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View Full Version : SFS.com/WFS.com resigns from the FWA


Red
02-12-2004, 12:04 AM
Recent circumstances have led the staff of Savefarscape.com to reconsider our participation in the Farscape Webmaster's Association.

The Farscape Webmaster's Association was originally founded by SFS.com in an attempt to open up communications with other Farscape websites and to maintain a central fund to help focus activities. Over the course of the campaign, FWA members have come and gone, and we feel now that the FWA has drifted far from its original purpose of communication between sites and fund management. We believe that our energies are today better spent focusing on the operation of our site and the campaign, than on debating a change in purpose of the FWA that we are extremely uncomfortable with.

The FWA has worked hard over the past 17 months to exist as an excellent resource for the campaign, but SFS.com feels that it is time to move forward by actively adapting to changes and embracing flexible strategies, becoming an even more open and inclusive campaign.

SFS.com's founding principle was to exist solely as a resource for fans who wanted to help save Farscape. We exist to offer information, assistance, guidance, fund help and management, a place to talk, theorize, and form a strong, open community. However, we have no desire or intention to tell you how to run your campaign. We strongly believe that the success of this campaign has been entirely at your initiative. We would not have come as far, been so strong, had our great successes if any one entity or small group had a stranglehold on deciding what ideas were valid or not.

Yes, as a site, SFS.com has drawn certain lines from time to time, but those decisions were made for the site, not the campaign. Each website has it's own operating principles and SFS.com is no different. We all must do the best we can, and occasionally we must make choices that are not always easy or popular.

This is just one of several changes coming for Savefarscape.com over the next days and weeks. We believe these are good changes and that these are changes necessary for the continued good health and vitality of our part in this campaign, in this website and for the people who have formed such a remarkable community here.

Some new changes coming …

• A redesign of the main pages of this site and an improved content management system. This will allow fans to more directly add to, and update the content of our website, including access for regional groups to post their events and news.

• A new SPF general fund for conventions and co-op advertising.

• A huge new subsite of Watchfarscape.com that will house our media library.

• New features in our forums to enhance your community experience.

• Projectscifi.com will get a strong new relaunch where we will bring you new and unique content from the wide, strange world of speculative fiction.

As always, we need your help. These changes will put more of the power of this site into your hands, and by doing so hopefully draw in even more new members, growing our amazing community even more and making the future a bright one for Farscape.

We wish the current members of the FWA the best of luck. SFS.com exists as a resource for all Farscape fans, including the individual Scapers in the FWA.

Scape on!

VBKatLou
02-12-2004, 02:42 AM
OOOOOOOOK. Whatever. Don't own a website so didn't know much about FWA. What's SPF?

Jul
02-12-2004, 02:45 AM
The SaveFarscape.com Special Projects Fund (SPF) administrates the funds for the Military, Library, National TV Advertising, and Docudot projects ;)

VBKatLou
02-12-2004, 03:17 AM
:wstupid: Duh. I knew that. :whoops:

Roland
02-12-2004, 09:02 AM
Sorry to see you leave FWA. :(

DRD2001
02-12-2004, 09:30 AM
• Projectscifi.com will get a strong new relaunch where we will bring you new and unique content from the wide, strange world of speculative fiction.

Speculative fiction. Not science fiction.

Just curious, what is your definition of speculative fiction, because under SFC definition, Braveheart qualifies.

Red
02-12-2004, 09:44 AM
SFC has the crazy, non-logic dictionary which defines speculative fiction as anything other than actual speculative fiction.

I use speculative fiction because some things aren't always easily defined as science fiction. Things like Buffy or Angel -- which I suppose would fall more into fantasy. I tend to just favor the term speculative fiction when referencing sci-fi/fantasy. The other option was "genre" but that's too ... I don't know, undescriptive.

I think we can safely say I won't be covering Braveheart. :P

DRD2001
02-12-2004, 10:13 AM
Thanks. Just curious. ;)

gurnemanz
02-12-2004, 11:31 AM
About twenty-five years ago, the legendary genre historian Forrest Ackerman suggested that "Speculative Fiction" was the best and proper title for the field of fiction that deals with The Big What-Ifs.

He went on to posit (I think the article was in Analog, but it may have been Asimov's) that the term "sci-fi" has a perjorative overtone, having been used dismissively so often in the past.

One self-appointed literateur of my acquaintance took great exception to Ackerman's idea . . . mostly because she liked mocking science fiction as nothing but bozooms and kabooms.

I think that was Ackerman's point, precisely. I'm glad to see the use of the term, here.

g.

