Tag Archives: Geri Sullivan

Lowrey Wins TAFF

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Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund administrators Johan Anglemark and Geri Sullivan announced today:

These are the preliminary results. A final announcement with full voting results with be made shortly, but given the magnitude of the win, we’re able to confidently announce the 2020 TAFF delegate today.

103 votes were cast: 67 in North America, 34 in Europe, and 2 in the rest of the world. 

Of the votes cast, 11 were for No Preference. Of the remaining 92, 83 votes were cast for Michael “Orange Mike” Lowrey, who won this race with a simple majority in the first round of voting. We, the administrators, wish to congratulate Mike on his win!

We would also like to thank everyone who voted, everyone who donated money to TAFF, everyone who shared our announcements, and most of all, Ann Totusek who ran against Mike. Thank you all!

TAFF 2020 Race Begins

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From the moment you read this until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on January 12, you can help decide which North American fan is going to attend Concentric: Eastercon 2020, in Birmingham, UK as the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund delegate.

The candidates are Michael Lowrey and Ann Totusek, and you can read their platforms on David Langford’s TAFF site. This is also the place to go to learn more about TAFF, to read the rules for voting, to make the necessary monetary donation needed for voting, and to cast your vote.

Johan Anglemark, European TAFF Administrator, and Geri Sullivan, North American TAFF Administrator, say “Even if you think that both these fine fans would be an equally worthy winner, we ask you to still consider supporting TAFF by voting. TAFF is kept alive by the support it gets from fandom. And if you truly have no preference, you can express that by voting No Preference.”

If you need a paper ballot to print out and mail to us, a PDF is available at taff.org.uk.

Ann Totusek’s platform is especially interesting….

The 2020 TAFF Candidates

Michael Lowrey

My first convention (1975) was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have loved, married and parented within the tribe. I’ve been active: fanzines and apas, the N3F, mailing lists, Usenet, social media. I’ve pubbed my ish, and been officer of a local SF club.

I am a Fan, free citizen of the ImagiNation. Whatever else I may be – husband, daddy, union leader, Esperantist, wearer of orange garments, Quaker, feminist, Irishman, Mac user, Wobbly, Hordesman, Wikipedian – this is my Way of Life. My cunning plan remains: to meet fans all over Over There, as many places as possible. FIAWOL!

  • Nominated by: (NA) James Nicoll, Steven H Silver, Curt Phillips; (Europe) Rob Hansen, John-Henri Holmberg

Ann Totusek

Michael Lowrey is a Midwestern fan most easily recognizable as “Orange Mike” for wearing all orange at conventions. TAFF is intended to strengthen ties between Atlantic and European fandom, and I can think of no-one better for this than Mike. His dedication working towards the well-being of others is unmatched, and his grasp of the importance of freedom of speech, the press, and maintaining an informed populace make him a fascinating panelist. I am honored to be nominated for the TAFF award and, as I have previously attended Eastercon while he has not, the platform for my campaign is “Send Mike!”

  • Nominated by: (NA) Carol Kennedy, Joyce Scrivner, Michael Siladi; (Europe) DC, Pat McMurray

2020 TAFF Race Starts 11/4

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Michael Lowrey and Ann Totusek are the candidates in the 2020 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race. One of them will be voted North American fandom’s representative to Concentric: Eastercon 2020, taking place in Birmingham, UK from April 10-13.

Geri Sullivan, North American TAFF administrator, and Johan Anglemark, European TAFF Administrator, say voting opens November 4 and closes on January 12, 2020. The ballot will be made available at taff.org.uk together with an online voting form.

TAFF Taking Nominations
for 2020 Race

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Nominations are open for the 2020 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race, which will pick a North American fan to attend Concentric: Eastercon 2020 in Birmingham, UK. This will be the second consecutive eastbound race because, say the administrators, “Looking at the next five Worldcons and Worldcon bids, that makes the most sense, we think.” The nomination deadline is October 31.

Once the nominations are settled, voting to elect the TAFF delegate will run from November 4 until  January 12. The winner will attend Concentric: Eastercon 2020 from April 10-13, 2020, and  assume the duties of the next North American administrator of TAFF upon returning home.

If any North American fan is considering standing for the 2020 TAFF race, now is the time to line up your nominators and have them contact the administrators informing them of the nominators’ intentions. This year candidates will need three North American fans and two European fans known to the Administrators to nominate you: these people must contact the current Administrators by October 31, 2019, informing them of whom is being nominated for this distinct honour. Potential delegates will also need to send an official statement of standing for TAFF to the administrators (contact information provided below) listing their nominators, plus a 101 word platform statement, and a $20 (USD) bond fee sent via PayPal to [email protected]. Again, the official nominating period will close on October 31, 2019.

