We’ve noted that some of our members have reported issues with AirBnB cancellations. We are sorry that is happening. Many of our own team are booked into AirBnB and it is an affordable option in most cases.

Unfortunately, on the 1st of June this year new legislation is supposed to come into effect that will severely limit the ability for Dublin houses and apartments to be rented out for short-term lets if they were not specifically built for the short-term market (i.e. the Key Collection and StayCity apartments that are part of the convention block are permitted).

The exception to this will probably be if the house/apartment is a person’s primary residence and then only if either let out for a maximum of 90 days per annum, and for a 14-day maximum period, or if the entire property is not rented out (i.e homeshare accommodation).

As of yet we do not know the full legislation, as it is still with the Dáil (the Irish legislature) so we cannot even be sure if the new legislation will grandfather in existing bookings.

The official site from the Minister for Housing is here: https://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/private-rented-housing/residential-tenancies-board/minister-murphy-announces-new-reforms

Disappointingly, we are hearing stories of landlords making preemptive moves to get out of the short-term let business and cancelling existing bookings. So we would like to now advise members who have rented houses/apartments for their trip to Dublin from a private landlord to contact them and confirm that their booking is still good.

And please note although this is colloquially termed the AirBnB law, it covers all short-term lets including those made privately and through other companies and platforms.

We wish we had more definite news to pass on, but we are as much in the dark as anyone, and the current issues we are hearing, stem from actions taken in preparation for the new legislation, rather than the legislation itself, making it even harder to ascertain the impact.

If you are affected please do look to our accommodations, there may be something that could suit you.

Accommodation page: https://dublin2019.com/location/accommodation/

Hotels page with map link & rates link: https://dublin2019.com/location/accommodation/hotels/

You can book directly with Conference-Partners, our hotel booking bureau.

Members with access needs should contact access@dublin2019.com as soon as possible, immediately if you can please, as we are still holding a small number of accessible rooms at various hotels with easy wheelchair-friendly commutes to the CCD, but we have to release these shortly. Our team are happy to assist.

My thanks and once again, contact your landlord and confirm your plans please.

Very best

James

James Bacon
Chair
Dublin 2019, an Irish Worldcon

The post Short Term Rentals (AirBnB) in Ireland appeared first on Dublin 2019.

We have watched as membership increases beyond our expectations, and have been working for some time now on how to ensure we can welcome and accommodate everyone.

We also want to ensure that any expansion works to improve the experience for members who come along, while taking into account that there is not a building directly next to the Convention Centre Dublin that we can expand into.

Eight hundred and fifty meters from the CCD, or just over half a mile, are a number of facilities that we have decided to hire and use at a wonderful location called The Point. Conveniently, there is a Luas stop outside the CCD and one outside our new facilities, with direct tram travel between them. The facilities include hotel function rooms for over 300 people, auditorium space in the Odeon Cinema for 1,000 people, 2,600 sq metres of extra exhibits space, and a number of bars, social spaces, and restaurants, all in one ‘Block’.

The additional space is not only desirable to accommodate our members, but also to accommodate everything we want to celebrate and bring to our members. It allows elements such as our art show to increase their footprint, it allows programme to programme more items for the 800 potential participants who have signed up already, it allows us to include an amazing installation from a featured artists, it will allow us to have more large displays, and it will allow us to increase dealers’ space and our ‘creative alley’.

The new spaces are the Odeon Cinema, The ‘Warehouse’, and the Gibson hotel.

The Odeon Cinema offers us six purpose built auditoriums, with very high standards in projection, for presentations and film. There will be food concessions available here as well as some social space. Programme items in the Odeon screens would run on the half-hour to allow movement between items at the Odeon and the CCD. The availability of purpose-built audio-visual equipment, will of course be appreciated, especially by our art and media teams.

The ‘Warehouse’ features some 2,600 sq metres of exhibit space in two large rooms. It is directly below the Odeon Cinema, and has just seen the Dublin Christmas Flea Market take place for the second year running. 

The larger of the ‘Warehouse’ spaces has very high floor to ceiling windows along one whole side, offering considerably more natural light than we would have at the CCD. With the enthusiastic support of our Art Show team, we will now situate the Art Show in this space. In many respects, it made me think of Andy Warhol’s Factory, although the wall of glass offers us quite a unique feature for convention or other spaces.

