EVERYONE READ THIS- THE PRESIDENT!!!

Happy early Birthday, Eric! I had no idea you were going to be 40!

Business note: So, does this mean Tracey is our Prez as of the 1st and we need to elect a new VP?

You're so going to have to come into town to celebrate the birthday Eric. And you'd better stick around to chill with us at every opportunity.

Because otherwise, I'll just be pissy all over again.

That being said, I think we need to re-evaluate certain things. Obviously the system we had didn't work. So, we try another system. Instead of a President, we have Oligarchy? Is that the right word? Someone elected from each of the major groups BY their respective groups to represent and they're responsible as part of their JOB to organize meetings for the whole group. We seem to manage getting together at every opportunity so that's not a problem.

But as a WHOLE group, It's just a thought. A president shouldn't have to put up with everyone's crap, just the folks in his or her respective groups so we can stop dealing with all the smack that flying around on these boards.

Eric, I'm looking forward to the next film con. I'll actually be able to go. And I'm also interested in hear how "things" /went/...so you're going to have to make a trip up here to go when you can.


M

hmmm... Eric, you will be staying on as a member of the club I hope!

I'd imagine he would...wouldn't be the same at big meetings without him.


M

I generally agree that religions and faith are indeed touchy subjects, (and although I've looked at the www.jedireligion.org out of fascination, and have my own private views on it) I don't believe that it matters whether someone voices their opinion on spiritual beliefs or not. What matters to me is when someone pushes it on someone, or if it's required to be in a "group"--for instance, some choices make you "join" as "members" and that is a turn off to me.

I am glad someone brough the "jedireligion" up so that we are aware of it, because it is pretty amazing to see that people are actually so involved/obsessed in something that they'll put their faith of life into it. To read about it, is enlightening to me--because I can stand back and watch and read what some will turn to out of despair and angst... it's not my choice because I take devotion to faith too seriously to choose a religion just because I adore the idea of "illumination"--there's way too much else I take into consideration as of equal or more importance to choose Jedism. What I may do however, is join out of curiousity--and not participate. I am very interested in the meditation and light it means to embrace, and the fearlessness, focus, and discipline it means to envoke... what I'm against is that it's called a religion, and it isn't based on Christian or Jewish values. I also respect Hinduism from afar and other "religions" but would feel better if people used the doctrines they take away as a "practice" alone and not as a full "religion." The fact that jedireligion.org insists one to repeat "I am a Jedi" as a vow does bother me--because some one made this up from thin air and not from proof of life. Were Star Wars as real as the "Target: Iraq" War raging on, I'd probably be studying Jediism too... but God is overseeing this world of ourse. And I can't put my faith in anyone/anything else.

Shh... No more religion talk.

Jeff

In order to stay true to the feeling of the Star Wars kinship we all have, I think we need to elect a supreme chancellor to usurp power and become Emperor.

Fan Film...what fan film? Nobody ever said nuthin about a fan film...lately.

Eric,
I am sorry to see you go and hope I did not contribute to your decision. I do understand the sentiments you expressed and don't blame you.

Ummm...a new election for presidency can be held, that's no problem, I'm not interested in being Pres. Although, I do think that the next pres. should be someone who can attend various functions on a "regular" basis. Whether they be get togethers, meetings in the various groups, or whatever. Our next pres. I think, needs to be alot more involved than either Eric or I have been(no offence Eric...you are further away and my biggest problem for not being nearly as involved as I would have liked to be is being a Mom w/a second-shift hubby, such is life. Believe me, there where events I would have liked to been at but just couldn't make it because of family obligations). I think it would help in that "leadership" issue. Marcy, I have to agree that its true there pretty much hasn't been alot of leadership. It seemed there wasn't much needed, but maybe to hold the "group of groups" together, there does need to be a more present leadership. Catie, I commend your efforts at diplomacy. You would make Princess Leia proud! Your advice and imput are very good words. Thank you. I admit I stayed out of certain conversations due to that I'm not that confrontational(sp?) and other reasons, but I have been reading all of it and the way things got so blown out of hand is just a "head shaker" to me. Anyway, I hope we can get over all this "stuff" and get back to fanforce as usual.

