Reno – Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention, announced today that it would be the first Worldcon to introduce a reduced membership rate for young adults, enabling many more young people to participate in this unique event.
Worldcons have traditionally offered discounted membership rates for children, and Renovation is no exception, with a membership price of just $75 for children under 17. This has however left many teenagers, students and other younger fans having to pay the full adult rate – until now.
Renovation’s new Young Adult (YA) membership will be …

Not everyone is a seasoned fandom convention veteran. Every weekend thousands of convention virgins stream into hotels and convention centers for the very first time, not quite sure what to expect. And although there is a great sense of camaraderie and friendship that exists at fandom cons, a con newbie may quickly learn that there are some basic rules of convention etiquette, and if you go against them … well … Cthulhu have mercy on your soul.
But never fear! The Convention Fans Blog has put together a very basic guide to …

The vast majority of fandom conventions, whether large or small, offer their attendees the opportunity to pre-register. What is pre-registration exactly? It means the attendee commits to attend the convention in advance, and does so by paying up-front. One of the ways conventions encourage this, is to offer those who pre-register a discounted price. It seems simple enough, right? But there are some complexities to the pre-registration debate, both from the position of attendees and of organizers, and I’ll attempt to address some of these below.
-> Read More: The Benefits …

Not every convention requires attendees to pack a suitcase, much less create a list to pack a suitcase. For a local convention, you basically just hop in your car and go. But what about the convention that requires a hotel stay, and either a long car ride or a flight? What if you’re cosplaying too? In that case, I really recommend making the list. You don’t want to get to the con and realize you forgot an essential costume piece or the memory card for your camera.
Of course, this list …

I hate to be one to sling convention mud and spread gossip. When one person has a gripe about a convention and makes a bunch of accusations, I try to take it with a grain of salt. But when over a dozen staff members all resign, well, I feel obliged to take notice and report it. No one wants a situation where fans unknowingly sink a bunch of money into a faltering convention, only to have it fold and take their money with it. I’m not saying that is going …