Press Release #35
CONJOSÉ PAYS PASS-ALONG FUNDS DONATIONS

CONJOSÉ, THE 60TH WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
press@conjose.org; http://www.conjose.org/

For immediate release: Saturday, December 7, 2002, 4 PM Pacific Standard Time

CONJOSÉ PAYS PASS-ALONG FUNDS DONATIONS

As part of its obligations under the "Pass Along Funds" program, ConJosé presented representatives of the next three Worldcons with donations totaling $30,000 on December 7, 2002 at SMOFcon 20 in San Diego, California.

SMOFcon is an annual convention about running science fiction conventions, and is held in different locations each year by different groups. At "SMOFDiego," as this year's gathering was dubbed, ConJosé Co-Chairs Tom Whitmore and Kevin Standlee presented $10,000 donations to the 2003 through 2005 Worldcons. ConJosé also presented a $1,000 donation to the WSFS Mark Protection Committee, the organization responsible for registering and protecting "Worldcon," "Hugo Award" and other WSFS-owned service marks.

Accepting the donations were Peter Jarvis, Chair of Torcon 3, Deb Geisler, Chair of Noreascon 4, and Vince Docherty, Chair of Interaction. SMOFDiego Programming Director Scott Dennis accepted the donation to the WSFS Mark Protection Committee in his role as WSFS MPC Treasurer.

"We were very happy to be able to make these donations now," said ConJosé Co-Chairman Kevin Standlee. He praised convention Controller and Vice Chair Cindy Scott, saying, "Cindy has worked hard to get most of our bills paid and to keep the budget updated so that we had a reasonably good idea of where we stood financially at this point. We wanted to get these pass-along donations paid as soon as possible, so that our successors, especially Torcon 3, would have more time to effectively plan to use the money for the good of Worldcon."

With all major bills except traditional membership reimbursements paid, ConJosé was able to estimate a projected surplus of around $60,000. Under the terms of Pass Along Funds, ConJosé is committed to donating at least 50% of its surplus to its three successors.

North American Worldcons traditionally reimburse the memberships of qualified program participants, staff, committee, and volunteers who worked sufficient hours. ConJosé has budgeted $125,000 for these traditional membership reimbursements, and plans to begin making reimbursement payments sometime in early 2003.

ConJosé announced low pre-registration figures and made some cutbacks earlier this year. A larger-than-anticipated turnout at the door, along with a number of expenses coming in lower than expected, resulted in the convention estimating a surplus of just under $60,000 after paying required bills and traditional reimbursements. Should the actual surplus after paying reimbursements exceed $60,000, ConJosé will make additional donations to its successors.

Pass Along Funds is a voluntary surplus-sharing arrangement among Worldcon committees. Those committees that participate are entitled to a share of their three predecessors' surpluses, while they promise to divide at least half of any surplus they realize amongst their three successors, provided that those committees make a similar commitment.

Worldcon committees are legally and financially independent from each other, and have no inherent right to share each other's surpluses, nor are they responsible for each other's liabilities. Pass Along Funds was devised during discussions at SMOFcon 5 in 1988 in Phoenix regarding ways of damping out the negative impact of the year-to-year variability in Worldcon revenues. Noreascon 3, the 1989 Worldcon, agreed to "jump-start" the program. Since then, every Worldcon except 1991 has participated, receiving donations from its predecessors and making donations from its surpluses when applicable.

ConJosé received Pass Along Funds donations from its predecessors totaling $21,826. Aussiecon Three donated $5,826 (US dollars net of conversion from Australian dollars). Chicon 2000 donated $6,000. The Millennium Philcon donated $10,000.

For photographs of the presentation ceremony click here.

Contact:
Kevin Standlee info@conjose.org

The 2002 Worldcon, known as ConJosé, took place at the McEnery Convention Center, San José, California from 29 August through 2 September 2002. More information about ConJosé is available from its web site (http://www.conjose.org/) or by writing to info@conjose.org.

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"ConJosé" is a service mark of San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc., a California non-profit corporation recognized as tax exempt under IRC 501(c)(3).

"WSFS", "Worldcon", "World Science Fiction Convention" and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.

"ConJosé" is a service mark of San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (SFSFC), a California non-profit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under IRC 501(c)(3). The ConJosé logo was created by and is © 2001 David Cherry, and is a service mark of SFSFC. This web site is © 2002 SFSFC except where otherwise noted. "Worldcon," "World Science Fiction Convention," "WSFS," "World Science Fiction Society," "NASFiC," and "Hugo Award" are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.    ConJosé Privacy Policy