Arisia Policies
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POLICIES
of Arisia, Incorporated
Revised June 10th, 2009
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CORPORATE POLICIES
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
- Dues for all members are payable on Sept 1 of each year.
Any member who joins during the year shall be pro-rated to the
following September 1st. All memberships expire Sept 1st.
There is an automatic grace period until the start of elections at the
Annual meeting. The eboard may choose to extend the grace period
for all members. Any member who has neither paid their dues, nor
requested a hardship waiver, shall have their membership expire at the
beginning of elections of the Annual Meeting. The clerk shall
notify any member who has neither paid their dues nor requested a
hardship waiver by September 1st.
- Members who request a waiver of dues or makes other dues
arrangement due to financial hardship shall remain confidential and
will not be reported in the minutes.
CORPORATE MATTERS
- The Executive Board shall appoint the next Convention Chairman.
This appointment shall be made no later than the Annual Meeting.
- Where space permits, a notice that Arisia, Mentor of Arisia, and
the Arisia Lens, are service marks of Arisia, Incorporated shall be
affixed. Preferably, the most prominent appearances of the name should
bear the superscript of SM.
- The Clerk shall receive INSTANT MESSAGE, the newsletter of the
New England Science Fiction Association, and other newsletters, and
make it available to the Executive Board members.
- The executive board has the authority to approve and set ad rates
where not otherwise set by the membership in bylaws or policies. Such
rates must exceed marginal costs.
- Only the Executive Board of Arisia, Incorporated may speak on
behalf of the corporation.
- The Clerk is responsible for the timely distribution of Arisia
mail from the mailbox to the responsible individuals. The Clerk
shall make an archive copy of all appropriate paper
correspondence. This task may be delegated.
- No Corporate or Convention entity may enter into any
agreement that violates any Corporate or Convention Bylaw or
Policy or any applicable Federal, State, county or municipal
laws, regulations or codes.
FINANCE
- The Executive Board has the authority to look into bonds for
future plans--not immediate needs.
- Any two members of the Executive Board may authorize issuing of
promissory notes.
- There will be a thorough review of the books every time
there is a change of treasurer unless the outgoing treasurer
has been in office for less than a year.
- Corporate dues should be sufficient to cover basic corporate
expenses unless that amount would be clearly excessive. When more
specific figures are available, corporate dues will be reviewed
according to this principle.
- Anyone receiving income must report the source of that
income for IRS purposes. All expenses are to be accounted for
exactly.
- All persons with budgetary authority must keep track of the
budget balances in consultation with the treasurer.
- All money received by the Corporation from any source for
any purpose, excluding convention business, must be recorded
in a receipt book maintained by the Corporate Treasurer for
such purposes without regard to the form the payment is
received in; further, a receipt of payment must be returned to
the payer as soon as possible after receiving the
payment.
- Treasury Staff shall not send any amount of cash through the
mail.
- Anyone being put on the Hotel Master Bill but not being
comped will provide an imprint of a credit card to the
Treasurer before keys are handed out.
- The Treasurer shall publish in each Mentor a balance sheet
listing balances of all accounts, and the balances of fund
reserved special purposes.
MERCHANDISE
- All corporate members of Arisia, Incorporated shall receive a 20%
discount on all Arisia merchandise.
- The Executive Board has the authority to set merchandise prices.
- Three (3) Sales Shirts from each year will be kept for Archival
Purposes; Sales Shirts from years preceding the current year which are
determined by the Executive Board, in consultation with the Corporate
Sales Officer, to be excess will be donated to a charity of the
Executive Board's choosing. Furthermore, Lens T-shirts shall be
considered an acceptable replacement for 1990 Sales T-shirts, but that
actual 1990 Corporate Sales Shirts be preferred, if available.
MEETINGS
- All reports, announcements, and items for submission to the
corporate newsletter shall be submitted in writing. Oral reports and
announcements shall be reported as best as possible.
- All major matters of new business shall be submitted to the
Executive Board in writing prior to a meeting of the membership for
review prior to discussion.
- Motions or proposals that touch on areas covered by any standing
committee or corporate official shall be deferred to said committee or
official for review and recommendation prior to being brought before
the membership.
