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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Nominations for new CR - Open Till the 23rd September

Discussion in 'Archive: Midlands and Wales' started by Jairen, Sep 16, 2006.

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  1. Jairen

    Jairen Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2000
    OK guys and gals, unfortunately Chris (HunkyEvil) is going through some life changes that means he can no longer put in the effort he wants to as CR for the Midlands.

    I just want to thank Chris for taking over the role during a dark time for the club, when we were facing many issues both on and off the board. I wish him the best of luck in his new career with the British Army and personally believe they're getting someone very good.

    Because of this, we need to push forward in electing a new CR to continue the position of interfacing between the online TF.N community and the offline real-world group.

    Please would you put forward your nominations for the position in this thread over the next week. This allows plenty of time for those that don't get here as often as they used to, to have their say.

    Once nominations are done, we will list those that can be voted for on a poll on the private boards - this is simply because only registered Midlands members can vote on the private boards rather than the "anyone" voting that can occur here. Our CR should be our choice, not members from other chapters.

    If you don't have access on the private boards but are a Midlands member (i.e. you live in the Midlands and post here) then please go to http://midlands.ff-uk.org.uk/forum/index.php and register, then send me a PM here to confirm who you are. If you were already registered on the old main FF-UK external boards, then your account will be the same here.

    Thanks all,

    Phill
     
  2. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    Would it be worth finding out who is actually interested in taking on the role? No point in nominating someone who doesn't want to do it.
     
  3. Jairen

    Jairen Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2000
    I think nominations should just be open Hal, and if someone doesn't want it they can always pull out at the vote stage. I've found sometimes that people think "nah, not for me", then someone nominates them and they actually change their mind.

    However, I do feel that you should be able to nominate yourself if you believe you really want to do it, so feel free to do that in this thread as well.

    After all, these are just nominations. Anyone can pull out at the voting stage. Remember, you must be over 18 to be CR.
     
  4. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    In which case, I shall nominate myself. I've thought long and hard about the chapter in recent months, and have already made a quite thorough manifesto about where we've been, and where I feel we should be going :)
     
  5. Jairen

    Jairen Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2000
    Awesome.
     
  6. HunkyEvil

    HunkyEvil Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2006
    I nominate Lord Wiz
     
  7. Lord-Wiz

    Lord-Wiz Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005
    lol! thanks for the nomination chris, but i turn it down. the less i have to do with tim in my life the better as far as i'm concerned. there are still unresolved issues and they will get in the way.

    anyway, all that has been discussed ad infinitum and got us nowhere so i will not be returning to the role even if everybody votes for me.

    i much prefer hardly coming to these boards, but still being around in the background for advice etc. you should all have my email address or a way of getting in touch with me other than this board.

    and as far as being a member of this club, i don't think that i have to post loads, if at all, on these boards as long as i still make the meets, which are the important part. and we still have the secret base?.

    i nominate hal or phill. hal would bring freshness to the position, and could be the "new broom" whereas phill has experience of arranging meets etc.

    if you want to post a manifesto hal, then that's up to you, but i don't think we need to follow the route of other chapters. it's simply ridiculous imho.
     
  8. rebeljediknight_88

    rebeljediknight_88 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2005
    id like to add Mark into the mix
     
  9. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    I take it by Mark, you mean Happy Ninja?

    And it's not really that kind of "manifesto", but rather where I believe we have gone wrong in the past, and how I think we should head in the future. As this is going for a vote, I think it prudent that people know how the CR feels - especially given the turbulent times we've had recently
     
  10. rebeljediknight_88

    rebeljediknight_88 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2005
    yeah sorry i call you hal and mark mark to prevent confusion
     
  11. Lord-Wiz

    Lord-Wiz Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005

    :)
     
  12. HunkyEvil

    HunkyEvil Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2006

    Cracker's got a point yo.



    I don't think it should really turn like real elections where candidates argue why their view will be better and attempt to put others down, but if people would like to just give a pretty breif idea of what they'd like then that'd be cool before we do the voting.
     
  13. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    Well I'm doing that whether you like it or not :p
     
  14. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    Ok, as said on the private forum here's my thoughts of the chapter and its future.

    Please note that I am not naming any names here, so I do not want to get into personal debates. I would urge all members to read through the entire post before forming opinions.

    I will get this out of the way straightaway. If you don't agree with this paragraph, then there is no need to continue reading. I am sick of what's been going on this last year with all the petty politics and bitching that's been going on in the Midlands. We've had new potential members put off joining, and that is inexcusable. We've even had an incident where a member was left stranded at a train station due, mostly, to a prominent member's lack of communication. (I do not want to go into this in further detail, but will do so if required). This is NOT good for the chapter. If I become CR, then everything starts afresh. I hold no grudges with anyone on the boards, and never have done. I have no "sides" in the arguments that have plagued us in recent months. I think I'm one of the most objective and neutral people on the board, and that will still be the case if I'm elected. I won't join sides in any personal issues people may have with each other. I won't place one costuming group above another, or one organisation above another. Everyone is equal in my eyes. And I certainly won't let the name SFFG or FF-UK:M be dragged through the mud by the actions of its own members, or by others. It will be a new start. For everyone. This means no more "competing" with other chapters, or being drawn by anyone baiting. We need to concentrate on our chapter, not ours.

