Chairman ruled it was in order to nominate sitting members of the Mark Protection Committee

5.1 Proposal to change the designation of the Hugo Awards from "Best" to "Most Popular"

Chairman: The matter dies unless the Business Meeting chooses to do something.

2.2.3 Aussiecon Three (1999) Interim report presented to Preliminary

Ben Yalow: Point of Information, Section 3.7 is missing from Business Passed On Handout.

This amendment to the WSFS Constitution was ratified.

5.1 Proposal to change the designation of the Hugo Awards from "Best" to "Most Popular"

George Flynn: Point of Information: If No-Zone Amendment passes this will have to be amended.

This amendment passed many to one, and goes forward to Aussiecon Three to be considered for ratification.

I apologise for not having minuted who proposed the 600 mile amendment. I have done my best to make the very complicated process of dealing with this amendment clear. At this point we are out of debate time on this amendment.]

Richard Russell: Point of inquiry: Why is a motion to have measurement in kilometres out of order?

Chairman: Refer to the agenda. In the motion on the floor, "miles" forms part of the blank. Once we have a distance, motion is in order.

Vote on amendment to replace ""five hundred (500)" miles" with a blank was taken and failed, 23 in favour, 36 against.

[Secretary: The next motion on the agenda was to change "five hundred (500)" to "Six hundred (600)", but:]

Mark Olson: Want to discuss main motion.

Don Eastlake: MOVE to suspend rules and discuss amendments out of order.

As there were no objections this was passed.

Chairman ruled there would be ten minutes of debate on main motion.

Ben Yalow (F): Current system is making life very difficult in terms of finding suitable sites, often now have only one strong bid per zone. We don’t now have the problem of the Worldcon potentially staying in one area as no group wants to be stuck continuously with it. The exclusion zone is to prevent local voters controlling the location.

Robert Sacks (A): This is too complicated, drawing circles on a globe and will be perversely applied.

Saul Jaffe (F): Think 500 miles is too small.

Ken Smookler (A): 1. No-one has justified the premise that rotation zone system is broken. 2. Current zone system allows cities without huge and powerful organisations to win. 3. Empty years invite people to bid.

Kent Bloom (F): Current system is broken. Finding suitable facilities and committees for a given year is very difficult. We need to be able to fill in when facilities are available. Bucconeer Labor Day problem is an example of this.

Don Timm (A): Defeats the purpose of expanding groups and interests who want to run a Worldcon - may lead to the domination of a small number of local groups.

Mark Olson: MOVE to extend debate by a further ten minutes. Passed by a 2/3^rd majority.

Bruce Pelz (F): Running out of venue / committee combinations. No-Zone rotation will protect a strong bid from a stronger one.

Linda Ross-Mansfield (A): Bucconeer proves Worldcons can move away from Labor Day. This flexibility proves the system isn’t broken.

Mark Olson (F): Fandom likes variety. Being plausible helps smaller bids. Overseas bids will lose their technical advantage, but fans still like voting for overseas bids.

Lew Wolkoff (A): Entered a statement from Tess Wade. [Secretary: As Lew read extracts from this statement I’ve added it verbatim as a footnote.] For himself, Lew felt this was not an appropriate way to fix a broken system.

Louis Epstein (F): Exclusion zone should be smaller.

Richard Russell (A) 1. Why is there an exclusion zone at all? 2. Bucconeer date was decision of voters. 3. Facilities can’t be booked one year in advance.

Michael Pins (F): Exclusion zone should prevent vote packing. Reduced bidding time is a feature not a bug.

Stephen Boucher (A): Shoestring bids such as Aussiecon Three would have difficulty with strong opposition.

Bruce Pelz (F): Committees should run for a bid, not against another bid.

Johnny Carruthers (A): Difficult decision to reverse if we’re wrong.

Victoria Smith (A): Curtailing bidding to three years will diminish numbers of available venues.

Alex von Thorn (A): With six or seven bidding committees, planning will be harder.

[Secretary: The ten minutes of debate on the main motion have elapsed and we return to the motion on amending 500 to 600.]

Mark Olson: MOVE to extend debate time by 15 minutes.

Seconded and passed by 2/3^rd majority.

Linda Mansfield (F): Makes more sense for non-East coast bids.

Robert Sacks (A): Large exclusion zone may reduce competition.

Mark Olson (F): Intended to prevent enormous disparity between local and distant bids.

Rick Kovalchik (A): Not considering local fans, 600 miles is too big on East coast.

Don Timm (F): Must have protection against "capturing" Worldcons. Note that the exclusion zones replace the regions.

Alex von Thorn: Point of Information. Intend to move a motion to amend 500 to 400 if this motion is defeated.

The question was moved. Debate closed on the 500 to 600 amendment, which was voted on and failed.

Alex von Thorn: MOVE to amend 500 to 400 miles.

Seconded

Seth Breidbart: MOVE to amend rules so that all motions to amend distances are undebatable.

Seconded and passed by 2/3^rd majority.

Lew Wolkoff: MOVE to postpone to next year.

Seconded.

Alex von Thorn (F): Allow consensus building.

Don Timm: Want to see a map. MOVE to refer to committee.

Seconded.

John Lorentz (A): Don’t want to postpone to next year.

Ben Yalow: MOVE to close debate.

Seconded and passed by 2/3^rd majority.

Motion to refer to committee fails.

Mark Olson: MOVE to postpone to tomorrow.

Seconded.

Robert Sacks: Discuss situation

Lew Wolsky: Needs Map

Secretary [foolishly] volunteers to prepare map(s).

Debate is closed and motion to postpone to tomorrow passes.

[Secretary: There are now two motions pending:

5.3.2 An amendment to postpone to next year.]

The site selection result was presented, a final copy is attached. The count took 69 minutes and the Philadelphia bid was the clear winner.

