Science Fiction Poetry Association officers & volunteer duties

Compiled & written by David Lee Summers

SFPA Officer and Major Volunteer Positions

President – David Kopaska-Merkel
From the SFPA Constitution: The President will be the Executive Officer of this Association and will have authority to administer its affairs, to call and preside at meetings, to appoint an Editor of the Newsletter or serve in that capacity at the President's discretion. The President may appoint any assistants at any time and delegate any business to them, except as provided for in this Constitution. The President will also have full Editorial authority over the form, contents, and methods of production of the Newsletter.
In addition to the Constitutionally defined duties, the President is generally responsible for assuring that volunteers are in place to conduct the business of the organization and that such business is being conducted in a timely fashion.

Vice President – David Lee Summers
The Vice President is tasked with assisting the President with the execution of their duties as necessary. This includes assuring that volunteers are in place to conduct the organization's business and that such business is being conducted in a timely fashion. In 2012, the Vice President is serving as Rhysling Coordinator.

Secretary – Rich Gombert
From the SFPA Constitution: The Secretary will maintain all records of the Association, will take minutes at any official meetings of the Association, will preserve copies of all issues of the Association's publications and will perform other duties as delegated by the President, including the initiation of the election process and the counting of ballots in any proposal for voting presented to the membership, unless otherwise delegated by the President. Furthermore, the Secretary will preserve copies of all official correspondence relating to the business of the Association and the originals of all ballots from matters voted on by the membership for at least 3 years from the date of such documents and ballots. In the event of the resignation or removal of the President, the Secretary will assume the duties and authority of the President until a new President is elected/ratified in accordance with Article VI of the constitution.

Treasurer – Deborah Flores
From the SFPA Constitution: The Treasurer will maintain all bank accounts and financial records of the Association, will issue payment for material to be published in the Newsletter upon the direction of the Editor, will issue payment for other obligations of the Association at the direction of the President, and will report to the membership on the current financial status of the Association, via the Newsletter, at regular intervals to be established by the President. The treasurer in third in line of succession to the presidency after the secretary.
In addition to the Constitutionally defined duties, the Treasurer is responsible for maintaining the membership rolls.

Star*Line Editor – Marge Simon
Selects original material for Star*Line, the official newsletter of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. This includes, but is not limited to original poetry, reviews, and articles of interest to the membership. Assures that official business, such as calls for elections, are included in the newsletter. Maintains a record of contributor addresses and payments. Calculates and compiles payment records to present to the Treasurer. Assists with proofreading. Serve as liaison with authors when dealing with issues regarding payment or non-receipt of contributor copies. According to the SFPA Constitution, the Star*Line editor is next in line of succession to the presidency after the treasurer.

Star*Line Layout Associate – Robert Frazer
Assists the Star*Line editor by taking the material selected for publication in the newsletter and putting it into the format required by the current print vendor.

Star*Line Production Manager – Deborah P. Kolodji
Delivers the file produced by the Star*Line Layout Associate to the print vendor. Picks up the printed copies of the newsletter and then coordinates the mailing of the newsletter to the membership.

Star*Line Proofreaders
The Star*Line editor may, as needed, request volunteers to help proofread the electronic file produced by the Layout Associate for typographical errors.

Rhysling Chair – David Lunde
Places the call for Rhysling Award Nominations. Receives the nominations and assures their eligibility for the award. Contacts poets for permission to reprint poems in the annual Rhysling Anthology. Assures that the Rhysling Layout Associate receives all material for inclusion in the anthology. Collects and tallies votes for the Rhysling Award and announces the decision to the membership. The Rhysling Chair retains the original ballots for a period of at least 5 years after voting has taken place.

Rhysling Coordinator – David Lee Summers
This is the person with the overall responsibility of making sure the Rhysling Anthology is produced in a timely fashion and the membership has the opportunity to vote on the award. The coordinator is charged with making a list of assignments with deadlines and making sure all volunteers involved with the Rhysling Award and officers have that list. The coordinator is tasked with assuring that all volunteers are in place, including the Rhysling chair, a Layout Associate, a Cover Designer, Proofreaders, an Advertising coordinator to solicit Rhysling Congratulation ads for Star*Line, and a cooperating publisher. The Rhysling Coordinator serves as the point of contact between the officers and those responsible for producing the Rhysling Anthology, tallying votes, and organizing an award ceremony.

Rhysling Layout Associate
Assists the Rhysling Chair by taking the material selected for publication in the Annual Rhysling Anthology and putting it into the format required by the current print vendor.

Rhysling Cover Designer
Identifies cover art suitable to the Rhysling Anthology that meets the requirements of the Officers, Rhysling Chair, and Coordinator. Lays out the cover in a format that is required by the cooperating publisher.

Rhysling Proofreaders
The Rhysling Coordinator may, as needed, request volunteers to help proofread the electronic file produced by the Layout Associate for typographical errors.

