The World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting at MagiCon was held in four sessions, scheduled at 10 AM on Friday, Sept. 4, through Monday, Sept. 7, 1992, in Room 20abc of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The podium staff for all sessions consisted of Bruce Pelz, Presiding Officer; George Flynn, Secretary; Ben Yalow, Parliamentarian; and Kevin Standlee, Timekeeper.
In the minutes below, motions whose texts were published in the MagiCon Souvenir Book will be cited only by reference.
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 AM. The Chair announced the awarding of the Japanese Engineering Award to last year's Secretary, Richard Russell, for delivering his minutes immediately prior to this meeting. [Copies of the 1991 minutes may presumably be obtained from Richard S. Russell, Address removed From Electronic Version]
Items 1-9 were constitutional amendments given first passage in 1991, and would become part of the WSFS Constitution upon ratification. [As noted in the meeting agenda, the explanations of these items in the Souvenir Book [pp. 145-146] were mostly those provided by the original makers of the motions, and thus were not necessarily objective.]
Three members of the committee were to be elected for a three-year term. No more than three elected members may reside (at the time of election) in each of the regions described in Sec. 3.6 of the Constitution. The current elected members were:
Thus the Business Meeting could elect up to three members from the Western region, up to one member from the Central region, no members from the Eastern region, or up to three members from overseas. The following were nominated: Bruce Pelz (Western), Bob Hillis (Central), Tim Illingworth (overseas), John Lorentz (Western), Kevin Standlee (Western; currently appointee for ConFrancisco, to be replaced if elected). Nominations were then closed. The election would be held at the Saturday Main Business Meeting.
PREFACE: As the year 2001 is one of the most recognizable years in the Science Fiction Genre, I believe it would be fitting that any city from any zone, or an off-continent city, be given the opportunity to bid for the World Science Fiction Convention for that year.
RESOLVED: The World Science Fiction Society shall recognize any bid properly submitted by any city in any rotational zone to hold the World Science Fiction Convention for the year 2001.
If the Eastern Zone wins the site selection for 2001, there will be no effect on the rotation.
If the Central Zone or an off-continent bid wins, the rotation will slip back one year with no change in the order of rotation.
If the Western Zone wins, the zone holding a Worldcon furthest back in time will be eligible to bid for 2002. This would be the Eastern Zone, whose last Worldcon would have been in 1998. The rotation following 2001 would be 2002 Eastern, 2003 Central, 2004 Western, etc. This would insure that if the Western Zone wins for 2001, that the three-year spacing for succeeding Worldcons would be preserved.
After 2001, any off-continent bid would be recognized unless an off-continent bid wins for 2001. In that case the next year of eligibility for an off-continent bid will be 2003 and thereafter.
[A table illustrating the various possible rotations is omitted here. since the text above is sufficiently clear, and the original version of the motion didn't survive very long.]
Victoria Smith proposed substituting "non-North American" for "off-continent": accepted. - Default debate time 20 minutes; 5, 10, and 15 minutes proposed. - Mark Olson moved to strike out all but the first paragraph (thus leaving the rotation unchanged after 2001): accepted by Mr. Francis. - Donald Eastlake proposed that the site selection should have no effect on site selections of subsequent years: accepted. - The Chair suggested "by any site" rather than "city". Rick Katze asked whether the winner for 1998 would be able to bid for 2001; the Chair said yes, as the motion stood. Mr. Olson proposed "for any site not within 60 miles of any previously selected Worldcon". Ben Yalow: "by any site not within 60 miles of any currently seated site . . . This site selection shall have no effect on site selection" [Mr. Olson: "rotation"] "for the subsequent years." Seth Breidbart: Drop the second sentence? Tim Illingworth: "This site selection shall not affect the order of rotation of zones for subsequent years." - Mr. Breidbart proposed replacing the current motion by "For purposes of the site selection for 2001, the Eastern region shall be defined to include the entire world." Accepted. [Note that by this elegant solution a 60-mile exclusion is automatically included, under Sec. 3.7 of the current Constitution.]
Louis Epstein asked how the NASFiC would be affected. Mr. Yalow proposed that there be no NASFiC in 2001 if the Worldcon is in the non-North American part of the Eastern region [as defined here]. The Chair made a ruling that the Secretary somehow missed recording, but that was no doubt sensible; Mr. Sacks appealed the ruling; Mr. Katze moved the previous question; the Chair's ruling was sustained by an overwhelming majority (many to about 15).
