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In the Chair Again
Jul. 15th, 2021 11:52 amI see that the DisCon III website staff list is updated — I've been busy with Westercon 74 for the past two weeks and had not been paying attention — so I can now talk about something that I've known about since shortly after the start of the DC3 shakeup: I have been appointed as Presiding Officer of the 2021 WSFS Business Meeting that will take place at DisCon III on December 16, 17, 18, and probably (based on our time constraints and the anticipated volume of business) 19, 2021.
I was earlier asked to be Parliamentarian after Linda Deneroff was appointed to the meeting Chair role, but when Linda was asked to take over as the Division Head of WSFS, she asked me to step into the Chair job again, and I accepted.
I intend to leave the Parliamentarian job vacant, as both I and Deputy Chair Donald Eastlake III do not in my opinion necessarily need a Parliamentarian, and it's not a required position. It's an advisory, non-line-manager position to be used when necessary.
Because of my involvement with both the Memphis and Winnipeg Worldcon bids as their WSFS advisor, I will (as I'd previously planned to do) recuse myself from presiding over any site selection business. Donald Eastlake will preside over that portion of the meeting, which should be the first portion of the meeting on Saturday, December 18, assuming the usual schedule.
I'll have more to say about the Business Meeting between now and Discon III, of course. I'm honored to be asked once again to serve in this position. I do want to remind people, though, that being Chair does not make me the dictator, or even the "team captain." I've had people (most of whom have probably never attended or watched a WSFS Business Meeting) assume that the Chair makes all of the decisions and controls the results. The job of the Chair is more like a referee, whose job it is to enforce the rules and to make sure that the decisions of the meeting reflect the will of the society. I've done it many times before, in more countries than anyone else, and I look forward to doing so again. What the meeting decides to do, I certainly cannot say, but I will say that whatever it decides it will be done in as orderly a manner as I can ensure, and within the rules of the World Science Fiction Society.
I was earlier asked to be Parliamentarian after Linda Deneroff was appointed to the meeting Chair role, but when Linda was asked to take over as the Division Head of WSFS, she asked me to step into the Chair job again, and I accepted.
I intend to leave the Parliamentarian job vacant, as both I and Deputy Chair Donald Eastlake III do not in my opinion necessarily need a Parliamentarian, and it's not a required position. It's an advisory, non-line-manager position to be used when necessary.
Because of my involvement with both the Memphis and Winnipeg Worldcon bids as their WSFS advisor, I will (as I'd previously planned to do) recuse myself from presiding over any site selection business. Donald Eastlake will preside over that portion of the meeting, which should be the first portion of the meeting on Saturday, December 18, assuming the usual schedule.
I'll have more to say about the Business Meeting between now and Discon III, of course. I'm honored to be asked once again to serve in this position. I do want to remind people, though, that being Chair does not make me the dictator, or even the "team captain." I've had people (most of whom have probably never attended or watched a WSFS Business Meeting) assume that the Chair makes all of the decisions and controls the results. The job of the Chair is more like a referee, whose job it is to enforce the rules and to make sure that the decisions of the meeting reflect the will of the society. I've done it many times before, in more countries than anyone else, and I look forward to doing so again. What the meeting decides to do, I certainly cannot say, but I will say that whatever it decides it will be done in as orderly a manner as I can ensure, and within the rules of the World Science Fiction Society.
