The World Science Fiction Society

Minutes of the Business Meeting 1987

Part 1: The Preliminary Business Meeting

Date: Friday August 28th
Time: 9.00 am
Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard
Parliamentarian Ben Yalow
Secretary Tim Illingworth

A copy of the Agenda is attached to these minutes.

1. Statement by Bidders for the 1990 Worldcon

   Ben Yalow, as Parliamentarian, read the following statement by the bidders for the 1990 Worldcon:
   The HOLLAND IN 1990 bid and the LOS ANGELES IN 1990 bid agree that they will accept the outcome of the Site Selection Voting as of 18:00 Saturday, 29th August 1987, no matter what that outcome may be. Both bids urge the Business Meeting of the World Science Fiction Convention not to contravene this agreement nor do anything to make the situation more complicated.

   A motion to commend the bidders on their decision was proposed by Robert Sacks and seconded by Robert Hillis, and was passed by acclamation.

2. Nominations for Election to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee

   Four nominations were received:-
   Leslie Turek (Eastern), proposed by Donald Eastlake III
   Rick Katze (Eastern), proposed by Bruce Pelz
   Robert Hillis (Central), proposed by Mark Olson
   Elizabeth Gross (Central), proposed by Robert Sacks
   Rick Katze later withdrew his nomination.

Business Passed On To Conspiracy '87

3. Short Title: NASFIC Representation
   MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by adding the following at the end of the first sentence: "one(1) non-voting member appointed to serve at the pleasure of each future selected NASFiC Committee and for each Committee of a NASFiC held in the previous two years."

   An amendment to delete 'voting' and substitute 'non-voting' was proposed by Donald Eastlake and seconded by Rick Katze. This was ruled to be in order and was passed by 20 votes to 19. A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

4. Short Title: ConCom Financial Reporting Act
   MOVED, to amend Article I, Section 8, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the second sentence and inserting the following in its place:
   Each 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 through the first or second Business Meeting after its Worldcon, at its option, to which it will also submit a cumulative final financial report.

   A 3 minute time limit for debate was set.

5. Short Title: Rotation Zone Refinement
   MOVED, to amend Article III, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the first sentence and inserting the following:
   "To ensure equitable distribution of sites, North America is divided into three (3) regions as follows: Western: Baja California, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and all states and provinces westward including Hawaii, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories;
   Central: Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, Mexico (except as above), and all states and provinces between the Western and Eastern regions; and
   Eastern: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec, and all states and provinces eastward including the District of Columbia, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Bermuda and the Bahamas."

   A secretarial amendment to restore St Pierre et Miquelon to the Eastern Zone from the Central was made, and a 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

6. Short Title: Best Non-Fiction Book
   MOVED, to amend Article II, Section 6, of the WSFS Constitution by striking out "relating to" and inserting in its place "whose subject is", and by inserting "or fandom" after "fantasy".

   A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

7. Short Title: Notification of Hugo Nominees
   MOVED, to amend Article II of the WSFS Constitution by inserting the following new Section between Sections 18 and 19:
   "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."

   A 1 minute time limit for debate was proposed by Bruce Pelz and Rick Katze and a 3 minute time limit by Robert Sacks and Jill Eastlake. The 1 minute time limit for debate was passed.

8. Short Title: Rules Distribution Amendment
   MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 9, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the words "printed in the Worldcon Program Book, if there is one" and inserting in their place the words "distributed to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration".

   A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

9. Report of the WSFS Mark Registration and Protection Committee

   Rick Katze read the report, a copy of which is attached.

10. Report of the Special Committee to Codify Business Meeting Resolutions

    Donald Eastlake presented his report, a copy of which is attached as part of the Agenda. He proposed two amendments to the Standing Rules. The first, which is a housekeeping measure to allow consequential amendments to be made to the Standing Rules was debated under a 30-second time limit and passed nem con. The second proposed two methods of continuing its work: the meeting chose the second option (continuation of the existing committee to 1988) by 28 votes to 25, and passed the resolution nem con.

New Business

11. Short Title: Business Meeting Quorum
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
    1. Add the following to Article IV, Section 4:
       "The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present."
    2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, delete the first two sentences of Standing Rule 18.

    Moved by Donald E Eastlake III and seconded by Gary Feldbaum.