-VP aka Jedisister

First off, Eric I hope you'll remain in the group, and I would prefer to see you at more events. You're always good for at least one entertaining story, and even without one, I enjoy talking with you. Half the reason I went to Filmcon was that I knew you ran a good convention. I meant every word I said in the previous post about Filmcon being your work, and work well done. Even given the problems we may have caused, you were always making sure we had a good time when you saw us in the halls. I'm sorry for any trouble you received as president on my behalf.

Second, I'd like to apologize to Devan and to Red. If I reacted to the Jediism thread in any way that hurt feelings, I apologize. In the future, I'll further dampen my posts so there's little risk of offending others. Also, if my posts in any way gave people a bad opinion of a group from the fan force, I apologize to them.

As we go on, hopefully to better things, we should establish a few guidelines. If any of the emails or PMs Eric received were about my behavior, save yourself and any future presidents the trouble and send them to me. I promise, I won't bite your head off. I prefer direct honesty to lectures. If for some reason you don't think I will handle the criticism well, pass the message or suggestion to Jeff, our CR who is supposed to deal with problems. He knows me fairly well and he knows that I won't attack him. I will likewise try to keep any criticism of conduct I have in private messages to the source. I should have done that with Tom on many occasions even though the problems were public. He deserved better treatment from me and for that I apologize. Even though I was not responsible for his banning, I think he should be unbanned from this place as quickly as possible. Conversations are better with Tom taking part in them.

Last on the apology list is to anyone not involved in recent conflicts that came here for fun, and only found controversy.

A meeting would solve most of the problems that are forming here. I was not aware that there was a need for a president to receive that many emails or PMs about problems. If we are to act as a group, it's time to air out all such things in a civil manner. We cannot fix problems behind each others' backs.

As for leadership, I was never sure that we needed a president. I think we should all be equals, except for the CR which is a required position for this board. However I realize this form of ultra-democracy is not what a lot of people have in mind for group formats, so if we are to have a leader, I would recommend Catie for her diplomacy. I've never seen her offend anyone, she proposes many getogethers and I seriously don't think the position would go to her head. I would also recommend Dan for his even hand. He, like Catie, tries to smooth things out and he generally avoids controversy. He's easy going and friendly. If people are looking for someone that attends as many functions, one only needs to look as far as Tom. As far as I know, he attends as many as possible. In the early days, he drew up our promotional flyers, helped with the websites, the T-shirts and many other things. He's grown a great deal from the early starts of this group, and I should know since my criticism has been well documented. I think he honestly loves the group.

HBP,

Dwayne

Word.

HBP

M

I am not going anywhere! I love you all to much to just walk away. The truth is I feel like the picture of Palpatine at the top of the screen. Tired and solem.

I need a vacation for a few weeks. I also have many other things on my plate- I am doing all the advertising for Landmark Credit Union, which will be up shortly all over town, and I have to plan for Convergence in Minneapolis. Filmcon 4 is a go, and to top it off I am actually dating someone...
Yes believe it or not I have a life...sort of. I will be losing my job next month and am trying to find something that has some decent benefits.

I will figure out a time to come down the first part of May. We can celebrate my birthday and act like sci-fi geeks all night long.

Old Jedi never die...they just fade away!

Although I am new and I haven't posted very much, the times I have posted everybody was very friendly. People have always answered my questions and have given me good advice. So, in my opinion from an outsider looking in, this seems like a real friendly group and I have felt welcome to participate from the beginning.
Thanks
Jake

All right, I've stayed out of this as long as I can. I do not claim to know everyone on our boards here, having only met many of you once before, but I haven't seen many instances of elitism, arrogance, or outright malice on these boards during the time I've been here. I've seen plenty of sarcasm, which is generally well-received in this forum, and I have seen some clever and insightful debates and discussions taking place by people who fall into several demographics. Everyone seems to get along. Occasional annoyances, to be sure, but nothing too serious. There are, to my knowledge, no "evil" people here.

