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1995 WSFS BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES

The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) Business Meeting at Intersection, the 1995 Worldcon, consisted of one preliminary meeting and two main meetings. All the meetings were held in the Shona and Staffa rooms of the Moat House Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland. The podium staff for all meetings were: Kevin Standlee, Presiding Officer; Tim Illingworth, Deputy Presiding Officer; George Flynn, Secretary; and Gary Feldbaum, Timekeeper.

Preliminary Business Meeting

Friday, Aug. 25, 1995

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 A.M. Mr. Feldbaum not being present, Rick Katze was appointed as Timekeeper pro tem, until Mr. Feldbaum's arrival at 10:32.

Mr. Sacks asked whether there would be a "Grill the Bidders" session. [No such event having been included in the Program, it had been informally agreed to schedule one at the Friday Business Meeting.] The Chair replied that since an announcement hadn't made it into the newsletter, it would be rescheduled for the end of the Saturday session.

Mr. Russell raised a question of privilege: The Registration staff had been told that people paying with "squidgy currencies" were not to receive Souvenir Books [which contained the WSFS documents]. Mr. Russell asked consideration of how this could be ameliorated. The Chair noted that additional copies could be printed.

Several requests were made that the minutes be made available by e-mail.

 

Business Passed On from ConAdian

(Items 1-5 were given first passage at ConAdian, and would become part of the WSFS Constitution if ratified. The explanations in [brackets] are those published in the Intersection Souvenir Book, etc. Here and elsewhere, the numbers assigned to motions are those used in the printed agenda.)

1. Release of Hugo Nomination Totals

MOVED, to add the following to the end of Section 2.9.4 of the WSFS Constitution:

During the same period the nomination voting totals shall also be published, including in each category the vote counts for at least the fifteen highest vote-getters and any other candidate receiving a number of votes equal to at least five percent (5%) of the nomination ballots cast in that category.

[Sec. 2.9.4 now requires the publication of the final-ballot Hugo voting counts. This motion would also require publication of the nomination counts, including runners-up down to 15th place or 5%, whichever represents fewer votes.]

The default debate time was 20 minutes; 4 minutes was also proposed; 4 minutes was voted. [In all decisions on debate time, voting began with the longest time and proceeded downward until a majority was obtained.]

2. Bid Eligibility Clarification

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by deleting the last sentence of Section 3.4 and by replacing Section 3.5 by the following:

To be <allowed on the ballot> {eligible for site selection}, a bidding committee must present adequate evidence of an agreement with <the proposed sites'> {its proposed site's} facilities, such as a conditional contract or a letter of agreement<. To be eligible for site selection, [it]> {; 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. Written copies of these rules must be made available by the bidding committee to any member of WSFS on request. <For both Worldcon and NASFiC bids,> {For a bid to be allowed on the printed ballot,} the aforementioned rules and agreements, along with an announcement of intent to bid, must be filed with the Committee that will administer the voting no later than 180 days prior to the official opening of the administering convention{; to be eligible as a write-in, a bid must file these documents by the close of the voting}. If no bids <qualify to be on the ballot> {meet these qualifications}, the selection shall proceed as though "None of the Above" had won.

[This is a rearrangement and clarification of the current text, and is believed to make no substantive changes. In particular, it spells out the eligibility of write-in candidates, in accord with current practice but not now stated explicitly in the Constitution. The changes that are not mere rearrangements are indicated above by <angle brackets> (deletions) and {curly brackets} (additions).]

Reading of the full text was waived. In response to an inquiry, the Chair ruled that passage of the motion would make no substantive change. -- Default debate time 20 minutes; 3 and 1 minutes proposed; 1 minute voted.

3. Changing Relocation of Stories Between Hugo Categories

MOVED, to amend the last sentence of Section 2.2.1 of the WSFS Constitution by deleting "provided that the story is within five thousand (5,000) words of the new category limits." and substituting "provided that the length of the story is within ten percent (10%) of the new category limits."

[This would reduce the Hugo administrators' leeway for moving stories between Hugo fiction categories, from the current 5000 words to 10% of the boundary wordage (i.e., 750 words between Short Story and Novelette, 1750 words between Novelette and Novella, 4000 words between Novella and Novel).]

Default debate time 6 minutes. -- Mr. Yalow moved to substitute for the new text "provided that the length of the story is within the lesser of five thousand (5,000) words or twenty percent (20%) of the new category limits."

The Chair ruled that this would constitute a lesser change [so that its passage would not prevent ratification this year]. There was 6 minutes' [should have been 5?] debate time on Mr. Yalow's amendment, which passed many-1. -- Default debate time on the motion as amended was now 20 minutes; but without objection, the time was left at the original 6 minutes.

4. Count Ineligibles -- But Only to a Point

MOVED, to add the following to the end of Section 3.4 of the WSFS Constitution:
If an ineligible candidate receives enough votes to win the election or becomes tied for first place, that candidate shall be eliminated, and the counting shall begin anew with the ineligible candidate eliminated.

[This motion would allow site-selection votes for ineligible candidates (usually hoaxes or joke write-ins) to be counted, but would not allow such a candidate to actually win the election.]

