The site voting period for the Worldcon in 2017 is almost up! Only ten days until the mail-in ballot deadline closes, and three weeks till the end of in-person voting at this year’s Worldcon, Sasquan.* My last contribution to the Helsinki in 2017 bid is a batch of coasters:

I quite like them, even if I say so myself. 🙂 They were already put to use at Readercon 26:

My previous projects are hanging ornaments, rosemary sachets, book bags, bookmarks and small storage bins. (Find posts with the Helsinki in 2017 tag, or peek at my Helsinki in 2017 album in Flickr.)

Again, here’s the voting How-to:

• Sasquan’s Site Selection Instructions at this year’s Worldcon site, with links for the online payment system and downloading the ballot
• Voting instructions at Crystal Huff’s blog

Some info on Finnish SF/F, Finnish fandom or the Helsinki bid:

• Crystal Huff | Helsinki in 2017 interview in Starburst Magazine
• Finnish Weird and Finnish Weird: Children of the Weird, free articles and short stories in English
• The Finnish Fandom – All You Need to Know About It by Pasi Karppanen

And a final collection of praise for Finnish cons:

• Author David Gullen answers two common objections:

“’It’s too far away.’

“Too far away from where? WorldCon hasn’t spent much time outside of North America (I’ll come back to that), but it has been held in Australia and Japan. They weren’t ‘too far away’. Helsinki has excellent global transport links.

“And hang on. Too far away? Really? I thought we were SF & fantasy fans. The whole point of these genres is that they take you far away. Here’s a chance to visit somewhere a little different, and quite special, with no spaceship or portal required. I promise you, once you come to Finland you’ll fall in love with the place.

“’Finland is too small for a big convention.’

“This one is easy because Finland has been hosting FinnCon for nearly 30 years. If you haven’t heard of it, this is one of the biggest European SF&F conventions, and is about the same size as a WorldCon. These guys have done this before. A lot.”

• Author George R.R. Martin on Archipelacon:

“The Finnish fans are second to none, and we had plenty of Swedes on hand as well, and a strong BWB contigent who taught them all how to party. It is events like this that remind me what fandom is all about — a celebration of science fiction and fantasy, of friendship and family.”

• Author Karin Tidbeck on Archipelacon:

“[…]Finland has once again proven they know how to put on an amazing show. The organizers were friendly and efficient; everything worked; the atmosphere was cozy and intimate despite the fact that the con had 800 members. Helsinki in 2017 is the only way to go.”

• Author Maria Turtschaninoff:

“And I got the strongest sensation that these people, the people at the con, they are my people. For someone who’s never been to a con, I could liken it to a book fair: there are panels and interviews, some of them about literature, others about movies or comics or other SF/fantasy-related stuff. And there are vendors, and parties, just like at a book fair. Yet it is nothing like a book fair. Because there is no prestige. Everyone is on equal footing; we’re all fans. It’s not about selling stuff, It’s about celebrating stuff. And that makes all the difference.” [original emphasis]

• SF critic and publisher Cheryl Morgan shares an intriguing idea:

“[…] holding a convention in conjunction with the [annual Sodankylä, Finland] Midnight Sun Film Festival. We’d have to persuade them to have an SF theme for the event, and get the Wachowskis as Guests of Honor, but it seems a suitably mad project. Finnish fandom can do anything, it seems.”

I voted for Helsinki in 2017, because I have every confidence that the team would put together a Finntastic con (pun so intended!) and because it’s high time to put more world into Worldcon.

*) The received-by deadline is Aug 10, 2015 for mail-in ballots. If you want to vote and are not attending Sasquan, now is the time!

Note: I wasn’t paid or perked to mention this; just passing along a good thing.