2020 GUFF Voting Begins

The Going Under Fan Fund (GUFF) ballot for the 2020 race is now available online.

Voters will choose a European delegate to attend to CoNZealand in Wellington, NZ (July 29-August 2).

The six candidates are: Cora Buhlert (Germany); Hisham El-Far and Lee Fletcher (UK); Hanna Hakkarainen (Finland); Elizabeth Jones and Claire Rousseau (UK); Dave Lally (UK); Alison Scott (UK).

Ballots will be accepted until April 13. The candidates’ platforms, general information about voting, and the online ballot can be found here. A PDF ballot for printing is also available. Votes are not valid unless accompanied by a contribution of at least GBP6, EUR7, AUD10, NZD10, or an equivalent amount in other currencies. See the ballot for full rules and payment options.

GUFF, the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund or the Going Under Fan Fund, depending on which direction it’s running, exists to provide funds to enable well-known fans from Australasia and Europe to visit each other’s national (or other) conventions and get to know each other’s fandoms better.

The winner(s) will take over the administration of the fund for the next northbound and southbound races.

Here are the candidates’ platforms and nominators:

Cora Buhlert (Germany)

Cora Buhlert is a writer, teacher, translator, crafter and lifelong SFF fan from Bremen, Germany. She writes for the Hugo-nominated fanzine Galactic Journey, co-runs the Speculative Fiction Showcase, a blog focussed on self-published and small press SFF, and recently created the 1945 Retro Hugo recommendation spreadsheet to help nominators. At her personal blog, she writes long rambling posts about science fiction, fantasy, media and whatever else comes to mind, including her adventures at the 2017 and 2019 WorldCons, where she was a panellist and volunteer. She’d love to have some adventures at CoNZealand to share as well.

Nominators: Camestros Felapton, Jo Van Ekeren (Australasia), Adrienne Joy, Kári Tulinius, Mark Yon (Europe)

Hisham El-Far and Lee Fletcher (UK)

Lee and Hisham met at a con in 2004, became best friends and partners in geekery, and have attended (and worked) DragonCons, Eastercons, Worldcons, Nineworlds and many more! They tweet, meet, and squee IRL about books, cosplay, and all things nerdy. In 2019 Lee opened The Portal Bookshop, an LGBT+ and diverse SFF specialist – now they push the best books at people for a living. Hisham helps! They can’t wait to explore NZ, nerd out with awesome new people, connect across continents, and document (and live-tweet) a riotous, excitable adventure to help fans everywhere vicariously get their geek on.

Nominators: Thoraiya Dyer, Abigail Nathan (Australasia), Matt Cavanagh, Joanne Harris, Alasdair Stuart (Europe)

Hanna Hakkarainen (Finland)

An efficient HR-person by day and an enthusiastic Fan by nature, Hanna is the way you spell “fandom” in Finnish. Hanna has organized cons of all sizes, from hundred-member Åcons, Finncons for thousands to Worldcon 75. She would love to go to New Zealand and Australia, chat with new friends until the various marsupials come home, and bring new ways to fandom from the Antipodes back home. Hanna loves to read, binge media, share bad memes and conjure culinary delights for friends and family. She never misses an opportunity to meet people and enjoy new activities, so bring on ConZealand!

Nominators: Sarah Lee Parker, PRK (Australasia), Phil Dyson, Jukka Halme, Mihaela Marija Perkovi? (Europe)

Elizabeth Jones and Claire Rousseau (UK)

We’ve both been involved in conventions since 2014, having volunteered at LonCon3, WorldCon75, Dublin2019, BristolCon and NineWorlds, doing front of house, exhibits, social media, programming and speaking on panels. We’re also both involved in fandom through BookTube, the bookish part of YouTube. There we discuss science fiction, fantasy and fandom (Claire’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ClaireRousseau, Elizabeth’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/booksandpieces). Attending ConZealand is an opportunity to meet fellow fans from across the globe and to document and celebrate this amazing fandom with a series of videos about WorldCon and the fans that make it.

Nominators: Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Australasia), Aliette de Bodard, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Nicholas Whyte (Europe)

Dave Lally (UK)

Well known in UK, Ireland and Europe.
Active since his 1st UK Eastercon/Eurocon-Seacon 84/Brighton.
Video progs for (a) Worldcons: The Hague 1990 (Confiction), Glasgow 1995 (Intersection) and 2005 (Interaction), (b) most Eastercons : 1991-2005 and (c) many Octocons (IrishNatSFCons).
2006-2013: Chair ESFS (European SF Society-Eurocon’s home).
Since 2014: Membership Officer-British SF Association.
2016: Eastercon (Mancunicon) Committee.
Expertise “The Prisoner” (TV: 1967) and “The Wicker Man” (film: 1973).
Conventions are fandom’s lifeblood : not just the interaction of fen with the GoHs, but fen with
each other.
Financial services: retired. Irish National. London resident.

