Report on the 8th General Assembly of the World Puzzle
Federation
Borovets, Bulgaria, October 9-10, 2006
The meeting was called to order by chairman Vitezslav Koudelka (Czech Republic),
on October 9 at 14:15. Other board members present were Peter Ritmeester, general
secretary (Netherlands), Will Shortz, treasurer (USA), Valter Kvalic (Croatia),
and Hüsnü Sincar (Turkey).
The WPF member countries present were Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania,
Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and
USA. Also attending was a representative from nonmember country Belarus. The
meeting was held in two sessions over two days.
Vitezslav (Víta) opened the meeting by welcoming the participants. The
delegates introduced themselves and identified the organizations they represent.
The minutes of the 7th General Assembly of the WPF (Eger, Hungary), as printed
in the World Puzzle Newsletter 11, were approved.
Reports
a) Peter reported that six new members have joined
the WPF during the previous year, representing five new countries to the WPF
-- Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Singapore -- and a new member from
a sixth country, Germany. These are all listed in Newsletter 11. In addition,
a puzzlers' organization from Australia has been approved for membership, pending
payment of their dues.
b) Víta reported that only a few nominations
and offers had been received to host the 2008 World Puzzle Championship, host
the 2008 World Sudoku Championship, and fill the open position on the board
of directors, with the deadline for nominations/offers having passed. He proposed
extending the deadline to the end of the afternoon. The motion passed unanimously.
c) Will handed out a report on the WPF finances.
The WPF has a balance of 22,869.17 euros, with an additional 3,984.23 in its
office account.
d) Will announced the board's plan to use part
of the WPF surplus to help underwrite the expenses of teams from less wealthy
countries to attend the 2007 WPC in Rio de Janeiro, which will be unusually
expensive for many teams to travel to. Teams that need financial assistance
should make a written request to the general secretary by February 28, 2007.
The board will allot money, tentatively up to 1,000 euros per country. The criteria
for the allotments include the team's financial need and, secondarily, the number
of years the country has participated in the WPC. In addition, Hegel Braga,
the organizer of the 2007 WPC, said his company will try to arrange reduced
airfares to Brazil from Europe and possibly other locations.
e) Will announced that a proposed set of rules
and regulations for future WPC's is being prepared and will be posted on the
WPF website by the end of October. Peter will notify members when this has been
done. Suggested additions, changes, and other comments will be invited, for
posting on the WPF online forum. The board's final proposal for WPC rules and
regulations will be presented at the 2007 general assembly for discussion and
vote.
f) Peter announced a proposed Asia/Pacific
Sudoku Championship, to be held in Singapore in summer 2007, under the aegis
of the WPF. It would be sponsored by Cerebos, a Singapore company that does
business in many countries in the Asia/Pacific, and would be open to sudoku
enthusiasts throughout the region. Víta reported the board is in favor
of the proposed event, but that if it to be held under the WPF name, all countries
must be treated equally, not just teams from countries in which Cerebos conducts
business. Peter will continue to communicate with Cerebos and will report to
the board and Asia/Pacific members when there is further news.
Voting by Email
Peter reported that the email vote last spring for the 2007 WSC site was not
done strictly according to WPF rules, as there was no previously established
procedure for voting outside of general assemblies.
For the future the board proposed the following: WPF votes may be done by
email for important business the board decides cannot wait until the next WPF.
The vote will be conducted by the general secretary, who will email all members
at their official email addresses. A forum will be provided on the WPF website
for discussion of the matter being voted on, and members will be given reasonable
time to respond and vote. The general secretary will make reasonable effort
to follow up with every member who does not vote, such as by a call to their
official telephone number, to make sure they are aware of the ballot. Members
are responsible for providing to the office correct email addresses and telephone
numbers.
After discussion, the proposal was approved unanimously.
Election of Board Member
Four people were nominated to fill the open position on the WPF board. These
were: Hendrik Hardeman (India), György István (Hungary), Tim Preston
(UK), and Hüsnü Sincar (Turkey). Each spoke for a few minutes about
his wishes for the WPC/WPF and why he wanted to serve on the board. Successive
ballots were then held until one candidate received a majority of votes, with
the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes in each round being eliminated.
First round: Hendrik -- 7 votes, György -- 7, Tim -- 2, Hüsnü
-- 4. Second round: Hendrik -- 7, György -- 7, Hüsnü -- 6. Third
round: Hendrik -- 11, György -- 9. Thus, Hendrik Hardeman was elected to
the board.
Site Selection for the 2008 WPC
Two sites were offered for the 17th WPC in 2008. Vaidas Rimkus proposed Vilnius,
Lithuania, and Ferhat Calapkulu proposed Antalya, Turkey. Each made a presentation
and was questioned by the members of the assembly. Afterward Lithuania was selected
11-9.
Site Selection for the 2008 WSC
Two sites were offered for the 3rd WSC in 2008. Hendrik proposed Goa, India,
and Ferhat proposed Antalya, Turkey. Following presentations and questions,
India was selected by a vote of 10-9 (with 1 abstention).
Miscellaneous
Zabudko Timur (Slovakia) discussed a new international competition of logic
puzzles, Genius Logicus, for students in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, and
Hungary. He asked for the WPF's support, both moral and practical. Víta
commented favorably.
Vladimir Portugalov (Belarus) proposed a World Youth Puzzle Championship,
like the WPC but for younger solvers. He would also like to see an international
puzzle magazine. After discussion, Will suggested Vladimir make a written proposal
on his ideas to the board and talk about them with WPC participants individually.
Tim Preston (UK) said he was willing to edit the next WPF Newsletter, if no
one else volunteers. His offer was enthusiastically accepted.
Víta proposed that the WPF website have a calendar of major puzzle
events around the world. Peter said he would establish a page on the site for
this and encouraged members to contribute information.
Riccardo Albini (Italy) suggested that the WPF should incorporate its style
of logic puzzles in video and computer games in order to attract more young
people to puzzling. He said this potentially was a way to earn money for the
WPF and spread the WPF's name. A committee of Riccardo, Hüsnü, and
Vaidas was formed to investigate and report back to the WPF.
Zoran Radisavljevic (Serbia) proposed that the WPC should have two solving
divisions for teams of different abilities. The matter was left open for further
discussion.
Statements from the 2007 WSC and WPC Organizers
Víta announced plans for the 2nd WSC, tentatively to be held March
28 – April 1, 2007, at the Top Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. Official
invitations will be sent by the end of November.
Yoshihide Kuwada (Japan) said his company, Sekaibunka, could not participate
in an event called the World Sudoku Championship, because the word "sudoku"
is trademarked in Japan by another company. In Japan sudoku is known generically
by the name Number Place. Víta said he would discuss this problem in
private with Yoshihide. (Víta announced later the event would continue
to be called the World Sudoku Championship in English, but signs/logos would
also carry the name World Number Place Championship underneath in Japanese characters.)
Hegel Braga made a slide/video presentation on the 16th WPC in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. Tentatively it will be held October 7-12 at the Intercontinental Hotel.
It will be organized/hosted by Coquetel, Brazil's largest puzzle publisher,
which produces more than 85 monthly puzzle magazines.
Closing
Víta thanked Tim Preston for his work on the WPF Newsletter 11. (Tim,
in turn, thanked Peter for editing the previous five newsletters and providing
a template for future ones.)
Will thanked Hüsnü for his service on the WPF board during the previous
three years.
Will and Víta thanked Deyan and Desislava Razsadov for their extraordinary
work in organizing and hosting the 2006 WPC.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned on October 10 at
12:40.
--Will Shortz