The motion as amended now had a default debate time of 6 minutes; 10, 20, 12, 30, 2, 0.5, and 5 minutes were also proposed; 10 minutes won (with 33 votes, to no more than 5 for any other choice). - Johnny Carruthers proposed changing "the entire world" to "all of North America": no second. - The Secretary suggested adding to the text: "There will be no NASFiC in 2001." Approved many-few. - Richard Russell requested that a chart showing the effect of the motion be included in Saturday's agenda; the Secretary agreed to do so.
WHEREAS the creation of new territories out of the Northwest Territories of Canada voids the northern boundary between the Western and Central zones,
[MOVED] to amend Article III, Section 6 of the WSFS Constitution,
to add "Nunavut" to the Central zone,
to add "Denendah" and other territories created out of the Northwest Territories to the Western zone,
to delete "the Northwest Territories" upon their extinction.
[The Secretary is in possession of two versions of this motion: one with the complete text above, the other with words struck through as indicated. I think the first version was that originally submitted, while the second was that actually distributed at the meeting.]
[Note that under the current Constitution all the Northwest Territories, including Nunavut-to-be, are in the Western region.]
Winton Matthews: Is this proper when the change has not been made yet? Chair: Nunavut will be created; the rest will stay the Northwest Territories. Mark Olson: Can the Secretary make this change? Or keep the line in place no matter how Canada changes the names? Louis Epstein: Pass a Business Meeting resolution authorizing the Secretary to amend the wording if the Northwest Territories are divided? - Johnny Carruthers: Instead of the current motion, replace "all states and provinces" by "all states, provinces, and territories" in all three subsections of Sec. 3.6. Donald Eastlake: "as of January 1, 1992"; not accepted. Someone: "all political subdivisions"; not accepted. Mr. Sacks moved the previous question on the amendment: passed. Mr. Carruthers' amendment then passed overwhelmingly. - Default debate time 6 minutes; 2 and 1 minutes proposed; 2 minutes won.
Let it be resolved that no attendee at the WSFS Business Meeting shall be allowed to speak unless displaying a volunteer chit that he or she has worked for the convention at which the meeting is held.
An objection to consideration was made, and prevailed by a vote of "shitloads" to less than 5.
MOVED, to add the following section to Article III of the WSFS Constitution:
No Worldcon Committee shall reimburse its members or supporters for expenses incurred or donations made in support of the Committee when it was a bidding committee, nor shall any Worldcon memberships be sold at a discount by virtue of the member's having supported a bidding committee.
PROVIDED THAT this rule shall first apply to the Committee of the 19XX Worldcon.
The costs of Worldcon bidding have been increasing inexorably. One factor that encourages this increase is the custom of reimbursing members of bidding committees for their expenses or donations (treated as "loans"), so that the winning bid is subsidized by the membership of the resulting Worldcon rather than out of the bidders' pockets. This also means that a committee which considers itself likely to win can spend more lavishly, expecting that its costs will be reimbursed after it wins, while long-shot opponents must spend more conservatively. This motion is designed to counteract this process by forbidding the reimbursement of bidding costs, so that all bidders would have to pay for their own spending. Giving discounts to presupporters is a milder form of the same practice, and would thus also be forbidden.
Gail Sanders objected to consideration. The vote in favor of the objection was initially counted as 38-19, exactly two-thirds in favor. A recount was requested; as Mr. Pelz wished to vote, the chair was assumed by Rick Katze, and a standing vote was counted by Mr. Katze and Mr. Standlee. The vote was 38-24, so the objection to consideration failed. - Default debate time 20 minutes; 10, 30, 5, and 15 minutes were proposed; 20 minutes won with 32 votes (11 for 30 min., less for the others).
MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
Change three years to two years wherever it appears in Article III;
change "the close of the previous Worldcon" to "six months prior to the official opening of the administering Worldcon" in Section 4 of Article III;
effective for 1998 and subsequent Worldcons and NASFiCs.
[That is, this motion would have changed the three-year lead time for Worldcon site selection to two years.] An objection to consideration was made, and prevailed by a vote greater than two-thirds.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Mark Protection Committee is directed to investigate the possibility of protecting the Hugo(tm) rocket symbol and if in its judgment the protection is worthwhile, to begin the process of protecting it.
