The official Worldcon.org should be the first point of call.
Earlier in 1936, UK fans announced they would be holding a convention in Leeds in public function premises. This event was held on 3 January 1937, and had a planned program. On the basis of venue and program, some UK fans consider this to have been the first SF convention (and some US fans hotly dispute this).
John Clute and Peter Nicholls' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states:
The first US convention was held in New York in 1938 and the first Worldcon, now the premier sf convention, took place there in 1939 (though it was originally so-named because of the World's Fair in New York that year).This entry was provided by Peter Roberts and Rob Hansen, and the latter is almost certainly one of the UK fans who consider the Leeds meeting the first SF convention.
Photographs indicate the dress code at all these early events seemed to be white shirt, jacket and tie. While clothing styles have changed, controversy and disputation seem to be with us always at SF conventions.
2000: Chicon 2000, the 58th World Science Fiction Convention, Chicago,
Illinois, USA, to be held Thursday 31 August - Monday 4 September 2000.
email: chi2000@chicon.org
postal: Chicon 2000, PO Box 632057, Chicago IL 60664, USA.
2001 - Philadelphia. Presupporting US$10. Write to Philcon 2001, Suite 2001, 402 Huntingdon Pike, Rockledge PA 19046 USA, email phil2001@netaxs.com
2002 - San Francisco. Held ConFrancisco in 1993. Pre-supporting membership costs US$20.02. Contact PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363, email info@sf2002.sfsfc.org or http://www.sfsfc.org/sf2002
2002 - Seattle. Presuporting $10.01. Contact PO Box 283, Seattle, WA 98111-0283 or www.isomedia.com/westercon
2003 - Toronto. Held Torcon in 1948 and Torcon II in 1973 (an event I remember fondly, despite the bidding party for Aussiecon being held in my room). Contact address is Toronto in '03, PO Box 3, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5W 1A2. Pre-supporting membership is Cdn$20.03 or US$15, payable to Toronto in'03. Their web site is at http://worldhouse.com/worldcon-2003
Although the rules governing who can bid for the right to hold a Worldcon are remarkably complex, suffice it to say that such rights are decided on a rotational basis three years in advance. As it happens, the right to organise the Worldcon for the year 2002 will be decided at Aussiecon Three. The area due up under the rotational schedule is the Western section of North America which is represented by bids from San Francisco and Seattle. For more information about the bidding process see the section below and the WSFS page at www.wsfs.org.
Site Selection for the 2002 Worldcon
To bidders: Under Article III - Future Worldcon Selection, Section 3.6, of the World Science Fiction Society Constitution, bids to hold the 2002 Worldcon must be filed with Aussiecon Three no later than 180 days prior to the official opening ceremony of Aussiecon Three. Section 3.6 also states that "To be eligible for site selection, a bidding committee must present adequate evidence of an agreement with its proposed site+s facilities, such as a conditional contract or a letter of agreement; and must state the rules under which the Worldcon Committee will operate, including a specification of the term of office of their chief executive officer or officers and the conditions and procedures for the selection and replacement of such officer or officers." We will accept such papers by mail to our postal address in Australia, or by hand to our WSFS Division Head, Stephen Boucher. Sites for the 2002 Worldcon must be either in the Western zone of North America or outside of North America. (For further details please consult the WSFS Constitution.)
To voters: Site selection ballots will be distributed
with Progress Report 4, scheduled for posting on April 30, 1999. Voters
in the ballot must have purchased either a supporting or attending membership
of Aussiecon Three in order to be eligible to vote. In addition,
voters must accompany their vote with payment of a fee which will be determined
in consultation with the competing bids. Payment of this voting fee
entitles the voter to a supporting membership in the winning bid, regardless
of whether or not the voter actually chose that bid as their preference
in the ballot. Details of this voting fee will accompany the ballot
and we are hopeful of reaching agreement with the competing bids by the
end of 1998. Members wishing to vote may do so by mail or in person
at the convention, where a voting station will be manned and clearly signposted.
Details of the winning bid, along with voting details, will be announced
at a WSFS business session meeting during Aussiecon Three.
World Science Fiction Society, WSFS, Worldcon, Science Fiction Achievement Award, Hugo Award and NASFiC are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.
Aussiecon 3 Webmaster: Tim Richards. Website queries: webmaster@aussiecon3.worldcon.org. General queries: info "at" aussiecon3.worldcon.org