Arthur Chenin [Nevada, USA] is the Friendly Native Guide^TM for the Reno bid committee. Although he has worked on several smaller science fiction and gaming conventions, in an unexplained fit of masochism, this is the first time he has been involved in a WorldCon. In the "real world" Arthur works as a research analyst at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Aaron Curtis's [Oregon, USA] first calling is gaming: he's run gaming for OryCon many times, Westercon 56 in Seattle in 2003 and the Seattle NASFiC in 2005. He's been involved with GameStorm for all 10 years of its existence, as chair (in 2002 and 2005), event programming, treasurer, corporate outreach, and hotel liaison numerous times. No one-trick pony, he's also a past president of Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI), and has worked as hotel liaison for OryCon. He was one of Patty's hotel minions for Denvention 3.

Vincent Docherty [The Hague, The Netherlands] has done nothing remarkable aside from chairing not one, but two Worldcons (1995 and 2005, both in Glasgow, Scotland). He's also been active in British fandom, running Hugos at the 1987 Worldcon in Brighton, as well as working on Eastercons (the British national convention), being fan guest of honor at several conventions and just an all-around great set of knees for when you can talk him into wearing his kilt.

Steve Francis [Kentucky, USA] has been attending conventions since his first WesterCon in 1963 and has attended 338 more since. He has worked on 21 of the 27 Worldcons attended since 1974. He with Sue, ran 25 RiverCons in Louisville and was treasurer of NorthAmeriCon '79. Dave Kyle and Bob Tucker sponsored him as a new associate member of First Fandom in 1983 and has been a member of the CFG since 1988. Since 1985, he has been chosen as FGoH at 11 conventions in the Midwest and South. He was given the Rebel Award in 1992, the Rubble Award in 2001, the Big Heart Award in 2001 and won the DUFF election in 2008. Together, they have traveled to conventions in Australia (twice), the Netherlands, Scotland and Canada (three times). Their main goal in fandom is to make at least one new friend at every convention they attend. One last note, Steve and Sue were married at the Little Chapel of the Bells on 4th Street in downtown Reno, 44 years ago.

Sue Francis [Kentucky, USA] started going to conventions with MidWestCon in 1974, and has attended a total of 308, including 25 Worldcons. She worked on 20 Worldcons including the position of Events Division head at LoneStarCon 2 in San Antonio in 1997. She was elected to the WSFS Mark Protection Committee in 1988 and served for 20 years. She has been FGoH at 10 conventions and has been a member of the CFG since 1988. She received the Rebel Award in 1992, the Rubble Award in 2001, the Big Heart Award in 2001 and was elected as DUFF co-delegate in 2008. At the 25 RiverCons, the 1979 NorthAmeriCon and the 1986 DeepSouthCon 24 (as co-chair) she was the up front convention representative while Steve concentrated on the background work. Was it mentioned that Steve and Sue have 5 children, 20 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren?

Don Glover [Seattle, USA] has been involved in Seattle fandom for over 32 years. He attended his first convention in 1976 and spent most of the convention volunteering. He has worked on 30 of the past 31 Norwescons and contributed to a number of other Pacific Northwest area conventions such as Dreamcon, Beyondcon, Orycon, and the latest Seattle Westercon.

Colin Harris [Guildford, UK] attended his first convention in 1984. Early committee experience was mainly in programme development, particularly for Mexicon 4 and 5 and then Intersection, the 1995 Worldcon. Heavily involved with the 2005 bid from its early days, he ultimately co-chaired Interaction in partnership with Vincent Docherty.

Mark Herrup [Illinois, USA] has been attending Worldcons since 1977, and has been working on them for about 20 years. Having started as a gofer, he has since worked in several different areas, including Operations/Office, Registration, and Facilities. The last few years he's both been active in Boskone and dealing with the main convention hotels in Glasgow, Anaheim, and Denver. He's been heavily involved with Windycon and Capricon in the Chicago area, and also was the hotel liaison for the Smofcon in Rosemont in 2003.