The rocket symbol for an SF award is a major service mark of WSFS and is presently not protected. The details of protecting a mark of this sort are complicated and best left to the MPC. This motion provides the sense of the WSFS Business Meeting that such protection is desirable.
(Not a constitutional amendment, so it could be voted on immediately.) Default debate time 6 minutes; 2 and 10 minutes proposed; 2 minutes won. - The motion was then passed overwhelmingly.
BE IT RESOLVED that the Mark Protection Committee is directed to use its judgment in selecting which marks to protect in which countries to achieve maximum protection with available resources.
This makes clear that the MPC has the authority to use its judgment in choosing how and where to protect our marks to make best use of limited resources.
(Also not a constitutional amendment.) Default debate time 6 minutes; 1 minute proposed; 1 minute won. The motion was then passed unanimously.
MOVED, to add to Section 2.2.12 of the WSFS Constitution (Best Fan Writer) the words "during the previous calendar year".
This would remedy an oversight made when the present version of the Constitution was adopted, and would define the period of eligibility for Best Fan Writer in the same way as for the other Hugo categories (it has customarily been interpreted in this way anyway; but since some people have recently questioned this point, it would be best to clarify it).
Default debate time 6 minutes; 1 minute proposed; 1 minute won.
[MOVED, to] amend the WSFS Constitution as follows (deletions in strike-through, additions in underline):
3.8.1: Voting shall be by written ballot administered by the following then-current Worldcon, if there is no NASFiC held the following year following the Worldcon that year, or by the NASFiC, if there is one held in the following year following the Worldcon, with ballots cast at the administering convention or by mail and only members of the administering convention allowed to vote.
3.5: . . . The aforementioned rules and agreements, along with an announcement of intent to bid, must be filed with the committee that will administer the voting . . . , and as set by the administering convention but no earlier than the close of the corresponding Worldcon voting no later than one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the opening of the administering convention for a prospective NASFiC bid.
[This would make the NASFiC lead time one year less than that for the Worldcon.] Default debate time 20 minutes; 10, 6, and 5 minutes proposed; 10 minutes won (many, to 15 for 20 min., less for others).
That completed the business before the Preliminary Business Meeting. - At this point written acceptances had been received from all those nominated for the Mark Protection Committee (cf. p. 2) except Bob Hillis. It was moved to waive Standing Rule 3.1 to allow Mr. Hillis to turn in his acceptance at any time before the opening of the Saturday meeting: passed. - The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM. - Not counting the podium staff, 61 people signed the attendance list (which, however, was distributed rather late in the meeting).
The meeting was called to order at 10:02 AM.
Text of Items 1-9 as in MagiCon Souvenir Book, pp. 145-146, except for changes noted on p. 1 above.
| Transaction record for September 1991-September 1992 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Balance | |
| Funds balance at close of Chicon | 944.75 | |
| Donation from MagiCon (partial) Sept '91 | +500.00 | 1444.75 |
| Donation from Robert Sacks Sept '91 | +200.00 | 1644.75 |
| Payment to Marks & Clerk, registrations Sept '91 | -1013.00 | 631.75 |
| Payment to Harold Gell, Worldcon defense Dec '91 | -600.00 | 31.75 |
| Donation from Noreascon 3 June '92 | +1276.00 | 1307.07 |
| Payment to Marks & Clerk, registrations June '92 | -1058.00 | 249.75 |
| T-shirt royalty payment for use of marks Aug '92 | +277.50 | 527.25 |
| Payment to Marks & Clerk, registrations Aug '92 | -420.00 | 107.25 |
| CURRENT BALANCE OF THE ACCOUNT: | $107.25 | |
The committee would like to extend its appreciation and thanks to Mr. Robert Sacks for his generous donation of $200.00.
We have a balance of $450.00 on account with our US attorney, Harold Gell.
We anticipate receipt of funds from Chicon and MagiCon in the course of the next several months.
All funds are in US dollars.
Submitted by Scott Dennis, Treasurer, Mark Protection Committee, 5 September 1992
It was announced that Mr. Hillis's written acceptance had been received in the nick of time (cf. p. 8). Ballots were distributed and voted. Rick Katze, Gary Louie, and Sara Paul were appointed as tellers.