Todd Dashoff, a representative of The Millennium Philcon, made a short presentation, and presented PR0. They have not yet decided their representative to the Mark Protection Committee. Todd Dashoff is Chairman, other committee members have not yet been finalised.

Neither Aussiecon Three nor Chicon 2000 had presentations to make. As representatives of both committees are available elsewhere, question time was waived.

2.2.3 Aussiecon Three (1999) Interim report presented to Preliminary

5.1 Proposal to change the designation of the Hugo Awards from "Best" to "Most Popular"

2.1.1 ConAdian (1994)

5.2 Reports by seated Worldcons

5.3 Presentation by bidders for 2003

2. Worldcon Reports

Items under this heading have been given first passage, and will become part of the Constitution if ratified at Bucconeer. Because most of the motions are large, the text of the motions is in the Business Passed On handout.

4.1 Petition to extend Susan Matthews' Campbell Award Eligibility

[This resolution was adopted by the Preliminary Business Meeting.]

4.2 Short Titles [This resolution was adopted by the Preliminary Business Meeting.]

5. New Business Part 11

5.1 Proposal to change the designation of the Hugo Awards from "Best" to "Most Popular"

[This resolution was removed from the Agenda by "Object to Consideration"]

5.2 Tidying Site Selection (6 minutes debate time allowed)

5.3 No-Zone Rotation (30 minutes debate time allowed)

Consideration of this motion was postponed to the Main Business Meeting by the Preliminary Business Meeting with a motion pending to create a blank in place of ""five hundred (500)" miles".

See the World Science Fiction Society Constitution, Sections 4.4 and 4.5, and Standing Rule 12. Mark Protection Committee report is still awaited. Tim Illingworth, Kevin Standlee and Ben Yalow were elected to the Mark Protection Committee vacancies.

2.1.4 L.A.con 111 (1996) [Current financial report will be attached to the minutes of this meeting.]

2.1.5 LoneStarCon 2 (1997) [Current financial report presented to the Preliminary Business Meeting]

2.2.3 Aussiecon Three (1999 Worldcon) [Current financial report presented to the Preliminary Business Meeting]

3.4 Mark Protection Committee Clarifications [Business disposed of at the Main Business Meeting.]

5.3 No-Zone Rotation (30 minutes debate time allowed; text on the reverse of this Agenda) Consideration of this motion was postponed to the Site Selection Business Meeting by the Main Business Meeting with a motion pending to put "four hundred (400)" instead of "five hundred (500)".

It is the Chair's intention to take up Item 5.3 after Item 6.2 (Question Time for Seated Worldcons), and before Item 6.3 (Presentation by Bidders for 2002 Worldcon.)

Section 4.1: ... 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 rules may be suspended by the Business Meeting by the same procedure as a Standing Rule); the customs and usages of WSFS (including the resolutions and rulings of continuing effect); and Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised....

2.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given in the various categories for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.

2.2.2: A work originally appearing in a language other than English shall also be eligible for the year in which it is first issued in English translation. A work, once it has appeared in English, may thus be eligible only once.

2.2.3: Publication date, or cover date in the case of a dated periodical, takes precedence over copyright date.

2.2.4: Works appearing in a series are eligible as individual works, but the series as a whole is not eligible. However, a work appearing in a number of parts shall be eligible for the year of the final part.

2.2.5: An author may withdraw a version of a work from consideration if the author feels that the version is not representative of what that author wrote.

2.2.6: The Worldcon Committee may relocate a story into a more appropriate category if it feels that it is necessary, 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.

2.2.7: The Worldcon Committee is responsible for all matters concerning the Awards.

2.3.1: Best Novel. A science fiction or fantasy story of forty thousand (40,000) words or more.

2.3.2: Best Novella. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words.

2.3.3: Best Novelette. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (1 7,500) words.

2.3.4: Best Short Story. A science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.

2.3.5: Best Related Book. Any work whose subject is related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or random, appearing for the first time in book form during the previous calendar year, and which is either non-fiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text.

2.3.6: Best Dramatic Presentation. Any production in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects which has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year.

2.3.7: Best Professional Editor. The editor of any professional publication devoted primarily to science fiction or fantasy during the previous calendar year. A professional publication is one which had an average press run of at least ten thousand (10,000) copies per issue.

2.3.8: Best Professional Artist. An illustrator whose work has appeared in a professional publication in the field of science fiction or fantasy during the previous calendar year.

2.3.9: Best Semiprozine. Any generally available non-professional publication devoted to science fiction or fantasy 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, and which in the previous calendar year met at least two (2) of the following criteria:

2.3.10: Best Fanzine. Any generally available non-professional publication devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects 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, and which does not qualify as a semiprozine.

2.3.11: Best Fan Writer. Any person whose writing has appeared in semiprozines or fanzines or in generally available electronic media during the previous calendar year.

2.3.12: Best Fan Artist. An artist or cartoonist whose work has appeared through publication in semiprozines or fanzines or through other public display during the previous calendar year. Any person whose name appears on the final Hugo Awards ballot for a given year under the Professional Artist category shall not be eligible in the Fan Artist category for that year.

2.3.13: Additional Category. Not more than one special category may be created by the current Worldcon Committee with nomination and voting to be the same as for the permanent categories. The Worldcon Committee is not required to create any such category; such action by a Worldcon Committee should be under exceptional circumstances only; and the special category created by one Worldcon Committee shall not be binding on following Committees. Awards created under this paragraph shall be considered to be Hugo Awards.

Section 2.4: Extended Eligibility. In the event that a potential Hugo Award nominee receives extremely limited distribution in the year of its first publication or presentation, its eligibility may be extended for an additional year by a three fourths (3/4) vote of the intervening Business Meeting of WSFS.

Section 2.5: Name and Design. The Hugo Award shall continue to be standardized on the rocket ship design of Jack McKnight and Ben Jason. Each Worldcon Committee may select its own choice of base design. The name (Hugo Award) and the design shall not be extended to any other award.

