2017 Annual SF3 Board and member meeting — Sunday, Oct. 22

The Board and membership of the Society for the Furtherance & Study of Fantasy & Science Fiction — a.k.a, SF3, which is the nonprofit parent organization of the WisCon convention — will meet on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1pm (Central Time).  Members who plan to attend in person or by telephone can receive the pertinent information by emailing info@sf3.org.  If you are a current SF3 member, or you were a member at the time of the 2016 meeting, you will receive these specifics via email.

Membership

In order to vote at the annual meeting, you must be a current member.  “Current member” simply means you’ve paid for your membership according to the deadlines below.

Renewing by mail

Deadline:  Wednesday, October 18.

Renewing online

Deadline:  Wednesday, October 18, 11:59pm (Central Time).

Renewing in person

Deadline:  Wednesday, October 18. (Notification email must be received by 11:59pm Central Time — see next paragraph.)

In order to renew in person at the start of the meeting:  You MUST notify the board by emailing the SF3 Treasurer (treasurer@sf3.org) by the deadline above.  This ensures that there will be a packet of materials (sent as PDF via email) for you to review in time for the meeting and that your name will be on the roster to vote.  Please bring cash or check to the meeting on Sunday.

Current membership rates, a membership form (PDF), and PayPal for online payments are available on the Join page at the SF3 website.

Agenda

All current members will receive PDF documents via email with the meeting agenda and any grant proposals submitted for consideration.  Keep an eye on your spam folder as attachments can sometimes fool even the savviest spam filter.

Paper materials will be available by request only:  To help keep our costs low, we will have paper copies available for pick-up at the meeting only if you make a request in advance.  Email the Corresponding Secretary (correspondsecretary@sf3.org) by 11:59pm (Central Time) Wednesday, October 18, to request a paper copy.

One officer term is ending this year — Vice President; additionally, our Treasurer is stepping down, leaving 2 years of the 3-year term for someone to fulfill.  If you are considering putting your name forward for these positions, please review the list of officer duties on the SF3 website.

Grant Proposals

As part of its educational mission to further the study of fantasy and science fiction, SF3 annually awards grant money to organizations and individuals whose work aligns with SF3’s nonprofit goals.  SF3 is pleased to once again solicit grant proposals from interested parties.  Details on how to submit your grant proposal, as well as examples of past grant recipients, are available on the Grant page at the SF3 website.

Deadline:  Grant proposals must be submitted by Tuesday, October 17, 11:59pm (Central Time).

Successful grant proposals have ranged in amounts from just a few hundred dollars to $1,000.  This year, SF3’s total budget for awarding grants is again $2,000.  As with last year, we continue to restrict this budget because SF3 dipped into its reserves for the past several iterations of the SF3 board each fiscal cycle. We’re fine financially, but we are restricting how much gets given away in grants until our reserve has been built back up.

If you are applying for grant money, we recommend explaining how receiving less money than you ask for would affect your entity’s ability to provide the services for which you are requesting funding.  It is not unusual for SF3 to offer a grant award that meets most but not all of the funds requested.

Questions

If you have questions about the upcoming meeting, please contact the SF3 Corresponding Secretary via email: correspondsecretary@sf3.org