Live stream...

[xenith]

Watching the tweets about the live stream from the Hugos, I remembered how in 2002 we went straight from the ceremony to the internet lounge so we could be the first to post the results on sff.cons.worldcon (That's a newsgroup.) Do they even have internet lounges at cons now?

Of course, if I'm thinking about live feeds from awards, I have to think about the Nebula Awards in May, 1998. SFF Net arranged to have a live feed, by hooking Vonda McIntyre up with a computer, dial-up of course, and having her type a running commentary of events during an IRC chat.

And it went very well, except for a slight hiccup during the "Best Novel" presentation. I'll include that bit below.


(Formatting of nominee list changed slightly to allow for different medium.)

<Info> ***************************************************
<Info> Nominees for 1997 Nebula Award:
<Info> Best Novel
<Info> ***************************************************
<Info> * A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin
<Info> * (Bantam Spectra, Aug96)
<Info> * Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt
<Info> * (HarperPrism, Apr96)
<Info> * Bellwether, Connie Willis
<Info> * (Bantam Spectra, Apr96)
<Info> * City On Fire, Walter Jon Williams
<Info> * (HarperPrism, Jan97)
<Info> * King's Dragon, Kate Elliot
<Info> * (DAW, Feb97)
<Info> * Memory, Lois McMaster Bujold
<Info> * (Baen, Oct96)
<Info> * The Moon and the Sun, Vonda N. Mcintyre
<Info> * (Pocket Books, Sep97)
<Info> ***************************************************
<Vonda> Jerry says it's a wish fulfilment story... and tonight that's really true.
<Moderator> Good luck, Vonda!
<Vanguard-> Belated congratulations from the Great Northwest for our hometown boy!
<Moderator> Sure is, that was a wonderful story.
<Vanguard-> Fingers crossed in Seattle for Vonda!
<Djonn> Novel is hard to call.
<Vonda> He thanks Kathy, his wife;
<JeffryD> Don't care about predictions, I'm rooting for Vonda!
<Vonda> Stanley Schmidt of Analog.
<Djonn> I'm also rooting for Vonda. And I think she has a shot at it, too.
<Vonda> And finally, KK Rusch, who read it at 5000 words and said "It's silly to stop halfway to the moon."
<Kent> Me too, Jeffry. However ... betting against Connie Willis seems kinda futile. ;)
<Christoph> Righto.
<Vonda> Now for the novel.
<Djonn> Kent: The question is whether Willis and Bujold will split votes and choke.
<Lois> good point.
<Vonda> Presenter is Fred Saberhagen.
<Robt> Yeah but if so, then McDevitt and Williams have a chance
<MMF> Hang in there, Vonda -- you're doing great!
<Keith> I really like McDevitt's story
<Vanguard-> More held breath in Seattle...
<Vonda> Nominees are --?
<Djonn> Actually, the only novel I think probably *can't* win is the Elliot, demographically.
<Moderator> did it earlier
<Robt> Djonn: agree
<Vonda> And the winner is...
<Moderator> scroll up for nominees
<Vonda> y;ie
<Vanguard-> ???
<Terry> <strangled sound>
<Marilee> She fainted?
<Djonn> That sounds like a Seattle win to me....
<MMF> What's happening?
<pff3> hahaha
<shred> Vonda won.
<Kent> Vonda won!

The whole transcript used to be available on line somewhere. And there it is.

Comments

[sue-bursztynski.livejournal.com]

They certainly do still have internet - lounges? I remember going to an internet cafe that actually sold coffee and cake. It was nice too - I'd go on the tram up Glenferrie Road to one of the few around, after work, to research my first book. And then I'd buy something nice to eat as a treat before heading for home. Even now, not everyone has broadband, even if they have the Net. I was using internet cafes right up till January of this year, when I got a new computer and finally went to broadband. And sometimes, on my way home, when it's urgent to get on-line, I go to a 24-hour internet cafe in Elizabeth St, Melbourne.

I only read two of the books on that list, the Martin and the Bujold, though one of these days I'm going to find a copy of Bellwether. Interesting that I've heard of all the authors on that list, whereas these days I've never heard of most of the authors and books on the Hugo list.

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

Oops. I meant at Worldcons, I'll have to fix that

I had the same thought about the authors too. Mostly I don't bother looking at the names because they won't mean anything to me.