My first six months in office have been an odyessy, beginning with worrying about our not having completed all the contracts necessary for the Nebulas with The Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia -- we had neither a banquet nor function space -- continuing while it was decided that we not sign reissued banquet contracts with The Marriott and found we could not get sufficient function space. This concatenation of circumstances lead me to believe that we might have a better event elsewhere and I went looking.

So I hope you understand it is with pride and pleasure that I announce that the 2003 Nebula Awards Ceremony will be at the historic Radisson Plaza - Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia April 18 and 19, 2003. This is a small, elegant hotel in the city's Rittenhouse district, and quite different from The Marriott, which may be familiar to many of you from the 2001 Worldcon or this year's Philcon. Basically the entire restored 1926 hotel will be ours for the event. The area is rich with cafes, bars, and restaurants, among them Le Bec Fin, Susanna Foo's, and The Striped Bass.

The basic room rate is eighty-two dollars. The Radisson's reservation phone number is (800) 333-3333. (Ask for the Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia; the promotion code is "SFWA".)

The $82 rate allows double occupancy and extends to three days before the event and three days after. NOTE! The web link above only understands the $82 rate for certain before/after dates -- if it doesn't accept your dates, call them at the number above and they'll take care of it.

Do plan to join us in celebration. For those wishing to view the hotel, their website is http://radisson.com/philadelphiapa. Banquet information will be posted when it becomes available.

--Catherine Mintz, Eastern Regional Director