The Chengdu Worldcon committee has posted the 2023 Worldcon Business Meeting agenda – download the English-language version here and the Chinese-language version here.
The agenda includes copies of committee reports and Worldcon financial reports. There also are several Standing Rules changes and 11 new constitutional amendments proposed, in addition to the two amendments up for ratification after receiving first passage at Chicon 8.
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As a member who join business meeting for the first time, I wonder if I can discuss or cast doubts about the financial reports during the meeting.
The financial reports are huge and few time is set for them. I am afraid that they will be repeated once and put aside in a few hours of the one-day meeting.
I too go Click!
Zimozi Natsuco: You possibly may be able to be recognized to speak about the financial reports. However, the WSFS Constitution only requires that the reports be submitted. The business meeting neither accepts nor rejects them, and has no capability to analyze them for correctness.
Zimozi Natsuco: Agreeing with what Mike Glyer said. The Worldcons (and the one NASFiC) submitting financial reports are not even required to have a representative at the Business Meeting to answer questions. Most of the reports are one or two pages. The biggest report is from Chicon 8 but it is normal for the first report by a Worldcon after its convention to be quite large and detailed. (The 2024 and 2025 Worldcons are required to have representatives at the Site Selection session.)
WUT?
ELEVEN proposed constitution amendments at one Worldcon Business Meeting?????
And people complained when I showed up with just ONE. I’ll bet the BM regulars are missing me now, eh?
BWAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!
Chris B.
And there’s another two coming out of committees, for 13 new amendments in total.
Replying to Zimozi Natsuco:
As Mike and Don have already mentioned, you can gain recognition if you have questions regarding the report, especially if there is someone representing the convention present to discuss it.
However, it is not commonly done unless there is something highly unusual or questionable about the report. The only significant discussions about these I recall are from when the Nippon 2007 committee report changed from showing little or no loss, to reporting a large financial loss at Chicon 7 in 2012, and in 2016 or 2017 when there were questions about the large surplus from Sasquan that someone did not feel was adequately being accounted for in the report.
If you have specific questions about the contents of one of the reports, I would recommend that you reach out to a representative of the specific convention before the business meeting, probably by email, or after the preliminary business meeting where the reports are usually presented as ask them in person.
If it is just a question about a specific expense or income source and is not likely to concern the society as a whole, the body of the business meeting will appreciate not having their time taken up.
However, if you do believe that something in the report indicates that a convention is failing to fulfill its fiscal duties to the unincorporated society and the WSFS membership for the year in which it was held, then you may still choose to bring your issue to the meeting. I cannot give you any idea how well it will be received.
@Ron Oakes,
I can’t speak to Zimozi Natsuco’s concerns, but I for one am puzzled why the list of sponsors for the Chengdu Worldcon (bottom of page 31) is contradictory to the Chinese-language reporting of the June 16th Brand Conference, where – amongst many other things – it was stated that there would be 8 major sponsors, with the one being named at that time not being either of the entities listed on that agenda.
(I will have a longer write-up of this later.)
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I am concerned that the meeting is not shown as one of the few online events they have in programming. I hope it is at least recorded for later viewing.
@Ron Oakes @John S / ErsatzCulture @Donald Eastlake @Mike Glyer:
Thank you for your in time and detailed reply. I have to point out there are too many puzzling things in the finicial report of Chengdu Worldcon.
I, with the help of other enthusiastic sf fans in China, is trying to collect enough materials to support my doubts. But one thing: Do you believe a brand new building only cost more than 1,000,000 CNY?
In addition, this finicial report is not a Chinese version. And the committee is even talking about promoting multilingual worldcon? I have sent a email to the committee to point out this awful event. (ErsatzCulture can find the screeen shot in my PM.)
Mike, could you tag this https://file770.com/tag/wsfs-2023/ as well, for completeness’ sake? Thanks!
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Tag added.
FInally managed to get it to load!
Lots of interesting stuff, and I hope a bunch of it passes.
Now I gotta find out how to contact the folks behind the Best Independent Film proposal!
Chris
I have thoughts on a number of the proposed amendments, but as I see that Mike is planning to have a series of specific discussion posts, I will be patient and wait for the topics to come around.
@Chris Garcia: Tony Xia (aka Xia Tong) has a Facebook account. That doesn’t look particularly active, but he was on a Zoom chat published by a Romanian SF film festival on FB a few weeks ago, so maybe they can give you alternate contact details?