What is GUFF? Known as the Going Under Fan Fund or the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund, depending on which direction it's running, GUFF was created in 1979. Like TAFF (the Trans Atlantic Fan Fund, between Europe and North America) and DUFF (the Down Under Fan Fund, between North America and Australia), GUFF exists to provide funds to enable well-known fans from Europe and Australasia to visit each other's national (or other) conventions and get to know each other's fandoms better. GUFF, like other fan funds, exists solely through the support of fandom. The candidates for each trip are voted on by interested fans, and each vote is accompanied by a monetary donation. These votes, and the continuing generosity of fandom through auctions and other donations, are what make GUFF possible.
Who may Vote? Voting in the race to send an Australasian fan to Interaction (the 63rd WorldCon in Glasgow, 4-8 August 2005) is open to anyone who was active in fandom prior to August 2002, and who contributes at least £5 or A$10 (or the equivalent in other currencies) to the fund. Larger contributions are encouraged and will be gratefully accepted. Only one vote per person is allowed. You must sign your ballot, but your vote will not be made public.
Voting Details. GUFF uses a preferential ballot system which guarantees automatic runoffs until a majority is obtained. You rank your candidates in order of your preference for them. If the leading first-place candidate does not have a majority of votes after the first round of counting, the first-place votes for the lowest-placed candidate are discarded, and the second-place votes on those ballots are counted as first-place votes for the candidates concerned. This process is repeated until one candidate has a majority of all the votes cast. Votes for second and third place candidates are therefore important; but you may not rank your favoured candidate in more than one position on your ballot.
Hold Over Funds. This choice, like 'No Award' in award balloting, gives you the chance to vote for no GUFF trip in 2005 if for any reason the candidates do not appeal. Hold Over Funds may be voted for in any position on the ballot.
No Preference. This choice is for voters who do not wish the GUFF trip to be held over, but who either cannot or prefer not to decide between the candidates.
Donations. GUFF gratefully accepts your freely given money and material for auction. If you're not eligible to vote, or for some reason you don't wish to vote, why not donate anyway? (Give early and give often!) Money can also be donated through the website at http://www.ericlindsay.com/guff/donate.htm.
Candidates. Each candidate has posted a bond of A$25; promised that, unless struck down by an iceberg, meteorite or other act of a higher power, they will travel to the WorldCon in 2005, if elected; and provided signed nominations and a 100-word platform extolling their many interests and virtues (reprinted overleaf).
Please read both sides of this ballot before voting. Send the entire ballots (both side) as your vote.
Name:
Address:
E-mail address:
Signature:
I have contributed ______ to GUFF by the folowing method:If you think your name may not be known to the administrators then, to ensure that your vote qualifies to be counted, please give in the space below the name and address of an active fan (not a fan group, a candidate or one of their nominators) to whom you are known and who is known to (one of) the administrators.
Anyone copying this ballot should insert their name in the space below, unless you're reprinting from the PDF on the website.
Irwin Hirsh
There is some truth in the rumour that Sue Ann quit fulltime work to support her fannish pursuits. In twenty years in fandom she has been an active volunteer of many clubs and conventions on the East and West Coasts of Australia. Sue Ann loves programming conventions and was responsible for Convergence, Continuum 2003 & 2004 in Melbourne. Her fanzines, Oscillation Overthruster and Three-Eyed Frog are award nominated; she is currently editing Ethel the Aardvark for the Melbourne Science Fiction Club, of which she is the President. Sue Ann is looking forward to attending Interaction and meeting lots of fans from around the world.
Nominators: Paul Kincaid, Christina Lake, Rose Mitchell, Alan Stewart, Danny Oz (Heap)
A little over a decade ago, in a galaxy we call home, I found fandom. A passionate musician, I've sung throughout Oz, recited and judged Vogon Poetry, produced fanzines, and am often found committee'ing myself to numerous clubs and conventions, and dressing up (and down) from convention halls to stage and screen. I've never yet been to the UK or Europe and if I win GUFF I plan to travel widely meeting as many fans as possible. I'd also like to explore some of my family heritage and perhaps spend some time stargazing in a field, somewhere in Innsbruck.
Nominators: James Allen, Zara Baxter, Flick, Murray McLaughlin, Maureen Kincaid Speller
Who is Dave Cake? He is a litfan, a comics fan, a gamer, an active con-runner, a small press publisher, a fan writer. He has worked on many conventions in many capacities, from Chair to DJ. He likes music, what he calls forteana but his wife calls 'weird dumb stuff', and conversing over a beer. He has never visited anywhere in the UK or Europe. He is keen to meet fans who are now just names in fanzines or blogs, to room party to within an inch of his life, and to throw himself headlong into a giant Worldcon experience.
Nominators: Stephen Dedman, Tim Illingworth, Henk Langeveld, Grant Watson, Sean Williams
GUFF is a good thing: let's make it annual. If we're elected, we'll aim to raise GUFF's profile across Australasia. We'll publish a timely trip report featuring some of the byways as well as the highways of European fandom. During our fifteen years of fanac, we've met many wonderful people, some of whom have slept on our spare bed or braved our tiny car or put up with our recalcitrant barbecue. We run very small conventions and pub our ish. We've played softball in Wisconsinwhat about french cricket in Glasgow?
Nominators: Justin Ackroyd, Bruce Gillespie, Mark Plummer, Yvonne Rousseau, Alison Scott
I vote for (write 1, 2, etc.)
[ __ ] Sue Ann Barber
[ __ ] Alison Barton
[ __ ] David Cake
[ __ ] Damien Warman and Juliette Woods
[ __ ] No Preference
[ __ ] Hold Over Funds
Deadline: Votes and accompanying contributions must reach one of the administrators by midnight (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, 29 April 2005.
Send completed ballot and cheque or money order for £5 or $A10 or more (see over for details) to either of the following addresses:
UK Agent. Pat McMurray, 88 Poppleton Rd, London, E11 1LT, UK, e-mail: guffguy@mac.com
Australian Agents. Jean Weber and Eric Lindsay, PO Box 640, Airlie Beach, QLD 4802, Australia, e-mail: guff@jeanweber.com
You may also vote and contributed on the website http://www.ericlindsay.com/guff/GUFFballot2004.htm
This is the official voting form, but copying of this ballot is encouraged provided that the text is reproduced unaltered. You can get copies of this ballot from the website at http://www.ericlindsay.com/guff/guffballot2004.pdf (you may need to right-click to download).