A Diplomacy Association of Australia and New Zealand project.
When World Dipcon began in 1988 the original intention was for it to alternate between Europe, North America, and Australasia. In 1992 WDCIII was held in Canberra, Australia. However in the mid 1990's a number of prominent hobby members downunder moved on, and the hobby went through a downturn in numbers and enthusiasm. Consequently, the Australasian hobby has not bid for a WDC since 1992. However, the hobby is on a strong upsurge in Australia and New Zealand, and we feel we could now hold a very successful and enjoyable WDC in 2002. To ensure a strong local turnout, WDC would double as the Australian Diplomacy Championships for that year.
Travelling, meeting new people... and stabbing them.
We feel having a WDC in the Southern hemisphere in 2002 would be a great experience for those from the Northern hemisphere who make the trip. Not only would you get to play against a whole new group of players, with different ideas and styles, but you'd get to meet new friends, see new places, and escape a cold northern hemisphere winter for the warmth of our summer weather. It would also be good for the hobby here, and world-wide, forging closer ties between the Downunder hobby and the hobby in Europe and North America.
Can we do it?
Definitely. We've got a thriving Tournament scene downunder, with nine established tournaments spread throughout the year. In 1996 these tournaments attracted 65 players, in 1997 they attracted 74 players, and last year we had 92 players attend Tournaments affiliated to the Diplomacy Association of Australia and New Zealand (DAANZ). The last three Australian Diplomacy Championships have each had increasing numbers, with 36 players in Canberra this past January. The New Zealand Championships this year will certainly have 40 + entrants. This growth is well founded with new players now returning for repeat visits to tournaments.
If the bid is successful, the plan is to hold WDCXII at the Canberra RSL, in Canberra Australia over Easter 2002. The RSL is a private club with function rooms upstairs and a full bar and Bistro downstairs which serve very reasonably priced drinks and meals. The Australian Diplomacy Champs have been held there regularly over recent years in the Australia Room, which will comfortably accommodate 15 Diplomacy tables. There's a big balcony area (which measures approximately 40 feet by 20 feet) off the Australia Room, on which barbecues would be held. Easter has been selected as the date as airfares from Europe and the USA are off-peak then, and the timing over a holiday weekend will also help maximize the local attendance.
We would intend to run WDC2002 over 4 days. This format has proved very successful at the Australian Championships where players found there was plenty of time for socializing and playing other games back at Toad Hall where everyone stayed. Accommodation will be available for WDC at Toad Hall, which is only 5 minutes walk from the venue. Final details of accommodation and entry packages for intercontinental players are yet to be worked out. When finalised they are likely to also include transport to canberra (which doesn't have an international airport) from Sydney and/or Melbourne. There will be large numbers of local players travelling from those cities, and the bid team is currently working through options such as charter buses.
More details as to things like this will be available as they are organised through the bid's website at http://www.wdc2002downunder.com/.
Stay for a while... take in the sights...
With the large distance involved in coming to a WDC downunder we imagine that a significant number of Northern hemisphere players would want to extend their trip to include some holiday time in Australia and/or New Zealand. There are attractions for people with all sorts of interests downunder. Great beaches, natural wonders, cultural attractions of world renown, sporting events, and places to "get away from it all" and just relax in ways that are not always possible in other parts of the world - our isolation can be a tonic. And if you're of the outdoors adventure persuasion, we invented outdoors adventure tourism, and there's no better place for it than in Australia and New Zealand.
We'd like to see you down here.
So, in summary, we'd love to have you come and visit us for a summer of Diplomacy, good food, cold drinks, and good times. We're confident of a WDC with over 60 local players, which gives any Northern hemisphere attendees a plethora of new faces to test their mettle against, and hopefully allow a whole new era of closer ties amongst the world's Dippers to be forged. For those of you who want to extend your trip downunder to take in the feast of things to do and see while your down here we know you won't be disappointed, whatever your interests.
So if all that sounds appealing, and has you thinking that a jaunt Downunder to play Diplomacy, meet new people, have a great holiday, and see some great places, might be a bloody good idea, then get behind us and support us in our bid for WDC2002 at next years WDC in Baltimore. There will be a bid team from Australia and New Zealand attending WDC X in Baltimore to present our bid in full. We look forward to seeing you there.
Links of interest
Since you have the Internet at your fingertips, here are some of the things we have in our part of the world:
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Brandon Clarke (bjc@stephensons.co.nz) |