More details about TAFF can be found at David Langford’s excellent website, taff.org.uk

If you are interested in standing for the 2020 TAFF Race or would like to nominate some deserving fan, please contact North American Administrator Geri Sullivan, at [email protected], or Johan Anglemark, the European Administrator, at [email protected].

Dublin 2019 Photos by Rich Lynch — Sunday

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This is the guy who kept me in fandom 33 years ago

… but that’s another story. (Kees Van Toorn)

More pictures by Rich Lynch after the jump.

Continue reading →

Dublin 2019 Photos by Rich Lynch – Friday

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A cold truth surfaces…

The Dublin Convention Centre is too small for the size of this convention.  By a lot.  Thursday was chaos in the halls leading into the meeting rooms.  Packed solid with people trying to exit rooms where panels had ended and others who were wanting to get into those same rooms for the next round of panels.  Convention Centre staff became the traffic police in a mostly vain attempt to keep everybody moving.

By Friday the chaos had abated by a bit, but there have still been severe people flow problems.  Overnight each floor of the Convention Centre was taped off into queue lanes, one for each meeting room.  It’ll not quite an airport boarding lounge situation but very similar.  And this created addition confusion until, finally, everybody started to figure it all out.  But this system created lots of delays and there are usually lines of people waiting access for some rooms even after the scheduled panel  starting time.

This has resulted in plenty of people with frayed tempers, from what I’ve observed, but no meltdowns.  At least for now but there are still three days to go. 

One other thing I observed— the traffic police are not to be messed with!  More than one person was firmly directed to clear out of some area where queues would be forming.  Don’t think anybody has dared to jump a line after seeing them in action!

Heicon Memories panel

Panel opened with round of applause for Silverberg when he stated that this is his 66th Worldcon.  He has the record, I think.

Suzanne Tompkins, Ginjer Buchanan, Robert Silverberg, and Mary Burns.

Suzanne Tompkins, Ginjer Buchanan, Robert Silverberg, and Mary Burns.

eFanzines Live!

Bill Burns and Geri Sullivan.  Unsurprisingly, most everybody in the room not only knew about the site, they also were frequent visitors.  And many of us even have Fanzines hosted by the site!

Geri Sullivan and Bill Burns

Keith Kato’s Chili Party

…was held in Oscar Wilde’s House.  There was even a docent tour.

Oscar Wilde

2019 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund Vote Count Released

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Geri Sullivan

Geri Sullivan won the 2019 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund on the first round of voting. The administrators today provided a breakdown of the voting results by first preference. (“RoW” stands for “rest of the world.”)

RESULTS

Candidate  N. Am. Europe RoW Total
Teresa Cochran   13      2      15
Sarah Gulde   18    10        2    30
Michael Lowrey   13    12      25
Geri Sullivan   87    44        5  136
Hold Over Funds        
No Preference     4      1      5
         Total votes 135    69    211

Following her return home from Dublin 2019, Geri will become the next North American administrator of TAFF, and will conduct the 2020 TAFF campaign and election in association with Johan Anglemark.

Fans throughout Europe who may be interested in standing for TAFF in 2020 should make a point of talking with Geri and Johan at the Dublin Worldcon, or elsewhere on Geri’s trip, if at all possible.

Because Worldcon will not take place in North America in 2020, it has not yet been decided whether the 2020 TAFF race will be westbound, as is traditional, or eastbound for a second year in a row, which has occasionally happened in the past for similar reasons.

For more information about the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund – past, present, and future – visit David Langford’s excellent TAFF website at www.taff.org.uk.

Sullivan Wins TAFF

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The 2019 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund winner is Geri Sullivan. She will be the North American TAFF delegate to the 77th World Science Fiction Convention in Dublin, Ireland from August 15-19. 

Co-administrators John Purcell and Johan Anglemark report 212 voters participated. The other candidates were Teresa Cochran, Sarah Gulde, and Michael Lowrey.

TAFF News Redux #2 Features Candidate Interviews

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Need help deciding who to vote for in the 2019 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund race? Help is on the way! TAFF News Redux #2 [PDF file] is available on the TAFF Website with the candidates’ answers to a questionnaire.

Find out what Teresa Cochran, Sarah Gulde , Michael Lowrey, Geri Sullivan had to say when they were asked these probative fannish questions —

1) Tell us something about yourself and fandom: where did it begin for you and when.

2) Are there any specific subgenres of Science Fiction & Fantasy you prefer? e.g., hard science, alternative history, steampunk, etc.

