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Philadelphia Science Fiction Society to Shed Geeky Image with New Name

Philadelphia, PA — April 1, 2009 — The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS) is now changing its name to usher in a new era of unlimited imagination, exceptional experiences and greater entertainment that paves the way for it to truly become a global lifestyle brand in Philadelphia.

The new name chosen to let everyone know that the group is about Science Fiction, is in Philadelphia, and is a group that welcomes in young hipsters, is: The Science Fiction of Philadelphia Youth Set (SFPhilYS).

“Despite the fact that we’re trying to get away from the perception that we cater to dysfunctional, anti-social boys in their basements with video games, we decided to test market the new name with the 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd. They loved it. We realized that we had something new when we spoke with a lot of younger people and they told us that their parents never talked to them about SFPhilYS,” said Rock Robertson, PSFS President. “We’ve had a lot of problems getting the message out about the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society in the past, but it seems that SFPhilYS is easily transmissible. We really think that the new name will help us spread our message around the world with a bang. SFPhilYS has really blinded me to any other potential name.”

Since 1935 the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that. A PSFS spokesman explains, “In the early days—it must have been 1937, the year after the first Philcon—Bob Madle and Ray Bradbury had gone down to play video games in the basement. We all met in Milt Rothman’s basement in those days. Milt didn’t much care for video games, but he had a widescreen TV and didn’t mind if anyone brought their consoles over. So, they were playing Guitar Hero, I think it was, or DDR, it was one of those music games—forgive me for forgetting some of the details, you have to remember that this was over 70 years ago—and Ray turns to me and he says, ‘Hey, this’d make a good story.’ And that’s how he got started working on what became The Martian Chronicles.”

“With the 80 year history of Science Fiction’s exploration of the smallest particles to the largest astronomical bodies, its exploration of the human spirit and psychology, its exploration of time itself, well that just felt too limiting,” says Robertson. “In the coming post-Science-Fiction world we feel the need to lower our standards.”

When asked if the group had realized that the new name SFPhilYS sounded similar to the sexually transmitted disease syphilis Rock Robertson responded, “Wait—what?”

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The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (www.psfs.org) is a non-profit organization that meets to discuss and promote science fiction and fantasy in literature, the arts, and popular culture. Active since 1935, The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society hosts Philcon (www.philcon.org), the oldest Science Fiction convention in the U.S.