altgothic - User contributions [en]

Main Page

2019-05-10T17:28:40Z

Spacekadt: /* So What's This All About Then Anyway? */

== Convergence ==
This is most likely why you are here.

The most recent Convergence was [[Convergence 25]] May 3-5th 2019. Official website here: http://www.altgothic.com/c25bos/

If you're thinking about hosting [[C26|Convergence 26]] in 2020 here is info about how to [[Bids | bid]] and the [[Timeline]].

Further updates can be found in [[Convergence_News]] if anyone has bothered to update it.

Information about past Convergences can be found on the [[Convergence]] page. Links to sites with photos from past Convergences can be found under [[Gallery_sites]].

If you are looking to VOTE, register to vote, anything to do with voting, please go back three spaces, I mean [http://www.altgothic.com/voter/ go directly to the voter page].

== So What's This All About Then Anyway? ==
<big>'''The [[alt.gothic]] wiki'''</big> also known as ''alt.gothic's Wiki featuring Axel (Where Sloot Writes All the Pages and Does All the Work)''

Wherein we explain what [[alt.gothic]] and its well loved child [[Convergence]] are all about, how they work, who did what to whom, where, when & how.

Possibly with [[Gallery sites | incriminating pictures]].

This isn't [http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] so don't write the way you would there. Check out the [[Provisional approach]].

Brought to you in part by:
* [[User:Carrie_Monster | Carrie Monster]] - Chief Bullseye, herds the goths, does the talking, gets all the shit, doesn't get appreciated.
* [[User:Hellsop | Peter H. Coffin]] - Makes the technology go.
* [[User:kest | kest]] is avian.
* [[User:Jola | Jola]] is a jerk but she does stuff.
* [[User:spacekadt | Spacekadt]] is helpful.
* [[User:Sloot | sloot]] - runs around editing shit without thinking or asking for approval.
* [[User:Ashbet | Ashbet]] - retired Bullseye

Retirees:
* [[User:Axel | Axel]] - retired from being the Bullseye to spend more time with his [[Better Martini]] collection, but occasionally pops in to edit things, like a less hairy [[User:Sloot | sloot]]!
* [[User:Siobhan | Siobhan]] - retired from being the Bullseye to better save her incipient geezerhood.
* [[User:Macross | Macross]] - retired from being the Bullseye to learn about the birds, the bees and barbecued meat.
* [[User:Xthlc | Xthlc]] - handed the reins to Macross.

Consult the [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents User's Guide] for information on using the wiki software.

== Getting started ==

* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]
* [http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce MediaWiki release mailing list]

== CONvergence SF Con ==

For information about the science fiction convention CONvergence held annually in Minnesota, please visit the [http://www.convergence-con.org/ CONvergence-con ] website.

== Notes ==
<references />

Convergence Bid Handbook TOC

2018-05-02T06:24:56Z

Spacekadt: New page: So here's what I'm proposing for the handbook TOC: *What is Convergence? *Bidding **Bidding timeline & process **Location **Events **Committee **Budget Outline **General Suggestions (too...

So here's what I'm proposing for the handbook TOC:

*What is Convergence?

*Bidding
**Bidding timeline & process
**Location
**Events
**Committee
**Budget Outline
**General Suggestions (tools and the like)

*Hosting
**To LLC Or Not To LLC
***Lawyer/Accountant Considerations
**Money and Budgets
**Timeline
**Hotel
**Venues
**Vendors
**Marketing/Publicity
**Transportation
**Ticket Sales
**Entertainment
***DJs/Bands
***Fashion Show
***Panels
***Off-site or extra excursions (Tea party, shopping, etc)
**Merch/Swag
**On-Site Operations
**Resources

*Specific Notes from Former Committees

From my experience, this is an order that works well and is logical for the planning of a convergence. Although vendors may seem like they should be lower on the list, the sooner you get the vendors room nailed down and know how many vendors you can host and open that up, the sooner you can get some seed money going that is not out of your own pocket. This worked spectacularly for C15 to get us through until we could open up laminate sales.

The handbook as it stood in February is available [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zN0i3JLWWXc0FYgV44CF_RaLikfxeF015L9m7yR0yZo/edit?usp=sharing here] along with some early comments from myself and Corwyn. I'm not sure where the document stands today since he's been working on a local copy, but this is the gist of the document.

User talk:Yasmine Eccius

2017-05-25T16:58:00Z

Spacekadt: Welcome!

'''Welcome to ''AltgothicWiki''!''' We hope you will contribute much and well.
You'll probably want to read the [[Help:Contents|help pages]]. Again, welcome and have fun! [[User:Spacekadt|spacekadt]] 16:58, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

User:Yasmine Eccius

2017-05-25T16:58:00Z

Spacekadt: Creating user page with biography of new user.

German woman and fan of goth culture stuck in TX thanks to my husband's awesome job. Have been to Meraluna and occasionally work on electronic music, always looking for household noises as samples. Our daughter already loves dancing to EBM and Dark Wave with less than 3 yrs with me and her Dad.

