Mentor Volume 13, Issue 109 August 2001

Minutes of the EBoard Meeting

19 August 2001

The EBoard met at 1:00 PM in The Usual Room at MIT Building 66.

The EBoard had several conversations, and made no substantive actions.

Minutes of the August Meeting

Date, Time and Place: This General Meeting of the Membership was called to order at 2:27 PM on Sunday, 19 August 2001 at The Usual Room of MIT Building 66.

In Attendance: Chris Amshey, Angi Bowen, Drea Brandford, Elisa Hertel, Ben Levy, Michelle McGuire, Tom Murphy, Brendan Quinn, Matt Ringel, Nicholas Shectman, Cris Shuldiner, Rachel Silber and Carsten Turner. While her name is not signed upon the sign-in sheet, the Clerk recalls Traciy Fogarty being present.

• Proxies

Colette Fozard to Cris Shuldiner, who relinquishes to Skip Morris upon his arrival at the meeting; Lisa Hertel to Cris Shuldiner until her arrival at the meeting; Walter Kahn to Drea Brandford.

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• Minutes of the Previous Meeting

While no corrections to the Minutes of Previous Meetings were made, a Member who was denied the holding of a proxy submitted by email tried to make this point and thereby correct certain votes taken at the last meeting by correcting the Minutes to reflect that he did hold and vote the proxy, and was told by the Chair of the meeting that corrections to the minutes of the meeting were not to be used to rewrite history.

• President's Report (Brendan Quinn)

The EBoard has met to consider the appointment of the Convention chair for Arisia '03; and has selected Skip Morris.

MOVED to confirm the EBoard's selection for Convention Chair of Arisia '03.

Motion CARRIES 12-2-0.

Brendan Quinn yields the chair of the meeting to Nicholas Shectman for the following discussion.

MOVED (specifically from the President's Report) the Executive Board be authorized to negotiate with the hotel to adjust the rate structure for Arisia '02 as follows (ed. note: this specifically applies to hotel room rates to fen and staff, and certain other negotiations pertinent to hotel provided services to Arisia '02):

1. The rate for the smallest and/or unpopular rooms shall be under $100.
2. The rate for standard Queen and King rooms shall remain the same ($108).
3. The rate for rooms with two double beds shall be greater then the rate for standard rooms.
4. The rate for the nicest rooms (Family Doubles, Executive Kings, Junior Suites, etc.) shall be equal to or greater then the rate for doubles.
5. The rate for rooms with staff persons shall be no greater then the standard room rate ($108). Any discount on the cost for staff rooms shall not be made up with increases in any rate for the general public and should instead be funded out of hotel room credits.

After much debate the entire motion, as stipulated, CARRIES.

• EBoard Report (Brendan Quinn)

The EBoard decided to loan the Millennium Philcon any ARISIA Equipment needed for 'whatever NESFA gets for loaning the Millennium Philcon their equipment.'

• Vice President's Report (Nicholas Shectman)

No Report.

• Grant Committee (Nicholas Shectman)

No Report.

• Treasurer's Report (Skip Morris)

No Report.

• Budget Committee Report (Skip Morris)

No Report.

• Clerk's Report (Tom Murphy)

The Clerk ran through his usual spiel about signing in; that reports and motions should be submitted in writing or suffer the possibility of transcription errors; that major items of new business be presented to the EBoard for consideration before presentation to the Membership; and that dues for joining the Corporation were $2 at this meeting and $24 thereafter.

• Convention Chair '01 (Elka Tovah Menkes)

No Report.

• Convention Treasurer '01 (Woody Bernardi)

No Report.

• Convention Chair '02 (Noel Rosenberg)

No Report.

• Convention Treasury '02 (Chris Amshey)

No Report.

• Convention Chair '03 (Skipper Morris)

No Report.

• Gaming Convention Exploratory Committee

No Report. The President restates the vacancy of Committee Chair and restates the desire to entertain candidates for this committee.

• Corporate Inventory Control (Carsten Turner)

We're getting down to the wire, folks, and we're still looking for a place to store the stuff.

• Corporate Systems Administrator (Cris Shuldiner)

With the recent DSL providers folding, Precision Guesswork, and therefore Arisia.ORG, can expect some service disruptions in the near and foreseeable future.

