General Assembly
REPORT ON THE 2ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE WORLD PUZZLE FEDERATION
Stamford, USA, October 13-14, 2000
The meeting was called to order by chairman Will Shortz (USA) at 14:15 on
October 13. It was held in two sessions over two days. The WPF member countries
present were: Argentina, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France,
Germany, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine,
and United States. Members not present: Korea, United Kingdom. Observers attended
from Australia and Canada.
Helene Hovanec (USA), the coordinator for the 2000 WPC, opened the meeting
by welcoming all the participants. Following, the delegates introduced themselves
and identified the organizations they represent.
Greetings were read from Catrin Lucht (Germany), Sona Jánosiková
(Slovakia), and Nevzat Erkmen (Turkey), who could not attend.
Reports of the board
General secretary Peter Ritmeester reported on WPF activities and the general
office for the preceding 12 months. [click here
to read the report]. Rob Geensen (Netherlands) detailed the WPF finances for
1999 and the year 2000 to date.
Old business
a) Logo
Speaking for the board, Andreas Franz (Germany) reported on his and others'
efforts to devise a logo for the WPF.
The criteria, as announced at the 1999 WPC, were: simplicity, boldness, appropriateness
to the organization, and reproducibility in various sizes and formats (including
either black-and-white or color). Thirteen different logos were proposed
[click here to view them all],
based on an open invitation in 1999, and these were posted on the WPF website
in April.
After discussion and consultation with design experts, the board recommended
Andreas's own proposal, created by a professional German designer, consisting
of the words WORLD PUZZLE FEDERATION with the O of WORLD enlarged and solid,
the word PUZZLE in a rectangle beneath it, and the two Z's of PUZZLE tilted
at different angles inside.
There followed considerable discussion. Serhiy Grabarchuk (Ukraine) said that
the WPF logo should be designed by someone whounderstands puzzles, not just
art. He criticized the proposed logo for not being specifically related to the
WPF. He said he would prefer a puzzle-related symbol to represent the organization.
Also, he did not feel that the proposed logo would reproduce well in a small
size, as on a pencil.
György Istvan (Hungary) said the WPF needs a logo quickly and cannot wait
another year to try to devise another. Serhiy said that if a logo is adopted
now, even if it's not a popular one, it will be difficult to change later.
Peter Ritmeester said that a logo consisting of the letters WPF, not the
full words World Puzzle Federation, would be ineffective without a large
advertising budget. It would take a great deal of money to impress the
meaning of the initials in the public mind. Peter de Hen (Belgium)
said that he liked the proposed logo, but suggested using the crossword Möbius
strip from the 2000 WPC logo in place of the O in WORLD.
Andreas replied that no one kind of puzzle encompasses everything that the
WPF does, and a crossword puzzle does not symbolize the organization. Also,
he said the designer would not accept any changes in his work.
Stanley Newman (USA) recommended keeping in mind that the logo is not designed
just for puzzlers but for the general public, who may not understand a Möbius
strip. Jan Lam (Netherlands) said that the most important element
of the logo is the word PUZZLE, and the design can be simplified in the future
to focus on this one part. Vítezslav Koudelka (Czech Republic)
said that he would like to have a logo that the members can truly love, not
merely accept.
Jaime Poniachik (Argentina) and Vítezslav then separately made the following
proposal: The WPF will provisionally adopt the German design for three months.
Meanwhile, the board will entertain other proposed logos until January 15, 2001.
If the board--together with the professional designers it consults--approves
any further proposals, these will be put to a vote of the entire membership.
Otherwise, the proposed German design will automatically become the permanent
WPF logo on January 16. This motion passed 10-2.
b) Newsletter
Peter Ritmeester, speaking on behalf of the board, recommended having two printed
WPF newsletters per year, issued from the WPF office in Amsterdam--one issue
appearing several months after a WPC, the second appearing shortly before the
following WPC. Some of the material in the newsletter would overlap with the
WPF website; some would be entirely original.
Peter stated the reasons for issuing the newsletter from the WPF office: to
guarantee increased frequency of publication; to achieve greater efficiency
of production between the newsletter and the website; to better coordinate WPF
advertising/promotion with the newsletter; and to maintain direct WPF control
over the newsletter's content and design.
Ovidiu Sperlea (Romania) was thanked for founding and editing the World Puzzle
Newsletter for five years. Cristea Ionita (Romania) was thanked for printing
the newsletter for this entire time. The motion was passed 12-0.
c) WPC reprint rights
Rob Geensen discussed some of the issues relating to reprint rights to the WPC
puzzles, both in print and online. The policy in previous years was that any
WPC participant could reprint the WPC puzzles within his own country after the
event. Now the official policy is that only WPF members can reprint the WPC
puzzles. Will said that, as a special exception this year, new countries to
the WPC were offered reprint rights to the puzzles as an added inducement for
them to attend.
One unresolved issue, though, regards the rights that website members should
have to the puzzles. Since a website's audience has no national boundaries,
publication of the puzzles online could reduce their value to members in other
countries.
