Although I have long since tired of calcified fandom in general and those who identify as "Libertarian" in particular, I think the puppy agenda goes well beyond tiresome and annoying.
I was under the impression that this year's nomination numbers broke last year's record largely due to the organized slate campaign. Unaffiliated Loncon members were eligible to nominate this year too but presumably not as motivated.
I think where the geographic difference may show up is in the voting. There's been plenty of on-line buzz (e.g. Pretty Terrible, Making Light, and Whatever) about the nominations, and plenty of people saying they're going to buy supporting memberships and vote No Award above anything on the slates. I've also heard that Sasquan is currently being swamped with membership requests to the point of asking people to wait until next week (an eternity in Internet time). Whether those saying they will join and vote actually do so in large-enough numbers to effectively neutralize the slate remains to be seen. I assume by now you've seen the posts like this one about sorting out the nominees.
In the rumor-mill department I've seen speculation that Helsinki in 2017 is somehow behind all this because Castalia House is a Finnish company. I don't know how many people are believing or spreading this idea.
I'm pretty sure that neither Helsinki in 2017 nor DC in 2017 have anything to do with this.
Nor do I think this really has anything to do with the Worldcon being in London last year.
I think the Sad Puppies are faction that was been growing for a while and they have finally reached critical mass.
And to use this whole thing as a justification for voting for Helsinki is just comically sad (and reeks of desperation).
People should vote for what they think is going to be the best Worldcon just like they should vote for the best work in a Hugo Category even if they were on the Sad Puppies slate.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-07 04:46 pm (UTC)I was under the impression that this year's nomination numbers broke last year's record largely due to the organized slate campaign. Unaffiliated Loncon members were eligible to nominate this year too but presumably not as motivated.
I think where the geographic difference may show up is in the voting. There's been plenty of on-line buzz (e.g. Pretty Terrible, Making Light, and Whatever) about the nominations, and plenty of people saying they're going to buy supporting memberships and vote No Award above anything on the slates. I've also heard that Sasquan is currently being swamped with membership requests to the point of asking people to wait until next week (an eternity in Internet time). Whether those saying they will join and vote actually do so in large-enough numbers to effectively neutralize the slate remains to be seen. I assume by now you've seen the posts like this one about sorting out the nominees.
In the rumor-mill department I've seen speculation that Helsinki in 2017 is somehow behind all this because Castalia House is a Finnish company. I don't know how many people are believing or spreading this idea.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-13 07:33 pm (UTC)Nor do I think this really has anything to do with the Worldcon being in London last year.
I think the Sad Puppies are faction that was been growing for a while and they have finally reached critical mass.
And to use this whole thing as a justification for voting for Helsinki is just comically sad (and reeks of desperation).
People should vote for what they think is going to be the best Worldcon just like they should vote for the best work in a Hugo Category even if they were on the Sad Puppies slate.