Presidential Edicts
December 3, 2017 to August 3, 2018
Every president must have a motto
Every president must have a motto
Posted December 11, 2017 by Daniel Lerner
“First thing we’d climb a tree and maybe then we’d talk
Or sit silently and listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday casting a golden light
No dress rehearsal, this is our life”
Edict #1
After much deliberations, reviews, dart board throwing, consultations with beings from the dark dimensions, and drinking, I am happy to say that we have a cabinet!
This term’s cabinet will be:
Fleet Commander, Foremost Fleet: David Shotton (retained)
Fleet Commander, Pioneer Fleet: Adam W (retained)
Fleet Commander, Meridian Fleet: Cale Reilly (appointed)
Fleet Commander, Black Fleet: Ray Branch (retained)
Fleet Commander, Infinite Fleet: Amber Hagan (appointed)
Academy Commandant: Kat Dedul (retained)
Engineering Director: Robert Archer (retained)
Gamemaster Director: Lindsay Bayes (appointed)
Personnel Director: Matthew Kleinman (retained)
Thanks to Steven Sigle for his three terms as Fleet Commander of the Meridian Fleet, Steve Johnson for his work last term as Fleet Commander of the Infinite Fleet, and Tyra Schroll for her work last term as Gamemaster Director (which led her promotion to Rear Admiral last term…)!
Cabinet members, please have your Assistants announced by December 18th (and please let me know if you need more time).
Daniel Lerner
President
Posted January 30, 2018 by Daniel Lerner
Edict #2
“Pale as a light bulb hanging on a wire
Sucking up to someone just to stoke the fire
Picking out the highlights of the scenery
Saw a little cloud that looked a little like me”
The Bonaventure has been without a CO for half of this month following Matthew Wiseman having to step down. The Bonnie has been suffering a bit lately, and a real plan was needed to turn around the ship, as well as to address some concerns about commitment to the time period’s technology and keeping the ship within the Enterprise-era time period.
As Fleet Commander for the Foremost Fleet, David Shotton has recieved a number of applications for the position. Based on the information that he has passed on to me and my own review of some of the applications, I am heartened to see that we have a number of very capable members ready take on CO positions in STF as vacancies come up in the future.
However, one application stood out for the specific circumstances of the Bonaventure, and that is the Bonnie’s current XO and aCO, Melissa Aragon. Although Mel is relatively new to STF for a CO position, especially on an alt-RPG ship that has been suffering some problems, I have to agree with David’s recommendation for Melissa to become the Bonnie’s new CO. Melissa has over 30 years of RPG experience that she brings into STF. I was also happy to hear from the Academy that Melissa has passed our CO course with flying colours - the first new graduate of that course in approximately 8 years! In addition, I understand there are some discussions that have been finalized about the ship’s XO position being filled by one of our most experienced members in STF. Melissa has also clearly put a lot of time into her plans that are specific for the Bonnie’s unique circumstances, and I have been impressed by how quickly she was able to fill in as aCO these past few weeks after Matthew stepped down.
Therefore, based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander, Foremost Fleet, I hereby promote Melissa Aragon to the rank of Captain, and appoint her as Commanding Officer of the SS Bonaventure.
Daniel Lerner
President
Posted February 3, 2018 by Daniel Lerner
[Originally posted on WeBBspace on February 3, 2018]
“Does your mother tell you things?
Long, long when I’m gone?
Who you talking to?
Is she telling you I’m the one?
It’s a grave mistake and I’m wide awake.”
Edict #3
So, as keen readers of Command may have noticed today, there’s some shuffling going on in various roles. Because of some unexpected RL issues, Cale is going to focus her STF administrative responsibilities on her CO and FComm responsibilities. Therefore, Adam W. has been appointed by the Personnel Department to replace Cale as Assistant Personnel Director (which was made official in an earlier post in Command).
In my discussions with Adam, I understand that in his new role Adam wants to focus on the Personnel Department, and is therefore stepping down in his FComm role (although Adam will still be taking care of the January report for his fleet).
Therefore, I am appointing D Grisham as the new Fleet Commander of the Pioneer Fleet. (And the chorus of the song references in opening of this edict may be apropos…)
Congratulations, D! And a big thanks to both Cale and Adam - Cale was a very active APDir last term, and Adam is ending a very active and dedicated 10 months of cabinet work.
