Abq Mos Alba: The Future

This is a topic which we discussed somewhat at the meeting this past Sunday, so for some of you this will be repetitious. Bear with me. As Mos Alba approaches the 5 1/2 year mark as a FanForce, I have been thinking about who we are, where we've been and where we're headed. As I'm sure most, if not all, of you know, this club's first meeting was nothing more than a handful of strangers sitting down with each other to discuss their love of Star Wars shortly after the release of AOTC. Since that time, we've seen our numbers swell up to include several dozen people, only to have people slowly fade away, until once again we are left with naught but a handful.
As I think about our little group, it seems to me that there are two main areas of SW fandom that we tend to focus on: costuming and collecting. Sure, there may be an occasional comment here or there about the novels, comics, etc, but all that pales in comparison to the two areas previously mentioned. Since the creation of the Dewback Ridge Squad, it seems to me that the costuming section of our fandom is well taken care of. So for Mos Alba, that leaves only collecting. And thus it occured to me, perhaps it's time for Mos Alba to evolve. To move away from the banner of "FanForce" and become simply the Mos Alba Star Wars Collector's Society. I simply don't feel that we stand to benefit any longer from being a FanForce. I take the time to set up and attend monthly meetings, and while I do appreciate those that show up, usually it's no more than just a couple of people, and then we usually end up talking just about the toys anyway. As a collector's society, we'd be free from the structure of regular meetings; simply a group of people brought together by the love of collecting SW related merchandise, talking about what we've found and what we like, looking out for one another and grabbing the occasional toy for another member if the need arises. Meetings can be whenever and wherever we want them to be. It's been quite some time since we've pulled in any new members based on our association with FanForce; in fact, we've been steadily decreasing in number for years now, mostly because of people wanting to focus mainly on costuming, and thus, the DRS. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but if I'm going to be one of the few that remains, and not only that, but chosen to lead this group, then I'm going to take it in a direction that I think it needs to go.
Of course, just because I say it, doesn't make it so. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. So sound off, and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.

 

Two days and no responses to this? That says a lot right there.

I agree with Brian. MA FF is dead, let's do something else.

 

Well what would we do for a forum, advertising, etc. I agree that costuming is with DRS, except for th rebel legion side. At least this is a place we can all come to.

Now the meeting thing, I agree that maybe we should go to the a quarterly or something like that, because monthly is just to much for us. I think FF has it's benefits for getting people that just do a search on the internet, or come from other states. But yes it is dead in here.

 

I've been thinking a lot about what Brian posted and will post something shortly...

 

it makes sense to me. so i am onboard.

 

As I have offered in the Past I will host a site/forums as long as others are willing to help maintain it.

Brian

 

I'm game for whatever you guys decide to do. I enjoy trooping with the DRS but I also enjoy other aspects of SW-Collecting and socializing with fellow fans especially. An active 'collector's society' type group sounds appealing.
I did have a few concerns, which mirror what Scott said. Basically with just trying to reach out to new potential/existing members which I'm sure can be ironed out if and when a change is made.

 

We've got Mos Alba's web page, as well as the myspace page, both of which can be reformatted for the change and used to recruit new members. Also, the Rebelscum forums have a section for different regions of the US for collectors to post in and let other area collectors know what they're finding and where, as well as just general socializing with one another. It would be the work of all of two minutes to get an Albuquerque/New Mexico thread set up there. If there's ever a time when our collector's society is doing something big and we'd like to promote it, I've seen Rebelscum run announcements for other collector groups on their front page with the rest of the news. And, as always, don't be afraid to chat up your fellow collectors when you see them in the store! I do it, and while it hasn't always worked out for the best, I've met some nice people (including some pretty decent Hot Wheels guys).

 

What ever everyone else in the forum wants to do. I kind of like being part of the fan force. We tried getting away once before and look what happened. We can set up free forums and all. I still pay for the mosalba.com and Ken still puts it on his domain. Now what will happen with the mosalba. Does that belong to fan force or what?

 

What happened?

 

We came back here....

 

That's just cause the other board went to crap, right?

 

I think the reason this has been so slow is that we have no movie to look forward to. Sure, the animated thing will be in theaters, but we have no awesome movie to look forward to. Think about it, if there were a movie coming out, it would only be a few months till it released. I don't know, I just think this is why it has slowed down here.

