Say Da to Moscow
A hoax Worldcon bid run by Mike and Christa Sinclair in the late ’80s allegedly to bring the Worldcon to the USSR in 1995. The bid was Communist Party/USSR themed, gave out "passports," poured a lot of vodka, and was generally pretty funny.
It started at a Midwestcon when they noticed that the upcoming Worldcon bid parties seemed dull and Christa Sinclair made a joke about the 1986 summit meeting in Reykjavik that it was a GorbyCon. One thing led to another and soon a flyer for Say Da to Moscow appeared on the Freebie Table.
Bid committee members included:
- "Mikhail Sinclair" -- Party Theoretician and General Secretary
- Bruce Pelz -- Hotel Liaison
- Tony Ubelhor -- Minister of Propaganda
- Maureen Dorris -- Minister of Defensive Camouflage
- Jack Reed -- Chronicler Emeritus
- Genny Dazzo -- Party Member
- Jon Stopa -- Agent
- Joni Stopa -- Agent
It very carefully never filed and when the Sinclairs had a son in 1990 and the USSR collapsed the following year, the bid also faded away. As reported in Mimosa 26, the very last party took place at the closing Rivercon XXV in 2000.
By the time that the bid, such that it was, had run its course, the L.A.Con people had copied some of the shtick, such as a passport-style book holding stickers from various convention parties, in their successful bid for the 1996 Worldcon.
- Say Da To Moscow recollection by Michael Sinclair (2007), with several low-resolution photos
- Some more photos and a brief writeup from 1989 at File 770
| 1995 Site Selection | 1986—2000 |
| This is a page about a convention bid. Please extend it by adding information about who was bidding, officers, committee list, what they were bidding for, who their opponents were, and who won. |