The following amendment by substitution was submitted:

[4'.] Count Ineligibles . . . But Let's Not Get Carried Away

MOVED, to add the following to the end of Section 3.7 of the WSFS Constitution:
All ballots will be initially tallied by their first preference, even if cast for a bid that the Administering Committee has found ineligible. Should an eligible bid fail to achieve a majority on the first round, on the second round all ballots for ineligible bids shall be redistributed to their first eligible choice, and tallying shall proceed according to preferential balloting procedures.
(submitted by Covert Beach and Judy Kindell)

Mr. Standlee noted that he was the author of the original motion, and asked whether there was any objection to his presiding at this time; there was none. -- There was 5 minutes' debate on the amendment. Mr. Russell noted that the "Section 3.7" should read "3.4"; this was fixed without objection. In response to an inquiry, the Chair ruled that the amendment by substitution would constitute a lesser change. The amendment by substitution then passed unanimously. -- Default debate time on the motion as amended was 20 minutes; there was no objection to setting the time as 6 minutes.

5. It's a WSFS Event Too . . .

MOVED, to add the following to the end of Section 3.7 of the WSFS Constitution:
or the site of any NASFiC held during the same year that the site is selected.

[This motion would apply the 60-mile exclusion zone for site selection not just to the site of the selecting Worldcon but also to the site of a NASFiC held in the same year.]

Default debate time 6 minutes; 20 and 9 minutes also proposed; 9 minutes voted.

Committee Reports

6. Report of WSFS Mark Protection Committee

Mr. Bloom submitted the committee's report and a financial report [both transcribed below], noting that the written report inadvertently omitted the passage of a motion to thank Scott Dennis for advancing funds to the committee.

[Mark Protection Committee Report]

Mr. Chairman, the WSFS Mark Protection Committee met twice since the last business meeting at ConAdian. At a meeting on Sunday, Sept. 4th, 1994, Kent Bloom was elected chairman, Sue Francis was elected secretary, and Scott Dennis was re-elected as treasurer. Discussions centered around how to raise money to fund the final registration of our marks in Great Britain.

During the year, final payments were made to our solicitors, and U.K. registrations were funded.

At a meeting held on Thursday, August 24th, 1995, in Glasgow, several topics were discussed. Letters explaining the proper usage for our marks will be sent to Microsoft, Inc., [to] Mike Resnick (regarding the "Alternate Worldcons" books), and to DragonCon NASFiC.

Stephen Boucher was authorized to engage a solicitor to pursue registration of our marks in Australia.

The members of the WSFS Mark Protection Committee as of the beginning of Intersection, with the zones they were elected from, or the organizations they represent, and the end of their terms are:

Kent Bloom, chairman (Western, until 1997)

Scott Dennis, treasurer (Central, until 1997)

Sue Francis, secretary (Central, until 1996)

Stephen Boucher (Outside North America, until 1996)

Paul Dormer (Intersection, until 1997)

Donald E. Eastlake, III (Eastern, until 1997)

Gary Feldbaum (Eastern, until 1996)

*Tim Illingworth (Outside North America, until 1995)

*Bruce Pelz (Western, until 1995)

Linda Ross-Mansfield (ConAdian, until 1996)

Robert Sacks (LACon II [actually L.A.con III], until 1998)

Randall L. Shepherd (LoneStarCon 2, until 1999)

*Kevin Standlee (ConFrancisco, until 1995)

Wilho N. Suominen (DragonCon/NASFiC, until 1997)

*Ben Yalow (East[ern], until 1995)

*Term expires at the end of the Intersection Business Meeting

Of the three positions to be filled by election at Intersection, no more than two can be from the Western Zone, no more than one can be from the Central Zone, and no more than one can be from the Eastern Zone.

Financial Report -- Mark Protection Committee -- World Science Fiction Society

Close of ConAdian to close of Intersection, September 1994-August 1995

 

Amount

Balance

Balance at close of ConAdian

 

79.18

Payment of Post Office Box Rental

-55.00

24.18

Advance from S. Dennis

700.00

724.18

Payment to Computer Patent Annuities -- UK registration

-700.00

24.18

Donation from ConFrancisco (additional)

500.00

524.18

Payment to Computer Patent Annuities -- UK registration

-172.00

352.18

Donation from LoneStarCon (voting totals)

1439.00

1791.18

Reimbursement to S. Dennis

-700.00

1091.18

Balance at close of Intersection

 

1091.18

All figures are in U.S. dollars.

The Treasurer thanks the committee of ConFrancisco for their generous additional donation to the Mark Committee.

Scott Dennis

24 Aug 95

Mr. Olson requested that the committee report on the current status of the marks. Mr. Bloom responded that four of the marks were registered in both the U.K. and the U.S., "NASFiC" in the U.S. only; an application had been filed in Canada, which would probably take one or two years more (Ken Smookler in charge). -- The report was accepted as amended.

Nominations for Elected Members of Mark Protection Committee -- The deadline for acceptance of nominations was set as 18:00 Friday, with elections to be held Saturday. -- Nominations were called for, and received for the following: Tim Illingworth (outside North America), Bruce Pelz (Western region), Ben Yalow (Eastern), Kevin Standlee (Western). Mr. Pelz was not present at the convention, and was reported to be unwilling to serve; his nomination was then withdrawn. [The Secretary subsequently received written acceptances from the remaining nominees.] -- The Chair ruled that balloting would still be needed even with only three nominees for three seats, since write-ins were allowed. Mr. Olson moved to suspend the rules and elect the nominees by acclamation. Mr. Feldbaum pointed out that it would be a bad precedent to advance an election without giving notice; Mr. Olson then withdrew his motion. The Chair noted that this motion could be brought up at the Main Business Meeting; if there were objection then, the election would take place Sunday (to allow time to produce ballots).

(The sound system from the previous night's filksinging had been left in place in case it were needed at the Business Meeting. There being no need for it, Spencer Love departed at this time, with the thanks of the meeting.)

