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Doc Weir Award
The Doc Weir Award is awarded every Eastercon. It's an old tradition and a good one. It's an award for unsung heroes, people who put in lots of hard work, but who are rarely in the public eye.
Although there are voting forms in every con pack, there's a very low % of people who actually vote. The reason is very simple - unsung heroes are unsung because people don't know who they are. It's hard for anyone who hadn't been to a load of Eastercons and been part of the convention team themselves to know who these people are.
The average member won't know the names of those who work every year to set up the art show, to run green room, to manage the gopher hole, to erect the stage lighting, to manage the accounts, to move chairs/deliver drinks/etc. At least half the membership probably don't even think consciously about what goes on behind the scenes at all - and some first timers probably imagine it's all done by the hotel or by paid professionals.
If you don't know these people exist (and even if you do, you probably don't know their names), then how can you possibly vote for them? Hence the low turnout. Thus, the informal tradition of 'the fix'. Most years, there's an informal agreement arises among the con-running circles to vote for a particular person and when the subject of Doc Weir comes up, the question usually asked is: "Who's the fix for this year?"
I got the word in the usual manner and was all set to vote, when I was approached by another fan (Jessica Yates) who isn't in the normal con-running circles and had a candidate of her own. She asked me to vote for Smudge (a member of the tech team). I said I was already voting for someone else, and wandered on, but several minutes later, I started thinking. The original candidate was a great person who has done a lot for fandom, but is also one of the visible people. They've often been up on that stage as part of the committee and have even been a fan guest of honour at an Eastercon - which is about as good as recognition and thanks get.
I know Smudge slightly - having a daughter as head of tech, it's almost inevitable that I get to know some of the regular perps. The tech team generally arrive on Wednesday or Thursday before the con and work non-stop until about midday on Tuesday. Some of them never go to any programme items at all. Some of them move in other fannish circles and are thus known to the people who tend to kick-start Doc Weir nominations, but some, like Smudge and Boggis, really only do tech. To the best of my knowledge, they've never been involved in fanzines or con-running, they just turn up every year to events like Eastercon/Redemption/Discworld and proceed to work their socks off.
So, I decided to start the 'Vote for Smudge' campaign. Given that the original candidate would have a reasonable number of votes already, that meant I'd have to work pretty hard. I talked to a lot of people - I'm like that. If a job's worth doing, then it's worth doing well. I like to think that I also did a lot to raise awareness of the Doc Weir award itself. I became aware of two other candidates while I was campaigning - one was an excellent candidate who has been doing the newsletter for many years (and whom I wouldn't be surprised to see as a winner some year in the future) and the other was a person who hadn't really been doing the job long enough to qualify for Doc Weir (though very hard-working and talented - I'm told they were a bit embarrassed at being nominated and might have turned it down if they'd won).
In the end, we had a much higher voter turnout than normal. Nearly 10% of the convention members voted for a candidate for the Doc Weir Award, which is really great.
In the closing ceremony, I was sitting not far behind Smudge (who was working the camera filming the stage), when the winner was announced. It's almost always the case that a Doc Weir winner is totally surprised to win (or even to realise they'd been nominated at all) and Smudge was no exception. Uttering the immortal words "I'll get someone for this", he went up and collected the cup.
It was one of my best moments in the whole weekend. (Carrie spilled the beans on my campaign, so I collected a big hug later.) Apparently he not only won, but won by a good margin. Thank you, everyone who voted, no matter which candidate you voted for.
I took a few photos on the Tuesday, when I finally found where I'd packed my camera. Here's what the main hall looks like at the tail end of tech cleardown.
And, here's the man so many of you voted for, so that you can know what he actually looks like:
And to end with the words that Mark read out on stage from one of the voting slips: "That tech guy who does Eastercon and Redemption and Discworld. I think he's called Smudge."
Although there are voting forms in every con pack, there's a very low % of people who actually vote. The reason is very simple - unsung heroes are unsung because people don't know who they are. It's hard for anyone who hadn't been to a load of Eastercons and been part of the convention team themselves to know who these people are.