 

I may be too tired or busy or forgetful to show up to meetings, but I am still out here. I like that Mos Alba is for everyone, especially/even if you don't have a 501st costume.

Theo would like to come back, "if people are nice." I run into him at work now and then.

I'm not a collector.

I enjoyed the fun get-togethers that people had where everyone was included, 501st or not. Those are the only type of parties I've ever hosted.

If I get my stuff together and host a camping party at the Butte this summer, everyone will be invited. If we stop this forum, I guess I'll call Brian to see how to get the word out to more than the DRS. (and by hosting, I mean trying to get a boat so everyone can have a little fun: skiing, tubing, knee-boarding, etc. although I may ask for a couple bucks for gas, depending on how much we go through. It was $4/gal last summer.)

 

Don't go camping with Colleen. I warn you now........... It is not safe to go........ Wife's get pregnant.............


Did you say you were going to host a camping party or a swinging party?

 

Darn that Colleen! Going round impregnanting wives! Darn her!

Camping GT sounds like a blast! I think my brother-in-law still has a house at the butte. I could probably get use of it for a weekend. We could sleep at least six there on the beds and pull outs. More on the floors if we brought air matresses.

I'd like to have a spring party pretty soon. It will be open to everybody. It's getting warmer every day. So soon! BBQ time!

 

That certainly seems like one of the causes to why it is so slow.

 

I think Brian has a good idea. The Fan Force has pretty much run it's course. No one comes looking for groups in the area nowadays. When there were movies being made and Star Wars was hot, we had hits all the time. It has cooled once again and the ones who started it all are the ones who are left. In the past two years there have never been attendees at meetings in the double digits. To be a Fan Force we need to have monthly meetings. Why have the monthly meeting for members who don't show up? Why waste the effort? It's time to take the Mos Alba name and use it in a way to beter serve us. We can still get together. We can still see each other. We can still have Trooping events not associated with the 501st. Nothing will change but the Fan Force association. The Fan Force really doesn't give us any perks that we benefit from anyway. You might say, "But people can find us through the Fan Force." Well, no one has found us by looking through the Fan Force recently. No one comes to meeting saying, "I saw your group on Force.Net and decided to see what you are all about and brought all these cookies and a huge sack of money!" You get the point. Change is good, people.

 

well we can always set up a forum on freeforum

 

The old days were a lot of fun Colleen It would be nice to go back to that. Maby with the summer we could try a few fun days at the Park or so some thing.

 

I'm all for getting together in town which will be easier than out of town for most folks, (especially if you don't have 4-wheel drive for the Butte, but we could work out shuttle service if necessary at the lake.)

BUUTTTT,
the good news is that we are pre-approved for the boat loan, and purchase day is looking like 3/28/08 up near Denver!!!

I will most likely be taking the supercharger out and sending it to a guy to upgrade to metal clutch washers as the ceramic ones are known to break and cause you to throw a rod out the engine (and that ruins all the fun.) Then, when I figure out how to get it put back in, taking the boat down to the Butte to learn how to really drive this thing,(I've only driven inboards and outboards before, jet boats handle a little differently) before letting people know when to come down. Right now, I'm planning on being at the lake 2x/month through the summer. I'll try to post to let people know if they want to come down. The down side is this boat takes 91 octane gas, and gas prices are going up yet again Oh well, it's the price of my sanity and mental health welfare, right?

By the way, this is a small boat (4-seater) designed for fun. People will be taking turns to go out and play. I have a lot of life jackets and will be buying a few more good quality ski jackets for the water sports. I have a rule of wearing a life jacket at all times on my boat. I recommend that folks make their kids wear life jackets anywhere near the water. This is an absolute rule for my kids (if they don't follow it, they are grounded and have to stay in the camper.) This is how I grew up, and in my huge, extended family with these rules for the past 40 years, no one came close to drowning.

 

Hola, people! This is a very interesting topic. One that makes me go...hmm! Not sure how many times I've said this, but I wish that I was able to attend meetings...but cant because there always held on Sundays. I do like the quarterly suggestion.

 

Is there ANY way a meeting could be held on a day other than a sunday??
or like have two meetings?
cause I really miss you guys!