williamjm Posted July 29, 2020 Share Posted July 29, 2020 15 hours ago, lady narcissa said: Yikes, Memphis is not the easiest city to get to for even people in the US. There are really limited flight options between Chicago and Memphis, for example. The one time I went there I ended up flying to Nashville and then driving to Memphis which was not convenient. If I remember correctly New Orleans were originally bidding as well for that year, which I guess might have been easier to get to, but they dropped out at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Charles Stross on Twitter suggesting a good rule to look for might be for only countries to have agreed to the ECHR to be eligible to host a WorldCon. Pretty sure that was low-grade trolling, though, as that would rule out the USA. A more serious suggestion was that any country that has criminalised LGBT rights should be disallowed from hosting the convention, which would seem more workable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Not Appearing Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Well, dang, Chicago is just a day trip from me. Maybe I'll try and make that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAx Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 15 hours ago, Werthead said: More worryingly, China is fully capable of simply buying 500 memberships to the relevant WorldCon and getting people to vote for Chengdu. They've also not been shy in getting influential SFF fans behind the bid by paying for them to attend conventions in China and convince them it's important to get China involved as a source of future SFF fandom. I'm still bemused why the Chinese government is paying any attention to WorldCon at all, but they are. As criticisms grow, they may even feel more inclined to get more international events held in their country to give it a veneer of respectability. China is also paying for many authors to attend conventions there. It's not just fans who are getting the funding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAx Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 There is an Israeli bid in the works, tentatively aiming at 2027. It has not taken any formal actions as of yet, but I'd expect to see some of that -- bid parties, pre-supporting memberships, etc. -- by '22 or '23. If you think that the current fuss is ugly, the notion of a con in Israel will be utterly feco-ventilatory in comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 On 7/29/2020 at 8:53 AM, Werthead said: More worryingly, China is fully capable of simply buying 500 memberships to the relevant WorldCon and getting people to vote for Chengdu. They've also not been shy in getting influential SFF fans behind the bid by paying for them to attend conventions in China and convince them it's important to get China involved as a source of future SFF fandom. I'm still bemused why the Chinese government is paying any attention to WorldCon at all, but they are. As criticisms grow, they may even feel more inclined to get more international events held in their country to give it a veneer of respectability. http://file770.com/open-letter-organizer-discusses-chengdu-worldcon-bid/ Quote Introduction: Anna Smith Spark organized the Open Letter To The World Science Fiction Society about the Saudi Arabia Worldcon bid. File 770 asked if she had plans to address other bids, such as the Worldcon bid for Chengdu, China in 2023 (which now has only Memphis TN as competition, the Nice, France bid having folded last week). She has written this guest post in response.] By Anna Smith Spark: I am very happy to do this again next year for Chengdu if it falls to me. What is taking place in Xinjiang is genocide. The oppression in Hong Kong is shocking. I say this great sadness. Chinese history, literature, art, science and technology is and has been truly world-changing; Chinese SFF is superb in its scope and quality; Chinese cities are some of the most dynamic places in the world. On a personal note, I am myself quarter-Chinese. My first response to the Chengdu was breathless excitement and a desire to attend right now.[More reading] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 Chicago has now been confirmed as the 2022 WorldCon, apparently with 94% of the votes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 8 minutes ago, williamjm said: Chicago has now been confirmed as the 2022 WorldCon, apparently with 94% of the votes. Nobody saw this coming! China will be an interesting one to observe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 5 minutes ago, Werthead said: Nobody saw this coming! It's a good thing that letter was sent a couple of days before voting closed and after most of the votes had probably been cast, otherwise who knows what might have happened. China will be an interesting one to observe. I bet they get more than 6% of the vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stego Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 On 7/29/2020 at 12:25 AM, lady narcissa said: Yikes, Memphis is not the easiest city to get to for even people in the US. There are really limited flight options between Chicago and Memphis, for example. The one time I went there I ended up flying to Nashville and then driving to Memphis which was not convenient. There's an international airport, the nations main artery runs through it in route 40, and it has a port on the nations main riverway. It's such a perfectly central location that FedEx has just about every package they deliver go through there. There is nothing difficult about Memphis nor wrong with their airport. It's a superior experience to most airports in the nation. In fact, it's the busiest cargo airport in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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