VBKatLou
02-12-2004, 01:44 PM
As a lover of both science and fantasy fiction, I like the term speculative fiction.

saneTV
02-12-2004, 01:48 PM
Spec fiction covers a lot more ground. Science fiction, by definition, is fiction based on a scientific premise. Speculative fiction can include fiction based on a scientific premise that is, currently, theory, or just imagination. Lots of wiggle room.

PrairieScaper
02-12-2004, 01:53 PM
Let me say in advance, pardon my ignorance. But what will the FWA be funding that SFS.com will not? What activities/projects will be supported by one that will not be supported by the other? I'm just not really clear on what Red's message means to the average Scaper. Or to the inordinately confused Scaper, like me. :shrug:

Vianney
02-12-2004, 07:02 PM
This kind of news bits are what we'd call in french, 'wooden tongue'. Very carefully crafted to stay positive, forward looking and focusing on damage control, but not really saying dren about what's going on, and leaving the casual visitor scratching his head.

So, hum, in a nutshell... what's up?

dzelika
02-12-2004, 07:09 PM
Originally posted by Vianney
This kind of news bits are what we'd call in french, 'wooden tongue'. Very carefully crafted to stay positive, forward looking and focusing on damage control, but not really saying dren about what's going on, and leaving the casual visitor scratching his head.

So, hum, in a nutshell... what's up?

i second that. the announcement is quite cryptic and i am not totally sure what is changing.

Jul
02-12-2004, 07:49 PM
For those of you asking what's changing on the site now that SaveFarscape.com/WatchFarscape.com has left the FWA, in all honesty, for the average Scaper posting at FMD, not that much.

I know some people are confused about what the FWA and SFS.com/WFS.com relationship was. Our relationship was that we were a member site of the FWA dedicated to sharing information with other Farscape-related member websites and that we administered the WMR fund while the FWA allocated money from the WMR fund for fan-run campaign projects that were brought to the FWA to request funding. Also, we played host to a forum that held meeting information for the FWA. Due to our feeling that the FWA is straying from the charter that was agreed to as the purpose of the association when we created it 17 months ago and a difference in philosophies and opinions with other member websites, we, and a few other websites, decided that it was in our best interest to resign from the FWA and focus more of our time on our websites and on the campaign. So, in all honestly, the changes caused by our resignation are the FWA's, and they'll be announcing those on their website.

This doesn't mean that we won't be talking to other Farscape websites. Quite the contrary - we're still going to be sharing information with other websites and in fact, we're improving the website with an eye towards helping regional groups and others publicize their events and projects further. Does any of this change the way this website runs? No, not at all. It just changes some of the activities we've been participating in.

Aside from that, we wanted to take the time to announce some beautiful changes to this website that are coming which Red has outlined: A redesign of the main pages of this site and an improved content management system. This will allow fans to more directly add to, and update the content of our website, including access for regional groups to post their events and news.

A new SPF general fund for conventions and co-op advertising.

A huge new subsite of Watchfarscape.com that will house our media library.

New features in our forums to enhance your community experience.

Projectscifi.com will get a strong new relaunch where we will bring you new and unique content from the wide, strange world of speculative fiction.

Does that clarify the changes going on for everybody?? :)

StarsGoBlue
02-12-2004, 08:02 PM
Well I just wanted to say, that in my (limited) experience with the few projects I've attempted, that I've never had any problems or concerns with funding here at SFS.com.

I expect that if one wanted to seek funding for a project, they could do so here and at the FWA board, same as before.

waltersgirl
02-13-2004, 01:45 AM
But what will the FWA be funding that SFS.com will not?

the Special Projects Funds are just that...geared towards funding a specific project of this website, ie: the Military Project, the Library Project, the Ad Project, and such.

i'd guess that the FWA would continue to fund as it has in the past, that is, in a broad manner. the donated monies are kept in a single account but for a wide range of funding options. the fans that approach the FWA for funding, i'd guess, will continue to do so in the manner that was done before....define a project, lay out the costs, make a petition for reimbursement.

So, hum, in a nutshell... what's up?

events behind the scenes are unimportant. what matters here is the goals...more Farscape and more eyeballs for said Farscape.

there cannot be too many websites out there brainstorming and working campaign ideas and projects, as long as the goals are all about more Farscape, and bringing more viewers to the party. that's what matters. that's all that matters.

dzelika
02-13-2004, 06:59 PM
thanks guys, that makes it much clearer.

ps - i just hate politics!

waltersgirl
02-14-2004, 04:09 AM
Originally posted by dzelika
thanks guys, that makes it much clearer.

ps - i just hate politics!

you're welcome....and so do we.;)