Section 2.6: "No Award". At the discretion of an individual Worldcon Committee, if the lack of nominations or final votes in a specific category shows a marked lack of interest in that category on the part of the voters, the Award in that category shall be canceled for that year.

2.7.1: The Worldcon Committee shall conduct a poll to select the nominees for the final Award voting. Each member of either the administering or the immediately preceding Worldcon as of January 31 of the current calendar year shall be allowed to make up to five (5) equally weighted nominations in every category.

2.7.2: The Committee shall include with each nomination ballot a copy of Article II of the WSFS Constitution.

2.7.3: Nominations shall be solicited only for the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

2.8.1: Except as provided below, the final Award ballots shall list in each category the five eligible nominees receiving the most nominations. If there is a tie including fifth place, all the tied eligible nominees shall be listed.

2.8.2: The Worldcon Committee shall determine the eligibility of nominees and assignment to the proper category of nominees nominated in more than one category.

2.8.3: Any nominations for "No Award" shall be disregarded.

2.8.4: If a nominee appears on a nomination ballot more than once in any one category, only one nomination

shall be counted in that category.

2.8.5: No nominee shall appear on the final Award ballot if it received fewer nominations than five percent (5%) of the number of ballots listing one or more nominations in that category, except that the first three eligible nominees, including any ties, shall always be listed.

Section 2.9: Notification and Acceptance. Worldcon Committees shall use reasonable efforts to notify the nominees, or in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, their heirs, assigns, or legal guardians, in each category prior to the release of such information. Each nominee shall be asked at that time to either accept or decline the nomination. If the nominee declines nomination, that nominee shall not appear on the final ballot.

2.10.1: Final Award voting shall be by mail, with ballots sent only to WSFS members. Final Award ballots shall include name, signature, address, and membership-number spaces to be filled in by the voter.

2.10.2: Final Award ballots shall list only the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

2.10.3: "No Award" shall be listed in each category of Hugo Award on the final ballot.

2.10.4: The Committee shall, on or with the final ballot, designate, for each nominee in the printed fiction categories, one or more books, anthologies, or magazines in which the nominee appeared (including the book publisher or magazine issue date(s)).

2.10.5: Voters shall indicate the order of their preference for the nominees in each category.

2.11.1: In each category, votes shall first be tallied by the voter's first choices. If no majority is then obtained, the nominee who places last in the initial tallying shall be eliminated and the ballots listing it as first choice shall be redistributed on the basis of those ballots' second choices. This process shall be repeated until a majority-vote winner is obtained.

2.11.2: No Award shall be given whenever the total number of valid ballots cast for a specific category (excluding those cast for "No Award" in first place) is less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of final Award ballots received.

2.11.3: After a tentative winner is determined, then unless "No Award" shall be the winner, the following additional test shall be made. If the number of ballots preferring "No Award" to the tentative winner is greater than the number of ballots preferring the tentative winner to "No Award", then "No Award" shall be declared the winner of the election.

2.11.4: The complete numerical vote totals, including all preliminary tallies for first, second, ... places, shall be made public by the Worldcon Committee within ninety (90) days after the Worldcon. 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.

Section 2.12: Exclusions. No member of the current Worldcon Committee nor any publications closely connected with a member of the Committee shall be eligible for an Award. However, should the Committee delegate all authority under this Article to a Subcommittee whose decisions are irrevocable by the Worldcon Committee, then this exclusion shall apply to members of the Subcommittee only.

Section 2.13: Retrospective Hugos. A Worldcon held 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon at which no Hugos were presented may conduct nominations and elections for Hugos which would have been presented at that previous Worldcon. Procedures shall be as for the current Hugos. Categories receiving insufficient numbers of nominations may be dropped. Once retrospective Hugos have been awarded for a Worldcon, no other Worldcon shall present retrospective Hugos for that Worldcon.

Section A. 1: Duties. Each Worldcon Committee shall, in accordance with this Constitution, provide for

1: administering the Hugo Awards,

2: administering any future Worldcon or NASFIC site selection required, and

3: holding a WSFS Business Meeting. [New text]

Section A.2: Marks. Every Worldcon and NASFIC Committee shall include the following notice in each of its publications:

"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. [Old Section 1.7, with a reference to NASFiCs added]

Section A.3: Official Representative. Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall designate an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon. [Old Section 4.2, unchanged]

Section A.4: Distribution of Rules. The current Worldcon Committee shall print copies of the WSFS Constitution, together with an explanation of proposed changes approved but not yet ratified, and copies of the Standing Rules. The Committee shall distribute these documents to all WSFS members at a point between nine and three months prior to the Worldcon, and shall also distribute them to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration. [Old Section 5.6, reworded]

Section A.5: Bid Presentations. Each Worldcon Committee shall provide a reasonable opportunity for bona fide bidding committees for the Worldcon to be selected the following year to make presentations. [Old Section 3.9, slightly reworded]

Section A.6: Incapacity of Committees. With sites being selected three (3) years in advance, there are at least three selected current or future Worldcon Committees at all times. If one of these should be unable to perform its duties, the other selected current or future Worldcon Committee whose site is closer to the site of the one unable to perform its duties shall determine what action to take, by consulting the Business Meeting or by mail poll of WSFS if there is sufficient time, or by decision of the Committee if there is not sufficient time. [Old Section 3. 1 0, with "closest" corrected to "closer"]

Section A.7: Membership Pass-along. Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering Committee shall, except where prohibited by local law, forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all of its Worldcon members to the Committee of the next Worldcon. [Old Section 1.4 (second sentence), unchanged]

Section A.8: Financial Openness. Any member of WSFS shall have the right, under reasonable conditions, to examine the financial records and books of account of the current Worldcon Committee, all future selected Worldcon Committees, and the two immediately preceding Worldcon Committees. [Old Section 1. 5.5/1.8.2, unchanged]

A.9.1: Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall submit an annual financial report, including a statement of income and expenses, to each WSFS Business Meeting after the Committee's selection.

