CHARTER

I. PURPOSE

The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Committee is an independent organization dedicated to the promotion and recognition of online comics and their creators.

II. OBJECTIVES

The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Committee will follow democratic procedures, and will function as a legislative body, deciding on how to best fulfill the Committee's purpose, as described in article I.

To achieve the established purpose The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Committee will execute the following activities:

A. Once a year, distribute awards recognizing online comics and their creators who have excelled in various artistic and creative fields.
The committee will decide on various categories for the awards.

B. Maintain a website that keeps the public informed of the Committee's purpose, actions, and decisions, as well as an archive of all previous award recipients

C. Maintain a forum that will allow for discussion, debate, and decision-making by an organizational, executive committee.

D. Have an open and fair committee, allowing participation to all of those who have shown an interest.

III. MEMBERSHIP

There shall be an executive branch of the committee, responsible for making and modifying the rules and principles that form the basis of the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Committee, as well as the procedures and guidelines that govern the award process.

Chairman

The executive authority of the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Committee will be represented by a Chairman of the Committee. Any member of the Committee can run for, and serve as Chairman.

The Chairman will be elected by the executive committee, and elections will take place every year upon the completion of the previous year's awards presentation. The election period shall last no longer than one week. Once elected, the term of the new Chairman will formally begin on the following Sunday. A serving Chairman can run for reelection as many times as he or she wants.

The Chairman of the Committee's principal role shall be to guide discussion, and make sure the Committee follows the rules and procedures that are specified in this document. The Chairman shall also be the Committee's chief representative to the media, the press, and any other club or organization.

Issues or decisions that are deemed to be relevant to the committee shall be decided by a vote. A member of the committee must first raise the issue to be voted on, then another member must "second" the motion. A formal vote must then be held. The Chairman shall determine at what time the vote's results shall be formally implemented.

The Committee will establish the following other executive positions to maintain and organize the awards and Committee website:

A. A Webmaster, who shall be responsible for developing and mataining a Committee webpage as described in Section II paragraph B.

B. A General Secretary, who shall be responsible for maintaining a written record of the rules and procedures for the Committee as they are developed through discussion and committee votes. The Secretary shall also be responsible for archiving the terms of Committee executives, and formulating the wording of amendments to the charter.

C. A Presentations Secretary, who shall be responsible for planning and co-ordinating the Web Cartoonists' Choice awards ceremony.

D. A Registrar, who will be responsible for approving committee membership and voter registration as defined in the rules for memberships and participation.

E. An elections secretary, who shall monitor, record, and conduct all Committee votes and elections.

The Chairman shall have the authority to appoint individuals of his choosing to the previous positions. New executive positions may also be created by the chairman, but will only serve in an "acting" capacity until they are approved by a Committee amendment to this charter. Should an office remain unfilled due to lack of applicants, the Chairman shall serve in said vacant offices, and execute the duties thereof.

Should the Chairman resign prematurely, or be otherwise unable to perform his duties, the Webmaster shall become "acting" Chairman until the next election. Should the Webmaster refuse to serve as acting chairman, the duties will fall upon other members of the executive in this order of succession: General Secretary, Registrar, Elections Secretary, Presentations Secretary.

Administrative Committee

During the execution of the award voting, an adminstrative subcommittee of the executive committee will activate to better coordinate activity during the run of the procedure. Their involvement will begin with the start of the nomination round and continue until the final winners are announced. This committee will be responsible for maintaining the voting mechanisms, maintaining the website, registering and collaborating the nominations and votes, maintaining communication between the public and the executive committee, and judging the integrety of the nominated comics.

During the period of Administrative Committee involvement, members of this subcommittee will remain active and involved in the proceedures of the group maintaining daily communication with each other. Administrative decisions will be made by a vote which will last for no more than 24 hours and require full committee involvement for implication.

The Administrative Committee will be composed of the Chairman, the Elections Secretary, the General Secretary, the Webmaster and the Registrar. Any other Executive Committee members may also voluteer to take part in this subcommittee provided they agree to the requirements of the group.


A. The work of the Administrative Committee will not be eligible for nomination in the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. In the case of collaborations, the collaborator who is not a member of the Administrative Committee will remain eligible for categories that do not involve the Committee Member's participation in that comic.

B. The Administrative Committee will not be allowed to vote or nominate any comic in the Web Cartoonists' Awards.

C. However, the Administrative Committee does maintain the right to overrule nominations that do not meet the requirements of the category.

Voting Committee

Nominees for all award catagories, as well as the eventual winners of each award, shall be decided by members of a select WCCA Voting Body.

The WCCA Voting Body shall consist of the comprehensive mass of writers, artists, or webmasters of a webcomics who have been approved and registered to vote by the CCA Registrar.

To be eligible for membership in the WCCA Voting Body and thus for voting priviliges, an applicant must be the sole creator of a webcomic currently viewable and originally published online; or, if part of a creative team, serve as one of the following: writer, artist (includes colorists), or webmaster.

There shall only be allowed one voting member of the WCCA Voting Body per webcomic, and no person shall be allowed to serve as the voting represenative of more than one comic.

IV. MEDIUM

Committee meetings, votes, elections, and discussions shall all be conducted online. Any Internet-based program, forum, or host may be used as long as it is equipped to meet all of the committee's needs.

V. MEETINGS

All discussions and decision making procedures shall be conducted in an open manner through the medium outlined in section IV. Any discussions by committee members taking place outside of the online means needs to be confirmed by all members online before being enacted. This is to allow for the prescence and participation of the entire committee.

VI. AWARDS

Awards shall be annually presented by the committee in the manner described in Article II Section A.

Awards shall be distrubuted after a democratic nomination process.

All awards are final.

VII. NOMINATION / VOTING

A. Prior to the distrubution of any award, one week of preparation must take place before the final nominees are announced. During this phase, only the webmaster will have the results of the votes.

Within each of the catagories established by the WCCA Voting Body, those four comics recieving the largest percentage of the total votes shall enter the voting finals. If there is a tie within the top four nominations, additional comics will also be listed for voting. If the tie results in more than seven final nominees, the required votes for that category will be raised one nomination.

B. The four finalists from each catagory shall be announced, and the voting round to determine the winners shall be held over a period of four weeks. The entire Voting Body, including all those who have previously elected the finalists, shall be allowed to participate in the voting process to determine the winners.

C. The voting round will end and votes shall be tabulated. In the event of ties, each tied comic will be awarded an award for that category. Once the list of winners is created, they will be passed on to the committee member responsible for fabricating the actual award banners to be presented in order to properly label and finalize the awards. During this same period, work will also commence on creating the online award ceremony.

D. An award presentation webpage will go online announcing the winners. All winners shall also be notified by email and they will be sent their individualized award banners.

VIII. AMENDMENTS

This document may be amended by a vote of the Committee, and approval from the Chairman. All amendments must be recorded.

IIX. ABOLISHMENT

This document can be rendered invalid or suspended by a vote of at least 10 Committee members, and Chairman approval.

Date: December 8th, 2006

Approved by:

Mark Mekkes, Chairman