- Meetings shall be set at those places and times which are
convenient for the majority of the membership and not restricted to
weekends only.
- By Action of the Membership, the Default Location, Time and Place
for Corporate Meetings for the '08-'09 Membership Year is the Third
Sunday of the month, at 2:00 PM; at MIT Building 66 room 168 (or an
adjacent room along the same corridor).
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
- The correct honorific to address the president is El Supremo.
- The Executive Board shall establish a Long Range Planning
Committee to be responsible for researching long-term issues facing the
corporation. The number of members shall be set at the discretion of
the Board and the interest of the membership.
- The Executive Board shall establish a Merchandising
Committee, to be responsible for making and selling of all
items of merchandise that the corporation sells. The number of
members shall be set at the discretion of the Board and the
interest of the membership.
- The Executive Board shall establish the position of Corporate
Inventory Control Officer.
- All keys handed out for Arisia storage be numbered on at
least one side of the key with the following number
scheme: Set Number.Key Number. For example: 1.1 would
be set 1, key 1; 8.4 would be set 8, key 4.
- The Executive Board shall maintain a sign out record
(including contact information) for keys to Arisia
Incorporated controlled areas.
- The following process shall be observed when selecting a
Convention Chairman:
- The identity of all candidates shall be public knowledge.
- When there is more than one candidate, each candidate must be
interviewed.
- The selection process will start no later than April, and allow
the membership to vote to confirm the Executive Board's appointment no
later than July.
POINT OF INFORMATION: The Executive Board selects and appoints
the Convention Chairman so as to avoid a popular vote. The Executive
Board is expected to use their judgment when making their selection,
and should be able to substantiate the decision if questioned by the
membership.
- The resumes of all candidates will be published in the
Corporate Newsletter.
STORAGE POLICY
- Keys may be given out to individuals who need to access storage
on a regular basis. Keyholders may not lend out keys to other
individuals without EBoard or CIC approval.
- Equipment and goods may be stored in Arisia Storage with
permission of the EBoard or CIC, provided such items may be used by
Arisia for free, ie "at no charge".
- Personal (and Arisia owned) equipment in Arisia Storage is not
insured by Arisia. If there is any loss or damage, Arisia
will not cover the loss or damage but will pass on a pro-rated
portion of any money collected from a third party.
- All equipment in Arisia Storage must be labeled with, or be in a
container labeled with the owners name; additionally all Arisia owned
equipment must be labeled with, or be in a container labeled with the
responsible department.
- Equipment in storage may be loaned out with EBoard approval.
However Common Courtesy and Common Sense dictate that individual
owners, and/or committee members responsible for such equipment be
consulted before any loan is approved.
- Any time anything is loaned out from storage, an inventory
record of said items should be sent to all keyholders to facilitate
proper "check-in" when all items are returned.
- Anyone borrowing anything from Arisia Storage must agree to
return everything in a like condition as borrowed, or to repair or
replace anything damaged in a timely manner.
- The Arisia CIC must maintain a contact list of all keyholders,
and all individuals or organizations storing anything in storage. A
copy of said list shall be posted in a conspicuous place in storage.
MISCELLANEOUS
- The clerk may provide two issues of Mentor to non-members who
attend meetings or who otherwise show or are thought to be interested
in Arisia.
- Contact information for individuals (for instance, in MENTOR)
should not be posted to the Web in searchable text form, unless
requested otherwise.
CONVENTION POLICIES
- Advertising Rates (to be adjusted if costs change).
- Professional ad rates
| Full |
1/2 |
1/4 |
Center |
Color |
Bleed |
Inside
Cover |
Out
Cover |
| $500 |
$300 |
$200 |
+$500 |
+$500 |
+$50 |
+$400 |
+$800 |
- Semi-Pro: 50% for page rates and no discount for
extra charges
Fan: 25% for page rates and no discount for extra charges
In all cases, round up to nearest $5
- In addition, we have added the following rates for the souvenir
book to use if need be:
| 1/3 |
1/6 |
Business card |
Bitty/blurb |
| $250 |
$150 |
$100 |
$50 |
- Pocket Program & Restaurant Guide rates:
Pocket Program same as Souvenir Book (because of high cost of
publication among other things).