Other issues to be resolved: If rights to only a certain percentage of puzzles
are granted to websites, what percentage should this be, and should the sites
have full choice over the puzzles they reprint? What should be the reprint policy
for members whose publications are sold outside their native country? Should
first-time WPC participants continue to be offered reprint rights to the puzzles
before joining the WPF? Rob said that the board will present a detailed
proposal on these matters next year.
d) Number of WPC teams from a country
Vítezslav recommended making it a rule that only one four-person team per country
can compete officially in the WPC, but that extra, unofficial teams from a country
may also take part, at the discretion of the WPC organizer.
Peter proposed a stricter rule: Only one four-person team should be allowed
per country. Unofficial teams are not permitted. Competitors from countries
without full teams can join together to form official teams, but otherwise multinational
teams are not allowed.
The vote on this proposal was 7-7. Since it did not pass, the organizers of
future WPC's can continue to admit unofficial teams or not, as they wish.
e) Puzzle catalog
Adam Sumera (Poland) asked for assistance in continuing his work to list and
classify puzzle varieties. Anyone who is interested should contact him.
New Business
a) Judging rules
Peter Ritmeester urged the WPF to adopt a general set of WPC judging rules,
which all future WPC organizers must follow. A committee was formed to draft
a set of rules to present at the 2001 general assembly. The committee members
are: Metin Balci (Turkey), Vítezslav Koudelka, Peter Ritmeester, and Will Shortz.
b) Membership fee
On behalf of the board, Rob made three proposals: First, that the WPF fiscal
year be changed from January-December to July-June, to better coincide with
the WPC's and general assemblies. WPF memberships for 2000 would continue through
June 30, 2001. This proposal was passed 16-0.
Second, Rob proposed that the membership fee for the next fiscal year be 500
euros. As before, exceptions can be granted by the board, and members from wealthier
countries are encouraged to pay more. This proposal was passed 15-0.
Third, Rob proposed that the membership fee be waived for the host country
of a WPC during the year it hosts the event. This proposal was passed 13-1.
c) Membership/WPC recruitment
Will Shortz reported on the efforts of the 2000 WPC organizers to attract new
countries to the event.
The best source of new participants, he said, was puzzle magazines, as evidenced
by Australia (Pacific Publications), Belgium (Keesing Belgium), and France (Keesing
France). The Brazilian companies Ediouro and A Recreativa both expressed interest
in the event for the future.
The Internet is a new source of participants, he said. The British website
Thinks.com sponsored a team from the U.K. this year, and Israel nearly had a
team through the efforts of the Israeli site Etgarim.com. (Puzzleland.com in
Korea joined the WPF independently.)
The newspaper column "Mindsport" on puzzles and recreations in The
Times of India was responsible for the new Indian team. South African Mensa
tried but was unsuccessful in organizing a WPC team from its members, but expressed
hope for participating in the future.
The international online WPC qualifying test, conducted by the U.S. in June,
was the source for the new competitor from Peru, and attracted interest from
many other countries as well. And miscellaneous contacts and letters drew first-time
contestants from Colombia and Switzerland.
Will said he and Nancy Schuster (USA) would turn over their contact names
and addresses to Peter and Vítezslav, so they could continue the recruitment
efforts during the following year.
Nancy recommended promoting the WPC and WPF jointly, as she thought it was
confusing to potential members/team organizers for the event and organization
to be discussed separately.
d) Election of board member
Three people were nominated to serve a three-year term on the WPF board, to
fill the position being vacated by Andreas Franz. They were: Erja Gullstén (Finland),
Jaime Poniachik, and Ovidiu Sperlea.
Will explained the duties of the position. The candidates made brief remarks.
The results of the secret ballot were: Erja-9; Jaime-4; Ovidiu-3.
e) Selection of the site of the 2002 WPC
On behalf of her company, Kolmiokirja Oy, and two Finnish puzzlers' organizations,
Erja Gullstén offered to host the 11th WPC in Oulu, Finland, in September 2002. Vítezslav
relayed a proposal from Ján Farkas and the Union of Slovak Puzzlers offering
Martin, Slovakia, as the site of the 11th WPC.
The results of the vote were: Finland-10; Slovakia-3.
Several countries expressed interest in hosting future WPC's, including Belgium,
Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, and Slovakia.
f) Exchange of information
Metin Balci requested a means for exchanging puzzle news and information about
puzzle events around the world. Peter said that a section of the WPF website
could be devoted to this.
Statement from the 2001 WPC Organizers
Vítezslav announced that the 2001 WPC, tentatively, will be held October 1-7
in Brno, Czech Republic, probably with two days of sightseeing in Prague. The
official host will be the Union of Czech Puzzlers, although the bulk of the
work will be done by Vítezslav's company, Kira Publishing House. He asked for
help from the 2000 delegates to attract new countries to the event.
Closing
Will thanked Andreas Franz for his service to the WPC and WPF, including his
financial assistance, given both personally and through his company, Bastei-Verlag;
his work and advice as a board member; his enormous contribution with the WPF
logo; and his commitment three years ago to host the 1998 WPC if Turkey was
not successful in organizing the event. Andreas received a round of applause.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 11:30 on October
14.
[Minutes prepared by Will Shortz]
