Voting

What Is ALT.GOTHIC CONVERGENCE℠?

alt.gothic Convergence℠ is the annual alt.gothic news group convention that squishes together hundreds of net.goths from around the globe into a single city for a weekend of socializing, booze, musical events and sweet debauchery.

This Year's Ballot

The ballot of cities to host Convergence 14 will be announced here and on alt.gothic.* newsgroups once the proposals have been submitted. See the timeline for more information.

The Discussion Period

The discussion period, in which the public will endlessly debate every little detail about every proposal, will begin as specified in the timeline.

The mailing lists 'afterglow' and 'cx_vote' have also been set up to host discussions concerning Convergence. Sub/unsub info is available at http://www.altgothic.com/lists

IRC chat with the committees will take place at a date to be specified in the near future.

Voting System

Upon final verification of this years voter database, announcements of the opening of the vote will be emailed to each validated voter.

Upon logging in during the vote period, voters will be able to log in to www.altgothic.com and place their vote.

This year's voting system is a single choice plan. Each voter will be given a single vote for the city of their choice.

What Is The Email "Ping"?

All eligible voters for the following Convergence voting period will receive a "ping" email to verify their email address is still valid and does not bounce. This email will originate from webmaster@altgothic.com. This is to remove the detritus from year to year of expired accounts. If you are registered to vote, you should receive a ping, you do not have to do anything with it, and do *not* reply to it. If you do not receive a ping, you need to register to obtain your vote.

Who Is Eligible To Vote?

In order to be eligible to vote for the location of Convergence 14, you will need to be a Registered alt.gothic Convergence℠ Voter. If you are already registered to vote for Convergence 14, you will receive an email "ping" in the form of a copy of the Convergence 14 time-line on or around April 1, 2007 from the following email address: webmaster@altgothic.com.

If you have not attended any previous convergence using pre-registration and/or you have not previously used the Mail-In Registration method and/or your contact email address has changed since the last voting period, you will not receive a ping and you MUST use the Mail-In Registration method in order to participate in the Convergence 14 Vote.

Mail-In Registration is open begins April 1, 2007, and ends on May 5, 2007. Any Mail-in registrations received after May 5, 2007 will NOT be processed for Convergence 14. They will be processed AFTER the voting period as mail-in registrations for Convergence 15 voting.

Browse altgothic.com or consult the Convergence 14 Mail-in Registration document for full instructions on how to use Mail-In Registration.

How Do I Register To Vote?

If you did not receive an email "Ping" from altgothic.com with preliminary voting instructions for registered voters within a week of April 1, 2007, then you are not in our current database and therefor not registered to vote.

You may self-register to vote for Convergence 14 by doing the following:

Send a photocopy of your government issued picture ID with the ID # or SSN blocked out along with the following information:

• Network Alias
• current / permanent email address

For those updating an email address, please include your old email address.

Send this documentation to:

Convergence 14 Vote c/o Peter H. Coffin 1305 Falls Ct Waukesha, WI 53186 United States of America

The envelope must arrive no later than April 13, 2007. Submissions postmarked after April 13, 2007 will not be eligible to participate in this year's Convergence election.

ONE mail-in registration per envelope only.

The information from this registration will be used for Convergence Voting purposes ONLY, and will not be used for any other purpose, nor released to any other party.

When Is The Convergence 14 Voting Period?

The voting period will begin at 0:00EST (05:00GMT)on May 5, 2007. Only registered voters will be allowed to vote, using security keys which will be emailed to them prior to the start of the actual vote.

If you do not receive an email stating you are registered to vote within a week of April 1, 2007 you are not registered to vote, and you must submit a mail-in registration to vote for Convergence 14. You can find instructions on how to use Mail-In Registration on www.altgothic.com or on the Mail-In Registration document posted to alt.gothic.* news groups.

The Voting Timeline

This is a copy of the official timeline. It is not necessarily how things WILL work, but how they SHOULD. Keep an eye on alt.gothic, alt.gothic.convergence and this website for updates to this information.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) April 1, 2007] Convergence 14 Registered Voter Database PING. Mail-In Convergence Voter Registration Period BEGINS.

