Programme Participant Selection
In order for Glasgow 2024 to fulfil its vision of Caring, Imagination and Inclusion, and to replicate this on our Programme, we must take seriously the task of choosing our programme participants.
Selection is needed in the first instance because Worldcon receives many more participant applications than can possibly be used. Therefore we are looking for people who will contribute in a dynamic, exciting way to our programme.
Therefore the selection process is NOT comparable to the Hugo nomination process (which is a vote by members), or bound by the WSFS Constitution in the same way. Instead, selection is at the discretion of the convention, according to their wishes and Vision.
Whilst in the first instance we are looking for attendees who will contribute in valuable ways to our convention, it is also important that we do our best to place people on our programme who are aligned with the values and principles set out in the convention Code of Conduct and our diversity policies, including specifically our Anti-TRASH statement.
We will additionally prioritise the participation of underrepresented voices from within the wider speculative fiction community.
We also have a duty of care to members of Glasgow 2024, including invited members who have Security Riders/Requirements as part of their attendance requirements. We will not be disclosing details of these publicly or who they relate to, however they are a very real part of choosing participants and protecting our members when we are able.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) requires us to keep all information about participants secure and to not disclose it beyond the specified use. Our data statement is at the bottom of this policy.
After the initial participant selection process has taken place, participants will then be considered in relationship to each other as members of panels, workshops and other programme items. This will be done separately by the Programme Content Area Teams according to topic and supported by the Programme Leadership Team.
Our aim is to choose people whose work, publications and experience allow us to showcase our vision to best effect. Because of this, we make heavy use of the surveys that participants have filled in, including sections where they have indicated topics they do not wish to speak about, or people that they would prefer not to interact with. We look at their expertise, and the work that they have already produced, to see whether it is relevant to our programme. Under no condition will Glasgow review information that is private or otherwise unavailable to be discovered in the public domain. We are additionally alert to the fact that context matters, to public information that could be considered hearsay, and to information that is simply irrelevant to attendance at our event.
From this, we hope to run an event that brings out the absolute best in our participants, and allows our attendees to feel that they are taking part in a valuable experience that benefits them, as much as it makes our Worldcon an exciting, brilliant place to be.
Questions about this statement can be sent to us at programme@glasgow2024.org.
The Glasgow 2024 Programme Team.
Data Protection Statement
The data controller for this project is Glasgow 2024, a Worldcon for Our Futures. We will process your data for the purpose of the process outlined above. The legal basis for processing this data under the Data Protection Act 2018 (incorporating the UK GDPR) is that of consent, and of our obligation to adhere to legal requirements such as the safeguarding of children. We will handle programme participant data at all times in accordance with our formal Privacy Policy.
(This is an amended Data Protection Statement: it was amended on 9 May, 2024 to correct the stated legal basis of processing.)