74th World Science Fiction Convention


The 74th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as MidAmeriCon II, was held on 17–21 August 2016 at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The convention's name, by established Worldcon tradition, follows after the first MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City in 1976.
The convention was organized by Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc., and was chaired by Ruth Lichtwardt and co-chaired by Diane Lacey.

Participants

Guests of honor

Masquerade

The MidAmeriCon II masquerade was held on Friday, 19 August, with 34 entrants. Gregory de Danann was the Masquerade Director and the master of ceremonies was John Hertz. The judges were Tanglewyst de Holloway, Karen Schnaubelt, and Kathy Pepmiller for performance, and Jill Eastlake and Aurora Celeste for workmanship.
The winners, across four experience-based categories, were:

Young Fan division

  • Most Adorable: "Young Sherlock" by Zachary Rohwer
  • More Most Adorable: "Ding" by Grayson Rohwer

    Novice division

Workmanship awards:
  • Honorable Mention for Carving: "Mystogan" by Jacob Lemon-Rogers, Jonathan Kunkee, Loren Kunkee, and Lyndsey Luther
  • Honorable Mention for Puff Patterns: "Rambo Brite" by Gene Bennett
  • Honorable Mention for Puppetry: "Sarabi, the Gryphon" by Ashley Bilke.
  • * Ashley Bilke was also awarded the Silicon Web Costumers Guild Dreamcatcher Award at this event.
  • It Lights up and Spins Award: "Raymond J. Stanz, Apparition Eliminator" by Zachary Miles
  • Best Fur Work: "Pooch" by Kathy Hinkle
  • Best in Class: "Mythological Loki" by Sarah Sanders
Performance awards:
  • Best Novice Humor: "Rambo Brite" by Gene Bennett
  • Best in Class: "Victorian Twilight Sparkle" Rosemary Williams

    Journeyman division

Workmanship awards:
  • Painting the Roses Red Award: "When Queens Collide" by Janine Wardale, Theresa Halbert and Thor Halbert
  • Best in Class: "Cinderella" by Sheryl Nance-Durst
Performance awards:
  • Best Humor: "Flight of the Valkyries" by Sharon Bass, Christine Brockway, Chris O'Halloran and Sara Vanderbroek.
  • Best in Class: "When Queens Collide" by Janine Wardale and Theresa Halbert

    Master division

Workmanship awards:
  • Honorable Mention for Beadwork: "A Paid Political Announcement" by Kevin Hewett and Rebecca Hewett
  • Best Execution of Concept: "Boots Upgraded" by Jennifer Skwarski
  • Best in Class: "Tri Morrignae" by Jennifer Old-d'Entremont, Bethany Padron and Megan McQueen
Performance awards:
  • Best Master Humor: "Sharknado" by Amanda Arthur-Struss and Joe Struss
  • Honored for Excellence in Presentation: "Tri Morrignae" by Jennifer Old-d'Entremont, Bethany Padron and Megan McQueen
  • Best in Class: "Flights of Fantasy" by Tim Morgan, Lorretta Morgan, Iain Miller, Meredith Hines and Russ Miller

    Overall

  • Judges' Choice Award: "Spirits of the Tea" by Sallie Abba, Greg Abba, Robert A. Cook, Rachelle Hrubetz, Leslie Roth and Tal Roth
  • Best in Show: "Troll Bridge" by Susan Eisenhour, Joyce Blakesley, Isabell Robinson, Quincy Robinson, Paul Elmer, Kate Elmer, Freya Elmer, Juliet Elmer, Darrin Blom, Richard Blom and Margaret Blom

    Awards

MidAmeriCon II also presented Retro-Hugos for the calendar year 1940, on the 75th anniversary of the 3rd World Science Fiction Convention held in Denver because, having not yet been established, no Hugo Awards were presented in 1941.

2016 Hugo Awards

The 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II, announced the winners of the 2016 Hugo Awards at a ceremony on the evening of Saturday, 20 August 2016. The ceremony was hosted by Toastmaster, Pat Cadigan, assisted by Jan Siegel. 3,130 valid final ballots were received and counted. The 2016 Hugo Award trophy base was designed by Sara Felix.
The location was selected on 17 August 2014 by the members of the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention in London.
By the February 2014 deadline, only two committees had announced bids to host the 74th World Science Fiction Convention: "KC in 2016" for 17–21 August 2016, at the Bartle Hall Convention Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and "Beijing in 2016" for 14–19 August 2016, at the China National Convention Center. Kansas City bid co-chairs Diane Lacey, Ruth Lichtwardt, and Jeff Orth represented the non-profit Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Inc. Of the 758 votes cast by Loncon 3 members, Kansas City won the contest with 651 votes over Beijing with 70 votes. "None of the above" received 4 votes while other sites, including Minneapolis, Boston, Norway, Helsinki, and Sitka, Alaska, received 1 or 2 votes each. If Beijing had been selected, this would have been the first Worldcon in China and the first in mainland Asia.