RULES & GUIDELINES FOR MOSCON BIDS:

RULES

1. The convention committee for the following year's MosCon is selected each year by the MosCon membership and Board of Directors through a bid process. Any group of people who wish to run next year's MosCon may submit a bid to the Board of Directors. If there are two or more bids, the Board will submit them to current MosCon members for vote.
2. Any bid document submitted should contain, at a minimum:
   • the names of the committee Chair
   • three other senior members of the committee
   • the proposed hotel and date for the convention
   • a brief description of their plans for the convention
   • at least two proposed guests of honor and at least one alternate for each
   • the estimated guest of honor expenses
   • a way of contacting the committee to discuss the proposal
3. For additional information on preparing a bid, see the GUIDELINES below.
4. Each prospective chairman can have only one proposal, but the same people can otherwise appear on as many proposals as they wish. Someone who is interested in programming or hospitality might indicate their willingness to serve on several different proposals. A person who appears as chairman on one proposal could appear on other proposals as a committee member. The quality of the people who are willing to support a particular chairman will be a good indication of the strength of that proposal.
5. Bids can be submitted by mail (MosCon, P.O. Box 9622, Moscow, ID 83843), by email, or given by hand to any member of the Board of Directors. The deadline for submitting bids will be established each year by the Board of Directors, and the information will be made public through the MosCon website, Progress Reports, etc. If a group wishing to submit a bid has difficulty in meeting the deadline, they may request an extension of up to two weeks.
6. When a bid is received, the Board will determine if it is a valid bid, i.e., if it meets the requirements stated above and the proposed budget does not exceed MosCon's capability. If only one bid is received by the deadline and any extensions granted, the Board can vote to accept it (in which case the group who submitted the bid immediately becomes the Convention Committee), to return it with suggestions for revision and a new deadline, or to reject it (in which case there will be no MosCon that year). If there are two or more valid bids received, the Board will distribute them, together with a ballot, to the current MosCon members for their vote. Distribution may be in the form of a Progress Report. Votes may be cast by postal mail, by email, or at a general membership meeting.
7. This information, with deadline dates for the current year, shall be posted on the MosCon website, distributed in Progress Reports, and otherwise publicized to be available to potentially interested people.

GUIDELINES

1. The committee members listed should be people who agree to fill responsible positions, like programming, membership, hospitality, vice chair, operations, etc. The brief description of plans should include any major changes, such as filking emphasis, dropping the art show, change of hotel or month, etc. The proposed guests of honor should include alternates in case the first choices are unavailable. The estimated guest expenses should include transportation, housing, per diem, etc. for each guest of honor, as well as the total. MosCon guests of honor have usually received $100 each to cover incidental expenses for the weekend. (A GoH's spouse or other personal guest receives the same amount.) If there is any proposed arrangement for sharing guest expenses with another group or institution (for example, if UI or WSU might pay part of a GoH's expenses in return for a campus appearance), that should be reflected in the total and explained in the bid, with documentation if necessary.
2. Traditionally, MosCon has been held on a weekend in late August or early September, at the Best Western University Inn in Moscow. Choice of date is limited by the need to find a weekend when neither UI or WSU has a home football game scheduled.
3. There should be at least the following guests of honor:
   • Writer Guest of Honor
   • Artist Guest of Honor
   • Fan Guest of Honor
   • Other guests of honor can be:
     • Scientist Guest of Honor and/or
     • Anime Guest of Honor
   • In addition, if finances permit, there may be one or two other honorees, such as a Toastmaster and/or a Special Guest of Honor.
4. GoHs should be chosen by the following criteria:
   • Popularity of work and ability to attract members
   • Quality of work
   • "Good guest" qualities, i.e. willingness to participate in programming, ability to provide interesting programming, sociability, likeability, etc.
   • A potential GoH's known or suspected political, religious, social, environmental, or sexual opinions should not be factors in the choice. (We don't mind the doctrinaire, the deviant, or the dingbat, as long as they do good work, put on a good show, and are good company.)
   • Past or present medical conditions should not be a factor, except in making sure that special needs (such as wheelchair access) can be accomodated.
   • Affordability
   • Availability
5. In preparing your bid, you should make a prioritized list of your choices for at least Writer and Artist GoH, and contact your first choices to find out if they are at least tentatively interested and available. If not, try your second choices, and so on until you arrive at potential guests whose names you can submit in your bid. In your bid, briefly explain why you think these people would be good GoHs.
6. If you want to make a major change in the traditional MosCon format, such as changing the month or the hotel, or breaking out specialized "mini-cons," be sure you have convincing reasons and explain them in your bid. When football schedules forced us to change from September to August, we lost members who did not notice the change until too late.
7. These are only guidelines. MosCon is not frozen in time. If you have ideas for radical (or moderate) changes, and can make a good case for them, put your ideas into your bid.