A.9.2: Each Worldcon Committee shall submit a report on its cumulative surplus/loss at the next Business Meeting after its Worldcon.

A.9.3: Each Worldcon Committee should dispose of surplus funds remaining after accounts are settled for the current Worldcon for the benefit of WSFS as a whole.

A.9.4: In the event of a surplus, the Worldcon Committee, or any alternative organizational entity established to oversee and disburse that surplus, shall file annual financial reports regarding the disbursement of that surplus at each year's Business Meeting, until the surplus is totally expended or an amount equal to the original surplus has been disbursed. [Old Section 1. 811.8. 1, reworded]

1.9.1: There shall be a Mark Protection Committee of WSFS, which shall be responsible for registration and protection of the marks used by or under the authority of WSFS.

1.9.2: The Mark Protection Committee shall submit to the Business Meeting at each Worldcon a report of its activities since the previous Worldcon, including a statement of income and expense.

1.9.3: The Mark Protection Committee shall hold a meeting at each Worldcon after the end of the Business Meeting, at a time and place announced at the Business Meeting.

1.9.4: The Mark Protection Committee shall determine and elect its own officers.

1.10.1: The Mark Protection Committee shall consist of:

1.10.2: No more than three elected members may represent any single North American region, as defined in Section 3.8. Each elected member shall represent the region (if any) in which the member resided at the time they were elected.

1.10.3: Newly elected members take their seats, and the term of office ends for elected and appointed members whose terms expire that year, at the end of the Business Meeting.

1.10.4: If vacancies occur in elected memberships in the Committee, the remainder of the position's term may be filled by the Business Meeting, and until then temporarily filled by the Committee.

3.6.1: To be eligible for site selection, a bidding committee must file the following documents with the Committee that will administer the voting:

3.6.2: The bidding committee must supply written copies of these documents to any member of WSFS on request.

3.6.3: For a bid to be allowed on the printed ballot, the bidding committee must file the documents specified above no later than 180 days prior to the official opening of the administering convention.

3.6.4: To be eligible as a write-in, the bidding committee must file the documents specified above by the close of the voting.

3.6.5: If no bids meet these qualifications, the selection shall proceed as though "None of the Above" had won.

4.1.1: Business Meetings of WSFS shall be held at advertised times at each Worldcon.

4.1.2: The current Worldcon Committee shall provide the Presiding Officer and Staff for each Meeting.

4.1.3: The Business Meeting may adopt Standing Rules for its own governance.

4.1.4: 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 rules may be suspended by the Business Meeting by the same procedure as a Standing Rule); and the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

4.1.5: The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present.

Section 4.2: Continuation of Committees. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, any committee or other position created by a Business Meeting shall lapse at the end of the next following Business Meeting that does not vote to continue it.

Section 4.3: Constitutional Pass-along. Within two (2) months after the end of each Worldcon, the Business Meeting staff shall send a copy of all changes to the Constitution and Standing Rules, and all items awaiting ratification, to the next Worldcon Committee.

4.1 Petition to extend Susan Matthews' Campbell Award Eligibility

Susan R. Matthews' first novel, AN EXCHANGE OF HOSTAGES, was released in a limited edition in November, 1996 and then in a mass market edition in April, 1997. The first edition was intended to be a reading copy only - however in the mass market edition, the publisher (contrary to the usual practice) listed the earlier date as the official publication date. This means that, technically, 1997 is Susan Matthews' second, and final, year of eligibility for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

The WSFS Constitution allows a work, which received limited exposure its first year, to be granted an additional year of eligibility for the Hugo Awards. We're asking that this year's Business Meeting follow the spirit of this rule and request that an additional year of eligibility for the Campbell Award be granted to Ms. Matthews. Stanley Schmidt, the administrator of this award for Dell Publications, agrees to this request.

John Lorentz & Ruth Sachter, Bucconeer Hugo Administrators

"RESOLVED, that this meeting believes that Susan Matthews' eligibility for the Campbell Award should be extended to include the Award presented at Aussiecon Three, the 1999 World Science Fiction Convention."

4.2 Short Titles

Resolved, to direct the Secretary, under the authority of Standing Rule 23, to modify the WSFS Constitution as follows:

In Section 1. 1, insert title "Name.".

In Section 1.2, insert title "Objectives.", and replace the numbering "1.2.1" to "1.2.5" with "(1)" to "(5)".

In Section 1.3, insert title "Restrictions.".

In Section 1.4, insert title "Membership.".

In Section 1.5, insert title "Memberships.".

In Section 1.6, insert title "Authority.".

In Section 1.7, insert title "Marks.".[1]

In Section 1.8, insert title "Financial Reports.".[1]

In Section 3.1, insert title "Voting", and number each sentence as a separate subsection.

In Section 3.2, insert title "Voter Eligibility.", and divide the section into two subsections as follows:

3.2.1: Voting shall be limited to WSFS members who have purchased at least a supporting membership in the Worldcon whose site is being selected.

3.2.2: The supporting membership rate shall be set by unanimous agreement of the current Worldcon Committee and all bidding committees who have filed before the ballot deadline. If agreement is not reached, the default fee shall be the median (middle value) of the US dollar fees used in the previous three (3) Worldcon site selections.

In Section 3.3, insert title "Non-natural Persons.".

In Section 3.4, insert title "Ballots.".

In Section 3.5, insert title "Tallying.".

In Section 3.6, insert title "Bid Eligibility.".[31

In Section 3.7, insert title "Site Eligibility.".

In Section 3.8, insert title "North America.", and replace the numbering "3.8.1" to "3.8.3" with "(1)" to "(3)".

