Bouchercon Standing Rules

BOUCHERCON STANDING RULES

As amended, through September 2023 Bouchercon LIV [54], San Diego and current

through September 2024, Bouchercon LV [55], Nashville

General Members Meeting Approved • August 31, 2024

1. GOVERNANCE

1.1 General

Current Rules shall be published and distributed to all Members at each Annual Convention.

1.2 Amendments to Rules

Amendments to the Rules may be proposed by a Member or the Board in acknowledgment of the following:

Proposed amendments will be written, distributed and discussed at a General Members Meeting. When possible, proposed amendments will be distributed in advance.
An amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote of the membership for adoption.
A Rule may be temporarily waived by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds vote of the Board.
The current Robert’s Rules of Order will be used when Bylaws and Standing Rules do not address a situation.

2. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2.1 Composition

At the conclusion of an annual General Members Meeting the Board will consist of sixteen members and have the following

composition:

Nine at-large members elected to three-year terms by the Members at a General Members Meeting;
A representative of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) hosting the General Members Meeting;
A LOC representative from each future Annual Convention; and
A LOC representative from each of the two preceding years.
Each LOC with a seat on the Board is allowed one vote; if it chooses, it may have more than one representative sit on the Board and participate in discussions.
If a LOC declines to name a member to the Board, that seat shall remain vacant.

2.2 Nominations Committee

Nominations for elected Board members will be vetted by a standing Board Nominating Committee which will prepare a slate

reflecting the majority endorsement of the full Board, to then be ratified by the membership by majority vote. The Board

Nominating Committee will solicit and identify potential members no later than 90-days prior to the General Members Meeting.

2.3 Board Vacancy

In the event an at-large seat on the Board is not filled by a vote of Members at the General Members Meeting or becomes

vacant in the interim, the Board may name a replacement to serve until the following General Members Meeting and the

election of a successor to complete the remainder of that seat’s term.

2.4 David Thompson Award

Each year the Board will solicit candidates to receive the David Thompson Special Service Award, which recognizes

extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction field. The Board will select the winner, announce the

decision in advance, and present the award at that event year’s Annual Convention.

3. LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (LOC)

3.1 BID SUBMISSION TIMELINE FOR FUTURE CONVENTIONS

Potential LOCs that wish to host an Annual Convention should inform the Board Chair in writing by no later than March 1 of

their interest, and must submit to the Board a bid by June 30 to have the bid considered for the desired year. Bids should be

submitted electronically if possible.

3.2 BID CONTENT

Bids must include:

Statement of Agreement by the LOC’s chair, or co-chair states that they have read “Bouchercon’s Best Practices Manual" provided by the Board, and agree to abide by it in so far as reasonably practicable, and is capable and competent to do so.

Location of the event.

Dates of the event
Letters of understanding or comparable hotel confirmations setting forth rates, terms, and availability of hotel room blocks totaling not less than 800 rooms for approximately 1,500 attendees.

Any variation on the minimum amount of hotel rooms must be explained and may be accepted by a majority vote of the Board.

Confirmation of conference facilities for approximately 1,500 attendees. Bids must include facility floor plans designating the location of planned events.

A summary budget showing estimates of major categories of income and expenses, along with an explanation of the intended registration price structure.

Outline of LOC plans for the Annual Convention, including a methodology for fairly incorporating all aspects of the crime fiction genre in the Annual Convention and selecting authors for panels.

A list of intended Guests of Honor is also recommended.

Preliminary LOC roster, identifying all chairs, and sufficient information about committee members’ including: Bouchercon experience; participation in organizing other events; knowledge of the crime fiction genre; and, other helpful evidence demonstrating the ability to conduct a successful Annual Convention.

The bid will include a statement adopting the Bouchercon Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy, which will be posted on the LOC’s website and included in the convention program book.

The LOC will agree to require that the Bouchercon Code of Conduct and Anti-harassment Policy be read and marked accepted by members at the time of convention registration.

3.3 BID AWARD

Bids approved by the Board as satisfying: Bylaws, Standing Rules and the Code of Conduct/Anti-Harassment Policy, will move forward to the members at the General Members Meeting. Convention bids are awarded by the members at the General Members Meeting by a majority vote.

