The official R7 Command News Bulletin
By Vice Regional Coordinator Admiral Bob Vosseller
It is here, 2015 has arrived! As we shake off the good and the bad of the last 12 months it is a time to look at the new year with hopes and plans both in our personal lives and within our corner of Starfleet.
TIME TO MAKE PLANS
Whether your group is a meeting chapter or a correspondence chapter, you will soon be issuing your first communication of the year. Most likely, you will be planning out some of your future activities, tending to chapter housekeeping like staff, membership strength and finances. Wayne and I hope you’ll also check to make sure that you have at least 10 members and that those staff who require OTS and OCC have those certifications. It is not a bad idea to require that status to each of your respective command staff. It isn’t hard and it’s free.
This year, you may want to start looking at one other factor that could require some additional time. As we know, 2016 will be a special year for STAR TREK fans. It marks the 50th year of our saga. Last year actually marked an anniversary of sorts being that “Where No Man Has Gone Before” the first pilot of STAR TREK had been in production.
It might not be too early to see how your chapter will observe this month in the form of a special event that can promote Starfleet and your chapter and utilize the creative energy of your membership to bring that celebration to your respective community.
Your local library might take you up on such a plan and provide some promotional assistance. There are other ways to do this as well. This would be in addition to, not in place of a movie promotion as it is expected that a new STAR TREK film will be in theaters in 2016.
There are various ways to host such events and it will be something we’ll be talking about this year (providing you more than a year’s worth of planning time) on our respective listservs, and on the R7 Facebook page.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
It is important to maintain your chapter strength. While this may at times, not seem easy there is a network of support you can go to for advice and feedback on your chapter’s recruitment operations. Perhaps you even have some ideas to share about recruiting, Please contact Karen who can be reached at co@ussredbaron.org or trekkieturtle@gmail.com
COs, PLEASE go into the SFI DB and double-check that your chapter contact information is correct. Our recruitment department utilizes this information to generate a spreadsheet flier that we run off to give to prospective members. You’ll want to take special care with website URLs and email addresses.
Prospective members aren’t going to take a second look at broken URLs, out-of-date websites, or email addresses that bounce. If your chapter doesn’t have a website yet, it’s easy to get a free one set up on Google Sites, or Webs.com, or even WordPress or Tumblr. Don’t depend on Facebook for your promotional efforts.
FUTURE EVENTS
Farpoint will be returning to the Maryland sector in February and is a usual draw of many chapters around the region. RC Wayne and I hope to make the event depending on weather conditions of that weekend. Our usual meeting will take place and Wayne will be posting about any regional breakfast plans that might take place prior to our morning meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.
My chapter, the USS Challenger will hold its annual Intergalactic Food Festival on Sunday March 1, at the Seaside Heights Community Center. The event starts at 1 pm (though you can come at noon if you need to heat up your item). All we ask is that you bring a dish to feed 6 people or beverages. We encourage you wear a Star Trek uniform (though this is not mandatory) to add to the fictional flavor of the event.
Other activities around the region include Monster Mania in Cherry Hill NJ, and the next Steel City Con in Pittsburg Pa.
Our annual Region 7 Conference is well into the planning stages and Karen will be updating us on the status and details of that special event slated for the first weekend of October in Maryland.
IN CONCLUSION
We’re about to hit the cold weather season and hopefully this year’s winter won’t feature too many snow storms. Please be safe out there this time of year.
Science fiction and related genre shows are returning to the airwaves following the holiday hiatus. Fans of “Gotham”, “The Flash” and “Arrow” will see their shows return later this month while “Agents of SHIELD” takes a break to be filled by a 7-part mini-series called “Agent Carter” featuring the post WWII adventures of Captain America’s girlfriend Peggy Carter. It looks stylish and action packed.
For horror fans there is the remaining episodes of “American Horror Story: Freak Show” , “Constantine”, “Grimm” and “Supernatural.” New episodes of “The Walking Dead” will reach us later in the year.
SyFy Channel will offer the new series “12 Monkeys” and the second season of “Helix.” This summer we’ll have the last season of “Falling Skies” and a new season of “Under the Dome.”
Big screen events that you may consider organizing a group viewing to include “Avengers 2: Age of Ultron” “Ant-Man” and “Terminator: Genysis.” The first of a new trilogy of STAR WARS films is set to arrive in theaters in December. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be a very exciting event for fans and a recruitment opportunity for us.
Feel free to share your thoughts about those shows or films that fall into our range of interest on our Facebook page and the R7 listerv.
Wayne will present an update on the status of the 7th Fleet later this month. We look forward to once again working with you to make Region 7 the best it can be and to make it the fun organization it is.
Yes, we are aware that Starfleet on the international level is, as always, facing some challenges in updating some of its operations but we have good people in key positions. Some positions are open and you may wish to consider if you have the interest and experience to fill those roles.
My best goes out to each of you as we start this bright and challenging year.
Should you wish to share with Wayne and I any ideas, suggestions, complaints, compliments or just a simple hello we would enjoy hearing from you.
Happy New Year!