When Did That Happen?

[kevin_standlee]

Well, I sure didn't notice until it was pointed out to us that Denvention Three raised their supporting membership price to $50 (from $40) on January 1, just in time for Hugo Nominating to open. That's rather unfortunate. It's legal, don't get me wrong -- the price cap is 125% of their $40 advance supporting membership ("voting fee"). I just think it's unfortunate, at least if you want to encourage people to vote. I have to say that this tendency to keep raising the prices on such low-overhead-cost memberships makes the prospect of requiring voting-rights-only (no publications) memberships at a relatively low cost a more attractive idea. I'm not going to launch a campaign for it, though, as I don't think there are enough votes for it. Business Meeting fandom is likely to be pretty happy with the status quo in this department.

Comments

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

Not something I weigh in on often, but this is of some concern. The first question is why they felt a need to raise it at all -- the second is why just as Hugo voting opens?

I suspect the answer to the 2nd is that whoever figured Jan 1 wasn't thinking about when Hugo's open, but rather that Jan 1 is an easy date for folks to remember. It's unfortunate as hell and I would hope Montreal thinks about that as they set up their dates.

I'm more concerned, however, as Deb is, about why this happened at all.

As Deb, the idea of a voting-only membership offends me -- and not only because I'm enough of a historian to be bothered by what I see as a poll tax -- but perhaps some regulation more than currently exists over Supporting Memberships is in order to consider.

Something to think about.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

With fewer paper publications, the current supporting membership is edging closer to a voting-only membership already. The perceived benefits of a supporting membership continue to decrease.

I don't consider a voting-only membership to be a poll tax. You have to pay membership dues to be a member of an organization. It's not the same thing as having to pay a tax to vote for your government. Considering WSFS membership dues to be a poll tax presupposes that everyone has a right to vote in WSFS elections without having to purchase a membership.

[cherylmmorgan.livejournal.com]

But Supporting Memberships are already a poll tax. As Deb points out, the physical things that you get for your money account for less than half of the cost of the Supporting Membership, and that fraction is going to continue to go down as Worldcons move to electronically-distributed PRs. The only other point in buying a Supporting Membership (as opposed to acquiring one through voting in Site Selection) is so that you can vote in the Hugos. Voting Memberships would not create a poll tax, they would reduce the level of the existing poll tax (and along the way make a lot more money for the Worldcons).