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Down Under
Fan Fund, 2008
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Since
1972 the Down
Under Fan Fund, a fan-supported fellowship, has
encouraged closer ties between science- fiction fans in
Australasia and North America through an alternating exchange
of representatives. DUFF
delegates attend the Worldcon or a national convention in the
host country and visit fans they might otherwise never meet in
person. Delegates are responsible for raising funds and
administering DUFF
until a new delegate from their continent is elected, and are
expected to publish trip reports which can be sold to aid the
fund.
This time the vote is for an American fan to travel to the Australian
Natcon, Swancon 2008 in
Perth Australia, March 20th-24th 2008.
Those of you who are paying attention will note that under
normal circumstances in 2008 the DUFF trip would be from
Australasia to the US. However in 2006 there were no takers for
the Australasia to US trip, so we decided to make the 2007
year an Australasia to US trip, which has knocked on so that
in 2008 the trip is the other way.
DUFF is entirely fan/volunteer run by the winning candidates
from the previous election.
Nominations for the US to Australia trip are now closed.
See the next column for voting details.
In 2009, the DUFF trip will be from Australasia to the US.
Nominations will be opened after March 2008.
For the Australasian-US trip, each candidate must be nominated by three Australasian fans
and two North American fans. Each candidate will have a written
platform and promises (barring Acts of God) to travel to the
2009 NASFiC, and to serve as administrator of the
fund until the next Australasian delegate is elected.
To nominate a candidate send your nomination to:
(Australasia)
Norman Cates
P.O. Box 13-574
Johnsonville, Wellington
New Zealand
normanc@clear.net.nz
OR
(North America)
Joe Siclari
661 Hanover St.
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-5901
USA |
DUFF
uses the preferential balloting system to guarantee an
automatic runoff and a majority win. The voter ranks the
candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3, etc.). If
there is no absolute majority for one candidate after
the first count of votes, first-place votes for the
lowest-ranking candidate are dropped, and the
second-place votes on those ballots are assigned to the
candidates named. This goes on until one candidate has a
majority. So it’s important to vote for second, third,
etc. places, especially if you choose to write in a
candidate. (The voter is not required to fill in more
than their name, address and first choice.)
Ballots must be signed
and accompanied by a donation of at least $5US or $6
Australian or $8 New Zealand. Anyone may contribute and
donations in excess of the voting minimum are gratefully
accepted. Checks should be made payable to Joe Sicliari
(in North America) or Norman Cates (in New
Zealand/Australasia) in the administrator’s home
currency.
Anyone may vote who has
been active in fandom on or before January 1, 2007.
“Active in fandom” means involved in fannish
pursuits such as fanzine writing or reading, convention
running or attending, amateur film/video production, or
club participation. Only natural persons may vote. Each
voter may vote only once.
This year voting will close January 31st, 2008.
Or you can vote and pay online via Pay Pal.
Please note that this is a Pay Pal account owned by a
fan who will pass the money on. The actual votes are
only emailed to the DUFF administrators.
You can download the ballot form here. (PDF). You would
then need to post it with payment to your closest
administrator.
(Australasia)
Norman Cates
P.O. Box 13-574
Johnsonville, Wellington
New Zealand
normanc@clear.net.nz
OR
(North America)
Joe Siclari
661 Hanover St.
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-5901
USA
We have started a store at Cafe
Press to sell DUFF merchandise. At present there is
a 2008 calendar with photos from Norman's 2004 DUFF trip
to the USA. Norman has received a proof, and is very
pleased with the print quality. So check out the store
and Support DUFF!
You can find a half page advert for DUFF in Word
format here. Feel
free to use and rearrange as neccessary.
You can download the DUFF graphic below. |
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Some questions and answers about DUFF lifted from, well,
we just don't talk about that….
What on earth is a fan fund?
A fan fund is basically a means of promoting closer ties
between fans of different countries by sponsoring trips to
conventions in other countries. Money is raised by donations,
voting fees, through auctions and sales of all sorts of stuff.
What do I get if I win?
Enough money to pay for a return flight to the Con venue,
plus the convention will either arrange free accommodation at
the convention or a billet with local fans and maybe enough
for a bit more travel before or after the convention. Usually
the convention will donate a free membership too.
Can I nominate with someone else?
Yes, there have been winning teams of two and even three
before. This may well mean that you have to pay a lot more of
the costs yourselves as the money will only stretch so far.
Nominating your entire convention committee is probably a bad
move.
Can I nominate a stuffed toy?
Well, yes, but we would suggest that the stuffed toy should
run in conjunction with someone capable of taking on the
administrator functions. Otherwise the stuffed toy will be
placed in a padded bag and mailed to the convention. For a
precedent, look to Renaldo the Party Sheep who was accompanied
by Frances Papworth & Phil Wlodarczyk to Construction in
1998. |
Why do we pay for voting
Voting is one of the ways that DUFF and other fan
funds gain funds to be able to send fans to other
countries.Any extra that you can give always goes
directly to the fund.
What happens at the con?
Usually the fan fund winner(s) is treated like a convention
guest and will be invited to take part in various panels and
activities. Apart from meeting the other guests, it raises
your profile and means that people you don't know will
actually come up and talk to you (assuming you have remembered
to shower and change your clothes). This is the whole point,
to promote ties between Australian and NZ fans, and
Australasian and North American fans.
What happens after?
You become the administrator and try and raise enough money
so that you can run another race in two years time. It's
easier than it sounds, as a lot of people are willing to buy
stuff related to the fan funds. You also write a trip report,
so that people know what the con was like and what fellow fans
across the Tasman are like. The trip report is usually sold
(another fund-raiser) and at one stage there was money being
donated by a US con for any trip report that was published.
Can I Help?
Of course you can. The easy way - send money - donations
are always welcome. If you want something for your money,
participate in a fund raising event. This includes the
election, buying a trip report or buying something at a FFANZ
auction. But not just paying money. If you have items to
donate to an auction, that would be cool too. You may want to
host a visiting delegate or just show them around your town.
Maybe lend a hand getting an auction going or helping out with
an election. I'm sure you get the idea.
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