In a message dated Thu, 8 Mar 2001 3:18:28 PM Eastern Standard Time, Jim Sharkey
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
<<
Well, since you seem to have some idea about it, fill me in. I find an
attendance cost of $170 a little steep. What's the story? I'd like to hear
it from someone who seems at least familiar with the goings on.>>
Well, it *IS* the Worldcon, after all. Five days long, announced 3 years in advance
(and bidding usually starts 3 years even before THAT).
Yes, if you join this late, the cost is steep. There's no way around that. But, it
*IS* 5 days long, there are usually upwards of 5000 members (Chicon 2000 last year had
over 6000), a huge dealers room, hundreds of panels, lots of parties, great art show -
definitely worth attending if you can afford it.
Not that it will help you now, but the cheapest way to join a Worldcon is to
presupport one or more of the bids, vote in the site selection (we are selecting for
2004 this year, Boston and Charlotte are the bids), and then "convert" your automatic
supporting membership (which you get for paying the fee to vote in the site selection)
to attending membership as soon as you can after the winning bid is announced. At
Bucconeer in 1998, for example, I converted to a full attending membership for Mill
Phil the day after it was announced they'd won, which cost me (I think) only $35 or
$40 (I'd presupported Philadelphia and voted in the site selection; even if you don't
pre-support, you get an automatic supporting membership just for voting, and also the
cheapest possible conversion). As I said, doesn't do you any good this year (or 2002
or 2003), but for the future...
Tom Beck
