Elections, and TMI

To My Santa Cruz Fan Force Surfing Buddies:

As we celebrate and approach our two year anniversary as SCFF, we find that we have survived the Trials of Mustafar and have actually learned to Hang Ten on the lava. As we begin our third year, we find that our Treasurer has relinquished their position, leaving a vacancy that needs to be filled. So, for the benefit of our newest members, a recap for our existing members, and to inform any interested parties who might be considering catching our wave; here is how we run the daily irreverence which is lovingly known as Santa Cruz Fan Force:

A. How does the membership thing work?
B. How does the officer thing work?
C. How does the nomination and voting work?
D. What else do I need to know?

1. To be a member of the SCFF you must meet at least one of the following requirements:
a. Be a Founding Member of our first year that have met the membership requirements (see below); or,
b. Live in the General Area ? and have met the membership requirements (see below); or,
c. Live out of the area, but have met the membership requirements; (see below), along with;
* Member Requirements: One or more of the above requirements - plus have posted on the SCFF Boards in a regular and active manner for the past year or more; and have attended at least four or more of the posted meetings and events in the last year. Our Calendar Year is defined from Memorial Day Weekend to Memorial Day Weekend. (Example: 5/2005 to 5/2006 and/or 5/2006 to 5/2007);

2. In the instance that a regular poster who meets the minimum posting requirements for SCFF, (have posted on the boards in a regular and active manner for the past year or more) and by their posts and friendship have come to demonstrate an understanding of the ?Spirit of Ohana" and "Monty Python-esk" sense of family and humor that we of Santa Cruz Fan Force have adopted; but their physical location prevents them from attending at least one event. (Example: living across ?The Pond?, ?Down Under,? or across the country). They can be invited to become an Honorary Member by the Fickle Finger of Fate of the Officers and/or by consensus of the Full Membership as determined during a regular meeting. However, Honorees do not vote for officers.

3. We have an open door policy on the boards/forums and welcome those that wish to participate. Santa Cruz FF is truly a ?state of mind,? where people from all over the world can hang and have a good time in the spirit of the laid-back, irreverent side of the Force.

a. Posting on the forums for any length of time does not grant automatic membership or honoree status without meeting the other requirements. We simply welcome you to the forums of SCFF for however long you wish to participate.

4. As for any and all persons that participate on the SCFF Boards? Forums, (visitors, memberships and honorees); each and all must follow the FF code of conduct. Each poster must become familiar with the rules and regulations of Fan Force. So please read the FF regulations at their main site.

5. SCFF upholds the FF code of conduct; as well as expects the following: that human courtesies be in the forefront, and are naturally expected by all participates. As such, NO harassment, spamming, threats, and uninvited insults are allowed on the boards and/or meetings, and/or among the membership. Nor are obvious trolls and sock-puppets tolerated as they are looked down upon as a banning offense. These offenses are considered grounds for removal and/or banning by the SCFF CR and the SCFF Leaders. If these offenses continue, after banning action has been taken - such as locked thread, entry removal, banned from entry, or banned of membership in the SCFF ? then the individual(s) and their offending activities will be reported to the FF Admin for further review, action and consequence as they deem necessary.

So? relax, lighten up, hand ten or chill, and remember ?Ohana! ?

6. To run SCFF, (as our members are from various areas), ?Officers? were selected at the onset of the group

 

Got it. Thank you for posting the rules/regs/what-have-yous in detail. It's good to be able to read them and understand them fully. Looking forward to our FF meeting this weekend.

- Kai

 

"2. In the instance that a regular poster who meets the minimum posting requirements for SCFF, (have posted on the boards in a regular and active manner for the past year or more) and by their posts and friendship have come to demonstrate an understanding of the ?Spirit of Ohana" and "Monty Python-esk" sense of family and humor that we of Santa Cruz Fan Force have adopted; but their physical location prevents them from attending at least one event. (Example: living across ?The Pond?, ?Down Under,? or across the country). They can be invited to become an Honorary Member by the Fickle Finger of Fate of the Officers and/or by consensus of the Full Membership as determined during a regular meeting. However, Honorees do not vote for officers."