User talk:Amber Koronkiewicz

2017-05-25T16:57:39Z

Spacekadt: Welcome!

User:Amber Koronkiewicz

2017-05-25T16:57:39Z

Spacekadt: Creating user page with biography of new user.

My online handle/ nickname is EmbersofAmber or Ember Amber. I'm a young goth, Chicago born and raised, currently completing my 2nd year of college. Some of my favorite goth bands are The Cure, Siouxsie and The Banshees, The Crüxshadows, and Peter Murphy, and The Ministry. I am always looking for new music and reading recommendations.

User talk:A. Dominy-Cusraque

2017-05-25T16:56:54Z

Spacekadt: Welcome!

User:A. Dominy-Cusraque

2017-05-25T16:56:54Z

Spacekadt: Creating user page with biography of new user.

I am an Odd One.

I Write in an Odd Way,
&
my Manner is Also Odd.

I have been Called 'Great'.

I Don't Know if That is True.

If it Is,
well,
Welcome 2 Me..!

I have Tried 2 B Philosophically Correct.

If Not,
I think I'm at _Least_ Funny..!

If That is Not True,
then
I Apologize 4 your Wasted Time.

User:Spacekadt

2015-05-14T02:41:46Z

Spacekadt: New page: I need to say something here so my link stops being red. So hi! I'm Laura. I've co-chaired C9 and C15. Been to a bunch of them. Some I remember, some maybe not so much. I'm usually conte...

I need to say something here so my link stops being red. So hi! I'm Laura.

I've co-chaired C9 and C15. Been to a bunch of them. Some I remember, some maybe not so much. I'm usually content to be behind the scenes though have been known to share unpopular opinions from time to time.

Feel free to catch me on [http://www.facebook.com/spacekadt Facebook] or by [mailto:spacekadt@gmail.com email] :)

Contact

2015-05-14T01:23:27Z

Spacekadt:

Contact Altgothic.com

[http://www.altgothic.com Altgothic.com] is maintained by bunch of sweethearts, including:

;[http://www.modernangel.org/ Fross] : Site design and flash wizardry
;[http://www.ninehells.com/ Peter H. Coffin] : more miracles
;[mailto:der.axel@gmail.com Axel] : Plays around with the Wiki
;Carrie Monster
;[mailto:jbiniek@yahoo.com Jola]
;[mailto:kest@nettrip.org kest] : codes things
;[mailto:spacekadt@gmail.com Laura] : Jack of all trades

How to Build a Bid

2015-05-13T21:07:50Z

Spacekadt: /* How To Build A Bid */

Bidding is the process by which proposals for Convergence events are formalized and readied for voting. In most conversations and documentation of process, the terms "bid" and "proposal" are synonymous. Bid may be prepared at any time for any year's event, even several years out, but the proposal should be considered something of an open secret. Open discussion and promotion of specific bids is limited to periods as described in the [[Timeline]], and promotion, even in a general "buzz-generating" sense is frowned upon, with the possibility that over-promotion early can result in a failure to have the bid ratified.
==How To Build A Bid==
===Expectations===
Convergences vary in size and duration due to many factors. A typical recent event will draw between 150 and 300 attendees, and typically officially last Friday through Sunday of a weekend, with unofficial stays running Wednesday through Tuesday.

There is a great deal of flexibility in what's actually provided. For example, if the place where a Convergence event is being planned for has no suitable venue, then using a hotel's ballroom space may be a useful option. If an otherwise ideal venue exists but is distant from the hotel, providing shuttle buses may be an option. If a base hotel is too small to accommodate projected attendance, provision for an overflow hotel nearby may be a useful option, even so little as simply locating one that isn't full yet and saying "try this one" may be enough. The absolute bare minimum is a place for a bunch of goths to hang out together, publicly and ideally 24 hours a day, and plan things. In most cases, the hotel lobby has served in this capacity, but even that it be in the hotel lobby isn't necessary if there's a side room that can be co-opted, a patio, or a con suite.

===Hotel===
You will need a place or places for people to stay. Designating a particular spot concentrates the fun. Aim small, though. Being able to fill 70% of the rooms at 2-3 people per is much more harmonious than filling 10% of a larger hotel. (Unless you're Las Vegas, in which case '''we're''' the quiet ones.)
====Room Blocks====
If there's just one piece of advice you listen to here, it's this: '''Start small!''' Make sure you set up the block with an adequate number of rooms and that there's room for growth of the block (depending on hotel capacity and how many rooms they have available at the time). It's much better to start with too few rooms and have to add than it is to end up with too many. Depending on the hotel you've contracted with, you may end up paying for those extra rooms out of your own pocket.

The appropriate number of rooms to block varies by year, but you'll also want to take particular days into account. If you're planning to book out 100 rooms on the top days, you might want to do something like 25 Thursday, 100 Friday & Saturday, 75 Sunday. (These, of course, are not hard numbers, play with them based on your own needs and feedback.)
====Hotel-based Events====
At the very least, you should make sure there's a good gathering place for attendees to sit around, drink and socialize at any time of the day.