    An amendment to provide that no quorum should be necessary to hear the report of the Site Selection or to interview the winning and bidding committees (prop: Robert Sacks, sec: Elizabeth Gross) was defeated by lots of votes to 1 as the Chair ruled that no quorum was necessary to hear reports. A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

12. Short Title: Question Time
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
    1. Insert the following new Section in Article IV of the Constitution:
       "Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall send an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon."
    2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, add the following to Standing Rule 19:
       "At the Site Selection Meeting fifteen(15) minutes shall be allotted to each of the three future selected Worldcons. During the first five (5) minutes their representative may make such presentations as they may wish. The remaining time shall be available for questions to be asked about the representative's Worldcon. Questions may be submitted in writing at any previous session of the Business Meeting and if so submitted shall have priority (if the submitter is present at Question Time and still wishes to ask the question) except that under no circumstances may a person ask a second question as long as any person wishes to ask their first question. Questions are limited to fifteen seconds and answers to two minutes. Any of these time limits may be adjusted for any presentation or question by majority vote."

    Moved by Leslie J Turek and seconded by Neil Rest.

    A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

13. Short Title: Worldcon Processes Protection Amendment
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
    Replace the words "Worldcon Committee" with "Mark Registration and Protection Committee" in the following Sections:-
    II.2, II.17, II.18, II.20, II.21, II.21, III.1, III.4 (first occurrence only).
    Replace Article III, Section 6(1), with
    "Voting shall be by written ballot administered by the Mark Registration and Protection Committee at the then current Worldcon, if there is no NASFiC following the Worldcon that year, or at the NASFiC, if there is one following the Worldcon, with ballots cast either by mail or at the appropriate convention, and with only members of the appropriate convention allowed to vote."
    Add the following to Article IV as a new Section after Section 7:
    The Business Meeting shall by resolution provide for the funding of these processes. It shall require a 3/4 (three-quarters) vote of the Business Meeting to provide more than two US dollars ($2) per member for these processes.

    NOTE: It is unclear from the original motion if the Mark Registration and Protection Committee shall be responsible for choosing the site if "None of the Above" wins and the Business Meeting is unable to select a winner. If that is desired, the words "Committee for the following Worldcon" and "Worldcon Committee" should be replaced by "Mark Registration and Protection Committee" in III.3.

    NOTE: it is unclear which Business Meeting has the duty to provide funding.

    Moved by Elizabeth L Gross and seconded by Victoria A Smith, Beverly L Brandt, Robert L Hillis and Robert B Sacks.

    This motion was originally submitted with the folowing text:

    To amend the WSFS Constitution:
    The Mark Registration and Protection Committee shall be responsible for the complete Hugo nomination and site selection process.
    The Business Meeting shall by resolution provide for the funding of these processes. It shall require a 3/4 (three-quarters) vote of the Business Meeting to provide more than two US dollars ($2) per member for these processes.

    An Object to Consideration was called and passed by 30 votes to 11.

14. Short Title: Broadened Hugo Nominations
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
    
    1. In Article II, Section 18, strike "WSFS Member" and insert in place thereof "member of either the administering or immediately preceding Worldcon".
    2. Add to Article I, Section 4, the following: "Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering committee shall forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all its members to the committee of the next Worldcon."

    Moved by Mike Glyer and seconded by Don Eastlake, Scott Dennis.

    An Object to Consideration was called but was not seconded. A 6 minute time limit for debate was set.

15. Short Title: NASFiC Selection Amendment
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
    1. In Article III, Section 4, strike "no later than the end of the calendar year before voting" and insert in place thereof "as set by the administering convention but no earlier than the close of the corresponding Worldcon voting".
    2. In Article III, Section 6, strike the words "either by mail or" and the words "before the calendar year in which selection occurs".

    Moved by Scott Dennis and seconded by Mike Glyer, Don Eastlake.

    An motion to separate the question was proposed by Gary Feldbaum and seconded by Robert Sacks. This was defeated by 28 votes to 27. A 6 minute time limit for debate was set.

16. Short Title: Availability of Supporting Membership
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by substituting the following for Article I, Section 5:
    Members of WSFS who cast a site-selection ballot with the required fee shall be supporting members of the selected Worldcon. The rights of supporting members of a Worldcon include the right to receive all of its generally distributed publications. Voters have the right to convert to attending membership in the selected Worldcon within ninety (90) days of its selection for an additional fee set by its committee. This fee must not exceed the minimum voting fee and not exceed the difference between the voting fee and the attending fee for new members. Attending members of a Worldcon have the rights of supporting members plus the right of general attendance at said Worldcon and at the WSFS Business Meeting held thereat. Other memberships and fees shall be at the discretion of the Worldcon committee except that they shall make provision for persons to become supporting members for no more than 125% of the site selection fee, or such higher amount as has been approved by the Business Meeting, until a cut-off date no earlier than ninety (90) days before their Worldcon.
    PROVIDED, that the requirement to provide supporting memberships shall only affect Worldcons selected after it goes into effect.