    So, if people are still reading, here are my thoughts on the chapter. It's a great chapter. The people are some of the nicest people you could ever meet, and out of all the people I've met here, there isn't one I wouldn't gladly welcome into my home. But there's a problem. There aren't enough of us. It's been the same core group of people ever since I joined. In fact, there's even less than when I joined. This isn't good enough. We need to find new members, and welcome them. So as well as a strong presence at conventions and the like, we need more. I suggest becoming active members on other SW forums - there's loads out there. Plug the chapter. Put it in our sigs. Let's get more people here! Let's get adverts put up in our local comic shops. Let's get an emailing list sorted.

    As for conventions, I know I've not been particularly active there, but I have been snowed under for the last 2 years with TENCLO. This is over now (and with a great result if I do say so myself :p ), so I have a LOT more free time, and intend fully to attend these events. I know there have been issues with different costuming groups and tables and the like. I myself have had issues with a certain person (I won't go into details here, but most of you will know what I'm talking about), But I really don't care about that. I am more than happy to put my own personal issues behind me (and will let the other person know), and as a consequence I will not accept other peoples' personal issues with other fans be a factor in any decisions regarding the chapter's future. I am more than happy to listen to and accept "professional" issues, but personal issues will not get in the way of the future of this chapter. As CR I would welcome ALL groups who share the love of Star Wars. That's what this group should be about. People in the same area who love Science Fiction, and Star Wars. There is no place for "politics" and "petty bickering", and that will end. People on the private SFFG board have asked "What is the future of the group?". Well there is no future unless people are willing to start afresh. As I said, I am a neutral in all the previous incidents, and what better way to start afresh? As long as we live in the past, there will be no moving forward.

    Meet-ups? The fundamental aspect of a chapter's life. SW Events are great, but it's not enough. We need social meet-ups as well. It doesn't matter whether 2 people attend, or 20. They are
     
  15. Jairen

    Jairen Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2000
    =D=

    Not a lot else to say, really
     
  16. timbolton

    timbolton Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2003
    =D= Great manifesto Hal :D
     
  17. rebeljediknight_88

    rebeljediknight_88 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2005
    wow! maybe a couple points i cud perhaps have a go at but that would be me being reli picky and they arnt worth the mention!

    sounds great!!
     
  18. Happy Ninja

    Happy Ninja Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2000
    In the words of Marsh Klein..."Bloody hell!"

    That's what I call a manifesto. =D=

    If that's where you want to take us, I'll second it.
     
  19. Jairen

    Jairen Manager Emeritus star 4 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 1, 2000
    Hal, I really like what you've written, and to be honest it reflects a lot of what's been said in the real world as well.

    Could you expand on your ideas for increasing membership? What do you see that the club can offer to attract new members and how do we communicate that out into the world at large?
     
  20. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    My main idea is to go back to basics. The best way to get people here is to encourage the online discussion of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. This goes hand in hand with real life meet-ups. I don't want people to join online, feeling they have a responsibility to attend meets. This can be quite daunting. So there needs to be a healthy mix of online and offline relationships. People need to come here feeling no expectations, and should be welcomed, whatever level of commitment they can give.

    With regards to increasing membership, I think I addressed some key ideas. Target comic shops and universities. A huge untapped resource, just ripe for the taking :p

    But the key issue you raise is to how to advertise. I think it's important to first promote the online community. If we are to attract new members, then the "catching area" will be wide (as I said, east of Lincoln has been ignored). Everyone has access to the online community. When people log on, they will see we also meet up in real life, and attend conventions. THIS MUST NOT BE SEEN AS A REQUIREMENT. If people want to attend meets, then that should of course be encouraged, but I do not want people feeling that they have to do this. The level of commitment should be left to the individual.

    The club offers both an online and real life environment in which like minded fans can chat about their common interests, and to make friends in real life, as we all have done.

    If this doesn't answer your questions, just let me know :)
     
  21. Lord-Wiz

    Lord-Wiz Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005

    this was planned in our flyers thread, but it kind of stalled at the "getting flyers printed" stage :p

    other than that, hal ftw! give that man the colours!
     
  22. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    It doesn't need flyers per se.

    The initial contact just requires a little effort to find out the person in charge of a Uni Sci-Fi club. A carefully worded email could easily get them to print stuff out if necessary.

    Flyers would of course help with comic shops, but personal contact could work wonders.
     
  23. HunkyEvil

    HunkyEvil Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2006
    Hal, what you've said is I believe what everyone has thought for a very long time. I hope you're the guy that is able to implement them and change the direction of the rut we're currently stuck in. Just things like meeting outside of the normal areas. Birmingham is a real pain to get to, so unless we meet midday Saturday and I'm on the way back for 7pm Saturday, chances are I can't make the meet. But the problem is I'm about the only one who has the trouble getting there as everyone else lives there (or there abouts) so we shouldn't make it awkward for 7 and easy for 1. Things like this are going to be trickey to change at first, but hopefully we can do them

    I also agree that we need to get talking on the boards and build our internet community up aswell as the real life. When we handed out flyers it would have the website and forums but if people ever went there, they would find we didn't even discuss anything Sci-Fi these days. infact, we didn't even discuss anything at all! Which boards are you looking to use? These or the others?

    TBH Dave is right, do we really need a vote or is it agreed?
     
  24. halibut

    halibut Ex-Mod star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2000
    Personally I prefer these boards, as it goes hand in hand with the regional board.

    But that sort of decision should be made by the group, not the CR :)
     
  25. rebeljediknight_88

    rebeljediknight_88 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 15, 2005
    i think we should at least have a vote of the private boards just so it looks official
     
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