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An email ping will be send to the current Registered Voter database to weed out dead addresses and transmit this document. If you do NOT receive a ping within 72 hours, you are not registered to vote for whatever reason and you MUST submit a mail-in registration in order to vote this year.

See the Mail-in registration document or browse altgothic.com for information on how to register to vote via mail-in.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) April 1, 2007] Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Request Period BEGINS.

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All Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Committee Chairpersons must contact Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) to have a web account set up on altgothic.com to host their proposal web sites.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) April 13, 2007] Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Submission Period BEGINS. Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period BEGINS.

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During this time Bid Proposal Committees may submit their Bid Proposals and preliminary event budgets to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) for inclusion on the Convergence 14 ballot. After receipt of submission they may post their Bid Proposals to the alt.gothic.* news groups, and open their web sites to the public. Posting to regional mailing lists, weblogs and other mediums is acceptable but not essential.

See the Proposal Guidelines document or altgothic.com for information on how to create and submit a Convergence 14 proposal.

The Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period also begins at this time. Discussions will take place primarily on the alt.gothic news groups and altgothic.com mailing lists.

Browse altgothic.com for more information on how to subscribe to available convergence-centric mailing lists.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) May 5, 2007] Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Submission Period ENDS.

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Additional Convergence 14 Bid Proposals will NOT be accepted after this date.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) May 5, 2007] Convergence 14 Bid Proposal Public Discussion and Debate Period ENDS. Convergence 14 Mail-In Voter Registration Period ENDS.

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All official public debates conclude and Proposal web sites are frozen.

Any Mail-in registrations received after this date will NOT be processed.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) May 5, 2007] Convergence 14 Voting Period BEGINS.

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Convergence 14 vote keys and instructions are mailed out to all registered voters and voting begins.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) May 13, 2007] Convergence 14 Voting Period ENDS.

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Voting is closed and results will be reviewed and tallied.

[0:00EST (05:00GMT) May 14, 2007] Convergence 14 winning Proposal is announced.

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The winning Convergence 14 Proposal and relevant voting demographics will be announced on altgothic.com, the alt.gothic news groups and send to all voters who submitted their votes. THE WINNING BID:

This year's winning bid will be announced following the closing of voting and verification of the counted votes. At that time, an announcement will be posted to the alt.gothic.* news groups, as well as the altgothic.com mailing lists and regional mailing lists. Control of the planning and execution of Convergence 14 will then be formally transferred to the winning committee.

Continuing Reform

This voting procedure is obviously not perfect. As with all aspects of Convergence, it is a work in progress and everyone involved is intent on improving the voting process, as well as all aspects of the festival as it continues to grow and gain popularity. We hope as time goes on that those of you who attend and enjoy Convergence will make an effort to work with us to continue what has been a very highly focused and productive group effort in the year plus that has followed since the Convergence six voting season.

Bid Proposal Requirements

The core planning and decision making membership of a Convergence committee should consist of at least 50% alt.gothic.* net.goths or net.goths who have attended at least one Convergence (especially Convergence 8, 9 or 10) although it is preferred that ALL members of your committee have attended at least one past Convergence. These numbers do not include and are not relevant to the volunteer and paid staff who assist in actually presenting the event on its scheduled days.

In your Convergence Bid Proposal you should introduce yourself and your Bid Committee, list what you believe would be the benefits of holding the next Convergence in your home city and outline what your tentative plans are for Convergence 14.

Your audience and potential attendees are your friends and families from the alt.gothic.* news groups, related mailing lists and other forms of electronic communities that now fall under the 'net.goth' umbrella. The themes, locations and activities are up to your committee's creativity and resources. We are trusting you to design an affordable, accessible and highly social event for us to attend.

As long as your committee keeps its core audience in mind with realistic goals and strives to maintain a high degree of organization and professionalism, you can expect great success in planning and executing your alt.gothic Convergence℠ event, should the vote be in your favor.

To have your proposal included on this year's ballot, you must register for web space on altgothic.com as noted below, submit your proposal via email to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) and await receipt that your proposal has been accepted and, upon receipt, you must cross-post your proposal alt.gothic, alt.gothic.announce, alt.gothic.fashion and alt.gothic.convergence during the proposal nomination period.