The Warehouse offers us the opportunity to expand what activities we were intending to have occur, offering our Programme, Fringe and Events divisions extra space to look at what will work well. We will be working to make this a vast ‘creative hub’ with a focus for art, art-related and other creative activities that occur and can occur at a Worldcon.  

The Gibson Hotel is next door to the Odeon, and I have mentioned this previously in communications, and is where we intend to have the WSFS business meeting amongst other activities and programme. The Hotel also has two bars as well as indoor and outdoor social space, and outside these three venues there are a number of eateries, including Starbucks, Eddie Rockets Diner, Rubys Pizza and Grill, and the Salad Box.  

Our Fringe division has demonstrated to us that we can do more, beyond the walls of the Convention Centre Dublin, and now with this space we will bring you our ‘Creative Hub’.

We can now start to realise some of the more brilliant ideas that the team have harboured and work to bring to fruition such ideas as collaborative art projects, live model sketching, workshops, performances and presentations as well as a crafting lounge,  a generous showcase for our featured artists, and a walk through installation — to name but a few of the elements.

The choice has been simple. We want to do more, to bring you more, to enhance your experience at Dublin, and as membership grows, we also want to welcome people, and make them feel comfortable. It was expand or die, wait, no I mean expand or stop taking memberships.

We have worked hard to get this far, and are committed to continuing to work hard on our new Creative Hub and hope you will enjoy what we have planned.

As ever my very best – James

The post Dublin 2019 Expands: Announcing Dublin 2019’s New Creative Hub appeared first on Dublin 2019.

When we reach 700 First Worldcon members, we will be ceasing this offer. We think this is quite an achievement and are very pleased that we can welcome so many fans to their first Worldcon. Dublin 2019 has benefited from a brilliant idea that Helsinki implemented. However, once we reach 700 first Worldcon memberships sold we will remove the First Worldcon rate option from our website. We expect that this could happen quickly after we make this announcement.

I am sorry that we cannot keep this particular offer going. I did not expect us to reach that figure this soon, but we are pleased so many have availed of the offer. We hope many other people will also choose to make Dublin 2019 their first Worldcon, but we cannot sustain selling memberships at this discounted rate and still bring you the convention we envision.

We are and will be pursuing other initiatives:

– We have an instalment plan available to help spread the cost of a Dublin 2019 membership.

– Beginning Saturday the 20th of October, we will have 100 memberships available at the first Worldcon rate exclusively for residents of the Island of Ireland, to help encourage those from Ireland to attend their first Worldcon. Local initiatives elsewhere have proven successful and we hope that will be too.

– We will soon launch the Fantastic Dublin Fund, which will help fans of limited financial means attend Dublin 2019.

– We have donated memberships to Con-or-Bust to help fans of colour to attend Dublin 2019.

I am grateful to all the fans who have joined and support Dublin 2019. With your support we will continue to work to make Dublin 2019 a welcoming experience as well as a brilliant celebration of the fantastic.

The post From the Chair’s Desk: First Worldcon Rate Ending appeared first on Dublin 2019.

The idea of going to a comic convention and giving away free books to promote conventions more focused on SF/F literature started with an Eastercon, LX2009. In 2008 I helped John Dowd to attend London Film and Comic Con and Thought Bubble, and we realised this could welcome new members to our cons. It is amazing the support that comic cons have given and Showmasters, who run LFCC, went on to support Loncon’s outreach efforts at their Collectormania and London Film and Comic Cons.

After the idea was floated in 2009 in Montreal at the Worldcon, although receiving limited support formally from WSFS, by 2011 an Science Fiction Outreach event was planned by myself, Helen Montgomery, Chris Garcia, and Spike. We got a booth at Wondercon in San Francisco to help promote Bay Area cons and the Reno Worldcon that year. Supported by many organisations who run cons, and have run Worldcons, funds were granted and it was very successful.

Helen Montgomery, who is on the Dublin committee, has gone on to lead the US SF Outreach Project efforts annually since then, and the organisation is now a registered 501(c)(3) US non-profit. Since 2011, SF Outreach has been to Emerald City Comic Con, C2E2, Dallas Comic Con, and this year they were at Silicon Valley Comic Con, working hard promoting Worldcon 76 which is in the same Convention Centre.

The organisers of Dublin Comic Con, Karl Walsh and Derek Cosgrave, have developed a real growing convention, and each year it has been in the Convention Centre Dublin, Dublin 2019 have been there with Free Books and Comics, promoting not only Dublin 2019, but with flyers and team members of Octocon, Titancon, Gaelcon, Eastercon and any convention that wants to help.