The average member won't know the names of those who work every year to set up the art show, to run green room, to manage the gopher hole, to erect the stage lighting, to manage the accounts, to move chairs/deliver drinks/etc. At least half the membership probably don't even think consciously about what goes on behind the scenes at all - and some first timers probably imagine it's all done by the hotel or by paid professionals.
If you don't know these people exist (and even if you do, you probably don't know their names), then how can you possibly vote for them? Hence the low turnout. Thus, the informal tradition of 'the fix'. Most years, there's an informal agreement arises among the con-running circles to vote for a particular person and when the subject of Doc Weir comes up, the question usually asked is: "Who's the fix for this year?"
I got the word in the usual manner and was all set to vote, when I was approached by another fan (Jessica Yates) who isn't in the normal con-running circles and had a candidate of her own. She asked me to vote for Smudge (a member of the tech team). I said I was already voting for someone else, and wandered on, but several minutes later, I started thinking. The original candidate was a great person who has done a lot for fandom, but is also one of the visible people. They've often been up on that stage as part of the committee and have even been a fan guest of honour at an Eastercon - which is about as good as recognition and thanks get.
I know Smudge slightly - having a daughter as head of tech, it's almost inevitable that I get to know some of the regular perps. The tech team generally arrive on Wednesday or Thursday before the con and work non-stop until about midday on Tuesday. Some of them never go to any programme items at all. Some of them move in other fannish circles and are thus known to the people who tend to kick-start Doc Weir nominations, but some, like Smudge and Boggis, really only do tech. To the best of my knowledge, they've never been involved in fanzines or con-running, they just turn up every year to events like Eastercon/Redemption/Discworld and proceed to work their socks off.
So, I decided to start the 'Vote for Smudge' campaign. Given that the original candidate would have a reasonable number of votes already, that meant I'd have to work pretty hard. I talked to a lot of people - I'm like that. If a job's worth doing, then it's worth doing well. I like to think that I also did a lot to raise awareness of the Doc Weir award itself. I became aware of two other candidates while I was campaigning - one was an excellent candidate who has been doing the newsletter for many years (and whom I wouldn't be surprised to see as a winner some year in the future) and the other was a person who hadn't really been doing the job long enough to qualify for Doc Weir (though very hard-working and talented - I'm told they were a bit embarrassed at being nominated and might have turned it down if they'd won).
In the end, we had a much higher voter turnout than normal. Nearly 10% of the convention members voted for a candidate for the Doc Weir Award, which is really great.
In the closing ceremony, I was sitting not far behind Smudge (who was working the camera filming the stage), when the winner was announced. It's almost always the case that a Doc Weir winner is totally surprised to win (or even to realise they'd been nominated at all) and Smudge was no exception. Uttering the immortal words "I'll get someone for this", he went up and collected the cup.
It was one of my best moments in the whole weekend. (Carrie spilled the beans on my campaign, so I collected a big hug later.) Apparently he not only won, but won by a good margin. Thank you, everyone who voted, no matter which candidate you voted for.
I took a few photos on the Tuesday, when I finally found where I'd packed my camera. Here's what the main hall looks like at the tail end of tech cleardown.
And, here's the man so many of you voted for, so that you can know what he actually looks like:
And to end with the words that Mark read out on stage from one of the voting slips: "That tech guy who does Eastercon and Redemption and Discworld. I think he's called Smudge."
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I giggled at Smudge's words on collecting the cup (ah, the wonders of streaming con programme!).
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You might enjoy this link:
http://ranunculus.dreamwidth.org/22707.html#cutid1
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i can see why you appreciate the recognition given to tech volunteers.
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Smudge is one of the true unsung heros of Eastercon!
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I offered a hand but he said he was fine. :-)
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I can remember a time when the Doc Weir Award was supposed to cover all of fandom, not just the con-running sub-set -- but that was a time when fandom was much smaller than now, and before the rise of con-running as a discrete fan activity in its own right.