You'll also want to make sure there's an appropriate sized room for vendors to set up in to sell their merchandise. Your best advice for how to handle the vendors' room is going to come from any of the vendors that have done at least a few different C* events.

Post-C21, there is a lot of discussion about offering workshops or panels in hopes of drawing a larger crowd. Keep in mind that a lot of people will explore the host city instead of attending daytime events so keep that in mind when you consider how much money you're willing to add to your budget for these items. That said, the more options you can give people, the better off you'll be!
===Venue===
This will probably be your biggest challenge. You want something close to the hotel (or at least close enough that one or two shuttles running back and forth can pick up and drop off frequently) and is an appropriate size for the event. If you have bands in a venue built for 3000 people but only put 300 in there, the sound is going to be off and it's going to feel empty.

While due consideration should be given while putting together your bid, there is no need to have a venue lined up just for bidding purposes.
====Space and Outfitting====
====Talent and Riders====
==="Unofficial" Events===
By definition, you will not have to plan unofficial events. However, as a local resource, putting together information about local things that are customary unofficial events will endear you to the fans of that particular event. Additionally, attractions in your area that may be of interest to individuals or small groups should be at least superficially collected and directions to those things from the main hotel (by car and transit if available) included.
====AGF Tea Party====
If there's an actual formal tea house someplace in your area, so much the better. Collect capacity and reservation information, menus and prices if possible. If not, hotel banquet space information, or private event catering in the hotel's restaurant space has proven useful in the past. Typical turnouts for this are about 15% of total attendees.
====Corpgoth Dinner====
A list of restaurants that are large enough and in the "fine dining" category should be made available. When compiling the list, be aware that the Corpgoth Dinner is usually attended by about 30% of the total attendees, so total seating in the establishment should be no less than 60-75% of your total attendees. When looking at cost for meals, main courses in the US$20-$30 range with expected total prices of $45-60 per person should be considered ideal.

==Submitting a Bid==

Bids

2015-05-11T17:45:34Z

Spacekadt: /* Bid Proposal Web Sites */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] do not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
;Introduce your Bid Committee.
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town.
:What's in it for us?
:How does it rock?
;Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence.
:Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
;Include a tentative budget outline.
:This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to the current bullseye (the contact information can be found in the call for bids). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Carrie at the carriemonster@gmail.com address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]
* [[C21]]

<references />

Bids

2015-05-09T01:24:25Z

Spacekadt: /* Prior Bids */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] do not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
;Introduce your Bid Committee.
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town.
:What's in it for us?
:How does it rock?
;Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence.
:Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
;Include a tentative budget outline.
:This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to the current bullseye (the contact information can be found in the call for bids). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]
* [[C21]]

<references />

Bids

2015-05-09T00:08:22Z

Spacekadt: /* Bid Proposal Requirements */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] do not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
;Introduce your Bid Committee.
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town.
:What's in it for us?
:How does it rock?
;Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence.
:Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
;Include a tentative budget outline.
:This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to the current bullseye (the contact information can be found in the call for bids). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />

The CBL

2015-05-08T23:54:47Z

Spacekadt:

Wikipedia says "Since shortly after its inception, the bidding and voting process has been managed by a more-or-less consistent group of volunteers, known informally as the C*b*l, composed of several of the longest-term participants in the alt.gothic newsgroups. The C*b*l is widely recognized as having made some of the most substantial contributions to maintaining Convergence, and are among its most frequent attendees. The group also maintains the official Convergence website, and provides organizational and informational assistance to host committees."

There is no C*b*l. We are the C*b*l.

=Current Roster=
* [[User:Ashbet | Ashbet]]
* [[User:Axel | Axel]]
* [[Boo aka Raphrat]]
* [[User:Carrie_Monster | Carrie Monster]]
* [[User:Eilis | Eilis]]
* [[User:The_Evil_Chemist | The Evil Chemist]]
* [[User:Gothpat | GothPat]]
* [[User:Heather_Spear | Heather Spear]]
* [[User:Jola | Jola]]
* [[User:Kest | Kest]]
* [[User:Luci | Luci]]
* [[User:The_One_Bob | The One Bob]]
* [[User:Hellsop | Peter H. Coffin]]
* [[User: Scar | Scar]]
* [[User:Shannon | Shannon]]

* [[User:Spacekadt | spacekadt]]

The Cabal can be [[Contact | contacted]]. They won't eat you. Honest. Probably. Maybe.

