A group of fans from Zagreb has turned up in Denver and announced a Worldcon bid for 2013. I will try to track them down for a podcast later. The Texans, who were planning a 2013 bid, look worried.
Update: I’ve just been checking distances, and Zagreb appears to be about 1400 km from Amsterdam, so if they do win it should not rule out a UK or Netherlands bid for 2015.
hmm, interesting. Looks like there’s a new airport in the offing and decent transit. Kickass! This would actually tempt me . . .
Using http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/calculators Zagreb to Heathrow comes in at about 1370km and Amsterdam is closer. By the way, what is special about 1400km?
Dave: There’s nothing special about 1400 km, but there is a WSFS rule that requires that sites bidding to host a Worldcon must be more than 800 km from the site hosting the election for that Worldcon. For example, if Zagreb were to win the 2013 Worldcon, any sites bidding for 2015 would have to be more than 800 km away. As there is some talk of a bid for a site in the Netherlands or the UK in 2015, the question was raised at the Business Meeting of how far Zagreb is from Amsterdam or The Hague. It seems that the separation is sufficient that a Zagreb Worldcon in 2013 would not rule out an Amsterdam Worldcon in 2015.