Sympathies to the Seattle Bidders

[gerisullivan]

Earlier tonight, Bobbie DuFault announced the end of the Seattle in 2011 Worldcon bid. Other groups booked the facilities they planned to use, and there weren't any viable alternatives for them to pursue.

All of us on the Reno bid thank Bobbie and her bid committee for a cordial race against worthy opponents. Speaking for myself, I think the challenge of the competition helped strengthen both bids, and I'm sorry that competition ended abruptly six months sooner than any of us expected it to. Just three weeks ago, we shared a bid table at Arisia, and Seattle's gorgeous website set a new standard for bids to strive for.

Our condolences to Bobbie and the entire Seattle bid committee.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"Other groups booked the facilities they planned to use, and there weren't any viable alternatives for them to pursue."

That hurts.

Is this is a common problem -- due to the fact that committees can't sign contracts until they actually win -- or did Seattle just get unlucky?

B

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Yes, it hurts.

Committees can and do sign contracts before they actually win. Reno has fully-negotiated signed contracts with all of our facilities. They contain a clause that all of the arrangements are conditional on the bid winning the vote. If the bid loses, *poof* -- the contract ends. But if another group comes along and wants the space? The facilities have to honor the regular cancellation clauses in order to end the contract. And that tends to cost a lot, both in dollars and in reputation.

Indeed, one of the places we've seen problems in recent years comes when bids wait until after the vote to nail down contracts with their facilities. The Worldcon's negotiating position with the facilities they want to use is greatly weakened once the element of competition is removed...even in the case of an uncontested bid. I'm very happy that our contracts with Reno were fully negotiated while the facilities reps in Reno knew they had to look good in comparison to Seattle. Because, as you said so above, Seattle is unarguably the more popular tourist destination of the two.

While it's not Seattle, Reno has some tourist appeal, including things with fannish appeal like excellent sky-gazing. The timing of the convention means pre-con touristing can include the Perseid's meteor showers. Overall, the site is an excellent fit for the Worldcon. That's why we started bidding for it in the first place, and why we focused on nailing down the facilities even as we were out introducing the bid and throwing parties all over the place.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I'm also sure the Reno hotels were more willing to sign that sort of lopsided contract. Seattle hotels know they get all kinds of convention business, and might not have been willing to sign until it was real.

B

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

That could well have been the case.

Boston in 2004 and the Chicago in 2008 bid each had conditional contracts in place. The specifics of the clauses vary by contract. In theory, it's still possible to loose the space. In practice, having the contracts in place makes a big difference.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"Overall, the site is an excellent fit for the Worldcon."

Probably. The most important are probably good hotel space, cheap hotel rooms, and cheap airfare. Reno hotels are subsidized by gambling -- boy are they going to be surprised by how little fans gamble -- so it makes sense to take advantage of the fact.

B

[galtine1.livejournal.com]

I'm still not convinced the Atlantis/RenoCC/Peppermill is a good spot unless the '11 Worldcon trends smaller -- which would be a bad thing for future US locations as those stats are used to help spec out contracts and hotels.

It would make an excellent Nasfic site as those trend smaller.

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

If Reno is like Las Vegas I think they'll also be surprised at how much we take advantage of the cheap food. Love them loss-leaders.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

I am partially mistaken above -- the cost to the facilities to cancel the contract before the vote takes place depend on the specifics of the contract in question. In practice, what we've seen so far is that facilities stop trying to sell the space once the signed, conditional contracts are in place.

If I understand correctly, and All That Jazz.