The Columbus 2020 NASFiC’s Kim Williams asked File 770 to signal boost the message posted on their website yesterday:
We would like to announce that at this point in time, April 25th 2020, we are STILL planning for the NASFIC in Columbus OH, to occur – live – on the weekend of August 20 – 23, 2020.
With various states lifting stay in place rules/orders/recommendations the hotel thinks that everything will be just fine.
What we (your NASFIC team) desperately need from you (our Members) is to know if you are still planning to attend. If you are NOT planning to attend, then please cancel your hotel reservation. It’s the only real way we have to know how to proceed.
Registration prices will stay at $100 until we welcome you to the Sheraton, then the at-the-door price will be $125.00.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]
Before comments begin: We have a Force Majeure clause. As we said in the post, the corporation is Marriott and they feel that unless the Governor Dewine keeps numerical limits on gatherings, it will be “just fine”. They are using GA (Dragon Con) as their evidence.
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They say they need to hear from us? I rather think we need to hear from them. I purchased 2 memberships in early March, via PayPall–at their insistence, I hate PayPal. My MasterCard paid PayPal, but I got no acknowledgement from PayPal, who had processed me as a ‘guest’ or from NASFIC. I had to hound them for a month, just to get a receipt acknowledging that they had received the money. I still have not received any acknowledgement for NASFIC that they actually recognize me as a member or, for that matter, any other communication. I had planned to wrk at the con, but cannot apply for that, as I do not have a membership number. And they certainly haven’t troubled to ask me if I plan to attend.
Nope. Had planned to but….Nope. Are you serious?. I place preference on being alive in 2021.
Karol G Sissom: Are you serious?
I think their point is, if the vast majority of their attendees cancel their hotel rooms, the hotel will have to accept that the event is not going to happen.
I bought a membership, paying by check, which was cashed, but never received acknowledgement, until months later I e-mailed the info@ e-dress. In all these months, have received no e-mails from them, no updates, nothing. You know the volume of news and links I send to you, Mike—but never, not once, anything about this NASFiC.
I’m seriously thinking of cancelling my hotel reservation and just walking away. Can’t get to Columbus by train, and have sworn never to fly again.
I’d be sorry to let their Fan GoHs down, but enough is enough, to use a well-worn cliché!
Mike, I’ve forwarded this to the groups FictionMags, Trufen and Fmzfen, plus to 30 others, including people working on the convention and those planning to sell there, and Bcc’ed you..
It took them several months to cash the check for two memberships, but they finally did.
Too early to decide whether or not to attend (and I do have a hotel reservation) but Nicki and I are not going there unless were pretty certain that our health will not be at risk. The default condition is that we’re staying home.
Not attending. I’ve been meaning to get around to cancelling my reservations. Con crud is not to die for.
Also? DragonCon: Ruining It For Everybody (TM).
I, too, hadn’t received any emails from them, no information about panelists signing up for programming (though I had been thinking something might appear on that in May), nothing. So now they want to hear from us? Wouldn’t the hotel punish the con if people don’t attend? (rather than the governor or mayor forcing events not to be held?)
Judging by how stupid people are being down here in Georgia since our idiot governor gave the “all clear” this Friday–yeah, no.
I was never going to attend and certainly wouldn’t do so now, but considering that Arisia’s issues were also with Marriott and the hotel here is a Marriott, do they have a stranglehold on the US convention market? Because they’re pretty awful as a company and e.g. have their employees spy on and harrass women travelling alone, just in case they might be sex workers, so I wonder why so many con hotels are Marriotts. Cause I certainly wouldn’t voluntarily stay at a Marriott.
I haven’t reserved my room yet and I need a mobility accessible room with a roll in shower so I will call them. This is August. I am not too concerned.
Marriott has been very acquisitive recently. The Penguicon hotel used to be SPG (Starwood), and now is a Marriott. This hotel is a Sheraton, which used to be SPG.
@Kevin Hogan: it’s not just a couple of hotels; Marriott bought the entire Starwood organization (Sheraton and Westin big labels, and maybe others — I don’t know whether either had downmarket properties with other labels, like Wyndham with Clarion/Quality/Comfort/Sleep). I’m not happy that this state and city didn’t visibly push the AG to charge anti-trust, since one chain now has something like 80% (SWAG) of the hotel rooms in Boston.
Also: as pointed out here a couple of days ago, DragonCon may not have much choice in the matter given the utter stupidity and/or political cunning of its governor. (You have to wonder someone so … whatever … that even Trump says they’re being too loose about social distancing.) What I’m wondering is how many fans are going to be stuck with non-refundable plane tickets if the pandemic resurges in those states and the cons get canceled late.
I have decided, and a couple of days ago cancelled my room reservations.