[File 770 asked the Glasgow in 2024 bidders whether the huge international climate summit, COP26, being held this week in SEC, the venue where they propose to hold the Worldcon, will have any effects or benefits for them.]
By Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Chair, Glasgow in 2024 Bid: Thanks for the recent query about COP26. It’s all rather exciting — we were able to visit Glasgow last month and hear directly about some of the preparations that the SEC is undertaking. Many of these will have long term effects on the site, and will also guide the SEC in their upcoming expansion. I’ve also included an image – it’s Getty Images, and came from this page here, which also gives more general details of Scotland’s own plans after the event: “COP26: Nicola Sturgeon says credible action needed on climate crisis”. (BBC News)
COP26 has produced an enormous impact on Glasgow. In advance, there were new hotels built on the SEC campus that have only just opened (Marriott Courtyard & Moxy). There was, and remains, strong demand for more hotel space in Glasgow, however there are now 1500 bedrooms within 5-10 minutes walk of the SEC (compared with under 300 in 1995, and 5-600 in 2005, the two previous years Worldcon was held there).
Both Glasgow Council & the SEC have used the impetus of COP26 to radically overhaul their environmental & sustainability policies — details in the links below:
The SEC is also now open to reuse options. For example, if succeeding events both want to carpet a particular area, in the past Event A would contract with a supplier to come in, lay the carpet, and then at the end of the event the supplier would come back and rip up and dispose of it — Event B doing the same again. The SEC will now help facilitate reuse between the two events — more sustainable and allows for cost sharing.
COP26 has also caused the SEC to consider innovative solutions to address some of the issues — e.g. they have converted their open car parks into usable space by building temporary structures, something like a large tent but more solid than that. I’ve attached an image of this, and you can see the scale of the site! I am sure there are many other things they are doing now which will be offered as options to us in the coming years (assuming we become seated.) We expect some of these to evolve as the event takes place and things are brought to light, which is rather exciting. I must admit I’m also rather tickled to think of some of the world’s greatest diplomats tucking themselves up to sleep after a hard day in the Crowne Plaza, or hanging out in our programme rooms!
Not directly related to COP, more a consequence of Covid-19, the SEC have also gone through a major upgrade of their tech which should greatly assist with streaming of content to virtual attendees.
We spoke to the SEC this week and wish them, and COP26, the best of luck with this momentous event!
[The Glasgow 2024 team had their initial team meetings and social gatherings in Glasgow this past weekend, and James Bacon has sent us a thorough write-up.]
By James Bacon: It was lovely to be back in
Glasgow, amongst fans, looking at the Scottish Exhibition Campus (formerly the
SECC) and being welcomed and to the city which held two Worldcons
previously.
It is
such a wonderful city and I was impressed to find that there are now tours of
Glasgow Central Station going underground, overground and so forth in proper
hard hats (glasgowcentraltours.co.uk).
I paused to look around the Central Hotel which has changed so much since the
Moscow 2017 bid with their incredible amount of vodkas tempting fans to support
their efforts in 1995. The view from the bar in the hotel which has hosted
Eastercons, Albacon of course, and those parties in 1995 looking out over the
busy station is lovely.
I
made my way to the new Forbidden Planet, in its new premises on Sauchiehall St,
it is very large, and I was stunned by how many new comics they stocked. It was
a vast amount. The shop is spread over two floors, and I was pleasantly engaged
by some staff, which was helpful. Also on my list to get to were Thistle Books,
Caledonia Books, the Voltaire & Rousseau Bookshop and City Comics.
All four not far north from the area of the SEC.
The walk from the city to the SEC has changed, The Anderston
‘bridge to nowhere’ Footbridge which I spent a lot of time contemplating
in 1995, in its unexpected glory leading to the sky, and of course the Iain
Banks Espedair Street reference. The area around the SEC has developed mightily
also, The Radison
Red hotel, now one of six hotels in the immediate area (and two more are being
built.) has a fabulous interior. All of the 174
rooms and public spaces have wallpaper designed by legendary Glasgow comic
artist Frank Quitely, depicting scenes in a beautiful style.
Esther
MacCallum-Stewart had announced at Novacon in 2015 that a team were
investigating Worldcon venues in the UK, concurrently with the practical visits
and analysis, presentations at Eastercon Smofcons and Novacons, fans were asked
— Where would they like to go? — and Glasgow was overwhelmingly the most
popular choice of city. The selection process came to fruition in 2019 when it
was announced at Eastercon that the SEC was the venue that the team would look
to bid for the 2024 Worldcon. At Dublin 2019 Lewis Hou and the Science Ceilidh
(https://www.scienceceilidh.com/)
had stolen the show, and it was a bold move to bring over the band from
Scotland, which along with their parties and continual table work, saw over 600
people pre-supporting the Glasgow 2024 bid.
It
was nice to walk into the SEC, to contemplate the venue. Mike, it’s a fecking
lifetime ago since I was an Area Head here in Glasgow, at a Worldcon, but it is
a great venue and it feels so nice to be here. The SEC welcomed the bid and
hosted these meetings. Signage throughout the venue was adorned with the 2024
Logo and Space Field, both by Sara Felix.
We
were joined by Jennifer Roddie of the SEC and Aileen Crawford of the Glasgow
Convention Bureau. Aileen has worked with us on the previous Worldcons at
Glasgow and as there have been several changes to the venue since it was last
used it was a good opportunity for everyone to see it for the first time
or with fresh eyes.
