Bouchercon 2010: No contest

For the first time in living memory, two groups have submitted valid bids to stage the Bouchercon mystery conference in the same year. The year is 2010 (which even though it sounds like a far-off science fiction future, is actually only two years away) and the cities are San Francisco and Tempe, AZ.

You can read more about the proposals here:

San Francisco bid
Tempe bid

Having reviewed the information provided by both parties, I find that there really is no contest between the two: the San Francisco bid is superior. It's in a better location and it's run by people with a long-standing connection to the mystery world. (The Tempe folks have a lot of experience in the science fiction community, but apparently none in the crime world.)

I'm also somewhat non-plussed by the programming ideas put forward by the Tempe committee. Although they seem well thought-out, they don't strike me as being especially interesting.

As a result, I believe the San Francisco proposal has greater potential for resulting in a successful and entertaining conference.

(I should note that the committee chair for San Francisco, Rae Helmsworth, is an acquaintance of mine. I don't recommend the bid based on that connection. However, knowing her does favorably impress me regarding her ability to put together an excellent conference.)

The attendees at this year's upcoming Bouchercon in Baltimore will vote to decide which bid is accepted. I urge everyone who's going to be there to show up and vote.

Comments

[Rick Drake]

Hey, hey, what do you say? We want a contract right away!

Hey, hey what's the fuss? We're standing up for justice!

Hey, hey it's clear to me! Our people here have unity!

I don't know, but I've been told, management's pockets are lined with gold!

Hey manamement, can you hear it? This sound is union spirit!

There's bats and rats and lice and cabs, but the lowest form of life is a union scab!

El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!!!

Solidarity, brothers!!!

The Draker

[Guyot]

I would much prefer mystery people to put on what is arguably the biggest and best mystery conference. That's a no-brainer.

But even taking that out of it, looking at the two proposals, the San Francisco bid seems much better.

If I were going to Baltimore, I'd vote SF. Someone please proxy.

[Rae]

Hi,

Thanks for the vote of confidence, it's most appreciated.

I think it's cool that the Bouchercon membership will have the opportunity to choose where they want to go in 2010 - it should all be very interesting.

[David J. Montgomery]

Agreed -- kudos to both groups for going to the effort to put forth a bid. This is very encouraging.

I wish we knew who the proposed Guests of Honor are, as that might make a difference. (I recognize there are logistical problems with this.)

[Rae]

Regarding Guests of Honor, I'm talking to several people. However, it feels unseemly to me to publish names until we know which proposal is approved. I'd hate to have this conversation: "Hey, Mrs. Distinguished Author, thanks for putting your name out there, but we weren't good enough". Ugh ;-)

Bouchercon has a long tradition of honoring wonderful writers and contributors to the genre. I also think that San Francisco would be attractive to potential GoH's. So, all in all, I'm not worried about that component of the program.

[David J. Montgomery]

Rae, I'm with ya that it would be potentially problematic for a variety of reasons to publicize the names -- but knowing who they are could play a component in the decision. But yeah, I know why it's not practical.

[Rob]

I haven't looked at the proposals yet, but I'm thinking I'd much rather go to San Fran than Tempe. I love SF. Of course, you seldom see the outside of the conference hotel (or bar) at B-Con, so geographic location might not be the best thing to judge on. I do wonder if Tempe might be less expensive than a conference in SF. Anyway, I'm done speculating. I'll actually go check out the proposals now.