Update on NADWCon bid process for 2013

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded 

Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

Greetings, all

Here is an update on the bid process for NADWCon. I posted this to the North American Discworld 2013 Facebook page on Monday:

As we mentioned earlier, one of the bidding cities requested a week's grace past the deadline which stretched into 11 days. As a result, our timeline for deciding this was pushed back as well. We sincerely hope to have an announcement for everyone by Nov 30th, as we've said, but that may not happen.

Nope ... didn't happen. 

Discussion with the NADWCon Consultants Guild has ended and the Steering Committee is formulating additional questions, as needed, for the cities in question based on both their notes and ours.

Fair warning: We may not have an official announcement until Dec. 6th. We know you folks want us to do a very thorough job on this and that you'd also like an answer asap so you can make your plans. We are doing our very best to make both of those wishes come true - djc

Response to this has been positive and supportive.  Here is a sample:

Do your excellent job. We'll wait. We want the best venue for our Sir PTerry and his fans.

and

YAY!!!! To be honest I don't mind when you decide, it means you are making a well thought-out and rational decision. That being said, I check every time I am near my computer just so I know as soon as you do decide. Thank you for all your hard work, time, and effort.

Our thanks to Sir Terry's many fans for their patience and support and to the bidding committees in both Boston and Baltimore for their help in answering all our questions.

Update to the Update 12/10/2011

Info posted to LJ, Facebook, Twitter and the Seamstress Guild group today: 

The GoC has just been informed that one bid committee's proposed hotel contract expires on the 15th. We might be able to push the vote up but a lot will depend on whether or not they get back to us with the answers to our questions in good time. - djc

Update 12/11/2011 A. Stewart, a fan and an expert in hotel contracts wrote us to say,

An expiring hotel contract (actually it's typically an option date) only means something if the property has a similar or better prospect in the pipeline. Hotel sales staff are under a lot of pressure to get deals closed before year end but that shouldn't force you to make a decision that may or may not be right for the convention....

Hotels can put out second option contracts to other parties that if signed would obligate you to execute your option or lose your date.

It always delights me to find out how varied and knowledgeable Terry's fan base it.  Thanks, Tony!

Dj