The sad story ofWSFS, Inc., while only an episode in the long history of theWorld Science Fiction Society, and just one of the many occasions whenAll Fandom Was Plunged Into War, epitomizes the recurring idea held by some thatfandom, and especiallyconventions, and double-especiallyWorldcon, are too important to be left to amateurs, but should be managed by experts — usually themselves.

In earlier days, this was closely related to a feeling that there ought to be anüber fan organization to which allfans belong and which represents (and, not uncommonly, manages) fandom. TheN3F, which still exists, was one suchorganization.

The aftermath — a legacy that continues to today — shows that mostfans prefer a decentralized approach, and react poorly to authoritarianism. Nothing will drawblasé old fans out of thevoodvork and into theBusiness Meeting like a whisper that somebody’s trying to resurrect WSFS, Inc.

The First WSFS, Inc. (The 1950s)[edit]

Yearning for a nationalfanorganization dates back to the earliest days offandom — see theFancyclopedia article onLocals — and in the ’40s this yielded theN3F. In the ’50s, the increasing complexity ofWorldcons and the increasing importance of conventions to fandom suggested to many that Worldcons should be run by a central group of experts rather than catch as catch can by whatever local group of fans was selected. WSFS, Inc., was the first attempt to make this real.

What happened, exactly, is hard to tell, but the article fromFancyclopedia 2, below, appears to be basically correct. (More detail follows it.)

WSFS, Inc., was taken very seriously for a while.

NyCon II (which was run by the folks at the center of WSFS, Inc.) said in its PR 3:

A Constitutional Committee was appointed by the 1955 executive officer of the World Science Fiction Society,Noreen Kane Falasca, on September 5, 1955, at the 13th World Science Fiction Convention held inCleveland,Ohio, in the following detail from official records:"A committee is appointed to write a tentative Constitution to be presented to the members of the World Science Fiction Society at the business meeting of the 1956 convention. This constitution proposal is to be drawn up for presentation, and it will be up to the convention assembled to accept it, reject it or amend it at that time."The committee is comprised of:Representing theEast:Franklin Dietz Jr.,George Nims RaybinRepresenting theSouth:Robert A. MadleRepresenting theMid-West:Howard DeVore,Bob TuckerRepresenting theWest:Forrest J.  AckermanRepresentingEngland:H. Kenneth BulmerRepresentingCanada:Ron KidderRepresentative-at-Large:Robert BlochUnoffical Advisers, headed by:Raymond Van Houten"This committee will be headed by thechairman of the 1956 convention as part of the executive committee. The 1956 convention chairman will make further appointments as persons agree to serve."At the moment,Treasurer Raybin, acting chairman, states:"The Constitution of the World Science Fiction Society, Inc, will be a simple document to conform to the laws of the State of New York. It will contain only essential details such as name, purpose, etc., such as is to be found in the incorporation papers. This, therefore, will have more difficult amendment procedure in that two successive conventions will have to concur."The By-Laws, on the other hand, will contain all of the miscellaneous rules and regulations as added and amended by each convention business session."

Note the impressive group of fans serving on the committee.

WSFS, Inc., was legally incorporated on February 23, 1958. The incorporators were Raybin, Kyle, andArt Saha, allNew York fans. A pretty good indication of their position was printed inGround Zero #2 p5.

Solacon, the 1958Worldcon, gave pride of place to WSFS, Inc., in itsPRs, putting it above thecon committee itself. Yet six months later, WSFS, Inc., was effectively dead, destroyed by the fairly general revulsion of fandom andChairAnna Moffatt's gavel.

SeeGround Zero #3 p9 for the pro-WSFS, Inc., take on the events at Solacon.

At this point, theBoard of WSFS, Inc., wasBelle C. Dietz,Dave Newman,Forrest J Ackerman,E. Everett Evans,Dave Kyle, andJames V. Taurasi.Frank Dietz was Recorder,George Nims Raybin was Legal Officer. (Note that most of them wereNew Yorkfans). There was also an advisory council ofE. J. Carnell,Nick Falasca,Noreen Falasca,Sam Moskowitz, Raybin, andRoger Sims.

(Note thatthe Falascas, while initially apparently supporters, fairly quickly became major movers in the dissolution of WSFS, Inc. This is covered in their three-issuefanzine,Fandom's Burden online at fanac.org.)

