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specifics is limited to periods as described in the [[Timeline]], although general discussion to
specifics is limited to periods as described in the [[Timeline]], although general discussion to
create buzz is allowed.
create buzz is allowed.
==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 (verified as of 2026 – there may be as many as 500 people at
the event, but that includes locals + bands), and typically officially last Friday through Sunday of
a weekend, with unofficial stays running Wednesday through Tuesday. Attendees will be
happiest if negotiated room rates at least include Thursday and Monday.
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 the hotel lobby isn't strictly 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.
==="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.


==Current Bids==
==Current Bids==

Revision as of 21:41, 12 February 2026

What Is alt.gothic Convergence℠?

Convergence℠ is explained on it's own page, but we feel it's worth reiterating the core purpose here. alt.gothic Convergence℠ is the annual party which was originally put on by the denizens of alt.gothic and has since grown to include members of the myriad Gothic/Industrial online and social media groups it spawned. Hundreds of net.goths from around the globe squish into a single city for a weekend of IRL socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

This page is about how to bid ie the process thereof. The How to Build a Bid page has more info on what to put in your bid. There is also a Template and some additional notes on Best practices and we're working on putting together a whole goddamn handbook. We've seen enough clusterfucks, but if you choose not to heed, it's your funeral.

Bid Selection Process

See the timeline for info on the Bid Selection Process.

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. 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.goths. We prefer it if ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. We highly recommend including a C*b*l member and/or someone who has been on a Convergence committee before. 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 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 (and considerably less in 2026, sorry) 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, net.goths in general, and ALL their friends. The expected attendees includes our friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists, social media groups, and other forms of electronic communities. You will definitely want to attract locals and new attendees, because everyone awesome in the scene is welcome, but the core group will likely be traveling in, which needs to be taken into account.

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 How to Build a Bid page has details and suggestions on how to put together an effective bid.

Note that the official 'Bid' is the text content as posted on alt.gothic.com. Don't be put off bidding because your fancy website isn't all ready to go. While it behooves you to do as much as possible in advance, there may also be many things you want to wait before setting in stone.

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

  1. Register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below,
  2. Submit your proposal via email to the current bullseye (as of 2026, the current bullseye is Andi Pants). 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.
  3. Await receipt that your proposal has been accepted

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 social networks, blogs, 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, a single FTP login account with 24-hour access. With prior arrangement, CGI-bin (Perl, Python) or PHP access, and database access can be arranged. 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, please send the following information to Andi:

  • 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. 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[1]. We will keep anything you talk to us about in the strictest confidence.
  • Add a The C*B*L member to your committee conversations per whatever method you chose - "private" FB community is a great example. The C*B*L will not undermine your authority but will be happy to step in and help when help becomes obviously necessary. This will be a requirement for the future (2026 and beyond bids).
  • 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 Whitby Gothic Weekend, WaveGotik Treffen, 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 core committee of 4 people or less (not including volunteers) is far more efficient and likely to succeed than a larger committee.
  • Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, vendors, DJs, bands
  • 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, and they consume a massive part of the event budget. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN.
  • Not sure what your bid should look like? Here's a Template

More details and suggestions can be found at Best practices

Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committees

We have several alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who act as advisors, and 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 this wiki and check out Our Best Practices and the Bid Template for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

Bidding is the process by which proposals for Convergence events are formalized and readied for voting. In most conversations and documentation of the process, the terms "bid" and "proposal" are synonymous.

Bids may be prepared at any time for any year's event, even several years out, but the details of the proposal should be considered something of an open secret. Open discussion of bid specifics is limited to periods as described in the Timeline, although general discussion to create buzz is allowed.

Current Bids

Latest Bid news is on the Convergence News page

Prior Bids

Information about prior bidding proposals are organized by event:

  1. ↑ What money, drugs and women?
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