DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Philcon News, issue 1, February 1947

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Philcon News, issue 1, February 1947

Page 3

who is as good a cahirman as we can find in fandom, found it difficult to keep the party at the Pacificon from falling apart at the seams. whereas we in Philly, having no such gay extroverts, will have double the difficulty.

So that the costume party may well be replaces by the musical program, and those who wish to wear costumes may compromise by rigging up some sort of playlet to round our the evening's entertainment, for the musical program will surely not last longer than one hour.

The second problem to consider here is a more serious one. At the Pacificon a great deal of time was wasted arguing over this question of what to do with the profits from the convention. We consider that rather a sordid proceeding, and wish to avoid it at The Philcon. Our method is to argue the matter out in these pages prior to the convention, whereupon only a formal vote will be needed at the time of the convention to conform the tradition.

First, why do conventions have profits? Simply because it is impossible to calculate in advance exactly what the expense will be, and how much will be brought in by the auction. The dollars representing Philcon Society memberships make up perhaps a fifth of the convention expense. The rest of the money must be raised by the program advertisements and auction proceeds.

Second: why argue about what to do with the profits; why not simply turn over the profits to the people who put on the convention? Actually, this was done by the first two conventions, with the resulting feeling of unexpressed disapproval by the fans. We felt that something had been put over us. It was not so much that they took the money, but it was the bluntness of manner in which the subject was proposed, and the rubberstamp character of the cote which followed was objectionable.

At the Pacificon the worthy idea was proposed that this money belonged to fandom as a whole, and should be disposed of accordingly. The fact that this resulted in sordid argument was unfortunate. Looking at the Pacificon argument in retrospect, we find it remarkable that as long as the money was being divided among fan organizations, nobody proposed that the LASFS treasury get some of the convention profits.

The members of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, possessing no such commendable modesty, are now proposing that a portion of the Philcon profits go to the PSFS treasury. The main reason is frank necessity. Supporting a $25 a month clubroom is quite a strain for such a small club. The PSFS created the organization which is putting on the convention, and the labor of PSFS members, a well as the use of PSFS facilities is going into the preparation of this convention; so the PSFS members feel that as long as there is surplus money to distribute, the PSFS has some claim on it.

So, having tosses this proposition to the wolves, we retreat while you people kiok it around, and we hope to hear your opinions on the subject before the next issue of the Philcon News appears.
---- The Chairman

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who is as good a cahirman as we can find in fandom, found it difficult to keep the party at the Pacificon from falling apart at the seams. whereas we in Philly, having no such gay extroverts, will have double the difficulty. So that the costume party may well be replaces by the musical program, and those who wish to wear costumes may compromise by rigging up some sort of playlet to round our the evening's entertainment, for the musical program will surely not last longer than one hour. The second problem to consider here is a more serious one. At the Pacificon a great deal of time was wasted arguing over this question of what to do with the profits from the convention. We consider that rather a sordid proceeding, and wish to avoid it at The Philcon. Our method is to argue the matter out in these pages prior to the convention, whereupon only a formal vote will be needed at the time of the convention to conform the tradition. First, why do conventions have profits? Simply because it is impossible to calculate in advance exactly what the expense will be, and how much will be brought in by the auction. The dollars representing Philcon Society memberships make up perhaps a fifth of the convention expense. The rest of the money must be raised by the program advertisements and auction proceeds. Second: why argue about what to do with the profits; why not simply turn over the profits to the people who put on the convention? Actually, this was done by the first two conventions, with the resulting feeling of unexpressed disapproval by the fans. We felt that something had been put over us. It was not so much that they took the money, but it was the bluntness of manner in which the subject was proposed, and the rubberstamp character of the cote which followed was objectionable. At the Pacificon the worthy idea was proposed that this money belonged to fandom as a whole, and should be disposed of accordingly. The fact that this resulted in sordid argument was unfortunate. Looking at the Pacificon argument in retrospect, we find it remarkable that as long as the money was being divided among fan organizations, nobody proposed that the LASFS treasury get some of the convention profits. The members of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, possessing no such commendable modesty, are now proposing that a portion of the Philcon profits go to the PSFS treasury. The main reason is frank necessity. Supporting a $25 a month clubroom is quite a strain for such a small club. The PSFS created the organization which is putting on the convention, and the labor of PSFS members, a well as the use of PSFS facilities is going into the preparation of this convention; so the PSFS members feel that as long as there is surplus money to distribute, the PSFS has some claim on it. So, having tosses this proposition to the wolves, we retreat while you people kiok it around, and we hope to hear your opinions on the subject before the next issue of the Philcon News appears. ---- The Chairman