hamilton)
• The Cthulhu Mythos, by H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and others
• Doc Savage, by Kenneth Robeson/Lester Dent
• Jules de Grandin, by Seabury Quinn
• Pellucidar, by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• The Shadow, by Maxwell Grant (Walter B. Gibson)

Best Related Work

• Fancyclopedia, by Jack Speer (Forrest J. Ackerman)
• ’42 To ’44: A Contemporary Memoir Upon Human Behavior During the Crisis of the World Revolution, by H.G. Wells (Secker & Warburg)
• Mr. Tompkins Explores the Atom, by George Gamow (Cambridge University Press)
• Rockets: The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere, by Willy Ley (Viking Press)
• “The Science-Fiction Field”, by Leigh Brackett (Writer’s Digest, July 1944)
• “The Works of H.P. Lovecraft: Suggestions for a Critical Appraisal”, by Fritz Leiber (The Acolyte, Fall 1944)

Best Graphic Story or Comic

• Buck Rogers: “Hollow Planetoid”, by Dick Calkins (National Newspaper Service)
• Donald Duck: “The Mad Chemist”, by Carl Barks (Dell Comics)
• Flash Gordon: “Battle for Tropica”, by Don Moore and Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)
• Flash Gordon: “Triumph in Tropica”, by Don Moore and Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)
• The Spirit: “For the Love of Clara Defoe”, by Manly Wade Wellman, Lou Fine and Don Komisarow (Register and Tribune Syndicate)
• Superman: “The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk”, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Detective Comics, Inc.)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• The Canterville Ghost, screenplay by Edwin Harvey Blum from a story by Oscar Wilde, directed by Jules Dassin (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM))
• The Curse of the Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen, directed by Gunther V. Fritsch and Robert Wise (RKO Radio Pictures)
• Donovan’s Brain, adapted by Robert L. Richards from a story by Curt Siodmak, producer, director and editor William Spier (CBS Radio Network)
• House of Frankenstein, screenplay by Edward T. Lowe, Jr. from a story by Curt Siodmak, directed by Erle C. Kenton (Universal Pictures)
• The Invisible Man’s Revenge, written by Bertram Millhauser, directed by Ford Beebe (Universal Pictures)
• It Happened Tomorrow, screenplay and adaptation by Dudley Nichols and René Clair, directed by René Clair (Arnold Pressburger Films)

Best Editor, Short Form

• John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Oscar J. Friend
• Mary Gnaedinger
• Dorothy McIlwraith
• Raymond A. Palmer
• W. Scott Peacock

Best Professional Artist

• Earle K. Bergey
• Margaret Brundage
• Boris Dolgov
• Matt Fox
• Paul Orban
• William Timmins

Best Fanzine

• The Acolyte, edited by Francis T. Laney and Samuel D. Russell
• Diablerie, edited by Bill Watson
• Futurian War Digest, edited by J. Michael Rosenblum
• Shangri L’Affaires, edited by Charles Burbee
• Voice of the Imagi-Nation, edited by Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas
• Le Zombie, edited by Bob Tucker and E.E. Evans

Best Fan Writer

• Fritz Leiber
• Morojo/Myrtle R. Douglas
• J. Michael Rosenblum
• Jack Speer
• Bob Tucker
• Harry Warner, Jr.

CoNZealand, 78th Worldcon host, announced two New Zealand artists selected to create the bases for the 2020 Hugo Awards and the 1945 Retro Hugos.

The Hugo Awards are a major highlight of every Worldcon, recognising the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements from the previous year. Each award features a metal rocket as the central element but the base design changes every year.

CoNZealand invited New Zealand-based artists to submit a base design. Five designers submitted excellent proposals, and two were selected to produce a base for the awards.

The 2020 Hugo Award base has been designed by John Flower. John has been working as an engraver for Trophy Specialists & Engraving in Palmerston North for the past 16 years. He has been a fan of science fiction since he was a wee lad when his father would tell him about the goings on in books by Asimov, Heinlein, and others and is chuffed to be part of recognising the talented people creating science fiction works today.

“The trophy base was designed using open source software and hopefully it captures the sense of wonder of the sci-fi genre and the spirit of cooperation that is required to explore beyond the Earth,” said Flower.

The 1945 Retro Hugo Awards base has been designed by James Brown. Born in Christchurch but a long time resident of Auckland, James studied graphic design and illustration at Auckland University of Technology. He spent a decade working as a miniature painter and sculptor for a tabletop wargaming company, a role which allowed him to combine his love of tiny things with his interests in history and gaming. He also had a brief but very enjoyable stint painting film props at Weta Workshop.

“As a lifelong science fiction fan I attended different NatCons [New Zealand national conventions], but this year will be my first time participating in a Worldcon,” Brown said.

The Hugo nominations closed last month with 1584 people making a total of 27,033 nominations for the 2020 Hugo Awards, while 120 people submitted 1,677 nominations for the 1945 Retro Hugo Awards. The finalists will be announced on Tuesday, April 7 at 1pm PDT/4 pm EDT/9pm BST/8am Wednesday March 8, NZST. Information on how to watch the finalists announcement will be available on CoNZealand social media in the days to come.

View updated information and new membership rates

Another week, and another paradigm shift. The changes are still coming fast and furious as New Zealand enters into a four-week lockdown. We are all still dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances that make it very difficult to plan for the future.

