Simon Litten
Simon has worked for NZ Fandom
in different ways over the years. This nomination recognizes all his
work on a local and a national level. It includes his specific
chartered accountancy work as well as his more general contributions
to the running of organized NZ SF Fan activities.
Wellington Phoenix
Science Fiction Club
Simon has been a part of
organized New Zealand Science Fiction fandom since May 1989 when the
Phoenix Science Fiction Club was first founded.
Simon is a founding committee
member of this Wellington-based SF club, as well as a founding
member.
He has always been on the
committee of Phoenix since it started in 1989. Phoenix terms start
in May of each year.
Treasurer 1989 to 1997
President 1997 to 1999
General Committee member 1999
to 2000
Treasurer 2000 to 2004
Vice-President 2004 to 2005
General Committee member 2005
to 2006
Vice-President 2006 to 2007
Simon is the current serving
President of the Phoenix SF Club
As a committee member of
Phoenix, he has also assisted in the running of the Phoenix Board
Gaming Special Interest Group.
A Club Treasurer's duties
include collecting membership fees, banking club money, paying off
club expenses, writing receipts, filing tax returns and doing the
club yearly accounts. Start-up duties include getting a IRD number
and opening up a bank account.
ConCom Activities
He was on the ConCom of
"Gone With the Wind", the 2002 National New Zealand
Science Fiction convention held in Wellington.
He is currently on the ConCom
of Conjunction 2008, this year's National New Zealand Science
Fiction convention.
SFFANZ
Simon has been a SFFANZ
committee member from 2002 onwards to the current year, with the
exception of 2005 when he stepped down from SFFANZ.
Simon is the current serving
president of SFFANZ.
As part of his general SFFANZ
duties, he wrote the current SFFANZ constitution. He also wrote the
NZ SF convention constitution that was used back in 2002. This
convention constitution has been useful to subsequent New Zealand
national conventions.
General
Contributions
Simon has also attended
Australian national SF conventions in Melbourne and Perth. While
this was in the capacity of "attendee only", this has
helped build useful fan links across the Tasman and he gained some
basic knowledge of the Australian SF publishing industry while he
was visiting there.
Simon also attended
AussieCon3, a World Con held in Australia in 1999 - as an attendee.
Simon Litten has been
extremely active this year in SFFANZ, Phoenix and
Conjunction...occupying positions of importance on committees for
all three. (Most of my comments are tied to his work with
Conjunction – since we are both on that committee, but recognise
that there is much overlap).
My observation is that his
devotion to working in the interests of SF fandom in NZ is very
high, even to the point of taking on personal financial risks (in
the case of Conjunction) to help ensure that the organisation is
able to progress forward with planning_. He's worked
tirelessly within Conjunction to push the committee and keep us on
track. He's not above doing any particular job if asked. His
duties range from the challenging (hotel liaison) to
simple-but-critical, single-handedly selling the bulk of raffle
tickets for a Conjunction fund-raiser that netted the organisation a
much-needed chunk of cash.
His knowledge of the fandom
landscape and history in Wellington/NZ is excellent, which is one of
the reasons he's so helpful within these various organisations. An
advantage to him being involved in all three clubs is that he's able
to make connections between the groups, thinking of ways that they
can benefit one another. In effect, he's working in a silent role as
coordinator/liaison between Phoenix, Conjunction and
SFFANZ...looking out for the interests of all three, seeking
collaboration where possible, and making sure that each group's
interests are met.
He is encouraging to fellow
fans when they achieve things, and makes an effort to say "Well
done". This is good leadership. And, despite events that would
have tried the patience of most people to the breaking point, I have
never seen Simon lose his cool or treat people harshly. He's a good
guy at heart.
He wholeheartedly deserves a
nod, and I felt compelled to give it.
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