2001 Business meeting Minutes: Introductory Comments
The World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) Business Meeting at The Millennium Philcon, the 59th World Science Fiction Convention, consisted of one preliminary meeting and two main meetings. Meetings were held in room 103C of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The head table staff for all meetings were: Donald E. Eastlake III, Presiding Officer; Kevin Standlee, Parliamentarian and Deputy Presiding Officer; Cheryl Morgan, Secretary; Bridget Boyle, Timekeeper (Saturday), and ‘Zanne Labonville, Emergency Holographic Timekeeper (Friday and Sunday).
Votes by show of hands were not counted; they were used in place of voice votes. When a counted vote was necessary, the "serpentine" method was used. Using this method, all people voting on one side stand, then count off across each row and back down the next row in a back-and-forth fashion. After all of the people voting on one side have voted, then the other side’s voters stand and the process repeats. This method allows everyone to see who is voting and tends to assure a faster and more accurate count than other methods of counting heads.