Daniel Lerner
President
Posted February 22, 2018 by Daniel Lerner
[Originally posted in WeBBspace on February 22, 2018]
“Me debunk an American myth?
And take my life in my hands?
Where the great plains begin
At the hundredth meridian
At the hundredth meridian
Where the great plains begin”
Edict #4
As some of you have heard, Kenson Koh is stepping down as CO of the USS Aztec. Not everyone may realize the impact of that. But at a minimum, it does mean this will be a long edict…
The USS Aztec was commissioned on May 24, 2000. Almost one year later, on April 18, 2001, Kenson was promoted to Captain and appointed as the Aztec’s third CO. A position he has held to this day, almost 17 years later. Seventeen years is a long time to hold a CO position in STF. In fact, it is a record in STF. (One of our other active COs is coming up to 13 years, and our two prior longest-serving COs were 11 years and 12 years). For most members, the Aztec is indistinguishable from Kenson and his leadership there.
During those 17 years, Kenson was promoted two more times: in 2003 to Fleet Captain and in 2006 to Commodore. Ten years later, in 2016, he received a commendation in recognition of being the longest serving CO in the club. While serving as the Aztec’s CO, the Aztec also took on the crew from the USS Victorious (which was decommissioned in 2011 and merged with the USS Aztec) such that the Aztec took on its own legacy and the legacy of the Victorious (a ship that went back to STF’s pre-web days).
In his 17 years as the Aztec’s CO, Kenson has also helped out STF in a number of other ways, including hold FComm positions, and being an active senior GM in the Gamemaster Department.
To quote from one of our bylaws, Kenson has clearly “made exceptional commitments to the club above and beyond that which is required for a number of years”. Also, by virtue of the 17 years he has served as CO of the Aztec, while also committing to his work as a GM, and the occasional cabinet level position during that time, I believe that Kenson “[has] also had a permanent and lasting impact in developing the club through government work in Fleets or Departments”.
Therefore, I hereby promote Kenson Koh to the rank of Rear Admiral.
Now, what to do about the Aztec itself? Given how closely connected the Aztec is with Kenson, with Kenson’s departure I believe I shall follow tradition and retire the Aztec with Kenson departure as CO. The Aztec is Kenson and Kenson is the Aztec.
Therefore, with the agreement of the Fleet Commander of the Foremost Fleet and the incoming CO, I hereby rechristen the USS Aztec as the USS Memorial, NCC-98800, Memorial-class. I am also tasking the USS Memorial with the responsibility of ensuring the history and legacy of the USS Aztec is preserved as the ship’s CO sees fit. The USS Memorial’s CO, or the CO’s designate, may seek the assistance of the Librarian if appropriate in the circumstances.
In addtion, based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander, Foremost Fleet, I hereby promote Kirt Gartner to the rank of Captain and appoint him as Commanding Officer of the USS Memorial.
Kirt, it’s about time you got in the command chair, and your recent passing of the Academy’s CO course just makes the decision even easier.
The ship name change should take place in-character no later than the end of the ship’s current sim. In addition, TECH, please can you make the ship-name change when it is possible, given that there are a few high priority items already on your plate right now.
Congratulations Kenson and Kirt!
Daniel Lerner
President
Posted June 24, 2018, 12:18 p.m. by Rear Admiral Daniel Lerner (President) (Daniel Lerner)
[Originally posted in WeBBspace on February 23, 2018]
“Watch the band through a bunch of dancers
Quickly, follow the unknown, with something more familiar
Quickly, something familiar
Courage, my word it didn’t come it doesn’t matter.”
Edict #5
Wait, the Ox isn’t currently a CO at the moment? That’s ridiculous. On the positive side, I have these awesome powers as President that let’s me fix that.
Based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander, Foremost Fleet, Jeremy DeSpain is hereby appointed as the Commanding Officer of the USS Manhattan, due to Philip Graham having to resign because of personal circumstances.
Congratulations, Jeremy, and good luck with everything, Philip.
