Windycon Policies and Procedures

Adopted by the ISFiC Board February 13, 2005.

Guests of Honor

Guests of Honor are the top-tier of guest at Windycon and should be selected for their perceived draw. A Toastmaster should receive the Guest of Honor package. They should be offered the following:

• Transportation for two (airfare, train, gas money, etc.)
• Transportation from airport to hotel (O’Hare preferred, Midway or Mitchell as backup)
• 1 hotel room for 3 nights
• 2 meals at the Thursday night dinner
• a per diem totaling $150
• 2 Windycon memberships
• ISFiC Press contract

In return, Windycon should expect the guests of honor to do the following as appropriate:

• Provide a biography and pictures for the web site and program book
• Attend Opening Ceremonies
• Present a speech for Opening Ceremonies
• Minimum of three panels
• Autographing
• Attend Closing Ceremonies if it doesn’t conflict with travel plans
• Provide program book cover art, badge art, and fillos (if artist)
• Work with ISFiC Press if a book is contracted (for author and artist)

Special Guests

Special Guests may be invited at the discretion of the Windycon chair and should be selected for their perceived draw and support of a theme (if any). They should be offered the following:

• Transportation for two (airfare, train, gas money, etc.)
• Transportation from airport to hotel (O’Hare preferred, Midway or Mitchell as backup)
• 1 hotel room for 3 nights
• 2 meals at the Thursday night dinner
• 2 Windycon memberships

In return, Windycon should expect the special guests to do the following as appropriate:

• Provide a biography and pictures for the web site and program book
• Attend Opening Ceremonies
• Minimum of three panels
• Autographing
• Attend Closing Ceremonies if it doesn’t conflict with travel plans
• Provide fillos (if artist)

Guests

Guests may be invited at the discretion of the Windycon chair and should be selected as people who have generally supported Windycon and live relatively locally. They should be offered the following:

• 1 hotel room for 2 nights
• 2 meals at the Thursday night dinner
• 2 Windycon memberships

In return, Windycon should expect the guests to do the following as appropriate:

• Provide a biography and pictures for the web site and program book
• Attend Opening Ceremonies
• Minimum of two panels
• Autographing
• Attend Closing Ceremonies if it doesn’t conflict with travel plans

Comps

Complimentary memberships may be provided for individuals who wouldn’t necessarily attend but whose presence is particularly desired by either programming, special events, or other departments. Department heads should work with the chair to determine if a person may be offered a complimentary membership. Because of the nature of complimentary memberships, there is no defined requirements for either Windycon’s obligation to the member nor their obligation to Windycon. Please use discretion. Agreements of this nature must be recorded in the chair’s report and placed in the convention archives. Hotel room nights offered under these types of agreements will be compensated by reimbursement check at or after the convention.

Panelists

All panelists who do not fall into the above categories must purchase a Windycon membership prior to their first panel. Any panelists who appear on at least three events (panels, talks, readings, roundtables, etc., but not autographings) will receive a reimbursement of their membership following the convention per the reimbursement hierarchy. Panelists should expect to receive these reimbursements no later than the start of Capricon.

Staff

All gophers, staff, department heads, etc. must have a paid membership to Windycon. Following the convention, those who worked will have their membership rolled over to the next year.

Roll overs are only good for one year.

The staff roll-overs will be based on the list published in the program book. Any additions or deletions from that list must be provided to the chair, registration and the treasurer in writing or via e-mail before the end of November.

Any staff member who will not be able to make use of his/her roll-over may request a reimbursement for their membership up to eleven months after the con at which they worked (prior to the general membership pre-registration deadline).

New staff may purchase memberships at the pre-registration rate up until the day before Windycon.

Not all departments need a number two. When determining the Windycon organizational chart, the chair has discretion to determine if a number two is necessary for a department.

Some departments may require multiple number twos. When determining the Windycon organizational chart, the chair has discretion to determine if multiple number twos are necessary for a department.

The number of room nights/staff position is at the chair’s discretion based on the con’s needs.

The chair should budget an expected room reimbursement at 50%. The actual room reimbursement will be pro-rated based on the surplus shown by Windycon at the discretion of the chair.

Hotel

All Guests, Special Guests and Guests of Honor will have their hotel rooms placed on the master account with the hotel. The hotel will be told how much to charge for these rooms to the master account.

Upon checking in, all Guests, Special Guests and Guests of Honor must provide a surety to the hotel for incidental expenses. Any charges beyond the basic cost of the room and room taxes will be charged by the hotel against this surety.

Gophers

• Gophers must work for twelve hours in order to receive a reimbursement on their membership.
• Hours worked on Thursday or on Sunday after closing ceremonies should count double towards a gopher’s reimbursable hours.
• Rooms should be allotted for gopher crash space. Gophers may not use the crash space until they have worked 4 hours on the day of use.
• Gopher hour forms must be signed by a Department Head or number two and collected by the head of the gopher hole.
• All gopher reimbursement forms should be collected by twenty-four hours after Windycon ends.
• The head of the gopher hole should turn in all gopher reimbursement forms to the Windycon treasurer within two weeks of the end of Windycon.

Internal Mailing Lists

Following Windycon, all mailing lists used internally (registration, programming, art show, etc.) will send an archival copy of their mailing list to the ISFiC Secretary to help sustain institutional memory.

Reimbursement Hierarchy

1. Gophers
2. Panelists
3. ISFiC Reimbursement
4. Staff Requests