I should probably elaborate some more on the Convention, since the whole thing was my idea in the first place. So:
The Convention is fandom's big experiment with direct democracy. The vast majority of fen come from the western liberal social tradition, so they by and large don't automatically view government as a bad thing. (There are exceptions, such as the neo-Heinleinian & Discordian anarchist movements that haunt the Main Belt, but those are another story.) The problem is, fandom is spread out all over the solar system with only an intermittent FTL phone/internet system to keep it tied together.
The fractions provide a localized solution, but one that only works within the confines of their organization. Any attempt to expand, say, the Starfleet code over the entirety of fandom would be met with resistance by the other fractions. The fractions also can't provide a solid framework for the independents & other free agents who make up about half of the total population of Fenspace. So, the Convention was born.
The Convention was (ICly & OOCly) based loosely on Worldcon. Most folks think of Worldcon as the biggest SF-related party of the year, and they're right about that. What a lot of folks, particularly those who've never been to one, *don't* know is that Worldcon is also a major business occasion for the attendees. Worldcon plays host to the SFWA annual meeting (when the con's in the US) as well as voting for the Hugo Awards, providing attendees the chance to network with publishers, and so on.
When a Convention is called - usually once a year, time and place determined at the previous Convention - as much of fandom as can arrives at the designated area. There aren't a lot of places in Fenspace that can hold a quarter-million fans (and rising; between births and immigration Fenspace has a pretty respectable growth rate) which means that sometimes Conventions are held partly on the station and partly on a cloud of spaceships surrounding it.
(As a note for the current storyline: Phobos Station is on the list of places capable of holding the entire Nation at one go. And now back to our feature presentation.)
The first day of the Convention involves arrivals, sometimes opening ceremonies with the appropriate amount of bombast, drinking, dancing and networking. Nobody is expected to *work* opening day, since most folks are tired enough from the trip in. On the second day, once the hangovers have cleared, the actual work begins.
The next two to three days are filled with panel discussions. If you've *ever* been to a con, you know what this means. Panels at the Convention tend to feel a bit more like Senate committee hearings, though. This is where the initial groundwork in setting rules & regs is done. Evenings are generally like regular cons, with plenty of night activities for the general attendees.
Once all the panels have been concluded, all the information is carefully collated and sent to the organizers, who then spend a day or so transforming rants and raves into something resembling laws and government. This annual constitution (because that's really what it is) is then distributed to the masses for review before the vote. That usually takes another day or two.
Then, they vote. The vote is done by traditional means on the floor (usually by ballot, though sometimes voice if the measure's simple enough) and electronic means for attendees who can't fit onto the main floor. The votes are then tallied and the results read out to the membership. Another night of partying after the vote, and the fen wander back to their old lives.
The key thing to remember here is that whatever is voted on by a Convention is binding on all members of the Convention, which is why the Nation makes it such a big deal to get the entirety of fandom together each time. No major fraction avoids the Convention, and each enforces the rules enacted at the Convention. The alternative would split Fenspace, and (so far) the SMOFs have agreed that unity in the face of the 'danelaw is better than trying to go their own ways and being crushed.
Almost forgot. Worldcon has a thing called "non-attending memberships," which means even if you don't get to go, you still get to vote on the stuff open for membership vote. Since the Convention evolved from Worldcon, it has the same thing for non-attendees. Non-attending members only get to review & vote on the final document; they have no input. This cuts down on the number of fen and "fen" who think they can do whatever they want because "the government doesn't apply to me!" (It's kind of like an EULA; acceptance of the document means you accept the terms of the agreement, even if you never bother to read it. Sort of a dirty trick, but it does help establish Fenspace authority through the system.)
So, what does all this verbiage have to do with Haruhi's Convention?
Not so much, really.
Traditionally the Convention only comes together once a year, but there's a clause in the commonly-upheld constitution (not even fen are nutty enough to completely revise the entire body of law every year) that allows for a Convention "to be called by any group during a time of extreme crisis." The point of the clause was to provide for something like a wartime government; at the time the authors were worried that the mundanes might try to attack the fledgling Fenspace as a terrorist threat or somesuch.
Haruhi and her SOS Brigade are willfully - you might even say gleefully - abusing the crisis clause for their own benefit. This particular Convention was called to address a single initiative, under the logic that if a Convention agrees to the initiative, then it becomes fannish law.
What's the initiative?
I'll tell you once I figure it out.
