Over on Europa SF there is an interview with Arno Behrend, the leader of the bid to bring Eurocon to Dortmund in 2017. I have long been of the opinion that European fandom needs to fully embrace large countries such as Germany, France and Spain. We have the Barcelona Eurocon on the schedule now for 2016. Here’s hoping that Germany gets a turn.
Oh, and you do know what Dortmund is famous for, don’t you? Right: beer.
Germany has a number of active fans and I know that they have considered bidding for their second Worldcon. The consensus opinion seems to be that they could do it if their various balkanised groups worked together.
That may be true if it comes to national events, as a convention with “literature only” does not get more of a few hundred of attendants. But I do not know how about Worldcon, but at Eurocon I usually do not see a lot of role-players, Trekkies, Otakus and so around either.
I thought Barcelona was 2016. would definitely be up for Dortmund in 2017 – IF I’M NOT GOING TO HELSINKI.
Too bad they can’t take over 2015.
Of course it is. Fixed now. Thank you!
2015 will be in St. Petersburg.
Sadly, yes. Much as I love the Russian fans, and would love to visit such a beautiful city, some things are just too much of a risk.
Well, I worry too. I know St.Petersburg does not belong to the safest destinations in the world (I know people there usually feel safe, but a tourist with a map who does not know the dangerous parts of the city is much more in danger) and my fandom is not that vivid that I could hope for all-day-company. At the Eurocon in Dublin I was the only one of my country and others I already know … well, this was nothing to rely on. E.g. I could never persuade anyone go out with me for lunch or dinner. The answers were like: “No, I am fine here.” – “I am waiting for a friend. No, I cannot estimate the time my friend will arrive.” (You see, I was not taking about ten minutes more or less, but if I am hungry and this person will probably take hours to show up – and then possibly say that (s)he does not want to eat out, this is too much for a hungry person.) – “Well, I want to go out with my friends. – Yes, of course you can join, but I am not sure when the others will come and then we need to find a restaurant that serves the needs of a diabethic and a vegan.” (Good luck in a foreign country, sounds like a two hour odyssey after waiting about an hour until everyone appeared by chance!) – But you know, it was Dublin. I could also go out all alone for a pizza. (Though I wouldn´t liked to stay in hostel in the suburb.)
For St. Petersburg I´d need a group of people who stay at the convention most of the time (with my landsmen I had the experience that they prefer sight-seeing and just drop by at the con), but go together with me if there are different venues (con party included) and would also join eating out or some moderate sight-seeing beside the con. – I am a single woman (unfortunatly), I am of this certain age, I find it difficult to find the right way in any city and I think it would be most dangerous walking home alone from a party all alone in St. Petersburg. These people should be reliable and not suddenly disappearing. I will see if I find some, if one, I´d rather stay at home, although I already have my membership. We will see. I asked a friend from Finland now, she is my age and will have more company, so probably we would have quite similar ideas about the perfect stay at an Eurocon.
Thanks, but it isn’t criminals I’m worried about, it is the police. I doubt that I’d get a visa, but if I did then technically I’d be liable to be arrested simply for going out in public.
O.K., I suppose I know why … But well, in my case I worry about crime mostly. And my Mum started her: “You´ll never return alive!” again when she found out that the next Eurocon will be in St. Petersburg (the first time she did so with Kiev, and basically she was not that wrong. Someone had the silly idea to go to fetch fast food late at night – I refused and called this a silly idea (you know, if there is a best part of this city, the hotel was not there and there was hardly any light on the way), but although he took another man as company, they had some unpleasant situation with local youngsters. And this was exactly the situation to behave in a mean way and say: “I told you something like can easily happen before!”) – I will probably go to St. Petersburg, but in that case, I´d take precautions like staying in the con hotel and not somewhere cheap and get the company of a group of people, especially after nightfall. But they need to share my interests (party, sightseeing etc.).
The price of beer in Germany in general should be a big selling point for any big con there. At the supermarket, it is hard to find a beer that costs more than a euro. My fingers are crossed for Dortmund as well.
Beer in Germany is good and cheap, at least at the supermarket. (Well, it is good everywhere, but there is a big difference in price between supermarket and restaurant.) I was at Germany at a convention this autumn and I could store my goodies (also these I shopped at a local supermarket) behind the fair stand of a fanzine. I met a landsmen and offered him a beer and he said “… Oh, well, yes, one sip of yours will be enough … I do not want to take it away from you …” and then I said: “Don´t be silly, I paid 35 Eurocent for this, so just take a bottle.”
“European fandom needs to fully embrace large countries such as Germany, France and Spain. ”
They would if they presented bids for Eurocons.
The last German Eurocon (1999) was quite good.
Once every decade and a bit is about right for a European country
with a reasonably organised fandom, given the number of European countries.
Re: 2015. Sadly the host nation has – ahem – history that the 2015 team do not seem to have addressed.
(And the membership list size at this stage in two-year organising is not exactly encouraging http://eurocon2015.org/en/membership/members-list/ )