From the TAFF ballot form: The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. Since that time TAFF has regularly brought North American fans to European conventions and European fans to North American conventions. TAFF exists solely through the support of fandom. The candidates are voted on by interested fans all over the world, and each vote is accompanied by a donation [...] These votes, and the continued generosity of fandom, are what make TAFF possible. (See past and present ballot forms for more.)
TAFF Now
2012 Eastbound Race - 2012 TAFF Ballot: DOC, RTF, PDF
- TAFF News (Facebook)
- TAFF News (LiveJournal)
- TAFF News (Twitter)
- Announcement, 31 August 2011
Administrators - Europe: John Coxon, 14 Chapel Lane, Werrington, Peterborough, PE4 6RS. Email john.coxon at gmail.com.
- North America: Anne and Brian Gray, 5006 Royene Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA. Email akg.netmouse at gmail.com.
Paypal: Both administrators' email addresses, as above, can be used to send TAFF donations and voting fees via PayPal. It would be appreciated if voters sending the minimum £2 or $3 could add a little – 50p or 50¢, say – to cover PayPal charges if applicable.
Friends and Relations - League of Fan Funds – UK fundraising
TAFF Archive
- All the Past TAFF Races (in detail)
- TAFF Winner Index
- Past TAFF Ballot Forms
- TAFF in Thirteen Paragraphs
- TAFF Publications On Line
Additional - TAFF Administrator FAQ
- TAFF Logos
- TAFF Group Photo, 2010
- First TAFF Race Announcement, October 1953
- Voting Procedures Since 1954
- Trip Reports Sampler ... brief extracts from unfinished reports
- TROLL (TAFF Reports On-Line Library) ... rekeying/scanning old material – with wants list!
Archived Elsewhere - FANAC Fan Funds Page
- FANAC TAFF Ephemera – miscellaneous scanned newsletters
TAFF Reports in Printed Form
General note: These should be available, if not otherwise specified, from one or other of the current TAFF administrators as above. At last report, former NA administrator Chris Garcia was about to pass his stocks to Anne and Brian Gray. - Tobes Taff Ting, extracted by torture from Tobes Valois at the 2005 UK Eastercon and published April 2005.
- WorldConNomicon, James Bacon's lightning 2004 report (40pp A4, small print with many photographs) is available from him: £5/Euro7/$9 inclusive of postage, to 211 Blackhorse Ave, Dublin 7, Ireland. For those on the UK mainland, Claire Brialey adds: "We have a stock of James Bacon's TAFF trip reports here, for easier payment and posting to people who want them in the UK. The same price of five quid including p&p applies (cheques can be made payable either to me or to James himself) ... 59 Shirley Road, Croydon, Surrey CR0 7ES." Available in the USA from the TAFF administrator(s).
- Snufkin Goes West, Maureen Kincaid Speller's collected 'Notes from the TAFF Trail' – not the full trip report, which is to follow – has a tasty Sue Mason cover; 10pp A4; £1.50 (cheques to Maureen Speller) or $3 (cheques to Roger Robinson) from Fishlifter Press, 14 Northway Rd, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 6JE.
- Have Bag, Will Travel is the 1996 TAFF trip report by Martin Tudor, who published it while still in office (it takes the average Langford five years, and the average Hansen ten). £5 post free from Martin Tudor at 22 Ravensbourne Gro, Willenhall, W.Midlands, WV13 1HX, or from Mark Plummer at London pub meetings. No longer available in the USA.
- The Tudor Dynasty (Bid Zine), Martin Tudor. Available from the TAFF administrator(s).
- On The TAFF Trail, Rob Hansen's 1984 trip report. Available from the TAFF administrator(s).
- The TransAtlantic Hearing Aid, Dave Langford's 1980 trip report, was published by Rob Jackson's Inca Press in 1985 and remains available from Dave Langford, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU. This is a 74pp (plus card covers) A5 booklet illustrated with splendid cartoons by Atom, Jim Barker, Brad Foster, Alexis Gilliland, Rob Hansen, Stu Shiffman, Dan Steffan, Taral, and D. West. £5/$10 post free. Proceeds to TAFF. Available in the USA from the TAFF administrator(s).
- New Routes in America, Peter Roberts's at-last-completed 1977 trip report – now running to 30,000 words, with copious cartoons and five new concluding chapters written in 1999 – was published in December 1999; A4 softbound, 32pp small print plus covers, prelims and binder. Currently OUT OF PRINT. Much of the report can be read on this site: the full copyedited text and higher-quality illustrations will appear here when David Langford has the time.
- The Moffat House Abroad, Len & June Moffatt's 1973 trip report. Available in the USA from the TAFF administrator(s).
- TAFF Tales, Ken Bulmer's 1955 trip report, was finally published as a single volume in 1998. Currently OUT OF PRINT. A version it can be read on this site: the copyedited text and higher-quality illustrations will appear here when David Langford has the time.
Announcements & Updates
9 January 2012 Dated 6 January, here's TAFFline #3 with a full report of the recently concluded race and, at last, the detailed voting breakdown for statistics buffs.
11 December 2011 Jacqueline Monahan wins TAFF. A close race, reportedly.
28 October 2011 A new page on this site offers higher-resolution versions of the TAFF Logo images.
24 October 2011 Podcast interviews with the 2010 candidates on Jim Mowatt's blog.
4 October 2011 The 2012 TAFF ballot is now available from this site in Word (.doc) , RTF and PDF formats. HTML, to match the archive of past ballots, will follow when Langford finds some of that copious spare time.
