Friday Night at WorldCon 2004

"You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. There is no difference between Time and any of the three other dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it. A civilized man should hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way. It would be remarkably convenient..."

—Excerpted from The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

And so, we must do.

Join us in Veterans Memorial Auditorium of the Hynes Convention Center for a short trip through the past and into the future with our Guests of Honor. Focus on William Tenn, Terry Pratchett, Jack Speer and Peter Weston, experience worlds past, present and future through their eyes. Peter Weston will interview our other three GoHs, and then Terry Pratchett will turn the tables on Peter. (He's very good at that sort of thing…)

But our Guests of Honor are only a start to the evening!

We'll also have our Time-Travel Master of Ceremonies with us, in the guise of Bob Eggleton. And Bob will lead us to the Time Machine (awaiting the final technical touches in the picture, right) that'll allow us to return to1954…whether it's the 1954 we read about in history books these days will be up to you to judge!

So you can join us in 1954 as we celebrate the best in Science Fiction and Fantasy from 1953 and present the 1954 Retro Hugo Awards. (To put yourself in the right mood, check out the works of the nominees, or find out what was going on in 1953 fandom from the perspectives of Juanita Coulson, Robert Silverberg, and Marty Gear).

Afterwards, continue time-traveling through the 1950s, in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom, at the Noreascon 4 Sockhop/Swing Dance. The Indian Hill Band will play both '50s swing and the sort of late '50s music you heard on "Happy Days". Bring your imagination, your hovercraft skate boards, and your dancing shoes to explore our universe.