Author: downunderfanfund

I have transferred the fund’s remaining balance to Paul Weimer who is now the North American DUFF delegate and administrator. He will be taking over this site and its administration as the 41st winner of the Down Under Fan Fund.

My profound gratitude to Marty Cantor who acted as fund treasurer for many years before I stepped up as acting administrator in May 2015 after Juanita Colman was unable to fulfill her commitment. He ensured the fund’s continuing ability to function in spite of a few continuity glitches. Thanks also to my Down Under counterpart Julian Warner who stepped in for Bill Wright and administered last year’s race with the help of Justin Ackroyd. Most of all, thank you to everyone around the world who donated, bid, voted, promoted and auctioned on DUFF’s behalf. This fund is a group effort. Well done, group!

Lucy Huntzinger, DUFF NA 1987

Congratulations to Paul Weimer who will travel from the U.S. to visit Australia and New Zealand in June.

There were 21 valid ballots submitted in North America and 19 in Australasia for a total of 40. Paul received 37 first place votes.

Of the 21 North American votes cast, 19 listed Paul Weimer in 1st place, 2 listed Hold Over Funds in 1st place.

Of the 19 Australasian votes cast, 18 listed Paul Weimer in 1st place, 1 listed No Preference in 1st place.

DUFF received two valid ballots with no votes listed and a request to accept the fee included as a donation only. We also received one ballot with no fee submitted; it was disqualified.

The voting fees and donations came to $203.53 AUD and $207.44 USD. The administrators are grateful to everyone to voted and extend special thanks to everyone who gave more than the minimum.

Voters: Alexandra Pierce, Sam Hawke, Tehani Croft, Kirstyn McDermott, Michelle Goldsmith, Jennifer Bagley, Timothy Walker, Jean Weber, Eric Lindsay, Anne Lyle, Catherine Lundoff, Carey Handfield, Gillian Polack, Helen Lowe, Andrew Robins, Amanda Bridgeman, Simon Litten, June Young, Irwin Hirsh, Martha Wilson, Murray Moore, [name redacted], Michael Kennedy, Curt Phillips, David Axler, Alis Rasmussen, Bart Patton, Steven Silver, R. Laurraine Tutihasi, Courtney Schafer, Donna Marie Hanson, Joel Zakem, Sarah Olsen, Jackie McKown, Dave Robison, Nina Horvath, Naomi Fisher, Patrick Molloy, Grace Molloy, Mark Linneman. Donations received from Janice Gelb and John Hertz.

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR THE 2017 DUFF RACE! The North American Down Under Fan Fund will send one lucky fan to Australia to attend Continuum 13, the Australian National Convention, being held in Melbourne 9-12 June, 2017. We are looking for fun, outgoing fans to participate in this 44 year old fannish cultural exchange by visiting Australia (and New Zealand if possible), meeting lots of people, attending cons, and returning home to run the fan fund for the next two years. Are you that fan? Know of anyone who is? Send your nomination to Lucy Huntzinger at downunderfanfund@gmail.com by January 22nd, 2017.

DUFF North America began the year with $8,247.27 and ends with $5,964.27.

The fund took in $1,455 in donations, $1,400 of which was raised during the fan fund auction at the Worldcon. Thank you, fandom!

The fund paid out $3,738 for Clare McDonald-Sim’s five week visit to the USA as delegate. This is a higher amount than normal due to DUFF being unable to secure her much in the way of accommodations with fans as she traveled; she was obliged to stay in hotels instead. I hope we can do better next time as half the fun of traveling as a delegate is staying with fans. Clare did an amazing job on her trip and created a lot of goodwill between our fandoms.

Thank you to everyone who donated time, energy and money to DUFF NA in 2016.

Lucy Huntzinger

Clare had a terrific visit to the U.S. and made lots of new friends for DUFF as she met people in Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Washington DC, New York City and points in between. Thank you to everyone who supported her trip by helping to fund it through DUFF, providing a bed, meals, sightseeing, visits to fans and other delights. She had a very good time, which I am sure she will be conveying to Australian fandom for a long time to come!

A bit of housekeeping: although we did have a successful fan fund auction three months ago in Kansas City I have not received any funds or indeed any totals on what was raised during the auction. I’m very grateful to everyone who contributed to the fund raiser, either by working on it, donating items or bidding on items. I’m sorry for the long delay in reporting, but unfortunately my attempts to resolve the situation have been unsuccessful.

DUFF does have sufficient funds to send someone to Australia/New Zealand next spring! In January Clare and I will be putting together the 2017 race, so stay tuned and let us know if you are interested or if you know someone in North America who would be a great candidate! Thank you so much for your support and interest in DUFF.

Email for Lucy/NA Admin is downunderfanfund@gmail.com

Email for Clare/ANZ Admin is clare1701@warpmail.net

Julian Warner, Justin Ackroyd and I are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2016 race is Clare McDonald-Sims!

Final results for the election were a total of 36 ballots cast, subtracting 2 ballots with no preference for 34 ballots cast with a preference. Just over AUD$400 was raised in the voting process. Thank you to everyone who voted and to Jean Weber for her invaluable assistance as PayPal money handler.

TOTAL                                           1       2       3

=====

Clare McDonald-Sims             33      0       0

No Preference                            2       6       2

Hold Over Funds                       1        3       1

Write-in                                      0       2       0

Write-ins were Bruce Gillespie and John Bansund [sic].

North America

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Clare McDonald-Sims             22      0       0

No Preference                             2       4       2

Hold Over Funds                         0       1       1

Write-in                                        0       2       0

Australia / New Zealand

=======================

Clare McDonald-Sims             9       0       0

No Preference                            0       0       0

Hold Over Funds                       1        2       0

Write-in                                      0       0       0

Rest of World

=============

Clare McDonald-Sims             2       0       0

No Preference                            0       0       0

Hold Over Funds                       0       0       0

Write-in                                      0       0       0

One week left to vote in the DUFF race! The 2016 online ballot and .pdf version is at http://ozfanfunds.com/duff/DUFF_onlineballot2016.html. Thank you to everyone who has voted so far. If you haven’t voted, please do, we really appreciate your support!

DUFF voting has opened! The 2016 online ballot and .pdf version is at http://ozfanfunds.com/duff/DUFF_onlineballot2016.html. There is only one candidate, Clare McDonald-Sims, but she’s a terrific choice.  If elected, she will attend the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, MidAmeriCon II, in Kansas City, Missouri. Be sure to vote by May 17th!