Bids

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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. The wiki and handbook include a lot of lessons learned in the evolution of Convergence from an informal hotel party to a more organized event (you can see the current draft version of the handbook here). 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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