The experience though is quite something else. I have been fortunate to help at a number of the outreach events, and I am always astounded by how voracious and knowledgeable young readers are. The questions are always the best, asking if we have anything by a given author, which can frequently lead to quite a lot of engagement and the demographics of interest change, obviously, depending where one is. The diversity at C2E2 in Chicago was especially noticeable to me, and I had some cracking conversations, mostly as I was from Ireland, and that was of interest to fans. (Who knew!)

Near the end of the day, people cycle back to the free table, all their funds exhausted in the show. Free always sounds good, and often the Outreach tables and booths are busier longer, if we haven’t run out. We do keep stock back, so every day we have a good supply.

No matter where we go, we try and focus on ensuring we have something for all ages of reader. We isolate books for children and younger readers, and keep them to one side; we know adults also love them, but we conserve them so every child can walk away with a book or comic.

This year in Dublin we have 4 large boxes of Childrens Comics, The Beano, Whizzer and Chips and Buster, and cartoon based Superhero comics as well as children’s books, and we will ensure kids get them.

It positively encourages the gentle transition of fascination with all that is super heroes or fun on the screen, to reading on the pages.

These projects have benefited hugely from established conventions who support their logistical activities and also from individuals and organisations who make generous donations of books, magazines and comics as well as their time and effort. Publishers and book stores also support the activities, and Half Price Books in the states have consistently been very good to SF Outreach.

This year, Dave Finn from Incognito Comics has again given two car loads of magazines, books, and comics to Outreach, knowing from seeing it in action at London Film and Comic Con, that the energy and enthusiasm to encourage reading is genuine and if as a by-product, people go to more cons, well isn’t that just fabulous.

The promotions team for Dublin 2019 will be at Dublin Comic Con next weekend, and if you are in Dublin and want to check out anything to do with the Worldcon, please do call by and speak to us if you are going to Dublin Comic Con. (Check tickets availability, they do sell so well!)

The team are also always looking for donations of books, comics, magazines, and so forth, so do get in touch with promotions@dublin2019.com if you like the sound of your less favourite books that are spare going to new readers and helping to promote SF Conventions.

Our thanks to all the cons who help us, those who donate, and we hope to see you at Dublin Comic Con.

Video of the Worldcon 76 team and Helen at Silicon Valley Comic Con 2018
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1OwxWEAPYZZGQ

Outreach at Dublin Comic Con 2015
http://file770.com/home-is-where-the-heart-is-outreach-in-dublin/

SF Outreach at Wondercon 2011
http://file770.com/sf-outreach-at-wondercon/

The post From the Chair’s Desk: Dublin Comic Con and Outreach appeared first on Dublin 2019.

One of those pieces of work has been the ongoing negotiations with our facilities, including hotels, and it became clear that despite great efforts, our hotels are more expensive than we would like and the booking arrangements are less than we had hoped for.

We have considerable discounts off current Dublin rates, but like one’s airline ticket, one has to pay up early to get the best price. Rates generally also include taxes and a full Irish breakfast, but even so we would have liked to have done better.

This is not the news I want to give, and I am sorry. Yet we agreed that it is important that we are honest and upfront about the situation with all our members as soon as we realised how things stood. Hence, we are using all communication channels, as we hope that fans who are forewarned can plan and find solutions that suit them, and we will work to provide a range of offerings.

We will be publishing our price list in August, and opening general hotel bookings in January, and hope this will allow you to be informed, and make both provision and plan for booking of your accommodation.

We are continuing to work on other offerings, and are pleased with the student accommodation options we have so far, but recognise that the hotel situation in Dublin is not akin to other cities where Worldcon has been hosted.

The convention is not tied to any one hotel by contract. We will have a wide range of contracts, and therefore booking elsewhere yourself independently of the convention is not an issue for us at all.

Most of all, I am sorry we do not have better prices for you all, but we are really working hard on this and hope we can manage it as best we can with you.

We will share our prices in August, so people can plan accordingly. Below is the information we have, that will also be on our website on our hotels and accommodation page.

For those with room-related access needs, you’ll be able to make reservations in December 2018, before general booking opens. In addition, our Access team of Paul and Jen are available at access@dublin2019.com for any queries. For general hotel-related questions, please contact facilities@dublin2019.com.

My very best as ever,
James Bacon

The post From the Chair’s Desk: Important Hotel Information appeared first on Dublin 2019.

