[ALL COMMENTS WELCOME] FF-UK North: The future.....

Here's your chance to say what you'd like to see in FF-UK North.

It'd be good for us to chat about where we want to see ourselves going. How can we keep existing members and attract new people to the boards? What do people want from this site? What ideas do you have? What social aspects do you enjoy? Would you like to have threads about more general discussion topics, such as films/music?

The only way we can move forward is to discuss this in an open and constructive manner, so the floor's open...

 

i like what i do with people here and i enjoy hanging out with you a lot. the things i enjoy the most is wandering around places and chatting, so i'm a very basic person

what i find very annoying and completely futile is the obsession with titles and positions and the powers these things allegedly hold. i cannot fathom what fun it would be to have more colours to my name (red, please!) or funny edit buttons at my disposal and frankly i don't care. it is merely my wish that we would spend less time fretting over this stuff.

maybe this won't work for various reasons to do with the spell the boards can sometimes hold over us, but maybe, if we all made an effort etc etc, it'll just go away.

c'est ca!

 

what i find very annoying and completely futile is the obsession with titles and positions and the powers these things allegedly hold. i cannot fathom what fun it would be to have more colours to my name (red, please!) or funny edit buttons at my disposal and frankly i don't care. it is merely my wish that we would spend less time fretting over this stuff.

The titles and positions aren't important. It's who holds them that is. If people care about FanForce and want to take us further, then they're good for the job. It's not about fancy colours or edit buttons (to be honest, the CR gets nothing except a VIP title and the chance to colour themselves blue, which they have to do, because they're not allowed any other colour). With it they have to added responsibility of looking after their chapter and are held doubly accountable for their actions on the board. What you mistake for "fretting over titles and positions" is in fact people showing they care about the chapter and the desire to see the right person take it in the direction that it needs to go.

 

i got that bit. i wasn't after specifics, i have been told about the specifics some time ago.

i merely wonder what it is that is being presented as 'pushing FF further'. i wonder what competition we are in and where it's meant to be going. maybe i'm boring and easy to satisfy but i just don't see why any of it is necessary. i get a lot of that talk from members, directions and aims and progress and for me it's just inexplicable, it looks like we're having to fulfill something only we know (only we kinda don't and then hold long conversations over what it is we might be wanting as that purpose of us hanging out together). maybe we'll be wanting to collect money in the future (please count me out for that one) or we'll be doing more meets.

i don't know.

i'm very happy there are people here to geek out with and that's the extent of my enthusiasm. everything else seems very pompous to me.

all MY opinion. maybe it's too simple and uninvolved to say that the future of the fanforce in the north is what it IS and that we are there already and we could now sit back and enjoy it.

 

Hey darth_frared. No, your opinion is valued and your comments are appreciated. Like you said, at our core (where we come from, what brought a lot of members here) is a group of like-minded people who have decided to do a little more than just sit at computers, posting towards faceless and sometimes anonymous people posting back. We've formed friendships from that, some will be lifelong, some come and go. And they get involved with local (and sometimes larger meets) which are more about visiting local places as a group than being organised in the wider community. That's our grass roots level, and many people want that level of participation. That's great, and you are not alone with that, and you are a big part of us.

Then there are the people who came here, had all the above, but also wanted to make Fan Force something that is part of the wider community of fans out there, and Fan Force had been set up a long time before North came along. Personally, my experiences and desire to do more (not necessarily "better, bigger", there is NO competition that we are set against) is based on what I had experienced with Fan Force NYC. I appreciated what they were achieving, where they saw their group heading. And it's something I share with them. In the US the Fan Force is part of the wider community (not fan community now), they are fans who do all of what we do, but also because most are costumers they like to help out (yeah that means charity) with local organisations via events. They attend local conventions and hold tables, in fact my very first convention was Empire Fan Fest, New Jersey US, in 2004 and it was being organised by members of FF NYC along with other groups. It was a great experience. So for me, I feel this side of Fan Force is quite important, not as important as the forming friendships tbh since that is our foundations, but still to me, it's why I am here as well. I have always promoted fan creativity (done a little fic and art myself in the past, when I had time) and Fan Force has that opportunity to help promote the fans who are doing hard work.

I don't see any of that as pompous though. I see it as different aspirations for our group. You are a good friend, and it's great to have you at meets, and I'd love to do more meets in NW, but I also have another side to Fan Force for me. And talking with others, people share that. We won't push ourselves into a breakdown, that has happened in the past in other groups. There are limits, and I hope that both Suzi and I, along with communication from members, can make sure we never get anywhere near that kind of limit. But I firmly believe that FF deserves promotion in whatever creative ways we can. It's made me realise what is worth fighting for, that being a fan alone isn't what I wanted, though like many people here it's what happened because around us in real life are people who don't share the same interests or hobbies.

