Chicon 7 has exercised its right under the WSFS Constitution to add a Special Category for 2012. The additional award category is Best Fancast, defined as “Any non-professional audio- or video-casting with at least four (4) episodes that had at least one (1) episode released in 2011.” (There is an amendment to the WSFS Constitution pending ratification at Chicon 7 that would make Best Fancast a permanent category.)

If you are eligible to nominate, you may cast a nominating ballot through the Chicon Hugo Nominating Website or by paper ballot by mail. No matter which method you use to vote, Chicon 7 must receive your ballot (postmarks/timestamps do not count) by Sunday, March 11, 2012, 23:59 Pacific Daylight Time. (Convert to your local time here.)

If you have questions about specific procedures for the 2012 Hugo Awards, address them to the Chicon 7 Hugo Awards Administrators. TheHugoAwards.org cannot answer specific questions about eligibility or procedures for a given election, since each Hugo Award election is administered by that year’s Worldcon.

Update, Jan 4: According to a statement posted by Jeff Orth on the File 770 web site, voter PINs (the code number required to cast your ballot online) “are being emailed to current members now. PR3 will be in the mail directly. You can also request a PIN at hugoadmin@chicon.org.”

Note: While this is a “nominating ballot,” and we say that you “nominate” people or works for a Hugo Award when you write them on the nominating ballot, only those people or works that appear on the final Hugo Award ballot later in the year are the actual “Hugo Award Nominees.” Merely writing a work in on your nominating ballot does not make that work a “Hugo Award Nominee” unless the work receives enough nominations from other Worldcon members to make the final ballot.

See the Chicon 7 web site for the official press release announcement.

Live video streaming of the event is scheduled to be available on the UStream Worldcon Events channel, courtesy of Renovation’s Events Team.

Text-based live-blogging coverage of the Hugo Award Ceremony on CoverItLive will be hosted by TheHugoAwards.org.

Bookmark our 2011 Hugo Award Live Coverage page for the gateway to the event coverage on CoverItLive.

Kevin Standlee and Mur Lafferty will cover the event from the Tuscany Ballroom at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno and we’ll incorporate the official @Renovationsf and @TheHugoAwards Twitter feeds, as well as Twitter posts using the #hugos, #hugoaward, and #hugoawards hashtags.

Our coverage is text-only. Renovation intends to provide live streaming coverage of the ceremony on UStream. We’ll include a link to the live-stream from within our coverage.

We’ll be “on the air” shortly before the scheduled 8 PM PDT start. Join us to watch, read, and discuss the results as the Worldcon presents our field’s top honors.

Our thanks to Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon, for their cooperation in providing live coverage of the 2011 Hugo Awards ceremony.

Nominating ballots may be submitted online or via mail by Renovation members who join before January 31, 2011, and by all supporting and attending members of Aussiecon 4, the 2010 Worldcon.  If you would like to nominate and are not a member, more information on how to join can be found on Renovation’s membership page.

For information on the 2011 Hugo Awards, including how to submit ballots, please visit the Renovation website.

Note that the deadline for nominations is Saturday, March 26th, 2011, 23:59 PDT.

John Scalzi has the list of newly-added material on his web site.

You must be a supporting or attending member of Anticipation to download the Hugo Voter Packet. If you are not a member, you can register online at their web site.

The deadline for voting is midnight (2359hrs.) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) July 3, 2009. All ballots, paper or electronic, must be in the administrator’s hands by that time.

The Hugo presenters this year will be Denvention 3 Artist Guest of Honor Rick Sternbach, Fan Guest of Honor Tom Whitmore, past Hugo winners Connie Willis and Robert Silverberg, Nebula winner Ed Bryant, TAFF winner Chris Garcia, DUFF winners Sue and Steve Francis, and Denvention 2 Fan GoH Rusty Hevelin. We’re also featuring a short performance by Denvention 3’s Music Guest Kathy Mar.

The rules of the competition are available on Denvention 3’s web site, and an archive of past trophies can be found on this site.

All inquiries regarding the competition should be directed to Denvention 3, not to WSFS.

Update, January 2, 2008: The competition closed December 31, 2007.

• Best Novel: Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge [Tor, 2006]
• Best Novella: “A Billion Eves” by Robert Reed [Asimov's Oct/Nov 2006]
• Best Novelette: “The Djinn’s Wife” by Ian McDonald [Asimov's July 2006]
• Best Short Story: “Impossible Dreams” by Tim Pratt [Asimov's July 2006]
• Best Related Non-Fiction Book: James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B Sheldon by Julie Phillips [St. Martin's Press, 2006]
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro. Directed by Guillermo del Toro [Picturehouse]
• Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who – “Girl in the Fireplace” (2006) Written by Steven Moffat. Directed by Euros Lyn [BBC Wales/BBC1]
• Best Editor, Long Form: Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• Best Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder
• Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola
• Best Semiprozine: Locus ed. by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong and Liza Groen Trombi
• Best Fanzine: Science-Fiction Five-Yearly ed. by Lee Hoffman, Geri Sullivan, and Randy Byers
• Best Fan Writer: Dave Langford
• Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

The winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, sponsored by Dell Magazines and administered on their behalf by the World Science Fiction Society, is:

• Naomi Novik

Full details of the nominees and voting figures can be found here.