Cathy Palmer-Lister and On-Site Aurora Voting at Con*Cept

Cathy Palmer-Lister, the chair of Con*Cept, the Montreal regional SF convention, agreed several days ago to having on-site voting for the Auroras this year at Con*Cept (in addition to the on-site voting at VCon in Vancouver, the actual venue for the Aurora ceremony this year).

The world should note that having on-site voting at Con*Cept was my idea, not hers. And that she agreed to it before the nominees in the Aurora category of "Fan Organizational" were revealed (or were contacted to be informed that they were nominees). As it happens, Cathy is a finalist in that category, for her wonderful work on last year's Con*Cept.

Cathy immediately announced to Dennis Mullin (Aurora administrator), Clint Budd (president of WCSFA, the umbrella organization for VCon, this year's CanVention), Michael Walsh (this year's CanVention coordinator), and myself (who had proposed on-site voting in Montreal) that she felt she should decline her nomination if there was to be on-site voting at Con*Cept, because of the perceived conflict of interest.

Cathy's sense of ethics is laudable, and we all thanked her for displaying such class, but every one of us also told her to let her nomination stand. We all know that she is beyond reproach, and told her so. As Michael Walsh said, "Dennis Mullin speaks for all of us in expressing admiration for and confidence in your personal ethics."

Dennis Mullin himself is traveling, at his own expense, to Con*Cept to supervise the on-site voting there to make sure not only that it is fair, but that it is seen to be fair (and many thanks to Dennis for doing so). Given this, and our reassurances, Cathy has decided to let her nomination stand, and there will indeed be on-site voting at both VCon and Con*Cept.

Congratulations to all the nominees in Cathy's category, every one of whom has done wonderful work for the fandom groups they belong to:

• Debbie Hodgins (Avenging Dragon Squadron, KAG/Kanada)
  
• Roy Miles (I.D.I.C.)
  
• Cathy Palmer-Lister (Con*Cept)
  
• Joan Sherman (I.D.I.C.)
  
• Geoffrey Toop (DWIN)
  

Now, to the voting!

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