Texas in 2031 Worldcon Bid Begins Taking Presupports

Sara Felix has started accepting presupports for a Texas in 2031 Worldcon bid. The city is still to be determined.

She says, “Right now presupports are going to my PayPal/Venmo as we haven’t got the accounts set up.” The URL for that is https://paypal.me/sillysarasue. The nonprofit conrunning organization ALAMO, Inc. has a meeting soon and will start setting up the bid structure.   

Felix adds, “Sentimentally…. This for me is dedicated to the memory of Fred Duarte who really was the one to get me into running conventions.  Willie Siros took me to my first Armadillocon but Fred was the first to take me to meeting with the hotels and started helping me getting involved in con running.  He always had the best advice and best gossip a con runner could ask for.”

Earlier this year in her File 770 guest post “Why I Work on Worldcon”, Felix highlighted the depth of experience she brings to the table. She is an artist, the president of The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, and runs their Chesley Awards. She was part of the Mexicanx Initiative at the 2018 Worldcon. With Colin Harris she created the Artist Showcase that has now been a staple at many Worldcons since Chicon 7.  

Sara Felix collecting $20 presupports.

30 thoughts on “Texas in 2031 Worldcon Bid Begins Taking Presupports

  1. Minor correction: Sara and I first produced the Artist Showcase for Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon, before working on subsequent versions for Chicon 7 (2012) and Loncon 3 (2014). Sara has continued to do a fine job taking the showcase idea forward since then and I’m excited to see where it goes in the future!.

  2. This bid is ill-timed considering the current political environment in Texas.

    I, for one, have no desire to place myself within the Texas legal jurisdiction.

  3. 2031 is pretty far out. The previous Texas Worldcons were in 2017 and 1997. The bid will be hosting parties for the next eight years. I think this indicates two things: Texas really wants this, and is going for a date far enough in the future that they are likely to get it. And they really like hosting parties.

  4. Tom Becker: LoneStarCon III was in 2013. The first LoneStarCon was actually a NASFiC in 1985 when the 43rd Worldcon was held in Australia.

  5. 2031 is sufficiently distant chronologically where making it that far starts to enter into the equation. At least for an old-timer like me.

  6. John Purcell: You’re right. There should be a disclaimer on comments I post before I’ve had coffee. I worked on LSC II and LSC III. I have fond memories of your fanzine lounge at LSC III. I wasn’t at the NASFiC but have heard stories from it.

    Curt Steindler: I completely understand your concern about going to Texas now. I live in the US and things are not much better.

  7. This bid is ill-timed considering the current political environment in Texas.

    I, for one, have no desire to place myself within the Texas legal jurisdiction.

    That’s me. Had a great time in San Antonio but none of my money will go to anything in Texas right now. Hope they improve in 10 years.

  8. Sara is great and I wish her the best of luck.

    And while I understand concerns about the current political and covid situation in Texas, 2031 is so far out that the situation will have changed until then, hopefully for the better.

  9. Miles Carter: Too bad Lou Antonelli didn’t live to see this, he would’ve loved it.

    Yes, he would have used it as an excuse to engage in yet more of his chronic malicious harassing, threatening, and abusive behavior. It’s fortunate for this bid – and for Worldcon members – that that is no longer a possibility.

  10. If the current trend continues, by the time 2031 rolls around Texas will be actively forbidding anyone who has had a COVID vaccination from entering the state, so it’s hard for me to work up any enthusiasm for a Worldcon there.

  11. Nancy Sauer: I can never understand why so many Filers’ reflex response to seeing a news item is to objectify the people involved and unload some unfunny snark on them.

    This item has had a lot of hits. Probably from people interested in having the information. But I don’t hear from most of them. I’m just embarrassed that the person who shared her story with me gets treated this way.

  12. As Tom Becker has pointed out, all this bid means for most Worldcon members, for quite some time, is just lots of opportunities to attend bid parties at conventions.

    Look at how much the world changed between 2015 and 2017, between 2019 and 2021. Trying to extrapolate anything this far out is pointless.

    When we get to 2028, I’ll start worrying about whether the bid location is a suitable one, whether the arrangements which have been made are reasonable, whether past issues have been lessons learned, and if necessary, asking the bid committee hard questions.

    But that’s 7 years from now. Right now I’m congratulating the Texas in 2031 bid and the Dublin in 2029 bid on starting early, and wishing them the best.

  13. I wish Sara Felix and everyone who gets on board to help this bid the very best of luck. The bidding system is at its healthiest with a diverse range of options, and as a curious onlooker, it’s always interesting to see how each bid does their thing.

  14. My apologies, Mike, I tend to forget that brevity is not always the soul of wit. I have absolutely no ill intentions towards Sara Felix and the rest of her hard-working crew.

    However, given that the current governor of Texas has been one of the COVID-19 virus’s biggest supporters, and that I don’t foresee Texas Republicans becoming caring or even intelligent in the next 10 years, I think the Texas Worldcon supporters need to be prepared to answer the question: “Why would I want to attend a convention in a disease-ridden cesspool like Texas?”

  15. @Nancy Sauer

    Sorry, but I find calling Texas a disease-ridden cesspool very rude.