Shortly before the close of the Saturday meeting, the tellers reported that Bruce Pelz, Tim Illingworth, and John Lorentz had been elected. The voting was as follows (one ballot was disqualified):
| First Place | Second Place | Third Place | |||||
| Bruce Pelz | 30 | 31 | 32 | 37 | |||
| Tim Illingworth | 23 | 25 | 26 | 34 | 42 | ||
| John Lorentz | 9 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 26 | 33 | |
| Kevin Standlee | 6 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 30 | ||
| Bob Hillis | 4 | 7 | 15 | ||||
[The numbers above are from my own count, since those reported by the tellers didn't quite add up. Fortunately, the results were the same.]
Mark Olson moved to postpone Item 12 to the end of the day's agenda: accepted. - As for Item 11, the committee was on the phone again, so this was also postponed.
MOVED, to add the following proviso to Section 3.7 of the WSFS Constitution:
PROVIDED THAT for purposes of site selection for the 2001 Worldcon, the Eastern region shall be defined to include the entire world. Whatever site is chosen, there shall be no NASFiC in 2001.
Gary Feldbaum moved to change to "all areas of the world shall be eligible." The previous question was called on this amendment, which failed 1-many. - The Chair confirmed that the 60-mile exclusion zone would now affect only the site of the 1998 Worldcon. - Mark Olson moved to recommit the motion to a very small committee: failed overwhelmingly. - The previous question was called. A vote by show of hands was counted as 31 or 32 in favor, 32 opposed; a standing vote was therefore taken, and the motion passed 33-32.
If this motion is ratified in 1993, its effect on site selection would be as follows (with a non-North American bid allowed in any year):
| Year | Current Rule | If Motion 14 Passes |
| 1998 | Eastern | Eastern |
| 1999 | Western | Western |
| 2000 | Central | Central |
| 2001 | Eastern | anywhere in world (except within 60 miles of 1998 site) |
| 2002 | Western | Western |
| 2003 | Central | Central |
| 2004 | Eastern | Eastern |
WHEREAS the creation of new territories out of the Northwest Territories of Canada voids the northern boundary between the Western and Central regions,
MOVED, to amend Section 3.6 of the WSFS Constitution by replacing all appearances of "states and provinces" by "states, provinces, and territories".
The previous question was called, and the motion passed many-few.
| 2525 | 2100 | 2001 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| >37 | 37 | 23 | 16 | <16 | 2 |
The blank was thus filled with 2525. The previous question was called, and the motion as amended failed.
At this point the tellers reported the results of the Mark Protection Committee election (see p. 9). - Also, the Mark Protection Committee Treasurer announced the availability of the financial report printed on p. 9.
Meeting adjourned at 11:18 AM. - Not counting the podium staff, 77 people signed the attendance list. [For comparison, 73 ballots were cast in the Mark Protection Committee election.]
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM.
Administrator Tom Veal not being present, Covert Beach reported the vote totals: Glasgow 1310, Atlanta 1147, other 107. [Rather than give additional details here, I have incorporated Mr. Veal's official report, which appears on p. 11.] - A motion was made and passed to commend the tellers. Robert Sacks inquired how long the count took: from 7:30 to 9:40, plus 30-40 minutes to deal with questions.
Announcements on behalf of Glasgow were made by chairs Tim Illingworth and Vince Docherty (wearing kilts): The convention would be called Intersection, and would be held on 24-28 August 1995. Guests of Honor would include Samuel R. Delany and Gerry Anderson. Copies of Progress Report 0 were distributed. Theresa Renner commended the chairs for baring their legs in public. - Don Cook, on behalf of the Atlanta bid, made a statement thanking Glasgow and the voters. - Rick Katze moved to commend both bidders for a very nice and hard-fought race: passed.
A non-North American Worldcon having been selected, the next order of business was arranging for the selection of the 1995 NASFiC. Bidders were to file by 12:30 PM, with either the Secretary, the Timekeeper, or the Chair. Voting would open at 2 PM (if possible) at the Information booth, and would close at 10 PM. A Business Meeting would be held Monday morning to receive the report of the voting results. - The Parliamentarian explained the possibilities. In particular, he ruled that if the decision went to the Business Meeting, the meeting could not choose "None of the Above"; if all else failed, ConFrancisco would have to decide.