Nominators: Perry Middlemiss, John Toon (Australasia), Kin-Ming Looi, Mali Perera, Bridget Wilkinson (Europe)

Alison Scott (UK)

I’ve been attending conventions since 1984 and running them since 1986, including chairing Eastercons and curating fan spaces at UK Worldcons.
I write and illustrate fanzines, winning the Hugo for Plokta and the Rotsler and Nova for fan art. I helped edit the Aussiecon 4 at-con newsletter remotely while the convention slept.
I enjoy conventions mightily; I stay up late, meet new people, and have many passions, including fan funds, fundraising, and trip reports.
Through fandom I’ve grown to know many Australasian fans and would relish the chance to learn first-hand about their local fan groups and activities.

Nominators: Sue Ann Barber, Damien Warman (Australasia), Johan Anglemark, Sue Mason, Mark Plummer (Europe)

Call for Nominations for 2020 GUFF Race

GUFF administrators ae calling for nominations to send a European fan to CoNZealand, the 2020 Worldcon in Wellington, New Zealand (July 29-August 2).

GUFF is the Going Under and Over (or Get Under) Fan Fund which transports SF fans from Europe to Australasia (and vice versa).

Marcin “Alqua” Klak, the current European Administrator of GUFF, and Simon Litten (Australasian Administrator) have posted full details here.

Depending on the length of trip they’re able to make, the winner could also consider visiting other parts of New Zealand and Australia to visit fans. The winner will also be required to take over the administration of the fund for the next northbound and southbound races.

Nominations are being taken until January 10, 2020. Then the candidates will be announced and voting will run until April 13.

2019 GUFF Race Ends

Simon Litten, the 2019 Get-Up-and-over Fan Fund (GUFF) winner, will represent New Zealand and Australian fandom at Worldcon 77 in Dublin, Ireland in August

GUFF administrators Donna Maree Hanson (Australasia) and Marcin Klak (Europe) received 73 votes. “Even after the final round of votes were counted, there was only one vote between the winning candidate and the runner up,” said their press release, which did not name the second-place finisher.

 [Thanks to Paul Weimer for the story.]

Pixel Scroll 12/28/18 Baby Is 3.14159

I’m still recovering from the flu, however, here’s a curtailed Scroll to help keep the conversation moving.

GUFF INTERVIEWS. The Get-Up-and-over Fan Fund (GUFF) ballot for the 2019 race is available online. Voters will choose an Australasian delegate to attend Dublin 2019 in Ireland (August 15-19). There is an option for the delegate to also attend the Eurocon (Titancon, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on August 22-25).

The candidates are Lynelle Howell, Simon Litten, and Nicole Murphy.

GUFF co-administrator Marcin Klak has posted interviews with all three candidates

NASA AFFECTED BY SHUTDOWN. Cnet points out that space mission press coverage will be handicapped if the government shutdown continues — “NASA shutdown: Agency could be dark during historic New Year’s missions”.

NASA’s live stream is currently offline, however, and the agency is redirecting people to NASA TV, which it states will show live events. The NASA public relations team is unable to publicize the events and send out press releases during the shutdown because they aren’t exempt from the furlough.

Previous government shutdowns, in January and February this year, lasted no longer than three days. But this shutdown could continue into the new year. As recently as Thursday, at least one US senator suggested there’s “no end in sight”. 

LEARN TO RUN A COMIC CON. Ithaca College will offer the “First College Course on Running a Comic Convention”.

Ithaca College, a mid-size nationally-ranked private college, will offer a course on running a comic convention in the Spring 2019 semester, the first time we’ve heard of a college course on the topic.  Students taking the course will plan and manage Ithacon, the second-longest-running comic convention in the nation.  The course, Creating and Promoting Ithacon, will be co-taught by Ed Catto, formerly of Bonfire Agency (see “Rotterdam, Catto Start Bonfire“) and Reed Exhibitions, currently a lecturer in the Department of Management; and English professor Katherine Kittredge, who’s the coordinator of Ithacon.

Students will plan, manage, and market the convention, and do post-event analysis.  Other topics of the course will include publishing, filmed entertainment, licensing, collectibles and fan communities.

BLEEDING COOL TOP 100 POWER LIST. This week Bleeding Cool has been dribbling out its “Top 100 Power List” of the comics industry’s influential figures. The list came to my attention because Vox Day is grumpy that he’s not on it — despite having (unintentionally) managed to get a Bleeding Cool editor fired this year for publishing an interview with him – which he figures represents some level of industry power….

This attempt to list the most powerful people working in the English-speaking comic book marketplace is, of course, flawed. It is judged by all manner of attributes, the ability to influence what comics exist and sell, but also the willingness to use that power in the industry to affect things, and the ability to retain said power if a job is taken away. Which is why you will see a number of people on a higher spot than their bosses.

…It does not measure talent or likeability, respect or fairness, and it does not intend to represent diversity or balance. All it does is note power, used for betterment — or detriment — in the English speaking comic book world.