The choices we are faced with are:

1. Move the date of CoNZealand. We are constrained in the ability to move the con by the timing of other events that have booked the venues. It might be possible to move it to the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021, but that would put undue pressure on fans to travel to two Worldcons too close together, and there is no certainty about whether there would be another wave of illness.
2. Cancelling CoNZealand and minimally fulfilling the WSFS requirements. This would certainly be the easiest, but not necessarily the best or most fulfilling, choice.
3. Virtualise CoNZealand. This choice provides certainty about what we are aiming to do while we still have time to make the plans. This will allow folks who can’t travel this far or those who are immunocompromised to attend.

The strong belief that we can put on a great Worldcon has led us to the decision to make CoNZealand a virtual convention. Our Tech Division is confident they can deliver a virtual Worldcon and are excited about the possibilities.

We are standing by our decision not to cancel, but in consideration of the health, safety, and wellbeing of our members and crew, we think that holding a large face-to-face event, even if it were possible would be irresponsible. 

Travel and accommodation

We understand that you will have to make arrangements to change or cancel your travel and accommodation plans. Please check our Hotels page for information regarding hotel room cancellations. We will continue to update the page with new information as we get it.

Memberships

Attending memberships will be required for people to fully participate in the interactive virtual convention. We understand that when you purchased your membership, you were not expecting an online con. None of us were. Our terms and conditions state that memberships are non-refundable. However, with the nature of the convention changing so fundamentally, we expect to offer limited refunds.

Over the last year and more we have spent a lot of money on things that will no longer be useful to us, and we now find ourselves needing to spend a lot more money on the platforms and services required to put a convention online. We will need some time to work with our venues and hotels to figure out where we stand. We ask for your patience at this time, as getting the information we all need is difficult during a period when New Zealand is locked down. 

We hope to announce the new online membership rates for CoNZealand by 15 April. 

Please note that at this time only Supporting memberships are available for purchase, until we have announced the new online membership rates. Attending memberships (of any type) can not currently be purchased.

In due course, we intend to refund any Child Attending memberships upon request, as well as any Unwaged Attending memberships that have not used their voting rights. 

We are willing to refund any Adult or Young Adult Attending members the difference between the amount paid and the price of an online membership. We ask, however, that you consider not requesting that refund. Any money we have will go towards making this the best online convention ever. As a charitable society, any remaining funds will support fandom and future Worldcons.

Issuing these refunds is challenging, and we will need some time to set up a system. We will do our best, but we cannot at this stage say when we will be able to start issuing refunds. 

Programme participants

If you have signed up to be a programme participant, we ask you to please give us some time to think about what a virtual convention will look like. We hope to be in touch with everybody by 15 April to discuss each individual’s options for continuing as a CoNZealand programme participant.

New Zealand Natcon 

CoNZealand, as host of the 2020 New Zealand Natcon is staying in close contact with the board of SFFANZ and the organisations will continue to work together with regard to CoNZealand’s obligations as the organisers of the 2020 New Zealand Natcon.

Future updates

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our web news updates (you can find the sign up box on our website homepage). 

We are planning to do some Q&A sessions via Zoom (covering different time zones) so that you will have an opportunity to ask questions of the two of us directly. Information on the dates and times of these will be circulated in due course. 

As we have said before, please look after one another, and stay in touch. Especially when we are each isolated, it is good to be reminded that we are a community. We are together for a reason beyond Worldcon. We are fans. We are passionate. We love science fiction, fantasy, comics, art, worldbuilding, reading, writing and a million other things. Let’s concentrate on being kind to one another and helping each other through a very difficult time.

Kia Kaha (Stand Strong),

Kelly Buehler & Norman Cates

Chairs, CoNZealand

CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), will be making history, as it becomes the first ever ‘virtual Worldcon’, CoNZealand Chairs, Kelly Buehler and Norman Cates announced today.

“This has been an incredibly difficult decision, but one that had to be made now to give our guests and members some certainty during this extraordinary time for the world.

“The changes are coming fast and furious as New Zealand enters a four week lockdown. We are all dealing with an unprecedented set of circumstances that make it very difficult to plan for the future.

“The strong belief that we can put on a great Worldcon has led us to the decision to make CoNZealand a virtual convention. Our Tech Division is confident they can deliver a virtual Worldcon and are excited about the possibilities,” they said.

Buehler and Cates noted that the con Committee considered three choices – to move the date of CoNZealand, to cancel it completely, or to make it virtual. Of the three, the last was deemed the option that provided the best certainty about what they can do while still having time to make plans.

“We are standing by our decision not to cancel, but in consideration of the health, safety, and wellbeing of our members and crew, we think that holding a large face-to-face event (even if it were possible) would be irresponsible.”

Information has been posted on the CoNZealand website regarding hotel room cancellations. This will be updated as more information becomes available.

“As we have said before, please look after one another, and stay in touch. Especially when we are each isolated, it is good to be reminded that we are a community. We are together for a reason beyond Worldcon. We are fans. We are passionate. We love science fiction, fantasy, comics, art, worldbuilding, reading, writing and a million other things. Let’s concentrate on being kind to one another and helping each other through a very difficult time,” they said.

Although New Zealand has not been affected by Covid-19 to the extent of the rest of the world, our government and the NZ Ministry of Health have extensive civil defence plans. We are monitoring the situation and will be prepared for what the future brings.

As usual, we strongly advise all members purchase their own comprehensive travel insurance for any foreign travel, including cancellation insurance. If you have already purchased insurance for your journey to New Zealand, we recommend that you check the full terms with your insurance provider.

We are in touch with the Ministry of Health as well as with our venue planning managers. We want everyone to have a safe and healthy convention, and we will be following best practices.