7. Report of Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee -- The committee (Donald Eastlake) was not present. [Mr. Eastlake subsequently arrived: see below.]

8. Report of Worldcon Runners' Guide Editorial Committee -- The committee (Ross Pavlac) was not present.

9. Report of Standing Rules Working Group -- Mr. Sacks moved to renew the committee and postpone its report to next year; the Chair stated that he was ignoring this. -- Mr. Standlee then submitted the working group's report (consisting mainly of "Discussion Document #3"), which is attached to the printed version of these minutes. The portion of the report requiring action was as follows:

The SRWG is not yet ready to issue a final report, and proposes the following resolution:

Short Title: Continue Standing Rules Working Group
Resolved, that the Standing Rules Working Group established by the 1994 WSFS Business Meeting is continued for one year, and is instructed to report to the 1996 WSFS Business Meeting.

There being no objection, the resolution was passed and the working group was continued.

10. Worldcon Reports

ConFrancisco (Mr. Daugherty) and ConAdian (Ms. Ross-Mansfield) announced that their reports were done, but had not yet been reproduced, and would be available on Saturday. Ms. Bemis said that MagiCon was still in reporting status, and might have a report Saturday. Intersection did not have a report ready. No one was present on behalf of L.A.con III or LoneStarCon 2.

New Business Submitted to Intersection

(The explanations in [brackets] accompanying some motions are those submitted

by the makers of the motions. In the motions themselves, capitalization and

formatting have been regularized. The Secretary's suggested additions to the

text are indicated in square brackets [thus], and suggested deletions in curly

brackets {thus}. These alterations were not part of the texts considered by

the Business Meeting.)

11. Elimination of a Hugo

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by deleting Section 2.2.9, "Best Original Artwork".

(submitted by Robert Sacks, Tim Illingworth, Stuart Hellinger, Lawrence Ruh, Ben Yalow, Joni Brill Dashoff, Sara Paul, Mark Olson, Roger Sims, Shirley Avery, Martin Deutsch, Michael Nelson, Robert MacIntosh, Michael Mason, Rick Katze, Phillip Nathanson, Lois Mangan, Liz Gross, Robert Hillis, Glen Boettcher, and Covert Beach)

Mr. Tepper objected to consideration; the objection failed 3-many. -- Default debate time 6 minutes; 10 minutes also proposed; 6 minutes voted.

12. Clarification of Fanzine and Semiprozine Eligibility

MOVED, to amend Sections 2.2.10 and 2.2.11 of the WSFS Constitution by in both cases inserting "by the close of the previous calendar year" after the first "which", so as to make the clauses in question read
which by the close of the previous calendar year has published four (4) or more issues, at least one (1) of which appeared in the previous calendar year,
(submitted by Mark Olson and George Flynn)

[The current Fanzine and Semiprozine rules specify that at least one issue must appear in the previous year, but do not give a deadline for satisfying the four-issue-total requirement; this amendment would correct the omission, which has recently been a source of some confusion. (Note that an amendment having the same effect was added to the Constitution at the 1973 Business Meeting, but got lost in the subsequent era of Dueling Constitutions.)]

Default debate time 20 minutes; 5 and 2 minutes also proposed; 5 minutes voted.

13. Now Just What Rules Take Precedence?

MOVED, to replace the third sentence of Section 4.1 [of the WSFS Constitution] with the following:

Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of (in descending precedence): the WSFS Constitution, the Standing Rules, such other rules as may be published in advance by the current Committee, and Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.
(submitted by Covert Beach and Judy Kindell)

[Notes: The current wording is somewhat vague as to what governing documents take precedence. The intent is to clarify the order and make it possible for non-North American Worldcon Committees to specify a different Parliamentary Manual when Robert's is not part of their local tradition. In order for this amendment to have its full effect, all explicit references to Robert's must also be stricken from the Standing Rules.]

Mr. Sacks moved to commit the motion to the Standing Rules Working Group. Mr. Olson objected that the SRWG is not a committee: either its status should be regularized or a separate committee set up. Mr. Breidbart moved to amend Mr. Sacks's motion by appointing a committee contiguous to the SRWG to which the motion would be committed. Mr. Sacks asked whether it would be in order to move to rename the SRWG as a committee: not without suspending the rules. Mr. Breidbart's amendment failed overwhelmingly. Mr. Olson moved (as a substitute for Mr. Sacks's motion) that the Chair appoint a small committee of "rules gurus" to consider the motion and report back to the Main Business Meeting: passed overwhelmingly. Mr. Sacks's motion as amended then passed overwhelmingly, and Item 13 was referred to committee. -- The Chair appointed Mr. Feldbaum, Mr. Illingworth, Mr. Sacks, Mr. Epstein, Mr. Yalow, Mr. Beach, and Mr. Katze to the committee. Mr. Olson requested that a chair be named "so that Mr. Sacks won't cause trouble"; this was objected to, and Mr. Olson (sort of) apologized. The Chair appointed Mr. Beach to chair the committee.

14. Grand Master Amendment

Introduction:

Whereas there seems to be some consensus towards the honoring of some science fiction professionals with the title Grand Master, and

Whereas there also seems to be some concern about unnecessarily adding to the number of Hugo categories,

Therefore, we, the undersigned, do offer the following amendment to the Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society.

Short Title: This amendment shall be known by the short title of "Grand Master Amendment".

