The World Science Fiction Society

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.

3.2 No-Zone Rotation
Moved: To amend Article IV by:

1. Deleting all of section 4.7 except the last sentence.
2. Replacing "sixty (60) miles" with ""five hundred (500) miles or eight hundred (800) kilometres" in the last sentence of section 4.7
3. Replacing "the North American region eligible" with "North America" in the first sentence of Section 4.9
4. Deleting the first sentence of 4.9.2

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.

Moved by Ben Yalow and Bruce Pelz

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.

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.

Section 4.9: NASFiC
If the selected Worldcon site is not in North America, there shall be a NASFiC in the North American region eligible North America 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 voting fee supporting membership rate can be set by unanimous agreement of the prospective candidates that file with the administering Committee 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 all voting fees any supporting membership payments collected for the NASFiC site selection shall be refunded by the administering convention without undue delay.

4. New Business

Items under this heading have not been given first passage, and will become part of the Constitution only if passed at Aussiecon 3 and ratified at Chicon 2000.

4.1 The Long and Short of It
MOVED, To amend portions of Article III of the WSFS Constitution to have the effect of splitting the existing Best Dramatic Presentation category into two categories, Long Form and Short Form, to regulate the administration of such categories, and for other purposes, as follows.
1. Strike out existing Section 3.3.6, "Best Dramatic Presentation."
2. Insert the following section after existing Section 3.3.5:
3.3.x: BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, LONG FORM: 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, with a complete running time of more than 100 minutes.
3. Insert the following section before existing Section 3.3.7
3.3.x: BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, SHORT FORM: 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, with a complete running time of 100 minutes or less.
4. Insert the following section after existing Section 3.2.5:
3.2.x: The Worldcon Committee shall not consider previews, promotional trailers, commercials, public service announcements, or other extraneous material when determining the length of a work.
5. Insert the following section after existing Section 3.2.6:
3.2.x: The Worldcon Committee may relocate a dramatic presentation work into a more appropriate category if it feels that it is necessary, provided that the length of the work is within the lesser of twenty (20) minutes or twenty percent (20%) of the new category limits.

Moved by Chris Barkley, Kevin Standlee and Lew Wolkoff

Discussion:
The amendment itself has a three fold purpose:
A) To split most television and motion picture presentations into two length categories, Long Form and Short Form.
B) To give fans a wider choice in their selections for Best Dramatic Presentations; for example, as a result of the category split, fans have the option of choosing radio dramas, books on tape/cd, music albums, musical performances, etc...
C) Attract more media minded or casual reading fans into the Hugo selection process and expand the voting base.

4.1A The Not So Long and Short of It
MOVED, to substitute for the entire text of the motion titled "The Long and Short of It," the following:
MOVED, To amend portions of Article III of the WSFS Constitution to have the effect of splitting the existing Best Dramatic Presentation category into two categories, Non-Episodic and Episodic, to regulate the administration of such categories, and for other purposes, as follows.
1. Strike out existing Section 3.3.6, "Best Dramatic Presentation."
2. Insert the following section after existing Section 3.3.5:
3.3.x BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, EPISODIC. Any production in any medium of dramatized Science Fiction, Fantasy, or related subjects, which formed a single episode from a regularly scheduled ongoing production.
3. Insert the following section before existing Section 3.3.7
3.3.x: BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION, NON-EPISODIC. Any feature film, short subject, television mini-series, live theater production, or any other production in any medium of dramatized Science Fiction, Fantasy, or related subjects, not eligible for the Episodic Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award.
4. Insert the following sentence at the end of Section 3.2.4:
3.2.4: [...] A multi-part episodic or non-episodic dramatic production shall be eligible for the year in which the final part is first publicly performed.
5. Insert the following sentence at the end of Section 3.2.6:
3.2.6: [...] The Worldcon Committee may relocate a dramatic presentation work into a more appropriate category if it feels that it is necessary.

Moved by: Skip Morris, Robert Sacks and Judy Bemis

Discussion (SM):
As an individual who as run numerous convention film and video programs over several decades I feel qualified to comment on the main motion and my amendment. While I feel it is a worthwhile goal to expand the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo, splitting the award by length does not best represent the differences in movies vs television episodes. There are many films I've shown at SF cons whose length is close to an hour. (The shortest one I remember is "La Jette", the basis for the film "12 Monkeys" which ran about 30 minutes, or Hugo winner "The Capture" which was a slide show running about 20 minutes.) Many TV show episodes likewise are multi-parters running 2 or 3 hours. (Several Star Trek and Babylon 5 episodes come to mind.)
The biggest difference in the mediums are that TV episodes are produced under a deadline, typically have a smaller budget, a story has to be developed to fit a setting and cast of characters, and there is typically a "writers bible" which limits what a story creator is allowed to do.
Films, TV Mini Series, and other such productions are different. The story, setting & characters can be developed together. There is more freedom for the writer to make changes to the universe being developed. Deadlines are not as important; a movie production can easily slip a few weeks or months. TV episode schedules are much less flexible. I can draw a comparision to the effect of deadlines on creativity with the American Pulitzer Award, which has different awards for stories published both "under a deadline" and "not under a deadline". This to me reflects the most crucial difference in the medium.
Notes: Section three spells out things like "television mini-series" to make it clear that productions like "From the Earth to the Moon" and "I, Claudius" belong in the non-episodic category. Also, section two originally had the words "of no less then 8 episodes in a single production season" at the very end. In talking to people I've been convinced that it is better to leave such decisions as to what constitutes an "ongoing series" to the judgement Hugo Administrators. However, I would consider a request to add the phrase back in as a friendly amendment.

4.2 Return to two-year bidding.
MOVED: to amend the WSFS constitution as follows:
In Section 4.1: replace "WSFS shall choose the location and Committee of the Worldcon to be held three (3) years from the date of the current Worldcon" with "WSFS shall choose the location and Committee of the Worldcon to be held two (2) years from the date of the current Worldcon".

Moved by Vincent Docherty and Kevin Standlee

Discussion: The move back to two-year bidding for Worldcon site-selection reflects the historic evidence that three-year bidding has not been effective as a means of ensuring the viability of bids in obtaining and keeping their site (contracts) against competition from professional convention organisers. In addition the extra year after winning the bid causes additional work and strain for the convention organisers with little benefit for the members.
If this amendment is adopted, the timing of its implementation must be agreed - which Worldcon will 'skip' hosting site selection?

4.3 Rest-of-the-World Hugo Eligibility.
MOVED: to amend the WSFS constitution as follows:
In Section 3.2.1: replace "appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year" with "appearing for the first time during the previous two calendar years".
or
replace "appearing for the first time during the previous calendar year" with "appearing for the first time in English OR in the USA during the previous calendar year".
In each case an additional section is required to ensure that a work once nominated cannot be renominated the following year.
In the event that these proposals are unacceptable, then it is proposed that a committee be empowered to research the problem and propose a solution at the next Business Meeting in Chicago.

Moved by Vincent Docherty and Andrew Adams

Discussion:
The proposal reflects the concern that the publication schedules of non-North American books and fiction magazines makes it less likely that most of the voters will have read them in time to nominate them. Often this only occurs after these works have gone out of eligibility. The last Novel by a non-north-American to win the Hugo was The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke in 1980.
The proposed amendment chosen will affect only the 4 fiction categories - Novel, Novella, Novelette and Short Story, the other categories being specified individually.

5. Site Selection Business

[to be conducted at the Site Selection meeting on 5 September 1999]

5.1 Report of the 2002 Site Selection & Presentation by Winners
5.2 Reports by seated Worldcons
5.3 Presentation by bidders for 2003