With Friends Like These...

[kevin_standlee]

There is now a seattle_2011 community to discuss the Seattle in 2011 Worldcon bid. There have been extensive comments in the community's kick-off message that are highly critical of this committee.

While bidding the Bay Area in 2002 bid versus Seattle up until very late in the process when Seattle had to drop out, people kept trying to bait me and other members of the BA2002 committee into criticizing our opposition, and vice versa, in a process called, "Let's You and Him Fight." For the most part, both of our committees avoided this particular trap, and tried to concentrate on our own positives rather than our opponent's negatives. In fact, at one Worldcon during a fairly quiet spell where the groups were getting bored, the people staffing our respective tables (facing each other across a hallway) swapped sides and for a while induced dizziness in various SMOF types (including me, when I came back from a break) by giving each others' sales pitch.

Sometimes bids have to be careful of who their friends are. We're seeing that in the US presidential election, where candidates are being embarrassed by their own supporters. I suggest that people who think that the 2011 Worldcon should not be in Seattle should concentrate on the reasons why voters should vote for another site rather than against Seattle. In my eyes, "Vote for [Site] because [Other Site] is worse" is one of the least persuasive arguments I've ever heard.

(By no means should this be construed as a criticism of renoin2011, whose leadership I know to be relentlessly positive.)

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pointers!

After "having" to travel across the dateline in 2010 (assuming...), I'm just happy they're both in my timezone.

[chocolatescifi.livejournal.com]

And when it comes to baiting, I'm betting that some of these people were masters . . .

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Um. I don't have a comment, other to say your posting this seems a little SMOFy.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Of course it is. I don't claim otherwise. But I'd say the same thing if someone were going hammer-and-tongs after the Reno bid and I noticed it.

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

That's not what I meant, but courtesy prevents me from being more clear.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I do believe there's been some understandable confusion. Details in private e-mail.

[trinsf.livejournal.com]

Confusion corrected -- and I'm glad I'm not off the mark, and had I been correct in my understanding, you wouldn't have posted like this.

[jbriggs.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure I'm voting Liechtencon for 2011.

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

One has to wonder what she's *really* pissed off about. I'm afraid I have been in a really bad mood today, and it showed. Why can't people just deal with things in a more positive manner?

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

Well, the negatives are all coming for Ulrika. If she's ever in her life been a positive person, it must have been well before I first encountered her.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

If one is concerned about the competency of a committee, especially in a contested race, the positive argument:

"I think [Group B] is better qualified than [Group A] to organize a Worldcon"

is much better than the negative one:

"[Group A] isn't competent to hold a Worldcon, so vote against them."

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I entirely agree.