Chicon 2000 E-mail Infobot -- info@chicon.org -- 18-Jul-2000 Chicon 2000 P. O. Box 642057 Chicago IL 60664 recorded message: 312-409-4440 Author Guest of Honor: Ben Bova Artist Guest of Honor: Bob Eggleton Editor Guest of Honor: Jim Baen Fan Guests of Honor: Bob and Anne Passovoy Toastmaster: Harry Turtledove Chicon 2000, the 58th World Science Fiction Convention. Labor Day Weekend, 31 August - 04 September 2000, Chicago IL. Hyatt Regency Chicago, Fairmont Hotel, Swissotel. For more information, write back to the Infobot and use the 'send' command. Here are a few of the files available by e-mail: send index sends back a list of files send reg.txt Registration rates for new members send signup Registration form send mailtos.txt E-mail directory for the convention. Or see our web site, at http://www.chicon.org/, if you have web access. If you're trying to reach a particular department, this isn't the address to use. See our E-mail directory. Some of the commonly-used ones are: reg@chicon.org - Registration problems coa@chicon.org - Change of address listmaster@chicon.org - Change of e-mail address for mailing lists art.show@chicon.org - Art Show If you can't find an appropriate e-mail address, or if you've been stumped for a couple of weeks and need some help, our "Help Desk" is available at help@chicon.org where your e-mail will be seen by a genuine human being person. Full Attending Membership: $195 at the door $150 if you register online by 15-Aug-2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frequently Asked Questions * Which hotel has rooms available? * When will the programming schedule be available? * When will a list of attending authors be available? * Are Dealers' Tables Available? * I'm a Dealer. Will I Have to Charge Sales Tax? * Is There Space In the Art Show? * Can I Buy Half a Table In the Art Show? * Should I Send Letters to Chicon Via Certified or Registered Mail? * When can I register or pick up my badge? * Where do I pick up my badge? * What do I need to pick up my memberships? * What if I am getting a membership transferred? * Do volunteers or program participants have to buy memberships? * Why are your membership rates so high? * How will you handle child care? * Will the program include [fill in blank]? _________________________________________________________________ Q. "Which hotel has rooms available?" There are rooms left in the Fairmont. The Swissotel is full. The Hyatt is full, except for a small number of expansive suites, first come, first served. _________________________________________________________________ Q. "When will the programming schedule be available?" The Chicon programming schedule will be posted on-line during the second week of August. Q. "When will a list of attending authors be available?" A listing of all programming participants will be posted on-line during the first week of August. _________________________________________________________________ Q. "Are Dealers' Tables Available?" A. No. They are sold out. In the unlikely event that changes, we'll let you know. Q. "I'm a Dealer. Will I Have to Charge Sales Tax?" A. Yes. You should receive the necessary forms in the next mailing (assuming that the State of Illinois sends them to *us*). The sales tax rate in downtown Chicago is 8.75%. Q. "Is There Space In the Art Show?" A. Yes. See the Art Show Rules for more info and send your money soon. Q. "Can I Buy Half a Table In the Art Show?" A. Not directly, but we'll set things up to split one between you and another artist. You'll need to find another friendly artist... Q. "Should I Send Letters to Chicon Via Certified or Registered Mail?" A. Please don't. It makes it harder for us to get them, because we have to go to the Post Office during business hours to pry them loose. _________________________________________________________________ When can I register or pick up my badge? Tuesday Pre-registered only 10:00AM - 8:00PM Wednesday Pre-registered only 9:00AM - Noon All memberships Noon - 8:00PM Thursday All memberships 9:00AM - 8:00PM Friday All memberships 9:00AM - 8:00PM Saturday All memberships 9:00AM - 8:00PM Sunday All memberships 9:00AM - 8:00PM Monday All memberships 9:00AM - 1:00PM Note: These are the projected hours and are subject to change Where do I pick up my badge? Regular members pick up their badges at the pre-registration desks. Guests of Honor will be given theirs. Program participants pick up their badges at the pre-registration desks and then will be instructed to go to the Green Room to pick up their program materials. Dealers will be able to pick up their badges from Larry Smith in the Dealers' Room. If dealers have helpers, they need to notify us at reg@chicon.org so that we can put their helpers badges with theirs. Convention Registration is at the Ballroom Level of the East Tower of the Hyatt, if you get lost, ask for the convention registration desk. Do Not Pass GO without getting your registration materials. What do I need to pick up my memberships? You will need a photo ID. It will also be helpful to bring your copy of PR7, as that will give us your membership number. Parents can pick up badges for their children living at the same address. You can NOT pick up badges for friends. What if I am getting a membership transferred? If you get a membership from someone else by August 15th, the transfer can be arranged via email. We need to receive a message at a verifiable email address from the person transferring the membership, indicating you as the person to receive it. After August 15th, NO email transfers will be processed. They MUST be done at the door. At the door, we will require a letter or fax with the signature of the person transferring the membership. Printouts of email messages WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. _________________________________________________________________ "Your Test for Today" from Progress Report 1 Q. "Do volunteers or program participants have to buy memberships?" A. Yes. Everybody except the Guests of Honor who wants to attend Chicon 2000 must purchase a membership, including the chairman. (Well, okay, he does have 20 trading cards to turn in, but, taking all bidding costs into account, they are the most expensive things that he owns.) Assuming that the con has money left over after paying mundane vendors, program participants' and volunteers' membership fees will be reimbursed in accordance with the policies that have been in effect at all recent Worldcons. _________________________________________________________________ "Notes from the Chairman" from Progress Report 1 (Mar-1998). Chicon has been getting a number of questions, and I will answer them. As will be obvious, some of these are from fans who have attended few or no Worldcons, others from long-entrenched SMOF's. Q. "Why are your membership rates so high?" A. For anyone who voted on site selection, they aren't. We concede, though, that the "no prep" rate ($125) is higher than for past U.S. Worldcons. The reason is that we want to avoid the price escalation and budgetary drama that other Worldcons have suffered. The scenario has become almost routine. The Fargo in 199x Worldcon all but gives away its first couple of thousand memberships, gnaws fingernails as the membership total rises too, too slowly, cuts its budget in panic, boosts rates for last-minute members, embarks on a panicky local advertising campaign and staggers through the con in a state of terror. The Worldcon should be worth the highest rate charged to at-the-door attendees. If it isn't, it is cheating its members. By the grace of Ghod, it doesn't cost quite as much to put on as would be raised if everyone had to pay the highest rate, and it is traditional to pass the savings back to fandom through reduced prices for early joiners. But the reduction has to be kept at a rational level. One point to bear in mind is that Worldcons are one-shot affairs with no capital reserves. If we lose money, our only option is to stiff our creditors, which does fandom no good in the long run. It is better to risk an embarrassing surplus, which will be passed on to make financial life easier for the next few Worldcons, than to confront a worse-than-embarrassing deficit. Q. "How will you handle child care?" A. As announced elsewhere, we have taken a few steps toward addressing what has become an important question for large portions of fandom. At some financial risk, we've decided that ChildCare memberships for children (age 12 or under when the con begins) will cost the same as Attending memberships, if the child is registered for ChildCare in advance. Exact ChildCare hours, price and other details will be determined later. For kids who don't need ChildCare throughout the con, children's memberships are available at a substantial discount from regular rates. These do not include voting rights or publications. Casual babysitting will be available, to the extent that space and staff are available to attendees aged 12 or under who hold Attending or Children's memberships (not to Kids-in-Tow). Prices and terms will be announced later. Q. "Will the program include [fill in blank]?" A. Yes. Seriously, while Ross Pavlac's death leaves a degree of uncertainty in the program area, we do have a few firm views (to which any and all are welcome to object): 1. Although fans have a vast variety of interests and a panel on any topic from gardening to baseball to Celtic resistance to the Reformation (a real topic a couple of years ago at a West Coast con) can draw an audience, this particular convention is devoted on a particular subset of interests, i. e., science fiction, fantasy and ancillary subjects. These traditional Worldcon topics cover so broad a range that it is scarcely necessary to pad them out with politics, religion, potted history, self-help, etc., etc. (which is not to say that such topics cannot be part of a "hard-core" SF/F program; the secret lies in the perspective from which they are viewed). 2. The program should have substance, which means that panelists have to know about their topics well in advance and should be challenged to go beyond truisms and platitudes. The dullest panels that I have ever witnessed have been those in which one speaker had an axe to grind, two had books to plug and three hadn't the foggiest idea of why they were there. 3. The whole convention should contribute to the program. The Art Show, for instance, isn't there just to look pretty. It will, if we manage properly, be an integral part of art programming. Similarly, Exhibits and the Dealers' Room offer many resources that can be utilized more fully than in the past. Those are, of course, generalities - but not, I think, meaningless ones. Comments, preferably peace-bonded, are always welcome. Ad Astra! Tom Veal, Chairman, Chicon 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For more information: write back to the Infobot, at info@chicon.org with a message that just says send index to get a list of files to peruse. Or see our web site at http://www.chicon.org/ If you can't figure out how to get any of this to work, and you need to reach a human being, you can always reach one at help@chicon.org You may also be interested in our mailing list, the Chicon 2000 Infobot News. You can sign up by filling in your e-mail address on our web page. If you don't have web access, wite to listmaster@chicon.org and ask to be put on the CHICON-NEWS mailing list. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chicon 2000 P. O. Box 642057 Chicago IL 60664 Chicon 2000 E-mail Infobot - info@chicon.org Rev. 17-Jul-2000