3.4. LOCATION EXCEPTION

If at the end of a General Members Meeting a location for an upcoming Annual Convention has not been identified, the

Board may step in, initiate and secure an annual convention location until a LOC bidder can be identified.

3.5. REPORTING

In March 1 of each year, or, thirty days prior to the start of each year’s Annual Convention, or, at any other time the

Board reasonably requests, each LOC will present reports by email to the Board Chair for distribution to the Board. Reports

will include total paid registrations, receipts and disbursements, any material changes in the information submitted in its

bid approved by the Members, and such other information as the Board may reasonably request.

LOC reports will specify the total number of paid registrations broken down according to full-time and day-pass registrations.

3.6. REMOVAL

Any chair of a LOC who fails to reasonably discharge their obligations under these Standing Rules and the Bylaws is barred from chairing future Annual Conventions without the approval of a majority of the Board.

4. ANTHONY AWARDS

All Anthony Award voting shall be done at the Annual Convention.

4.1 CATEGORIES:

Best Hardcover Novel;

Best Short Story;
Best First Novel;
Best Paperback Original/E-Book/Audiobook Original Novel;
Best Juvenile/YA;
Best Critical Nonfiction Work; and
Best Anthology or Collection

The LOC may choose to include up to three additional “wild-card” Anthony Award categories.

4.2 TIMELINE FOR NOMINATIONS

Starting no later than February 28 and continuing until at least April 30, the convention LOC shall solicit candidates for

Anthony Award nominations from full-time registrants of its current convention and those of the immediately preceding

convention, (including Guests of Honor).

4.3 VOTER QUALIFICATIONS

Those registrants with day passes would not automatically receive a candidateballot, unless the convention LOC decides to include them. “Guest of” memberships, or memberships in the name of corporations and memberships in the name of fictitious persons are not allowed candidate ballots.
A registrant is allowed only one vote even if they are registered under multiple names.

4.4 AUTHOR’S WORK ELIGIBILITY

An author’s published work should be relevant to the Crime/Mystery genre and published between January 1 and December 31 in the year immediately prior to the Bouchercon Convention at which the Anthony Award will be given;

Regarding Best First Novel, authors who have previously published a novel in any other genre are not eligible.

Authors published simultaneously in Hardcover and another format are only eligible in Best Hardback Novel

4.5 THE BALLOT

The LOC Chair may determine whether to allow paper ballots for Anthony Award voting. If online only, accommodations will be made by the LOC to ensure each Member has access to voting electronically, either on their personal devices or on an official device secured in the registration area. Day pass registrants would not receive an Anthony ballot unless the Local Organizing Committee Chair decides to do so.

The method of voting, deadline and place for return of ballots shall be clearly stated on the ballot. No ballots shall be accepted after the deadline.

4.6 BALLOT COUNTING

Each person filling out a candidate ballot may cast up to five choices in any Award category, all five of which will have equal weight; repetitive choices in the same category will be counted as one vote.

The LOC will count the votes cast for each category: the top five candidates receiving the most votes will be the Anthony Awards nominees. Vote counts and ranking will remain confidential.

If there is a tie for fifth place, all the tied nominees will be listed, except that the LOC may delete the fifth-place nominations if they have received less than five percent of the candidate ballots cast in that category.

The LOC will appoint a Counting Committee who will take steps to minimize the possibility of tampering and ensure that ballots are kept secure and properly counted. No one except the Counting Committee may be present during the counting of ballots. No nominee may be on the Counting Committee.

The Counting Committee will determine the nominee receiving the highest number of votes, who will be declared the Award winner. In case of a tie for first place, the Award will be shared. Vote counts and ranking other than first place will remain confidential.

The LOC will announce the Anthony Award nominees no later than 60 days prior to the convention. The nominees will be announced at least once prior to the convention.

In the event of a conflict in the application of this subsection, the conflict will be resolved by the decision of the current LOC Chair, or their designee, whose decision will be final.

4.7 AWARD PRESENTATION

The LOC shall announce winners at the current Bouchercon convention.

All members of Bouchercon will be allowed access to the Anthony Award presentation. If the presentation is attached to a separate-fee event (such as a dinner or brunch), all non-attending members will be allowed free entrance after the fee event to see the Awards Presentation.

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