(Oh, and has anyone else noticed how David “I’m just pretending to look like an innocent Kiwi” Shotton is going through his fleet’s command staff like a Kiwi on a mission… )
Daniel Lerner
President
I ponder the endlessness of the stars
Ignoring said same of my father
Either itll move me
Or itll move right through me
Fully and completely
Edict #6
A few months ago, Ray stepped down as MAC (Marketing and Advertising Coordinator). Since then weve been trying to find someone to fill that spot. During that time, Lindsay Bayes, a former MAC, stepped in to help out temporarily with some of the responsibilities of MAC. Lindsay has continued to take on more and more of the responsibilities of MAC, to the point where this edict became somewhat inevitable :)
Lindsay Bayes is hereby reappointed as the Marketing and Advertising Coordinator.
Thanks, Linds!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Bill Barilko disappeared that summer (in nineteen fifty one)
He was on a fishing trip (in a plane)
The last goal he ever scored (in over time)
Won the Leafs the cup
They didn’t win another till nineteen sixty two
The year he was discovered”
Edict #7
After some discussion between the Meridian Fleet Command the Chernov CO, Emma Buress stepped down as CO due to RL issues.
There’s been a lot of thought into who the next CO of the Chernov should be. The Chernov, an alt-RPG ship, has been having some struggles recently. The situation is not too dissimilar to the recent issue the Bonaventure was facing, an alt-RPG ship that ran into some similar issues around the time of a CO departing. In that case, Krys McLean assisted by stepping in as XO to help turn around the Bonnie.
Krys is currently without a CO spot, so this seems like the perfect time to bring her to the Chernov to help out there - where she is very much needed (Krys’s choice in this matter is, of course, secondary :P ).
Therefore, based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander, Meridian Fleet, Krys McLean is hereby appointed as the Commanding Officer of the USS Chernov.
Congratulations, Krys!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Jacques Cartier, right this way
I’ll put your coat up on the bed
Hey, man, you’ve got the real bum’s eye for clothes
And come on in, sit right down
No, you’re not the first to show
We’ve all been here since, God, who knows?”
Edict #8
David Shotton has had to step down as FComm for the Foremost Fleet due to RL work. I want to thank him for his work as Fleet Commander, especially early in the term where there were a number of issues that came up quickly in the fleet that he was able to sort out.
Krys McLean is appointed as the new Fleet Commander for the Foremost Fleet.
Congratulations (again), Krys!
Daniel Lerner
President
“There’s no simple explanation
For anything important any of us do
And yeah the human tragedy
Consists in the necessity
Of living with the consequences
Under pressure, under pressure
Courage, my word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter,
Courage, your word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter
Courage, my word, it didn’t come, it doesn’t matter
Courage, it couldn’t come at a worse time”
Edict #9
Due to ongoing real life developments, Amber Hagan has had to step down as Vice President. The situation, well, sucks, but if you know Amber, then you know she going to be kicking ass of any RL stuff that is keeping her down.
Cale Reilly, who may not realize what she fully agreed to, is appointed as the new Vice President.
Good luck, Amber, and congratulations, Cale.
Daniel Lerner
President
“Well, sometimes the faster it gets
The less you need to know
But you got to remember the smarter it gets
The further it’s going to go
When you blow at high dough”
Edict #10
Well, two important things happened in STF during the last quarter of 2005. The most important one (in my humble opinion) is that I joined STF :P. The second is that Kat Dedul was appointed as CO of the USS Constellation. Has it really been that long already??
Well, after twelve-and-a-half years, Kat is looking to do something different in STF, and has stepped down as the Connie’s CO.
Therefore, based on the recommendation of the Fleet Commander, Infinite Fleet, Brian Richards is appointed as Commanding Officer of the USS Constellation.
Thanks for all of your hard work on the Constellation, Kat. And congratulations, Brian!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Bring me back in shackles
Hang me long out in the sun
Exonerate me
Forget about me”
Edict #11
Joe P. is hereby appointed as Election Coordinator and Jeremy DeSpain is hereby appointed as Assistant Election Coordinator.
Daniel Lerner
Presiden
“Stare in the morning shroud and then the day began
I tilted your cloud, you tilted my hand
Rain falls in real time and rain fell through the night
No dress rehearsal, this is our life”
Edict #12
Due, in part, to ongoing RL work, Cale Reilly is stepping down as Fleet Commander for the Meridian Fleet.
