Bylaws

Mission Statement

Radcon is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to the promotion of art, literature, science, gaming, and imagination; especially in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genres. We support the education of the general public in these areas by hosting the RadCon Science Fiction Convention. We will assist individuals and fan-based groups or charities in furtherance of these goals.

ARTICLE 1 – MEMBERSHIP

  1. The RadCon Guild, known hereafter as the Guild, shall consist of all members, voting members, and complimentary members, as follows:
    1. Membership in the Guild shall be extended to all persons who have purchased a membership.
    2. Memberships are valid until December 31st of the year for which the membership is obtained.
    3. Complimentary memberships
      1. The Chair or Vice Chair can provide complimentary memberships at their discretion.
      2. Department Heads may provide complimentary memberships for visiting professionals, Guests of Honor, and their guests.
        1. A list of all complimentary memberships must be provided in writing to the Committee at a regular meeting,
      3. The Committee has the right to decline individual complimentary memberships presented.
    4. ‘Member in Good Standing’ refers to persons who:
      1. Have a paid membership or a lifetime membership,
      2. Are not delinquent in returning RadCon funds or assets,
      3. Are not involved in legal proceedings that can negatively affect RadCon or its Committee Members.
  2. All Members in Good Standing have the following rights:
    1. To hold a position in the Guild,
    2. To participate in all appropriate Guild activities,
    3. To have access to Guild records upon written request to the Committee,
    4. To petition for a vote of no confidence against any officer or department head,
    5. To petition for the Dissolving of the Guild as detailed in Article 8,
    6. To attend any meeting of the Committee,
    7. Memberships may be terminated by voluntary resignation or vote of the Committee as follows:
      1. A written or electronic notice of voluntary resignation must be received by the Chair or Vice Chair,
      2. The Committee may vote to terminate a membership if it is determined to be in the best interests of the guild.
    8. The Chair must notify the member if their membership is involuntarily terminated.
  3. Voting Member
    1. Voting members have all rights of members in good standing and the right to vote.
    2. To become a voting member you must be 18 years of age and fulfill one of the following:
      1. Head a Department or
      2. Hold a Department Position or
      3. Fulfill all of the following:
        1. Been a member in good standing for 2 years and
        2. Provide 30 hours of volunteer service within the past year and
        3. Attend 2 general meetings within the last 4 months
          1. For attendance to count you must be on site -Secretary will keep attendance records.
    3. Voting Members have the following additional privileges:
      1. To vote in elections for officers of the Guild
    4. A voting member must agree that electronic notification (E-Mail) is a valid form of communication for all guild business.
    5. The registry of current voting members will be updated monthly and be kept by the secretary

ARTICLE 2 – THE COMMITTEE

  1. The Committee shall consist of voting members and officers present at the scheduled meetings.
  2. Each Committee member shall have one vote in all matters brought before the Committee.
    1. All votes, except as noted, are by simple majority
    2. A quorum for committee meetings shall exist if two or more officers and a majority of the department heads are present. Department seconds may count towards quorum, if the department head is not present.
    3. Absentee votes may be submitted in writing or electronically to the Chair, Vice Chair, or other person designated by the Committee. Proxies are not permitted.
  3. Committee meetings will be based on Robert’s Rules of Order.
    1. The Committee may, if it desires, appoint a parliamentarian to assist in the conduct of Committee meetings. This person shall have the final say in all matters of order.
  4. The meeting schedule shall be set by the Chair, giving due consideration to the needs of the Guild and the schedules of the individual Committee members.
  5. Unless otherwise specified, regular meetings are the first Thursday of each month.
  6. Special meetings not scheduled at a regular Committee meeting require 24 hour notice, notice is required to be posted on the RadCon Website and E-Mailed to ConCom.
  7. The committee manages the assets of the Guild, as detailed in Article 6.
  8. A member may hold more than one department position on the Committee.
  9. Agenda and meeting minute summaries from prior meetings for regularly scheduled Committee meetings will be posted on the Web in advance of meetings.

