I am Driving to Worldcon in 2009!

[jeffreyab]

Also I won't need a passport, but Americans will if they want to return home.

Montreal wins the right to host the worldcon for 2009!



This was not unanticipated as Nippon 2007 meant there could be a large number of non-American and faans who like to travel to foreign countries showing their preferences.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I have a passport and I speak French, think I'll go. Next year is Denver, right? Anyone for Australia in 2010? Texas is exploring bidding for 2013 but hasn't decided which City (San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, and maybe Austin).

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Shane is that you?

By all means come and practice your French in the city that never sleeps.

Another LoneStar Con would be fun too.

Hopefully Austin would win.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

Maybe this will mean that I will actually get to Montreal, home of a whole branch of my ancestry for about 200 years (from when the French arrived, until my grgrgrandparents eloped and ran off to Michigan about 1840). I've only been meaning to get up there for about twenty years now....

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I helped out with one of the bid parties for Anticipation here in Seattle, after meeting some of the guys at Ad Astra (or maybe it was Penguicon, I forget). So I'm pretty happy with this one. :D

Whether I'm actually going to make it out is another question entirely... but having friends in the area really sweetens the deal.

[thebitterguy]

Hopefully this one turns out better than the TorCon did.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

I have a good feeling it will.

[thebitterguy]

Really? I'd heard that the organizers were pretty much the same bunch of people.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

From the looks of the bidcom, the answer is yes and no.

Two of the names ran the Winnipeg worldcon for instance, it has a better rep.

[con-girl.livejournal.com]

The people in power are not the same bunch at all. Yes, there is some overlap but in areas that had no power at TorCon and that is an important distinction. I'd say that only one person who had some power is an overlap. That person was out-of-zie's depth then but has greatly improved and did well at both Boston and Japan in a similar position.

Oh wait. Linda M. did Registration at TorCon. She will almost certainly do Anticipation and Reg worked very well at TorCon. I worked reg. and it was _relaxing_.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

The people in power are not the same bunch at all. Yes, there is some overlap but in areas that had no power at TorCon

That's not entirely correct. The top level of management is mostly different, but there is significant overlap just under that--much more than one or two people, and those people were Torcon's senior management.

[con-girl.livejournal.com]

I stand by what I said. I think I saw much more of the internal workings than you did and the people on the top held power very, very tightly. Org. charts can only show so much.

As I have said elsewhere there was overlap - but that overlap is overlap that exists from worldcon to worldcon. That's a separate point from the power issue though.

However, I'm realizing that I really don't want to have to go on and on about torcon's issues. I'm sure that Anticipation will have a whole set of different ones, just like every worldcon has. It's sad for torcon that these developed in a way that affected the enjoyment of its members.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

I stand by what I said.

You're free to do so, but that doesn't change the facts.

I think I saw much more of the internal workings than you did

I find that seriously unlikely. I don't recognize your LJ handle; what did you work on at Torcon?

and the people on the top held power very, very tightly.

That is absolutely true. I wasn't in those circles.

Org. charts can only show so much.

I'm not getting my information from org charts. I was there.

As I have said elsewhere there was overlap - but that overlap is overlap that exists from worldcon to worldcon.

This is the part where we disagree. Linda Ross-Mansfield was on Torcon's Board of Directors. Peter Jarvis was the chair. Robbie Bourget and Terry Fong were Division Heads. Rene Walling, John Mansfield, Eugene Heller, and Bruce Farr were Deputy Division Heads.

Sorry, but that's a lot more than "the overlap that exists from worldcon to worldcon."

However, I'm realizing that I really don't want to have to go on and on about torcon's issues.

I wasn't planning on having a huge debate in someone else's LJ, but I wanted to get the facts out for anyone who might be interested in reading them.

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

What about the language laws? Halfway through each panel, will they come in and make everyone speak in French? Or will they just make sure half of the panelists are Francophone?

;-)

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Good point, since Boreal the Quebec French language con is held in Montreal I am sure that French language SF will have a major presence.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Language laws won't have to have a thing to do with that. Pride of locale alone would ensure a bilingual WorldCon, I'd think. No?

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

More so than the Torcons and Winnipeg I am sure.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I think you're right. That should help with attendance from la Francophonie nations.

[con-girl.livejournal.com]

Because it is a bilingual convention, the programme book will be bilingual. There will be French programming and some bilingual panelists but I am not certain whether the board, co-chairs and likely programming head have made a definitive decision on bilingual program % or on whether there will be a french programming track. Many of the Quebec authors are fluent English speakers and regularly attend other conventions (especially Readercon, where they certainly need a solid grasp of English to enjoy the programming).