74th World Science Fiction Convention

The 74th World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as MidAmeriCon II, was held August 17–21, 2016, at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in downtown, Kansas City, Missouri. Its location was selected on August 17, 2014 by the members of the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention in London.

MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention
GenreScience fiction
Dates17–21 August 2016
VenueBartle Hall Convention Center
Location(s)Kansas City, Missouri
CountryUnited States
Organized byMid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc.
Filing status501(c)(3) non-profit
Websitemidamericon2.org

The convention was organized by Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc., and was chaired by Ruth Lichtwardt and co-chaired by Diane Lacey.[1] The convention's name, by established Worldcon tradition, follows after the first MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City in 1976.

Guests of honor

The announced Guests of Honor for MidAmericon II were artist Kinuko Y. Craft, authors Tamora Pierce and Michael Swanwick, plus editors Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. Pat Cadigan served as Toastmaster.[1]

Site selection

By the February 2014 deadline, only two committees had announced bids to host the 74th World Science Fiction Convention: "KC in 2016" for August 17–21, 2016, at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and "Beijing in 2016" for August 14–19, 2016, at the China National Convention Center. Kansas City bid co-chairs Diane Lacey, Ruth Lichtwardt, and Jeff Orth represented the non-profit Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc.[2] Of the 758 votes cast by Loncon 3 members, Kansas City won the contest with 651 votes over Beijing with 70 votes.[3] "None of the above" received 4 votes while other sites, including Minneapolis, Boston, Norway, Helsinki, and Sitka, Alaska, received 1 or 2 votes each. If Beijing had been selected, this would have been the first Worldcon in China and the first in mainland Asia.[4]

Awards

The Hugo Awards, named after Hugo Gernsback, are presented every year for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The results are based on the ballots submitted by members of the World Science Fiction Society. Other awards, including the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (since 1973; named "John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer" until 2019), are also presented at each year's Worldcon.[5] MidAmeriCon II also presented Retro-Hugos for the calendar year 1940, on the 75th anniversary of the 3rd World Science Fiction Convention held in Denver because, having not yet been established, no Hugo Awards were presented in 1941.[5]

2016 Hugo Awards

The 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II, announced the winners of the 2016 Hugo Awards at a ceremony on the evening of Saturday, August 20, 2016. The ceremony was hosted by Toastmaster, Pat Cadigan, assisted by Jan Siegel. 3,130 valid final ballots were received and counted. The 2016 Hugo Award trophy base was designed by Sara Felix.

Other awards
  • John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Andy Weir

Masquerade

The MidAmeriCon II masquerade was held on Friday, 19 August with 34 entrants.[6] Gregory de Danann was the Masquerade Director and the master of ceremonies was John Hertz.[6] The judges were Tanglewyst de Holloway, Karen Schnaubelt, and Kathy Pepmiller for performance and Jill Eastlake and Aurora Celeste for workmanship.[6]

The winners, across four experience-based categories, were:[6][7]

Young Fan division
  • Most Adorable: "Young Sherlock" by Zachary Rohwer
  • More Most Adorable: "Ding" (Doctor Who) by Grayson Rohwer

Novice division

Workmanship awards:

  • Honorable Mention for Carving: "Mystogan" (Fairy Tail) by Jacob Lemon-Rogers, Jonathan Kunkee, Loren Kunkee, and Lyndsey Luther
  • Honorable Mention for Puff Patterns: "Rambo Brite" by Gene Bennett
  • Honorable Mention for Puppetry: "Sarabi, the Gryphon" by Ashley Bilke.
    • Ashley Bilke was also awarded the Silicon Web Costumers Guild Dreamcatcher Award at this event.
  • It Lights up and Spins Award: "Raymond J. Stanz, Apparition Eliminator" (Steampunk Ghostbuster) by Zachary Miles
  • Best Fur Work: "Pooch" by Kathy Hinkle
  • Best in Class: "Mythological Loki" by Sarah Sanders

Performance awards:

Journeyman division

Workmanship awards:

  • Painting the Roses Red Award: "When Queens Collide" (The Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of the Night from Mozart's The Magic Flute) by Janine Wardale, Theresa Halbert and Thor Halbert
  • Best in Class: "Cinderella" (based on artwork by Kinuko Y. Craft) by Sheryl Nance-Durst

Performance awards:

  • Best Humor: "Flight of the Valkyries" by Sharon Bass, Christine Brockway, Chris O'Halloran and Sara Vanderbroek (singing).
  • Best in Class: "When Queens Collide" by Janine Wardale and Theresa Halbert

Master division

Workmanship awards:

  • Honorable Mention for Beadwork: "A Paid Political Announcement" (Flash Gordon for President) by Kevin Hewett and Rebecca Hewett
  • Best Execution of Concept: "Boots Upgraded" (Cyberman) by Jennifer Skwarski
  • Best in Class: "Tri Morrignae" (Irish mythology) by Jennifer Old-d'Entremont, Bethany Padron and Megan McQueen

Performance awards:

  • Best Master Humor: "Sharknado" by Amanda Arthur-Struss and Joe Struss
  • Honored for Excellence in Presentation: "Tri Morrignae" (Irish mythology) by Jennifer Old-d'Entremont, Bethany Padron and Megan McQueen
  • Best in Class: "Flights of Fantasy" (history of flight in SF literature) by Tim Morgan, Lorretta Morgan, Iain Miller, Meredith Hines and Russ Miller

Overall
  • Judges' Choice Award: "Spirits of the Tea" (based on artwork by Kinuko Y. Craft) by Sallie Abba, Greg Abba, Robert A. Cook, Rachelle Hrubetz, Leslie Roth and Tal Roth
  • Best in Show: "Troll Bridge" by Susan Eisenhour, Joyce Blakesley, Isabell Robinson, Quincy Robinson, Paul Elmer, Kate Elmer, Freya Elmer, Juliet Elmer, Darrin Blom, Richard Blom and Margaret Blom
gollark: Fascinating.
gollark: Maybe osmarkscalculator™ is somehow to incorporate array language stuff.
gollark: How bad.
gollark: Perhaps you can buy osmarkscalculator™ if it is ever to exist.
gollark: Yricly, initial beeoi.

References
  1. Silver, Steven H (August 17, 2014). "Worldcon to KC". SF Site. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  2. Glyer, Mike (September 26, 2012). "Future Worldcon Bidders". File 770. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  3. Glyer, Mike (August 17, 2014). "Kansas City Wins 2016 Worldcon Race". File 770. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  4. "2016 Site Selection". London: 72nd World Science Fiction Convention. February 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  5. "Hugo Award FAQ". The Hugo Awards. World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  6. Daniels, Katie; Foster, Adrienne; Sbarsky, Sharon (August 20, 2016). "Masquerade Edition!" (PDF). MAC II News (7). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  7. Wickersham, Teresa (August 26, 2016). "Worldcon 74: Masquerade Contest Honors Tradition, Innovation, and Hard Work". SciFi4Me. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
Preceded by
73rd World Science Fiction Convention
Sasquan in Spokane, Washington, United States (2015)		 List of Worldcons
74th World Science Fiction Convention
MidAmeriCon II in Kansas City, United States (2016)		 Succeeded by
75th World Science Fiction Convention
Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, Finland (2017)
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