=Honourably Discharged=
* [[Fross]]
* [[Macross]]
* [[User:Madelyn | Madelyn]]
* [[User:Siobhan | Siobhan]]
* [[Xthlc Matt]]

The CBL

2015-05-08T23:53:13Z

Spacekadt: /* Current Roster */

Wikipedia says "Since shortly after its inception, the bidding and voting process has been managed by a more-or-less consistent group of volunteers, known informally as the C*b*l, composed of several of the longest-term participants in the alt.gothic newsgroups. The C*b*l is widely recognized as having made some of the most substantial contributions to maintaining Convergence, and are among its most frequent attendees. The group also maintains the official Convergence website, and provides organizational and informational assistance to host committees."

There is no C*b*l. We are the C*b*l.

=Current Roster=
* [[User:Ashbet | Ashbet]]
* [[User:Axel | Axel]]
* [[Boo aka Raphrat]]
* [[User:Carrie_Monster | Carrie Monster]]
* [[User:Eilis | Eilis]]
* [[User:The_Evil_Chemist | The Evil Chemist]]
* [[User:Gothpat | GothPat]]
* [[User:Heather_Spear | Heather Spear]]
* [[User:Jola | Jola]]
* [[User:Kest | Kest]]
* [[User:Luci | Luci]]
* [[User:The_One_Bob | The One Bob]]
* [[User:Hellsop | Peter H. Coffin]]
* [[User: Scar | Scar]]
* [[User:Shannon | Shannon]]
* [[User:Siobhan | Siobhan]]
* [[User:Spacekadt | spacekadt]]

The Cabal can be [[Contact | contacted]]. They won't eat you. Honest. Probably. Maybe.

=Honourably Discharged=
* [[Fross]]
* [[Macross]]
* [[Xthlc Matt]]

Committee Information

2015-05-08T23:39:01Z

Spacekadt: New page: This will be the bid/hosting committees' landing page for all things bid and hosting. For now, it's just a list of links that need to be fixed/edited/changed/moved/etc Bids [[Hosting...

This will be the bid/hosting committees' landing page for all things bid and hosting. For now, it's just a list of links that need to be fixed/edited/changed/moved/etc

[[Bids]]

[[Hosting]]

[[Best practices]]

Bids

2015-05-08T23:24:34Z

Spacekadt: /* Submission */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
;Introduce your Bid Committee.
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town.
:What's in it for us?
:How does it rock?
;Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence.
:Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
;Include a tentative budget outline.
:This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to the current bullseye (the contact information can be found in the call for bids). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />

Bids

2015-05-08T21:53:53Z

Spacekadt: /* Bid Proposal Requirements */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
;Introduce your Bid Committee.
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town.
:What's in it for us?
:How does it rock?
;Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence.
:Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
;Include a tentative budget outline.
:This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />

Bids

2015-05-08T21:03:56Z

Spacekadt: /* Content */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
# Introduce your Bid Committee. We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
# Explain why we should come to your town.
## What's in it for us?
## How does it rock?
# Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence. Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
# Include a tentative budget outline. This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

The [[Bid]] page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />

Bids

2015-05-08T21:00:44Z

Spacekadt: /* Best Practices */

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
# Introduce your Bid Committee. We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
# Explain why we should come to your town.
## What's in it for us?
## How does it rock?
# Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence. Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
# Include a tentative budget outline. This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

More details and suggestions can be found at [[Best practices]]

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
Latest Bid news is on the [[Convergence News]] page

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />

Bidding

2015-05-08T05:48:14Z

Spacekadt:

(obv this is a work in progress... though I'm now considering some slight reformatting to [[Bids]] and renaming that to Bidding)

So you want to host a Convergence. There are many hoops to jump through, but a successful event can be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done. Here are the things you should know.

===Bid Timeline===

While the dates on the timeline vary from year to year, the layout is always the same. The current bid process is laid out on the [[Timeline]] page.

===Bid Requirements===

'''This is important!''' Failing to include these things could lead to a disqualification of your bid. No one wants that!

;Bid Committee
:We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on our party and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
;Explain why we should come to your town
:What can we do there? How does it rock? Why is your town better than anywhere else?
;Outline your tentative plans
:In recent years, this has become more firm than it used to be. If your bid is a rough idea of what you want to do, make sure that's well known so the a.g faithful don't try to hold you to everything as you've laid out. But you don't have a lot of time, so it's far better to go into this with a good idea that this is what you're going to do. Once you've got that, tell us what you want to do! This is the meat of your bid, make it good!
;Bare bones budget
:This gets sent to the bullseye and is for c*b*l eyes only! We don't expect you to have firm numbers and we don't expect to hold you to this. We want to know that you're thinking of all the various aspects, from hotel and venue down to laminates and program printing.

There's more information at [[Bids]], but we wanted to make sure you had the basics here.

===Bid Process===

===Vote===

Yay! You won! Now head on over to [[Hosting]] where the hard work starts.

Hosting

2015-05-08T03:16:32Z

Spacekadt: New page: Yay! You won! Now the hard work starts! * Best Practices * Advice from past C* committees * The C*b*l is your friend

Yay! You won! Now the hard work starts!