In Section 3.9, insert title "NASFiC.".

In Section 3.10, insert title "Bid Presentations.".[l ]

In Section 3.11, insert title "Incapacity of Committees.".[1]

In Section 4. 1, insert title "WSFS Business Meetings.".[4]

In Section 4.2, insert title "Official Representative.".[l]

In Section 4.3, insert title "Continuation of Committees.".[4]

In Section 4.4, insert title "The Mark Protection Committee.". [2]

In Section 4.5, insert title "Duties of the Mark Protection Committee.".[2]

In Section 5.1, insert title "Conduct.".

In Section 5.2, insert title "Natural Persons.".

In Section 5.3, insert title "Amendment.".

In Section 5.4, insert title "Commencement.".

In Section 5.5, insert title "Standing Rules.".

In Section 5.6, insert title "Constitutional Pass-along.".[4]

In Section 5.7, insert title "Distribution of Rules.".[1]

Moved by the Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee.

Discussion:

This adds titles to those sections that don't currently have them, and makes the numbering style consistent. This is a Good Thing. It also breaks up the text of Sections 3.1 and 3.2 into subsections for greater clarity, without amending any wording.

[1] These sections are unnecessary if "Committee Responsibility" is ratified.

[2] These sections are unnecessary if "Mark Protection Committee Clarifications" is ratified.

[3] This section is unnecessary if "Eligibility" is ratified.

[4] These sections are unnecessary if "Yet More Business" is ratified.

1.2 Not Just Books

We recommend the following amendments to "Polishing the Hugos":

In Section 2.2. 1, delete the words "in the various categories".

In Section 2.2.5, insert "In the written fiction categories, " at the start of the subsection

Section 1.1: Name. The name of this organization shall be the World Science Fiction Society, hereinafter referred to as WSFS or the Society.

(1) To choose the recipients of the annual Hugo Awards (Science Fiction Achievement Awards).

(2) To choose the locations and Committees for the annual World Science Fiction Conventions (hereinafter referred to as Worldcons).

(3) To attend those Worldcons.

(4) To choose the locations and Committees for the occasional North American Science Fiction Conventions (hereinafter referred to as NASFiCs).

(5) To perform such other activities as may be necessary or incidental to the above purposes.

Section 1.3: Restrictions. No part of the Society’s net earnings shall be paid to its members, officers, or other private persons except in furtherance of the Society’s purposes. The Society shall not attempt to influence legislation or any political campaign for public office. Should the Society dissolve, its assets shall be distributed by the current Worldcon Committee or the appropriate court having jurisdiction, exclusively for charitable purposes. In this section, references to the Society include the Mark Protection Committee and all other agencies of the Society but not convention bidding or operating committees.

Section 1.4: Membership. The Membership of WSFS shall consist of all people who have paid membership dues to the Committee of the current Worldcon. Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering Committee shall, except where prohibited by local law, forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all of its Worldcon members to the Committee of the next Worldcon.

1.5.1: Each Worldcon shall offer supporting and attending memberships.

1.5.2: The rights of supporting members of a Worldcon include the right to receive all of its generally distributed publications.

1.5.3: The rights of attending members of a Worldcon include the rights of supporting members plus the right of general attendance at said Worldcon and at the WSFS Business Meeting held thereat.

1.5.4: Members of WSFS who cast a site-selection ballot with the required fee shall be supporting members of the selected Worldcon.

1.5.5: The Worldcon Committee shall make provision for persons to become supporting members for no more than one hundred and twenty-five percent (125%) of the site-selection fee, or such higher amount as has been approved by the Business Meeting, until a cutoff date no earlier than ninety (90) days before their Worldcon.

1.5.7: Other memberships and fees shall be at the discretion of the Worldcon Committee.

Section 1.6: Authority. Authority and responsibility for all matters concerning the Worldcon, except those reserved herein to WSFS, shall rest with the Worldcon Committee, which shall act in its own name and not in that of WSFS.

Section 2.1: Duties. Each Worldcon Committee shall, in accordance with this Constitution, provide for

1: administering the Hugo Awards,

2: administering any future Worldcon or NASFIC site selection required, and

3: holding a WSFS Business Meeting.

Section 2.2: Marks. Every Worldcon and NASFIC Committee shall include the following notice in each of its publications:

"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.

Section 2.3: Official Representative. Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall designate an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon.

Section 2.4: Distribution of Rules. The current Worldcon Committee shall print copies of the WSFS Constitution, together with an explanation of proposed changes approved but not yet ratified, and copies of the Standing Rules. The Committee shall distribute these documents to all WSFS members at a point between nine and three months prior to the Worldcon, and shall also distribute them to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration.

Section 2.5: Bid Presentations. Each Worldcon Committee shall provide a reasonable opportunity for bona fide bidding committees for the Worldcon to be selected the following year to make presentations.

Section 2.6: Incapacity of Committees. With sites being selected three (3) years in advance, there are at least three selected current or future Worldcon Committees at all times. If one of these should be unable to perform its duties, the other selected current or future Worldcon Committee whose site is closer to the site of the one unable to perform its duties shall determine what action to take, by consulting the Business Meeting or by mail poll of WSFS if there is sufficient time, or by decision of the Committee if there is not sufficient time.

Section 2.7: Membership Pass-along. Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering Committee shall, except where prohibited by local law, forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all of its Worldcon members to the Committee of the next Worldcon.

Section 2.8: Financial Openness. Any member of WSFS shall have the right, under reasonable conditions, to examine the financial records and books of account of the current Worldcon Committee, all future selected Worldcon Committees, and the two immediately preceding Worldcon Committees.

2.9.1: Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall submit an annual financial report, including a statement of income and expenses, to each WSFS Business Meeting after the Committee's selection.

2.9.2: Each Worldcon Committee shall submit a report on its cumulative surplus/loss at the next Business Meeting after its Worldcon.