    Moved by Don Eastlake and seconded by Scott Dennis, Mike Glyer.

    An Object to Consideration was called but was not seconded. An amendment to insert 'The rights of' at the start of the second sentence, and change 'have' to 'include' in the second sentence was accepted by Donald Eastlake, as proposer. An amendment to delete the 125% provision was proposed by Robert Sacks, but found no seconder. An amendment to define 'generally available publications' was withdrawn. A 5 minute time limit for debate was set, and the Business Meeting then adjourned until 9.30 am on Saturday 29 August.

Part 2: The Main Business Meeting

Date: Saturday August 29th
Time: 9.30 am
Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard
Parliamentarian Ben Yalow
Secretary Tim Illingworth

The Chairman announced that, since the Preliminary Business Meeting, another motion had been discovered in the recesses of Conspiracy's filing system. This motion proposed the restoration of the Pro-zine Hugo, but was not seconded and therefore would not have been on the agenda had it been found in time. No harm had therefore been done.

1. Election to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee

   Three nominations were received:-
   Leslie Turek (Eastern), proposed by Donald Eastlake III
   Robert Hillis (Central), proposed by Mark Olson
   Elizabeth Gross (Central), proposed by Robert Sacks

   Since all three were eligible for election, they were declared elected.

Business Passed On To Conspiracy '87

2. Short Title: NASFIC Representation
   MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by adding the following at the end of the first sentence: "one(1) non-voting member appointed to serve at the pleasure of each future selected NASFiC Committee and for each Committee of a NASFiC held in the previous two years."

   Robert Sacks objected to the Preliminary Business Meeting's amendment. The Chair ruled that the amendment was a lesser change, and so in order. Robert appealed to the meeting, which confirmed the ruling by lots of votes to one. Robert then tried an amendment that the NASFiC member(s) could vote on NASFiC business only, but got no seconder. A motion to close debate was then passed by 30 votes to 20, and the motion was passed by lots of votes to 3.

3. Short Title: ConCom Financial Reporting Act
   MOVED, to amend Article I, Section 8, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the second sentence and inserting the following in its place:
   Each 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 through the first or second Business Meeting after its Worldcon, at its option, to which it will also submit a cumulative final financial report.

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

4. Short Title: Rotation Zone Refinement
   MOVED, to amend Article III, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the first sentence and inserting the following:
   "To ensure equitable distribution of sites, North America is divided into three (3) regions as follows: Western: Baja California, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and all states and provinces westward including Hawaii, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories;
   Central: Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, Mexico (except as above), and all states and provinces between the Western and Eastern regions; and
   Eastern: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec, and all states and provinces eastward including the District of Columbia, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Bermuda and the Bahamas."

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

5. Short Title: Best Non-Fiction Book
   MOVED, to amend Article II, Section 6, of the WSFS Constitution by striking out "relating to" and inserting in its place "whose subject is", and by inserting "or fandom" after "fantasy".

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to one.

6. Short Title: Notification of Hugo Nominees
   MOVED, to amend Article II of the WSFS Constitution by inserting the following new Section between Sections 18 and 19:
   "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."

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to 3.

7. Short Title: Rules Distribution Amendment
   MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 9, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the words "printed in the Worldcon Program Book, if there is one" and inserting in their place the words "distributed to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration".

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

New Business

8. Short Title: Business Meeting Quorum
   MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
   1. Add the following to Article IV, Section 4:
      "The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present."
   2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, delete the first two sentences of Standing Rule 18.

   Moved by Donald E Eastlake III and seconded by Gary Feldbaum.

   Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate which got a lot of seconders and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to 3.

9. Short Title: Question Time
   MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
   1. Insert the following new Section in Article IV of the Constitution:
      "Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall send an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon."
   2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, add the following to Standing Rule 19:
      "At the Site Selection Meeting fifteen(15) minutes shall be allotted to each of the three future selected Worldcons. During the first five (5) minutes their representative may make such presentations as they may wish. The remaining time shall be available for questions to be asked about the representative's Worldcon. Questions may be submitted in writing at any previous session of the Business Meeting and if so submitted shall have priority (if the submitter is present at Question Time and still wishes to ask the question) except that under no circumstances may a person ask a second question as long as any person wishes to ask their first question. Questions are limited to fifteen seconds and answers to two minutes. Any of these time limits may be adjusted for any presentation or question by majority vote."