Amendment:
The following paragraph shall be added as Section 2.12:
Any individual who has received five or more Hugos for professional work in science fiction (as writer, artist, and/or editor) shall be considered to have been awarded the title of Grand Master. This shall apply to {both} current recipients of five or more Hugos as well as to all future recipients. Recipients of the Gandalf (Grand Master Award) given between 1974 and 1980 are also included. Special Committee awards and retrospective Hugos shall be included in an individual's total count. Future Worldcon Committees should consider including a list of current Grand Masters in the Program Book or other materials distributed at the Worldcon. If an individual is receiving his or her fifth Hugo for professional work, and thus attaining Grand Master status, the Worldcon Committee presenting that award should also consider noting this fact by such actions as including it on the Hugo Award or by other means it deems proper.
(submitted by Lew Wolkoff, Todd Dashoff, Becky Kaplowitz, Ira Kaplowitz, and Rose Wolkoff; only the first two actually signed the motion)

[A page of "Background Information," listing those who would already qualify for Grand Master status, is omitted here. --G.F.]

The Chair requested that the "Whereas" clauses be considered as explanation rather than part of the motion proper; Mr. Wolkoff agreed to this. -- Mr. Olson objected to consideration. More than two-thirds were opposed to consideration, so Item 14 was killed.

15. Extending Dramatic Presentation Eligibility to Related Subjects [title assigned by the Secretary, who didn't realize that "I Know It When I See It" was intended as the title]

MOVED, to amend Sec. 2.2.6 of the WSFS Constitution by changing "science fiction or fantasy" to "science, fiction, fantasy, or related subjects".
(submitted by Sharon Sbarsky, Perrianne Lurie, and Jill Eastlake)

Default debate time 6 minutes; no other times were proposed.

16. Extending Dramatic Presentation Eligibility to Entire Seasons

MOVED, to amend Sec. 2.2.6 of the WSFS Constitution by replacing the second sentence with
In the case of individual programs presented as a series, any of the following may be eligible: (a) a single program; (b) a sequence of installments constituting a single dramatic unit; (c) an entire season considered as a whole. In cases (b) and (c), eligibility shall be in the year of the final installment or program.
(submitted by Sharon Sbarsky, Perrianne Lurie, and Jill Eastlake)

Default debate time 20 minutes; 6 minutes was also proposed. -- Mr. Yalow asked whether the second season of Babylon 5 could run against the first two seasons as a dramatic unit. Before this could be answered, Mr. Olson moved that the motion be referred to a committee (distinct from the committee considering Item 13). Mr. Russell suggested that the committee consider a slate of alternatives. There being no objection, Item 16 was referred to committee. -- The Chair appointed Ms. Sbarsky (chair), Ms. Morman, Mr. Jaffe, Mr. Smookler, Mr. Feldbaum, and Mr. Flynn to the committee.

17. A Secret Ballot Is a Secret Ballot

RESOLVED: It is the sense of the WSFS that it is inappropriate for a Worldcon Committee to gather additional demographic data on the site-selection and/or {the} Hugo Award ballots[,] beyond that which is required by the WSFS Constitution{,} or useful for the efficient administration of the balloting.
(submitted by Covert Beach and Judy Kindell)

This being a resolution and not a constitutional amendment, it could be considered immediately. Default debate time 6 minutes. -- The resolution passed many-few.

[This completed the printed agenda.]

7. Report of Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee

It was noted that Mr. Eastlake was now present. He stated that he had no report, and that it was unlikely he would have one. -- Mr. Sacks moved to continue the committee for another year: Passed overwhelmingly.

Ms. Morman moved to thank the Chair for not wearing a Nazi uniform. Mr. Olson moved to adjourn; when the Chair pointed out that Ms. Morman's motion would then be on the floor when the meeting reconvened, Mr. Olson withdrew his motion. Mr. Olson then moved to suspend the rules and postpone Ms. Morman's motion indefinitely: Passed by greater than two-thirds vote.

The meeting adjourned at 11:53 A.M.

First Main Business Meeting

Saturday, Aug. 26, 1995

The meeting was called to order at 10:31 A.M. -- Presentations by the 1998 bidders were made a special order of business for noon. (The Chair recognized the efforts of Mr. Sacks as a reporter: He had produced a Business Meeting report, including an announcement of the bid presentations, but the newsletter chose not to print it.)

Business Passed On from ConAdian

1. Release of Hugo Nomination Totals

Mr. Sacks moved to amend "fifteen highest" to "ten highest"; the Chair ruled that this would be a lesser change. The amendment failed, by a vote of few-many. -- Item 1 was then ratified, almost unanimously.

2. Bid Eligibility Clarification

Item 2 was ratified unanimously.

3. Changing Relocation of Stories Between Hugo Categories

A motion was made by Mr. Landis to substitute the original text for the amendment passed Friday. The Chair ruled this out of order, since a motion to amend a pending motion cannot have the effect of simply undoing a previous amendment. (A motion to reconsider the previous vote would have been in order, but no one who voted in favor of the change made such a motion.) -- Item 3 was then ratified as amended, unanimously.

4'. Count Ineligibles . . . But Let's Not Get Carried Away

It was suggested that "preferential balloting procedures" at the end be changed to "preferential tallying procedures": approved without objection. -- Item 4' was then ratified as amended, unanimously.

[The Secretary has further modified the new text, inserting it in the Constitution in the following form:
All ballots shall be initially tallied by their first preferences, even if cast for a bid that the administering Committee has ruled ineligible. If no eligible bid receives a majority on the first round of tallying, then on the second round all ballots for ineligible bids shall be redistributed to their first eligible choices, and tallying shall proceed according to normal preferential-ballot procedures.]