• Long Range Planning Committee

(Brendan Quinn, Chair)

The LRPC has still not met.

• Corporate Sales (Nicholas Shectman)

No Report.

• Survey Committee (Ben Levy)

No Report.

• Hotel Search Committee (Cris Shuldiner)

We are speaking with four hotels; the Park Plaza mentions they want us back for 3 years, and are willing to offer a basic room rate of $108 for each year.

• Technical Equipment Committee (Joelll Herda)

No Report.

• Database Exploratory Committee (Rachel Silber)

The DBEC has met recently, and continues work.

• Old Business

The Audit Materials are at Lisa Hertel's house. More meetings will be scheduled.

Pending Motions to Amend the Bylaws remain on the table.

• New Business

MOVED to close the Arisia '01 Convention and turn any remaining business over to the Convention.

An OBJECTION TO CONSIDERATION is raised, and with a vote of 10-3, the motion is THROWN OUT.

Whereas: Arisia has a long history of problems with attendees interpretations of hotel room size and;

Whereas: This has caused dissatisfaction among attendees with the Arisia convention and the hotel,

Therefore it is Moved: That the information distributed to attendees of the Arisia convention, disseminated both in print and via electronic means, include an explanation of room size as well as number and size of beds. This information should be presented in a manner that can be directly related to per night room rates.

Motion FAILS.

• Announcements

Brendan Quinn will run for President.

Cris Shuldiner will run for President.

Traciy Fogarty will run for Vice President.

Nicholas Shectman will run for Treasurer.

Meeting Adjourned at 4:41 PM.

Some Stray Notes

There are two pending motions to amend the ByLaws of ARISIA, Incorporated. The text of these motions is included at the end of MENTOR, and these motions will be voted upon at the Annual Meeting of the Membership.

The Grant Committee has voted to approve the Gaylactic Network grant request for $1269 as printed later in MENTOR. The motion to approve this Grant will be voted upon at the Annual Meeting of the Membership.

Additionally, the Vice President intends to bring a motion, not out of the Grant Committee, that Arisia cosponsor the October Media In Transition event for $5000 out of the general fund.

The Arisia '02 Convention Committee has developed a budget, which is printed later in MENTOR. The motion to approve this budget will be voted upon at the Annual Meeting of the Membership.

Membership/Subscription Information

Subscription to Mentor of ARISIA is included with Corporate Membership to ARISIA, Incorporated. Membership runs from September 1st to August 31st and costs $24.00. Dues are pro-rated on a monthly basis for members joining during the year.

Executive Board

Committee Members & Corporate Appointed Officers

Storage Facility Key Holders

Membership Roster

Calendar of Events

Sunday, 16 September 2001, 2:00 PM
The Annual Meeting of the Membership of ARISIA, Incorporated.
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA. This is the Annual Meeting of the Corporation.

Tuesday, 18 September 2001, 7:00 PM
Arisia '02 DivHead Meeting
Tufts University Arena Annex, directions later in MENTOR.

Sunday, 23 September 2001, 4:00 PM
Arisia '02 ConCom Meeting
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA.

Friday through Sunday, 28-30 Sept 2001
CapClave
Beltsville MD

Friday through Sunday, 05-07 Oct 2001
Albacon 01
Schenectady NY

Tuesday, 16 October 2001, 7:00 PM
Arisia '02 DivHead Meeting
Tufts University Arena Annex, directions later in MENTOR.

Sunday, 21 October 2001, 4:00 PM
Arisia '02 ConCom Meeting
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA

Thursday through Sunday, 01-04 Nov 2001
World Fantasy Convention
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sunday, 18 November 2001, 4:00 PM
Arisia '02 ConCom Meeting
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA

Tuesday, 20 November 2001, 7:00 PM
Arisia '02 DivHead Meeting
Tufts University Arena Annex, directions later in MENTOR.

Sunday, 16 December 2001, 4:00 PM
Arisia '02 ConCom Meeting
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA

Tuesday, 18 December 2001, 7:00 PM
Arisia '02 DivHead Meeting
Tufts University Arena Annex, directions later in MENTOR.

Friday - Sunday, 28-30 December 2001
EveCon
Sheraton, Reston VA

Sunday, 06 January 2001, 4:00 PM
Arisia '02 ConCom Meeting
MIT Building 66 at MIT in Cambridge, MA

Tuesday, 08 January 2001, 7:00 PM
Arisia '02 DivHead Meeting
Tufts University Arena Annex, directions later in MENTOR.