* Best Practices
* Advice from past C* committees
* The C*b*l is your friend

Bidding

2015-05-08T03:16:24Z

Spacekadt:

So you want to host a Convergence. There are many hoops to jump through, but a successful event can be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done. Here are the things you should know.

* Bid Timeline
* Bid Requirements
* Bid Process

* Vote

Yay! You won! Now head on over to [[Hosting]] where the hard work starts.

Bidding

2015-05-08T03:15:48Z

Spacekadt:

So you want to host a Convergence. There are many hoops to jump through, but a successful event can be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done. Here are the things you should know.

* Bid Timeline
* Bid Requirements
* Bid Process

* Vote

Yay! You won! Now the hard work starts!

* Best Practices
* Advice from past C* committees
* The C*b*l is your friend

Bidding

2015-05-08T03:13:26Z

Spacekadt: New page: So you want to host a Convergence. There are many hoops to jump through, but a successful event can be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done. Here are the things you should kno...

So you want to host a Convergence. There are many hoops to jump through, but a successful event can be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done. Here are the things you should know.

- Bid Timeline
- Bid Requirements
- Bid Process

- Vote

Yay! You won! Now the hard work starts!

- Best Practices
- Advice from past C* committees
- The C*b*l is your friend

Best practices

2015-05-08T02:21:53Z

Spacekadt: /* Shirts */

There are lots of great tips for putting together a [[Convergence]] bid on the [[Bids]] page.

Bidding and actually putting on a [[Convergence]] are two very different animals.

This page contains some suggestions from prior committee chairs and members that will help you as you actually plan a wonderful [[Convergence]] for all of us to attend!

THIS PAGE IS IN PROGRESS. MORE STUFF COMING.

==Committee Chairs==
It is a good idea to have more than one Convergence chairperson. Two is good, three is better. Each chair can be responsible for certain aspects of the event, and during the actual event, you will need to have an official person who can make decisions in several places at once.

==Assembling Your Committee==
- Experience counts. The more Convergence veterans you can get on your committee, the better, because they know what this party is about.

- Don’t hesitate to ask former chairs and/or committee members for advice. They love [[Convergence]] and are usually more than happy to help you.

- [[The_C*B*L]] is not some big scary entity in the sky. They’re real people with a royal bumload of Convergence-planning experience among them, and they are there to help in any way they can. Use them.

- If you have friends on the committee, make sure that they are people who won’t get their feelings hurt if you have to be the bearer of bad news. Also, be sure that these friends on the committee aren’t people with whom you will feel weird about sharing bad news. Friends are great, but they’re people, and sometimes they do stuff that could hurt the event. If you think your friendship might be hurt at some point during the planning process, it is better not to have them on the committee.

- If someone isn't doing his/her job, give 'em the boot. Don't hesitate on this. It will save you nightmarish situations.

- Being on the planning committee does not magically make you Scene Royalty. Anyone who signs on to plan a [[Convergence]] hoping for this outcome is NOT someone you want on the committee.

==Protect Yourself==
While it is not required that you register your [[Convergence]] as an LLC, it is a very smart thing to do. An LLC protects you if something goes wrong. LLC registration fees vary from state to state, and you do not have to register as an LLC in the state in which your party is taking place, but you do need to have a person (or company) that is willing to accept service on your behalf in the state in which you register. (Example: C9 Las Vegas was a Nevada LLC, but C15 Long Beach was a Utah LLC.) This does not make that person liable and they don't even have to be a member of the LLC, just someone you trust to accept the papers on your behalf and tell you that you're being sued should the worst ever happen. (Though as far as we know, this has never happened!)

==Money Money Money==
For the love of all that is and is not holy, get someone who knows what he or she is doing to manage your accounts! This makes all the difference. Srsly.

Most committees in the past set up a business account with a bank. This allows you to have business credit cards for charging deposits and other expenditures.

An alternative to a business bank account is to set up a business account on PayPal. The [[C15]] committee did this, and it worked quite well. The PayPal business account lets you use a debit card to make your deposits and purchases, giving you 1% cash back on all debit card transactions. There are two drawbacks to this: 1) The business account must be attached to an existing PayPal account (meaning that someone will not have personal use of his/her PayPal account for the duration of planning and until all debts are paid), and 2) committees must either have a nest egg in the account before laminates go on sale or wait until laminates are on sale and money is in the account before putting down deposits on venue space, etc.

==Contracting with the Hotel==
- Start with a small block, but arrange for expansion if needed. Most hotels require that a group sell 80% of a room block, and you don't want to be financially responsible if you block more rooms than attendees fill.

- Not everyone will stay at the official hotel. This is another reason to start with a small block.

- A hotel may ask if you want to use a rooming list or a block where guests call in individually to make their reservations. You want to use the latter option. Rooming lists for a group like Convergence are a royal pain and will most likely cause committees migraines and unnecessary drama.

- Hotels will generally comp one room for every X number of rooms booked in the Convergence block. We suggest using these comps toward a free or discounted suite for committee use. You will need the space for storage and work.

