[C14 Vote] Convergence 14 Vote Bid Proposal Information
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This is the Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Document Version 1.0
Originally Posted March 31, 2007. Please re-post where applicable.
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What Is Convergence?
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Convergence is the annual alt.gothic news group convention that squishes together hundreds of net.goths from around the globe into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, music, special events and sweet debauchery.
Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Requirements
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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 in the last 2 years, 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 Convergence 14, should the vote be in your favour.
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 Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) and await receipt that your proposal has been accepted. Starting on April 14 2007, you must cross post your proposal to alt.gothic, 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. If you do not know what alt.gothic is or how to access it, you are not eligible to host a Convergence.
Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Web Sites
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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.
To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) the following information as soon as possible:
*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).
Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Submission Period
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergence 14 Bid Proposals must be submitted to Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) for inclusion on the ballot, as well as to register for alt.gothic web space, BEGINNING at 0:00EST on April 1 2007, and ENDING 0:00EST on April 14 2007. Any proposals submitted after that time will NOT be included on this year's ballot.
Upon confirmation from Siobhán that your proposal has been accepted, you must then post your proposal to the alt.gothic.* news groups BEGINNING at 0:00 EST on April 14 2007. You may post and update the proposals as often as you wish until 0:00 EST May 4 2007, at which time the submission period ENDS.
To submit your Bid Proposal for inclusion on the Convergence 14 ballot, you must email the following information to Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) during Bid Proposal Submission Period:
* Text version of your Bid Proposal as it will be posted to the 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.
Convergence 14 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 submission period on April 14 2007 and end on May 4 2007. The proposal sites with be blocked at this time. Debates take place primarily on the alt.gothic.* news groups, afterglow mailing list and the agc_afterglow LiveJournal group.
Live IRC question and answer sessions with each proposal committee may also be scheduled. Positive discussions are highly encouraged. Taking advantage of the opportunity to find out what your audience wants will help you prepare a winning bid..
Convergence 14 Voting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The voting period will begin at 0:00 EST on May 5 2007 and will end at 24:00 EST on May 13 2007. Only registered voters will be allowed to vote, using security keys which will be emailed to them prior to the start of the actual vote.
Convergence 14 Scheduling
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
While it is impossible to please everyone with regards to the perfect weekend to hold Convergence 14, we do suggest avoiding conflicts with other large scale music events like Projektfest, Whitby Gothic Festival and the like.
Some Best Practices (Advice from past committees)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information in your proposals which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months is strongly discouraged.
Keep your committees small. A core committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than larger committees. This cannot be stressed enough. History has proven time and time again that large committees do not work well.
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.
Plan Convergence like a big party that you would love to attend. It sounds cheesy, but it's a simple and winning philosophy.
Avoid the "race mentality" at all costs. Convergence is not a popularity contest, nor a one-upmanship festival.
Be prepared to work your butt off. Convergence is not easy. You will lose sleep.
Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committees
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A growing library of text documents written by the past 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, myself, and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.
Questions and Contact
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions about past Convergences or the C14 voting process, feel free to either post to alt.gothic.convergence or email Siobhán via the virulent.org address. Links to reference resources are also be available at http://www.altgothic.com
All official correspondence will carry the [C14 vote] subject tag and a document ID, date and version number.
This is the Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Document Version 1.0
Originally Posted March 31, 2007. Please re-post where applicable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What Is Convergence?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergence is the annual alt.gothic news group convention that squishes together hundreds of net.goths from around the globe into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, music, special events and sweet debauchery.
Convergence 14 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 in the last 2 years, 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 Convergence 14, should the vote be in your favour.
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 Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) and await receipt that your proposal has been accepted. Starting on April 14 2007, you must cross post your proposal to alt.gothic, 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. If you do not know what alt.gothic is or how to access it, you are not eligible to host a Convergence.
Convergence 14 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.
To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) the following information as soon as possible:
*Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
*Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).
Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Submission Period
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergence 14 Bid Proposals must be submitted to Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) for inclusion on the ballot, as well as to register for alt.gothic web space, BEGINNING at 0:00EST on April 1 2007, and ENDING 0:00EST on April 14 2007. Any proposals submitted after that time will NOT be included on this year's ballot.
Upon confirmation from Siobhán that your proposal has been accepted, you must then post your proposal to the alt.gothic.* news groups BEGINNING at 0:00 EST on April 14 2007. You may post and update the proposals as often as you wish until 0:00 EST May 4 2007, at which time the submission period ENDS.
To submit your Bid Proposal for inclusion on the Convergence 14 ballot, you must email the following information to Siobhán (convergence AT virulent DOT org) during Bid Proposal Submission Period:
* Text version of your Bid Proposal as it will be posted to the 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.
Convergence 14 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 submission period on April 14 2007 and end on May 4 2007. The proposal sites with be blocked at this time. Debates take place primarily on the alt.gothic.* news groups, afterglow mailing list and the agc_afterglow LiveJournal group.
Live IRC question and answer sessions with each proposal committee may also be scheduled. Positive discussions are highly encouraged. Taking advantage of the opportunity to find out what your audience wants will help you prepare a winning bid..
Convergence 14 Voting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The voting period will begin at 0:00 EST on May 5 2007 and will end at 24:00 EST on May 13 2007. Only registered voters will be allowed to vote, using security keys which will be emailed to them prior to the start of the actual vote.
Convergence 14 Scheduling
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
While it is impossible to please everyone with regards to the perfect weekend to hold Convergence 14, we do suggest avoiding conflicts with other large scale music events like Projektfest, Whitby Gothic Festival and the like.
Some Best Practices (Advice from past committees)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information in your proposals which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months is strongly discouraged.
Keep your committees small. A core committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than larger committees. This cannot be stressed enough. History has proven time and time again that large committees do not work well.
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.
Plan Convergence like a big party that you would love to attend. It sounds cheesy, but it's a simple and winning philosophy.
Avoid the "race mentality" at all costs. Convergence is not a popularity contest, nor a one-upmanship festival.
Be prepared to work your butt off. Convergence is not easy. You will lose sleep.
Extended Resources for Bid Proposal Committees
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A growing library of text documents written by the past 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, myself, and the plethora of web and Usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.
Questions and Contact
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions about past Convergences or the C14 voting process, feel free to either post to alt.gothic.convergence or email Siobhán via the virulent.org address. Links to reference resources are also be available at http://www.altgothic.com
All official correspondence will carry the [C14 vote] subject tag and a document ID, date and version number.