NatOrg discussions Week 4 July 2-8

What a talkative wee lot we are. There have been a number of issues this week.

Norman began the week by discussing finances, questioning where we would get money from, what it would be used for, and the financial relationship between the Natcon and the NatOrg.

• We agreed there should be two separate bank accounts for the NatOrg. One for general administration and the other for holding surplus con funds. This could be a high interest account.
• Money could come from direct memberships, donations, con memberships, and sponsorship and would be spent on trophies, promotion of the awards, a post box (cost around $120 per year), cards, donations to websites etc.
• Natcons using the same IRD number as the NatOrg will have the same financial year dates. Norman suggested that because it can take a con a long time to wind up, that additional monies left over at the end of the financial year could be placed in the NatOrg fund annd the NatOrg pays for the postcon book when the Natcon is ready,

Memberships.

• We discussed memberships this week and Lynelle/Norman is now doing a pros and cons list on membership periods and their effects. One suggestion raised was to have reminders go out in quarterly correspondence and cards go out with the next quarterly newsletter. Some people felt this was too long to wait, but if people don’t pay on time, it’s not our fault.
• Simon suggested a rolling date for memberships.

a    if one joined Odyssey con in February 2001 one's membership would run to 31 October 2001.
b    if that another person joined Con With The Wind at OdysseyCon but had not previously joined the natorg then his/her membership would start at 1 November 2001 and run through to 31 October 2002.

• Norman suggested a method for getting memberships up and running for the first couple of years. It is dated 6/07/01 and we can send it to you if you want it.
• There is still a lot of opposition to Natcon members automatically becoming NatOrg members. And there is concern about the legal/logistical entanglement of the Natcons and NatOrg. – although they would be run separately.
• Compulsory natorg membership was also a topic of discussion this week. We suggested that a tick-box for membership wouldn’t be much work, and that an education programme would be needed to show fans what they are opting into. We would not ask for a membership fee but could ask for donations in the first year, with a view to membership fees in the next year or once the NatOrg is well and truly established.
• If we have membership of AGM to AGM, then how do we know if a postal vote that is still in the mail, is valid? More on membership later. Perhaps we should let everyone be members and then let the fans decide when the members only voting period would start.
• We have put a membership options document on the nasf website for comment. Please do so.

Organisation

• Some people are opposed to the NatOrg lending money to Natcons for other than bailing them out at the end if they make a loss. But if the only intention is for the NatOrg to look after awarding cons, the Vogons (oops I meant Vogel’s) and holding on to money, then what are we doing?
• Norman suggested that the NatOrg could run an advertising campaign with assistance from clubs and the natcons. To be discussed further when we know how much money we have.
• People are concerned again that we are biting off more than we can chew, and that NatOrg should just focus on conventions for now, and worry about advertising, sponsorship and the like until a future time. There appears to be two different ideas about what the NatOrg should be, the minimalist and the expanded version. More on this issue to come.

• A suggestion was made that after Natcon has paid the required NatOrg fees, Natcons could give 50% of their profit to the NatOrg, and 50% to a charity. The Natcon could then choose to give it to the NatOrg if they wanted to.

• We are discussing the possible ‘roll out’ of the NatOrg and how it would work so that we start off with the easy duties and work our way up to the larger ones.
• It was suggested that rather than getting a PO Box, we use a personal address instead. There was concern about this, because if the person moved it would be difficult to get the mail. A PO Box address stays with a club and people remember it.
• There was concern that if writing competition entries are put on a website for viewing prior to a natcon, then pro writers are going to have “first publishing rights” with publishers.
• We discussed contacting fans about the NatOrg with regard to incorporation before CWTW via email or post, but that we would still have a vote at a business session at the NatCon to ensure that we had the mandate from the fans.

Other issues: to be discussed again when the topic comes up.

• The awards and trophies were discussed based on membership. If we have Natorg only members voting for awards, how are we going to police that? Also how are people going to be able to view nominees (particularly art). Can we get trophy engraving done during the convention weekend? Should NatOrg pay for the awards? And if so, how are we going to be able to afford the first lot which would cost approx $200 to produce
• We talked about awards and how we could engrave them given that voting isn’t done until the convention. It was felt that voting couldn’t be held before the Natcon because it would exclude some attendees. It was suggested that the engraving not be done until after the convention and the awards sent out to recipients, or get them engraved during the weekend – depending on expense.

As always, please let me know if I have left out something important.

Yours, in ever decreasing circles,

Lynelle.