N3F

from Fancyclopedia 2

The National Fantasy Fan Federation, the chief general fan organization. (Forbye, it's international, despite the name.) It was organized in 1941 by elements of the Stranger Club of Boston, Mass, stimulated by damon knight's article "Unite -- or Fie!" in Art Widner's Fanfare, which had suggested formation of a new general organization with the decline of New Fandom. In 1941 the group began functioning after a preliminary election, and President Chauvenet drew up a rather long constitution. Plans were laid to finance the Federation by a tax on activity by amount, rather than by equal dues; a majority of members had approved this notion when Widner advanced it, but when the Finance Committee offered a concrete plan (omitting calculation of how small the sums would actually be) a great babble went up about "penalizing activity", "paying tribute", usw. This prevented the adoption of the constitution at first; an altered one was finally adopted, but did not prevent the Interregnum in June 1942. And after Evans' Blitzkrieg the removal of active fans by wartime difficulties made it impossible to work the governmental structure envisioned for the N3F. Tho this trouble, as explained under "Interregnum", was eventually resolved, the N3F has never since gotten out of a sort of permanent embryonic state. It continues to day by an act of faith among those who Believe in it, but few knowing outsiders would dissent from some such opinion as the one Harry Warner expresses:

"I've heard this assurance that big things were around the corner for the N3F so frequently... it's funny by this time. The N3F invariably has a half- dozen energetic members who can get things done, and several hundred who are either content to let the others work hard, or jealous that the others are active. The organization may be justified by serving as an outlet for fans during a period of six months to a year -- the period when they're just getting acquainted with fandom, with a yen to read long lists of fan addresses, high-sounding words about purposes, and so forth. After that, a verbal arrangement with two or three other people can accomplish more than the N3F has ever done."

The organization started out with fine plans for recruiting fans, inspiring activity, setting up regional subordinate organizations (for New England, Dixie, the rest of the East, the Midwest, West [Mississippi-Rockies], and Pacific areas), selecting convention sites, and so on. The central administration of the Federation, besides the elected officers and the Advisory Board, would include several committees and a permanent judicial or legal body of certain middle-aged fans.

It is said to have a membership of about 400, give or take 100 either way, and supposedly publishes a frequent bulletin, The National Fantasy Fan. But the N3F has never managed to be an important force in fandom, tho some of its aims -- organizing, standardizing, and coordinating fan activities, providing a common meeting ground, and publishing informational booklets like this one -- would be worthwhile. It is so large and unwieldy that it never gets off the ground; the normal official lethargy of fan organizations is multiplied by the fact that the N3F officers consult by correspondence; and the "benefit list" of projects whose fruits are going to drop into the N3Fers laps Real Soon Now is a standing joke in fandom.

The chief complaint seems to be inertia among the membership, which require to be treated like the rank-and-file of large mundane organizations. N3F officials have usually included active and competent fans, even some BNFs of legendary status like Speer, Warner, and Rapp, but the routine of administering a flaccid mass of marginally interested stfnists is such as to drive personalities of the sort fans have into gafia, Insurgency, or paper- doll-cutting. The efficient chaser of details who forms the backbone of any administrating organization is not a type plentiful in fandom, and even when found can usually get greater rewards of egoboo through individual fanac. Fans would probably do better at coordination -- which was the original idea, after all -- and the activities which call for it to exercise only this function, like the Round Robins (chain letters) and N3F APA are the most successful in the club; but as a rule activities to coordinate is just what the N3F lacks.