Dallas Launches 2006 Worldcon Bid

A bid to hold the Worldcon in Dallas, Texas in 2006 has been announced

Jason Middleton has announced a Dallas Worldcon bid for 2006, on alt.fandom.cons. The announcement is as follows:

On August 21st, 1999 there will be an open meeting for all parties interested in information regarding the intended Dallas bid for hosting the 64th WorldCon in 2006. The meeting will be held at the Gatewood Pavillion in Duck Creek Greenbelt Park in Garland (directions will follow). We will start with a potluck dinner at 6:30pm, and meeting business at 7:30pm. We ask that everyone attending the potluck to please bring a dish. Please contact our party coordinator, Amie Gantt (agantt70@aol.com) for information regarding what to bring.

WorldCon is the world science fiction convention, it has been around for more than 50 years and has seen attendance numbers in recent years between 4500 and 8500. Every year, different committees from around the world put forth bids to host the WorldCon, much in the same way Olympic sites are chosen. For more information, please see www.worldcon.org . WorldCon sites in the past have been to almost every major city in the U.S., but Dallas has never hosted a WorldCon. Our belief is that Dallas can not only host a WorldCon, but the Dallas fan base is strong enough to host one of the best WorldCons in recent memory.

The bid committee co-chairs are Shirley Soto (crip@airmail.net ) and Jason Middleton (jasonlotus@hotmail.com ), both experienced in running several conventions in and out of Texas. Right now, we are still in the early planning stages for our bid to host the 2006 WorldCon. We have found several hotels in the Dallas area that would suit our needs nicely, but we are not yet ready to approach them regarding contract negotiations. We do have a website set up at www.rubberrodeo.com/dallas2006. We have set up various levels of memberships:

Level 1: Presupporting: $20 (Gets you at least $20 off attending membership should we win the bid)
Level 2: Presupporting: $50 (Gets you at least $50 off attending membership should we win the bid)
Level 3: Friends of: $100 (Automatically converts to an attending membership should we win the bid)
Pre-Opposing: $40
You can upgrade levels at any time by paying the difference.

There will be freebies and benefits for each level at a future time, but we have not yet decided what those might be. You may bring money for your memberships to the first meeting. We are currently acquiring a P.O. Box where the money may be sent. Please check the web page in coming weeks for that information.

Please make checks payable to either of the bid committee co-chairs, Shirley Soto or Jason Middleton.

We are very excited about the prospects of this WorldCon bid. We truly believe that with the combined efforts of the Dallas fan base we can host an absolutely fantastic convention. If you are at all interested in helping us or just interested in information, please come to our initial meeting.

- Jason Middleton
Co-Chair WorldCon Dallas 2006 Bid Committee

Directions to the Gatewood Pavillion:
Get on 635 and go towards Mesquite
Exit Oates Drive
Turn east (toward the Albertson's and Saturn Dealership)
Turn left on Duck Creek Drive (the third light from 635)
The pavillion is about a ¼ mile down on the left.
If you reach a stop sign/traffic signal (it's currently being converted), you've gone too far.

-- Mike Scott

02 August 1999