Capclave 2010…what’s up…
I’m the Capclave Chair for 2010. That means that starting now we’re gearing up for the convention that is to be held in October of 2010 somewhere in the DC area. This year’s Capclave 2009 will be in the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville, Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The convention guests will be Harry Turtledove as Author Guest of Honor and Sheila Williams as Editor Guest of Honor. If you’re in the area please make and effort to come to the convention.
As for my convention, I’m in the early planning stages. In order to get guests of honor, you need a hotel and a date to hold the convention. The hotel liaison for the past several years has unfortunately burnt out and the previous liaison is still recuperating from her multi-year stint, so this year two wonderful, energetic, and stalwart volunteers have stepped up to work in that position. This means that the job duties can be shared and that, hopefully, the stress will be lighter. It also means two more people in the club (WSFA) will have experience in working with hotels on events. The more the knowledge gets shared the less likely such knowledge will be lost to the club. The past hotel liaisons have been unstinting of their time and knowledge and have been helpful in answering questions from all of us who are new to event planning (and that includes myself).
Today, we met and went over the requirements we have for function space (how many rooms, what sizes, what has to fit where), the events to include during the weekend of the convention, and other items that are necessary in order that we can properly negotiate a contract with a hotel. Now that we’ve pretty much hammered out what we need/want/wish for/desire, it’s time to put that in the context of what we need to know from the hotel (can we, is it possible, cost, and other factors). Hopefully, we’re now just about ready to actually talk to the hotel and find out if we still are a good fit.
No matter what, there will be a convention in 2010 and it will be in October. Hopefully, I’ll be posting updates on the planning process as we go along. There’s a lot more involved in putting on a convention than what you might think. I’ve volunteered to work at many local and national and international conventions and I’m finding out a lot that I didn’t know. All I can say is that the people who put on science fiction and fantasy conventions are a great group of people who are dedicated to seeing that the convention goer has a great time. They do not hesitate to share their knowledge and their experience and have, at least in dealing with my questions, the patience of Job.