I’ve just gotten my tentative schedule from the organizers of this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, which runs from August 28th to Sept 1 in Toronto. Hope to see some of you there — especially at my reading! (Note: I’m trying to get my reading rescheduled so it’s not in the middle of the dinner-hour: I’ll let you know how it works out).
- Thursday, August 28th: Old New Voices: The John W. Campbell Award Winners, Thirty Years Later (2PM-3PM), Conference center 104CD
- Come join our august group of panellists as they discuss the John W. Campbell Award and the impact it made on them and their career.
(George R. R. Martin, Cory Doctorow, Gardner Dozois, Alexis Gilliland, Harry Harrison, Nalo Hopkinson, Spider Robinson, Kristine Smith, Amy Thomson, Lisa Tuttle)
- Thursday, Aug 28, Electronic Books – What do READERS Need? (6PM-7PM), Conference center 201E
- Our own genre extols the virtures of easily accessing electronic information, but the reality falls far short. What’s missing? What’s needed? What are the roadblocks?
(John Bartley, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Cory Doctorow, Norma McPhee, Michael Ward)
- Friday, August 29, Reading (6PM-6:30PM), Conference center 203A
- Saturday, August 30: Awards and Getting Discovered (3PM-4PM), Conference center 205B
- (Cory Doctorow, Nalo Hopkinson, Karin Lowachee)
- Sunday, August 31: The Economics of Innovation (10AM – 11AM), Conference center 203BD
- Sometimes what seems like a brilliant idea really isn’t, when the true cost of implementation is considered vs. other options. This panel will try, once and for all, to drive a stake in the heart of the so-called “solar power satellite”, but will also discuss what advances or breakthroughs are needed for other ideas to become economically feasible.
(Charles Cohen, Cory Doctorow, Tom Doherty, Richard Lynch)
- Monday, September 1: The Death of Money (noon-1PM), Conference center 104A
- Money is a tool to ration limited wealth. With AI and robotics the potential exists for infinite wealth. How will this affect the existence of money, and what sort of society might emerge as a result? What sort of society do we want to create? How do we create it?
(Cory Doctorow, Sean Mead, Charlie Stross, Walter Jon Williams, Eliezer Yudkowsky)