3) Describe your fannish activity: clubs you’ve been in, official roles (club president, or whatever), cons you’ve attended/worked on, and fanzines you’ve produced, and so forth.

4) What was the craziest or most fun thing you have ever done or experienced in fandom?

5) If you win, what will your TAFF trip look like? Just Ireland and the UK or other parts of Europe (which?) too? How many weeks do you think you will be able to set aside for it? 

TAFF voting to pick a North American delegate to send to the Dublin 2019 Worldcon is open until midnight EST of April 22, 2019. Get the ballot and voting information on the TAFF website.

2019 TAFF Voting Opens

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The 2019 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund Race to send a North American fan to the Dublin Worldcon next August is now on! Voting runs from today, December 1, to April 22, 2019.

The candidates are Teresa Cochran, Sarah Gulde, Michael Lowrey, and Geri Sullivan. The ballot includes their platform statements. TAFF co-administrator John Purcell said, “I am happy to say that I know all four of these splendid candidates, and wish them all the best of luck and that this campaign/election/selection will be a lot of fun. Bon chance, mes amis!”

The online voting form is active at https://taff.org.uk/. A printable PDF file of the ballot with voting instructions also appears at the end of this post. Purcell is sending out paper copies with the next issue of his fanzine Askew in another week.

North America: John Purcell ­– Checks in US$ payable to “John Purcell”. Mail the ballot to John Purcell, 3744 Marielene Circle, College Station, TX 77845 USA. Paypal payments to: [email protected]

Europe: Johan Anglemark – cheques in UK £ or € payable to “TAFF”. Mail the ballot to Johan Anglemark, Lingonv. 10, SE-74340 Storvreta, Sweden. Paypal payments to: [email protected]

The 2019 TAFF Candidates:

Teresa Cochran

Reading has always been a solitary activity for me. I read SF for many years, and dreamed of meeting other fans. In the early 2000’s, I moved to Las Vegas and met many established fans. I began going to conventions. With the help of computer technology, it is much easier for me to write for fanzines. TAFF would give me an opportunity to meet fans and explore the social aspects of fandom. I could also publish a TAFF report in Braille! Don’t worry; it will be accessible to everyone.

Nominated by: (NA) Tracy Benton, Steve Stiles, Jacq Monahan; (Europe) Chris O’Shea, Martin Tudor

Sarah Gulde

‘Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations’. Why the Star Trek slogan? First, I’m a hardcore Trekkie and co-editor of the December 2018 Star Trek issue of Journey Planet. Second, I’m passionate about diversity in fandom. I’ve been on diversity panels across the country, and even started my own diversity-focused mini-con.

I’m running for TAFF because I’ve pushed for change in my local con to help everyone feel welcome while celebrating their fandoms, and as the TAFF delegate I want to provide support for other fans who are doing the same. Interested? Let’s grab a beer in Dublin and chat! LLAP!

Nominated by: (NA) Chris Garcia, Curtis Chen, Nisi Shawl; (Europe) Fia Karlsson, James Shields

Michael Lowrey

My first convention (1975) was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have loved, married and parented within the tribe. I’ve been active: the N3F, Usenet, apas. I’ve pubbed my ish, and been officer of a local club.

I am a Fan, free citizen of the ImagiNation. Whatever else I may be – husband, daddy, union leader, Esperantist, wearer of orange garments, Quaker, feminist, Irishman, Mac user, Wobbly, Hordesman, Wikipedian – this is my Way of Life. My cunning plan? I want to come from a land beyond the wave, meet fans all over Over There, and quaff girder-based beverages.

Nominated by: (NA) Steven Silver, James Nicoll, Arthur D. Hlavaty; (Europe) John-Henri Holmberg, Steve Green

Geri Sullivan

Shortly after stumbling into fandom, I was found guilty of exhibiting enthusiastic energy and a propensity for getting things done. I’ve been hosting parties, publishing fanzines, running conventions, and organizing special projects ever since. Oobleck. Chocolate robots. Rocks, inflatable gargoyles, and remarkable bheer. You never know what I’ll bring, only that it all sparks connections….

If selected, I’ll share adventures from years knowing Walter & Madeleine Willis, James & Peggy White, and other legendary fans of yore while meeting new friends of all ages. Timebinding, you bet! Hope to see you on the Funway in Dublin and Belfast. She/her; fancyclopedia.org/geri-sullivan

Nominated by: (NA) Joe Siclari & Edie Stern, Pat Virzi, Dave O’Neill; (Europe) Claire Brialey, Gareth Kavanagh

2019 TAFF Ballot:

2019 TAFF Ballot US Letter