Some may scratch their head at this. In approximately five to six weeks, a new cabinet will be appointed. Couldn’t the current AFComm just handle things for a month? However, one of the reasons Cale wanted to step down is to ensure that credit can be given to the person who has been holding down the fort at the Meridian Fleet this past term.
Steve Sigle has been Cale’s AFComm this past term. While Cale’s RL issues were expected this term, and everyone involved felt that the fleet could be administered effectively between Cale and Steve, the fact remains that Steve has had to take on a significantly larger role this term than a typical AFComm. In fact, Steve has been quietly working in the FComm role for a number of terms now. Prior to this term, Steve has been the Fleet Commander for the Meridian Fleet for the past three-and-a-half terms. He is also a prior Personnel Director for the club.
I should also add that this term (as with the prior term), while doing this expanded work as AFComm, Steve was the co-coordinator for the Awards. This is normally a very thankless task at the best of times, but Steve worked with Kate this term to make significant improvements to nomination and voting for the awards.
During all of this time, Steve has been a mentor (including an Academy mentor), showing others how to RP and become more comfortable in STF, while being a CO and an excellent RP-er himself. All while he has been one of the longest serving Fleet Captains…
So I think Cale was right that it makes sense to give credit to Steve’s work this term as the fleet’s Assistant Fleet Commander by letting him wrap up the term as the Meridian Fleet’s Fleet Commander, a role he has held for so long now.
Therefore, Steven Sigle is promoted to the rank of Commodore and appointed as the Fleet Commander of the Meridian Fleet.
Daniel Lerner
President
“In my dreams a candy coated train comes to my door
With a little girl I can’t have any more
You know a letter washes up to the shore
That I cannot read and I probably should ignore”
Edict #13
As directed in Dipper-3 Edict #15, commendations are to be awarded to individuals or groups of individuals within STF “to recognise the work they have conducted above and beyond what is required of them”. I would request that the next term’s administration hold a presentation for these commendations as set out in Dipper-3 Edict #15.
The following commendations are being awarded.
Cabinet Level Commendations
Krys McLean is awarded a cabinet-level commendation from the Gamemaster Department:
“I would like to recognize Krys for a cabinet-level commendation for her significant contributions to the Sim Excavation Project. Without her, it is very likely we would not have completed the data collection.”
Presidential Commendations
Adam W., Amanda Mercer, David Shotton, James Sinclair, Levon Johnson and Lindsay Bayes are jointly commended for their work as volunteers during the transition to Exodus. This group of individuals worked together and in shifts for days to ensure every active member in STF was able to seamlessly transition from WeBBspace to Exodus, usually with only delays of a few minutes. At the same time, they remained active in Discord answering questions of how to navigate the new site so that TECH could continue to focus on their work behind the scenes. From June 23 to June 25, 2018, these volunteers processed approximately 95 membership transfers, and made it look easy. We have often said how smooth the transition to Exodus was, and that was in a large part due to the work of these volunteers.
Adam W. and Lindsay Bayes are jointly commended for their work in authoring the Exodus Primer. Exodus is fundamentally different in how characters are created and added to ships, and the skills members learned in WeBBspace would not work in Exodus. Members would need to be able to hit the ground running, having information at their fingertips in how to re-create their second (and third and fourth characters) and how COs could add them to their ships to rebuild their rosters. On their own initiative, Adam and Lindsay took the time to author the Exodus Primer to provide that information, which turned out to be priceless in the first couple weeks on Exodus.
Owen Morgan is commended for his work on on the ship, department and fleet MOTDs in the lead-up to Exodus. A major issue 10 years ago with the move to WeBBspace was the unfortunate discovery that a number of the MOTDs from the older system (effWeBB) could not be displayed in WeBBspace. Trying to have a ship without an MOTD is extremely problematic - more so if you then have to spend time to either discover what the problem is or find someone to design a new MOTD. That problem did not happen with Exodus because of Owen’s work. In the weeks leading up to the move to Exodus, Owen painstakingly went through every single MOTD to see if it was compatible with Exodus and make changes to the code where changes were needed. The result: every ship had their MOTD waiting for them when Exodus launched, all thanks to Owen.