2.9.3: Each Worldcon Committee should dispose of surplus funds remaining after accounts are settled for the current Worldcon for the benefit of WSFS as a whole.

2.9.4: In the event of a surplus, the Worldcon Committee, or any alternative organizational entity established to oversee and disburse that surplus, shall file annual financial reports regarding the disbursement of that surplus at each year's Business Meeting, until the surplus is totally expended or an amount equal to the original surplus has been disbursed.

3.2.1: Unless otherwise specified, Hugo Awards are given for work in the field of science fiction or fantasy appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year.

3.2.2: A work originally appearing in a language other than English shall also be eligible for the year in which it is first issued in English translation. A work, once it has appeared in English, may thus be eligible only once.

3.2.3: Publication date, or cover date in the case of a dated periodical, takes precedence over copyright date.

3.2.4: Works appearing in a series are eligible as individual works, but the series as a whole is not eligible. However, a work appearing in a number of parts shall be eligible for the year of the final part.

3.2.5: In the written fiction categories, an author may withdraw a version of a work from consideration if the author feels that the version is not representative of what that author wrote.

3.2.6: The Worldcon Committee may relocate a story into a more appropriate category if it feels that it is necessary, 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.

3.2.7: The Worldcon Committee is responsible for all matters concerning the Awards.

3.3.1: Best Novel. A science fiction or fantasy story of forty thousand (40,000) words or more.

3.3.2: Best Novella. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seventeen thousand five hundred (17,500) and forty thousand (40,000) words.

3.3.3: Best Novelette. A science fiction or fantasy story of between seven thousand five hundred (7,500) and seventeen thousand five hundred (1 7,500) words.

3.3.4: Best Short Story. A science fiction or fantasy story of less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) words.

3.3.5: Best Related Book. Any work whose subject is related to the field of science fiction, fantasy, or fandom, appearing for the first time in book form during the previous calendar year, and which is either non-fiction or, if fictional, is noteworthy primarily for aspects other than the fictional text.

3.3.6: Best Dramatic Presentation. Any production in any medium of dramatized science fiction, fantasy or related subjects which has been publicly presented for the first time in its present dramatic form during the previous calendar year.

3.3.7: Best Professional Editor. The editor of any professional publication devoted primarily to science fiction or fantasy during the previous calendar year. A professional publication is one which had an average press run of at least ten thousand (10,000) copies per issue.

3.3.8: Best Professional Artist. An illustrator whose work has appeared in a professional publication in the field of science fiction or fantasy during the previous calendar year.

3.3.9: Best Semiprozine. Any generally available non-professional publication devoted to science fiction or fantasy 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, and which in the previous calendar year met at least two (2) of the following criteria:

3.3.10: Best Fanzine. Any generally available non-professional publication devoted to science fiction, fantasy, or related subjects 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, and which does not qualify as a semiprozine.

3.3.11: Best Fan Writer. Any person whose writing has appeared in semiprozines or fanzines or in generally available electronic media during the previous calendar year.

3.3.12: Best Fan Artist. An artist or cartoonist whose work has appeared through publication in semiprozines or fanzines or through other public display during the previous calendar year. Any person whose name appears on the final Hugo Awards ballot for a given year under the Professional Artist category shall not be eligible in the Fan Artist category for that year.

3.3.13: Additional Category. Not more than one special category may be created by the current Worldcon Committee with nomination and voting to be the same as for the permanent categories. The Worldcon Committee is not required to create any such category; such action by a Worldcon Committee should be under exceptional circumstances only; and the special category created by one Worldcon Committee shall not be binding on following Committees. Awards created under this paragraph shall be considered to be Hugo Awards.

Section 3.4: Extended Eligibility. In the event that a potential Hugo Award nominee receives extremely limited distribution in the year of its first publication or presentation, its eligibility may be extended for an additional year by a three fourths (3/4) vote of the intervening Business Meeting of WSFS.

Section 3.5: Name and Design. The Hugo Award shall continue to be standardized on the rocket ship design of Jack McKnight and Ben Jason. Each Worldcon Committee may select its own choice of base design. The name (Hugo Award) and the design shall not be extended to any other award.

Section 3.6: "No Award". At the discretion of an individual Worldcon Committee, if the lack of nominations or final votes in a specific category shows a marked lack of interest in that category on the part of the voters, the Award in that category shall be canceled for that year.

3.7.1: The Worldcon Committee shall conduct a poll to select the nominees for the final Award voting. Each member of either the administering or the immediately preceding Worldcon as of January 31 of the current calendar year shall be allowed to make up to five (5) equally weighted nominations in every category.

3.7.2: The Committee shall include with each nomination ballot a copy of Article III of the WSFS Constitution.

3.7.3: Nominations shall be solicited only for the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

3.8.1: Except as provided below, the final Award ballots shall list in each category the five eligible nominees receiving the most nominations. If there is a tie including fifth place, all the tied eligible nominees shall be listed.

3.8.2: The Worldcon Committee shall determine the eligibility of nominees and assignment to the proper category of nominees nominated in more than one category.

3.8.3: Any nominations for "No Award" shall be disregarded.

3.8.4: If a nominee appears on a nomination ballot more than once in any one category, only one nomination shall be counted in that category.

3.8.5: No nominee shall appear on the final Award ballot if it received fewer nominations than five percent (5%) of the number of ballots listing one or more nominations in that category, except that the first three eligible nominees, including any ties, shall always be listed.

Section 3.9: Notification and Acceptance. Worldcon Committees shall use reasonable efforts to notify the nominees, or in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, their heirs, assigns, or legal guardians, in each category prior to the release of such information. Each nominee shall be asked at that time to either accept or decline the nomination. If the nominee declines nomination, that nominee shall not appear on the final ballot.

3.10.1: Final Award voting shall be by mail, with ballots sent only to WSFS members. Final Award ballots shall include name, signature, address, and membership-number spaces to be filled in by the voter.

