Hugo Awards Logo Unveiled

The Hugo Awards Ceremony last night started only a few minutes late. I had a front-row seat because, as one of the people making a presentation, they wanted me in an easily accessible location. Shortly after the ceremony started, Sean Wells came and escorted me backstage, and at the appropriate moment I came out and gave my speech explaining the contest and process, and unveiling the Hugo Logo Design Contest Winner. I only bobbled my speech once that I noticed. There was a minor glitch in the slides, I think, but only a minor one and I think they corrected it pretty quickly.

(Jumping ahead a bit: Initial responses to the new logo have been nice and positive. In a nice touch, Anticipation made wax seals using the new logo design and sealed the envelopes with the winners' names using the seals. This can be re-used in subsequent years, which I think is a good thing.)

Vince Docherty then escorted me from the stage, I went back out to my seat, and I thought all of my excitement for the night was done. Boy, was I wrong!

Yay, Cheryl!

As I said earlier, I figured my evening's excitement would end when I got back to my seat after unveiling the Hugo Logo. But not too long after that, the Best Fan Writer Hugo came up, and the winner was Cheryl Morgan! I was not the only person on his/her feet cheering for Cheryl. I heard a cry from the audience of "Bring back Emerald City!" Cheryl very graciously mentioned me in her acceptance speech, for which I'm grateful and flattered.

I had one other bit of excitement, as Girl Genius, my personal favorite for a long shot, won the first-ever Graphic Story Hugo Award. I'm delighted for the Foglios.

After the Ceremony, there was the usual mass scrum for photos. I got many, but have no time to process and post them. (It's nearly 4 AM as I compose this, and while I have no Business Meeting later this morning, thank goodness, I do need to get to bed Very Soon Now.) There are also pictures of me posing with Cheryl with her trophy.

I helped Cheryl carry her things back to her hotel, after which she got online and the two of us -- mostly her -- got to work updating the Hugo Awards web site, SF AwardsWatch, and her own blog. The "work" out of the way, we headed for the Delta and the Hugo Nominees Party. I got to carry the Hugo trophy part-way down. Every few meters we seemed to cross paths with other people wanting to ooh and aah over the trophy and congratulate Cheryl. I was able to bask in the reflected glory.

The Hugo Nominees Party was winding down by the time we got there, and after a few minutes we headed up to 5 and made the rounds of the Con Suite and Reno and Raleigh parties. By then, it was after Midnight and we didn't feel like trying to make the trip up to 28, so I once again carried the trophy for Cheryl. We stopped at the bar at the Intercontinental and chatted with people, then I carried her trophy -- and nearly her, as she looked worn out -- back to the room. Taking care not to disturb her roommate, I carefully set Cheryl's trophy by her computer, gave her a big hug, and headed back to my hotel.

(Lisa had come with me to the pre-ceremony reception, but these things are not really her cup of orange juice, and she left before the ceremony started. She did go make the rounds of the parties earlier while I was in the ceremony, but had returned to the hotel long before I got back.)

I'm so happy for Cheryl! Now I really must get some sleep.

Final Day in a Blur

I got to sleep in this morning because there was no Business Meeting. After breakfast, Lisa and I got into our WSFS uniforms and headed over to the Palais to spend the last few hours of the convention socializing with people. I have to say that I often had difficulty moving more than a few meters before another conversation broke out.

( Rush of events on Worldcon Monday )

I had fully intended to spend some time at the Dead Dog Party on the 5th Floor but once I was ensconced upstairs, particularly in the comfy couch, I didn't really feel like going anywhere. If anyone was expecting to catch up to me at the Dead Dog Party, I apologize.

As the clock struck 0100 on Tuesday morning, I decided it was high time to turn in. Lisa and I walked with Cheryl back to her hotel, with me carrying the Hugo again to the door of the Embassy Suites, where I gave her back her trophy and we said our goodbyes, after which Lisa and I returned to the hotel.

Although we don't have any specific deadline on Tuesday, we have free-breakfast coupons for Tuesday and Wednesday, and we don't want to waste our one day of tourism sleeping. I reckon I can sleep on the train after we leave Montreal. Also, I'm seriously considering shipping some of the papers and maybe even some of my clothes back to Oregon and California if the price isn't too awful. We'll figure it out on Tuesday. As it stands now, I need some sleep, and soon.