August 19, 2012

Votes and Thank-Yous: Developments at the August meeting

New Developments:
At the August 18 meeting, members received several important pieces of news.

The Board is in the process of finalizing a bid from a new ConQuesT hotel. Free parking, Free wi-fi for hotel guests, extended food service hours, lower space costs for the convention, and room rates below $100 per night for attendees are some of the potential benefits of the move now under discussion. Stand by for updates!

The addition of several new members, including our ConQuesT Chair Victoria L'Ecuyer, makes it necessary to once again update the Directory. Stand by for a notice of when it is uploaded to the KAXFEN Yahoo Group.

KaCSFFS members will receive birthday cards, thanks to a
new effort by Sherri Dean.
Secretary Sherri Dean has undertaken a new project to send birthday cards to KaCSFFS members who have shared their birthdates with the club (any who have not will receive their cards at the first of the year!). This complements and extends the effort already being made by KaCSFFS President Diana Bailey, to send get-well or sympathy cards to members and friends of KaCSFFS, when they are needed.

Thank-Yous!
Continuing a program of recognizing outstanding volunteer contributors to KaCSFFS that was started at the 40th Anniversary last year, KaCSFFS presented an Award of Recognition to Tyrell Gephardt at the August meeting, "for outstanding contributions to Fhandom." It was presented by Treasurer Cindy Norton, who spoke of Ty's leadership of the podcasting group, his regular contributions to the KaCSFFS Blog, his frequent willingness to help with electronics and heavy-lifting, and his outstanding efforts that very night to help set up and tear down the August Art Night exhibition, and also to make a special run to pick up pizzas for the Pizza Feast at the meeting. 

Other appreciation recognitions were offered to Cindy Norton herself, for arranging for the pizzas, making an emergency run to the storage unit for electrical connections so viewers could see lighted art display panels at the August Art Night display, and a visit on very short notice with Victoria L'Ecuyer and Susan Satterfield to view and discuss negotiations with the potential new convention hotel, on the morning before the meeting.

We also would like to add a special thank-you to Corey Barber for his unflagging help with cleaning up after the meeting, and a special appreciation of Diana Bailey for coming to the Board Meeting, despite being in the midst of a medical problem. Our thoughts are with you, Diana!

Finally, appreciations are due to the artists who brought their work to the Second Annual August Art Night exhibition: Tracy Majkol, Lucy A. Synk, Jan Gephardt, Rachael Mayo, and a brand-new artist to KaCSFFS and fandom, Christopher Frye.

Preliminary Round of KaCSFFS and ConQuesT Logo Voting:
Our Logo Contest brought in submissions from several artists, and August 18 was the first chance the members had to look at them and comment. The commentary period is still open, so if you were not able to be at the meeting and have opinions, please let us know! Here are the results of the preliminary round of voting and commenting:

This is KaCSFFS Logo Proposal #1.
New KaCSFFS Logo Proposal #1:
4 voters liked it. One wrote, "Like this very much, but enhance the image with stars or some skiffy elements." Another wrote, "Like--City of Fountains, Art Deco, pointy bits all good. Is it too close to other KC designs, though?"

3 voters disliked it. Two wrote, "No-no-no!"

One voter wrote: "OK, [but] want to see suggestions made on others."

One voter wrote: "Not sure what change would work--like, but could like more."

This is KaCSFFS Logo Proposal #2.
New KaCSFFS Logo Proposal #2:

2 voters liked it.

One voter wrote, "OK." Another wrote, "MEH."

One wrote, "Nice design, [but] stars look a little crowded." (Note: the stars form the constellation Taurus, and are placed accurately, if rather close together).

Two more disliked it. One went to the point of "No-no-no!"

Legacy Logos:
Two more logos were presented, which actually have been used in the past. It is possible one of them might be retained for use, if members like it better than the new offerings.

Several members quickly pointed out that at least two additional "Legacy" Logos had been omitted. Members will have a chance to comment/vote on those at the September meeting.

Legacy Logo #1 had surprisingly strong support.
Legacy Logo #1:
Our 1970s logo appears to have considerable "staying" power.

5 voters liked it, though one added, "But . . . I vote for [the] Brad Foster logo [not offered for consideration in August]." Please note: this logo will be in the September voting. Another wrote, "Nice, clean design, [but] no obvious tie-in. I do know this design has lots of symbolism built in, but [I] don't recall what. The design is good."

One voter was kind of lukewarm, writing, "OK."

2 voters disliked it. One wrote, "No--too obscure. Time for something new." The other simply wrote, "No-no-no."

This is Legacy Logo #2.
Legacy Logo #2:
This logo was used in the 1980s and early '90s.

3 voters liked it.

2 voters were positive, but had comments. "I like this and would like to see it used somehow, but I think there are too many tiny details to work as a logo," one wrote. The other said, "Good design for a T-shirt, but not for a logo. Too complex. Can't be reproduced legibly in [small] sizes.

Others wrote: "OK, [but] large. Too busy, [and?] small." Another wrote, " Way, way too busy. Will not reduce well."

And 2 disliked it. One wrote, "No-no-no!"

ConQuesT Logos:
We also had three submissions for a ConQuesT logo, and some strong opinions were registered about them.

This is ConQuesT #1.
ConQuesT #1
This was a very popular logo. It got 10 "like" votes. One added, "Like-like-like: beautiful graphic and multiple KC icons. Should reduce very well." Another said, "LOVE this--best logo in show."

One voter wrote, "I like the rocket and the lettering--take out the tower/theater for a blank space."

Another suggested, "Remove the rocket. Put a dirigible moored to a sky station."

This is ConQuesT #2.
ConQuesT #2
This logo earned 4 "like" votes. One voter wrote, "Like--my second choice" (after #1).

However, one voter wrote, "The stars are too small and cluttered." (We should note this is another use of the Taurus constellation)

Others disliked it. It received 3 "No-no-no!" votes, with two adding that the rocket "looks too phallic."

This is ConQuesT #3.
ConQuesT #3
This logo also got 10 "like" votes.

However, three voters found it wanting in one way or another. One wrote, "DEATH TO COWS--Mooove on!" Another wanted "something in the empty space," and another suggested, "move the cow more center." It should be noted that the design was conceived for the number of the particular ConQuesT (for example, "43" for the convention held this year, or "44" for the one in 2013) to be shown in white in the blank space.

If you have opinions about any of these logos, please plan to come to the second round of voting at the September meeting, or share your opinions in a comment on the blog or Facebook page, or in an email to the KAXFEN list.

IMAGE CREDITS: The photo of a pile of birthday cards is from the "Photos Public Domain" website.  The logo images all have been submitted as part of our Logo Contest, with permissions included. Many thanks to all!

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