B. A. S. F. A.

The San Francisco
Bay Area Science Fiction Association

"We do these things not because they are hard, but because we are weird"

2013 Hugo & Campbell Award Discussion Nights

It's 2013 Hugo Awards nominating season! BASFA will hold its annual series of Hugo Award^® Nomination Discussion Nights at the January 28, February 11, and February 18 meetings. (Not February 4.) We'll start with the John W. Campbell Award and work our way through the Hugo Awards in the opposite order that they are listed in the WSFS Constitution. Members are encouraged to discuss works they've seen/read/heard in the past year that they would recommend people nominate for the 2013 Hugo Awards. The results of the club's discussions will be posted on the Hugo Awards Recommendations Community on LiveJournal.

Any member of BASFA can make Hugo Award recommendations, even if s/he is not eligible to actually nominate for the 2013 Hugo Awards; however, any member of the 2012, 2013, or 2014 Worldcons as of the end of January 2013 is eligible to cast a 2013 Hugo Award nominating ballot, so even if you aren't yet eligible to nominate, it's not too late to join LoneStarCon 3 or Loncon 3 and make yourself eligible. But even if you aren't eligible, please come help add your voice to the suggestions of other members on what you've read/heard/seen this past year that you think would be worthy of SF's top honor.

In order to make enough time for the Hugo nomination discussions, members are asked to refrain from bringing auction items to the January 28, February 11, and February 18 meetings.

About BASFA

The Bay Area Science Fiction Association is the local weekly science fiction social club that meets every Monday evening at 8:00 PM for discussion of any thing of interest to science fiction fans. Meetings are held at Coco's at 1206 Oakmead Parkway (at Lawrence Expressway), Sunnyvale, CA in the meeting room at the rear of the restaurant. Meetings usually start at 8:00 PM, but people arrive starting around 7:00 PM to socialize and dine before the meeting.

The usual meeting order, after approval of previous minutes (which is sometimes an adventure) and officer reports, consists of announcements from members of things they think other members might want to hear, followed by members' reviews of books, movies, events, and other things of potential interest. The evening usually ends with auctions of things donated to the club, followed by the adoption of the club's "Rumor of the Week." Meetings normally end shortly after 9:00 PM, depending on how enthusiastic the members are about discussing things.

Structure & Officers

BASFA has an elected president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, all of whom serve until a new election is called for any office or until that officer misses 13 consecutive meetings (absenses may be excused). By tradition, complaints about an officer's work are taken as calls for a new election, with the complainant assumed as the first nominee for the office.

As of February 2011, the club officers are:

President: Trey Haddad
Vice President: Chris Garcia
Secretary: Barbara Johnson-Haddad
Treasurer: David Gallaher

BASFA LiveJournal

Original artwork for BASFA by Frank Wu, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2009 Hugo winner - Best Fan Artist.

Congratulations BASFA Hugo Winners

Congratulations to BASFA members Chris Garcia for winning the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Fanzine for The Drink Tank , and Cheryl Morgan for winning her fourth Hugo, the 2011 Hugo for Best Semiprozine for Clarkesworld.

BASFA Turns 1,000!

BASFA was formed at a "meeting zero" in the Quiet Bar at what is now the San Jose Doubletree Hotel after a SiliCon committee meeting in 1991, where people who realized that the only time they were ever seeing their friends was at committee meetings. Michael Wallis proposed that people also start meeting socially and organized the initial meetings of the club.Michael's account of the club's formation:

Dave and Marli Medinnus, Lamont and Mitzi Jones, myself, and several other concom staff were sitting in the Quiet Bar at the (then) Red Lion Hotel after about the 4th or 5th weekend in a row of having concom meetings for one convention or another... and Dave was complaining that we only ever saw each other at committee meetings. I suggested starting a social club where we could actually have fun....

Dave called the next day (a Monday in July) and said "Coco's at Lawrence and Oakmead, 8:00 pm, Wednesday." There were 28 people at the first meeting. The "Numismatic Responsibility Act" was proposed and adopted. Dave was elected President. I think Lamont was Treasurer. We've met (mostly) weekly since then. We've met at various other locations over the years. Activities at meetings have come and gone (we used to be a hotbead of Hearts playing back in the day), but the club goes on. And Death will not release it.

Appropriately, BASFA celebrated its 1,000th meeting by holding it on the final night of SiliCon 2009 at the San Jose Doubletree.

Joining BASFA

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