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 a European fan to Convergence 2, 8-11 June 2007 (the Australian National Convention, http://www.natcon.org.au/2007/), is open to anyone who was active in fandom prior to June 2004, and who contributes at least GBP5 or AUD10 (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 2007 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.users.on.net/juliettewoods/guff.html..
Candidates. Each candidate has posted a bond of GBP10; promised that, unless struck down by an iceberg, meteorite or other act of a higher power, they will travel to Convergence 2, 8-11 June 2007 (http://www.natcon.org.au/2007/) if elected; and provided nominations and a short platform extolling their many interests and virtues (reprinted overleaf).
Please read both sides of this ballot before voting. Send the entire ballot (both sides) as your vote.
Name:
Address:
E-mail address:
Signature:
I have contributed to GUFF by the following method:
Cash, cheque, or money order (Please make GBP cheques or money orders payable to P McMurray and send to Pat, AUD cheques or money orders payable to GUFF and send to Damien and Juliette.)
Paypal (Send to juliette[at]pobox.com or use the website http://www.users.on.net/juliettewoods/guff.html and be sure to mention your preferred order of candidates in the comments.)
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 [Using Dave Langford's PDF conversion to HTML for website]
I'm Johan and I'm a fan. Swedish fandom -- 53 years old -- is small and deadly, and the fans are mad but proud. I've been a conrunner for 22 years, and a worse con than the first I ran you will never see. I've published a dozen of zines, but to be frank, I'm in it for the books, the conversation, and the beer. I've never been to the far side of the world. I want to meet the fabled Aussie fans on their home turf, and if possible squeeze in Wellington as well. It would be wonderful. Trip report? You bet.
Nominators: Jukka Halme, Lennart Uhlin, Teddy, Alison Barton, Kelly Buchanan. Steve Davies
Steve Davies is a fan of many parts, some of which are even allowed out in public. He has run conventions from small cuddly ones to worldcons and was chairman of the UK national convention in 1999. He is co-editor of the fanzine Plokta (http://www.plokta.com), winner of the Fanzine Hugo in 2005 and 2006. He has also messed around with filk, costuming, book-collecting, beer, art and writing about himself in the third person. He has been to Australia a couple of times before and is actually married to a Tasmanian, Giulia De Cesare. However, he hasn't been back for a while and really wants an excuse to come over again. If he wins he expects to be bringing back large quantities of Tim Tams and Cherry Ripes for the expatriate Australians of England.
Nominators: Tim Illingworth, Paul Kincaid, Alison Scott, Justin Ackroyd, Eric Lindsay.
I'm Anna Davour, often known as Åka (sometimes spelled wokka on the internet). I'm an enthusiastic all-round fan: fanzines, conventions, clubs and meetings, web forums and blogs -- I'm there. We don't really have any filk tradition here, but I like to sing as well. So far I've limited my activity mainly to Scandinavia, although I have attended a couple of British conventions and was a member of e-APA for a while. I would love to go to Australia and make new friends, and to bring news of the wide world back home. This is also a good incentive for me to write more in English, and maybe revive the old plans of a new fanzine.
Nominators: Ylva Spångberg, Sten Thaning, Britt-Louise Viklund, Sharee Carton, Roman Orszanski.
I wandered into fandom via the alt.tv.red-dwarf usenet group in the mid-90's. It was here I first encountered Australasian fans and decided these were cool people I wanted to learn more about. Since my first con -- Aliens Stole My Handbag in 2001 -- I've been increasingly involved with fandom and I was young adult program stream (YAFA) staff at the 2005 Worldcon. I'm an active fan -- light reading, infrequent fanzine publishing and some heavy lifting. Friends have told me I'm friendly, cheerful and, with a steady supply of potato products, cause little trouble.
Nominators: Claire Brialey, James Bacon, Max, David Cake, Alison 'Alsion' Campbell.
I vote for (write 1, 2, etc.)
[ __ ] Johan Anglemark
[ __ ] Steve Davies
[ __ ] Anna Davour
[ __ ] Ang Rosin
[ __ ] No Preference
[ __ ] Hold Over Funds
Deadline: Votes and accompanying contributions must reach one of the administrators by midnight (GMT+1) on Monday, 16 April 2007.
Send completed ballot and cheque or money order for GBP5 or AUD10 or more (see over for details) to either of the following addresses:
UK Agent. Pat McMurray, 9 Corcorans, Brentwood, Essex, CM15 9NR; pcmcmurray[at]yahoo.co.uk
Australian Agents. Damien Warman and Juliette Woods, 173 Portrush Road, Maylands SA 5069, Australia; dmw[at]pobox.com , juliette[at]pobox.com
You may also vote and contribute via the website http://www.users.on.net/juliettewoods/guff.html
Copying of this ballot is encouraged provided that the text is reproduced unaltered. You can get copies of this ballot from the website.