ARTICLE 3 – OFFICERS OF THE GUILD

Officers of the Guild shall be elected by simple majority each March.

  1. Officers of the Guild shall be Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. The duties of these officers are detailed below.
  2. Officers may delegate any duties they feel appropriate to qualified members in good standing of the Guild.
  3. Duties:
    1. Chair
      1. The Chair shall:
        1. Preside at Committee meetings,
        2. Represent the Guild at all appropriate meetings and fundraisers,
        3. Oversee operation of the convention,
        4. Nominate department heads,
        5. Ensure the agendas are available at the regular meetings.
    2. Vice Chair
      1. The Vice Chair shall:
        1. Preside in the absence of the Chair at Committee meetings,
        2. Assist the Chair in duties delegated to him/her.
    3. Secretary
      1. The Secretary shall:
        1. Keep and maintain records of meetings of the Committee,
        2. Preside over Committee meetings in the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair,
        3. The Secretary shall maintain multiple copies of the bylaws and the RadCon Policy Manual.
          1. As a minimum the Policy Manual shall contain policies on the following:
            1. Party Policy
            2. Weapons Policy
            3. Code of Conduct
            4. Department Structure
        4. Must provide copies of the previous months meeting minutes at each regular meeting,
        5. Retain and keep Guild documents:
          1. Bylaws
          2. Contracts
          3. Contact Lists
          4. Etc.
        6. Keep a registry of current memberships
        7. The Secretary, or a representative appointed by the Secretary, must be present to take meeting minutes.
    4. Treasurer
      1. The Treasurer shall:
        1. Keep all financial records of the Convention,
        2. Pay outstanding bills of the Convention,
        3. Deposit all proceeds for the Convention and any fundraising proceeds,
        4. Maintain and report to the Committee Savings, Checking, and Emergency Fund balances monthly, or as requested by the Committee,
        5. Assist in any duties delegated by the Chair, Vice Chair, or Secretary,
        6. Provide quarterly financial reports detailing the Guilds income and expenditures.
  4. Terms of Service
    1. Officer terms shall be one year and begin immediately after the election and will last until the next election,
    2. New officers take office at the first meeting following the election,
    3. There are no consecutive term limits.

ARTICLE 4 – TERMINATION OF OFFICE

  1. Termination of Office
    1. An Officer or Department Head may at any time choose to resign his/her position. The Officer or Department Head must present a written notice of resignation to the Chair or send a written or electronic notice to the Chair. The Chair, upon receiving the resignation notice, will then appoint a temporary delegate to hold the position until elections can be held. Such election must be held no later than 60 days following the resignation.
    2. An Officer or Department Head may be removed by a Vote of No Confidence.
  2. Vote of No Confidence
    1. Any member in good standing may bring a Vote of No Confidence to a regular Committee meeting in the form of a written petition,
    2. The petition must state:
      1. The individual or individuals the Vote of No Confidence is being brought against. The individual or individuals must be an Officer or Department Head,
      2. All allegations,
      3. A motion calling for dismissal. This motion cannot be modified by amendment or superseded by another motion calling for dismissal.
    3. The petition must be signed by at least 15 Members in Good Standing.
      1. All signatures must be verified against the current year registration database.
        1. Verifications are done by the Head of Registration in the presence of two (2) Officers.
        2. Verifications must be initialed to show signature validity.
    4. The Officer or Department Head against whom a Vote of No Confidence is being brought must be given the opportunity to be present at the meetings discussing removal.
    5. The motion brought forth by the petition shall be resolved at the regular Committee meeting following the meeting at which the petition is presented.
      1. The Officer or Department Head against whom a Vote of No Confidence is being brought has the right to see the Vote resolved at the same meeting at which the petition is presented.
    6. In the event of resignation or removal of all Officers, responsibilities of the chair shall transfer to the first assigned Department Head, in the order shown in the Department Structure Policy. Absent an approved policy, the Chair is filled by the Department Heads in order of seniority. In this case, the Chair is empowered to appoint Officers and Department Heads pending elections to be held within 60 days of the resignation or removal of the last Officer.
  3. Electing and Replacing Officers
    1. When an Officer position is made vacant by resignation or termination, the Committee must select a new Officer in a timely manner, not to exceed 90 days.
    2. All candidates must be present at the time of the vote, or have submitted written or electronic permission to have the vote in their absence.
  4. No Guild member shall hold more than one elected office at one time.