In the meantime, it's all the party without the governing work.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
The Convention is fandom's big experiment with direct democracy. The vast majority of fen come from the western liberal social tradition, so they by and large don't automatically view government as a bad thing. (There are exceptions, such as the neo-Heinleinian & Discordian anarchist movements that haunt the Main Belt, but those are another story.) The problem is, fandom is spread out all over the solar system with only an intermittent FTL phone/internet system to keep it tied together.
The fractions provide a localized solution, but one that only works within the confines of their organization. Any attempt to expand, say, the Starfleet code over the entirety of fandom would be met with resistance by the other fractions. The fractions also can't provide a solid framework for the independents & other free agents who make up about half of the total population of Fenspace. So, the Convention was born.
The Convention was (ICly & OOCly) based loosely on Worldcon. Most folks think of Worldcon as the biggest SF-related party of the year, and they're right about that. What a lot of folks, particularly those who've never been to one, *don't* know is that Worldcon is also a major business occasion for the attendees. Worldcon plays host to the SFWA annual meeting (when the con's in the US) as well as voting for the Hugo Awards, providing attendees the chance to network with publishers, and so on.
When a Convention is called - usually once a year, time and place determined at the previous Convention - as much of fandom as can arrives at the designated area. There aren't a lot of places in Fenspace that can hold a quarter-million fans (and rising; between births and immigration Fenspace has a pretty respectable growth rate) which means that sometimes Conventions are held partly on the station and partly on a cloud of spaceships surrounding it.
(As a note for the current storyline: Phobos Station is on the list of places capable of holding the entire Nation at one go. And now back to our feature presentation.)
The first day of the Convention involves arrivals, sometimes opening ceremonies with the appropriate amount of bombast, drinking, dancing and networking. Nobody is expected to *work* opening day, since most folks are tired enough from the trip in. On the second day, once the hangovers have cleared, the actual work begins.
The next two to three days are filled with panel discussions. If you've *ever* been to a con, you know what this means. Panels at the Convention tend to feel a bit more like Senate committee hearings, though. This is where the initial groundwork in setting rules & regs is done. Evenings are generally like regular cons, with plenty of night activities for the general attendees.
Once all the panels have been concluded, all the information is carefully collated and sent to the organizers, who then spend a day or so transforming rants and raves into something resembling laws and government. This annual constitution (because that's really what it is) is then distributed to the masses for review before the vote. That usually takes another day or two.
Then, they vote. The vote is done by traditional means on the floor (usually by ballot, though sometimes voice if the measure's simple enough) and electronic means for attendees who can't fit onto the main floor. The votes are then tallied and the results read out to the membership. Another night of partying after the vote, and the fen wander back to their old lives.
The key thing to remember here is that whatever is voted on by a Convention is binding on all members of the Convention, which is why the Nation makes it such a big deal to get the entirety of fandom together each time. No major fraction avoids the Convention, and each enforces the rules enacted at the Convention. The alternative would split Fenspace, and (so far) the SMOFs have agreed that unity in the face of the 'danelaw is better than trying to go their own ways and being crushed.
Almost forgot. Worldcon has a thing called "non-attending memberships," which means even if you don't get to go, you still get to vote on the stuff open for membership vote. Since the Convention evolved from Worldcon, it has the same thing for non-attendees. Non-attending members only get to review & vote on the final document; they have no input. This cuts down on the number of fen and "fen" who think they can do whatever they want because "the government doesn't apply to me!" (It's kind of like an EULA; acceptance of the document means you accept the terms of the agreement, even if you never bother to read it. Sort of a dirty trick, but it does help establish Fenspace authority through the system.)
So, what does all this verbiage have to do with Haruhi's Convention?
Not so much, really.
Traditionally the Convention only comes together once a year, but there's a clause in the commonly-upheld constitution (not even fen are nutty enough to completely revise the entire body of law every year) that allows for a Convention "to be called by any group during a time of extreme crisis." The point of the clause was to provide for something like a wartime government; at the time the authors were worried that the mundanes might try to attack the fledgling Fenspace as a terrorist threat or somesuch.
Haruhi and her SOS Brigade are willfully - you might even say gleefully - abusing the crisis clause for their own benefit. This particular Convention was called to address a single initiative, under the logic that if a Convention agrees to the initiative, then it becomes fannish law.
What's the initiative?
I'll tell you once I figure it out.
In the meantime, it's all the party without the governing work.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"