    First of all, Sara Felix and her team are not responsible for the political situation in their state, anymore than the Chengdu in 2023 team is responsible for the political situation in China, the Jeddah Worldcon bid was responsible for the political situation in Saudi Arabia, the Glasgow in 2024 bid is responsible for Brexit or any US bid is responsible for the political situation (however it may be) in the US.

    Also, a private entity like a Worldcon can require measures that the state in general does not require.

    I fully respect if someone would uncomfortble travelling to Texas either right now or ever. There are also places where I wouldn’t feel comfortable travelling. And yes, sometimes Worldcons are held in such places, but that’s life.

    Coincidentally, one of the first in person cons to take place again this year in the US were the Robert E. Howard Days in June in Cross Plains, Texas. Of course, it’s much smaller than a Worldcon (I think they had around 200 people), but it went off without any covid outbreaks and everybody there had a good time and lots of place for the welcoming locals. No idea, what anti-covid measures they had.

  16. You’re probably familiar with Martha Wells and John Picacio. They’re from Texas.

    If you are concerned about the political situation in Texas, if you want to support rationality and science and diversity and equal rights, how about supporting the SF fans and pros in Texas who stand for those values?

  17. Also, a private entity like a Worldcon can require measures that the state in general does not require.

    You haven’t been paying much attention to what’s happening in Texas. Besides the legislature playing a real-life version of The Handmaid’s Tale, the governor is issuing orders blocking private entities and local governments from requiring any kind of rational COVID restrictions.

    If the money was going to a fund to help the good, rational people escape from Texas, I’d happily donate money. But currently, none of my money is in any way going to businesses in Texas (or Florida).

  18. Also, calling Texas a “disease-ridden cesspool” doesn’t make sense, given that (as of today’s information from the Washington Post) Texas has 20 new cases per 100,000, while the US as a whole has 25 per 100,000. In other words, it’s healthier than average.

    @John Lorentz

    the governor is issuing orders blocking private entities and local governments from requiring any kind of rational COVID restrictions.

    Is it rational to require people who have had Covid and have natural immunity to be vaccinated?

  19. Is it rational to require people who have had Covid and have natural immunity to be vaccinated?

    It is indeed, since the “immunity” granted by already having COVID is temporary, at best.

    Studies have show that people are far more apt to come down with COVID if they’ve had it before than if they’d been vaccinated. They’re also much more likely to develop serious complications than vaccinated people who develop break-through cases.

  20. @John Lorentz
    I confess that I’m not intimately familiar with the details of Texas’ anti-covid policies, because I live on the other side of the Atlantic. I’m pretty sure you’re not familiar with the anti-covid measures in Bavaria or Saxony either.

    I am familiar with the Texas abortion law, but while that law is terrible for every person of childbearing age in Texas, I fail to see what that has to do with a potential Worldcon in Texas, since Worldcon attendants are unlikely to require an abortion during the five days of the con. Never mind that Ireland’s abortion law was much more restrictive when the Dublin in 2019 bid was approved and very few people seemed to care.

    Finally, a covid surge in Texas in 2021 (which at least according to Bill is already retreating) is unlikely to be a problem in ten years, because everybody will be either immune (whether via vaccination or infection) or dead by then. The current governor will very likely be out of office as well, though his successor may not be an improvement.

    In general, I find it troubling that every new Worldcon bid announced is immediately met with negativity and that local fans are blamed for political circumstances beyond their control. There are Worldcon bids where I privately think, “Nope, I’m not going there” and Texas isn’t particularly high on my list of places I want to visit either, but no Worldcon loction will be perfect for everybody.

  21. In general, I find it troubling that every new Worldcon bid announced is immediately met with negativity and that local fans are blamed for political circumstances beyond their control.

    Did you see anywhere when I blamed the local fans for the current situation?

    I have friends in Texas, and have enjoyed attending (and working on) conventions there.

    But I will not currently support any bid for a state where the governor is actively trying to increase the death count there from COVID, and the government is passing laws that are removing people’s constitutional rights. I will not ignore the current reality of the situation.

  22. I supported Zagreb in 1993 gladly, and have no regrets. It was a great bid. Nema problema, as they say. Did I want them to win? No. I was working on SF in 1993 at the time. Did I want to move to Croatia? No way. Croatia was heading into a civil war, with massacres. It was bad. But I loved the Croatian fans and admire their spirit.

  23. @John Lorentz
    Fine. But remember that they’re planning for a convention in 2031, not 2025. Think longer term.

  24. Fine. But remember that they’re planning for a convention in 2031, not 2025. Think longer term.

    Very true. But five or six years ago, I wouldn’t have expected to see things get so bad. (Not the pandemic–the Texas government’s reaction to the pandemic, among other things.)

    I’ll wait until I see a sign of things getting better first. (I’ll be 79 on 2031–I might not be around to see what happens, in any case.)

  25. The Texans throw great bid parties, so I’m fine with this.

    I might be too poor/decrepit to attend in another 10 years, so I will leave the worrying to younger fen.

  26. In Germany, someone who has recovered from a covid infection is treated the same as someone who is fully vaccinated for six months after infection. They also will not vaccinate you for a certain number of months after you’ve been infected, because of the risk of autoimmune reactions, though people who’ve been infected are encouraged to get vaccinated after that period.

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