WSFS

(1) The Original Name of WSFA

When the Washington Science Fiction Association was formed in 1946/47, it was originally known as the Washington Science Fiction Society. See WSFA for more.

(2) The World Science Fiction Society

The World Science Fiction Society, or WSFS (usually pronounced somewhere between "WIS-fəs" and "WIS-fis" -- it's never spelled out in speech), is the unincorporated literary society that sponsors Worldcon and administers the Hugo Awards.

While each Worldcon concom is independent and incorporates as a separate organization, all are under the auspices of WSFS and governed by the WSFS constitution, see below.

Every current Worldcon member is automatically a member of WSFS and entitled to nominate and vote for the recipients of the Hugo Awards, to choose the locale of the Worldcon two years hence at site selection and, if attending, to participate in the WSFS Business Meeting (see below), which governs the rules of WSFS and of the awards.

Years ago, Worldcons used to issue WSFS membership cards, but, sadly, that practice has died out.

WSFS also maintains a number of longstanding committees: the Mark Protection Committee (to which each Worldcon appoints members in addition to elected members), the Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee, the Worldcon Runners Guide Editorial Committee, as well as the Hugo Eligibility Rest of the World Committee (HEROW). It also endorses the work of the Long List Committee.

WSFS is not to be confused with the historic, disastrous WSFS Inc.

Website

WSFS Constitution

The World Science Fiction Society has three sets of rules: The WSFS Constitution, the WSFS Standing Rules and the Resolutions of Continuing Effect. The Constitution is the basic body of rules which govern Worldcon, the Standing Rules are lesser rules established mostly for the operation of the WSFS Business Meeting] and the Resolutions of Continuing Effect are a catch-all of motions passed by the Business Meeting which happen to still have force today.

The WSFS Constitution is the governing document of the Worldcon. The modern constitution was approved in the early 60s and has been amended often, but has continued since then in basically the same form. (See WSFS, Inc. for a discussion of some aspects of this process.

All Worldcons and NASFiCs are bound by the WSFS Constitution which is under the control of the WSFS business meeting, an assembly of all WSFS members who wish to take part, which is held at each Worldcon, typically for three days between 10AM and noon, though the meeting has shown a distressing tendency to grow longer since 2000 or so.

Standing Rules

The Standing Rules are lesser rules established mostly for the operation of the WSFS Business Meeting (see below) which are easier to change than the Constitution and, naturally, must be consistant with it. An amendment to the Constitution must be passed by two successive WSFS Business Meetings. Standing Rules, OTOH, may be introduced and passed or repealed by a simple majority vote.

The only real difference between the Standing Rules and the Resolutions of Continuing Effect is that the former were intended to be permanent parts of the governance of the WSFS and are documented as such from the start, while the latter are motions and ruling of the Chair which just happen to have long-term effects.

The Standing Rules are almost exclusively focused on governing the operation of the WSFS Business Meeting by providing added rules of order, modifications of Roberts' Rules and the accumulated debris of fifty or sixty years. While the WSFS Constitution governs WSFS, knowledge of the Standing Rules is essential to understanding how the WSFS Business Meeting works.

The Nitpicking and Flyspecking Committee is charged with proposing motions to the WSFS BM which clarify the various WSFS Rules, but do not actually change their effect.

Resolutions of Continuing Effect

If the Standing Rules are the Business Meeting's "accumulated debris", the Resolutions of Continuing Effect are the shavings and crumbs that fell off the table. These resolutions are documented but, unlike the Standing Rules, are not actual rules. Many of them are rulings from the Chair which necessarily have effect only for that meeting, but are documented as potential precedent for the use of later presiding officers. Others are motions passed by the WSFS Business Meeting which have continuing effect, but not that much... Many of them are hortatory, e.g., the 2000 WSFS BM voted that "Moved, to encourage Worldcons who tape their sessions to make copies available to the Worldcon history exhibit." Clearly this is still in effect; not so clear what effect it has...

Hear Ben Yalow's recollection of the constitutional shenanigans of the 1970s. wiki containing an annotated copy

Multiple unrelated entries on one page are deprecated.

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Miscellaneous

This is a miscellaneous page

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Club

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