I think that the individual sub-groups (Costumers, Book Club, Collectors, etc) have been successful and incredibly valuable concerning face-to-face meetings of folks who would otherwise only know each other by their screen names. I've made a lot of friends and hope to make more. I want to see this forum grow, and what is more, I'd like to see and hear whatever is on anyone's mind regarding Star Wars and anything else that is relevant (or irrelevent, as long as it adds to the conversation). So long as no one takes a forceful, arrogant, or condescending tone and refrains from trying to forcefully "sell" their ideas, then I say their ideas and thoughts are welcome. If you disagree vehemently with said ideas, please do so politely and intelligibly--that is what dialogue here is all about. You want to talk Episode 3 Spoilers? Fine, but I don't want to see it--start your own thread, and invite feedback on that thread. If I don't like the idea of spoilers, I'll have 2 choices: 1) Staying the hell out of the thread, or 2) Biting the bullet and politely elbowing into the conversation with my "con" arguments. If there is feedback that I deem ludicrous, then it's up to me to keep my mouth shut--it's territory that I knowingly entered.

There is no need for anyone to leave these boards. We are all here because we have ONE thing in common--we love Star Wars. We may only have that one thing in common, but what's great about this place is the variety of people who share this passion--read some of the bios. We are male and female; teenagers to middle-agers; computer programmers to fabricators to students, etc, etc. We seemingly have nothing in common but this one thing...and here we are. So many different ideas, but still that one common thread. As long as we're here, we might as well get along, because everyone's got something to add to the mix.

I don't know what the president's duties entail, but I've said it before: Tom is a logical choice in some sort of leadership/co-leadership role (I can just see about 75% of you cringing when you read that). Here we have an individual who, until three months ago, was on these boards 24-7, aware of what was going on in the Milwookie threads and the wider-reaching JC boards (where I simply don't have time to check), keeping us Milwookies up-to-date on many, many goings-on. He taught me how to use these boards when I was new here. He's incredibly personable, and while his mannerisms can grate on a person, he is dedicated. Pub excursions aside, he has been at the last 3 collector's meetings, and I know for a fact that he's been at book club and costumer's meetings. Does he actively do ANY of these things as a hobby? No. He likes the people that are involved and the cause. He's willing to give up his own time to help the group--that's the truth, and I defy anyone to give me a contrary example. He's acted foolishly, sure, but I don't see anyone around here who's done so much as HALF what he's done. I think he deserves un-banning immediately, so he can help put this council back together.

As an aside, let it be known that I haven't spoken to him about any of this, it is simply what I think of the situation. Maybe it's too much to say he should be THE president, but I would certainly welcome his skills and open-mindedness back here. He can help in a big way.

Eric, thank you for taking the job. I remember you telling us how hard it was to keep a group

So, why not join us at some of our functions? We're a diverse group. If you're a collector you'll fit right in with a bunch of us at the very least.


And Eric, you're the bomb. Go you!


M

I agree with the idea of Tom being a leader here. He has done AMAZING things with and for this group in the past and I think he will keep doing them in the future. (That sounds like some crap political ad on TV. Sorry.)

The only glitch with that Solo is that I believe Tom is still banned from these boards.

I don't really see that as a glitch. I think the emphasis on our group should be events and meetings, not what happens on this board. Banned or unbanned would matter for a CR obviously, because that's a board-oriented position. But any other office within our group could exist without being approved by the admin here. Just because the group started on the board, doesn't mean it's limited to it. And for us to miss out on someone helping our group because of what people in Minnesota, Guam and Australia think would be a tragedy. I think Tom should be unbanned, but I'm fine with him in a leadership position even if he isn't.

Dwayne

Just thought I'd chime in and say everything TheWampas1138 said is correct. CityRep is just a contact/go between for your group and myself and then onto the rest of the FF staff. How and with who you organize your group is completely up to you guys.

Thank you for the clarification. I was not aware of that.

It still would be nice if you would post activities on these boards so everyone knows about them. That is the job of the CR to make sure all members are aware of where and when meetings are to take place. If you choose to discuss or post elsewhere, fine but it still should always be posted here or all are not informed.

As far as I know all meetings are posted here. The only exceptions are the pub get-togethers, which are not allowed to be posted here - right?

Well, since I've returned to my RSAing duties to watch over Milwaukee speciffically, and before my temporary departure really, I haven't recieved a single event update to post on the FF News board. I guess that's a separate issue though.

Dan is right, all events that haven't been pub crawls have been posted here. And as far as things to post on the news board, none of our meetings have been news-worthy AFAIK...

Anyway, if anyone has a problem with what I do, let me know and I'll try to fix the situation.

HBP

Jeff