I’m now onsite at Worldcon 75 at the Messukeskus Expo and Convention Centre in Helsinki. I’ll be reporting in detail on key events and panels at the con, including the Hugo Awards presentation ceremony. So watch this space.

First impressions so far: the Messukeskus is an immense Ballardian venue – which is probably just about equal to the task of hosting an event this massive. Feedback from the organizers indicates that so far at least 5,500 members and day-pass attendees have walked in through the doors over the first two days of the con, and day passes sold out on the first full day of events (Thursday August 10th). You can judge likely attendance over the next few days by this morning’s queue for day passes – see the picture below. Final attendance, therefore, is likely to overtop the 6,100 advance memberships already sold by a huge margin.

For a first time Finnish Worldcon, organization seems to be proceeding without a hitch – barring the usual last-minute dropouts and panel changes. Kudos to this year’s committee and leadership team for all the effort. Now, back to panel juggling and last-minute prioritizing…

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