Bid Proposal for Bouchercon 2018 Crime in the Sunshine. September 13-16, 2018 St. Petersburg, Florida

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Cameron Poole
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1 Crime in the Sunshine September 13-16, 2018 St. Petersburg, Florida OVERVIEW Michael Connelly. Dennis Lehane. Michael Koryta. Lisa Unger. In addition to sharing copious critical acclaim, legions of fans, and multiple appearances on bestseller lists, they all call the St. Petersburg, Florida area home. St. Petersburg is an ideal setting for Bouchercon for many reasons. Among them: St. Petersburg is accessible By air, St. Petersburg is served by the Tampa International and Petersburg/Clearwater airports, each of which is only 20 minutes from downtown. These airports are served by major and smaller airlines, and fares in the fall are generally quite reasonable. Arriving Bouchercon attendees will be greeted at the airport with a welcome bag from the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as dedicated staff to assist with any questions they might have. By car, St. Petersburg is easily reached. Sample driving distances: Miami mi / 414 km Cleveland - 1,116 mi / 1,796 km Atlanta mi / 756 km New York - 1,154 mi / 1,857 km New Orleans mi / 1,024 km Chicago - 1,160 mi / 1,867 km St. Petersburg is fun Because so many Bouchercon attendees build vacations around attendance, St. Petersburg will likely attract many folks who might otherwise not attend. In addition to some of the world s best beaches just a stone s throw away, downtown St. Petersburg is replete with fun and unusual attractions, including: Salvador Dali Museum Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg Pier Chihuly Collection Haslam s, one of the world s largest bookstores Tropicana Field Sunken Gardens St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

Page 2 As such, St. Petersburg provides the ideal venue for a Bouchercon around which attendees can build a longer holiday if they so wish. St. Petersburg also provides numerous venues for sponsored evening events.

Yes, it s hot, but luckily, Florida knows how to air condition as well as any place on Earth. A note about hurricanes: St. Petersburg is located on Tampa Bay.

2 Page 2 As such, St. Petersburg provides the ideal venue for a Bouchercon around which attendees can build a longer holiday if they so wish. St. Petersburg also provides numerous venues for sponsored evening events. St. Petersburg is sunny They don t call it the Sunshine City for nothing. In September, the average high is 89 and average low is 76. Yes, it s hot, but luckily, Florida knows how to air condition as well as any place on Earth. A note about hurricanes: St. Petersburg is located on Tampa Bay. Because of the exact placement of the city, it is extremely unlikely that we ll ever get a direct hit from a hurricane. The one and only time it s ever happened was in St. Petersburg is a crime fiction hub In addition to those mentioned above, the St. Petersburg area is home to Mark Billingham (when he s not in London), Tim Dorsey, James Hall, Randy Wayne White, James Swain, and Lori Roy. OUR PHILOSOPHY Bouchercon is by readers and for readers. Ultimately, our sole mission is to provide attendees readers and authors alike a memorable experience that is fun and informative. Our goal is for each attendee to depart having laughed, made new friends, and discovered new (to them) authors. We promise to pay attention to every detail, make sure that everyone on the committee gets to use their skills to their fullest, never forget that we work for the readers, leave nothing to chance, and never ever take ourselves too seriously. HOTELS The St. Petersburg CVB has undertaken to work with the city on Bouchercon s behalf to provide a free, continuous, dedicated shuttle service between all hotels. Walking in downtown St. Petersburg is also a lovely experience, bereft of hills and replete with shaded sidewalks. Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront Headquarters Hotel 250-room block $149/night Renaissance Vinoy.8 mile from the Hilton 250-room block $189/night

3 Page 3 In addition to the above hotels, St. Petersburg has numerous quality hotels within an easy distance of the Hilton, and we will secure blocks with reasonable room rates with each (none higher than the Vinoy). The CVB will assist with this process, including distributing and managing the RFP. These properties include: Hampton Inn & Suites.3 mile from the Hilton 91 rooms Hotel Indigo.7 mile from the Hilton 76 rooms Courtyard by Marriott.8 mile from the Hilton 128 rooms Ponce De Leon.3 mile from the Hilton 79 rooms, plus 13 rooms in the Mansion House Inn St. Petersburg Marriott 7 miles from the Hilton 197 rooms The Pier.6 mile from the Hilton 33 rooms Hollander Hotel.9 mile from the Hilton 100 rooms The Birchwood.6 mile from the Hilton 18 rooms Hampton Inn 5 miles from the Hilton 130 rooms Hilton Carillion Park 7 miles from the Hilton 227 rooms This gives us 1,168 block rooms in the immediate vicinity of the Hilton, with another 424 a short shuttle bus ride away. Additionally, we will secure blocks with some of the beach hotels (10-15 minute drive from the Hilton) for attendees who prefer to stay beachfront. There are also numerous B&Bs and smaller boutique hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Hilton. The City runs a shuttle that reaches all the downtown hotels, and the CVB has undertaken to run an additional Bouchercon-dedicated shuttle to make it as easy as possible for attendees to get around. Self-parking in St. Petersburg comprises a combination of private and city-owned garages, in addition to on-street parking. The CVB will work with us to ensure that attendees are offered free or discounted parking options. We have spoken with the Hilton about providing free wifi access to all attendees. Understanding that technology will doubtless evolve between now and 2018 and the details will be finalized closer to the date, free wifi will be included for attendees. Also, downtown St. Petersburg has comprehensive (paid, unless you re a customer of theirs) wifi coverage provided by Bright House Networks. We will work with Bright House to have them sponsor free wifi through their network for attendees as well.

