Please read both sides before voting and send the entire sheet as your vote, if voting by post. (We encourage electronic voting via the form at taff.org.uk and payment via PayPal: see below)
The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund (TAFF) was created in 1953 to provide funds to bring well-known and active 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. It exists solely through fandom’s support and continued generosity, which has sustained TAFF, our longest-running travel fund, for some 70 years. We gratefully accept your freely given money, material for auctions, and other relevant donations: give early and often! Please contact your nearest administrator for details.
Who may vote? Voting in TAFF 2025 is open to anyone active in fandom before April 2023 who donates at least £3 (GBP), €4 (EUR), or $4 (USD) to TAFF. (Larger donations very gratefully accepted.) Voting is by secret ballot, with one vote per person. You must provide your name on the ballot. You may change your vote at any time prior to the deadline. All votes must reach the administrators by 11.59 pm British/Irish time (UTC+1; 3.59 pm Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-7) on Wednesday 23 April 2025.
Candidates: Each candidate has posted a bond of £10 (GBP) or equivalent, promising to travel, if elected, to the World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle, Washington, USA, August 13-17, 2025. Each candidate has three nominators on their side of the Atlantic and two on the other, each of whom has personally contacted the administrators with their nomination. Each candidate has also provided a platform of up to 101 words (published overleaf). Anyone active in SF fandom may run for TAFF, so long as they fulfil these criteria for the relevant race. Contact your administrator about future races!
Voting system: TAFF uses a preferential voting system similar to the system used in voting for the Hugo Awards. Voters should rank candidates in order of preference. If necessary, the lowest-ranked candidates will be eliminated from the race and those votes redistributed in subsequent rounds according to the next ranking until one candidate has a clear majority. A candidate must also receive at least 20% of the first-place votes on both sides of the Atlantic to win. Any candidate failing to receive this minimum percentage on either side will be dropped, and the second-place votes on their ballots counted as first-place votes in the next ballot count. (Note: In years with more than three candidates, this rule is not applied until after the candidates with the fewest votes have been eliminated and just three candidates are left.) Votes will be counted according to a voter’s contact address, rather than by where they send their ballot. Votes from fans not resident in either Europe or North America will not count toward either side of the Atlantic for the purpose of this rule (but are nonetheless encouraged, of course).
Hold Over Funds: This choice, like "No Award" in Hugo balloting, gives you the chance to vote for no TAFF trip this year should you feel none of the candidates deserve your support. "Hold Over Funds" is exempt from the 20% requirement: if it receives a majority of the votes on the final ballot, no trip will be held on this occasion.
No Preference: This option caters for voters who prefer not to vote for any single candidate, but who don’t want the trip held over.
How to vote: The minimum donation to vote is £3 (GBP), €4 (EUR) or $4 (USD). VOTES CAST WITH NO PAYMENT WILL BE RULED INVALID! Checks/cheques should be made payable to "TAFF" (for cheques in GBP) or to "Sarah Gulde" (for checks in USD). PayPal donations should be made to one of the email addresses below. If you mail your printed and signed ballot, please send it and your donation to:
Europe: Sandra Bond, 1B Chestnut House, Mucklestone Road, Loggerheads, Market Drayton TF9 4DA, UK (PayPal payments to: EUTAFF@gmail.com)
North America: Sarah Gulde, 3244 SE 153rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97236, USA (PayPal payments to: sarahmiyoko@gmail.com – NOTE NEW PAYPAL ADDRESS SINCE LAST RACE, from 1 Jan 2025)
The 2025 TAFF Candidates:
Zi Graves
"As my nominators can vouch – varying as they do in fandom origins from vidding, to zines, to games and media conventions, to good old traditional sci-fi – I like to try a little bit of everything, and get a range of perspectives on fandom. Hopefully I brought some of that breadth to Eastercon when they let me run the programme in 2023!
Why not send me off to North America for a whole new continent of perspectives to explore? I promise to share cat photos, and whatever I can bring through customs..."
Nominators: Claire Brialey, Dave Hodson, Alex "Tygrys" Stan (EUR); Hannah Orlove, Spike (NA)
Mikołaj Kowalewski
"Third time’s the charm, they say. In my 10 years in fandom, I have been a conrunner (including 2025 Polish Natcon), volunteer, panellist, board member of the ESFS, and (to my great delight!) GOH liaison at the Glasgow Worldcon for Ken MacLeod. Originally from Poland, I’m currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark, and making lots of Nordic fandom connections. When I’m not organising or travelling, I enjoy SF literature and board games. TAFF seems like a great opportunity to meet more fellow fans overseas, and for me to tell you all about the wonderful Polish and Nordic fandom."
Nominators: Fia Karlsson, Marcin "Alqua" Kłak, James Shields (EUR); John Pomeranz, Geri Sullivan (NA)
Jan Vaněk jr.
"Czech (rarely even proud), 1976 (so personal Golden Age coincided/ Booming 90s), sercon(n?!)ish/bookish.
Fanac online/int'n'lly since good old Usenet: edited ISFDB, Wikipedia when (they) still young, sent SFE corrections, commented @focal-point blogs, pilgrimaged European Worldcons, pub WOOFzine Newt News. Honestly, kinda failed @all.
Yet: 2022- expanded Fancy3 >100k words, many quite original/unique/revelatory, some commended. Still find immense, invigorating, useful fun. Fanhistory now easy even for such as I, standing on shoulders o'jiants. (Ackermanese too…) Come over, water's fine! Fancyclopedists for TAFF! (& v.v.)
Other interests translatology, Sorabistics, craft beer. More: Fancyclopedia.org/User:Jvjr."
Nominators: Rob Hansen, Jaroslav Olsa jr, Wolf von Witting (EUR); Gary Farber, Mark Olson (NA)
Please rank candidates with 1, 2, etc. where 1 is your first preference:
[__] Zi Graves
[__] Mikołaj Kowalewski
[__] Jan Vaněk jr
[__] Hold Over Funds
[__] No PreferenceName:
Address:
Email/phone:
If you think your name may not be known to the administrators, please provide the name of an active fan (not a fan group, a candidate, or one of their nominators) who is known to the administrators and who can vouch for you being an active fan, eligible to vote.
Name:
TAFF may contact you regarding your ballot or to send out newsletters; but we do not publish your data (save for the traditional list of voters and contributors), or pass it to any other organisation.
Reproduction of this form is encouraged. It is the official voting vehicle and must be reproduced verbatim.
All votes must reach the administrators by 11.59 pm British/Irish time (UTC+1; 3.59 pm Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-7) on Wednesday 23 April 2025.
Anyone reproducing this form should substitute their name here: David Langford