   Moved by Leslie J Turek and seconded by Neil Rest.

   Mike Glyer asked, on a point of information, what uniform the Chairman was wearing. He replied that it was that of an Obersturmbannfuhrer in Das Reich Regiment of the Waffen SS, being the highest rank that had the SS flashes on the collar. A motion to change "send" to "designate" (prop: David Anderson, sec: Robert Sacks) was passed nem con. A motion to make the representative attend at their own expense found no seconder. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to about 10.

10. Short Title: Broadened Hugo Nominations
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
    1. In Article II, Section 18, strike "WSFS Member" and insert in place thereof "member of either the administering or immediately preceding Worldcon".
    2. Add to Article I, Section 4, the following: "Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering committee shall forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all its members to the committee of the next Worldcon."

    Moved by Mike Glyer and seconded by Don Eastlake, Scott Dennis.

    There was much debate on this item, especially about the effect of the Data Protection Act in Britain making it illegal to pass information stored on computer to other people. A motion to postpone was called, but was defeated by lots of votes to 5. An amendment to insert "except where prohibited by local law" (prop: Rick Katze, sec: lots of people) was passed by 39 votes to 34. The main motion was then carried by about 40 votes to about 30.

11. Short Title: NASFiC Selection Amendment
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
    1. In Article III, Section 4, strike "no later than the end of the calendar year before voting" and insert in place thereof "as set by the administering convention but no earlier than the close of the corresponding Worldcon voting".
    2. In Article III, Section 6, strike the words "either by mail or" and the words "before the calendar year in which selection occurs".

    Moved by Scott Dennis and seconded by Mike Glyer, Don Eastlake.

    This motion was passed after little debate by about 40 votes to 3.

12. Short Title: Availability of Supporting Membership
    MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by substituting the following for Article I, Section 5:
    Members of WSFS who cast a site-selection ballot with the required fee shall be supporting members of the selected Worldcon. The rights of supporting members of a Worldcon include the right to receive all of its generally distributed publications. Voters have the right to convert to attending membership in the selected Worldcon within ninety (90) days of its selection for an additional fee set by its committee. This fee must not exceed the minimum voting fee and not exceed the difference between the voting fee and the attending fee for new members. Attending members of a Worldcon have the rights of supporting members plus the right of general attendance at said Worldcon and at the WSFS Business Meeting held thereat. Other memberships and fees shall be at the discretion of the Worldcon committee except that they shall make provision for persons to become supporting members for no more than 125% of the site selection fee, or such higher amount as has been approved by the Business Meeting, until a cut-off date no earlier than ninety (90) days before their Worldcon.
    PROVIDED, that the requirement to provide supporting memberships shall only affect Worldcons selected after it goes into effect.

    Moved by Don Eastlake and seconded by Scott Dennis, Mike Glyer.

    An amendment to insert 'The rights of' at the start of the fifth sentence, and change 'have' to 'include' in the fifth sentence was accepted by Donald Eastlake, as proposer. A motion to close debate was then passed nem con. The motion was then passed by about 50 votes to 2, and the Business Meeting then adjourned until 10.00 am on Sunday 30August.

Part 3: The Site Selection Business Meeting

Date: Sunday August 30th
Time: 10.00 am
Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard
Parliamentarian Ben Yalow
Secretary Tim Illingworth

1. Announcement of the 1990 Worldcon site and statement by the winner

   Paul Dormer presented the results of the Site Selection ballot for the 1990 Worldcon. These were as follows:

   	Mail	On Site	TOTAL
   Los Angeles in 1990	128	402	530
   Holland in 1990	98	712	810
   No preference	5	9	14
   None of the above	1	5	6
   Write in	-	3	3
   Spoiled	-	10	10
   TOTAL	232	1141	1373

   The write-ins were for Jack Herman, Minneapolis in 1973 and Karnak in 1990

   Kees van Toorn then announced that ConFiction will run from 23 August to 27 August 1990, with guests Joe Haldeman, Wolfgang Jeschke, Harry Harrison and Andrew Porter and Toastmistress Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Their nominee to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee is Morris Keesan.

2. Presentations by the bidders for the 1991 Worldcon

   Ross Pavlac made a presentation for Chicago in 1991, and Greg Rickards for Sydney in 1991.

3. Motion to adjourn sine die

   Robert Sacks proposed the motion to adjourn sine die, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The meeting accordingly went in search of an open bar.