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Types of Programming

Only 123 people responded to the question about apportioning time among types of programming. Of those who did respond, the results are, as follows:

Category		Percentage			Category		Percentage
	Art		8.05			Media		6.47
	Big-Name		7.68			Masquerade		5.03
	Comics		2.23			Near Future		4.65
	Computers		3.34			Pirates		2.86
	Costume		5.20			Science		8.27
	Fandom		4.88			Space		5.82
	Fanzine		3.05			Written SF		13.35
	Filking		3.28			Written Fantasy		9.54
	History of SF		4.75			Written Horror		3.49
	Horror		1.90			Writing/Publishing		7.00
	Humor		4.29

Pedants like myself will note that these figures add up to 115.13 percent. The answer is that there will be overlapping categories. For example, panels on anthologies of funny computer stories that featured one of the Guests of Honor would fall into four separate categories: Big-Name, Computers, Humor and Written SF. So would a Masquerade entry that featured filksinging space pirates. (Other, equally silly examples are left to the reader's imagination.)

Other categories suggested included:

Agents and other pros, alternate history (suggested twice), collecting, con running, a daily gripe session, gaming and game design (several people suggested this one), fan history, interdisciplinary panels, international SF, new wave science, and SF poetry.

The 120 fans who answered the questions on the percentage of the various types of programming items gave the following results:

Debates	13.08%
Interviews	10.68%
Panels	42.65%
Speeches	11.37%
Workshops	19.05%

Again, this doesn't add up to 100 percent. Bardic circles, contests, discussion groups (several people suggested this), exhibits, panels with audience participation (several suggested this), parties, readings, slide shows and tours were also suggested.

All but 12 of those who sent in the Surveys had preferences on science programming. Votes received by subject were, as follows:

Astronomy	98		Nuclear Physics	30
Biology	60		Physics/Chemistry	47
Computers/Net	70		Robotics	73
Engineering	45		Social Sciences	46
Legal	48		Space Exploration	114
Medicine	59		Geography	29

There were 123 votes for Astronomy and/or Space Exploration; 77 votes for Biology and/or Medicine; and 96 votes for Computers and/or Robotics

Other topics suggested were alternate history, anthropology, biochemistry, climatology, ecology, disciplinary studies, marine biology, materials science, mathematics, new age science, paleontology, psychology (suggested twice), relativity and quantum physics, research disasters (as done at L.A.con III), and space organizations

Times of Programming

The Survey asked what day and what time of day people wanted various items. In the tables below, date is shown in rows, time of day in columns. Some people had no preference as to date but did as to time of day, or vice versa. "N/R" was used for those who didn't pick a day, but did pick a time. A "None" column was added for those picking a day, but not a time.

When Should Registration Open for Pre-Registered Members?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 1	-	1	-	1	-	-
Aug. 2	-	2	1	1	2	-
Aug. 3	-	1	1	1	1	1
Aug. 4	1	12	14	17	16	1
Aug. 5	1	16	3	1	1	1

A number of people responded to this question with "all day/every day". In those cases, I entered "D" for daily in my data set. Those responses were combined below with those who said that programming should start in the Morning.

When Should Programming Start?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug.	16	57	7	10	3	-
Aug.	6	3	2	-	-	-

When Should Opening Ceremonies Be Held?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	2	5	12	25	41	2
Aug. 6	1	3	1	1	2	-

When Should Closing Ceremonies Be Held?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 8	-	-	-	2	-	2
Aug. 9	1	1	20	50	2	-
Later	-	-	-	2	-	-

Some people never want to leave

Again, in the question on the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) Business Meeting, some people gave a single date, while others listed several days. ("Interminably" was not an acceptable answer.) I took the date given to be the date that they expected it to start. For those unfamiliar with the Business Meetings, they generally are two to three hours a day for several days

When Should the WSFS Business Meeting Begin?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	4	1	2	-	-
Aug. 6	2	13	3	2	-	-
Aug. 7	-	4	-	4	-	-
Aug.	-	2	-	-	-	-
Aug. 9	-	11	1	-	-	-