Steve Johnson is commended for his design of the new club logo. During beta testing of Exodus, it was clear that the old STF logo needed to be replaced - we couldn’t even show it on the new top banner. As MAC, Lindsay Bayes initiated the idea that the old logo had served its purpose and needed updating, and she commissioned Steve Johnson to design the new logo. Steve agreed, and I think everyone agrees that he did a fantastic job for STF. I have only heard positive things about the new logo, and it’s versatility allows it to be used in a new branding campaign for STF (check out how the new logo is being used in Discord, Facebook and Twitter).
Thomas Bates is commended for his research into MAC. During the discussions this term regarding the community organizer and the Marketing and Advertising Coordinator, Thomas presented to Command the results of his research into the historical aspects of MAC. I cannot imagine how much time Thomas spent on that research, but that data was both useful and compelling - such that it pivoted the whole discussion into a more fulsome review of MAC, which I think the club is better for it.
Congratulations, everyone!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Spring starts when a heartbeat’s pounding
When the birds can be heard above the reckoning carts doing some final accounting
Lava flowing in Superfarmer’s direction
He’s been getting reprieve from the heat in the frozen food section”
Edict #14
This edict has been a long time coming, I think. But it is one of those unfortunate duties every President has to address…
Adam W., I regret, stands accused of the following:
He has regularly contributed (sometimes to the misfortune of others, I think :P) in club discussions, finding ways both small and large to improve bills and policies (including taking an active role in the Academy’s current discussions regarding the new mentorship mandate).
He had the audacity to be elected as Vice-President even before he had even commanded a ship (and served that position well, it seems - probably because that was the second time he was Vice President).
He swung like a chimpanzee through the Academy, rising through its ranks, becoming the Academy Fleet Liaison Officer and later the Vice Commandant (and only left a few bananas behind… Chimpanzee’s don’t eat bananas? Well, I’m still president, and I say they do).
He has served as Fleet Commander. Why is that a problem? Well, when he continued in that role in the first part of this term, the fleet ran so smoothly that he didn’t give me anything to do as President related to his fleet…
When he was asked to step in as Assistant Personnel Director this term, it took him minutes to say yes! Minutes! (/me shakes his head). Even though that meant that due to other RL commitments he would have to step down as FComm (a role which he seemed to actually enjoy?!). And then he helps the PDept run so smoothly even though he never worked in the PDept before? There has to be a rule against that somewhere…
I have to assume that he is is also not just breaking club law, but violating the laws of physics and being in multiple places at the same time. How else does one explain Adam doing all of the above, but then also deciding to mentor new members all the way up to those members becoming XOs…
And then he decides to convince a club to elect him President after all of that? (/me mutters again to himself)
Given my totalitarian powers as President, and that none of the above is reviewable by EGO, I unilaterally find him guilty.
The only appropriate punishment is… more bananas.
…
Wait, I don’t get a banana budget as president? Fine. Second-most appropriate punishment it is then.
Adam W. is hereby promoted to Fleet Captain.
Congratulations, Adam!
Daniel Lerner
President
“I walked through your revolving door
Got no answer on the seventh floor
Elevator gave a low moan
The pigeons sagged the wire with their weight
Listening to the singing chambermaid
She sang “They Checked Out An Hour Ago”
I kind of chuckled”
Edict #15
Matthew Bernardin… What shall I say about Matthew Bernardin…
Matt is probably one of the more fearless members of the club this past term (and possibly going back and bit before this term). When problems are identified, he is more than willing to suggest solutions that are make the biggest (and sometimes most controversial) changes. During this past term his ideas met with either generally high approval (“let’s replace the report metrics we use to measure a ship’s health to something more objective”) to… less… approval (“let’s remove the distinction of cabinet members from other members of the club’s administration” :P ). What you can always count on is that Matt will have a new suggestion, and is passionate about addressing the systemic issues STF is currently facing.
In fact, Matt’s approach probably goes back before his last promotion to Fleet Captain. When TECH started questioning how to address the reliability concerns we were having with IRC as our live chat venue, I recall it was Matt (a fairly new addition to TECH at the time) who encouraged the idea that IRC be abandoned all together and replaced with Discord (a move that was warmly embraced by the club membership).
That all being said, I do actually want to focus a bit on Matt’s contributions this past term on TECH. A lot of the planned work with TECH this term was going to have to be with Exodus. But for TECH to get Exodus moving, someone was going to have to keep our non-Exodus systems working and updated - and that someone was often Matt this term. If you wondered who was keeping things going on the tech side of things while work was taking place on Exodus, the answer was often Matt.
