A bid to bring the 2014 Worldcon to London was officially announced on April 2 at the British Eastercon by spokesman Chris Priest.

The committee proposes to hold the con August 14-18, 2014 in the new International Convention Centre, part of the ExCeL exhibition centre complex in London’s Docklands. 

Leading the bid are co-chairs Steve Cooper and Mike Scott. Steve headed the Publications division for the 2005 Glasgow Worldcon, and is the deputy Facilities division head for 2011 Worldcon in Reno. Mike has extensive Worldcon experience, and co-edits the Hugo award-winning fanzine Plokta.

There are two Deputy Chairs. James Bacon, a former TAFF winner, also co-chaired the 2009 Eastercon. Alice Lawson was the Member Services division head at Interaction and chaired the 2001 Eastercon.

Other members are Claire Brialey, Secretary, co-editor of Banana Wings; John Dowd, Treasurer; Rita Medany, Membership, who is chairing the 2010 Eastercon; and two Advisers, past Worldcon chairs Vince Docherty and Colin Harris.

The bid, and the convention itself, will be non-profit-making organisations run entirely by unpaid volunteers. The bid will be primarily financed by the sale of “pre-supporting” and “friend” memberships, costing £12 and £60 respectively and giving discounts on membership of the convention itself. See the bid website for more details.

The full press release follows the jump.

[Thanks to Mike Scott for the story.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LONDON IN 2014 PRESS RELEASE #1

Friday 2 April 2010

LONDON LAUNCHES BID TO HOST 2014 WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION

A UK committee has tonight launched a bid to hold the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (“Worldcon”) in London in August 2014. The bid was launched with a party at the 2010 UK National Science Fiction Convention, “Odyssey 2010”, where the choice of London as the host city for the bid was announced by British science fiction author Chris Priest (who was a Guest of Honour at Interaction, the previous UK Worldcon in Glasgow in 2005).

The Worldcon is the premier international science fiction event, and awards the prestigious Hugo Awards for achievement in the field of science fiction. 2014 will be the 75th anniversary of the first Worldcon, in New York in 1939, since when the event has been held every year apart from a break during the Second World War. 

More often than not the Worldcon is held in North America, but it has visited the UK on six previous occasions, and there have also been Worldcons in Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Japan. It was last hosted by London in 1965, nearly fifty years ago. Typically the Worldcon attracts around 5,000 attendees from around the world, including hundreds of professional authors, editors, artists and publishers.

The site for each Worldcon is selected by vote of the members of the event held two years previously, so the 2014 site will be selected by the members of the 2012 Worldcon, which is likely to be held in Chicago. Between now and 2012, the bid committee will be publicising and promoting the bid to science fiction fans all around the world.

Assuming the bid is successful, the convention will be held from 14-18 August 2014 in the new International Convention Centre, which is part of the ExCeL exhibition centre complex in London’s Docklands. The name of the convention, and its Guests of Honour, will only be announced once the bid has been won.

Mike Scott, co-chair of the bid committee, comments “We’re excited by the opportunity to bring the Worldcon back to London after a gap of forty-nine years. 2014 will be the 75th anniversary of the first Worldcon in New York, and we’re hoping to mark the occasion in another great world city.  London is the home of the UK’s publishing and media industries, and is the largest and most diverse city in Western Europe. We think this gives us a chance to run a very special Worldcon, bringing together the best elements of different science fiction traditions, and reaching out to new science fiction fans from all around the world.”

The bid, and the convention itself, will be non-profit-making organisations run entirely by unpaid volunteers. The bid will be primarily financed by the sale of “pre-supporting” and “friend” memberships, costing £12 and £60 respectively and giving discounts on membership of the convention itself. One of the objectives of the bid is to encourage a greater interest in the Worldcon and the science fiction community among the next generation of science fiction fans, and heavily discounted rates are available for members who will be aged under 26 at the time of the convention. Memberships, and further details about the bid, are available via the bid’s website: http://www.londonin2014.org/ 

Inquiries and requests for information can be sent to [email protected].

ENDS

Press inquiries, or requests to be removed from our press release mailing list, should be sent to [email protected].

“Worldcon”, “World Science Fiction Convention” and “Hugo Award” are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

—
Mike Scott
[email protected]