5. It's a WSFS Event Too . . .

Debate time having expired, Mr. Sacks moved to extend it by 1 minute to allow Mr. Hillis to complete his speech; Mr. Hillis only wanted 30 seconds, and this was approved. -- On the vote to ratify Item 5, the Chair initially thought it had failed on a voice vote, then proceeded to a division, and finally to a counted vote: the result was 26-26. The Chair declined to break the tie, so Item 5, having received less than a majority vote, failed of ratification.

Committee Reports

6. Election of Mark Protection Committee Members

The Chair asked whether there was any objection to suspending the rules and electing the three nominated candidates by acclamation. There being no objection, Messrs. Illingworth, Standlee, and Yalow were elected for three-year terms.

7. Report of Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee

Still no report.

8. Report of Worldcon Runners' Guide Editorial Committee

Mr. Pavlac distributed copies of the committee's report [transcribed below]. (Noting that Mr. Pavlac was wearing a kilt, the Chair declared himself outclassed.)

Report of the Worldcon Runners' Guide Project

Submitted by Ross Pavlac

August, 1995

Work accomplished since ConAdian:

The 1995 edition of the Worldcon Runners' Guide now runs more than 150 pages (a 32 page increase over the size of the 1994 edition).

New material includes:

1. Lessons learned as a result of educational experiences at the 1995 NASFiC in Atlanta. Readers of the guide should find the material on art shows to be especially informative and amusing.

2. In light of recent online discussions, a section on TAFF/DUFF and their role in the Worldcon has been added.

3. Additional material on daily newsletters, largely from Chaz Baden and Kat Yeager.

4. An initial version of the chapter on Programming.

5. Additional tips on how to best structure a Worldcon to qualify for 501(c)(3) status.

6. Expanded publications section, including checklists for what to include in the program book and pocket program.

7. Expanded Services section, with an initial version of sections on gofers.

8. Several sample forms: expense reimbursement, gofer timesheet, beeper instructions, etc.

9. A new section on online liaison to the Internet and the various commercial services.

Contributors to this year's edition include Chaz Baden, Jeremy Bloom, Curt Clemmer, Don Eastlake III, Jace Foss, Steve Gold, Stu Hellinger, Diane Miller, Kevin Standlee, and Kat Yeager. Thank you!

Again, my concept of adding a bit more each year (rather than trying to do it all at one time) continues to work reasonably well.

Distribution:

I have printed 30 copies of the manual at my personal expense (USD 275).

10 copies are presented herewith to the Chairman of the Business Meeting for distribution as the Chairman deems appropriate.

The remainder are available for USD 10, or GBP 6.5. If I run out, additional copies are available for this cost plus USD 3 postage.

Recommendations:

I feel there is still much work to do and I am interested in taking on the responsibility for another year. I therefore request that the Business Meeting re-appoint me as Editor for another year, to report back again at L.A.con.

If I am re-appointed, my goals for next year include:

1. Make the guide available online in a form that can be ftp'd by Internet users.

2. Post some new chapters or sections online and request discussion and feedback. I feel this will further broaden the perspectives contained in the Guide.

3. Expand the Registration, Programming, and Film chapters, and add a chapter on unique problems faced by non-North American Worldcons.

4. With permission, add relevant material from George Scithers' Worldcon guide (from 1965).

5. Continue to solicit contributions on the various aspects of running a Worldcon. Several people volunteered last year to submit material, but were not able to; I would encourage them to try again.

Ross Pavlac

PO Box 816, Evanston, IL 60204-0816. (312) 764-4583. Internet:76636.1343@compuserve.com.

Without objection, the committee was continued under its present charter.

10. Worldcon Reports

A report from L.A.con III had been received after the close of Friday's meeting. At this time reports were received from ConFrancisco, ConAdian, Intersection, and LoneStarCon 2. Mr. Duarte asked that the minutes include the following:

The LoneStarCon 2 committee would like to thank the following staff of the daily zine for their help in preparing LSCII's financial statement:
Stephen Davies, T. R. Smith, Chris Orley and Mike Scott.

Fred Duarte Jr.

Co-Vice Chair, LoneStarCon 2

This left only MagiCon needing to report. The following report was received subsequently:

Fanac, Inc./MagiCon Report

With apologies to the members, because of changes in Treasurer and subsequent changeover problems, we do not have an original/official financial report. However, we did not have a substantial amount of activity. Primarily, we passed along an additional 14,000.00 USD to Intersection.

A more detailed, written report will be submitted to the WSFS officers to be included in the minutes if wanted.

JoeD Siclari

 

New Business Submitted to Intersection

11. Elimination of a Hugo

Item 11 was passed.

12. Clarification of Fanzine and Semiprozine Eligibility

Item 12 was passed without objection.

13. Now Just What Rules Take Precedence?

The committee appointed on Friday (referring to itself as a "committee of wise men") submitted the following report:
The committee consisting of Covert Beach, Louis Epstein, Gary Feldbaum, Tim Illingworth, Rick Katze, Robert Sacks, and Ben Yalow met immediately after the Preliminary Business Meeting and with additional comments from Mark Olson decided on the following wording and commentary.

[13'.] Short Title: Now Just What Rules Take Precedence?

MOVED, to replace the third sentence of Section 4.1 [of the WSFS Constitution] with the following:

Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of (in descending [order of] precedence){:} the WSFS Constitution, the Standing Rules, such other rules as may be published in advance by the current Committee (which may be suspended by the Business Meeting by the same procedure as a Standing Rule), and Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

[It is the opinion of the committee of experts that if a Worldcon Committee wishes to supersede a Standing Rule, they may bring the proposed rule to the Preliminary Business Meeting[,] and it would be in order to adopt for immediate effect through a suspension of the rules.]

