WSFS Business: Conversion Cap Repeal

Anyone going to Aussiecon 4 who hasn't given any thought to attending the WSFS Business Meeting yet should read this about the proposal to remove the cap on initial attending membership costs, which would allow newly-seated Worldcons to set their initial price wherever they want without reference to the "Advance Supporting Membership" (Voting Fee) you pay when you vote.

While some may argue that the cap serves as a brake on rapacious Worldcon committees, I say that what's really happening is that it's forced the cost of a supporting membership unnaturally high, and that if bids weren't obliged to set the voting fee high enough to avoid losing money on every attending membership sold in the first 90 days, they could set the supporting membership at a lower cost, not frighten off so many would-be members who might want to join WSFS to get involved even when they can't attend, and actually increase the convention's total revenue by selling a lot more of those supporting memberships.

I'll be voting in favor of this proposal, and I hope those of you attending A4 will do so too.