This is the official design made by Frank Johnson of Edmonton. The base is of Canadian Maple; the metal pieces are of Canadian Aluminum; the design is evocative of the Aurora Borealis ("the Northern Lights"); the Canadian Maple Leaf can be seen through the intersection of the three metal pieces and when looked down on from the top the design of the three pieces make the letters S and F.

The banner art in the masthead is by Brian Hubenig of Gibsons, BC

1998 Minutes

1998 Canvention Business Meeting

Draft Version: Feb 14/99
Held Sunday, October 4, 1998 in Montreal, Quebec at Canvention 18 (Con*Cept). Meeting started at 2:05pm.

In Attendance: Dennis Mullin (chair), Ruth Stuart (recording secretary), Joe Casey, Brian A. Davis, Mici Gold, Janet L. Hetherington, John Mansfield, Ann Methe, Lloyd Penney, Yvonne Penney, Ronn Sutton, Jean-Louis Trudel, Paul Valcour, Monica Winkler.

Meeting called to order at 10:11 am.

1. Old Minutes
The minutes were taken by Ruth Stuart and misplaced by Dennis Mullin; therefore, no minutes were available to be ratified. Instead the chair offered an apology to the secretary, and a summary of last year's discussions to the meeting.

2. Selection of 1999 Canvention Host
No bids were received before the business meeting. The floor was opened for bids from western Canada. None were made. The floor was then opened for bids from anywhere in Canada. Brian A. Davis presented a bid from inCONsequential II (Fredericton, NB). The convention will be held in October 1999. They promise to have a program track for Canadian panels and will try for more media coverage. InCONsequential I was successful and they have tentatively booked guests for next year.

The bid was accepted by a margin of 10 to 0 with 1 abstention.

3. Old business
(a) Ratification of the motion to move Poetry to Short-Form Categories from Other After a brief discussion, the motion was ratified by a margin of 7 to 3 with 1 abstention. This change will take effect in 1999.

(b) Sub-Committee Reports
Re: Trophy
There was improvement in the trophy work from Franklin Johnson. This year we arranged for the trophies to be shipped unassembled. This made for a more compact package and the pieces were not damaged. However, Ann Methe expressed disappointment because a deposit cheque was sent in June and the trophies only arrived the Monday before the convention.

Edward Charpentier was not approached to make the trophies this year. Article 2, Section 14 of the Constitution states "The official Aurora award is the one designed by Franklin E. Johnson. When viewed from the side the shape is a reminder of the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis). In the centre a maple leaf can be seen from many angles. From overhead the letters SF can be seen. The recommended materials for construction of the award is metal on a wood base." Primedia approached Ed to try Franklin Johnson's design in plexiglass but the cost would have been prohibitive. It was mentioned that Charpentier's trophy pieces were made from scrap plexiglass from the Ontario College of the Arts and that Johnson would be a more stable source of material.

An amendment was discussed to allow a different design or to allow each convention to change the base or plaque.

(c) That number of awards be reduced Ann Methe noted that this year's awards were paying for themselves. Last year, there was a $250 deficit but there were more voters this year. One of the reasons the current voting fee is $5 because this is the smallest bill (this is to dsicourage voters from sending coins when they vote). It was asked if there was a way to increase awareness of the awards. It was thought to be a good idea to ask conventions to run a "Canadian" panel on the Auroras, CUFF, etc.

Re: Fewer Awards
Since this year the awards broke even, John Mansfield said that point was moot. And asked that the Linda Ross-Mansfield motion not be tabled for discussion next year.

After discussion on the Boreal awards and the possibilities of connecting the Auroras and the Boreal, it was Moved by John Mansfield and seconded by Paul Valcour that Dennis Mullin be asked to approach the Boreal Committee to open discussions as to the future of the Boreal and the French Auroras. Possibilities include and are not limited to: 1) Boreal disappears, 2) French Auroras disappear, 3) Announcements of awards be made at both ceremonies, especially if they are not held at the same convention and 4) maybe only some of the French Auroras survive. The motion was passed by a margin of 9 to 0.

The Boreal Convention will be held October 1-3, 1999. The committee could be approached at that time and a report made to Canvention.

4. New Business
(a) Should CUFF winner be tied to Canvention or go to Worldcon? Lloyd and Yvonne Penney, this year's CUFF winners approached the meeting with the question: Should CUFF winner be tied to Canvention or go to Worldcon? Traditionally, CUFF winners are invited to Canvention. The idea is to get Eastern fans to the West and vice versa. Lloyd expressed the need for information on Western fan e-mails, etc. to approach someone for next year. It was asked if Canvention 1999 would accept the CUFF winner as a guest. The answer was yes and they would make sure the person would be included in programming. The CUFF winner should be an ambassador but also expected to do certain things. In the past (an example given was Calgary in 1996), there was no programming or inclusion of CUFF topics or winner. Possible ideas for CUFF winner: Presenter at Aurora Awards Ceremony; Judge in Masquerade; Programming.

Dennis Mullin was willing to put CUFF information on the Aurora web site to increase awareness.

Moved by Paul Valcour and seconded by Brian A. Davis to encourage future Canventions to extend hospitality to CUFF winners and encourage them to participate in programming and encourage continued co-operation between the two activities. Motion carried by a vote of 8 to 0 with 1 abstention. Moved by Joe Casey and seconded by Lloyd Penney that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried by a margin of 8 to 0 with 1 abstention.

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