Friday through Sunday, 18-20 January 2001
Arisia '02
The Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Tower and Castle
Boston, MA

Friday through Sunday, 25-27 January 2001
VeriCon
Sever Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Proposed ByLaws Amendments

1) The Motion to Amend The ByLaws of ARISIA, Incorporated, formerly numbered 7, will be revisited at the August Meeting. The following Motion to Amend the Motion to Amend the ByLaws of ARISIA, Incorporated will be presented: MOVED to amend by substitution the text of the motion, currently reading "MOVED to amend Article 11, section 2 by adding subsection (d) to read as follows: (d) Verbal notice may be delivered in person, by telephone, or telephone messaging device; and shall be considered given when communicated." with the following text: "Where a copy of specific business is not required to be given, notice may be delivered verbally, and shall be considered given when communicated."

2) The following motion was submitted at the last General Meeting of the Membership, and will appear as business at the August Meeting of the Membership. WHEREAS: The purchasing power of officers has, by way of inflation and other factors beyond the control of ARISIA gone down in recent y ears; and WHEREAS the Executive Board's spending limit has been addressed at a prior meeting; MOVED to amend by replacement Article 9 Section 2 by replacing the amount "$100.00" with the amount "$200.00." Signed, Noel Rosenberg, Cris Shuldiner, Carsten Turner, Claudia Mastroianni, and Joel Herda.

A Grant Proposal

Gaylactic Network Presence at Millennium Philcon Worldcon 2001

The Gaylactic Network plans to host a gay fandom suite for 3 days during Worldcon. This will provide a safe, fun atmosphere for gay fans to meet other gay fans, learn about the Network's affiliates and the Spectrum Awards and to provide the Network leadership with feedback on what gay fandom would like to see from the Network.

Since the Network will not be sponsoring a Gaylaxicon this year (the only GLBT sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention for and by fans), we are hosting the Spectrum Award ceremony during Worldcon in Philadelphia. To allow time for fans to mingle with Spectrum Award winners, the Network will host a reception after the Spectrum Awards ceremony to honor this year's and past winners and nominees. Worldcon will be THE event for Gay fandom this year, as the Network is not hosting a Gaylaxicon in 2001.

The Network's representatives have also offered advice to the Worldcon 2001 Programming Committee on GLBT programming. Our representatives have suggested panels and provided names of professionals that would serve as quality panelists. The Gay Fandom suite serves as a "green room" for gay authors and artists. It also allows them to talk with gay fans, receive feedback on their work, and sign autographs, and it allows gay fandom to show appreciation for their work.

Timeline:

April - Request Suite

June - Reserve full-page ad in program book

Confirmation of Suite from Marriott

Advertise the Worldcon Gay Fandom suite on various Network email lists

Remainder of summer - prepare flyers about clubs for suite

Aug 31 - Sept 2 Gay Fandom Suite during Worldcon!!

Applicant name: The Gaylactic Network (http://www.gaylactic-network.org)

Applicant name also known as: The Gaylaxians

Address: PO Box 127, Brookline, MA 02146

Chairperson & Executive Director: Carl Cipra, Speaker

Project contact: Jed Shumsky, Treasurer & Worldcon Liaison

Daytime telephone: (215) 951-6562 email: shumsky@drexel.edu

Fax: N/A

Summarize the mission of your organization:

• To promote science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and other related genres (SF/F/H) in all forms, with particular attention to materials of interest to Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered (GLBT) people.
• To provide forums for GLBT people and their friends to share their interest in SF/F/H.
• To promote the presence of GLBT elements within SF/F/H and within fandom.
• To promote SF/F/H within GLBT communities.

Last fiscal year total income: $80 from Affiliate dues

Last fiscal year total expenses: $54 for PO Box and $1000 loan to Gaylaxicon 2000, which operated at a loss.

