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Fandom Explained: TAFF
Aug. 7th, 2003 04:19 pmThe Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund at its simplest is a contest held each year to send a person from the fandom of one side of the Atlantic to the other to attend a national convention and hang out with fans. Though as Teresa & Patrick Nielsen Hayden said in a very good article on the semi-official TAFF site it is a lot off different things all at once.
It is tradition, it keeps happening because once something has happened three or so times in fandom it becomes nearly immutable tradition. Many fans love tradition and doing certain things at conventions or parties year after year. (And no one wants to be known as the fan who killed TAFF.)
It is curiosity about fans who people have seen in print or now on the internet and would like to meet in person and also the curiosity about how things work "over there". The latter is true on both the part of the person going, the group getting him, and the group sending him. After all there will be trip reports (most likely) for the folks at home, getting to talk to someone at length about his home culture for the hosts, and getting to actually go there for the winner.
It is an honor, bestowed upon fans willing to travel. As with other honors that are voted upon, like the Hugos or Oscars, the reasons going into why a person is being honored are very complex. That also provides a topic for endless hours of smoffing, trying to figure out why one person standing for won and another one didn't.
It is about fun and relatively cheap to express an opinion on TAFF. The minimum donation to the fun is just $3 or £2, though I usually donate $10. I've never been unhappy about my donation because when I've met past and current TAFF delegates I've always been pleased. Even when someone I didn't vote for won.
Now here are the bare mechanics of the race. Each person wishing to stand for TAFF needs five people to nominate him or her, three from the home side of the Atlantic and two from the destination. Sending that in with a "bond" of $20 or £10 and a 100 word platform gets the candidate on the ballot. The voting is by preferential ballot, with everyone not getting at least 20% of the vote on each side of the Atlantic eliminated. Hold Over Funds and No Preference are both available for those who either don't like any of the candidates or want to see the trip happen but don't have a strong opinion. The previous winner of TAFF is the administrator for that side of the Atlantic for the next two years until a new winner for that end of the race is selected.
( Why Mishalak Plans On Standing For TAFF In 2005 )
It is tradition, it keeps happening because once something has happened three or so times in fandom it becomes nearly immutable tradition. Many fans love tradition and doing certain things at conventions or parties year after year. (And no one wants to be known as the fan who killed TAFF.)
It is curiosity about fans who people have seen in print or now on the internet and would like to meet in person and also the curiosity about how things work "over there". The latter is true on both the part of the person going, the group getting him, and the group sending him. After all there will be trip reports (most likely) for the folks at home, getting to talk to someone at length about his home culture for the hosts, and getting to actually go there for the winner.
It is an honor, bestowed upon fans willing to travel. As with other honors that are voted upon, like the Hugos or Oscars, the reasons going into why a person is being honored are very complex. That also provides a topic for endless hours of smoffing, trying to figure out why one person standing for won and another one didn't.
It is about fun and relatively cheap to express an opinion on TAFF. The minimum donation to the fun is just $3 or £2, though I usually donate $10. I've never been unhappy about my donation because when I've met past and current TAFF delegates I've always been pleased. Even when someone I didn't vote for won.
Now here are the bare mechanics of the race. Each person wishing to stand for TAFF needs five people to nominate him or her, three from the home side of the Atlantic and two from the destination. Sending that in with a "bond" of $20 or £10 and a 100 word platform gets the candidate on the ballot. The voting is by preferential ballot, with everyone not getting at least 20% of the vote on each side of the Atlantic eliminated. Hold Over Funds and No Preference are both available for those who either don't like any of the candidates or want to see the trip happen but don't have a strong opinion. The previous winner of TAFF is the administrator for that side of the Atlantic for the next two years until a new winner for that end of the race is selected.
( Why Mishalak Plans On Standing For TAFF In 2005 )