File 770 is named after a legendary room party held in Room 770 at Nolacon, the 9th World Science Fiction Convention, in New Orleans in 1951.[b] Glyer started File 770 in 1978 as a mimeographed print fanzine to report on fan clubs, conventions, fannish projects, fans, fanzines and SF awards.[1][4] In the 1990s, Glyer moved production of the fanzine to computer desktop publishing, and on January 15, 2008, he began publishing File 770 as a blog on the internet.[5]
A print version of File 770 was produced until 2016. eFanzines.com began hosting PDF versions of the paper issues in 2005.[5]
In his 2018 Hugo acceptance speech, Glyer recused himself and File 770 from future nominations.[15] The next year, File 770 received enough votes to qualify for the Hugo ballot; it was not listed due to the recusal.[16]
^Harry Warner, Jr. writes:[3] "This was a St. Charles Hotel room registered to fans Max Keasler, Roger Sims, Rich Elsberry and Ed Kuss at the 9th Worldcon -- nicknamed NOLacon -- held in New Orleans in 1951. Frank Dietz had been hosting a room party which was asked to quiet down by a hotel detective, and Dietz resolved the matter by taking everyone to room 770 circa 11:00 PM Saturday night, whereupon a massive party developed which lasted till 11:00 AM the next morning. [...] Time has transformed the room 770 party into an iconic fannish emblem, but the truth is it did have a pervasive impact on fandom right from the beginning, it was an instant legend in the making. [...] Room 770 played a part in the philosophy and orientation of a substantial part of fandom for years thereafter". So much so that Mike Glyer chose it as the title for his newszine, presumably because it strikes the right note of fannish fun."
^Cameron, Richard Graeme. "R: Room 770". The Canadian Fancyclopedia. British Columbia Science Fiction Association. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