We have a full weekend ahead of us, with representatives from Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon at Norweson in Seattle and in Harrogate at Eastercon in Britain.

At Eastercon we will be selling copies of Warhoon 28. This artifact of beauty is a hardcover 668 page fanzine behemoth, printed by mimeograph to a very high quality, published in 1978 by Richard Bergeron. It is a collection of the writings of Belfast Fan, Walt Willis.

Walt Willis started what was called Irish Fandom in Belfast on August 26th, 1947 when he successfully connected with James White and he went on to produce fanzines, write many articles, travel to the US by ship in 1952 and come to be recognised as a fan writer of superior and indeed unique quality, he had a way with words and language and punning that worked to great amusement while having an eye and writing style that portrayed what he saw exceptionally well.

The fanzine is a complete anthology of the writings from the fazines Slant and Hyphen including the columns: “The Harp That Once Or Twice”, “The Harp Stateside”, and “Twice Upon A Time”, as well as other writings. Warhoon 28 was nominated for a Hugo in for 1981 in the best non-fiction book category.

Walt Willis was a fascinating chap, in 1958 he won the Hugo Award as “Outstanding Actifan” (active fan), he received a number of nominations for best fan writer and best fanzine Hugo, and he received a retro-Hugo in the fanzine category for Slant with art editor James White in 2004.

Warhoon 28 is amazing, and we will have some for sale at £15 at our Eastercon table.
The promotions team have worked with Joe Siclari to make these fanzines available.

Copies of Walt’s fanzine Slant are available to read here: http://fanac.org/fanzines/Slant/

We will be pushing for memberships very hard as our prices go up on the 3rd of April so we need as many people to join or to upgrade their memberships on Monday the 2nd.

We will of course have the machinery to do so but it is just as easy online if you are unable to join us.

I am busy encouraging bid pre-supporters, bid backers, and friends to sign up now and get the cheapest rate available. We have worked to make a family rate and instalment plan available before the price increase as well.

For information about our memberships please visit:  http://www.dublin2019.com/join-us

Please do consider upgrading, it really helps us plan, and we want to welcome as many people as possible to Dublin.

James

The post From the Chair’s desk- Cons this week and Warhoon 28 appeared first on Dublin 2019.

The nature of a Worldcon bid is exactly that, a bid. You have to go out and court votes, seek support and then bring the bid together in such a way that you are deemed able to run the convention. The last thing we want is to look like losers or old Pirates. One has to be responsible. But this is the price to pay if you desire to be successful.

The first official meeting for Dublin 2019 was on the 5th of May 2012. Although thoughts of a Worldcon had been discussed in 2010, and some actions taken in 2011, that meeting was the first official engagement. A turning point when it could be clearly seen that something ‘official’ was occurring.

It is a long road. And along that road, twice a year, bids attend ‘Fannish Inquisitions’. One at the Worldcon, the other at Smofcon.

In Texas, at Lonestarcon 3 in 2013, we ‘launched’ our bid at the Fannish Inquisition. It was a secret, although members at the 2012 Octocon had been confidentially informed ‘on camera’ at the closing ceremony. In Texas, many fans worked to ensure that no one knew. So when a three page gatefold document was suddenly handed out and time was found for us to talk about Dublin as a prospective bid, it became an amazing experience. The room was electrified! A crowd of supporters, committee members and fans in Cabra, Dublin was watching through a live stream on the internet, as the room reacted to our announcement.

These were our people. It wasn’t like the door was open, it was being held open. This was no trap. That first announcement took a lot of work. We turned up like a fleet dropping out of hyperspace and taking everyone by surprise. No one was ready with shields up, although we knew we wouldn’t get another chance at it… and we ensured that we were ready.

It is one of those things where the whole team has to accelerate to attack speed, ensuring that the Frequently Asked Questions (which vary from year to year) are answered, that data and information are all correct and ready for our presentation. Otherwise, it would be the shortest bid of all time.

The idea of it going wrong looms like a shadow over everything we have built. Although we are polished and professional at this stage, the things we’re asked are determined by what is currently of interest and so one must be prepared for all types of questions.

So the stage is set. We usually have a slide presentation, or a video, with some words spoken. Various people have taken the lead here over the years. Sometimes I have been there… on my own, or with others. Then the questions come. We have had up to fifteen minutes of questions and it really feels like a long fifteen minutes. They have been fascinating, however. One about the environmental impact of turf burning threw us off quite badly… But we have to address every question fairly and welcome the chance to set misunderstandings or misconceptions right.

