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[Worldcon] WSFS Preliminary Meeting: Motions, motions everywhere.

1011: Meeting called to order, committee is introduced, ground rules noted.

1014: Going over the agenda for the preliminary business meeting. There are no constitutional amendments up for ratification this year.

1016: No objections to following agenda as stated.

1017: The YA Hugo has been withdrawn. Unanimous consent asked to withdraw that motion. Objection–the YA Hugo motion will remain.

1019: 4.1.1 (Worldcon Publications) Added to main meeting agenda I didn’t catch the debate time [This has to do with if publications will be paper, electronic, etc.]

1022: 4.1.2 (No Representation Without Taxation) debate time considered, set at 10 minutes, added to main meeting [This is the motion that will disallows Hugo voting rights being sold at a cheaper rate than supporting memberships.]

1023: 4.1.3 (Keep Us Together)  debate time considered, set at 6 minutes, added to main meeting [No memberships can be offered that don’t include all the key WSFS rights: Hugo voting, site selection voting, submission of business to the WSFS meeting, receiving publications.]

1023: 4.1.4 (Best Dramatic Presentation, very short form) Objection to consideration raised; 2/3 majority, motion will not be considered. [This would have added a category for films <15 minutes long, splitting that length from the Short Form category)

1024: 4.1.5 (Deleting Best Fanzine, Best Fan Writer, and Best Fan Artist from WSFS Constitution) Objection to consideration raised; HUGE majority votes to not consider motion.

1025: 4.1.6 (WSFS Accountability Act of 2013) debate time at five minutes, added to main meeting. [Adds more requirements/clarifications to financial reports.]

1026: 4.1.7 (YA Hugo) Objection to consideration has been raised on YA Hugo, the motion will not be considered. BOO I AM DISAPPOINTED BY THIS.

1028: 4.1.8 (Expand Best Fan Artist to Include All Types of Fannish Art, Not Just Static and Visual) added to agenda (I didn’t catch the debate time)

So if you think any of those remaining issues are important and you’re at Worldcon, you should really show up to the main business meeting at 10:00 tomorrow (Saturday).

…continuing on to some more amendments, these ones proposed by the committee. Theses ones we vote to adopt (if I’m understanding this right).

1048: We have now moved on to debating motions and amendments proposed by the committees.

1054: Motion to continue extending eligibility for non-American works by an extra year so that non-American works have a fair shake. Debate occurs. The point is raised that no matter where the Worldcon is held, the majority of people eligible to nominate for Hugos will end up being American. The point is raised (WELL RAISED SIR) “The rest of the world is not just one place. It’s a lot of places.”

1059: 99 votes in the serpentine for extending this extra eligibility for another year. There are five votes against. Motion is adopted, extended eligibility is in place for Loncon 3.

Okay since I’m doing this as a liveblog apparently just keep checking back I’ll post more if it’s interesting.

1105: Now we’re talking about extending eligibility for retroactive Hugos and god this is starting to get confusing. For the retros, we pretend to be the 1939 Worldcon and works eligible are those published in 1938. Extending eligibility means non-US works published pre-1938 would be eligible for this. <3/4 in favor (A LOT LESS, only a minority voted for this) this motion fails. I voted against because… yeah. It really did not make any sense to me.

1110: Motion to change the the vote for specific works getting eligibility extension from a 3/4 to a 2/3 majority. This is a constitutional amendment so it will go to the meeting tomorrow with 4 minutes of debate.

1112: Motion to change the blanket eligibility exemption from 3/4 to 2/3 majority.

1114: Motion to consider these two matters together… fails.

1115: Four minutes debate time set for the second 3/4 to 2/3 majority change, it’s added to the agenda for tomorrow.

1116: New motion: to make the eligibility extension for non-US works permanent instead of something voted on every year. Objection to consideration is raised, does not pass. We will consider this motion. This is a minority report proposal–the majority of the committee did not agree to this. 10 minutes debate time is set, this item will be voted on tomorrow.

1119: Kevin does a point of order to note we can set up a committee to consider the issue of the YA Hugo for next year with a 2/3 vote… so I think this is a thing that can happen when new business can be proposed? Apparently people are texting Kevin Standlee. A lot. GOOD WORK PEOPLE!!!

1126: By unanimous consent we endorse the activities of the Worldcon Heritage Organization.

1127: Resolution to tidy up something in the constitution (in regards to the eligibility section which is apparently a hot mess) is passed with unanimous consent.

1128: Motion to extend retro Hugo eligibility of The Hobbit. There was a objection to consideration, which does not pass. It is pointed out that if this were 1939, The Hobbit would have been eligible under current rules. This one is a tough call, I think. <3/4 in favor, motion fails.

1135: Motion to extend retro Hugo eligibility of films released prior to 1937. Objection to consideration, objection stands, we do not consider.

1136: Kevin Standlee is back! He proposes committee to study the YA Hugo issue. Seconded by several people including me. Unanimous consent, the committee will be appointed. Kevin has said he will be willing to be appointed to it.

1139: Question raised: Young Adults themselves can be on this committee because there is no age limit they can be part of it.

1139: People can volunteer by contacting the Chair by the end of the business meeting (the end of the Saturday or Sunday meeting). Kevin Standlee clarifies that the committee chair can appoint new members to the committee with the Chair’s permission; this is apparently SOP. If you want the YA Hugo to happen, this is a big step. Involve yourself in the committee. To volunteer for the committee you need to contact the WSFS Chair, Donald Eastlake, by the end of the business meeting, so no later than Sunday when that the meeting ends.

1146: We have moved on to financial reports and my eyes have kind of glazed over.

1151: There is applauding and cheering when Aussiecon says they have at last gotten all their funds taken care of and they’re done.

1200: The agenda for today is done, at exactly noon.

1201: Kevin Standlee, bless him, asks for a quick summary of what will be at the meeting tomorrow.