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Bouchercon Bylaws

 

as amended, through Bouchercon LI [51], Sacramento, October 2020;

currently as of Bouchercon LIII [53], Minneapolis September 2022

   I.       Bouchercon, Inc., the World Mystery Convention, is a nonprofit organization (hereinafter referred to as "Bouchercon")

             which holds an annual convention (hereinafter referred to as “Annual Convention”) in honor of Anthony Boucher, the

             distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author whose real name was William Anthony Parker White. It is the world’s

             premier convention bringing together all parts of the mystery and crime fiction community, and is commonly referred to as

             Bouchercon with the appropriate sequential number appended.

  II.       Membership.  Full-time registered attendees and Guests of Honor of each Annual Convention (hereinafter referred to as

            "Members") shall constitute the membership of Bouchercon from the beginning of each year's convention until the

            commencement of the following year's convention.

III.        Board of Directors.

           A.  The Bouchercon Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as "Board") shall be established to further the goals of

                     Bouchercon.

                     1.   Unless authorized by the Members, Board are not entitled to receive remuneration for the duties they perform on

                            behalf of Bouchercon, except they may be reimbursed for expenses.

                      2.  Every Board Member shall be deemed to have assumed office on the express understanding, agreement and condition

                            that each Officer and Director shall be indemnified and saved harmless from any costs, charges or expenses arising   from

                            any action, suit or proceeding relating to the activities of Bouchercon and its Board unless it arose from their own willful

                            neglect, fraudulent misconduct, or failure to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of

                            Bouchercon.

                B.  The officers shall be Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.  The board shall appoint its officers to two-year terms

                       commencing after the conclusion of each General Members Meeting.

             C.  The Board Shall:

                        1.  Act in the interim between Annual Conventions as needed to maintain and improve Bouchercon.

                        2. Conduct a General Members Meeting at each Annual Convention.

                        3. Prepare proposals for Bylaws (hereinafter referred to as “Bylaws”) and Rules (hereinafter referred to as “Rules”)

                             changes to be put before the members at the General Members Meeting.

                        4. Determine if bids submitted for future Annual Conventions meet minimum requirements established in the Bylaws

                             and Rules. Any bid deemed by the Board to meet these requirements will be presented to the Members for approval,

                             except that if more than three acceptable bids are submitted for any one year, the Board can choose to limit

                             presentations to the top three.

                         5. Maintain a “best practices” manual and a history of Bouchercon.

                         6. Assist Local Organizing Committees to conduct successful Annual Conventions and review results of each year’s

                              convention.

                         7.  Appoint committees and conduct projects that lead to the long-term success of Bouchercon.

                         8.  Receive excess revenue generated by each Annual Convention; distribute funds to Local Organizing Committees as

                               seed money or for operations, conduct special projects, and fund Board operations. None of these funds shall inure to

                               the benefit of any Board member. All revenue received shall be used for the purposes of Bouchercon.

 

                          9. Report at each General Members Meeting on Bouchercon’s receipts disbursements and financial status.

                        10. Protect and promote the Bouchercon name, image and brand.

                         11. Recruit and hire an Administrator who will serve at the will of the Board of Directors and report directly to the Chair of

                               the Board. The Administrator will support and promote all activities of Bouchercon and be subject to all its policies.

                         12. Create a position of an immediate Past-Chair who will assist the current Chair in a non-voting, ex-officio capacity for

                                one year.

 IV.     Annual Convention.

            A. The Annual Convention shall be held in September, October or November of each year in a location approved by the

                    Members at a General Members Meeting; conventions may be approved up to five years in advance.

            B. Local Organizing Committees shall bid to hold Annual Conventions through a process enumerated in the Rules.

               C.  A bid for an Annual Convention in a non-North American site may be awarded if it will occur at least five years from another

                     non-North American Annual Convention.

                D. If at the end of a General Members Meeting a location for an upcoming Annual Convention, within the subsequent five

                      years, has not been identified, the Board may step in, initiate and secure an Annual Convention location until a Local

                     Organizing Committee is identified.