Posting to Weblogs, regional mailing lists and other resources is permitted but not required.

Bid Proposal Submission Period

Convergence 14 Bid Proposals must be posted to the alt.gothic.* news groups and submitted to Siobhan (convergence@virulent.org) for inclusion on the ballot, as well as to register for alt.gothic web space, BEGINNING at 0:00EST (05:00GMT) on April 13, 2007 and ENDING 0:00EST (05:00GMT)on May 5, 2007. Any proposals submitted after that time will NOT be included on this year's ballot.

To submit your Bid Proposal for inclusion on the Convergence 14 ballot, you must email the following information to Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address during Bid Proposal Submission Period: Text version of your Bid Proposal as posted to alt.gothic.* news groups. A tentative working budget. Obviously, there is no way to provide absolute numbers so far in advance, an overview with forecasts is all that is required. Bid Proposals without some form of a working budget will be ineligible for ballot placement. IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO POST THIS BUDGET IN PUBLIC, although Bid Proposal Committees may do so at their own discretion.

Bid Proposal Web Sites

Proposal web sites must be hosted on altgothic.com. No exceptions. Each Bid Committee will be allotted 10MB of disk space, CGI-bin access and a single FTP login account with 24 hour access. No other website may be used to provide informational content, only to provide a reference to the altgothic.com-hosted proposal site. Any discussion prior to the acceptance of a bid proposal by Siobhan must be kept private from the general public, such as a closed mailing, or a bulletin board with a restricted access list. Any effectively self-subscribable membership list is considered "public" for these purposes, as is any large numbers of invited-only members.

To receive your altgothic.com web account, you must send Siobhan at the convergence@virulent.org address the following information immediately:

• Your full contact information (name, address, phone number, etc).
• Your Bid Proposal Committee information (city/state/country).

Bid Proposal Public Discussion And Debate Period

The discussion period, in which the public will debate endlessly every little detail about every proposal, will begin with the start of the nomination period on April 13, 2007 and end on May 13, 2007. Debates take place primarily on the alt.gothic.* news groups and associated mailing lists.

Live IRC question and answer sessions with each proposal committee may also be scheduled. Positive discussions are highly encouraged. Letting the committees know what is important to you in a Convergence will help them plan a winning bid.

It's in everyone's best interests to avoid scheduling conflicts with similar events to allow greater access to everything for all interested parties. (examples - 'Whitby Gothic Weekend', 'projektfest', 'Black Sun', the various 'Dark Arts' festivals)

Best Practices

(Some timely advice from past committees)

Listing specific musical acts, venues or other information which can change drastically over the next 9 to 12 months is strongly discouraged.

Keep your committees small. A small committee of 4 people or less is far more efficient and likely to succeed than larger committees.

Maintain regular open communication within your committee, volunteers, hired help, venues, venders, DJs, bands and with your audience of potential attendees.

Nominating one person to speak on behalf of your committee is strongly encouraged. It is a practice which can spare your audience from a lot of confusion and your committee from a lot of embarrassment.

Limit your live band rosters. Live bands are nice but not essential. The primary focus of Convergence is the people of alt.gothic. Events should be people oriented and inclusive, relaxed, inexpensive and above all FUN. EXTENDED RESOURCES FOR BID PROPOSAL COMMITTEES:

A growing library of text documents written by the past alt.gothic Convergence℠ Committee members who now act as advisors will be available to all Bid Proposal Committee members, as well as specific contacts in all areas of Convergence planning. These members have volunteered their time and expertise to remain highly available to assist all of you in constructing the best Bid Proposals and eventually the best Convergence events possible. Browse www.altgothic.com for more information.

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of consulting with past Convergence committees members (especially Siobhan and Etienne of Convergence 8), Fross, and the plethora of web and usenet based diaries of past events to get a solid perspective on what works and what does not.

Questions and Contact

If you have any questions about past Convergences or the C14 voting process, feel free to either post to alt.gothic.convergence or email Siobhan via the convergence@virulent.org address. Links to reference resources are also be available at http://www.altgothic.com Links to reference resources will also be available at http://www.altgothic.com

All official correspondance will carry the [C14 vote] subject tag and a document ID, date and version number.