Press Release #8
Press Release #8, June 2008
Anticipation Announces Competition to Design the 2009 Hugo Award Base.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The World Science Fiction Convention has presented the Hugo Awards for achievement in science fiction for 55 years. They are named after author and editor Hugo Gernsback. A rocket has always been the central element of the trophy, and its manufacture has been standardized over the past several decades. The base design changes yearly, often reflecting the country, state, or province in which the Convention takes place. Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held at the Palais des congres de Montreal from August 6th – 10th, 2009, with guests of Honour Neil Gaiman, Elisabeth Vonarburg, Ralph Bakshi, Taral Wayne, David Hartwell, and Tom Doherty. Julie Czerneda is Master of Ceremonies. The Worldcon committee is now soliciting proposals for the 2009 Hugo Award Base design in an open competition.
Design of the Hugo Award Base
The winning proposal will conform to certain general and technical specifications. Those are:
Bases may be made of wood, metal, lucite, or any other material which has a fixed form. Materials that are fragile or change form with age or extremes of temperature are not suitable.
Bases must be designed in such a way that the silver Hugo rocket is an integral part of the design. Rockets for the bases will be supplied.
Rockets will be bolted to the bases from below the tailfins and must be able to stand on a flat surface. Hanging designs are not acceptable.
Specifications on the Hugo rocket are:
English
13″ tall
2″ across from fin-tip to fin-tip
weight 3 lb. 2 oz.
bolt 5/16–18 machine screw thread
Metric
33.02 cm tall
5.08 cm across from fin-tip to fin-tip
weight 1.42 kg
bolt 5/16–18 machine screw
Space must be left for a plaque or plaques indicating the convention, winner, and category of award won in an easily readable 12 pt font.
The winning design should have a theme appropriate to Canada and Quebec.
It should be kept in mind that designs will be traveling home in people’s luggage. Fragile parts, fiddly bits, things that fall off, and anything that would make airport security too nervous is strongly discouraged. Designs shaped like sub-machine guns, for example, are right out. Sharp pointy things are also a bad idea.
How to enter the competition
Entry in the competition is open to all. Design proposals must be submitted by midnight (EST) October 31st, 2008, and all submissions should include:
Drawings, sketches, and/or a fabricated sample of the proposed base unit.
Cost estimate per base, and estimated total cost for the fabrication and shipping of 25 base units.
Lead time is needed for fabrication. The contest winner will be announced in January 2009. Delivery of at least 25 bases will be expected by 15 April 2009.
Your ability to either craft the bases or arrange for the work to be done.
As a guideline, bases should cost no more than $150 each or less to fabricate. Photos of past Hugo awards can be viewed at http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=10 To enter the competition, proposals should be submitted either electronically or via postal mail. Do not forget to include your name and contact information. The winning designer will also receive a full 5-day membership to Anticipation and will introduce their base design at the Hugo ceremony. Competition entries, regrettably, cannot be returned. The winning entry will not be unveiled until the Hugo Ceremony. Strict confidentiality will be expected of the winner as to the specifics of the design until the Hugo Ceremony at Anticipation. Electronic submission. Please email proposals to hugodesign@anticipationsf.ca. Include the information above and a JPG, TIFF or GIF image of your design. Postal mail submission. Please send the information requested above along with a sketch/drawing/sample base (or a disk or CD containing your sketch/drawing). The physical address is:
Anticipation
Attn: Diane Lacey, Hugo Base Design
C.P. 105, Succursale NDG
Montréal, Québec
Canada H4A 3P4
Questions? Write to hugodesign@anticipationsf.ca
What’s New
Aug 12, 2009
The convention is over; thank you for joining us!
Thank you for joining us! Please post links to your convention reports or photos to the Anticipation Livejournal, or let us know on Twitter. And we hope to see a lot of you at Aussiecon 4
Aug 9, 2009
Hugo Winners Announced
The 2009 Hugo winners have been announced.
Aug 7, 2009
Anticipation to offer Taster memberships
Heard about World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons) and think they sound cool but not sure they’re worth the money? Then Taster memberships are for you.