Can 'o' Worms

[howeird]

I can haz one opened. After the BASFA meeting I was talking with someone  -- who shall remain nameless because Mind Like A Steel Sieve here can only remember his wife Carole's name, suffice to say long-time filker and filk party host and bona fide WorldCon Circus participant -- about the two bids to be decided at Montreal. Seattle and Reno are being bid, but what has my friend concerned is the Reno bid is being headed by someone from Portland.

We disagree on one point, and that is how important it is for local fandom to buy into and support a WorldCon. His opinion, which has the weight of experience behind it, is that local fan support will make or break a WorldCon. I, on the other hand, a fair weather fan but also veteran of many trade shows and work-related conventions, believe that anyone with reasonable travel agent/convention organizing skills, backed by the WSFS and its SMOFs, can put on a successful WorldCon in Reno, regardless of where they are based.

My argument hinges on three things:
1. It's a WORLDcon. Fans will come from all over the world regardless, and that includes gophers
2. It's a WORLDcon. People from all over the world, with the help of WSFS, will come forward to be program chair, party maven, hotel liaison, etc.
3. It's RENO, one of the most convention-centric cities on the planet. There's a stellar Chamber of Commerce and Visitors' Bureau willing to help bring 5,000 bodies into town to spend money and help the balance of trade stats.

We agree that it would help if local fandom was gung-ho about hosting a WorldCon. We disagree that it would make or break the con.

I can't see a lot of potential GoHs turning down a paid trip to Reno, whether the invitation email comes from someone in Reno or Portland. Or Iceland, for that matter. I can't see fans staying away in droves just because an international convention is chaired by someone from out of town.

Part of the opposing viewpoint is emotional (that's not a value judgment, just an observation) - WorldCon has always had pride-of-host as part of its charm. And local folks can more easily steer the con leaders away from stupid mistakes which an out-of-towner might make. But I don't buy either of these for a WorldCon. Regional and local cons, absolutely, but not a WorldCon, and not in Reno. Someone from Portland can get to Reno easily - it's a 1.5 hour flight - and staying in hotels would be part of the legitimate research.

I'll leave it at that. Feel free to chime in. Keep it friendly.

 

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I'm taking no position in the 2011 Worldcon race -- as chairman of the 2009 WSFS Business Meeting, it's a bad idea for me to do so on account of the slight possibility that I might end up having to preside over any disputes. But I do wonder at why there are people who are so insistent that the leadership and most of the staff of a Worldcon must live in the host city -- except outside North America, where everything is in the same place.

The co-chairs of Interaction (the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow) didn't even live in the same country as the convention site -- one lived in England (not Scotland) and one lived in the Netherlands. But I guess to a lot of Americans, everything foreign is same place, and Glasgow is in the same place as everything else in Europe, so the "carpetbag" issue doesn't apply.

But within the USA, it appears to be a huge issue. Indeed, for the 1993 San Francisco bid, we had people complaining because the bid leadership for a San Francisco Worldcon was in Sacramento.

Some of this seems to me to be sheer geographic illiteracy, and the rest based on an assumption that all conventions are completely organized and run by a handful of people who all live within a short distance of each other. The latter assumption was once true, because it was the only way to keep the communications in place that you need to run such an event. But it's no longer true, as long as you make the effort to keep communicating. In-person meetings are important, but it's no longer necessary that every member of you committee be able to get to weekly or monthly meetings in person. I was a division manager for the 2005 Worldcon in Glasgow. I attended one meeting in person -- and the convention only had five in-person meetings of the committee over the three years of planning -- by flying to Glasgow for the weekend. (Yes, the convention partially subsidized my travel, but it was still a lot of money out of pocket, along with the time and stress of travel.) Everything else was done by e-mail and IRC.