Restaurant guide $300, $200, $125, discount for advertisers to give a
discount to Arisia attendees.
- NO coupons in lieu of payment for ads.
- Prices quoted are for camera ready copy.
- A special 10% discount may be deducted for any advertisement
that reaches us by ____. Payment is due upon submission of
advertisement.
- Art Show Rates
- The standard unit of Art Show panel space shall be four foot
by four foot (4' x 4') in size. The standard unit of Art Show table
space shall be as close to a thirty-inch by six-foot (30" x 6') table
as can be provided.
- The cost for panel or table space shall be seven-dollars
($7.00) for each quarter unit of space.
| 1 Table 6' X 30" |
$28 |
1 Panel 4' X 4' |
$28 |
| 1/2 Table 3' X 30" |
$14 |
1/2 Panel 4' X 2' |
$14 |
| 1/4 Table 1.5' X 30" |
$7 |
1/4 Panel 2' X 2' |
$7 |
- The cost for floor space for free standing art shall be
the same as for table space. Oversized pieces of art
will be charged at a special rate.
- All high school students, and any college level art
student enrolled full time in an accredited degree
granting institution shall have their first unit of space
fee waived.
- The Print Shop has a limit of three to ten copies per
unique image. One copy of each item must be
displayed on the artist's panel or table.
- There shall be a fifteen-dollar ($15.00) service charge
to process mail-in art. Sufficient funds must accompany
the art to cover return postage and insurance. Any surplus
will be returned to the artist.
- The Arisia Artist Guest of Honor shall not be charged
any Art Show or Print Shop fees or commissions.
- Dealer Rates
- The fee for the Dealers Room is $100 per table.
- The fee for the Dealers' Row is $100 per room, and does not
include the cost of renting the room from the hotel.
- Dealers fees do not include memberships.
- Registration Policies
- Each convention will set an upper limit of 2500 memberships.
- The organization will monitor how early in the Convention the
limit will be exceeded.
- The Convention Chairman will be allowed to increase the
membership cap by 200 memberships before convening the Executive Board
of Arisia, Incorporated, in order to increase the limit further.
- The Convention Chairman will consult the Division Heads,
if possible, when approaching the limit with special
attention to Member Services and the Security Department
(Operations Division).
- While the convention is held at the Hyatt Regency
Cambridge, the basic membership cap will be reduced to
2100, which will allow the Convention Chairman to
increase the membership to 2300 without involving the
Executive Board.
- Membership Rates
- The year-ahead rate is $30.
- The pre-reg rate:
- Until March 31st is $35.
- April 1st through September 30th is $40.
- October 1st through December 31st is $50.
- The at-door (after December 31st) rate is $60.
- The rate for students (with ID) aged 13-25 is $25.
- The rate for children, babysitting/childcare and Fast Track
shall be equal to the rate for adult memberships.
- A membership discount of $5 may be offered at parties that
are promoting Arisia at other conventions.
- The rates for at-con registration shall be as follows:
| Full weekend |
$60 |
| Friday only |
$20 |
| Saturday only |
$40 |
| Sunday only |
$30 |
| Monday only |
$10 |
- The schedule of discounts for group memberships shall be set as
follows:
| Size of Group |
Discount |
| 10-14 memberships |
5% |
| 15-19 memberships |
10% |
| 20-29 memberships |
15% |
| 30+ memberships |
20% |
To qualify for the group discounts, the number of
memberships must be bought with one check (or credit card,
or exact amount in cash). A contact person must submit all
the names of the group members. Group memberships must be
purchased no later than six weeks before the convention or
at the end of the pre-reg period--whichever is
earlier.
- Memberships that are paid with "REAL MONEY" are
transferable within type (child to child, adult to adult)
from one person to another, but only for the year in which
they are bought. This includes "guest of X" memberships, and
normal transfer regulations, letter and ID, apply. Anyone
wishing to transfer a membership to another year must have
the approval of both the original year's Convention Chairman
and the new year's Chairman.