   V.      Local Organizing Committees.

             A.  Local Organizing Committees wishing to host an Annual Convention must submit a bid to be placed before the Members at

                       the General Members Meeting. A Local Organizing Committee awarded a bid must either become a subsidiary of

                       Bouchercon, or be or become a tax-exempt, but not tax-deductible, nonprofit corporation.

                 B. The chair, or at least one of any co-chairs, of the Local Organizing Committee must, within six weeks of a bid being

                      approved, sign a contract with the chair of the Board agreeing to hold the Annual Convention under the provisions of its

                      bid, these Bylaws and the Standing Rules.

                  C. Guests of Honor.

                        1. The Local Organizing Committee for each Annual Convention shall select its Guests of Honor, which may include Fan

                            Guests, Author Guests, Toastmaster, Special Guests, Distinguished Contribution to the Mystery Community, and

                            Lifetime Achievement.

                         2. Guests of Honor may have their hotel, travel and meal expenses covered by the Local Organizing Committee, but shall                                 not receive any honorarium for appearing or speaking at an Annual Convention.

                         3. An individual may serve in different Guest capacities at different Annual Conventions, but should not serve in the same

                              capacity twice.

                    D. Anthony Awards

                          1. The Anthony Awards shall be given to honor the memory of Anthony Boucher. The Local Organizing Committee shall

                              oversee the determination and awarding of the Anthony Awards within the provisions of these Bylaws and Rules.

                         2. Anthony Awards are given for work with a first publication date (when applicable) during the year before the Annual

                             Convention. In the convention the work’s first publication occurs in a non-North American country, nominations may

                             be made based on that date, or on a subsequent North American publication date.

              

                         3. Awards shall be designated by the year they are awarded, rather than when the work was published or produced.

                      E.  Each Local Organizing Committee is responsible for all of the expenses associated with holding its Annual Convention

                            and acknowledges that Bouchercon and all other Local Organizing Committees have no liability for covering any

                            convention deficits.

                       F. Local Organizing Committees shall present progress reports at each General Members Meeting before and during its

                            Annual Convention.

                       G. Within 90 days after its Annual Convention, the Local Organizing Committee shall provide the Board and any upcoming

                             Local Organizing Committees with its membership list.

                        H. Within one year after its Annual Convention, the Local Organizing Committee shall provide the Board with a full and

                              final accounting of the finances of its Annual Convention. During that year, the Local Organizing Committee will

                              continue to provide financial reports as outlined in the Rules.

                          I. Each Local Organizing Committee shall prepare a program book for its Annual Convention.

                          J. After the Local Organizing Committee has paid all expenses for its Annual Convention, any funds remaining must be

                              turned over to the Board for the purposes established in the Bylaws and Rules.

   VI.     General Members Meeting.

                    A. The Board shall hold a General Members Meeting at each Annual Convention open and advertised to all Members; the

                               current Local Organizing Committee and the Board shall encourage Members to attend.

                          B. Unless otherwise specified, a simple majority of the Members present and voting at the meeting shall be sufficient to

                                take action.  

                          C. There shall be no quorum for the General Members Meeting. 

                          D. Actions that may be taken at the General Members Meeting include but are not limited to:

                                1. Awarding bids for future Annual Conventions.

                                2. Electing members to the Board;

                                3. Approving Bylaws and Rules; and

                                4. Such other items as deemed appropriate.

                           E. The agenda for the General Members Meeting shall be established by the Board

 

 VII.     Membership number 000 is retired in memory of the late Mrs. Phyllis White, widow and lifetime helpmate of Anthony

                Boucher and longtime supporter of Bouchercon during her lifetime.

 

VIII.     Bylaws.

                       A. The current Bylaws shall be published and distributed to all Members at each Annual Convention; when possible,

                                  proposed amendments to bylaws shall also be published and distributed.

                             B. Amendments.

                                  1. Amendments to the Bylaws may be proposed by a Member or the Board.

                                  2.Proposed amendments shall be written, discussed and voted upon at a General Members Meeting. If the proposed

                                      amendment(s) receive a majority of votes at the General Members meeting, those proposed amendments shall be

                                      approved that year.

 

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