The
tour was lovely but there have been many changes, technology is now much more
prevalent, the area on the mezzanine has been developed into a meeting academy,
with what was a restaurant now a very nice 400-seater room and soft furnishings
in the common area. Space is of course a fair question. Worldcons are popular.
London, Helsinki, and Dublin have demonstrated that there is more interest from
fans.
It is
too early to make assumptions of what exactly space will be used for, but what
is interesting is that Mark Meenan had already spent considerable time on the
matter, thinking about new programme space, and shared the concept of having a
1,500-seater Second Stage in Hall 2, a 400-seater programme space in Hall
1 and the addition of M1 with its 400 seats and taking ideas that worked well,
such as the giant Gaming Marquee that held the successful gaming at Loncon 3.
With eight hotels now in the immediate vicinity, there are also so many more
options on smaller workshop type spaces, and of course the Armadillo, which has
had a refresh since I was last in it, will be used the full five days. I admit
I found all this very exciting… and we even found a throne for Esther.
The
vision for the convention was then worked through, teams using word association
and short tasks to come up with ideas and thoughts, which were presented back.
Marguerite Smith did a very good job of getting everyone thinking and
contemplating what they want and hope for and with a quick and energised
approach we were soon vectoring in on tangible elements and tasks. Timeline,
budget, and recruitment were all important items on the agenda for the weekend,
and Marguerite took the lead and managed the 20+ people present.
Meg
MacDonald and Matt Calvert were announced as the leads for the Bid Promotions
team, beautifully choreographed just in time to question the task-based ideas
that came from the Promotions Brainstorming sessions, again managed by
Marguerite, but here the new leads got to engage directly and explore new ideas
and established strategies.
Welcoming
new fans was something that was recognised as being very important, and it was
not lost on me that in 2013, some seven years ago, Esther walked in to a Loncon
3 staff meeting a new volunteer herself, and was in charge of multiple areas by
the time the convention occurred, went on to be a successful Division Head for
Dublin and is now Bid Chair. Although Esther did go to Conspiracy in 1987,
possibly by accident. Marguerite was part of the Valley Forge NASFiC bid, and
in early 2016 joined the Dublin team as a volunteer, was soon promoted to
Deputy Division head and then onto DH for promotions. Other fans in the room,
who had only volunteered for Dublin were now looking at more senior roles. It
was amazing to think that one of the participants in the room, had been a
youngster at YAFA* in 2005 and was now making a very important contribution.
The doors are open, and fans are coming in. There were also Albacon, Eastercon,
Satellite, Worldcon staff and chairs all adding experience as well as those
bringing skills from outside fandom to the conversations.
It
was good fun there was a dynamism and energy to the weekend that was really
nice. Esther has sought out and found fans who are so excited with the prospect
of a Glasgow Worldcon and keen to help and it was good to be brought together
to chat and catch up.
Both
evenings, drinking and chatting took place. The bar was rammed on Saturday, and
Bowmore 12 year old proved very popular. A cracking good weekend. I’ll be
back up for a comic book swap meet event in March and then Satellite 7 in May.
(https://seven.satellitex.org.uk/)
*Young
Adult Fun Activities at Interaction the 2005 Glasgow Worldcon.
It’s now called “Glasgow 2024 – a bid for the 2024 World Science Fiction Convention.” Today the committee announced that the venue they’ve chosen for the 2024 UK Worldcon bid will be the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Glasgow.
Previously known as the SECC, the Glasgow SEC has already hosted two Worldcons – Intersection in 1995, and Interaction in 2005. We are delighted that our new bid is once again based around this internationally-renowned venue, which has seen considerable growth in the last few years, including new onsite hotels and reworking and expansion of the spaces inside the convention centre. The SEC has recently announced a further £200 million development plan to support the growth of conventions around the campus.
Our bid team is a dedicated band of fans both international and local, experienced and new. Our working party and support team already contain previous Worldcon Chairs and Bid Chairs, who volunteer alongside newcomers. We draw our experiences from the many events that take place around the UK and beyond, and celebrate the huge enthusiasm to continue hosting Worldcon after the success of Loncon 3 (2014 – the event’s most recent visit to the UK), and ongoing passion for Dublin 2019, an Irish Worldcon (2019).
The bid Chair is Esther MacCallum-Stewart, who invites everyone attending Ytterbium, the British Eastercon, to join them on Sunday evening, April 21, at 7 p.m. to celebrate this announcement and meet the team.
They will start taking pre-supports when the bid launches officially at Dublin 2019 in August.
The bid art is by Sara Felix.
For more information or to get involved in bidding for a UK Worldcon in 2024, contact them at info@ukin2024.org or watch for updates on their new website at www.glasgow2024.org.
The group was begun in 2015 by Emma England, Vanessa May, Esther MacCallum-Stewart and James Bacon.
Esther MacCallum-Stewart adds —
The group was launched in 2015 at Novacon, in order to explore the possibility of bidding for a Worldcon in the UK in 2024. It was formed as a result of the huge enthusiasm generated from Loncon 3, and because of the thriving science fiction, fantasy and horror scene in the UK, which very much wants to see Worldcon returning to our shores in the future. The group is formed of fans old and new, with experience both of running Worldcons and involvement with the UK convention community.
We are currently exploring venues around the UK, and will hold two sessions at the forthcoming UK Conrunner event in February to discuss ways forwards, and to talk more about the locations in depth.
For more information, you can either attend one of the discussion sessions, or write to the group at info@ukin2024.org.