WSFS Is Dead![edit]

WSFS, Inc., was still a hot topic in 1959.Detention's (the1959 Worldcon) PR 1 included the text:

The Incorporation & UsBy now most of you have heard that the WSFS, Inc was "dissolved" by a vote of the membership of the16th World Convention. It's unfortunate that so many people are using the word "dissolved". Actually the only action taken was the approval of the following petition: "We, the general membership of the World Science Fiction Society, Inc., hereby petition the Board of Directors and/or the Convention Committee to dissolve the World Science Fiction Society, Inc. and return the Charter to the State of New York, as soon as the bills of the present convention have been paid."The petition was subsequently submitted to the Board of Directors of the WSFS, Inc. byAnna Sinclare Moffatt, Chairwoman of the 16th World Science Fiction Convention. What action said Board of Directors plans to take concerning the petition we do not know.Detroit was selected to produce a convention by a vote of the membership of the 16th World Science Fiction Convention not, as Mrs. Moffatt made clear during the meeting, The World Science Fiction Society, Inc.Yourconvention committee is operating under the assumption that it is completely outside the WSFS, Inc. We are willing to accept any assistance or advice they may offer us, but we are in no way obligated to, or dependent upon them.

WSFS, Inc. was a really big deal in the fanzines of the day. (Walt Willis wrote a screenplay of it called "The Raybin Story".) You can get a good feel of the debate by reading anewszine likeFanac and watching as the affair unfolds week by week. Material can be found in:

• Fanac #4 p2
• Fanac #6 p2
• Fanac #8 p2
• Fanac #9 p3
• Fanac #15 p3
• Fanac #16 p1
• Fanac #20 p2
• Fanac #24 p1
• Ground Zero #1

WSFC, Inc Isn't WSFS, Inc.[edit]

To add to the general confusion, at least two 1960s Worldcons (Pacificon II (1964) andTricon (1966)) had aWSFC, Inc. (World Science Fiction Convention, Inc.) as their corporate sponsor.

There exist the minutes of a meeting of this WSFC, Inc., held in April 1966, where new officers of the corporation were elected. The outgoing officers were Pacificon II's and the incoming the Tricon's. None of the officers of the old late-50's WSFS, Inc, seem to have played a role.

We do not know if this WSFC, Inc. started before Pacificon II or lasted beyond Tricon, and as an American corporation it played to role in the interveningLoncon II.

Baycon Tries To Sort Things Out[edit]

At theBayconbusiness meeting (1968),Jon Stopa was appointed to convene acommittee to study holding a North AmericanNatcon whenWorldcon is outsideNorth America. The initial committee consisted of Stopa,Bruce Pelz,Earl Kemp,Al Lewis,Bob Tucker,Leigh Couch,Elliot Shorter,Tony Lewis,George Nims Raybin, andBanks Mebane. While its charter did not cover the reorganization of WSFS as a whole, the necessary changes to the rotation system were nearly as significant.

SeeNiekas #20 p52 for an article on the issue byTony Lewis.

Another WSFS, Inc.? (The late ’70s)[edit]

In 1976, atMidAmeriCon, based on a motion byJerry Pournelle, a drafting committee was created to propose the structure of a new WSFS, Inc. Members includedBob Hillis (chairman,Columbus),Larry Smith (Secretary,Columbus),Greg Bennett (Seattle),Greg Brown (Phoenix),Meade Frierson III (Birmingham),Carey Handfield (Australia),Tony Lewis (Boston),Don Lundry (New Jersey),John Millard (Toronto),Bob Pavlat (DC),Bruce Pelz (LA),Larry Propp (Chicago),George Scithers (Philadelphia),Pat Taylor (Kansas City),Pete Weston (London) withDon Eastlake (Boston) andYale Edeiken (Chicago) as observers.

Their approach was extremely formal and bureaucratic, but it basically created a Board ofDirectors to oversee individualWorldcons with the power to depose aconcom. It was a reasonable codification of a flawed idea.

(The basic problem remained one ofQuis custodiet ipsos custodes? As long as eachWorldcon is independent, people who like power and glory more than hard work and careful planning are limited in the harm they can do. WSFS, Inc. would have provided a mechanism for busybodies to stay in power. Further, the proposed remedy for incompetence — removal of thecommittee and appointment of a new one — would probably do more damage than letting the incompetent committee do its thing.)

SeeFile 770 4, p. 23-24 for some discussion.

Thecommittee failed to have a proposal ready forIguanacon in 1978 and seems to have just faded away.

