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April 9, 2008

Don’t Miss the Deadline
Posted by Jim Macdonald at 07:19 PM * 26 comments

A reminder: The ballots for the SFWA presidential election must be received by 19 April 2008. Mail early! And weigh the envelope — it’s on the border of needing two stamps.

Comments on Don't Miss the Deadline:
#1 ::: John Scalzi ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 07:47 PM:

Mailed mine weeks ago. And had it weighed at the post office.

#2 ::: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 08:00 PM:

How long is this ballot? Why does it weigh so much? Is there a
lengthy list of offices and candidates? Or did they just print it on
heavy card stock?

#3 ::: Mary Dell ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 08:06 PM:

John Scalzi @#1:

Can't you mail a few more for good measure?

#4 ::: Jennifer Pelland ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 08:13 PM:

Mine went in the mail last week. And I too was concerned about the
weight, but it came in under an ounce, so I was good. WTF do they need
so much paper for? And why did they make that little second envelope
such an inconvenient size?

#5 ::: Stephen Granade ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 09:38 PM:

Mary Dell @3:

Greetings, gentlebeing! Vote early and also often!

#6 ::: John Scalzi ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 10:43 PM:

Mary Dell @3:

Oh, I only need one vote to make it count. It's a good vote, you see.

#7 ::: Ken Houghton ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 10:44 PM:

You know how to vote, please do so, so that, next time, my better
half can vote again. (Which does leave me asking: who is or will be the
Canadian Regional Director?)

#8 ::: xeger ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 10:56 PM:

Ahh... it's a bad sign when "Mail early" is automatically followed by a mental "Mail often".

#9 ::: Madeleine Robins ::: (view all by) ::: April 09, 2008, 11:06 PM:

Mailed weeks ago--with two stamps just to be sure.

#10 ::: Jim ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 12:16 AM:

If it's ok, I'd like to ask you guys, as members and cogs in the
machine, a bit about the SFWA. I am curious as someone who might, one
day, hopefully, be eligible to become a member....

Who's on the ballot? And what differences, if any, do you all feel
the candidates can make for the members and beneficiaries of the SFWA?

As it is, do you feel that membership in the organization is actually beneficial to you?

I hope I'm not prying, I certainly don't mean to. I've just got this
weird fascination with the idea of a writer's union; I grew up in an
UMWA household, and to me, Unions save lives and protect health. The
situation is surely a little different for writers, I'm just curious
how.

Thanks.

#11 ::: Mary Dell ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 01:16 AM:

Jim @#10: John Scalzi's post about this election will give you a good idea what's at stake for the organization.

#12 ::: Kelly McCullough ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 09:31 AM:

Mine went back out weeks ago, the day after it came in.

#13 ::: Ken Houghton ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 11:30 AM:

Scalzi gives a good idea about the Presidency.

By contrast, Secretary has two qualified candidates.

#14 ::: Charlie Stross ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 05:11 PM:

Mailed mine on Tuesday ...

... because I was in DC, and thought to ask Jane Jewell to send a
spare ballot to my hotel. The one that's supposed to come to my home
address (in the UK) still hasn't arrived.

I don't know whether this is just a one off (it wouldn't be the
first time the post office have lost of a piece of mail I was waiting
for), but if it isn't, it may be indicative of a procedural problem
that needs fixing, namely not enough time for overseas members to
receive their ballots and vote.

#15 ::: Xopher ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 05:57 PM:

Charlie 14: Or perhaps what's-his-ass managed to "lose" the ballots
of people he's pretty sure will vote against him. I wouldn't put it
past him.

It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

#16 ::: Andrhia ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 07:40 PM:

Jim @ #10: Here's a link to the SFWA telling you what it does to help its members: http://sfwa.org/org/services.htm

It's not so much different, really, than the work of other unions.

#17 ::: Jason B ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 08:28 PM:

Holy moley! I've never read a John Scalzi novel before, but I'm
putting it on my "Urgent To Do" list, because if his novels are
anywhere near as competent and eloquent as that post, I'll enjoy every
moment.

I'm going to direct my Comp students to that post and say, "This! Like this! Write like this!"

#18 ::: Glenn Hauman ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 09:24 PM:

#14 & #15: Or if Charlie was actually a science fiction writer of America, it wouldn't get lost in international mail.

OTOH, there are lots of Americans in SFWA who aren't science fiction
writers, so we need Charlie to balance things out. I'd much rather have
writers than Americans in SFWA.

#19 ::: Paula Helm Murray ::: (view all by) ::: April 10, 2008, 11:28 PM:

I turned it around in 24 hours.

Then again, When I learned the candidates I did a cheezburger poster suggestion on my LJ. My Siegfried is the cat...

http://dragonet2.livejournal.com/125893.html



#20 ::: Charlie Stross ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 07:23 AM:

Charlie 14: Or perhaps what's-his-ass managed to "lose" the ballots of people he's pretty sure will vote against him.

The person in question has nothing whatsoever to do with the election process. Trust me on this. The royal mail screwing up is much more plausible.

#21 ::: Terry Karney ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 11:21 AM:

Ok, I have an interest in the outcome, but I have no dog in this fight.

It's indicative of what ML is like that I am reading this (a get out
the vote post, for an organization of localised interest) with
anticipation of great entertainment value.

What's with you people?

#22 ::: Steve Zillwood ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 02:42 PM:

Jason B #17: Do so, now. If you like Heinlein, you'll love Scalzi's Old Man's War series, and his homage to Dickean surreality - The Android's Dream - has comparable degrees of awesomeness. For homework, read all the past archives at Whatever. Report due in the morning!

#23 ::: Linkmeister ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 07:12 PM:

Terry, I think we feel "involved" with the event in question. The
question for me is, how is that involvement engendered and can it be
bottled for use in other circs?

#24 ::: Terry Karney ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 08:10 PM:

Linkmeister: I screwed that up. I wasn't trying to say what's with you people (us people) caring, I was making
a point that something so, apparently, limited in appeal as this get
out the vote plea to SFWA members was likely to drift into topics which
I would be annoyed at missing.

It was meant as a compliment, not a slam.

#25 ::: Greg London ::: (view all by) ::: April 11, 2008, 11:13 PM:

Terry@21, yeah. me too. I sort of feel like Eliza Doolittle at the
Ascot Racecourse, dressed up in fancy clothes and put among the fancy
poeple, completely out of her element, and over her head, cheering for
a horse only because Freddy said he had a bet on it.

Come on, Davis! Move your bloomin' ass!

;)

#26 ::: GlendaP sees SPAM ::: (view all by) ::: July 24, 2014, 05:38 AM:

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