3.10.2: Final Award ballots shall list only the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

3.10.3: "No Award" shall be listed in each category of Hugo Award on the final ballot.

3.10.4: The Committee shall, on or with the final ballot, designate, for each nominee in the printed fiction categories, one or more books, anthologies, or magazines in which the nominee appeared (including the book publisher or magazine issue date(s)).

3.10.5: Voters shall indicate the order of their preference for the nominees in each category.

3.11.1: In each category, votes shall first be tallied by the voter's first choices. If no majority is then obtained, the nominee who places last in the initial tallying shall be eliminated and the ballots listing it as first choice shall be redistributed on the basis of those ballots' second choices. This process shall be repeated until a majority-vote winner is obtained.

3.11.2: No Award shall be given whenever the total number of valid ballots cast for a specific category (excluding those cast for "No Award" in first place) is less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of final Award ballots received.

3.11.3: After a tentative winner is determined, then unless "No Award" shall be the winner, the following additional test shall be made. If the number of ballots preferring "No Award" to the tentative winner is greater than the number of ballots preferring the tentative winner to "No Award", then "No Award" shall be declared the winner of the election.

3.11.4: The complete numerical vote totals, including all preliminary tallies for first, second, ... places, shall be made public by the Worldcon Committee within ninety (90) days after the Worldcon. 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.

Section 3.12: Exclusions. No member of the current Worldcon Committee nor any publications closely connected with a member of the Committee shall be eligible for an Award. However, should the Committee delegate all authority under this Article to a Subcommittee whose decisions are irrevocable by the Worldcon Committee, then this exclusion shall apply to members of the Subcommittee only.

Section 3.13: Retrospective Hugos. A Worldcon held 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon at which no Hugos were presented may conduct nominations and elections for Hugos which would have been presented at that previous Worldcon. Procedures shall be as for the current Hugos. Categories receiving insufficient numbers of nominations may be dropped. Once retrospective Hugos have been awarded for a Worldcon, no other Worldcon shall present retrospective Hugos for that Worldcon.

4.1.1: WSFS shall choose the location and Committee of the Worldcon to be held three (3) years from the date of the current Worldcon.

4.1.2: Voting shall be by mail or ballot cast at the current Worldcon with run-off ballot as described in Section 3.11.

4.1.3: The current Worldcon Committee shall administer the mail balloting, collect the advance membership fees, and turn over those funds to the winning Committee before the end of the current Worldcon.

4.1.4: The site-selection voting totals shall be announced at the Business Meeting and published in the first or second Progress Report of the winning Committee, with the by-mail and at-convention votes distinguished.

4.2.1: Voting shall be limited to WSFS members who have purchased at least a supporting membership in the Worldcon whose site is being selected.

4.2.2: The supporting membership rate shall be set by unanimous agreement of the current Worldcon Committee and all bidding committees who have filed before the ballot deadline. If agreement is not reached, the default fee shall be the median (middle value) of the US dollar fees used in the previous three (3) Worldcon site selections.

Section 4.3: Non-Natural Persons. "No Preference" ballots may be cast by corporations, associations, and other non-human or artificial entities. "Guest of" memberships must be transferred to individual natural persons before being cast for other than "No Preference", with such transfers accepted by the administering convention.

Section 4.4: Ballots. Site-selection ballots shall include name, signature, address, and membership-number spaces to be filled in by the voter. Each site-selection ballot shall list the options "None of the Above" and "No Preference" and provide for write-in votes, after the bidders and with equal prominence. The supporting membership rate shall be listed on all site-selection ballots.

4.5.1: The name and address information shall be separated from the ballots and the ballots counted only at the Worldcon with two (2) witnesses from each bidding committee allowed to observe. Each bidding committee may make a record of the name and address of every voter.

4.5.2: A ballot voted with first or only choice for "No Preference" shall be ignored for site selection. A ballot voted with lower than first choice for "No Preference" shall be ignored if all higher choices on the ballot have been eliminated in preferential tallying.

4.5.3: "None of the Above" shall be treated as a bid for tallying and shall be the equivalent of "No Award" with respect to Section 3.11. If it wins, the duty of site selection shall devolve on the Business Meeting of the current Worldcon. If the Business Meeting is unable to decide by the end of the Worldcon, the Committee for the following Worldcon shall make the selection without undue delay. When a site and Committee are chosen by a Business Meeting or Worldcon Committee, they are not restricted by region or other qualifications, and the choice of an out-of-rotation site shall not affect the regional rotation for subsequent years.

4.5.4: 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 achieves 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.

4.6.1: To be eligible for site selection, a bidding committee must file the following documents with the Committee that will administer the voting:

4.6.2: The bidding committee must supply written copies of these documents to any member of WSFS on request.

4.6.3: For a bid to be allowed on the printed ballot, the bidding committee must file the documents specified above no later than 180 days prior to the official opening of the administering convention.

4.6.4: To be eligible as a write-in, the bidding committee must file the documents specified above by the close of the voting.

4.6.5: If no bids meet these qualifications, the selection shall proceed as though "None of the Above" had won.

Section 4.7: Site Eligibility. A site outside North America is eligible for selection in any year. A site within North America is eligible for selection if it is within the appropriate region, as defined below. The North American regions shall rotate in the order Western, Central, Eastern region. A site shall be ineligible if it is within sixty (60) miles of the site at which selection occurs.

Section 4.8: North America. To ensure equitable distribution of sites within North America, it is divided into three (3) regions as follows:

If the selected Worldcon site is not in North America, there shall be a NASFiC in the North American region eligible that year. Selection of the NASFiC shall be by the identical procedure to the Worldcon selection except as provided below or elsewhere in this Constitution:

4.9.1: Voting shall be by written ballot administered by the following year’s Worldcon, if there is no NASFiC in that year, or by the following year’s NASFiC, if there is one, with ballots cast at the administering convention or by mail, and with only members of the administering convention allowed to vote.

