SUB SPACE CHATTER: Goodbye 2010: Get Ready for 2011 edition!
By Adm. Bob Vosseller, Vice Regional Coordinator Region 7
Well this is it. As we head toward the end of the year I extend a very happy holiday season to all of you and hope that no matter what holiday you observe it was or will be a great one.
This year has been busy and has seen much in regards to the activities of the 7th Fleet and I know Wayne wishes to thank the R7 staff for its work and congratulates those chapter leaders and their staffs for the continued smooth operation of their respective groups.
That isn’t to say we have had all smooth waters. We did loose some chapters which chose new courses of particpation within Starfleet or who could no longer meet requirements of chapter membership and reporting.
We also gained chapters as well in recent months such as the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Storm. The USS Asimov a long time Pa sector chapter moved its chapter charter to New Jersey and sadly among those chapters we lost this year were the USS Starlord and the USS Dragonstar.
We held major gatherings at Farpoint and Shore Leave as always and NY chapters and one NJ chapter enjoyed I*Con in Long Island again this year. We are hoping it can be a bigger gathering in 2011.
Chapters from all over the region enjoyed various picnics, parties, ren faires and special events like the return of the Trek Olympics in Maryland and the chilly trek into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the NJ Sector for the Polar Bear Olympics that will be returning in February. (More on that soon).
The summer provided us some wonderful excuses to come together including the 25th anniversary of the USS Avenger, the 20th anniversary of the USS Sovereign and BBQs and picnics with the USS Challenger and the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Pride of Baltimore.
The Region was well represented at this year’s SF International Conference in Oklahoma were IC2011 committee members of Jeff Victor (the IC Chair) and co-chairs Laura Victor and myself were present with mounds of snack food for the hospitality suite including a huge bottle of cheese balls.
This year marked an RC election which had RC Wayne Auguston retaining the center seat of Starbase 7. It was also an election year for Starfleet and of the two candidates in the race, one was our very own USS Black Heart CO Emmett Plant who ran with former long time CO and former RC Admiral Alex Rosenzweig as the VCS choice. It was a close race and well run by both candidates without political bickering and provided new forums of expression about ideas for improvements and policy implementation.
We congratulate incoming CS Dave Blaser and VCS Bran Stimpson who will be taking the oath of office in a few weeks and we also thank Emmett and Alex for being willing to run for this high office of our international organization. We also thank and congratulate those in R7 that will be taking on new SF duties such as Ricthofen’s CO Karen who will be editing the CQ and her hubby Chris will be working duties with the computer ops department. Thank you both for undertaking these necessary tasks.
That said the year 2011 will bring us many adventures and challenges as a new administration on the international level begins its work and as the R7 staff moves on its agenda to improve things and make our region as much fun as possible.
Obviously, I am excited and anxious about IC2011 next August in the Poconos Pa. we’ve put together, I think an informative and yet program set in a beautiful and historic location that will provide something new and different for IC attendees. It will clearly be more then a place to hold a business meeting but an event where spouses of SF members and those new to the org can also enjoy a fantastic time and meet SF members from all over the world. A lot of work has gone into the planning of this event and that work will continue in the new year.
Please consider coming if you have not made your plans to do so already. Budget it out early and you won’t regret your decision. Watch for the many posts that will be coming out on it and please visit our website and Facebook pages. Feel free to contact Jeff or I as well.
While there was no Region 7 Conference this year we did hold an R7 Command Summit in New Jersey. The event was paid for by our RC Wayne Augustson and the program agenda was developed by Jeff Victor our chief of staff. I came up with the idea as I felt cos and xos needed a venue to come together (along with command level personnel) to share their ideas, brain storm and to see how our individual chapters could learn from each other and at the same time, how the region could set goals on activity and fundraising. Awards Director Beryl Washington proposed a rotating raffle fundraiser for the region which is currently going on and we restored an old fundraising favorite, the Kilometer of Pennies program. That collection will culminate at Shore Leave next July. Another R7 Command Summit is set to be planned and in lieu of this year’s IC being held in R7, we are holding a mini-R7 Conference during the last day of the IC.
More regional events are being planned and we have revised the criteria for R7 conferences. During the year it was decided to eliminate the sector chiefs as positions that no longer seemed to be as necessary as they once were. We are also working to streamline communications within the region.
Wayne has been providing timely posts to the COs list and Region 7 list on matters of SF policy matters that cos need to share their opinons about prior to Wayne’s casting a vote in representation of R7. This allows each chapter to have a voice in the decision making process as votes are cast in ECAB matters.
We’ve mixed business with pleasure in hosting R7 breakfasts at Farpoint and Shore Leave and that will return in the new year although the days of when they are held may change.
We have a lot of ideas to implement and to work on and we are continuing to work with chapters who have consistently had problems maintaining their membership strength and others that have been late or have not submitted their MSRs. Jeff told me the other day we were one MSR shy of perfect last month.
Again, I extend a very happy holiday season to you all and a safe, healthy and enjoyable new year!
See you in 2011!