Yet One More Attempt[edit]

In 1980, theWSFS Business Meeting voted to establish aCommittee on Permanent Organization and Incorporation of WSFS.That also seems to have faded away without doing anything.

Created at the direction of the Business Meeting atNoreascon Two in 1980, the committee was directed to "reconsider Article VII through the end of the proposedWSFS Constitution, whose first six articles were accepted at Noreascon II."

Members wereCraig Miller (chair),Genny Dazzo,Don Eastlake,George Flynn,Larry Smith,Mike Walsh (forBaltimore in '83),Carey Handfield,Stu Hellinger,Bob Hillis,Bruce Miller (forDenvention 2),Larry Propp (forChicon IV),Dalroy Ward,Ben Yalow and a representative fromScandinavia in '83.

It failed to present a report atDenvention 2 the 1981Worldcon. It appears that this committee was allowed to lapse and a new committee chaired byDalroy Ward was created to look over the current drafts and report back atChicon IV in 1982. It failed to report again at Chicon and was dismissed.

This seems to have been the last attempt to rewrite theWSFS Constitution from scratch.

Something Like a Fourth Attempt[edit]

There seems to have beenyet anothercommittee established in 1984 to report to the 1985WSFS Business Meeting withRoss Pavlacchairing. (Other members includedBen Yalow,Bob Hillis,Jack Herman,Ray Nelson,Victoria Smith,Lew Wolkoff,Leslie Turek,Alan Rachlin,Gail Kaufman,Gary Farber,Rich Zellich,Yale Edeiken,Scott Dennis, andLarry Smith.) For a somewhat biased (but amusing) view of the committee's report at theAussiecon 2Business meeting, seeFile 770 59, p. 15. The committee was continued withBen Yalow as chair to report back atConFederation in 1986. It, also, seems to have faded, whimperless, away. (Note thatthis does notseem to be the Standing Committee.)

The Standing Committee[edit]

(AKA, Last dangerous WSFS)

The Standing Committee was established as amuch scaled back and reasonable mid-80s attempt to solve the same problems. It would exist to handle business that needed a continuing body (such as trademark registration). Its membership was a combination of elected members and members appointed by the various Worldcons. The creators hoped that it would in time build confidence within fandom and be trusted with slowly, evolutionarally-enhanced, powers and might in time serve the function in the role that WSFS, Inc. was intended to fill.

Since eachWorldcon is a completely independent organization whileWSFS itself is unincorporated with no continuing officers or staff — theWSFS Business meeting each year has a set of officers appointed by that year's Worldcon and their term of office is only for a few days. This system suits fandom's distaste for authority, but has downsides which have been apparent from nearly the beginning.

Initially, the Standing Committee was given responsibility for the protection ofWSFS's trademarks, but as the decade progressed, other small tasks were entrusted to it.

Membership in the Standing Committee was complicated and deliberately diverse — one of the major contributors to the failure ofWSFS, Inc.., was that it was created by and perceived to be controlled by a small clique ofNew Yorkfans. Part of the membership of the Standing Committee was by election, with eachSite Selectionzone having representatives, while the rest of the committee consisted of members appointed by each seatedWorldcon orNASFiC. (This membership scheme was continued when the Standing Committee became theMark Protection Committee.)

While the Standing Committee was a much morefannish organization than WSFS, Inc., and much more democratically controlled and with much smaller power, manyfans still saw it as a camel's nose tentatively poking into theWorldcon tent. (And that was certainly the intention of some of the organizers of the Standing Committee.) This discomfort came to a head atConfederation, the 1986 Worldcon, when enough fans uncomfortable with the Standing Committee attended theWSFS Business Meeting and voted to replace the Standing Committee with an identically organizedMark Protection Committee which was specifically and strictly limited to protecting the service marks ofWSFS. This was ratified in 1987 atConspiracy '87 and has remained the rule since.

Manycon-runners who favored the Standing Committee in the '80s have since concluded that all such efforts are doomed to failure since, likeCon Ops orSecurity, "You don't want anyone who wants a Standing Committee to be on it.") Therefore, a number of other limited-missionWSFS Committees have been formed.

SeeMark Protection Committee for more on its role and a discussion of a bit of mission creep back in the direction of the Standing Committee.

Happily Ever After[edit]

This seems to have been the final stake in WSFS, Inc's heart and no further serious attempts to create one have happened since, though the more bureaucratically-inclinedfans (or power-hungry fans looking for a smallish pond) still occasionally day-dream about it.