96. Eddie Ibrahim

Director of Programming at San Diego Comic-Con – it may come but once a year but Eddie holds the fortunes and plans of many comic book publishers and creators in his hands. His whim can see a publisher given the chance to expose the world to what they are working on. Or denied the chance and remain in relative obscurity. Also, it may be down to him to see if the panel you have arranged will be full of your fans or people waiting to see Critical Role.

74. Ethan Van Sciver. Leaving DC Comics after prominent creators refused to work with him anymore, he used the usual mixture of Comicsgate virtue signalling, identity politics and mocking hater videos to raise over half a million dollars on Indiegogo, for his still-upcoming Cyberfrog comic revival. The highest amount raised on crowdfunding by any comic creator in the year, it helps that he can actually draw. This helped him take the position as leading Comicsgate figure as Richard Meyer stepped back, due to his legal case with Mark Waid, and not wanting to give the defence further ammunition.

53. Gail Simone. Leading comic book writer, advisor, social media presence and whose Women In Refrigerators continues to impact all over the place, Simone has also become showrunner of the Lion Forge line of superhero comic books. With a massive social media following and an uncompromising attitude, Simone always brings a lot to the party.

54. Ta-Nehisi Coates. Writer of Black Panther, as well as a literary activist, he has brought attention to this comic alongside the release of the movie, and has created a small but new fanbase for Marvel comic books.

46. Kelly Sue DeConnick. Writer of Bitch Planet and Pretty Deadly, a strong voice in the comics industry fuelled with the Captain Marvel movie based on her take on the character, she remains a font for advice, support and comradeship, and her production company with Matt Fraction, Milkfed, continued to develop new comics and adapt and represent them for other media.

[Thanks to JJ, John King Tarpinian, Chip Hitchcock, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, Martin Morse Wooster, Carl Slaughter and Andrew Porter for some of these stories Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

2019 GUFF Voting Begins

The Get-Up-and-over Fan Fund (GUFF) ballot for the 2019 race is now available online.

Voters will choose an Australasian delegate to attend Dublin 2019 in Ireland (August 15-19). There is an option for the delegate to also attend the Eurocon (Titancon, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on August 22-25).

The candidates are Lynelle Howell, Simon Litten, and Nicole Murphy.

Ballots will be accepted until April 22. The candidates’ platforms, general information about voting, and the online ballot can be found here. A PDF ballot for printing is also available. Votes are not valid unless accompanied by a contribution of at least GBP6, EUR7, AUD10, NZD10, or an equivalent amount in other currencies.

GUFF, the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund or the Going Under Fan Fund, depending on which direction it’s running, GUFF exists to provide funds to enable well-known fans from Australasia and Europe to visit each other’s national (or other) conventions and get to know each other’s fandoms better.

The winner will take over the administration of the fund for the next northbound and southbound races.

Here are the candidates’ platforms:

Lynelle Howell (New Zealand)

Hi, my name is Lynelle Howell and I’m a fan. I’ve been actively involved in fandom for over 20 years at both local and national level. I’ve chaired two natcons, helped set up SFFANZ (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand). I have administered the Sir Julius Vogel Awards (SJVs) for more than 10 years. I’m currently the FFANZ (Fan Fund of Australia and New Zealand) administrator and am on the Executive for CoNZealand, the 78th worldcon in 2020.

I’m running for GUFF as I’m keen to attend more international conventions (including Eurocon and Dublin 2019) and meet new friends

Nominators: Australasia – Norman Cates (NZ), Julian Warner (Aus), Lorain Clark (NZ) and Roman Orszanski (Aus); Europe – Kylie Ding (UK) and James Shields (Ireland)

Simon Litten (New Zealand)

I am a New Zealand fan with 30 years involvement in organised fandom, having helped found and served on the committee of both the local SF club and NZ’s national SF body SFFANZ.

I have helped organise two national SF conventions; and have served on a Hugo awards subcommittee for the “best series” category.

I enjoy travelling and meeting fans from other countries.

I would be honoured to be the GUFF delegate and to represent antipodean fandom at the Dublin WorldCon.

Nominators: Australasia – Lucy Sussex (Aus), Gillian Polack (Aus) and Ross Temple (NZ); Europe – Nina Horvarth (Austria), Claire Brialey (UK) and Esther MacCallum-Stewart (UK).

Nicole Murphy (Australia)

I love conventions! Since joining the committee for Conflux 1 in 2002, I’ve sat on the committee for 9 out of 14 Confluxes (including chairing Conflux 4, co-chairing Conflux 9 and after a break, programming Conflux 14). Additionally, I’ve run a couple of online mini-cons and convened the Aurealis Awards twice. Today I’m employed as a professional conference organiser! I look forward to meeting amazing Dublin Worldcon and Belfast Titancon participants and, in particular, the opportunity of bringing my experience, creativity and Australian sense of humour to GUFF. We will most definitely have a ball!

Nominators: Australasia – Cat Sparks (Aus), Kaaron Warren (Aus) and Rose Mitchell (Aus); Europe – Jukka Halme (Finland) and Mihaela Marija Perkovic? (Croatia).