But all of this FF stuff needs organisation. It needs people working on it, and good communication between them. We have a number of members who have always promoted FF and organised FF-UK North meets. Very active members, who do a hell of a lot of work behind the scenes. And do a lot more than the casual member will see or know about. Those members are willing to give up their own time to do it, and they happily do it. We have the CR position to co-ordinate those people, someone who can see the bigger picture, and make sure that the casual and pro-active members are ok. It's a tough job in some ways, because the people putting more time and effort in do deserve a little more respect than I have seen them get. And that isn't to say the casual members get less, but there has been a spate of comments and issues where people who did put (a lot of) effort in at events have had their efforts besmirched. And I think that really needs to end now. I won't personally tolerate any more nasty remarks about my own hard work at Celebration Europe, where I worked my ass off to make sure people had choice and were happy. That nastiness towards me ends now.

 

thanks for that.

i'll keep it short and say that it wasn't about membership fees but charity.
and that my point is that the group is made by the group in any case.

so yeah anyway, carry on, don't mind me.

 

Ah, so you mean charity then? Wasn't 100% sure. I personally don't see the FF-UK:N doing charity on the same basis as the costuming groups do. Individuals may do stuff, like myself doing the coast to coast (and I'm doing that for plenty of other reasons), but not FF-UK:N "does a weekend of charity events".

So yeah, like you say, we are mainly here for the people, but some people are gonna do a little more than the straight forward social stuff we do, and thoroughly enjoy.

 

Are we still planning on twining our chapter with another?

 

Nobody seems to be bothering on the other side, so I guess that's a no.

 

Guess so

 

I'll look into it, since it's an idea that can carry till it works.

 

Theres been a few rumblings lately about the North and it seems a few people are not happy. To be honest, I'm one of them.
I'm really losing interest in this place and my heart isn't in it any longer, the only thng that keeps me here is the great friendships I've made through this site. But it seem those great bonds are slowing falling apart. Too much bull and politics are getting int the way, plus a lack of interest going to museums at every meet. We need to get back to what we're about, we need to go back to small meets. We need to stop we all these over the top ideas and just go back to siting in a pub or a cafe and enjoy each others company and enjoy our fandom as a group. Why we join this place in the first place, to meet like minded fans?
We didn't join for the costumes, we didn't join for the museums, we join to make friends and have fun.
Turth be told, we should just stop trying to be as big as the FF's outside of the UK. Lets stop trying to better ourselves. It's like at the next Collectormania, I really think we shouldn't bother with a table, lets just go as fans see what we need to see buy what we want to buy and then go and have fun in and around Manchester the rest fo the day. I really didn't have fun on the table and thought it was a waste of time, I had more fun in the evening then in the day.

We need to go back to enjoying ourselves or this place will die, cos the sad thing is I think it is already doing so

 

Thanks for your comments, Coz. If only more people would actually say what's on their minds and put it in writing.

We're one of the more active chapters in the UK, I think we should remember that and acknowledge that it's pretty good going.

I'd certainly like to hear more people's opinions on having a table and whether we should continue trying to have one at future Collectormania's. If I'm honest, I don't see how having the table has pulled in any more members. We had bundles of info/leaflets at the table, which people picked up and it hasn't made much of a difference.

Also, if anyone would like to comment on my CR-ship, I'll gladly listen, 'cos at the moment I'm not entirely sure that I'm doing a great job. PM me if you want.

 

This is me speaking mostly as a member, not as an RSA. I'm going to expand on what Cozmic has said because he's made some very good points.

---

[i]Theres been a few rumblings lately about the North and it seems a few people are not happy. To be honest, I'm one of them. [/i]

I don't think any of us are truly happy with the North at the moment, mate. I think it's a damn shame too, because we used to be vibrant and had loads of meet-ups that were great fun. I know something has been lost along the way, and I'd really like to know what it was because I'd like to get us back to the days when we all enjoyed ourselves.

[i]I'm really losing interest in this place and my heart isn't in it any longer, the only thing that keeps me here is the great friendships I've made through this site. But it seem those great bonds are slowing falling apart. Too much bull and politics are getting in the way, plus a lack of interest going to museums at every meet.[/i]

Very true, [b]Cozmic[/b]. For me it's not about the venues of where we meet, it's about the people and the friends we've made. I do agree with the whole museums thing there. I'm going to be really frank here, and just say that the Edinburgh trip didn't particularly interest me in the slightest. I went to see people in the Scottish FanForce, and could have happily sat in Subway or a pub all day with them chatting. Museums have frankly held little interest to me, and I've gone along with visiting to them for the sake of the group, but now the group is telling me they're not interested in them either.

[i]We need to get back to what we're about, we need to go back to small meets. We need to stop we all these over the top ideas and just go back to siting in a pub or a cafe and enjoy each others company and enjoy our fandom as a group. Why we join this place in the first place, to meet like minded fans? We didn't join for the costumes, we didn't join for the museums, we join to make friends and have fun. [/i]

Again, spot on mate. One of the reasons we've said we want to get back to small local meets is because we've overextended ourselves and that has turned members off joining in our meet-ups. I started off FanForce doing local meets in Middlesbrough. Hell, we did most of our meets in the Tavern (a pub) and nobody complained.

