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It was a blend of professionalism and amateurism, meant to please the least knowledgeable of fans, guaranteed to offend those more versed in the traditions of the Hugo ceremonies.
At every Hugo ceremony since 1963, with one exception perpetrated by a grumpy toastmaster, there has been a logical progression of the awards: they begin with the fannish (i.e., amateur) awards, work their way through the associated professional awards (editor, artist, non-fiction book, dramatic presentation), and build to the four fiction awards. All other awards-the Campbell, the Big Heart, the Seiun-have always come before the Hugos themselves.
I truly believe to give them out in random order shows either ignorance or contempt (or both) of the Hugo process and history.
Chicon 2000 gave them out in random order.
The committee had months to get the spelling right on all the awards and nominees. The screen next to the stage, which flashed the names as they were being read off, and then the winners, had several misspellings.
The committee, which called itself Team Hugo, explained that each presenter would have some connection to Chicago, which is why everyone's favorite presenter, Connie Willis, was not asked to participate. But one of the Hugos was presented by a fan who does not even live on Chicago's continent.
Ah, well ... let's get on with it. The good part is that Harry Turtledove can take his place among the truly fine toastmasters of the past few decades. He was witty, he was articulate, he was adaptable, he was (too) brief. He was a proud father, announcing the results of some story contests (all three of his daughters were winners or honorable mentions); he was an anxious Hugo nominee for Best Novella (". . . and now for the award that I've all been waiting for. . ."); he was a gracious loser when the inevitable happened and he and I lost yet another Hugo to Connie Willis. He even looked good in a tuxedo.
As the ceremony began, and before Harry was even introduced-another poor decision, as the audience comes in ready to be entertained by the toastmaster, not lectured to by a pair of octogenarians, no matter how beloved-Forrest J Ackerman announced that after 41 years of giving out...