Explaining Worldcon & WSFS memberships

Worldcon’s are an annual convention run by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Typically to attend the Worldcon you must be a member of WSFS. You can buy a bundle of a year’s WSFS membership and an attending supplement, though there are cheaper options if you are a regular member.

WSFS membership

WSFS membership lasts for a year, and comes with several benefits:

  • The right to buy an Attending Supplement, allowing you to attend the Worldcon.
  • The right to nominate and vote in the Hugo Awards (yes, you get to have a say in who wins a Hugo!)
  • The right to nominate in the next year’s Hugo Awards (to vote in the next year you must renew your WSFS membership)
  • The right to vote in site selection, choosing where the Worldcon will be hosted in two year’s time.

Attending Supplements

An attending supplement is an additional purchase on top of your WSFS membership that allows you to attend that year’s Worldcon convention.

Depending on what that year’s convention is able to offer, Attending Supplements usually come in in-person and online flavours.

Attending Supplements for Friend Supporters

If you support at the Friend or Super Friend level, if we win the bid you will receive an Attending Supplement for Dublin 2029. This will give you the right to attend the convention, but to exercise that right you will first have to have purchase a WSFS membership for 2029. Should we win the bid, we will email you with details on how to buy your WSFS membership.

The cheapest option

If you are a regular Worldcon attendee, the cheapest option is to:

  • Vote in site selection every year
  • Support the winning bid

This is because to vote in site selection, you must have a WSFS membership for the year being selected. This comes bundled in the site selection voting fee, and is guaranteed by the WSFS constitution to be the cheapest way of obtaining a WSFS membership for that year.

And then typically the Attending Supplements offered to people who support a winning bid are the cheapest way of getting an attending supplement.

This means the cheapest way of attending Dublin 2029 will be to:

Dublin in 2029