The deadline to nominate for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was December 31 — the official slate of candidates and ballot ought to be along soon.
In the meantime, UK fan Jim Mowatt has pulled back the curtain on his “Jim for TAFF” campaign blog to let the world know he’s running. Jim has been one of TAFF’s leading promoters over the past few years, creating podcast interviews with the fans in the race. (Will Jim interview Jim?)
At the moment, this graphic is the centerpiece of Jim’s first post:
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I felt that doing the TAFF interviews myself would get just a little too weird for everyone so I’ve asked Alan Dorey if he can focus his most excellent radio skills on the matter at hand. Alan seems keen and we’ll see if we can make it happen.
Probably the best thing you can do to win the race is just know a lot of people who like you. Nothing else really has much effect on the outcome.
Taral, you’re missing an arguable part of the TAFF ethos, which both Don Fitch and I (and others) have publicly subscribed to, which is that rather than just being a popularity contest or a reward system, TAFF should serve as an encouragement for future fanac and to promote fans who are perhaps not quite so well known, as was certainly the case in the previous race, and is once again this time.
It’s incumbent upon the candidates to campaign properly and convince the electorate that they’re worth voting for, which is a much better system that just going on friend circles or name recognition, no?
I reckon the interviews might be quite fun and it will surely all add to the rich tapestry of our fannish existence. I’m not looking to the interviews as a way of winning the race but as a fun thing in itself and something I hope will be entertaining. One aim I have tho’ is to encourage a high voter turnout. I want to get the sort of numbers voting that we got when Bug won. TAFF is a pretty damned astounding community effort and can be a lot of fun. I have a helluva team on my side and we’re hoping to provide some delightful bits of entertainment that may even delight Taral at his most curmudgeonly.