ARTICLE 5 – DEPARTMENT HEADS

  1. The Department Heads shall be nominated annually by the Chair and approved by the Committee. Such nominations shall be addressed no later than the May meeting.
  2. Department Heads shall provide a preliminary budget to the committee by July.
  3. New Departments
    1. Proposals for new Departments will be made in writing and presented to the Chair prior to Committee meetings.
    2. The proposal must be sponsored by at least 5 Members of Good Standing.
    3. The proposal must define what activities the Department will perform and its relationships with existing Departments.
    4. Must be ratified by the Committee, and added to the Department Structure Policy.
  4. Elimination of Departments
    1. Departments are eliminated by Modifying and Approving the Department Structure Policy.
  5. Terms of Service
    1. Department Head terms shall be one year,
    2. The Term shall begin immediately after appointment by the Committee and will last until the next appointment process,
    3. There are no consecutive term limits.

ARTICLE 6 – ASSET MANAGEMENT

  1. The Committee will have an approved budget.
  2. The fiscal year shall begin April 1st and go through March 31st.
  3. Department Heads, or Officers, are empowered to spend monies in accordance with the budget. Preliminary budgets shall be presented in July. The budget shall be approved no later than September 30th for the upcoming year.
  4. Management of Funds
    1. All funds received shall be deposited in the name of the RadCon Guild and shall be disbursed for the purposes and requirements of the Guild by check.
    2. The bank account(s) containing RadCon funds are only accessible by the current year’s Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer.
    3. In an emergency, the Officers are permitted to allocate funds towards Convention expenditures pending ConCom approval at the next general meeting.
      1. At least 3 Officers must agree on the expenditures.
    4. Every fiscal year a minimum of $500 will be added to the emergency fund to be kept in a separate account. This fund can only be used by a vote of the Committee.
    5. Domain Name
      1. The Domain Name, Radcon.org, is considered an asset of the convention and will remain so unless the Guild is dissolved in accordance with Article 8.
  5. Copyrights and Intellectual Property
    1. All work products created on behalf of RadCon are copyrighted property of RadCon in perpetuity.
    2. All contacts made on behalf of RadCon are property of RadCon in perpetuity.
    3. All contacts and work products are to be made available for review by the Committee or its Officers upon their written request.
  6. Contracts
    1. A copy of all Contracts must be on file with the Secretary to be considered valid.

ARTICLE 7 – AMENDMENTS

  1. Amendments to the Bylaws must be submitted in writing to the Committee at a regular meeting.
  2. Amendments must be approved by a 2/3 majority.

ARTICLE 8 – DISSOLVING THE GUILD

  1. Any Member in Good Standing may request the Committee to dissolve the Guild. The request shall be made in writing to the Committee.
  2. The Guild may be dissolved as follows:
    1. By a unanimous vote of the committee at a regularly scheduled meeting where the dissolution of the Guild is on the agenda, or
    2. By a 3/4 vote of all Guild Members in Good Standing.
  3. Liquidation of Guild Assets
    1. The assets of the Guild shall be liquidated in the following order:
      1. Pay off legal debts
      2. Reimburse all prepaid memberships
      3. Donate remaining funds and assets, if any, as directed by the State of Washington.
    2. All records of the Guild shall be kept by the Chair, or delegated to a member, to be stored for a minimum of 7 years.

Revised 9/7/2023

RadCon-Bylaws-Rev-1.7Download