Worldcon76 in San Jose 2019

Worldcon is the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). It was first held in 1939 and, after a hiatus during WWII, has been held continuously since 1946. The membership of WSFS is every member of the current Worldcon. The sites of future Worldcons are bidded by the city in which the convention wants to be held, then it is decided by WSFS members via a bidding process that is open to any group that meets a small number of technical requirements.

The campaign for Worldcon76 in San Jose 2018 was split into two stages: The Bid Campaign and The Convention Run.

The Bid Campaign 2014-2016:

Typically bids for the location of a Worldcon are presented (in this case) four years before the convention takes place, then voted on two years before the convention run. Once the bid for Worldcon76 in San Jose 2018 was submitted, a campaign was developed and crafted to compete with the only other group bidding for the location. In this case it was New Orleans. I was asked in April 2014 to be the Art Director for the bid campaign (and eventually the convention itself). Below are images showing the bid campaign process.

The Logo for the Bid
“Bring the World Back to the Bay”

We determined the look for the bid should be different for the run of the convention. If/when we won the bid, the look for the convention would be revealed in a grand unveiling.

Promoting the Bid

Banners and collateral were produced and used at various in-person functions such as conventions to promote our bid all across the globe.

In order to generate interest in the bid, ads were placed in many different publications.

Promoting the Convention 2016-2018:

In August 2016 at Worldon 74 in Kansas City, the attending WSFS members voted the bid for Worldcon76 was to be held in San Jose in 2018. This begins the second half of the campaign, building up to the run of the convention itself. I was asked to continue my roll as Art Director leading up to, and during the run of the convention as well as any post convention work that needed to be done. This means every and any aspect of graphic design that was needed, I created, developed, supervised and implemented. Below are images of what was involved in making Worldcon76 in San Jose 2018 happen.

The Convention Logo
“The World is Coming Back to the Bay!”

Once we had won the vote and secured our location for Worldcon76 we revealed the convention logo in a grand ceremony.

Promotions

For two years, leading up to the convention, various members and friends volunteered to to help promote Worldcon76 in San Jose. To do this many banners both vertical and horizontal were created and used at various convention locations around the world. Many people excited about the convention posed with the banners including the convention Chair, Kevin Roche.