Robert J. Sawyer

This is the second in a series of blog posts in which I'm going to discuss people and things that I think merit consideration for this year's Hugo and Aurora Awards; both sets of awards will be given at the Montreal Worldcon this year.

The Aurora Awards are often called "the Canadian Hugos," but that's only a partially apt analogy.

In point of fact, there's no one-to-one correspondence between categories for the two sets of awards. And while both sets of awards honour both professional and fan activities, only the Aurora Awards have a category for Best Fan Organizational.

That award is to recognize the hard-working folk who work for science-fiction clubs or make science-fiction and fantasy conventions happen here in the Great White North, and in 2008 there was one absolute standout: Randy McCharles, who chaired the 2008 World Fantasy Convention in Calgary.

The Calgary WFC was one of the best conventions ever held in this country, was one of the best WFCs ever, and was a complete success. That Randy managed to pull that off, as chair, without pissing people off is a testament to his good humour and high organizational and administrative skills.

I've sung Randy's praises before, most notably in this appreciation I wrote of him when he was Fan Guest of Honour a few years ago at Vancouver's VCON.

Calgary's conventions have been largely ignored by the Auroras (I'm on record as saying Kirstin Morrell totally deserved this award for her hard work reviving and chairing Con-Version in 2007). It's high time we recognized the hard work by the people in Cow Town, and Randy McCharles's sterling efforts are the perfect opportunity.

He'll be on my nominating ballot, and I urge you to put him on yours.