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I'm always disorganized. Having a PDA has made me at least ten times as organized as I used to be, but that only means it's vaguely possible for me to occasionally be mildly organized.

In the case of this year's WorldCon, I haven't yet made any truly disastrous missteps, though I also haven't done much right. I made hotel reservations in time (though I failed to check for any new spaces that might've opened up in hotels closer to the con, and now it's too late to cancel my existing reservation even if I were to find a better space); I submitted my Hugo nominations barely in time; I signed up for programming and filled out the various programming surveys. And I'm working on travel.

Apparently, the one thing I completely forgot was to actually get a membership. I was really sure that I had upgraded my membership from supporting to attending back in April, shortly after the Hugo nominations list was published. But the latest mail from the programming people mentioned that I was still only a supporting member, and I went and looked, and lo! it was true. I checked my credit card statements and my email receipts and my PayPal account and I have no record of having upgraded. So I must have just imagined it.

So now I've done that. Note: rates go up on July 1, so if you want to join, now would be a good time. If you don't want to attend, or can't, you can still vote in the Hugos (and, I think, nominate for next year's Hugos) by buying a supporting membership.

So the only things left for me to do, I think, are:

• Finish reading the short-fiction Hugo nominees and vote in the Hugos before 8 July. (Yikes! That's soon!)
• Finalize travel arrangements.
• Change hotel reservation to match travel arrangements.

Oh, hey, I meant to say in that previous entry, if you're going to WorldCon from somewhere other than the UK, be sure you have a valid passport. The con's Top 10 Tips for Travelling Abroad page notes that "In general, your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your intended stay, in accordance with international treaties."

Anyway. Here's my panel schedule. I'm a little apprehensive about being on four panels in three days, especially while heavily jet-lagged, but I think it'll probably be okay.

Saturday, 2:00pm: The Greatest Queer SF

Panelists: me, Paul Cockburn, Hal Duncan, Jim Grimsley, Tanya Huff (Moderator). Thanks again to all who posted comments/suggestions. My main apprehensiveness about it at this point is that it's apparently a 90-minute panel; not sure why. (Most other program items are 50-minute panels in 1-hour slots.)

Saturday, 5:00pm: The Magazines are Dead. Long Live the Magazines.

This isn't quite the traditional "state of short fiction" panel, but close enough. A good group: Me, Ellen D, Gordon VG, Gavin G, and Niall Harrison (M).

Sunday, 11:00am: The Best New Feminist SF

I'm not sure I know anything about the best new feminist sf per se, other than what we're publishing at SH. I'm years out of date on novels, and I'm not seeing a lot of particularly feminist (as such) short fiction in the magazines I read. But I'm the moderator (gulp), so I'll probably put together a list of questions to ask, and try to get the other panelists to do all the talking. Or else I'll ask the programming people to remove me from the panel, except today was the deadline for requesting panel changes and the UK is eight hours ahead of me, so I'm probably too late for that. Anyone want to step in and take my place on this? Panelists: Me (M), Judith Clute, Sarah Micklem, Liz Wiliams.

Monday, 11:00am: Is There any Point to the Best Website Hugo?

My answer to that question will of course change depending on who wins it the night before. :) Ahem. But really, I'm not sure I have much to say about this. Fortunately, Cheryl is moderating the panel, so presumably she'll handle the requisite explanations of how categories get added to and removed from the ballot and so forth. (Actually, looks like the other panelists are all involved in organized Fandom in one way or another, so they're probably all more qualified than I to discuss such matters.) Maybe I'll do a dramatic reading of Jim Kelly's suggestions for adding lots more website categories, just to stir up argument. Panelists: Me, Cheryl M (M), Chaz Boston Baden, Bill Burns, James Shields.

I have no idea how jet lag will affect my schedule. If I don't adjust to the new time zone pretty quickly, all my panels will be in the wee hours of the morning according to my body clock. Probably another good reason to arrive earlier than originally planned.