San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc.

Press Release 2015-1

SAN JOSE IN 2018 WORLDCON BID ANNOUNCES PROSPECTIVE CONVENTION CHAIR

SAN FRANCISCO SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS, INC.
A California Non-Profit Corporation
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
info@sfsfc.org; http://www.sfsfc.org/

For Immediate Release: October 21, 2015

San José in 2018 Worldcon Bid Announces Prospective Convention Chair

The San José in 2018 Worldcon Bid has announced that Kevin Roche will chair Worldcon 76 in San José, California should their bid to host the World Science Fiction Convention win.

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid’s parent non-profit corporation, SFSFC, unanimously voted to select Kevin Roche as the chair of the committee that will host Worldcon 76 should the San José in 2018 bid win the election to be held at the 2016 Worldcon, MidAmericon II. Members of the 2016 Worldcon will vote on where to hold the 2018 Worldcon.

Kevin Roche is “a fan for all seasons,” with extensive experience in convention running and many other aspects of SF/F genre conventions. He co-chaired Westercon 66 in Sacramento in 2013 and chaired Costume-Con 26 in San José in 2008. Worldcon attendees will have most recently seen him as Masquerade Master of Ceremonies at the 2015 Worldcon, Sasquan. He also co-directed the 2011 Worldcon’s Masquerade as well as Masquerades at Anime Los Angeles, Westercon, and BayCon. He has been part of convention programming teams at several past Worldcons.

Kevin has extensive and well-received convention hospitality experience, including running the convention hospitality suite at the 2009 World Fantasy Convention in San José, and recently as bartender for the Helsinki in 2017 Worldcon bid. Fans across the USA have seen him as Fan Guest of Honor at conventions from the San Francisco Bay Area to Texas, Iowa, and Boston. He also has conference organization experience outside of the SF/F genre, having been the event registrar for scientific events (SpinCurrents 2009, SpinAge 2010, and Superconductivity 297k! organized under the direction of IBM Fellow Dr. Stuart SP Parkin).

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid is bidding to host the 2018 Worldcon in downtown San José, California. If the bid is successful, Worldcon 76 will be held Thursday, August 16 through Monday, August 20, 2018 at the San José McEnery Convention Center, the San José Marriott Hotel, San José Hilton Hotel, and other downtown San José hotels.

The San José in 2018 Worldcon bid is offering “pre-supporting” memberships for $20 and a variety of other types of memberships to help fund the bid. Joining the bid helps pay for the cost of promoting the bid. Membership forms and additional information about the bid are available on the bid’s web site, http://www.sjin2018.org/.

Worldcon is the longest-running traveling-location general science fiction convention in the world, with a history stretching back to 1939. Different groups host Worldcon each year in a different city. Members of the 2016 Worldcon in Kansas City will vote on where to hold the 2018 Worldcon.

San José in 2018 is a committee of San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (SFSFC), the non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that hosted the 2002 Worldcon in San José and the 1993 Worldcon in San Francisco, as well as several past Westercons and World Fantasy Conventions.

Contact:

San José in 2018 Worldcon Bid: Andrew Trembley info@sjin2018.org http://www.sjin208.org/

SFSFC Inc.: Kevin Standlee info@sfsfc.org

General information about Worldcon: http://www.worldcon.org/

San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. is a California non-profit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under US Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

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