Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ
Q: Why Spokane?
A: Spokane is a beautiful tourist-friendly destination with great facilities, restaurants, and tourist and traveler amenities. It has an active local fan base, and a thriving community of science fiction and fantasy writers and artists. 
It is a convenient and attractive destination in the Northwest that is well-known to regional fan communities.
Q: But seriously, why not Seattle?
A: Seattle is a great destination. Unfortunately for us, it is in great demand. There are no weekends available at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in downtown Seattle in the summer of 2015, and it is heavily booked well into the future. The groups booking into these facilities plan three or more years in advance, so Worldcon's two-year site selection cycle eliminates downtown Seattle as a possible venue for a Worldcon, as it did for the Seattle in 2011 bid. The Seattle Center area, around the Space Needle, has facilities but does not have nearly enough hotel rooms. Seatac around the airport has plenty of hotel rooms and function space and is accustomed to fan-run conventions, but the function rooms are distributed and there is no 
space big enough to host a Hugo award ceremony or Worldcon masquerade. Bellevue is also in great demand and was also not able to offer a proposal with a contingency clause that would allow the two-year vote (they suggested we change the site selection rules, actually). Tacoma offered a proposal we considered seriously, but Spokane's proposal was better for facilities and hotel rooms, and being an hour from downtown meant that visitors to Tacoma could only get to the tourist attractions of downtown Seattle in a trip before or after the convention. We looked at other sites outside the Seattle metropolitan area; Spokane offered us by far the best combination of facilities, fandom, transportation, and tourism.
Q: Why 2015?
A: It's been half a century since the last Worldcon in the Northwest, so a lot of people in and out of the region would like to see a Worldcon here as soon as it can be organized. The bid committee includes supporters of declared bids for Texas in 2013, London in 2014, and Kansas City in 2016, so we decided not to compete against these three bids. Later years were discussed, but some members of the bid committee expressed reservations
about their availability in later years, due to health or other personal considerations. Also, our group received input from experienced conrunners in other places that their local groups were not quite ready, but that they were thinking about bidding for years after 2016; they asked us to bid for 2015 to simplify their planning.
Q: Who is organizing this?
A: The Seattle Westercon Organizing Committee, "SWOC", is the legal entity organizing the Worldcon bid for Spokane in 2015. SWOC has organized other major conventions, including Westercon in 1993, 1997, 2003, and the upcoming Westercon 65 in 2012, as well as Cascadia Con, the North American Science Fiction Convention in 
2005. SWOC is also the parent corporation for Conflikt, the Seattle filk convention. SWOC cooperates with Norwescon and other local groups to supply local conventions with art show panels, printers, and other equipment.
In addition to SWOC membership from across the region, the Spokane fan community, including current and past leaders of Spocon, the Spokane science fiction convention, are active supporters and participants in the Spokane in 2015 bid. The Spokane and eastern Washington area author and artist communities, and their extended networks of friends, are also excited about helping the bid. We will also see conrunners from Miscon in Montana, Radcon in southeastern Washington, and Fandemonium in Boise coming to conventions in the area and providing other support for the bid.
Q: What is SWOC?
A: SWOC is an open and broad-based group including active conrunners involved in many conventions in Seattle and across the Northwest region, from Oregon to British Columbia and east through Idaho, Montana, and Utah, as well as a few non-local members. Like similar groups, SWOC is registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. SWOC's annual general meeting is held at ConComCon in June, and all are invited to participate (there is a requirement to attend two SWOC meetings at various events to become a voting member). Like MCFI, SCIFI, and similar groups, SWOC is just an organizational shell, not a concom; it recruits from and works with all conventions in the region. SWOC's board of directors and voting members fulfill the legal requirements for non-profit corporate governance but does not otherwise play an ongoing management role in the conventions under its umbrella. Defined agreements between SWOC and its convention committees delineate boundaries of autonomy, legal and reporting obligations, and contingency provisions. The SWOC board of directors asked Alex von Thorn to be the chair of the Worldcon bid at Norwescon in April 2011.
Q: So will Alex von Thorn be chair of the Spokane Worldcon in 2015?
A: No, the bid committee will list Bobbie DuFault and Sally Woehrle as co-chairs of the Worldcon in 2015 in the bid filing to be submitted to the site selection administrator of the 2013 Worldcon, where the 2015 Worldcon will be chosen.
Q: What is a "presupport" or "friend of the bid" membership? Do these give a discount on attending the convention?
A: Yes, assuming we win, we plan on offering discounts to presupporters and friends of the bid. Our committee is reviewing budgets and we intend to have details at a later date. Discounts will only be available to presupporters who vote in site selection in 2013. We consider it important to participate in the democratic process of the World
"Presupporters" are those who support the convention bid. The money raised from presupports pays for our parties, publication, website, and related bid expenses. "Friends of the bid" are those declaring early support for the convention. Our plan is that the price of the friend of the bid level plus the site selection voting fee will be equivalent to the initial convention attending membership rate, which will allow us to offer attending membership to friends of the bid who also vote in site selection. Therefore, our budget plan is for the bid to not spend the difference between the basic presupport and the friend of the bid level, and our hope is for the bid to pass most or all of this surplus income from the bid to the convention budget.