Rhysling Publisher – Hadrosaur Productions (David Lee Summers, contact)
The cooperating publisher assures that the electronic files created by the Rhysling Layout Associate and Rhysling Cover Designer meets the requirements of the print vendor. The Publisher is responsible for delivering the files to the print vendor and receiving the final printed copies of the book. Oversees the mailing of the anthology to the membership and contributing authors. The Cooperating Publisher may make the anthology available for sale, providing royalties to SFPA, as negotiated between the Cooperating Publisher and the Officers.

Dwarf Stars Editor/Chair – Joshua Gage
Places the call for Dwarf Star Award Nominations. Receives the nominations and assures their eligibility for the award, then selects those nominated poems that will appear in the anthology. Contacts poets for permission to reprint poems in the annual Dwarf Stars Anthology. Solicits cover art. Compiles anthology, including cover, cover copy, table of contents, anthology contents. Assures that the Dwarf Stars Layout Associate receives all material for inclusion in the anthology in a clear and formatted file. Collects and tallies votes for the Dwarf Stars Award and announces the decision to the membership. The Dwarf Stars Chair retains the original ballots for a period of at least 5 years after voting has taken place.

Advertising Manager
Advertising Manager actively solicits ads for Star*Line and the SFPA website. Works with the Rhysling Coordinator to solicit ads from magazines where Rhyling-nominated works appeared, congratulating Rhysling nominees. Work with the officers to determine advertising rates. Works with the Star*Line editor to determine guidelines for magazine advertising.

PR Representative
PR Representative sends announcements of SFPA publications and activities to appropriate venues, and places ads for SFPA if funds are available, in suitable publications or on suitable sites. Helps members obtain fliers for conventions and poetry events.

Webmaster – F.J. Bergmann
Updates website and forum software as needed. Ensures that web hosting and e-mail addresses are functional, and that paid advertising is up-to-date. Posts announcements, news, and updates for publications and awards, including information about Star*Line, the Rhysling and Dwarf Stars Anthology and Awards. Works with the Halloween Web Page Coordinator to assure that the annual Halloween page is posted and updated. Maintains Eye to the Telescope, SFPA's online journal.

Database Administrator – vacant
(Note: Scott Virtes is listed as the administrator, but hasn't actually done any work related to this for four years, and says his passwords don't work on the current site. Richard Gombert notes that he has a complete Star*Line database as a LibreOffice Spreadsheet) The Database Administrator is charged with building and maintaining an online database of the contents from Star*Line, and the award anthologies. Also, keeps records related to the online contests.

Archivist – Richard Gombert
Collects SFPA produced newsletters, publications, and official documents and maintains an archive of that material that may be accessed by the membership or officers on request.

SFWA Liaison
Responsible for coordinating with Nebula Awards Showcase Editor about the Rhysling/Dwarf Stars awards.

Forum Administrator – Karen A. Romanko
The Administrator is assigned the highest level of control over the SFPA On-Line Forum. The Administrator controls all facets of board operation, including setting permissions, banning users, creating user groups or moderators, etc., dependent upon the board founder and what permissions he or she has given the other administrators. The administrator may also have full moderator capabilities in all forums, depending on the settings put forth by the board founder.

Forum Moderators
Moderators are individuals (or groups of individuals) who look after the forums from day to day. They have the authority to edit or delete posts and lock, unlock, move, delete and split topics in the forum they moderate. Generally, moderators are present to prevent users from going off-topic or posting abusive or offensive material.

Eye to the Telescope Managing Editor
Responsible for lining up guest editors for the webzine.

Membership Welcome Packets – vacant
Receives updates of new memberships from the treasurer. Assembles a small package of material including a welcome letter to be mailed to new members upon joining. Collects such materials with the aid of the Secretary.

Membership Directory Coordinator/Layout – F.J. Bergmann
Collects and updates optional information contained in the SFPA directory that is mailed out periodically to the membership. The optional information includes address, phone number and email.

Online Contest Committee Chair
Works with the officers to develop on-line contests that may be used to promote science fiction poetry and the SFPA. Such contests will be advertised through the SFPA website and the SFPA Social Media Outlets.

Halloween Web Page coordinator – Liz Bennefield
Sends out the call each year for material, including but not limited to audio files of poets reading Halloween-appropriate material, for the SFPA website. Selects material for posting on the site and works with the webmaster to assure that all files are received in a format suitable for posting.

Social Media Chair(s) – Karen A. Romanko (Facebook) and David Vandervort (?) (Twitter)
Posts organization news that may be relevant to the membership and interested non-members to Social Media accounts. As of 2011, those Social Media accounts are hosted on Facebook and Twitter, but this position is allowed to change, depending on what outlets are most relevant at a given time.

Regional Coordinators – vacant
Help set up local speculative poetry events

Convention Coordinator – vacant
Coordinate events at major conventions such as World Fantasy, World Horror, World Science Fiction Convention. Could be a coordinator for each of these.