One must engage directly at point blank range with these questions and be honest and true. There is no shame in saying ‘I do not know’. But then you need to follow up with an answer shortly thereafter and include it in future FAQ’s. So one tries to be ready, or indeed flanked in attack position by fellow committee members who may know the exact detail that may be required.

Now we are a seated Worldon. The mission has changed. No longer do we need votes, but rather we need to build confidence in the convention and instil the desire to attend into potential attendees. Make them want to come.

Many fans who have supported the bid are keen to see it now do the right thing, since it is the seated Worldcon. And there are checkpoints and warning markers that some will be looking for, signs of things going astray, that they will be quick to ask about. While this is a challenge, it is one that the committee must face. We do our best not to get scratched, but it also works for us. We set expectations and have a clear understanding of what we are about.

Dublin is a unique host city. In 2019, it will be 1031 years old… that’s assuming we use 988 AD for the foundation date, as the government did for the Millennial celebrations. Of course, it could be that Dublin was first Eblana, as referred to by Claudius Ptolemaeus – a Greek astronomer and cartographer around 140 AD. Either way, the city is rich in history, has a variety of historical architecture, a pub that was established in 1198 and is very different from other cities that have hosted Worldcons.

In Chicago, the Hyatt Regency hotel has over 2,000 bedrooms and some 20,000 square metres of space where were held a number of Worldcons. Other Worldcons have had 4 or 5 hotels with hundreds of rooms in each allocated to them. But in Dublin, this will not be the case. So it is important that we explain this. And we do.

It is one task in many hundreds (if not thousands) that we must undertake. It is important, of course, but equally important to me were the various sessions we had at Octocon in Dublin, or the successful SF outreach at Dublin’s Comic Con.

The positive energy that a convention possesses is vital for recruitment and membership. A good Fannish Inquistion can build energy and enthusiasm. Most importantly, it lets people know that our convention will be beautiful and that they should truly be among us at Dublin 2019 an Irish Worldcon.

Lando Calrissian Quotes:

“How you doin’ Chewbacca? Still hanging around with this loser?”
“How you doing, you old pirate? “
“Yeah, I’m responsible these days… it’s the price you pay for being successful.”
“You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds”
“We won’t get another chance at this, Admiral.”
“Yes, I said closer! Move as close as you can, and engage those Star Destroyers at point blank range!”
“He’ll have that shield down in time, or this’ll be the shortest offensive of all time.”
“Here goes nothing”

The post From the Chair’s Desk: The Fannish Inquisition with added Lando appeared first on Dublin 2019.

You have just under a week to upgrade to friend or Super friend, or pre-support Dublin 2019.

In less than a week’s time, we will close down the online facility to upgrade, from pre-supporter or backer to friend or super friend.

We will also be closing down our registration web page so that we can get all the information and data ready for the Vote. We will hopefully be transitioning to a convention, if we win the vote, and we hope you’d support us getting that preparation right.

Those of you at Helsinki will be able to do these transactions at our fan table.

To be clear, midnight Sunday 6th at midnight, Irish time, (BST) we will cease the facility to upgrade, and cease taking pre-supports of all types.

If you wish to upgrade your membership level or have any other queries, please mail registrar@dublin2019.com

Details are here: https://dublin2019.com/support-us/

In case you need to refresh your memory.

Over the last three years, we have had hundreds of people give us their money to support the bid, and that helped us greatly. I am proud to say that thanks to the amazing volunteers, staff and committee, as well as all of those who pre-supported us in any way, we have been a strong bid, and it gave us a fantastic position.

We are exceptionally lucky that no one competed against us, apart from Dublin, in California, which is a nice town, and that was by people who cannot wait to visit Ireland.

It is thanks to those of you who helped, with your hard earned cash, with hard toil and sweat, and tears, that we are where we are. So we need to let you know, that upgrading will cease as an option in a week.

Likewise, if you have friends who were interested and wanted to join, becoming a friend and then converting once we win, would be welcomed. The more members we have from the start, the better we can plan.

As ever, my thanks to those of you who pre-supported at any level. We are in a great position, and if we win the bid, you should know you were an integral part of that, and that is why many of you did pre-support us, and for that, along with the committee, we are very thankful.

As ever, my very best,

James

The post 6th August Closing date for Upgrading and Pre-supporting! appeared first on Dublin 2019.