sfwa volunteers

1. I will not threaten any countries or national leaders with veiled (or direct) references to my boobs. Or vulva.
2. I will continue not to be involved with SFWA controversies, slights, feuds, grudges, mishaps, bureaucratic screw-ups, gross incompetences, and other scandals of note that occurred before I first defeated all comers and ascended to the throne took office as VP in 2014.
3. I will continue to let other people run the following things: the EMF, Griefcom, Writer Beware, the discussion forums, SFWA social media, the SFWA website, the Bulletin, the SFWA volunteer process, the SFWA Grants program, the Singularity, and the vast majority of SFWA committees.
4. I will celebrate the glory of SFWA by wearing both tiara and trident to the 2018 Nebulas. I will not abuse the trident. Much.
5. I will also wear my “Gay Haldeman Fan Club” t-shirt to the Nebulas while continuing to celebrate the many excellent volunteers and staff of the organization at both the volunteer celebration breakfast (if you are a SFWA volunteer who is coming to the Nebulas, please leave time in your schedule on Sunday morning for this!) and throughout the overall weekend.
6. I will refrain from blowing part of my discretionary fund on Nebula temporary tattoos this year because last year they weren’t enough bang for the buck.
7. Throughout the year I will try to push good stuff forward as best I can without totally sacrificing all my writing time.
8. I will continue to be slightly cranky towards people who contact me via social media or my personal e-mail instead of official SFWA email while refraining from pointedly providing “Let me Google that for you” links.
9. I will work at paying attention to all the disparate groups that make up SFWA and serve their needs, particularly both our newer groups, like game writers and indie writers and groups that have in the past been underrepresented or underserved in/by the organization.
10. I will continue to piss off a few people with what they think is my irreverent or otherwise inappropriate sense of humor/outlook/set of principles.
11. And finally, as always, when I screw up, I’ll admit it and say what I’m doing in the future in order to do better.

Yep, I’m running for President, even though that’s a two year term. I’ve got a number of projects I want to see through, and this seems the best way to do it. The self-pub and small press qualifications amendment has passed, and I’d like to help SFWA adjust to that large change.

You’ve seen me in action as vice president for a year. I don’t know that it was the most representative year since I spent most of it on the road, but I think I’ve demonstrated that even when other stuff crops up, I do stick around. I had to put a couple of projects on the back burner while waiting for the selfpub/small press qualifiying vote to shake out but now that the vote has passed, I hope to pick up those loose ends. By now, I’m starting to get more of a handle for the internal workings of SFWA, and that should help me be even more effective.

I’ve fixed a few small problems, and I’ve got some other stuff in motion that will solve others. Some of that is fairly visible, such as the push to make it easier for volunteers to find roles within SFWA. Overall SFWA is still suffering some growing pains, and I’ve found my experience as management very helpful there.

Most of you that have worked with me know that I’ve got decent people skills and a solid work ethic. When it comes to the various factions that clash occasionally, I’ve got friends on most sides and pride myself on trying to listen and understand where people are coming from. I’ve tried to be good about touching base with other members of the SFWA team and working well with them, including weekly Google Hangout sessions and phone calls. I don’t mind admitting when I’m wrong, and I try to learn from both my mistakes and what other people pass along. Aside from deciding to run, I am reasonably sane.