When Should the Hugos Be Awarded?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 7	-	-	-	-	32	-
Aug. 8	2	-	4	1	40	8
Aug. 9	-	-	-	2	4	2

When Should the Other Special Awards Be Presented?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	-	-	-	1	1
Aug. 6	-	-	2	1	9	1
Aug. 7	1	-	-	4	7	-
Aug. 8	2	-	-	5	12	1
Aug. 9	-	-	2	5	1	1

Far fewer people answered the question about the Special Awards, but the largest vote was for giving them the same time (the Evening of August 8 as the Hugos.

When Should the Masquerade Be Held?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 6	-	-	-	-	1	1
Aug. 7	-	-	1	-	35	8
Aug. 8	2	-	1	4	38	5
Aug. 9	-	-	-	-	4	-

Saturday the 8th seems to equally popular as the time for both the Masquerade and the Hugos, but somehow, I don't think that they'll be held concurrently.

When Should the Meet the Guests Party Be Held?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	2	-	4	3	19	6
Aug. 6	1	3	1	7	24	1
Aug. 7	-	-	2	2	9	1
Aug. 8	-	1	1	-	-	1

When Should C.J. Cherryh Give Her Guest of Honor Speech?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	-	-	2	4	-
Aug. 6	1	-	-	12	15	2
Aug. 7	-	-	-	11	6	1
Aug. 8	-	-	-	11	3	-
Aug. 9	-	-	-	-	1	-

When Should Milt Rothman Give His Guest of Honor Speech?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	-	-	3	6	1
Aug. 6	1	2	1	9	9	-
Aug. 7	-	2	2	8	4	1
Aug. 8	-	1	0	8	2	-
Aug. 9	-	-	-	-	1	-

When Should Give Stanley Schmidt His Guest of Honor Speech?
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	-	-	3	5	1
Aug. 6	1	2	-	11	18	1
Aug. 7	-	-	2	4	4	1
Aug. 8	-	-	-	7	2	-
Aug. 9	-	-	-	1	1	-

When Should Give Michael Whelan His Guest of Honor Speech
Day	None	Morning	Noon	Afternoon	Evening	Night
Aug. 5	-	-	-	1	4	1
Aug. 6	1	2	2	5	15	2
Aug. 7	-	1	-	14	1	2
Aug. 8	1	1	1	10	2	-
Aug. 9	-	-	1	-	1	-

A number of others suggested blocking either two or all four speeches together; that is, all four Saturday afternoon or two speeches Thursday evening an two speeches on Friday. Different days and times were suggested for the block or blocks. Where two blocks of two were suggested, different people had different groupings. (No, I don't have the counts for each of these, since there were too many tiny variations.)

Programming Hours

I'm not reporting the actual results of this question. It seemed like half of the people took it to mean, "What Hours Should There Be Any Kind of Programming" and the other half thought that it meant "When Should The Major Items (Hugos, Masquerade, etc.) Be Held". Almost nobody liked programming before 11 am and there was some consensus on a break between 5 and 7 pm.

The Con Suite

Con Suites used to be the places where you went for a limited number of hours to get a bheer and munchies. If you remember that big table at the star of this article (you can cheat and turn back for a second, if you want) the "24-Hour Con Suite" rated 3.98. "Real Food" rated 3.62, but the score for "Beer/Alcohol Served" was only 1.85. Of the 108 people responding to the question about Con Suite hours, 61 asked for a 24-hour Con Suite. Specific opening and closing times are shown below.

Opening Time

Closing Time

Awards

In the Rating Table (check again if you want), scores ranged from 4.41 for the Hugos to 2.49 for the Other Awards. A couple of people suggested givin out some of the awards during the Masquerade Intermission. Of the 123 people who answered this question:

Give All Awards as Part of the Hugo Ceremony	59
A Second Ceremony Combining Other Awards	52
Separate Ceremonies for Each Type of Award	12

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