Mr. Russell inquired as to the meaning of "published in advance"; the Chair ruled that new rules would have to be printed with the official documents, and not included by reference, although a reference could be made to an existing parliamentary manual (say "Throckmorton's").

Default debate time 20 minutes; 4, 2, 5, and 10 minutes also proposed; 4 minutes was voted. Mr. Olson made a point of order that people should not distort a voice vote by shouting their votes.

Mr. Bloom moved to require that, if a manual other than Robert's is adopted, the actual manual must be distributed. Mr. Hillis asked whether an objection to consideration was in order: No. Mr. Epstein pointed out that Mr. Bloom's motion would impose an additional financial obligation, and thus could not take effect immediately. At this point the Chair realized that there had been no second to Mr. Bloom's motion.

Ms. Lurie moved to require that a manual other than Robert's, if adopted, be made available at cost to anyone who requests it. Mr. Matthews proposed requiring that such adoption be announced at the previous Worldcon; this was ruled out of order, since there was already an amendment on the floor.

Mr. Yalow asked whether an amendment by substitution would be permitted: Yes. Mr. Yalow then moved to substitute for Ms. Lurie's amendment a prohibition of the incorporation of new rules by reference.

Time having expired, Mr. Olson moved to extend debate time by 10 minutes: No objection.

Ms. Turek suggested requiring the Worldcon to publish information about how to obtain a different manual, rather than itself being the broker. This being also out of order at the moment, Mr. Olson asked how Mr. Yalow's amendment could be defeated and Ms. Turek's brought up, with enough time remaining for debate; the Chair responded that Mr. Yalow's amendment must be disposed of first.

It was moved to close debate on Mr. Yalow's amendment: passed many-few. The question was then on Mr. Yalow's amendment; the nays appeared to have it on a voice vote, and a standing vote confirmed that the amendment failed.

Ms. Lurie then asked unanimous consent to withdraw her amendment: No objection.

Ms. Turek then moved, as above, to amend by requiring publication of availability information. Mr. Olson asked if this could be made a Standing Rule, rather than a part of the Constitution. Mr. Feldbaum made the point of order that the Standing Rules bind the Business Meeting, not the Worldcon Committee. The Chair ruled that the Standing Rules do bind the Worldcon Committee, and stated that he would allow Ms. Turek to withdraw her amendment.

It was now 12:00, the time set for presentations by the 1998 bidders. Mr. Olson moved to postpone the standing order until the current matter was disposed of: Passed by more than two-thirds.

The Chair asked whether there was any objection to suspending the rules to allow consideration of Ms. Turek's Standing Rules amendment: No objection.

Mr. Sacks moved the previous question, but withdrew it upon seeing that others still wished to speak. Eventually the debate was ended by unanimous consent, and Ms. Turek's Standing Rule amendment passed many-few.

[The Secretary has extracted from this mess the following text for the new rule:

Rule 25: If a Worldcon Committee adopts a parliamentary authority for the Business Meeting other than that specified in the Constitution, it must in timely fashion publish information about how to obtain copies of the manual in question.]

The question reverted to the original Item 13' (which, rather surprisingly, still remained unamended from the version proposed by the committee). Mr. Yalow moved the previous question on all pending matters: No objection. Item 14' (Item 14 as amended) was then passed many-few.

Mr. Sacks requested that the committee's opinion [the paragraph in [brackets] above] be included in the report of the Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee.

Presentations by 1998 Bidders -- The time being 12:09, the special order for presentations by the 1998 bid committees went into effect. The 5-minute Question Time rules (as for the following year's bidders) were applied. The presentations were made in alphabetical order: Atlanta (Bill Ritch), Baltimore (Peggy Rae Pavlat and Covert Beach), Boston (Don and Jill Eastlake), and Niagara Falls (Joe Maraglino).

Mr. Standlee (in his capacity as site-selection administrator) announced that the 1998 results would be made public as soon as they were known. -- Mr. Bloom announced that the Mark Protection Committee would meet after Sunday's Business Meeting.

Ms. Paul asked if the meeting could adjourn in memory of John Brunner: No objection. -- Mr. Sacks moved to commend the Chair on his natty attire. [This was apparently ignored.] -- The meeting adjourned at 12:36 P.M.

[Note of explanation - John Brunner had suffered a stroke on the Friday morning of Intersection, and had died later that day.]

Second Main Business Meeting

Sunday, Aug. 27, 1995

The meeting was called to order at 10:30 A.M.

Site-Selection Business

Report of 1998 Site-Selection Results

Mr. Standlee recused himself from the chair in order to give the report (doffing his jacket and putting on a propeller beanie); Mr. Illingworth assumed the chair. The report was distributed, and was summarized by Mr. Standlee.

The count took 70 minutes (including a dinner break), and was done by 8:15 P.M. Mr. Standlee expressed his thanks to Covert Beach, for developing a spreadsheet for counting (which Mr. Standlee suggested be passed on to future administrators -- Mr. Beach's job next year); to T. R. Smith, for providing a computer; and to everyone who worked as staff, especially his deputy, Richard Wright (who opened the table every day). Since it was a first-ballot victory, the counters had not bothered to go through the showdown process with None of the Above, which in these circumstances couldn't possibly win. (Mr. Standlee suggested that possibly we didn't really want the showdown rule to apply to site-selection tallying.) -- It was noted that only 13 ballots had been received at the U.K. address, 6 of them with no voting fee.