4.9.2: Bids are restricted to sites in the appropriate region. NASFiC Committees shall make all reasonable efforts to avoid conflicts with Worldcon dates.

4.9.3: The proposed NASFiC supporting membership rate can be set by unanimous agreement of the administering Committee and all bidding committees who have filed before the ballot deadline.

4.9.4: If "None of the Above" wins, or if no eligible bid files by the deadline, then no NASFiC shall be held and any supporting membership payments collected for the NASFiC site selection shall be refunded by the administering convention without undue delay.

5.1.1: Business Meetings of WSFS shall be held at advertised times at each Worldcon.

5.1.2: The current Worldcon Committee shall provide the Presiding Officer and Staff for each Meeting.

5.1.3: The Business Meeting may adopt Standing Rules for its own governance.

5.1.4: 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 rules may be suspended by the Business Meeting by the same procedure as a Standing Rule); the customs and usages of WSFS (including the resolutions and rulings of continuing effect); and the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised.

5.1.5: The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present.

Section 5.2: Continuation of Committees. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, any committee or other position created by a Business Meeting shall lapse at the end of the next following Business Meeting that does not vote to continue it.

Section 5.3: Constitutional Pass-along. Within two (2) months after the end of each Worldcon, the Business Meeting staff shall send a copy of all changes to the Constitution and Standing Rules, and all items awaiting ratification, to the next Worldcon Committee

Section 6.1: Conduct. The conduct of the affairs of WSFS shall be determined by this Constitution together with all ratified amendments hereto and such Standing Rules as the Business Meeting shall adopt for its own governance.

Section 6.2: Natural Persons. In all matters arising under this Constitution, only natural persons may introduce business, nominate, or vote, except as specifically provided otherwise in this Constitution. No person may cast more than one vote on any issue or more than one ballot in any election. This shall not be interpreted to prohibit delivery of ballots cast by other eligible voters.

Section 6.3: Amendment. The WSFS Constitution may be amended by a motion passed by a simple majority at any Business Meeting but only to the extent that such motion is ratified by a simple majority at the Business Meeting of the subsequent Worldcon.

Section 6.4: Commencement. Any change to the Constitution of WSFS shall take effect at the end of the Worldcon at which such change is ratified, except that no change imposing additional costs or financial obligations upon Worldcon Committees shall be binding upon any Committee already selected at the time when it takes effect.

Section 6.5: Standing Rules. Standing Rules for the Governance of the Business Meeting and related activities may be adopted or amended by a majority vote at any Business Meeting. Amendments to Standing Rules shall take effect at the close of the Worldcon where they are adopted; this rule may be suspended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote.

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:

In Section 4.1: replace "Voting shall be by mail or ballot cast at the current Worldcon with run-off ballot as described in Section 3.11" with "Voting shall be by written ballot cast either by mail or at the current Worldcon with tallying as described in Section 3.11".

In Section 4. 1: replace "administer the mail balloting" with "administer the voting".

Replace Section 4.3 with the following new Section:

Section 4.3: Non-natural Persons. Corporations, associations, and other non-human or artificial entities may cast ballots, but only for "No Preference". "Guest of" memberships may only cast "No Preference" ballots. Memberships transferred to individual natural persons may cast preferential ballots, provided that the transfer is accepted by the administering convention.

In Section 4.5.1, replace "with two (2) witnesses from each bidding committee allowed to observe." with ". Each bidding committee should provide at least two (2) tellers."

Delete Subsection 4.5.3, and insert the following new Subsections:

4.5.3: "None of the Above" shall be treated as a bid for tallying, and shall be the equivalent of "No Award" with respect to Section 2.9.

4.5.5: If "None of the Above" wins, the duty of site selection shall devolve on the Business Meeting of the current Worldcon. If the Business Meeting is unable to decide by the end of the Worldcon, the Committee for the following Worldcon shall make the selection without undue delay.

4.5.6: Where a site and Committee are chosen by a Business Meeting or Worldcon Committee, they are not restricted by region or other qualifications, and the choice of an out-of-rotation site shall not affect the regional rotation for subsequent years.

Moved by the Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee

Discussion: This tidies the wording of Article 4. It requires the current committee to administer the whole voting process rather than just the mail balloting, and directs the bidding committees to provide tellers rather than allowing them to provide observers. This changes the Constitution to reflect what actually happens, so there is no actual change in powers.

Moved: To amend Article IV by:

[Secretary: Old section 3.9, became new section 4.9 at the 1998 Business Meeting.]

Provided that any site which would have been eligible under the old rules will also be eligible in the first three races conducted under these eligibility rules.

Discussion:

This replaces the current zone system for site eligibility in North America with an unzoned system, in which a bid from any of the rotation zones is allowed to bid in any year. While the rotation system used to be necessary in order to prevent the Worldcon from staying in one geographic area, the decrease through the years in the number of locations that can hold a Worldcon will accomplish most of these results.

This system will also mean that if a group wishes to bid in a year, and has facilities available for that year, they will generally be eligible. And, if a group has its facility taken away by another group, it doesn't need to wait three years to rebid, but may do so when it is next able.

The exclusion zone is expanded from 60 miles to 500 to ensure that having a large number of local voters won't give one site a large proximity advantage in any race.

Moved by Ben Yalow and Bruce Pelz

Effect:

Section 4.7: Site Eligibility A site outside North America is eligible for selection in any year. A Site within North America is eligible for selection if it is within the appropriate region as defined below. The North American regions shall rotate in the order Western, Central, Eastern region. A site shall be ineligible if it is within sixty (60) five hundred (500) miles or eight hundred (800) kilometres of the site at which selection occurs.

2.1.1 ConAdian (1994)

5.2 Reports by seated Worldcons