Rick Lindsley [Oregon, USA] is a newer face from the Portland area. He's been webmaster for Orycon the last two years and attendee for seven. In his role of webmaster, he committed the egregious error of being reliable, opinionated, and politely pushy. Surprisingly, these were exactly the qualities required to create a successful website for the Reno bid.

Tammy Lindsley [Oregon, USA] has chosen event planning as a career, and in addition to attending 17 Orycons and working on the concom for four of those, has helped plan sales meetings and corporate conferences. She's been to a couple of Westercons but longs for the perfect excuse to attend a Worldcon.

John Lorentz [Oregon, USA] had science fiction thrust upon him as a child and didn't have the fortitude to resist. Since then his interest and participation has grown to a series of notable accomplishments that benefitted Orycons, Westercons, Smofcons and even the odd Boskone in roles ranging from unheralded assistant to chair. This year finds him being treasurer for Orycon, president of Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc., and a potential contestant for the American quiz show "Jeopardy!"

Jim Mann [Pennsylvania & Massachusetts, USA] has been seen working on Boskones, other regionals, and Worldcons, including being a Division Head for Worldcon four times in multiple areas. He apparently has some masochistic tendencies in that he seems to enjoy working on Programming much of the time. He edited a number of books for NESFA Press (including Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia and Complete Short Fiction and William Tenn's Short Fiction). He co-chaired the 1988 Boskone and frequently runs Program for Confluence and Boskone. Jim ran Program Ops for Denvention. In his spare time, Jim collects books, microbrews and sometimes writes interesting reviews.

Laurie Mann [Pennsylvania & Massachusetts, USA] has been known to devote way too much of her waking time to fannish pursuits, such as FANAC, working on Boskones, Confluence, AwardWeb, and Worldcons (where she's been a Division Head twice and assistant DH once). She's run many areas, but tends to run Press Relations, help with Program, and staff the Fan History exhibit. She co-chaired the 1988 Boskone, frequently runs Program for Confluence and Boskone, and ran two relaxacons. She edited William Tenn's Dancing Naked, which was nominated for a Hugo for Best Related Book. For Denvention, she managed the Web site and the Hugo Award Ceremony. For Anticipation, she will be a guest of honor liaison. Laurie was even in Reno once (August, 1968) and reports that the mountains and lake were lovely.

Cass Marshall [Colorado, USA] lives in Boulder and has worked on MileHiCon Operations for 25 years (or maybe more). She's another person who works at a university - the University of Colorado at Boulder - as an administrative assistant in the Dance and Theater Department. Somehow, though, she manages to run into her students in the strangest places, like restaurants in downtown Denver.

Theresa "TR" Renner [Washington DC, USA] has been attending and working on conventions for decades, starting with being an attendee at the 1974 Worldcon, Discon. Since then, she's worked in various capacities on regionals and Worldcons, from gophering and registration staff to art auctions, program ops and Operations. TR has been a Worldcon division deputy for Facilities a couple of times, division head for Services in 1992, and then ran the North American bid operations and was Vice Chair for the 1995 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland. In her job for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, she has finally found a job in the real world that closely mirrors fannish convention running. Although there are a number of parallels between planning for an overseas visit of the Vice President of the United States (VPOTUS) and planning a Worldcon, a VPOTUS visit is much easier!!

Ruth Sachter [Oregon, USA] attended her first convention (and first Worldcon) in 1971, where she imprinted on Worldcons and found her niche in fandom, making it a better place for all. She went from there to working on Lunacons (NYC) and Star Trek conventions, diversifying her interests along the way. Ultimately, she met and married another fan, John Lorentz, moving to Oregon to practice her convention skills there. She is privileged to be one of the Emergency Holographic Texans, created at Lonestar 2 (Worldcon 1997 in San Antonio). Ruth has been on numerous bid committees and a vice Chair for Worldcon. She has mastered arcane skills ranging from making egg creams (for losing NY Worldcon bids) to cutting up pineapple in a bathroom (for the Hawaii in 93 hoax bid).