I really have to say, the meets I enjoy the most are the meets in which we all get together, in large groups, and have fun. The Grand Day Out 2006, Ogli's Birthday Curry and DVD meet, Celebration Europe, the BBQ@Suzi's, Gmex when a few of us went to Jilly's post-meal, [i]those[/i] were the types of meets we need to expand on. I look at some ideas like beach parties and camping trips and wonder just who this appeals to? We're Star Wars geeks, not beach ravers. If I want to go to a beach, I'll go with my Surfing Club at uni, if I want to go camping, I'll go with the people in the Festivals Forum I'm a member of. When I think of FanForce, I think of pubs and pizza with games of pool, a curry and some DVDs later, some trivial pursuit and a summer BBQ with a laugh on the Nintendo Wii. Let's at least engage in some geekery and have some fun along with it. Can we also please have no more expensive trips to restaurants like at Gmex and the Xmas meet in York? At both respectively we could've spent half the price at the Buffet place Spike T and others went to on the Saturday night at Manchester, and at York we had to buy more food again at one of the pubs the lads visited during the evening trip. I don't see a problem with winging it when it concerns food venues.

[i]Truth be told, we should just stop trying to be as big as the FF's outside of the UK. Lets stop trying to better ourselves. It's like at the next Collectormania, I really think we shouldn't bother with a table, lets just go as fans see what we need to see buy what we want to buy and then go and have fun in and around Manchester the rest of the day. I really didn't have fun on the table and thought it was a waste of time, I had more fun in the evening then in the day.[/i]

With Collect

 

Also, if anyone would like to comment on my CR-ship, I'll gladly listen, 'cos at the moment I'm not entirely sure that I'm doing a great job. PM me if you want.

Suzi, I think you're doing fine with the CR job. And I'm speaking both as RSA and member, here. We're on the right track with meet proposals, it's just getting the people back to meet-ups that is the problem, and I think if we continue with what I've said about getting Back to Basics, we'll overcome that and get us back to where we used to be.

 

I'm very much on the side of those who say that meet-ups are for meeting and socialising. I can't stand cinema meets. To me sitting in a dark room for 2 hours is the total opposite of what a meet should be. Pub lunches are great. BBQs are great. chatting and playing Wii is great. Trivial Pursuit is great.

I'm not going to travel miles and miles to see a film I could see down the road. I will travel miles and miles to have a fun time "hanging" and "chilling" with a bunch of great guys and gals.

 

i like seeing films and generally going out with some of the people here and i will continue to do so if they let me.

i'm a SW geek, a lover of culture, shopping, art, music, goofing around and good food. i find it silly to restrict meets to sitting in a pub to chill when i can take a walk or see something.

a solution i found is to split the group and meet again later so that people don't have to do all the same at the same time. apparently this hasn't been tried yet.

 

If I was closer, and meeting up regularly then I'd agree with you totally.

But if I'm only gonna see you guys once or twice a year, then I wanna spend time with you socialising and the like

 

a solution i found is to split the group and meet again later so that people don't have to do all the same at the same time. apparently this hasn't been tried yet.

You forget the Xmas meet at York when the guys went drinking and the girls and Tim did whatever you lot did after the meal

But if I'm only gonna see you guys once or twice a year, then I wanna spend time with you socialising and the like

Thank you, hal. It is rare that the North East and the North West sections get to hang with each other because of the distance involved. Meeting up just to split up again negates the point of NE & NW meeting each other

 

who could forget the xmas meet!?

and it proves my point, that we don't all have to agree on what we do all the time.

 

True, but we're all friends here and FanForce is more about people than anything else. We rarely see each other as opposed to when we see our IRL friends, so when we do we should at least spend most of our time together.

 

This has to be the one thing we sort out, we need to find a way to get as much of us together and be doing something that makes us all happy

 

We should be doing more activity stuff, things like, for instance, ice skating, that the Midlands did a few months back and everyone had fun with. I'm sick to death of exploring historical sites I have no interest in, but stuff like ice skating, maybe paintballing one time, or laser quest, something we can have a laugh doing.

 

Yeah, that works for me

 

The one thing I feel I have to point out is that I ask time and time again for people to give suggestions for what to do at meets and I also list various things that we can do. If people don't say anything, then I can only presume they're happy to go along with it. I'd rather people gave their suggestions for meets than me lead with everything. I don't like telling people what to do (no, really! ).

Personally, if I spend time and money travelling to a bigger meet (perhaps to somewhere that I've never/rarely been to) then I'd rather wander round/visit places than sit in a pub (or wherever) all day. And that is NOT me saying that I don't want to be with FF people and I'd be quite insulted if people thought that was what I meant.

I agree that we need to sort something out as to what we do at meets, as it's clear that there are a few of us who like to wander/visit and some who are happy to sit and chill. There's nothing wrong with both, it's just we need to get some sort of balance. Group activites (ice skating, bowling etc) is certainly a good idea, but I also don't see the harm in splitting up for a couple of hours if people want to do their own things and then re-grouping afterwards for more socialising.