Understanding Worldcon Membership Changes

In 2022 the WSFS constitution was amended to create a new membership structure. It introduced a concept called a “WSFS membership” that was non-transferable and granted you voting rights. If you wished to attend the Worldcon, you would purchase a WSFS membership and then add an attending supplement on top.

This document attempts to explain how that change affected various scenarios.

Note that the amendment E2 in the 2025 WSFS Business Meeting agenda proposed a change to the names used in the membership structure. This document does not attempt to grapple with the impact of those changes, and instead focuses on the changes made in 2022.

Pre-WSFS membership

Attending

Supporting

Upgrade

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Attending bundle

WSFS

Attending supplement

Scenario 1: I want to attend the convention

Pre-WSFS membership

Buy an attending membership.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Buy an attending bundle.

Scenario 2: I can‘t attend but want to vote

Pre-WSFS membership

Buy a supporting membership.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Buy a WSFS membership.

Scenario 3: I have a supporting/WSFS membership, but now want to attend

Pre-WSFS membership

Buy an upgrade.

Registration need to check you have an existing supporting membership.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Buy an attending supplement.

Registration need to check you have an existing WSFS membership.

Scenario 4: I have an attending membership/supplement and want a refund

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically one of:

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically one of:

Scenario 5: I have a supporting/WSFS membership and want a refund

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically no refunds are given for legitimate purchases.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically no refunds are given for legitimate purchases.

Scenario 6: I want to transfer my attending membership/supplement to someone who doesn’t have a supporting/WSFS membership and want to transfer any unexercised voting rights

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically they transfer the attending membership and any unexercised voting rights to someone else.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Not allowed by the constitution.

Scenario 7: I want to transfer my attending membership/supplement to someone who doesn’t have a supporting/WSFS membership and want to retain my unexercised voting rights

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically they transfer the attending membership to someone else, and keep track of the voting rights (or lack of) for both parties.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Not allowed by the constitution.

Scenario 8: I want to transfer my attending membership/supplement to someone who has a supporting/WSFS membership and want to retain my unexercised voting rights

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically they transfer the attending membership to someone else, and keep track of the voting rights for both parties.

They must ensure the recipient still only gets a single vote.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically they transfer the attending supplement.

Scenario 9: I want to transfer my supporting/WSFS membership to someone else

Pre-WSFS membership

The policy is up to the convention.

Typically they transfer the supporting membership and any unexercised voting rights to someone else.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Not allowed by the constitution.

Scenario 10: I had a supporting/WSFS/attending membership to last year’s convention, and want to nominate this year

Pre-WSFS membership

Your information is passed on from last year’s convention to this year (following all relevant data protection laws).

The convention keeps track of your nominating rights.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Your information is passed on from last year’s convention to this year (following all relevant data protection laws).

The convention keeps track of your nominating rights.

Scenario 11: I had a supporting/WSFS/attending membership to last year’s convention, and want purchase a supporting/WSFS/attending membership to this year’s convention

Pre-WSFS membership

Your information is passed on from last year’s convention to this year (following all relevant data protection laws).

You buy the supporting/attending membership.

The convention keeps track of your nominating rights, making sure you only get to nominate once.

Post-WSFS membership (before E2)

Your information is passed on from last year’s convention to this year (following all relevant data protection laws).

You buy the WSFS membership

The convention keeps track of your nominating rights, making sure you only get to nominate once.