Larry Sanderson [Minnesota, USA] has been involved in Minneapolis fandom for over 20 years. He's worked on several Minicons of old, the last Mpls World Fantasy Convention, Diversicon, and, more recently, Applecon and the upcoming Gaylaxicon 2009. He has been caught lurking, often taking pictures, at recent Worldcons this side of the pond. Sometimes found at Boskone, but he doesn't know anything at all about the Death of Peeps nor what happens to them in the microwave.

Heidi Schaub [Oregon, USA] has admitted to being a reader of fantasy and science fiction and of course, admitting it is the first step towards curing it. She was once described as "the only real grownup in the room" at a con, and can remain the calm voice of reason when everyone else is losing their minds all around her. Living far too close to certain other Portland fans, she's been sucked into helping with both GameStorm and Orycon, though she doesn't seem to mind. In case additional proof is needed ... she agreed to be on this bid committee!

Joseph Siclari [New York, USA] once chaired a Worldcon (1992 in Orlando) which, of course, is a big deal. Since then he's done little else besides his subversive work in making conventions better for everyone by co-founding Smofcon, along with Ben Yalow and TR Renner, and helping to establish FANAC, devoted to the preservation and distribution of information about science fiction and science fiction fandom. Oh sure, he's done a few other things here and there over the years, including marrying his Better Half, Edie Stern. Well, okay, maybe between NorEascon, ConFederation, Suncon, Boskone, Galacticon, and the other 200 or so cons he's worked on, he has kept himself busy.

Edie Stern [New York, USA] started reading SF at an early age and hasn't been the same since. She's been active in fandom, publishing zines, working on conventions (both regional and Worldcon), filking, and collecting art. She's been a Division Head at Worldcon and been a fan guest of honor several times, along with her husband, Joe Siclari.

Ian Stockdale [California, USA] has been spotted at Worldcons over the last few years, mostly working as a Division Head in one capacity or another. He's worked on many regionals and is well known on the West Coast for his cool, collected manner. (We're still trying to find out how he's known on the East Coast.) He was head of Exhibits for Denvention 3. When things are falling apart and you need the job done, he's the one to call. He's also a guy who just can't say no ...

Geri Sullivan [Massachusetts, USA] headed the hospitality division for ConJosé and was publications deputy division head for Noreascon 4. More recently, she chaired Smofcon 25 and has been running entertaining (if a tad bizarre) events such as the "Death to Peeps Fun Fest" at Boskone. Geri's fannish roots are in Minneapolis -- she worked on Minicon for 20 years and is the post-supporting chair of the Minneapolis in '73 Worldcon bid. Music parties and fanzine publishing are her other favorite forms of fanac. She's the 1999 past president, fwa (fan writers of america), winner of three FAAn Awards for fan activity achievement, and shared the 2007 Best Fanzine Hugo with Randy Byers and Lee Hoffman for Science-Fiction Five-Yearly.

Patty Wells [Oregon, USA] has done nothing remarkable in the last five minutes, but before that she spent many years working on Orycons and Worldcons in many different capacities. Her vast experience includes a staggering 30 Orycons, 5 division level positions on Worldcons in 3 different divisions, additional non-division level Worldcon positions, many Westercons as chair or in other positions, and working on the program for several Smofcons.

Marc "I'm no SMOF, I'm just married to one" Wells [Oregon, USA] has been involved with convention fandom since Orycon 0 (the one day Symposium organized by Debbie Cross), Marc has worked as convention treasurer, on the tech crew and as host of the popular Orycon version of "Whose Line is it, Anyway?". Behind the scenes, Marc has been on the board of directors of OSFCI (Oregon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc.) the parent organization of Orycon and other Northwest conventions and is a former president of OSFCI. He is now delighted that he can embarrass his children at conventions rather than the other way around.

Ben Yalow [New York, USA] is a familiar face who has attended over 600 cons and worked over 200. Denvention was the 38th consecutive Worldcon he has attended. He's done pretty much every job on a con at one time or another, having been a Worldcon Division Head 11 times and a member of the chairman's staff five times. He is working with facilities for this bid to negotiate the contracts for the hotels and convention center.