Fuzzy’s Travelogue is the newsletter of LAcon V: The 84th World Science Fiction Convention. This is Volume One of the series, May 2025 edition. A downloadable PDF version of the newsletter can be found here.
Issues of Fuzzy’s Travelogue will be distributed on a regular basis, to our members and on our website & social media, throughout the lead-up to our August 2026 convention.
You can read all about Fuzzy, LAcon V’s mascot, here.
A Fuzzy Welcome To You
Welcome! I’m Fuzzy, and over the next year, I’ll be your lead explorer and official guide for LAcon V in 2026, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, taking place August 27-31, 2026 in Anaheim, California. I take my job very seriously, so I’ll be keeping you up to date with the activities and planning for this Worldcon via this travelogue.
The Committee and I are planning many different events and programs to entertain you during the convention, but I’ll also be telling you about my travels around Anaheim, so you can plan your trip to include ones you’d like.
This edition of my travelogue has so many important things in it: we have a brand new special guest for you, Tracy Drain! We are announcing our first membership rate change along with our new installment plan. Plus we’re talking about volunteering and programming. I also want to tell you more about my home, Southern California! So much to talk about!
Our First Special Guest: Tracy Drain
Oooh, we have something special now… following the announcement last year of our amazing Guests of Honor, we’re gonna start announcing some special guests joining us from all walks of life. And our very first one comes right from America’s exciting spaceflight program!
Tracy Drain is a flight systems engineer who has helped to develop, test, and operate a variety of robotic spacecraft for deep space exploration over the past 25+ years. Her passion for space grew from an early love of science fiction – she soaked up Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica, plus sci-fi and fantasy books by the armload. With her eye on a career in space, she studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky and interned at the NASA Langley Research Center. After earning a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, she landed a full-time position at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2000.
As a systems engineer, Tracy works with teams of engineers and scientists to ensure all the parts of a spacecraft (telecommunications, thermal, power, software, etc.), the science instruments, and the mission (spacecraft/instruments, ground data system, mission design and navigation, etc.) are designed to work well together to accomplish the mission goals. Her previous missions have included the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Kepler mission (an Exoplanet hunter), the Juno mission (orbiting Jupiter) and the Psyche mission (now on its way to study an asteroid). She is currently the Chief Engineer in operations for the Europa Clipper mission which successfully launched in October 2024 and is now on its 5.5-year cruise to Jupiter. After arrival in the Jovian system, Clipper will study Europa – one of the most scientifically exciting moons in our solar system!
A life-long learner, Tracy loves encouraging people to nurture their curiosity and explore the wonders around us, as expressed in her TEDx talk “A Childlike Sense of Wonder: The Curious World of an Aerospace Engineer” and shared in her Nat Geo Live stage show “Cosmic Adventures.” She has joined the advisory board for the University of Kentucky’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Science’s Science and Entertainment Exchange, which aims to partner with the entertainment industry to make science more accessible and inspiring to the general public. She also serves on the advisory board of Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative, which seeks to create a positive future for humans in space. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, watching a variety of shows including sci-fi and Korean dramas, studying languages (Spanish and… Korean!), and traveling.
We are so excited to have Tracy with us in 2026 and can’t wait to see her!
Membership Rate Increase for Adults
Hey, we need to let y’all know that LAcon V has scheduled the first membership price increase for June 15, 2025. We had planned to have our first membership increase this past February. But, you know, there were challenging times faced by the L.A. community due to those nasty January 2025 fires, so we decided to delay our price increase to June 15. All my friends here have shown incredible resilience, supporting one another and persevering during these fires. We’re all proud to call this city home.
The rate increase will only impact full weekend adult memberships, which will go from $200 to $230 per person as of June 15. All of the convention’s other rates (including the First Worldcon Ever) will remain unchanged for now.
If you don’t have all the money now, you can still lock in the lower membership rate by using our installment plan. Tell your friends!
Getting Involved
At the convention, there will be many activities in which you can participate. There will be panels and workshops, gaming (both electronic and tabletop), art show, dealers’ room, exhibits, costuming (cosplay, hall, and masquerade), events (such as plays and performances), and so much more. And we would really like your help in making it successful. Would you consider joining us in putting this convention on?
Volunteer with us
Want inside info on how the convention is run? Volunteering some of your time, knowledge, and skills would be deeply appreciated. If you have a specific area of expertise and would like to volunteer in that area, please check out the openings listed on our website. If you don’t see something there that interests you or you just would like to help where you are needed the most, you can apply anyway. We really appreciate any time you can give us; we need you to help make LAcon V the best it can be.
Programming at LAcon V
Let me take a pause and welcome our Programming folks, who have some important things to say to you… take it away, Programming!
LAcon V’s Program Division is up and running, and we want to hear from you! Find out everything about us on our website, in our Program Overview: what we do, what types of programming you can expect at LAcon, and how you can be involved.
Our Program Suggestion Form is for anyone who wishes to submit an idea for a program item. This can be a panel discussion you want to see, a workshop you want someone to run, a discussion group about your favorite book or movie franchise – maybe you just have a cool panel title, or perhaps a fully formed description of a panel but no title. It’s all okay to submit! No idea is too big or too small; we want to hear them all!
And then there’s our Program Participant Interest survey, which is for anyone who is interested in being a program participant, be it on site in Anaheim or online through our virtual offerings. We expect and need hundreds of program participants. Some may be professionals in their field; others may be hobbyists or fans. No matter what, we want to know more about you! Filling out the form does not guarantee that you will be accepted as a participant, but it is the first necessary step in the process, and we’re excited to hear from you.
Welcome to Southern California
Now I’d like to talk a little about my home, Southern California. That’s where you’re going to spend your time, and it’s so much fun. For those of you who enjoy theme parks, we have a lot of them. You of course know about Disneyland (and its sister park California Adventure), but there are others not far away. If you like thrill rides, try Adventure City or Knott’s Berry Farm. If you want to go further afield, there is Universal Studios in North Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita, or Legoland in Carlsbad.
How about museums and places of interest? There are over 750 in the general area, such as Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center, the Bowers Museum, the Academy of Motion Pictures, the California Science Center, the La Brea Tar Pits, and the Griffith Observatory. Check to see what is available when you’ll be here. With many museums addressing different specializations, there’s sure to be one that appeals to your interests.
If nature is more in your line, Anaheim can offer parks for relaxation or for hiking. Try a picnic at Yorba Regional Park or Ronald Reagan Park, sightseeing at Founder’s Park, or hiking at Oak Canyon Nature Center or Santiago Oak Regional Park.
These are only a few of the things you can do before or after the convention. We’ll try to set up some special discounts or outings for our members as it gets closer to the convention, and I’ll be sure to keep you informed.
And Finally…
This is just the beginning. You can expect to hear from me many times over the next year, as the folks running LAcon V share all their plans with you. You should also keep your eyes open for me at other conventions, too. I get around! If you spot me, just go to our fan table at that con to see what I have in store for you!
I’m so thrilled to be your guide, as we embark on this journey together. Join me, will ya?
We look forward to welcoming the science fiction and fantasy fandom world back to the City of Angels in 2026. It’s going to be so much fun!
Fuzzy’s Travelogue: Volume One
The Newsletter of LAcon V: The 84th World Science Fiction Convention, May 2025 Edition
Edited by Genny Dazzo, with Shaun Lyon and Sandy Cohen
Fuzzy illustrations by Teddy Harvia, used with permission
Photograph courtesy Tracy Drain
Copyright © 2025, The Southern California Institute for Fan Interests (SCIFI) Inc. All rights reserved.