Rick Katze moved that the results be posted as soon as they were available. Mark Olson moved to substitute that it was the sense of the meeting that all (unofficial) site-selection results should be posted as soon as they are known; Mr. Katze accepted this amendment. (It was noted that future Worldcons could not be bound in this respect.) The motion as amended passed many-few. - Robert Sacks suggested that if the site-selection results were already known, there was no need to hold a meeting on Monday. However, it was pointed out that a meeting was necessary because of the possibility of a challenge to the results. - Mr. Olson announced that he would enter a NASFiC bid for the sole purpose of returning checks. [This did not in fact occur.]
(At this point Tom Veal turned in the official Worldcon site-selection count reproduced on p. 11.)
The Chair called for announcements by NASFiC bidders. - Brian Burley announced a bid for New York by the Gotham Organization (a group of Lunarians forming an organization outside the Lunarian structure), with Thom Anderson as chair. - Christopher O'Shea announced the I-95 in '95 bid ("Roadkillcon"). - Ed Kramer announced a bid for Atlanta, using the Hilton and Towers, and organized by DragonCon (not the same as the Atlanta Worldcon bid). - The voting fee was to be discussed by the bidders; $20 would be the default.
It was announced that Paul Dormer would be Glasgow's appointee to the Mark Protection Committee. - Presentations were made on behalf of ConFrancisco (by David Clark) and Conadian (by John Mansfield).
A presentation for Los Angeles was made by Bruce Pelz (from the Chair). - It was announced that the deadline for other 1996 bidders to file was 5 PM Monday.
Donald E. Eastlake, III
Chairman
Mr. Eastlake noted that the selected NASFiC would also be entitled to appoint a representative to the committee. - The resolution moved by the committee (paragraph 2 above) was considered. Robert Sacks suggested a stronger term than "negotiate". Mark Olson asked whether the resolution applied to Worldcon and bidding committees, e.g., to T-shirts produced by such committees; the answer was no, and the Secretary was asked to put this in the record. Also, a blurb of "Hugo Winner" on a book's cover would not be included, but a book like The Hugo Winners would be. The previous question was called, and the resolution passed many-1. - Seth Breidbart asked about T-shirts produced for a Worldcon by an outside vendor; the Chair ruled that this would be a commercial use, and the MPC could ask for a royalty. Kent Bloom noted that the license to Worldcons to use the WSFS marks does not include sublicensing.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:59 AM. - Not counting the podium staff, 56 people signed the attendance list.
[After the Business Meeting, the Secretary attended the meeting of NASFiC bidders, convened in the Staff Lounge. Kevin Standlee presided, and examined the bidders' filing documents. The New York bid ("NASFiC: Gotham 95") was accepted; they insisted on the default $20 voting fee, which therefore was in effect. The Atlanta bid ("NASFiC Atlanta 1995") was also accepted; they noted that their bid was for July 13-16, 1995 (proposed dates appeared on the ballot, along with facilities and committee lists). As for the I-95 in '95 bid, however, their organizational document was acceptable (though strange), but their letter of agreement was not (it contained such interesting features as a purported endorsement from the Secretary of Transportation, and the stamped message "Vinnie the Shiv says OK"). The I-95 in '95 bid was therefore not allowed on the ballot, but continued to run as a write-in bid; their votes would count if they submitted a satisfactory letter of agreement before the voting closed at 10 PM. See below for the next thrilling installment . . . The New York and Atlanta bids agreed that anyone who voted would receive an attending membership in the winning convention.]
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM.
Kevin Standlee delivered the report of the tellers. He commended the I-95 committee for perseverance and spunk in the face of great adversity. After failing to get on the ballot [see above], they finally found a night manager at the Columbia, MD, Hilton who was willing to fax them a letter of agreement. They came running up at the stroke of 10, waving the fax and shouting "We got it!" Their bid was therefore accepted, at the last possible moment. - The results were then announced: 381 ballots were cast, and Atlanta won. (Write-ins were received for "Hold the election next year" and "Hawaii".) Mr. Standlee submitted the following report:
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | ||
| Atlanta | 152 | 172 | 184 | |
| I95 in 95 | 92 | 100 | 135 | |
| None of the Above | 80 | 93 | ||
| Gotham | 51 | |||
| Write-ins | 2 | |||
| Total Expressing Preference | 377 | 365 | 319 | |
| Needed to Elect (Majority) | 189 | 183 | 160 | |
| No Preference | 4 | 16 | 62 |