CanSMOF and the Montréal 2027 Worldcon Bid Committee today announced that if their bid wins, Bruce Farr and Darin Briskman will serve as Co-Chairs of the 85th World Science Fiction Convention.

The committee’s press release says:

Bruce Farr is a seasoned convention volunteer with over two decades of experience, specializing in organizational operations and finance. His deep knowledge of Montréal conventions includes serving as the Finance Division Head for Anticipation (the 67th Worldcon in 2009) and for the 2021 World Fantasy Convention. A respected figure in the community, Bruce is also a board member of the World Fantasy Convention Board and has contributed to numerous Worldcons throughout his extensive career.

Darin Briskman brings a strong technical and leadership background to the team, both from within fandom and through a successful corporate career. His recent Worldcon contributions include technical leadership roles for Glasgow 2024 and CoNZealand. Outside of conventions, Darin works with neurodivergent children—particularly those on the autism spectrum—helping them develop tools to navigate and thrive in a neuronormative world.

We are proud to have Bruce and Darin lead our team as we continue our efforts to bring the Worldcon back to Montréal. Their combined experience and dedication will be vital in ensuring a creative, inclusive, and smoothly-run convention for fans around the globe.

Briskman and Farr have been serving as the bid’s co-chairs since Terry Fong stepped down in June “for personal reasons”, with Briskman named to the post on June 16 and Farr on June 30.

[Based on a press release.]

By Darin Briskman and Bruce Farr: Site selection voting for Worldcon 2027 is now open, and all of us on the Montréal Worldcon 2027 team are hoping that you’ll join us.

We think we’re ready to host a great Worldcon, to take place both online globally and onsite in Montréal. Why?

First, the fan community. Fans around the world have been providing great feedback and support, with over 200 donating to the bid as pre-supporters. The bid team has had fan tables, room parties, and other presence at conventions from Glasgow Worldcon to many others, most recently Norwescon, Eastercon, Minicon, Keycon, Balticon, and Scintillation. Many have told us that they are excited to return to the site of the 2009 Worldcon, while others are looking forward to their first visit to Montréal.

Next, we have a great team, with people ready to begin work as convention division heads immediately if the community chooses to select Montréal. Alongside the bid’s co-chairs (Bruce Farr & Darin Briskman), this includes many with extensive convention and Worldcon experience, including Carolina Gomez Lagerlöf, Kate Wood, Diane Lacey, Alexia Hebel, Joni Brill Dashoff, Carl Fink, Carl “z!” Zwanzig, Linda Deneroff, and Todd Dashoff. Many more have already raised their hands to help as deputy division heads, area heads, track leaders, technical advisors, and other roles.

I’m also excited about our Guests of Honour, where we have some amazing people who have graciously accepted this position. Of course, this isn’t the place for such an announcement. If the community chooses to select Montréal, these great guests are ready to be revealed.

The city of Montréal could not be more supportive, looking to help us put on a great convention. The facilities are fantastic. The Palais de congrès convention centre is in the heart of the city, between downtown, Old Montréal, and Chinatown, with lots of attractions and restaurants from cheap to Michelin-starred nearby. The centre has 113 rooms for our use, and neatly all onsite activities will be under a single accessibility-friendly roof.

We are working with five hotels that are adjacent to the convention center: Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, Westin, Intercontinental, and Humaniti, plus more hotels that are a 5 minute walk or less: DoubleTree, Hampton, and W. We have 1500 rooms available, including many accessibility-friendly rooms, for the convention. There are another 1600 rooms that have been offered by 11 additional hotels nearby.

We’re also planning to make the online elements Montréal 2027 a big part of the Worldcon experience. Along with online access to events and programmes taking place onsite, we plan to have online panels, workshops, readings, and more in the months leading up to the onsite convention and the months afterwards. We’re hoping to use the online convention both to address the needs of those who cannot travel to Montréal in-person and to expand the reach of Worldcon to new audiences.

One place we’re still working: we have not yet named senior leadership for the convention. We’re planning on announcing a chair in the next few weeks, before the voting for site selection is complete.

Finally, we need your help. Please vote for us through the Seattle in 2025 Worldcon site selection process. If you’re interested in playing a role as a leader, a staffer, an advisor, or otherwise, or you have suggestions on who should be the convention chair, please let us know through our contact form or just send an email to [email protected].

Thanks for reading. I hope to see you online or in-person in Montréal!

Darin Briskman & Bruce Farr
Co-Chairs, Montreal Worldcon 2027 Bid
[email protected]
[email protected]
https://montreal2027.ca