Yes, it's true. For the first time, I'm a member of a bid committee for a real Worldcon: Reno in 2011.

We launched the bid tonight with announcements near and far, and a presence at five conventions: Balticon, BayCon, ConQuesT, Marcon, and WisCon. I've posted a bit of 4-part harmony about that on our brand new LiveJournal community.

Here's the bid announcement on ConCentral. It's popping up here and there around LiveJournal and elsewhere in the ether, too. Fun!

My own financial situation means I'm home this weekend rather than helping with any of our launch parties in person. It's times like this that I appreciate my friends all the more. Marcon Toastmaster skzb announced the bid during Opening Ceremonies there. netmouse is running a bid table for us there, and lsanderson has been keeping me entertained all week with his posts, email messages, and phone calls about preparations for the bid party he's hosting at WisCon tomorrow night. In the meanwhile, friends such as elaine_brennan, debgeisler, and other are keeping me updated with reports about the bid launch. I love living in the future. I love helping make stuff like this happen in real time.

I hope you'll take a look at our website and consider supporting Reno in 2011 at whatever level fits your budget and sensibilities. You can also download our bid flyer as a pdf in high-res print form or a low-res version for on-screen viewing only.