Whats a Guest of Honor, a “Nifty Guest”, and a Program Participant?
We have about five or six full Guests of Honor per year, usually one or two authors, one or two from software, and the rest from from games, comics, film/TV, or science. “Nifty Guest” is a status we confer on those who are not our Guests of Honor this year, but have been in the past, or they are celebrities in their own right. We only have about twenty or fewer Nifty Guests per year, although that number gets slightly larger each year from the original two. It is not simply to be used an award for people we like who have done things we admire. It is for two kinds of people. – Celebrities or leaders within their specific subculture or internet community. They have a fanbase within that subculture to whom they announce, “you can meet me at Penguicon,” so they are an attendance draw. – Those who are going to attend Penguicon to provide a specific event which is so glittery and shiny for our attendees that it stands above our other programming. When we feel we can’t do without them, but th