I have a simple question, as this is confusing -- I have noted in the past that a vast majority of the "meeting/events" are held quite some distance from Santa Cruz (i.e. meeting at the Rose Parade event, election and meeting now being held in Los Angeles), and that many other events are in So Cal (such as SDCC, etc.). Does this mean that someone who actually "lives in the area" (I am assuming by this you mean Santa Cruz, this "lives in the area" "lives out of the area" statement is vague -- which area? Santa Cruz?), but cannot afford and/or schedule time for four out-of-town events, *cannot* be a full member? I think that's unfair for people in NorCal particularly. The "at least one event" language versus the "minimum of four events" language is very contradictory, and I think four events minimum may be difficult for some fans who a) may not drive, b) may not be able to take the time off (i.e. 2007 alone boasts CIV and SDCC; some people have stated they have to give up one over the other, due to vacation time, etc.).

The best idea would be if you placed a 'sticky' thread of 'official recognized SCFF events' and continually update it, as many other FF chapters do, so fans can select from these. Some examples can be OC lightsaber training, northern cal conventions, meetings and other nor cal events, etc. A broad geography of SCFF recognized events should be recognized so people have a chance to even achieve status.

Just constructive 2c.
Mary Thomson

Another question: Since the election/annual meeting has been bumped up to this weekend, are you going to count CIV Memorial Day weekend this year for the past year's events (5/2006-5/2007) or toward next year's (5/07-5/08)? Since these rules are 'officially' newly posted, it would be a good-faith gesture on SCFF's part to have CIV count toward 5/07-5/08 so more interested FF'ers will have a chance to start accumulating events. Please do sticky a calendar thread for all meetings/events that are presently recognized for 5/07-5/08 (i.e. comic con? Disneyland? etc.). It would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

Thank you for your observations and concerns. That is the beauty part of having things written down vs. having a verbal understanding among old and new members that was formalized over the past two years. It will help others to understand how it works, before they take the leap into the "Ohana" state of mine.

It is hoped this will address the concerns expressed.

To begin with, we have already taken steps to insure that our regulations remain on the forefront of the boards so that all who visit can easily review and understand the membership requirements. It goes without saying that anyone who is interested in joining SCFF may certainly start to post on the forums now. If however an individual has a specific question that is not answered by the regulations, they may contact me directly. We certainly welcome and encourage one-on-one contact with individuals that are interested for themselves and of their own accord.

As we have many members from various areas, we take that into consideration when approving our annual calendar for the proceeding year. We select meeting and locations of events revolving around the majority of member?s attendance, from Santa Cruz to CIV (as an example). As pointed out, we do this to help minimize travel costs for those attending if the majority of members are already attending the events. However upon reflection, for those who are new forum visitors and for those that in fact live in Santa Cruz and the neighboring areas, may I suggest you review of the boards for our new up and coming calendar?

As we are coming to the end of this year?s calendar meetings and events, be assured that over the next few meetings we of SCFF will be discussing and approving our next year?s calendar. The new calendar year, per our regulations, is from May 2007 to May 2008.
I am sure there will be meetings that Santa Cruz and neighboring areas prospective members will be able to attend if they so choose to join us.

Until then, we will ?catch the wave?, and meet you all on the SCFF Boards or at any events you choose to attend.

Happy postings!

Siri-Tachi, SCFF
?The Lightside Of Command?

 

Just a small reminder:
We will meet at The Star Wars Meets Imagination Exhibit, Los Angeles; on the Second Floor of the Exhibit Next to the Millennium Falcon Exhibit
Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 4:00 PM
See you there.

 

Hiya!

Just to chime in, I know that SCFF does make an effort to find times and locations for meetings that will accomodate the largest number of members at events we may already be attending. As an FYI, I am a Northern California member and have never found it to be a problem to make the meetings of SCFF, precisely because the Fan Force has really made an effort to determine, "Ok, who will be at this event or that event" and to schedule the meetings accordingly, to have the smallest "pain in the rear end" impact, as it were, for all involved. Hmmm, that was odd phrasing but hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Anyway, glad to see there is discussion here, as it means people are active and involved. Hopefully that bodes well for our Fan Force and means we'll all be just as active and involved in meet-ups and other activities as well.

And I'm very much looking forward to our Santa Cruz Boardwalk gathering, that's always a ton of fun. And in Northern California, and in Santa Cruz for good measure. Often we also have a meeting at Baycon, which is another N. California/Bay Area venue. The only reason we're not this year is that, sadly, Baycon and CIV happen to fall (whaaa!) on the same weekend, forcing us SCFF folk to pick and choose. Since most of us chose (including myself) to go to CIV, the meeting is being held there to accomodate the largest subset of us.

I hope this helps clarify some of the thinking on this.

- Kai