Worldcon Chair Advice for Peggy Rae Pavlat

Through the wonders of e-mail and John Lorentz's Fannish E-mail Directory, your humble editor has contacted former Worldcon chairpersons around the world for unique advice to help Peggy Rae run Bucconeer.

Peggy Rae,

Don't sweat it. No matter what you do, ten percent of the people will be upset because there should have been more (or fewer) book dealers in the Dealers' Room or you should have done this or that differently. The other 90% will have a good time. Just keep saying to yourself, "It's only a Worldcon, it's only a Worldcon."

Craig Miller,
L.A.con II Co-Chairman,
1984 Worldcon in Los Angeles, California

After Three Years of Chairing a Worldcon?

Once while at a meeting dreary, as she chaired it,

oh so weary,

Hearing many a quaint and curious report

by a fannish bore—

While she nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there

came a yapping,

As of fans not gently scrapping, scrapping on the

meeting's floor.

"Tis some argument," she muttered, "scrapping on the

meeting's floor—

Only this, forever more."

"Help!" she called to WSFS Incorp, "send me aid,

I want no more!

In there stepped a smoffish maven of the saintly days

of yore;

Desolate yet all unbending, with important business

pending—

Is this meeting doomed unending?—tell me

truly, I implore—

Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—

tell me—tell me, I implore!"

Quoth the Maven, "Nevermore."

Mark Olson (Profound apologies to Edgar Allan Poe.)
Noreascon Three Chairman,
1989 Worldcon in Boston, Massachusetts

Dear Peggy Rae Pavlat:

You have been nominated to attend the next meeting of Con Chair Anonymous, the organization that helps channel your energies into more productive and useful, er well, channels. Please read the material below to see if you qualify. [We'll publish the CCA questionnaire in BS Five. – Ed.]

Our experience has proved beyond an unreasonable doubt to be beneficial to former Worldcon chairs. We are now instituting this special registration drive to recruit new members from the ranks of upcoming Worldcon chairs before they are completely unrecoverable.

The sad case of your predecessor in Baltimore has proved that we need to reach out to potential Worldcon chairs as early as possible. Please join us for an exploratory weekend during our World Organizations Chairman's Retreat to see if the benefits of Con Chair Anonymous will help you.

I look forward to receiving your membership soon.

Yours truly,

Joseph D. Siclari,
Administrator, Con Chair Anonymous
Moderator, World Organizations Chairman's Retreat
Coordinator, Con Chair Anonymous Annual Meeting
Magicon Chairman, 1992 Worldcon in Orlando, Florida

Peggy Rae,

My main piece of advice would be never to hold your Worldcon outside of Scotland. That way any time something goes wrong you can send in a pipe band to distract the fans.

You might consider buying a pet rattlesnake and letting it sleep on the hotel contracts. Picking up the hotel contract would then put you in the right frame of mind to deal with some of the hotel managers you might come across.

You should also make sure you know the difference between the sound of your beeper and the hotel fire alarm as this may save you from frantically searching your room in the dark at four in the morning.

You should be prepared for a big lump in the throat when you discover just how hard fans are prepared to work.

Above all, Peggy Rae, you should make sure not to lose the gavel because that is the only way of being sure of passing the job on to the next sucker!

Martin Easterbrook,
Intersection Co-Chairman,
1995 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland

Dear Peggy Rae,

Like many past Worldcon Chairs I can advise about organizational, financial, logistical, and personnel problems, but I'm sure you know all that stuff already. What I will say is that in my experience, running Worldcons tends to get the hormones going for people and if the con is at all successful then watch out-relationships (clandestine or legal), will bloom and before you know it the next generation of fandom is on its way. Before, during and after Intersection, I think we had at least ten staff or committee marriages with as many kids following (or so it appeared). The corollary is also true, as Conspiracy was known by some as the con, which launched a thousand divorces. So my advice is-don't worry about all that boring organizational stuff, just keep an eye on the relationships and if they blossom, then your con will be great!

Vincent Docherty,
Intersection Co-Chairman,
1995 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland