2007 NASFiC: St. Louis Stands Alone

A 2007 NASFiC loomed on the horizon immediately after fans chose Japan
to host the Worldcon for that year. NASFiC – the North American Science Fiction Convention – is provided under the same World Science Fiction Society rules that govern Worldcons, Hugos, and where Ben Yalow
spends Labor Day.

Competing bids for Ocean City, MD or St. Louis, MO were initially publicized, but site selection administrator Tom Veal announced on his Stromata weblog that St. Louis alone submitted a bid by the March 5 filing deadline. Only qualified bids are listed on the site selection ballot. The voters, members of CascadiaCon, the 2005 NASFiC in Seattle, could always indicate a preference for “none of the above” or “no con,” or cast enough write-ins for an unlisted candidate, but the expectation is that St. Louis will win the upcoming vote.

St. Louis bidders will piggyback the NASFiC onto their annual Archon. Instead of the usual fall date, the con will be held August 2-5, 2007. According to bidder Rich Zellich, “This is to allow fans from outside the St. Louis metropolitan area to attend with their families before the fall school sessions start, and puts us a month before the Worldcon instead of a month after it.”

They will use their usual venue, the Collinsville Gateway Center and adjacent Holiday Inn. They will have two additional ballrooms in the Gateway Center for expanded programming, with construction of the new wing scheduled for April 2006 completion.

Zellich cautions, “Even though we are the only filed bidder, since the vote has not yet been held we will refrain from announcing our projected 2007 Guests of Honor until Progress Report Zero, to be handed out on Sunday at CascadiaCon.”