(We ask our presupporters not interpret terms like "budget" and "hope" as specific commitments, as these involve some variables not under our control.)
As much as we appreciate money to help cover our bid expenses, what a bid really needs are votes and volunteer effort. More important than anything else, we ask our friends and supporters to vote (for us, ideally) in the site selection ballot in 2013. After that, what we need is for people to share the work of the bid. At your local convention, at Worldcons, and at other cons, we can really use folks to help us throw bid parties and sit at fan tables. The more of us who pitch in, the less work it is for each of us, and the more fun we all have!
Q: Is Spokane a big enough city to host a Worldcon?
A: The National Square Dance Convention, scheduled to be held at the Spokane Convention Center in 2012, expects to have about four thousand attendees, with about 80% from out of state. The US National Figure Skating Competition brought in 154,000 attendees in 2007, and a record-breaking 158,000 when the ten-day competition came back to Spokane in 2010. The 1974 World's Fair saw over 4,800,000 people come to Spokane; the World's Fair site is now Riverfront Park in the center of the city.
Our room block is comparable to what has been reserved for other recent Worldcons. In the event of a huge influx of memberships, there are another three dozen hotels available in the area, with a total of over 7000 hotel rooms.
Q: What is there to do in Spokane?
A: Spokane offers many outdoor activities including canoeing on the Little Spokane River, rock climbing, and golfing. The Arbor Crest winery offers both spectacular views of the area and tastings of great local wines, and tours of the area also vist ten local wineries. The Turnbull Wildlife Refuge is home to hundreds of species of waterfowl and other creatures, and the Cat Tales Zoological Park is an educational center which brings people up close to large felines including leopards, jaguars, pumas, and others, even allowing visitors to hand-feed young lions and tigers. Manito Park is a 90-acre site in the city that includes the famous Lilac Garden, the serene Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden, the renaissance-style Duncan Garden and other floral attractions. The Northwest Museum of Arts and Cultures has exhibits of Native American culture, Pioneer-era and modern artifacts, living history at Campbell House, and international events (in summer 2011, the da Vinci exhibit). Riverfront Park in the center of the city has Spokane Falls, the Looft Carousel, and the Skyride above the two waterfalls.
Spokane has many great restaurants and nightlife including the Northern Quest casino just west of the city. The Steam Plant Grill is a steam plant converted into a microbrewery and pub with many great spots for photographing steampunk costumes. The Peacock Room at the Davenport Hotel, stylishly redecorated in an art deco style. Anthony's has excellent seafood and its balcony is one of the best places for photos of Riverfront Park. Tomato Street is a favorite of local authors.
Being the largest city within hundreds of miles, Spokane offers all the usual urban amenities including big office supply and electronics stores, discount club and major grocery chains, and so on.
Q: How do we get to Spokane?
A: Spokane's airport (IATA code GEG) sees flights on the hour to and from Seattle on Alaska Airlines, as well as direct flights on various airlines from a dozen other cities including Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, and San Francisco. Spokane isn't a big city but it is a convention town, so you may see other fans on your flights. Convention members are passengers that the airlines here are prepared to carry.
Spokane is on Interstate 90, an easy four and a half hour drive in from Seattle, a longer but still direct drive from points east for those with business reasons to travel by road, or who just want to enjoy a road trip across the American West. I-15 goes south through Montana and Idaho to Salt Lake City. Spokane is also on Amtrak's famous northern "Empire Builder" line and is the most important stop between Minneapolis and Seattle.
Q: What are the hotel rates in Spokane?
A; The Doubletree Hotel attached to the convention center is $131 a night. Other hotels in the area range from $89 to $139 a night.
Q: What are the actual facilities?
A: The Spokane Convention Center has six large ballrooms, a conference theatre, and another twenty meeting rooms on two levels. Connected to the east, Riverside Hall as a hundred thousand square feet of airwall-divided exhibit space, and connected to the west is the INB Performing Arts Center, with seating for 2700. Between and connected to the Convention Center and Riverside Hall is the Doubletree Hotel with an additional 21,000 square feet of function space, some of which can be used for 24-hour programming rooms or convention offices. The Ballroom, Conference Theater, and Riverview lobby areas have an additional 15,000 square feet suitable for fan tables, concessions, artists' alley, and open exhibits.
Q: Is there a signed contract for facilities?
A: The Spokane Convention and Visitors Bureau has offered SWOC a contract proposal, with secured dates and a contingency clause to handle Worldcon site selection voting. A bid facilities team under Bobbie DuFault and Mike Willmoth are finalizing this negotiation, with the expectation of a completed contract to be signed by the end of 2012. The secured dates in the contract proposal are for August 19-23rd, 2015.