SpecFicNZ: You’ve Got to Want It

You may not realize this, but the main reason SpecFicNZ exists is because people wanted it to.

People wanted it to and instead of just leaving it at that, those same people decided to get up off their writerly bottoms and do something about it.

And behold, a national speculative fiction writers organization came into being like magic. Viola!

Well, no. Not exactly like that.

The real truth is that for the last 2 years plus, those people have been meeting through forums, and chat rooms, and sometimes in person to navigate together all the details, and hoops, and nifty contortions it takes to run a professional association. Sometimes that has been really fun and inspiring, other times- not so much (don’t even ask us about the PayPal thing:).

I am happy to say that the current volunteer committee, which has served since our launch, has done, and are still doing, an incredible job. We’ve launched an new org, created a wonderful website, become an incorporated society, launched meet-ups in the three major cities of New Zealand, redesigned our newsletter, and our membership has grown steadily. I think everyone on our current committee feels proud, and would be happy to keep on doing the work. And they certainly can, if they so choose and the membership votes for them.

But it is designed into our society constitution that ALL MEMBERS have the opportunity to serve on the Core Committee and tap into that amazing feeling of accomplishment.

And that’s where you come in.

You’ve got to want it.

You’ve got to want SpecFicNZ to exist, and to continue existing, and not just existing, but getting better and better every year at serving the amazing creative talent that makes up our membership.

How can you do that? I’m so glad you asked.

First, you have to meet a few basic requirements, which are as follows:

1. You must be a current member of SpecFicNZ and intend on continuing as a paid member in 2012.

2. You must have access to a computer with internet/live chat capabilities, preferably in your home. This is because committee members are often located throughout New Zealand but must still “meet” once a month for discussion, decision making, and voting.

3. You must be committed and able to meet once a month for 90 minutes via an internet meeting (occasionally more often if the committee deems it necessary). This entails carving out uninterrupted, focused, computer time and space in your home for these meetings.

4. You must have the ability and commitment to follow through on positional and occasional extra assigned tasks. In other words, you have to be able and willing to do stuff.

5. You must have the ability to work in a group, listen, think critically, form an educated opinion, and vote on it.

6. You must have a passion for the objects and mission of SpecFicNZ. If you don’t know what these are, you can find out HERE.

That’s it really.

You do not need to have experience serving on a committee or board in the past. You don’t need to be savvy, or cool, or even attractive.

Stay tuned on our website for a forthcoming post about the Committee Positions and how you can get yourself nominated.

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