Site Selection Ballot Counts for the 56th WorldCon

Bid

Mail-In

Thur

Fri

Sat

Total

 

Atlanta

91

34

28

41

194

 

Baltimore

296

117

199

200

812

Winner

Boston

103

38

78

105

324

 

Niagara Falls

63

17

39

70

189

 

None of the Above

5

1

2

1

9

 

Arkham

1

0

3

0

4

 

Hold Over Funds

0

3

0

0

3

 

Minneapolis in '73

0

1

0

0

1

 

Cuba

0

0

0

1

1

 

Total with Preference

559

211

349

418

1537

 

Needed to Win

       

759

 

No Preference

11

2

2

2

17

 

Total Valid Ballots

570

213

351

420

1554

 

No Voting Fee

7

0

0

0

7

 

Mr. Sacks inquired about people changing their votes. Mr. Standlee replied that he had ruled that it was permissible for voters to change their mail ballots, since ballots are not actually cast until the tallying begins. The Chair (Mr. Illingworth) ruled that this was appropriate. Mr. Caswell moved that this interpretation be added to the Constitution; to consider this would have required a suspension of the rules, and a motion to do so failed overwhelmingly.

Thus Baltimore was the winner of the 1998 Worldcon. -- A presentation was made by Peggy Rae Pavlat and Covert Beach (the latter in a kilt), who distributed copies of their "Broadside Zero." The convention will be known as "Bucconeer" [so capitalized in Broadside Zero], and will take place on August 5-9, 1998. Guests of Honor will include C. J. Cherryh, Milton A. Rothman, Stanley Schmidt, and Michael Whelan, with Charles Sheffield as Toastmaster.

Mr. Standlee resumed the chair at 10:52. -- Next on the agenda were the presentations by future Worldcons and bidders. The Chair asked if there were any objection to postponing these items to the end of the printed agenda. There was objection.

Presentations by Future Selected Worldcons -- Presentations were made by LoneStarCon 2 (Fred Duarte and Karen Meschke) and L.A.con III (Mike Glyer).

Presentations by 1999 Bidders -- Mr. Beach (next year's site-selection administrator) reported that no bid had completely filed yet; the deadline would be March 2. -- A presentation was made by Australia (Stephen Boucher). No one was present from Zagreb or Las Vegas, the other known bidders.

Committee Reports

6. Mark Protection Committee

The Chair apologized for having on Saturday assumed a motion to approve the candidates, given the fact that he was himself one of the candidates. -- It was announced that Bucconeer had appointed Covert Beach to the committee.

New Business Submitted to Intersection

15. Extending Dramatic Presentation Eligibility to Related Subjects

Mr. Matthews asked whether the film Apollo 13 was eligible under the current rules; the Chair declined to state an opinion.

Mr. Bloom moved the previous question, which passed. Item 15 was then passed (voice vote confirmed by standing vote).

Mr. Olson raised a point of personal privilege, asking what the green liquid in front of the Chair was. (The Secretary made the point of order that this was actually a point of privilege of the assembly.) The Chair responded that it was some sort of lime cordial.

16. Extending Dramatic Presentation Eligibility to Entire Seasons

The committee to which the motion was referred had recommended the following text (with a little polishing by the Secretary):

MOVED, to amend Sec. 2.2.6 of the WSFS Constitution by replacing the second sentence with

In the case of individual programs presented as a series, any of the following may be eligible: (a) a single program; (b) a sequence of installments constituting a single dramatic unit; (c) an entire season considered as a whole. In cases (b) and (c), eligibility shall be in the year of the final installment or program. Once a sequence of programs (including an entire season) has appeared on a final Hugo ballot as a collective nominee, no collective nominee including that sequence or any part thereof shall be eligible in any subsequent year. If two or more overlapping sequences are nominated in the same year, only the one with the most votes shall appear on the final ballot.

Default debate time 20 minutes; no other time was proposed.

Mr. Russell asked whether "program" included films; the Chair responded that this question had never really been resolved. Ms. Turek asked whether a "sequence" could be interpreted as a single program (so that that program and a longer sequence including it could not both be eligible); Mr. Flynn responded that the committee had intended "sequence" to imply more than one program. (It was noted, however, that a "dramatic unit" would conflict with the eligibility of the season that included it.) There were various questions as to what constitutes a "season"; the Chair felt that this should be left to the judgment of the administrators. Would the nomination of one season make the entire multi-year series including that season ineligible later? Yes. -- Mr. Yalow moved to suspend the rules to postpone Item 16 indefinitely; fewer than two-thirds voted in favor, so the motion failed.

Mr. Smookler suggested changing "program" to "production". -- Mr. Sacks asked for a ruling on whether "production" would include two-part episodes; the Chair ruled that it meant only an individual program unit. Mr. Yalow appealed this ruling, stating his intent to be the erasure of the ruling, so that administrators would not be constrained in ruling on eligibility. Mr. Sacks asked how the opposite inquiry could be gotten on the record: by moving a resolution to that effect. Mr. Sacks moved the previous question on the appeal: Passed overwhelmingly. On the question "Shall the Chair's ruling be sustained?", the ruling was overwhelmingly overturned. -- Meanwhile, it had been asked whether "production" could include a commercial: Yes.

