About GUFF
What is GUFF? GUFF was created in 1979. Known as the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund or the Going Under Fan Fund, depending on which direction it's running, GUFF exists to provide funds to enable well-known fans from Australasia and Europe to visit each other's national (or other) conventions and to 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 Aussiecon4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention is open to anyone who was active in fandom prior to August 2008, 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 or otherwise verify 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 the 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 any 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 2010 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?
Candidates.
Each candidate has posted a bond of GBP15; promised that barring force majeure they will travel to Aussiecon4 (http://www.aussiecon4.org.au/), if elected, and provided nominations and a short platform displayed overleaf extolling their many interests and virtues.
The 2009/10 guff race ballot – Europe to Australia
About the race
GUFF 2009 is now on. Candidates for the Europe to Australasia race are: James Shields and Douglas Spencer. You can vote via Paypal (see http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~lister/guff/) or send cheque or money order or cash in person to Angela Rosin, 26 Hermitage Grove, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 6DR, United Kingdom (cheques made out to 'GUFF', email ang.rosin[AT]gmail.com), or Sue Ann Barber PO Box 249, Pascoe Vale South, Victoria, 3044, Australia (cheques made out to 'GUFF' email activeim[AT]hotmail.com – paypal to the same address).
Voting ends 5th April 2010 23:59GMT.
About the candidates
James Shields is thrilled at the prospect of meeting up with groovy Australian fans. He has been an active fan since stumbling into a Dublin convention in 1991, and has since run conventions, published and written for fanzines, run fan clubs, built various fan and convention websites, and helped with the YAFA (Young Adult) programme at the 2005 Worldcon. He has become enthusiastic about Fan funds, and after helping with two TAFF reports and hosting GUFF delegates on their Irish stop-offs, would love to experience Australian fandom and promises to publish a timely trip report afterwards. He also likes Lego.
James' nominators are Claire Brialey, Dave Lally, Dave Langford, Danny Oz and Juliette Woods.
Douglas Spencer, besides being an SF fan, is also a fan of food, science, computers and bad puns. He can cook a bit, he can write a bit, he can act a bit. He's appeared in convention musicals. He's published fanzines under four different titles. He's participated in many convention programme items over nearly twenty years, including "Sumo Wrestling", "Science of Chocolate", "Songs of Praise", "Origami Workshop", and getting his head shaved for charity. He's hoping to meet lots of fans in New Zealand and Australia, sharing some stories, and maybe providing raw material for a new legend or two.
Doug's nominators are James Bacon, Fran Dowd, Mike Scott, Zara Baxter and Gene Melzack
About you
Please write your name and some contact details in case the administrators need to get in touch
Enclosed is ____________ as a contribution to GUFF (minimum GBP5, EUR6 AUD10)
Please indicate your voting preference by numbering the following
_____ Shields
_____ Spencer
_____ Hold over funds
_____ No preferencePlease do not repeat any numbers; please use only the numbers 1 to 4; you do not need to number all options.
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.