The Baltimore Science Fiction Society Code of Conduct and Implementation Plan has been moved to its own new page at code-conduct.htm
Fog Machines are banned from Balticon unless their presence and use has been approved by the hotel in writing prior to the start of the convention. (Fire alarm B50)
No alcohol allowed in open room parties or events at Balticon unless the alcohol is dispensed by a hotel employee (presumably sold by hotel as well) to ensure compliance with regulations of the local liquor board.
The Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc. (BSFS) maintains collections of books, periodicals, visual media, games and gaming materials, and art related to speculative fiction, including works of and about science fiction, fantasy, horror and similar ideas, as well as works by or about noted authors of works in these genres.
The holdings are subdivided for organizational purposes as:
the Library, primarily containing literary works and periodicals;
the Media Collection, consisting of visual and audio recordings on tapes, disks and similar storage devices;
the Games Collection, containing copies of board and other tabletop games;
the Role Playing Game Reference Collection; primarily containing gaming manuals; and
the Art Collection, consisting of two and three-dimensional presentations of human imagination and creative skill appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
With the exception of the Art Collection and designated items in other Collections, the materials are available to the public for reading, researching and borrowing without charge.
DONATION POLICY:
Donations of items for the Collections are accepted by appointment. Donations are reviewed for accession by appropriate committee for additions that will improve and enhance the Collections. BSFS generally does not accept donations of unbound issues of comic books.
Donated material not added to the Collection may be donated to other not-for-profit organizations or exchanged for monetary donations to support the direct care of the Collections. Direct care is defined as providing storage, conservation, and preservation of the Collections.
Donors are requested to label containers of donated material with counts of the items they contain. BSFS will acknowledge the quantity of material received, but will not assign a value to it.
ACCOUNTING POLICY:
In accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement 116, BSFS does not capitalize the value of the Collections in its financial records.
Material is only removed from the Collections (“deaccessioned”) when the designated committee determines the material does not meet the criteria for continued inclusion as part of a Collection or a better item becomes available to replace an item already owned. The proceeds of materials deaccessioned from the Collections are reserved and held for a) acquisition of material to add to the Collections, or b) the direct care of the Collections, as defined above. Purchases of materials are expensed in the period of acquisition.
The designated Collections committees track the number of items received in donations and the number of items donated to other nonprofits without recognition of revenue or expense. Due to the high level of uncertainty about the existence of value in donated items not added to the Collections, revenue is not recognized unless such material is exchanged for a monetary donation. The value of items received when items are exchanged for monetary donations is recognized as revenue in the period in which it is received and added to funds reserved for direct care of the collections.