Mr. Bloom moved to commit Item 16 a committee to report back next year. Mr. Sacks asked whether it would be in order to amend the motion to commit: Yes; in response to another inquiry, the previous question was also in order. Mr. Sacks moved to amend by having the committee report on Monday morning. Mr. Eastlake moved to call the question on the two pending motions: Passed many-2. Mr. Sacks's amendment then failed, on a vote of 20-23. On Mr. Bloom's motion, the ayes appeared to have it on a voice vote, and a standing vote yielded 25-22 in favor. Mr. Bloom's motion therefore passed, and Item 16 was referred to a committee.

Mr. Olson asked whether the committee could consider other motions to amend: Yes. Could he submit an amendment, and ask the committee to provide clear wording? Yes.

The Chair appointed Sharon Sbarsky to chair the committee, with instructions to supplement the membership as she sees fit. Ms.Sbarsky stated that she would set up a mailing list.

The agenda having been completed, Mr. Sacks moved to adjourn without date; the Chair observed that he didn't hear that.

Mr. Siclari submitted a MagiCon report in lieu of a financial report: see p. 8 for the text.

It was asked whether Apa:WSFS would be continued, since no money was left. The Chair suggested that Worldcon Committees contribute; however, the next issue would be funded by Intersection, for the purpose of sending out the minutes. Mr. Olson reported that he would try to get funding, or would ask for individual contributions. The Chair commended Mr. Olson's work on the apa: Approved unanimously.

Mr. Bloom announced that the Mark Protection Committee would meet at 12:30.

The Chair presented gavel-shaped pencils to the podium staff. Mr. Bloom moved to commend the podium staff for examplary performance: Passed.

Without objection, the meeting adjourned sine die at 12:24 P.M.

 

Disposition of Business

Constitutional amendments ratified, and now part of the Constitution: Items 1, 2, 3 (as amended), 4' (substitute for original 4). These have been inserted in the Constitution at the places specified by their texts.

Proposed constitutional amendments given first passage, and to be considered for ratification at L.A.con III: Items 11, 12, 13' (substitute for original 13), 15. (These will be items 1-4 respectively on next year's agenda.)

Proposed constitutional amendments defeated: Items 5, 14. (Item 16 was referred to committee.)

Proposed Standing Rule adopted: Rule 25, which emerged from debate on Item 13.

Other motions on agenda: Item 17 passed. Motions were also passed to continue three committees (cf. Items 7, 8, 9).

Attendance List

Not including the podium staff, the attendance lists were signed by 49 people on Friday, 57 on Saturday, and 59 on Sunday. A total of 90 people (compared with 239 last year) signed one or more attendance lists or are otherwise known to have been present. In the list below, the numbers following each name indicate the meetings at which the person is recorded as being present (1 = Friday, 2 = Saturday, 3 = Sunday).

Gary P. Agin (23), Covert Beach (123), Judith C. Bemis (1), Richard Bertelsen (123), D. H. Blair (3), Robert Blair (12), Kent Bloom (123), Stephen Boucher (3), Seth Breidbart (1), Dennis Caswell (23), David W. Clark (2), Gavin Claypool (23), Todd Dashoff (12), James Daugherty (123), Kathryn Daugherty (1), Linda Deneroff (3), Gay Ellen Dennett (123), Paul Dormer (123), Fred Duarte Jr. (23), Donald Eastlake (13), Jill Eastlake (13), Chris Logan Edwards (13), Louis Epstein (123), Judith Ann Eudaly (123), Gary Feldbaum (123), George Flynn (123), Adrienne Foster (2), Susan Francis (3), Doug Friauf (1), David Gallaher (2), Mike Glyer (123), Lisa Hertel (1), Robert L. Hillis (23), Chip Hitchcock (1), Martin Hoare (123), Tim Illingworth (123), Saul Jaffe (123), Rick Katze (123), Michael D. Kennedy (123), Rick Kovalcik (23), Tom Kunsman (123), Geoffrey Landis (2), Alexis Layton (23), Danny Lieberman (123), J. Spencer Love (1), Perrianne Lurie (23), Robert J. MacIntosh (123), Joe Maraglino (2), Winton E. Matthews Jr. (123), Karen Meschke (3), Diane Miller (2), Mike Moir (2), E. Morlin (1), Mary Morman (12), Michael Nelson (123), Mark Olson (123), Priscilla Olson (3), Tony E. Parker (23), Sara Paul (123), Maria Pavlac (2), Ross Pavlac (2), Peggy Rae Pavlat (23), David Ratti (123), Carol Resnick (23), Bill Ritch (2), Linda Ross-Mansfield (123), Richard S. Russell (123), Robert E. Sacks (123), Marten Sandberg (123), Sharon Sbarsky (123), Randall L. Shepherd (3), Joe Siclari (3), Pat Sims (2), Roger Sims (2), Victoria A. Smith (1), Kenneth Smookler (123), Deborah M. Snyder (1), Jack Speer (13), Kevin Standlee (123), Erwin S. Strauss (3), Leigh Strother-Vien (23), Erik Swiatek (23), Tim Szczesuil (123), Matthew B. Tepper (12), Leslie Turek (23), Jan van't Ent (3), Ariane von Orlow (13), Michael R. Walsh (2), Lew Wolkoff (13), Ben Yalow (123).

 

Funding for the production of these minutes was furnished by Intersection, the 1995 Worldcon. They are being initially distributed as part of Apa:WSFS; for additional copies, write to Massachusetts Convention Fandom, Inc., P.O. Box 1010, Framingham, MA 01701-0205, USA. An online version should also be available at sflovers.rutgers.edu, and in the Genie and CompuServe libraries.

The minutes were completed on October 11, 1995.

George Flynn, Secretary

Intersection WSFS Business Meeting

 

 

"World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC", and "Hugo Award" are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.