The cheques have now been processed should be posted within the next two weeks. Hopefully most members should have their refunds within the next three to four weeks.

Clarecraft have announced that they will be holding an event to replace the Convention, CCDE 2000 "Lords and Ladies" More details can be found on Clarecraft's site and the tickets can be booked online for a measly fiver.

MillenniCon Hand & Shrimp
PO Box 189
Patchway
Bristol
MillenniCon Hand & Shrimp
The Discworld Convention 2000
BS32 8YE

13 March, 2000

Dear Member,

Conventions are funded not only through the sale of memberships, but by those members joining in the spirit of the event and staying at the Convention hotel. An agreement is then made, estimating a percentage of members requiring rooms and offsetting this against charges for the conference facilities.

Unfortunately this hasn't been the case with the third Discworld Convention, MillenniCon Hand and Shrimp, where the take-up on rooms has been far lower than our worst expectations. In 1998, the ratio of members staying was in excess of 90%, but now with take-up figures of little more than 15% of the total membership, the likelihood of us reaching a break-even point by the Convention are low and with the penalties the hotel would charge, make this event totally uneconomical.

The 1998 Convention, while very successful from the point of view of the attendees, nevertheless had financial problems which had to be informally resolved after the event. The committee of the 2000 Convention do not want to find themselves in a similar situation, and feel that they should not proceed with MillenniCon knowing that it would be reliant on 'informal' assistance, however willingly that may be offered.

It is therefore, with great regret that we inform you of the cancellation of the Convention due to this insurmountable problem.

It is our intention to offer all members a full refund and this will follow shortly, but in the meantime we wanted to inform you of this sad news as soon as possible.

Please accept our sincerest apologies: we really hoped that we could make this an event to remember, but there comes a point when however hard one tries, the numbers simply do not add up.

We intend to post updates here on the web, though if you require any further information please e-mail us at queries@dwcon.lspace.org.

Yours sincerely

Claire-Louise Ruffle
Madam Chair