Project Information

• Title of project: Gay Fandom Suite & Spectrum Awards Reception
• Summary of proposed project: To provide a safe, welcoming space for gay fandom for 3 nights (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) during the Millennium Philcon, Aug 31 - Sept 3. The Suite will be used to host a place for gay fandom to play games, meet other gay fans, learn about the Gaylactic Network and its 6 affiliate clubs and to promote the Gaylactic Network Spectrum Awards - awards to honor works in science fiction, fantasy and horror which include positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues. We will distribute a GLBT "pocket" flyer listing Worldcon and Network-provided GLBT programming of interest for Worldcon attendees in the Gay Fandom Suite. The Network has invited several professional authors who have not been selected for the Worldcon program to do readings in the Gay Fandom Suite. Spectrum Award winner Keith Hartman and Gaylaxicon attendee Laura Underwood have already accepted our invitation. Times of these readings will be added to the "pocket" flyer so all GLBT programming is highlighted for those interested.
• Project start date: Aug 31
• Project end date: Sept 3
• Number of individuals' directly participating in/benefiting from this project: This is a difficult number to estimate: Approximately 55 people have been nominated for the 2001 Spectrum Awards. www.lambdasf.org/spectrum There are 3 categories awarded and last year we did have ties - therefore approximately 3 - 6 people would be awarded the Spectrum Award. The Spectrum Award reception will include all 2001 nominees and winners in attendance at Worldcon and we are inviting all previous Spectrum Award Winners and nominees - approximately 98 unique authors, comic book artists and web authors. These counts do not include nominated TV shows and movies as it has proved difficult to reach writers and directors to notify/invite them when they win. The Network currently consists of 6 affiliate clubs, which collectively have approximately 200 members, and attendance at Worldcon is estimated at approximately 20% for each club. We are currently working with the Atlanta OutWorlders, a year-old club that resulted from a Network-hosted gay fandom party at Dragoncon 2000. Network Representatives attended Dragoncon to host a network room party, gather names and email addresses for the various network mailing lists and to advertise and collect email addresses for Gaylaxicon 2000, the convention we were hosting in the fall of 2000. During the room party a fan that had been attempting to connect with other gay fandom in the Atlanta area, but had had little success approached us about doing some networking. We shared, with party attendees' permission, our collection of local email addresses with this fan and the OutWorlders were born. The OutWorlders has been highly successful - in one year they have hosted events almost weekly and manned a booth at Atlanta Pride Day for 3 days - selling Science Fiction books for a local Sci-Fi book store. The OutWorlders have 149+ people on their mailing lists and their leadership has requested to join the Network. Gay Fandom Parties at conventions like Worldcon can result in such success stories. There is no way to estimate the likelihood of this type of success. Our last two Gaylaxicon conventions attracted 250 - 300 people - and if you believe the GLBT adage that 10% of the population is G/L then we could approximate 300 Worldcon members, which may find our message and activities of interest. (According to the Worldcon Website they estimate 3000 attendance this year.) Our fan suite during the Baltimore Worldcon in 1998 had 100+ people visit the room. We anticipate more to visit because of the Spectrum Awards. We will be advertising our Suite in the Program book (something we've not done before) so all 3000 Worldcon attendees will be notified of our events. We will also be advertising to our various mailing lists - which total 750 members (some duplication.)

Signed,

Carl Cipra, Speaker of the Gaylactic Network

July 26, 2001

Budget

Income

admissions - NONE

non-government - Club Dues, private contributions

Affiliate donations: $60 for Program Book Ad; Spectrum Award funds will provide food served for the Spectrum Award Reception: $100; applicant cash - $500 from Gaylactic Network; In the absence of this grant, the remainder of costs will be made up by private donations.

Subtotal: $660

Total project income - None. We would like to break even in terms of our donated income and project expenses. However the project may very well inspire people to become members of the Gaylactic Network, which would result in membership revenues and support for upcoming projects, such as a future Gaylaxicon.

Expenses

space rental:

program-related rental of 2-bay hospitality suite for 3 nights; $318.75 * 3=$956.25 * 14% hotel tax = $133.88 = $1090.13

marketing

promotion/advertising (excluding fundraising) -

remaining expenses

program consumables -

program equipment rental - None

program related printing/duplicating:

Total project expenses: $1929

Grant amount requested: $1269 for the remainder of the project expenses.

Arisia '02 Budget

(Editor's Note: for the sake of formatting, I have added some additional total lines, and made certain other generic formatting changes for printing the Budget in MENTOR. If there are any problems or difficulties with this exercise of and Editor's Prerogative, please address me directly - Merv)

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Cambridge, MA 02139