==Laminates==
Some committees have personalized the laminates. Others have left them blank so that attendees can personalize them themselves. Whether or not your committee does this is a personal decision, but issuing blank laminates makes the check-in and laminate transfer processes a simple matter.

Laminates can be put in plastic sleeves and run through a special laminating machine individually, or they can be put en masse through a laminator that spits them out in a flimsy sheet, requiring much cutting after the fact. The individual sleeve method tends to yield a better laminate.

Laminate sleeves come in different thicknesses. 7 or 10 mil are the most heavy-duty.

The C15 committee purchased 10mil laminating sleeves from a So Cal company, but they do mail order, and their prices are very good. [http://www.laminationdepot.com/ Lamination Depot]

==Shirts==
Everyone loves a souvenir shirt!

There are a few ways to do shirts. One is to gauge how many people will buy shirts and then have that many printed up. This allows shirts to be sold at the event, but it requires out-of-pocket expense for the committee, and if not all of the shirts sell, you're stuck with them and out that money.

An alternative to this is to use a company like [http://www.shirts101.com Shirts101], which takes pre-orders online and then ships the shirts to the committee for distribution at the event. If you go this route, you will not have extra shirts to sell at the event, but your committee will not have any out-of-pocket expense (people order from and pay the company directly), and you won't have unsold shirts left over. If there is demand for more shirts afterward, you may choose to do a second run, where people can have their shirts sent directly to their homes. Shirts101 will send your committee a commission check if you sell more than the agreed-upon base run. The contact at Shirts101 is Dan Okelberry, and he's made of WIN!

[http://www.sighco.com SighCo] is another shirt company that has printed [[Convergence]] shirts and is run by some C* veterans. If you're going for the option to sell shirts at the event rather than pre-order, this is probably your best bet. They're familiar with C* and what it wants/needs.

Regardless of which method you use, make sure you consider comfort and size. Women's shirts should go at least to a 3x, and men's should go at least to 4x.

Best practices

2015-05-08T01:57:18Z

Spacekadt: /* Protect Yourself */ added bit about someone being willing to accept service

Timeline

2014-07-24T16:52:15Z

Spacekadt: /* Convergence 15 Timetable */ fixed c15 header

This pages explains and describes the timeline for determining who will put on future alt.gothic Convergences℠ and where they will be.

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==
[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the [[bids]] to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

==Disclaimer==
This is the official timeline. It is not necessarily how things WILL work, but how they SHOULD. Keep an eye on alt.gothic, alt.gothic.convergence and this website for updates to this information. We are not getting paid to do this and we do have day jobs so sometimes shit happens.

==Convergence 21 Timetable==

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!
Now for the message you've all been waiting for!
It's time, once again, to start submitting any proposal you may have for Convergence number 21! We're old!
Anyway, any of you spooksters interested in bidding, get your proposals gussied up and contact us right away!
Email me at carriemonster@gmail.com or shoot me a facebook message and we can help you get on the way to a glorious party.
The timeline for C21 bid proposal and voting goes like this

===Saturday July 12 2014===
Submission deadline. Final bid list is drawn up, and site credentials should be sent to bid committees.

===Sunday July 20===
Ratification Period BEGINS
The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids.
The proposal websites are frozen.
The denizens of alt.gothic decide if they wish to reject any of the
bids, as per the ratification process.
===Saturday July 26===
Ratification Period ENDS
Speak now or forever shut it!
The C*B*L determine which bids are ratified.
The voting system is announced on alt.gothic.
===Sunday August 3===
Bid Clarification Period BEGINS
The purpose of this period is to ensure that what is voted on is what
was ratified.
The Bidding Committees may modify their bid websites to incorporate
clarifications of the bid that came up during ratification.
The Bidding Committees may not add new content to the bid.
===Sunday August 3===
Bid Clarification Period ENDS
===Monday August 4===
C*B*L Bid Review BEGINS
Give us a couple of days - we all have day jobs after all
The Bidding Committees may no longer make any changes to their bids.
The proposal websites are frozen.
The C*B*L will review the bids to ensure the changes are appropriate.
===Sunday August 10===
C*B*L Bid Review ENDS
===Monday August 11===
Voting Period BEGINS
Rock the vote and have a ball, that's what this is about after all!!
Once Peter Coffin (aka:Hellsop) fires up the ballot machine
The people decide.
===Monday August 25===
Voting Period ENDS
When we figure everyone who's going to vote has got around to it (or
we're tired of waiting)
Voting is closed and results will be reviewed and tallied.
===Friday August 29===
Committees notified of Results
Flying Monkeys only move so fast
The C*B*L notifies the Chairs of the bids of the results.
===Saturday August 30===
EVERYONE KNOWS!
So now let's get to work!
Throw your mittens around your kittens and away we go!!
Looking forward to an excellent bidding season!