Page 4 MEETING FACILITIES The Hilton Bayfront provides more than 22,400 square feet of flexible meeting space, in addition to dedicated meeting rooms and restaurant spaces.

OPENING CEREMONIES The Mahaffey Theatre, which is directly across the street from the headquarters hotel, provides the ideal venue for the Opening Ceremonies.

4 Page 4 MEETING FACILITIES The Hilton Bayfront provides more than 22,400 square feet of flexible meeting space, in addition to dedicated meeting rooms and restaurant spaces. The Hilton s Lobby Bar is ideally equipped to welcome Bouchercon attendees, with a large and welcoming open space that has an abundance of comfortable seating. OPENING CEREMONIES The Mahaffey Theatre, which is directly across the street from the headquarters hotel, provides the ideal venue for the Opening Ceremonies. We envisage an opening ceremony that will be unforgettable, one truly for the record books (pun intended). To this end, we have already contacted potential special guests, including Florida musical legend and author Jimmy Buffett. Oh, and we ve also identified multiple potential cupcake sponsors. GUESTS OF HONOR American Guests of Honor: Karin Slaughter and Sean Chercover International Guests of Honor: Sara Blaedel and Mark Billingham Toastmaster: Lisa Unger Florida Guest of Honor: Tim Dorsey Lifetime Achievement (and not done yet!): Ian Rankin Fan Guests of Honor: Judy Bobalik and Ayo Onotade Ghost of Honor: John D. MacDonald In addition to the GoHs, we have spoken with numerous authors (including Dennis Lehane, Michael Koryta, Michael Connelly, and Ace Atkins) who have ties to Florida and St. Petersburg specifically who have agreed to serve as Ambassadors, to help spread the word about Bouchercon St. Petersburg in the years leading up to it.

5 Page 5 CHARITY PARTNERS Across seven branches, the St. Petersburg Public Library System provides invaluable services to the diverse community it serves, from book discussion groups and computer classes, to writers workshops and the Reading Buddies program, which pairs elementary-age kids with adults to practice their reading. Many in the crime fiction community are also animal lovers, and just outside St. Petersburg is Big Cat Rescue, the largest accredited sanctuary in the world dedicated entirely to abused and abandoned big cats. Big Cat Rescue houses lions, tigers, bobcats, cougars and other species, most of whom have been abandoned, abused, orphaned, saved from being turned into fur coats, or retired from performing acts. While combining a literary and animal charity is a bit unusual for Bouchercon, we believe this gives us all the opportunity to give back to the world around us in real and tangible ways, and ones that will be fulfilling for attendees. $175 prior to December 31, 2016 $200 January 1 December 31, 2017 $225 January 1, 2018 through conference REGISTRATION The above rates are based on the Long Beach 2014 rates using a 2.5% annual inflation rate. In order to encourage new attendees from the regional area, we will offer a 5% Florida Resident discount on all of the above prices. Co-Chairs: Ruth Jordan, Jon Jordan, Erin Mitchell Dealer Room: Don Longmuir Programming: Kate Malmon and Sabrina Ogden 1 Auctions: Jeremy Lynch Online: Jen Forbus ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Others 2 : Eric Campbell, Ali Karim, Dan Malmon, Christine Koryta, Lauren O Brien, Drew Smith, Elyse Dinh 1 Ably assisted as needed by Ruth, Jon, and Judy Bobalik 2 Specific roles will be undertaken as we get closer to 2018

Page 6 LOCAL PARTNERS We believe it is important to enlist support both tangibles and financial sponsorship from area businesses, all of which will benefit greatly from Bouchercon s presence.

6 Page 6 LOCAL PARTNERS We believe it is important to enlist support both tangibles and financial sponsorship from area businesses, all of which will benefit greatly from Bouchercon s presence. While 2018 is still years away, we have already spoken with the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Tampa Bay Times (the largest newspaper in Florida), and Bright House Networks (the cable company that owns the wifi infrastructure throughout St. Petersburg), all of which are keen to support Bouchercon. In the Tampa Bay Times we have a powerful regional advocate and sponsor. In addition to high-profile visibility for Bouchercon, Colette Bancroft, the Books Editor, is quite partial to crime fiction, and her columns are syndicated nationally. Her support will be invaluable in the years leading up to PROGRAMMING AND EVENT IDEAS We already have more ideas than we ll be able to fit into just one weekend. In addition to full days of programming consisting of multiple simultaneous panels to ensure attendees are spoilt for choice, we ll include additional activities such as Daytime Events Shuffleboard tournament at the historic St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club New Author Breakfast at the Museum of Fine Arts Anthony Awards brunch Evening Events Live By Night movie night hosted by Dennis Lehane, under the stars in one of St. Petersburg s beautiful waterfront parks Gelato 3 social at the St. Petersburg Pier Dancing with the Authors at The Coliseum 4 IN SUMMARY Thank you for your consideration. We would be pleased to answer any questions you might have. -Ruth, Jon and Erin 3 Contrary to all logic, St. Petersburg has some of the best gelato this side of Napoli 4 You might recognize The Coliseum from its famous appearance in Cocoon

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