2 October 2011 Candidates in the 2012 eastbound TAFF race are Warren Buff, Kim Kofmel and Jacq Monahan. Official announcement and ballot to follow soon, with an expected voting deadline of mid-December.
1 September 2011 The 2012 race is announced, with the 2012 UK Eastercon as destination and a nominations deadline of 30 September.
27 April 2011 The voting deadline was midnight on the 26th, and John Coxon (to whom congratulations) is winner of a TAFF race in which the 20% rule played its most dramatic role yet. Se the voting figures here or in Steve Green's newsletter Taffline 2 [PDF]. Concern that the 20% rule could have a harsh effect on races with several candidates was noted on this site several years ago; this is the first race whose unusual voting patterns have brought the issue to life.
12 April 2011 Steve Green whips up a final 2011 voting frenzy with his newsletter Taffline 1 [PDF].
8 March 2011 TAFF 2011 candidate interviews (Pips 5 PDF) – transcribing the podcast reported below (18 January).
29 January 2011 By popular demand, to allow campaigning and voting at Eastercon, the 2011 TAFF voting deadline has been extended to midnight GMT on 26 April 2011 (7pm EST; 4pm PST). Official press release here. The ballot form (all versions – see "TAFF Now" at left) has been suitably amended. Again.
24 January 2011 Ballot form (all versions – see "TAFF Now" at left) slightly amended to clarify PayPal and cheque payment details.
18 January 2011 Jim Mowatt's Pips 05 is a podcast (dread word) of interviews with all four 2011 TAFF candidates. No comment from your friendly TAFF webmaster, who is too deaf to cope with these things; but I'm sure it's all very wonderful.
3 January 2011 PayPal payments can be made to either administrator's e-address. See note under TAFF Now at the left.
20 December 2010 The 2001 TAFF ballot form has been released in Word and PDF format. Here is this site's traditional HTML version.
19 December 2010 Here, in Word as received and also converted to a web page for this site, is the official announcement of a 2011 race with four candidates: Graham Charnock, John Coxon, Liam Proven and Paul Treadaway. Ballot to follow soon.
15 December 2010 Last call for the needed second 2011 candidate. Later: we have a race.
1 December 2010 There is one declared candidate for TAFF 2011, John Coxon. Another is needed for there to be a race.
30 September 2010 There is now a LiveJournal page for TAFF 2011.
26 September 2010 Steve Green writes: "The 2011 TAFF race (Europe > North America) will open for nominations on 12 November (the first day of Novacon 40). The nomination process will be closed on 18 December and candidates announced no later than 20 December. The race itself will run until 12 March 2011, with the winner attending Renovation, the 69th World SF Convention, in Reno, Nevada, 17-21 August 2011. Anyone interested in standing should contact me via e-mail: stevegreen at livejournal dot com."
September 2010 The Corflu Cobalt group photo of past and present TAFF winners.
August 2010 An important addition to this site's historical record: Rob Hansen has scanned the inside back cover of Hyphen #4 (October 1953) – the very first printed announcement of TAFF.
June 2010 The North American administrators were married on 22 May and are now Anne and Brian Gray. Note their new snailmail address: 2726 Sagebrush Cir #203, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, USA.
March 2010 Brian Gray & Anne KG Murphy are posting their TAFF trip photos as they tour Britain. At Corflu Cobalt in Winchester, Mike Scott photographed them in this group of 15 TAFF winners from 13 races (1968-2010).
23 December 2009 Brian Gray & Anne KG Murphy are announced as the 2010 TAFF winners, The official race report by Chris Garcia is in the latest issue of his newsletter President TAFF's Bathtub.
6 October 2009 The promised HTML version of the 2010 ballot.
5 October 2009 Here's the 2010 TAFF ballot – temporarily here as a Word document. The HTML version to match the past run of ballots will follow.
3 September 2009 The 2010 TAFF race is announced, with nominations closing on 4 October. See press release.
24 April 2009 Chris Garcia sends the latest issue of his newsletter President TAFF's Bathtub with the official 2009 race announcement.
20 April 2009 Suzanne Tompkins has published Jerry's Suzle's 2005 TAFF Trip Report – Travels in the United Kingdom in 2005. Available from her at PO Box 25075, Seattle, WA 98165, USA.
19 April 2009 Steve Green has won the current westbound TAFF race with a first-round majority, as announced here.
Easter 2009 Last-minute improvised campaign video with Steve Green and Tom Womack interviewed by Peter Sullivan. Voting closes 18 April.
19 December 2008 Chris Garcia writes: "I think it's time to open up my TAFF Report to the masses for free. So if you find the time, just remove the password protection and let 'er go!" Front page now freely accessible here.
1 December 2008 By popular demand, here too is a PDF version of the 2009 Westbound TAFF Ballot.
26 November 2008 On this site at last: the 2009 Westbound TAFF Ballot (HTML).
13 November 2008 Update, update – everything you know is wrong! The TAFF candidates are now Steve Green and Tom Womack. Updated LJ announcement.
6 November 2008 Candidates for the 2009 westbound race are John Coxon and Steve Green. Preliminary LJ announcement.
24 September 2008 The second issue of Chris Garcia's newsletter President Taff's Bathtub.
26 August 2008 The westbound TAFF race from Europe to the 2009 Worldcon (Anticipation in Montréal, Canada) is announced.
19 June 2008 Today's amazing double-bill: Suzanne Tompkins's fifth and final TAFF newsletter, and Chris Garcia's first.