Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2006 10:23:08 -0500
From: Samuel Lubell <samlubell at verizon.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: A DC hotels question
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Cc: wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

If the problem with the Connecticut Ave. hotels is the lack of space
for big tent events, how about trying to bid for a NASFIC?  That's a
smaller convention and doesn't have the Hugos.

Would WSFA be interested in trying for a Nasfic?

Mike wrote:

>A Worldcon could be squeezed into the Connecticut Avenue
>hotels.  We briefly talked about splitting the Worldcon
>into a Day Con and Night Con because there's not enough
>large function space in any one hotel.  We would have the
>art show and dealers' room in one of the hotels.  Day
>programming would probably have to be split among several
>hotels along with videos, films, gaming, etc.
>
>I had what I thought was a brilliant idea for the "big
>tent" events like the masquerade and Hugo Ceremony.  Since
>there would be no large function areas available to host
>these events, we would turn a medium-sized space into a
>real television studio and broadcast the events to various
>small function rooms.  There would be room for a small
>studio audience of a hundred or so people -- maybe we
>could have a lottery to decide who would get a chance to
>be in the live audience.  I figured that high definition
>video will be standard by 2011, so Kathi and her crew
>would be able to produce a pretty good show.
>
>And if we arranged for shuttle buses to travel up and down
>Connecticut Ave., we figured we could host a Worldcon there...
>if we put a cap on membership.  We don't believe the site
>could comfortable host more than 4,000 fans.  There's a lot
>of Worldcon fans with mobility issues and we really want
>to limit the distances between parts of the convention they
>would have to travel under their own power to a few blocks.
>
>These arguments also apply to the Crystal City site.  No
>central facility or adjacent buildings with enough large,
>medium, and small spaces to accommodate all of the various
>activities of a modern Worldcon.  Worldcons are a queer
>(in the old sense) duck.  We require an incredible variety
>and amount of small, medium, and large function space
>when you consider the relatively small number of members
>we have compared to a typical professional trade show or
>conference.  And the mobility issue is becoming an even
>more serious issue as we age.
>
>But these are only my own personal opinions.  I was really
>surprised that Denver beat Chicago and Columbus for the
>2008 Worldcon.  People are going to do a lot of walking
>or waiting for public transportation during Denvention 3.
>Maybe fans don't mind walking around to different hotels
>to reach all the various Worldcon activities and those
>two sites are prefectly acceptable for a DC Worldcon.
>
>But I decided to play it safe and chose to support a DC
>Worldcon bid at the DC Convention Center and what may
>someday be a convention center hotel.  I really don't
>know what the previous DC Worldcon bid committee was
>thinking when they bid the Connecticut Ave. hotels.
>There are just too many tradeoffs and compromises in
>using that site for a Worldcon.
>
>If another DC area Worldcon bid is born, I really hope
>they choose a site that will allow us to host a Worldcon
>without any limits -- the best darn good Worldcon we are
>capable of putting together.  But if some Don Quixote
>comes along and believes that one of the smaller windmills
>would be a wonderful site for a Worldcon, I will join
>the other Sancho Panzas and support their quest.
>
>Michael