Discworld Convention - Postponed
5 May 2020
After several days of conversation between ourselves and the Hilton management, we have come to the following decision:
The International Discworld Convention will not now take place in 2020, as previously planned. We have agreed with the Hilton that there is no way a gathering of our size would be allowed to take place so soon.
As a result of this reasoning, there will be no financial penalty involved in rearranging the Convention. This was one of our chief concerns in making sure we could continue to run future Conventions. We would like to thank everyone who was able or who tried to book a hotel room last Monday- your keenness certainly helped our cause!
The Convention itself has been postponed, not cancelled, which means everyone's memberships will remain valid. Because there are several other Discworld Conventions scheduled for 2021, we have postponed to August 2022, again at the Birmingham Hilton.
The exact date is yet to be confirmed, but we will of course get that information to you as soon as reasonably possible.
What Happens Now?
The Hilton will be refunding all DWCon room reservation bookings automatically, and you should not need to take any action. Please note that although the Hilton have said they are doing everything they can to process refunds as quickly as possible, they are currently operating with a skeleton staff. Due to the influx of cancellations from both the Convention and other guests/events, they estimate it will take up to 30 days for this automatic refund process to be complete.
If because of Covid-19 you have sold your membership for 2020, or already refused a membership offer for the upcoming Convention, you will be at the top of the waiting list for memberships to the rescheduled Convention in 2022. Please direct questions regarding this to membership@dwcon.org.
This is an incredibly disappointing turn of events for us. After working hard for almost two years to put on a memorable Convention, it has been a very difficult choice to have to make. We understand, too, that you will be every bit as disappointed as we currently feel.
However, the current global situation is one beyond anyone’s control, and our chief concern now is to make the postponed Convention every bit as enjoyable as it would have been had we travelled down the other trouser.
If you have any other questions, please email us at info@dwcon.org.
See you all in 2022.
The Chair Team