==The Selected Bid==
The selected bid will be announced following the closing of voting and verification of the counted votes. At that time, an announcement will be posted to the alt.gothic.* news groups and [altgothic.com]. The authority to planning and execute one Convergence in accordance with the published proposal along with permission to use the Convergence service mark subject to [[The C*B*L]]'s ongoing approval will then be transferred to the selected committee.

==Previous Convergence Bid Selection Timelines==

==Convergence 20 Timetable==
'''2013 May 1ST''' Bid Proposal Request Period BEGINS 
'''2013 May 1ST''' Bid Proposal Submission Period BEGINS 
'''2013 May 1ST''' Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period BEGINS. 
'''2013 June 15th''' Bid Proposal Request Period ENDS 
'''2013 June 15th''' Bid Proposal Submission Period ENDS 
'''2013 June 16th''' Proposal Modification Period ENDS 
'''2013 June 16th''' Ratification Period BEGINS 
'''2013 June 22''' Ratification Period ENDS 
'''2013 June 23 Bid''' Clarification Period BEGINS 
'''2013 June 30 Bid''' Clarification Period ENDS 
'''2013 July 1''' C*B*L Bid Review BEGINS 
'''2013 July 6''' C*B*L Bid Review ENDS 
'''2013 July 7''' Voting Period BEGINS 
'''2013 July 14''' Voting Period ENDS 
'''2013 July 18''' Committees notified of Results 
'''2013 July 19''' Public Announcement of Results 

==Convergence 19 Timetable==
'''2012 June 1''' Bid Proposal Request Period 
'''2012 June 15''' Bid Proposal Submission Period, Discussion & Debate 
'''2012 June 16''' Bid Proposal Period Ends 
'''2012 June 16''' Ratification Period 
'''2012 June 22''' Ratification Period Ends 
'''2012 June 23''' Bid Clarification Period 
'''2012 June 30''' Bid Clarification Period Ends 
'''2012 July 1''' C*B*L Bid Review 
'''2012 July 6''' C*B*L Bid Review Ends 
'''2012 July 7''' Voting Period 
'''2012 July 14''' Voting Period Ends 
'''2012 July 19''' Committees notified of Results 
'''2012 July 20''' Public Announcement of Results

==Convergence 17 Timetable==
'''2010 February 07''' Bid Proposal Request Period 
'''2010 February 14''' Bid Proposal Submission Period, Discussion & Debate 
'''2010 March 07''' Bid Proposal Period ENDS 
'''2010 March 19''' Ratification Period 
'''2010 March 30''' Ratification Period 
'''2010 March 30''' Bid Clarification Period 
'''2010 April 01''' C*B*L Bid Review 
'''2010 April 02''' Voting Period 
'''2010 April 09''' Committees notified of Results 
'''2010 April 10''' Public Announcement of Results 

==Convergence 16 Timetable==
'''2009 February 07''' Bid Proposal Request Period 
'''2009 February 14''' Bid Proposal Submission Period, Discussion & Debate 
'''2009 February 28''' Bid Proposal Period ENDS 
'''2009 March 12''' Ratification Period 
'''2009 March 23''' Ratification Period 
'''2009 March 23''' Bid Clarification Period 
'''2009 March 25''' C*B*L Bid Review 
'''2009 March 26''' Voting Period 
'''2009 April 02''' Committees notified of Results 
'''2009 April 03''' Public Announcement of Results 

==Convergence 15 Timetable==
Bid Proposal Request Period BEGINS at 2008 July 08 22:02EST (03:02GMT) 
Bid Proposal Submission Period BEGINS and Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period BEGINS at 2008 July 24 00:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Bid Proposal Request Period ENDS and Bid Proposal Submission Period ENDS at 2008 July 31 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
[[Convergence 14]] BEGINS at 2008 August 07 20:00 EST (01:00GMT) 
[[Convergence 14]] ENDS at 2008 August 12 **:** EST (**:**GMT) 
Proposal Modification Period ENDS and Ratification Period BEGINS at 2008 August 12 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Ratification Period ENDS at 2008 August 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Bid Clarification Period BEGINS at 2008 August 23 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Bid Clarification Period ENDS and C*B*L Bid Review BEGINS at 2008 August 25 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
C*B*L Bid Review ENDS and Voting Period BEGINS at 2008 August 26 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Voting Period ENDS at 2008 September 02 0:00EST (05:00GMT) 
Committees notified of Results on 2008 September 02
Public Announcement of Results on 2008 September 03

==Footnotes==
<references />

Bids

2014-07-24T16:51:10Z

Spacekadt: /* Bid Proposal Requirements */ added tentative budget requirement

==What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?==

[[Convergence]]℠ is explained on it's own page, but [[The_C*B*L | we]] feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. [[alt.gothic]] [[Convergence]]℠ is the annual party put on by the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] for the denizens of [[alt.gothic]] and ALL their friends that squishes together hundreds of [[net.goth]]s from around the globe and their friends into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

==Bid Selection Process==
There are 4 steps to getting a bid chosen to be a [[Convergence]]:
# [[Bids]] are entered.
# [[The C*B*L]] vet the bids to ensure they are within the bounds of reason<ref>We may well look askance at a bid that looked like [[http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ Glastonbury]] for example</ref> and fulfill the requirements.
# [[alt.gothic]] [[Ratification | ratifies]] the bids.
# The voters [[Voting | vote]] for the bid they want to go to.

