On To Helsinki!

So there are three cities bidding to host the 2015 Worldcon, and one of them is Helsinki.  And I totally want the Worldcon to go there.

Because why?  Because Helsinki is cool.  (In this case, sort of literally.)

Helsinki is a beautiful modern city, it’s in a gorgeous setting in the Baltic, it’s within easy reach of other cool places (Turku, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen), and it’s in Finland, the home of my ancestors, which you utterly want to visit.

But, I hear you splutter, Helsinki is outside North America.  And if the Worldcon is there, it means the Worldcon is outside North America for two years in a row!

First, let me direct your attention to the name of the convention.  “World Science Fiction Convention.”  Emphasis, World.  We want our beautiful convention and fannish traditions to go out into the World, like our noble seafaring ancestors intended!

Second: stop being so provincial.

Third: Helsinki is in the First World, and it has airports and health care and modern transport and great hotels and so on.  If you live on the East Coast, it’s cheaper to fly to Europe than to fly to, say, New Mexico.  (Trust me, I know this from bitter experience.)

Fourth: Finland is a real party town, ever since St. Urho’s day.

So if you’re a member of this year’s Worldcon, or if you have a supporting membership, I urge you to vote for Helsinki, the coolest city on the ballot.