Pre-C15 Convergence:BidProcess

THE DISCUSSION PERIOD

The discussion period, in which the public will endlessly debate every little detail about every proposal, will begin as specified in the timeline.

The mailing lists 'afterglow' and 'cx_vote' have also been set up to host discussions concerning Convergence. Sub/unsub info is available at http://www.altgothic.com/lists

IRC chat with the committees will take place at a date to be specified in the near future.

BID PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% alt.gothic.* net.goths or net.goths who have attended at least one Convergence (especially Convergence 8, 9 or 10) although it is preferred that 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 should introduce yourself and your Bid Committee, list what you believe would be the benefits of holding the next Convergence in your home city and outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence 14.

Your audience and potential attendees are your friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities that now fall under the 'net.goth' umbrella. 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℠ event, should the vote be in your favor.

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) and await receipt that your proposal has been accepted and, 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.

Posting to Weblogs, regional mailing lists and other resources is permitted but not required.

BID PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PERIOD

Convergence 14 Bid Proposals must be posted to the alt.gothic.* news groups and submitted to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) for inclusion on the ballot, as well as to register for alt.gothic web space, BEGINNING at 0:00EST (05:00GMT) on April 13, 2007 and ENDING 0:00EST (05:00GMT)on May 5, 2007. Any proposals submitted after that time will NOT be included on this year's ballot.

To submit your Bid Proposal for inclusion on the Convergence 14 ballot, you must email the following information to Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address during Bid Proposal Submission Period:

   * Text version of your Bid Proposal as posted to alt.gothic.* news groups.
   * A tentative working budget. Obviously, there is no way to provide absolute numbers so far in advance, an overview with forecasts is all that is required. Bid Proposals without some form of a working budget will be ineligible for ballot placement. IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO POST THIS BUDGET IN PUBLIC, although Bid Proposal Committees may do so at their own discretion. 

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. Any discussion prior to the acceptance of a bid proposal by Siobhan must be kept private from the general public, such as a closed mailing, or a bulletin board with a restricted access list. Any effectively self-subscribable membership list is considered "public" for these purposes, as is any large numbers of invited-only members.

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).

BID PROPOSAL PUBLIC DISCUSSION AND DEBATE PERIOD

The discussion period, in which the public will debate endlessly every little detail about every proposal, will begin with the start of the nomination period on April 13, 2007 and end on May 13, 2007. Debates take place primarily on the alt.gothic.* news groups and associated mailing lists.

Live IRC question and answer sessions with each proposal committee may also be scheduled. Positive discussions are highly encouraged. Letting the committees know what is important to you in a Convergence will help them plan a winning bid.

It's in everyone's best interests to avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events to allow greater access to everything for all interested parties. (examples - 'Whitby Gothic Weekend', 'projektfest', 'Black Sun', the various 'Dark Arts' festivals) BEST PRACTICES (Some timely advice from past committees):

Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months is strongly discouraged.

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

Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands and with your audience of potential attendees.

Nominating one person to speak on behalf of your committee is strongly encouraged. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from a lot of embarrassment.

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 COMMITTEES

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 www.altgothic.com for more information.

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

THE WINNING BID

This year's winning 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, as well as the altgothic.com mailing lists and regional mailing lists. Control of the planning and execution of Convergence 14 will then be formally transferred to the winning committee.