The events occur on the dates laid out in the [[timeline]]

Please note that the purpose of the Bid Process is to establish the various bidders suitability to host our party.
It takes a lot of time, effort and putting up with bullshit to keep this ship sailing on year after year, and we aren't paid anything (it's practically unheard of for a Committee to even thank us at Convergence), so if the C*B*L screws something up and you don't like it then you can shut the fuck up.

==Bid Proposal Requirements==

'''If you are at all unclear about what is and is not acceptable, ask [[The_C*B*L]] ''before'' acting. If you act first and get it wrong, your bid could be disqualified.'''

If you want to put this show on, you need to read these requirements. If your bid breaks the rules, it will not be included in the vote. [[The_C*B*L | We]] does not want to have to do so but we have to be fair to all the people who invest time, effort and money in putting a bid together.

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% [[net.goth]]s. [[alt.gothic | We]] prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you must
# Introduce your Bid Committee. We put this at the top, 'cos it's the most important part. We have to trust you to put on [[alt.gothic | our party]] and to do it right so knowing who you are and why we can have confidence in you is really important.
# Explain why we should come to your town.
## What's in it for us?
## How does it rock?
# Outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence. Over the years this part has typically been the most emphasized in the bids, and has become way rather more than 'tentative'. Since you will only have about a year between vote and execution the more planning you can do in advance the better.
# Include a tentative budget outline. This does not need to be fully fleshed out by any stretch of the imagination, but we want to see that you have a realistic idea of how much things cost, that you've got the major points covered and that you have an idea of how you'll pay for all of it. '''This is not binding and we very much expect that your numbers will change as you go.'''

===Audience===
Your core audience are the denizens of alt.gothic and their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities.

===Content===
The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ party, should the vote be in your favor.

===Submission===
To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must
# Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
# Submit your proposal via email to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org). The person that submits the bid, will be the point of contact with The C*B*L. Any references to a Committee Chair in the process refer to that person.
# Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted
# Upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

The first public posting of your bid must be on alt.gothic. After that, feel free to post and discuss it anywhere you want, but alt.gothic '''MUST''' come first.

You can talk about your potential bid prior to this anywhere you want, and indeed we encourage you to ask alt.gothic what we want, and to get input from previous organisers and attendees to make your bid the best possible.

Posting to weblogs, regional mailing lists, web communities and other resources is permitted but not required.

===Bid Proposal Submission Period===
See the [[timeline]].

===Bid Proposal Web Sites===
Proposal web sites '''must''' be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

===Best Practices===
'''(Some advice from past committees)'''
* Talk to alt.gothic as you build your event. [[alt.gothic | We]] are your audience. We can give you very fast feedback about what is worth investing your time and money on when you put the event together.

* Talk to former Convergence committees. Odds are someone has relevant experience that you can learn from, instead of making the same mistake twice.

* Talk to [[The C*B*L]]. We have experience putting on the party. We have experience attending the party. We know an awful lot of people who know stuff about things that you can leverage. We do this because we love Convergence. Not for the money, drugs or women<ref>What money, drugs and women?</ref>. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.

* Avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events. It'll limit the people who can come, and since most others are on a regular calendar schedule but since Convergence floats chronologically, you'll look like a dick. Piss people off and they won't buy tickets, and because Convergence is first and foremost a social event that can have a ripple effect. For instance [http://wgw.topmum.co.uk/ Whitby Gothic Weekend], [http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/ WaveGotik Treffen], [http://www.blacksun-festival.com/ Black Sun], the various 'Dark Arts' festivals.

* Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months in your bid is strongly discouraged. Firstly because it's not ''about'' the bands; secondly, if you promise to resurrect Ian Curtis and don't deliver, there's a good chance you'll be lynched.

* Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.

* Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands

* Maintain regular open communication with [[alt.gothic]] and [[The C*B*L]].

* Nominate one person to speak on behalf of your committee. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from embarrassment. However, make sure it is somebody who has time and energy to spend on answering seemingly dumb questions.

* Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.

===Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committeess===

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse [[Main_Page | this wiki]] for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Axel of Convergence 4 and 8, Eilis of Convergence 9 and 15) and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

==Current Bids==
The following cities have submitted bid proposals for C21:

==Prior Bids==
Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:
* [[C1]]
* [[C2]]
* [[C3]]
* [[C4]]
* [[C5]]
* [[C6]]
* [[C7]]
* [[C8]]
* [[C9]]
* [[C10]]
* [[C11]]
* [[C12]]
* [[C13]]
* [[C14]]
* [[C15]]
* [[C16]]
* [[C17]]
* [[C18]]
* [[C19]]
* [[C20]]

<references />