Bear in Charge

[kevin_standlee]

travelswithkuma supervises the Tech Desk at Match Game SF

Bear is very important and has his own membership badge.

He has an actual full-size badge, too, but it's too big for him. And he voted in Site Selection yesterday, too, although we were careful to have him visibly vote No Preference because people get unhappy about stuffed bears casting ballots. I know; I was there in 1990 in The Hague when there was a good-sized flap about such things and an amendment to the WSFS Constitution because of it.

Comments

[retro-rider55.livejournal.com]

We were able to get a badge for a Gund bear in '86 at Norwescon 9 (art by Michael Whelan) - but no plastic frame for it. His number between ours was like, 1012.5, 'twixt 1012 and 1013, or some such.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I'm amusing myself imagining the wording to that amendment.

[(Anonymous)]

You don't have to imagine it -- the minutes of the 1990 Business Meeting can be found online. I'm reluctant to post a direct link because LiveJournal will probably block this comment if I do, but Googling for wsfs business meeting 1990 should find it for you.

The key portion says:

ITEM 10, One Person = One Vote, proposed by Kevin Standlee, Rick Katze, and David Berry. This appeared on the agenda in the form:

MOVED, to amend Article III by adding, as the third sentence of Section 1: "Corporations, Associations, and other non-human entities may vote for site selection, but may only cast votes for ‘No Preference’."

[It should be noted for the historical record that became informally known as the "Teddy Bear Amendment", for reasons which need not concern us here.]

There were changes to the wording at the 1990 business meeting and apparently since, but the provision as revised is still in Section 4.3 of the WSFS Constitution.

--J. Kreitzer

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

How wonderful that non-human entities can vote, even if their votes won't actually change the site selection. Thoroughly appropriate for SF.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I saw the whole thing in the Hague, and am still getting mileage out of the story.