#wsfs

[jayblanc]

As an explanation for why this whole mess with the Hugo awards was allowed to happen… The Constitution of the WSFS was established by people who were enamoured with Libertarian ideals that individual Worldcons should do what they want, whilst being simultaneously enamoured with a rigid set of rules and procedures that had to be followed.

[aigletmeta]

So You Want to Fix the Hugos…

Great, welcome! We’re glad to have you! This article is meant to provide a handy introduction to how to get your ideas heard, and explain some of the process.

First things first:

You must be a member of WSFS. You can accomplish this by finding the current Worldcon and buying a WSFS membership from them. (You DO NOT have to actually attend the Worldcon, although it helps if you’re there to represent your motion.)

You need to have at least one friend who is also a member of WSFS to sponsor your motion with you.

You need to write your motion and its supporting statement.

You have to submit your motion at least 30 days before the Worldcon.

Your motion will now appear on the Business Meeting agenda for that Worldcon and be debated! If it passes debate at two successive Worldcons, the change will go into the WSFS Constitution and take effect. Simple, right? Well… not exactly. Read on for context, explanations, and helpful tips.

What’s WSFS?

WSFS is the World Science Fiction Society. Worldcon is technically the annual meeting of WSFS. A lot of people don’t know that, so changes have recently been made to try to make this clearer. 

If you’ve heard of “supporting memberships” and “attending memberships,” those are now “WSFS memberships” and “the attending supplement.” This is trying to make it more clear that WSFS exists. 

Benefits of WSFS membership include nominating and voting in the Hugos and being able to participate in site selection (which requires pre-buying your WSFS membership for next year).

What’s the Constitution?

The WSFS Constitution is the document that governs WSFS activities. These include administering the Hugos and selecting the site of Worldcon. You can find a copy here.

The Constitution is where all the Hugo awards are defined, so if you want to change the Hugos, that’s the document you need to amend.

What’s the Business Meeting?

The Business Meeting is where all amendments to the Constitution are debated and either accepted or rejected. If you did Model Congress or Debate and enjoyed it, you’ll enjoy the Business Meeting. (The common wisdom is that the Business Meeting is extremely boring, but it’s not — it’s both fascinating as an exercise in participatory democracy and fun if you like rules lawyering.)

Amendments to the Constitution take two years — they have to be passed by the first year and then ratified by the second year. This is a slow process on purpose, to make sure that people have a chance to react to things they didn’t see on the agenda the first time.

Okay, I got it. So what do I DO?

First you need to figure out what change you want to make. It’s generally better to try to make changes as small as possible, so they’re easier to understand.

Then, you need to write it up using the proper format, along with a supporting statement. You can get help with that on the SMOFS mailing list, the JOF Facebook group, the WSFS Business Meeting Facebook group, or the WSFS BM Chat Discord. (Email me at aiglet (at) gmail for an invite.) It is STRONGLY recommended to at least run your proposal by one or more of these groups to prepare for the arguments you might see at the Business Meeting. (Also, be prepared for a lot of “we tried that and it doesn’t work.” That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, just that you need to explain what’s changed since the last time it was changed.)

Once you’ve got it written up in a format that makes sense to everyone, you submit your item to the Business Meeting for the next Worldcon. That will put it on the Agenda to be considered. 

If you aren’t going to that Worldcon, it is generally a good idea to have someone who is going as one of your co-sponsors. It’s not entirely necessary, but that does ensure that at least one person in the room will be able to speak in favor of the motion and make the arguments you want.

If you are going to that Worldcon, it’s worthwhile checking out some of the videos of prior Business Meetings so you can see what that’s all about. The Business Meeting is run on Roberts’ Rules of Order (no, that apostrophe isn’t in the wrong place), modified by the Standing Rules and Resolutions of Continuing Effect from prior meetings.

And that’s all there is to it! Have fun, and good luck!

[shinelikethunder]

Good job, WSFS, “proud winner of one two-millionth of a Hugo award” started out with such a short memetic shelf life that it immediately got bundled in with “proud contributor to Verizon’s billion-dollar loss” and ran its course, but your wankiness has now entered it into the official Lore Record of AO3′s Hugo win. It’s going to live forever.

[jayblanc]

Glasgow 2024 Worldcon to sit on their hands and wait this out.

Sad to report that the chair of Glasgow 2024 has refused to enact the incapacity clause against Chengdu 2023. The defence is that the clause uses the word "current Worldcon", and since the Hugo Administration hid what they had done till now they have run out the clock and evaded action. They decline to state if they think Chengdu 2023 satisfied it's obligations to the WSFS. They instead suggest the issue should be brought up at the next Business Meeting. (Reminder, WSFS Business meetings only occur at Worldcons, require physical presence at the meeting, prior written notification of business to be conducted with a second signing the motion, and the Meetings are strictly conducted under Robert's Rule of Order with the WSFS Presiding Officer having complete control of the floor, and anything that is more substantive than a non-binding resolution means doing it all over again in a year's time to get it ratified.)

I have asked the chair of Glasgow 2024 and the WSFS Presiding officer of 2024 to clarify on what date Chengdu 2023 stopped being the Current Worldcon, and where this is defined in the WSFS. However, the last reply from the chair included the phrase "This correspondence is therefore closed." and that does not indicate I will receive a reply.

My reading of this is that it doesn't. And we are currently in a hazy hinterland where the WSFS constitution has not clearly defined what "the current Worldcon" means. So if they chose, they could enact the Incapacity Clause.

I think the "Current Worldcon" reading used to prevent enacting of the incapacity clause is a terrible precedent. It basically says "Just hide your failures, run out the clock, then nothing can be done and your decisions will stand." And it renders the Incapacity Clause a dead letter, if the Current Worldcon insists it will be able to perform it's duties, but then does not do so.

There seems to just be a sense of dead hands on the controls.

[jayblanc]

I just got half way through writing up the a WSFS reform proposal I promised, and realised this was an awful lot of tiring work on writing up a complicated proposal, that was mainly going to get me shouted at, and it looks like the Hugos are so discredited that it feels like bailing out the titanic.

So I’m left asking my self do I want to put any more energy into this? And the answer is starting to turn back to “No, you should have stuck to your first instincts and washed your hands of it”.

[juniperstar]

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[whenstarsfallsilentrp]

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[whenstarsfallsilentrp]

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