The Award became thoroughly discredited in the mid-1970s, when it was transparently used as a means for Old Fans and Tired (from the 1950s and early 1960s) to reward each other for their longevity, and there was at least one year towards the end of the decade when an Eastercon committee refused to host it because of the blatant vote-rigging in their favour. I think it largely fell from sight (but presumably still continued in some form) for the next few years; but we gave up regular con-going around 1985, so clearly missed its resurrection as an object of desire and worth.
As you indicate, however, the fact that it's supposed to go to "unsung" individuals is something of a problem. There may also be an issue -- there are always issues -- with naming an award after someone who's deceased (in this case, dead for half a century), because they and their achievements will in time always become unknown to later generations; but that's clearly a different argument.
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I think there's still a slight bias towards people who've been heavily involved in zine fandom, but I'd say that is fading now.
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I can't disagree with your assertion that in recent years the Award has gone to "good people", because I have nothing against which to contextualise it. But I think there could be a problem for the future if it comes to be perceived solely as a means of rewarding those who do work behind the scenes at conventions.
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That's what I do perceive it as - and I don't see it as a problem. The nature of the award has changed as fandom has changed.
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The common factor I seek is people who do things that help other fans. As I implied in the original post, I don't think con-runners are good candidates - they're visible already.
My husband, daughter and son might some day be Doc Weir candidates as they do dealer's room, tech and games room respectively. As I'm usually on the con committee, I'm too visible to count. I get the thanks at the end of the con, because people recognise my face.
The fact that the award is voted for by Eastercon attendees means that a tie to service at Eastercons is inherently likely.
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I do feel there is a good case for including all UK conventions in a particular year when considering the award and not just Eastercon, but lack the personal energy to campaign for this at the moment. Maybe I will someday...
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What I was most pleased with this year was, whilst the eventual result was clear cut, there were 13 different people nominated and almost all departments of conrunning represented and several from outside direct conrunning. This seems to me to be a good sign and we do seem to be drifting away from the single "fix" that used to be so common.
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The 'fix' has some uses,as you might end up with three votes for everyone, but I am pleased to see a wider spread.
I still like the 'unsung heroes' concept, so I'm less likely to vote for actual con com. (though I did vote for you)
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Doc Weir is excellent award an I support it wholeheartedly. Disagree about any fanzine bias. Have a look through last few winners. You have to go back to Bill Burns in 2003 really for anyone who represents fanzine fandom.
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The actual turnout was 102 so a bit less than 10% of attending members I imagine. I am wondering if putting the voting ballot in the pack is such a good idea. So many people leave their packs in their room and when full of other things like this year, very easy to miss or forget. Maybe the forms should be left near the box so that people can get one and vote when they remember. Theoretically, this might enable ballot stuffing but practically speaking I doubt this would be too much of a problem. Anyone got any thoughts on this?
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I think that was pretty much what I did.
When I get given a bag with a whole bunch of stuff I look through for the things that are what I'm interested in, ie the Programme Guide and Readme. Everything else gets a cursory glance: Hall Costume Tokens, some freebie books and sample chapters, something that says "Doc Weir" with a bunch of names on that I don't know, some advertising and then it gets chucked aside "to be looked at later if I can be bothered".
I'm not really into the fanzine/ fandom/ fan-whatever side of things, so it didn't really get looked at and although Judith made a pitch to me for the "Vote for Smudge", I didn't know his name either (having seen the picture I vaguely recognise him as someone from Tech, but that's it) so I didn't feel I could vote on that basis.
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Whilst we might need to make the ballot paper clearer, it is difficult and I suppose, ultimately, when you know what the Doc Weir is all about, THEN you might want to vote and the bumf on the paper is less important.
My comment above was not in any way meant as a criticism of anyone who didn't vote for whatever reason.
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Bill
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If Pete would like a certificate, please have him email me: billb@ftldesign.com