- All "NO-CHARGE" memberships and admissions to Arisia are
non-transferable. These include Program Participants, Press, GOHs,
Earned Memberships, Gift Memberships, Kids-(or Adults)-In-Tow.
- EARNED MEMBERSHIPS are defined as memberships acquired
by anyone who puts in the required 12 hours of
non-excluded time working on the convention. Exclusions
include:
- Time spent participating in a program item.
- Time spent while making or attempting to make a personal
profit, such as dealers and live role-playing organizers.
- Hours put in before or after the convention must be
documented, and will be counted toward the time limit
required. An Earned Membership is good at any one Arisia
Convention within two conventions of the convention in
which it was earned.
- Hours worked before a particular convention may count
towards an earned membership for the current
convention. To qualify, the pre-convention hours must be
recorded on a separate timesheet and all pre-convention
hours are applied to the current convention's membership
(i.e., if a volunteer works 24 hours pre-convention, the
volunteer may not apply 12 hours to the current
convention's membership and the remaining 12 hours to
the next year's convention).
- GIFT MEMBERSHIPS are obtained from the Convention
Chairman or their delegate. These are "no-charge"
memberships which include Program Participants, Press,
GOH, Staff and Committee who have not earned a membership,
Exchanges (equipment provided by an individual who
otherwise does not work the convention), and any other
"non-paid" memberships approved by the Chair.
- With the exception of Program Participant, Press, GOH, and
Exchanges, a person can not receive a gift membership in two
consecutive years.
- KIDS-IN-TOW/ADULTS-IN-TOW: are required to always be
with a person with a membership when they are in any
convention area. This does not apply to any other "no
charge" membership.
- There will be no distinction made on badges between paid and
"no charge" memberships. This does not include Program Participant
ribbons, or Kids-In-Tow or Adults-In-Tow indicators.
- Lost badges shall be replaced for a one-time fee of
$5.00. The fee shall be refundable upon return of original
badge. The second time a lost badge replacement is requested
the party will be required to purchase a replacement
membership at full price.
- Memberships may not be sold for a single function (e.g.,
Masquerade or a concert).
- All past Arisia GOHs and Special Guests receive comp
memberships in future Arisias, if requested.
- Each Convention Chairman is allowed to select the Guests of
Honor for their convention.
- Each Convention Chairman is allowed to make use of the Arisia
Lens on gifts for their Div Heads.
- Concerning line item transfers within the Convention Budget,
- A Convention Chairman may transfer funds from the
contingency fund in the Convention Budget in accordance with
Section 9.4 of the Bylaws.
- A Division Head may, with the approval of the Convention
Chairman, transfer funds between any other line items in the
Convention Budget within that division provided that:
- The total sum of income and expenditures remain unchanged.
- The Division Head shall report each transfer to the Corporate
and Convention Treasurers.
- Transfer of funds between divisions may be made, with
the approval of the Executive Board after the last
Corporate Meeting before the convention.
- Any person holding a party to promote an Arisia Convention shall
be allotted twenty dollars ($20.00) as gratuity for the maid. Further,
said person may be compensated for any additional charges placed by the
hotel upon the party room for cleaning purposes. Finally, the
Convention Chairman may authorize up to the cost of one room night be
paid if the party host attended the convention for the sole purpose of
publicizing Arisia.
- Anyone bringing a lawsuit against Arisia, Incorporated, or any
Arisia function, event, or subsidiary, shall not be allowed to attend
any Arisia convention until said suit is resolved.
- Anyone working 8 hours at the convention will receive a Team
Arisia T-shirt. Anyone working 12 hours will receive a free
membership.
- Pre-con work shall count toward T-shirts and free memberships,
exclusive of time spent in meetings.
- Work involved in set-up and tear-down, including loading and
unloading the logistics vehicles, shall count double for volunteer
benefits.
- All dealers (both Dealers' Room and Dealers' Row) are
required to sign a liability waiver (to indemnify Arisia from
stupid things dealers do) as part of the dealers
contract. The eboard shall provide the wording of the
waiver.
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