While in that role, Matt had to deal with a few things.
First, it became clear that we really had to address issues of communication and expectations between TECH, the rest of the STF administration, and the membership as a whole. As we moved into this term, it started to become clear that there were issues with all sides on how to address these communication and expectation issues, and prior solutions were not working and/or not addressing the issues for one reason or another. Stress levels for everyone involved were steadily climbing as the term continued, and it as obvious that a solution was going to be needed before we got into the Exodus beta testing (which would raise even more communication issues). Matt was instrumental in bringing in the TECH ticket tracker system, which overall I think everyone has found as the most effective tool in communication between TECH and the rest of the club - especially considering how quickly Matt set it up for us. Looking back to where we were before Matt brought it in, I shudder to think what would have happened if we moved to Exodus without it. It has now become a valuable tool for TECH and the club as a whole, and Matt is definitely the one to thank for that.
Second was the WeBBspace new member application page… Mid-way into this term, the application page broke and stopped accepting new member applications. I don’t know if I can fairly describe in this post what happened within the Personnel Department, TECH and the Executive when this was discovered. It wasn’t pretty. Matt entered the fray, found the problem and solved the issue. This sounds pretty minor when I read what I have written here, but that is just because I don’t know how to describe how massive this problem was or Matt’s role in solving the problem. (We then had to shut down the entire application form some time later, but that’s a different story.)
Finally, overall I have heard great things about Matt’s work in TECH this past term. Besides the work above, I understand he has been a valuable contributor in some of the discussions (with a natural inclination to try to keep running our current systems where possible - which I find amusing for my own personal reasons :P). He has also been great at dealing with server issues from his time zone in Australia while many of the other members of TECH have been fast asleep… :)
Therefore, I hereby promote Matthew Bernardin to much deserved rank of Commodore.
Congratulations, Matt!
“Let’s go to the park
Let’s go watch them flooding
Out there after dark
Don’t have to think of nothing
And I love that for
For the way I’m feeling
Seven hundred foot
Seven hundred foot ceiling”
Edict #16
It would be fair to say that the launch of Exodus this term was one of the biggest successes of this term. But how did we get there?
As with most projects in STF, they generally rise and fall on the efforts and willingness of the individual(s) willing to do that project. If that individual changes their mind, has RL issues, or can’t keep up with the demands of the project, the project stops until someone else takes the torch. For a long time in STF’s history, that was even how our website projects worked (including effWeBB and WeBBspace).
The problem was that the old individual volunteer wasn’t working for the club’s website. We had a ticking clock to make radical changes to the club’s website before we pretty much lost all support for it. Individuals rose to the challenge, but it was becoming clear to many people aware of the issues that relying on individual volunteers to commit to this kind of project long term (and with little oversight and accountability or understanding of what was needed) was just not working.
Three years ago Thomas Bates began a (then-controversial) discussion to create a radically new system as it related to the technical side of the club - especially the club website. He called his proposed idea “TECH”, which after a lot of screaming in Command formally came into existence in August 2015. Their first big project: create a new website for STF before we run out of time on that ticking clock. The project would eventually be temporarily titled “Exodus” (a name which has become less ‘temporary’).
I can honestly say that but for Thomas’s work in coming up with TECH and seeing it through to the end, we would not have Exodus as it is today.
Since it’s creation, Thomas has remained one of the two members who have stuck with it all the way through. That must now come to an end with his election as Vice-President (which requires him to resign from TECH and have his role there filled by someone else). Given Thomas’s instrumental role in coming up with TECH and being a member of TECH for the three years since, this edict is in order.
Thomas has also had a fundamental role in the design of Exodus, and along with Joe P, has probably made the most contributions to it’s design. Pretty much all of the graphical design decisions can be traced back to Thomas. Related to that is ensuring that the new site would be mobile friendly - a requirement that although Thomas refused to promise publicly, he did everything he could to make sure it would happen with his design choices.
Even without my own observations, it has been made clear to me by others involved with the Exodus project that it would not have been successful without the direct contributions Thomas made to the project.
Therefore, Thomas Bates is promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral.
Congratulations, Thomas!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Wayward ho, away we go
It’s a shame to leave this masterpiece
With its gallery gods and its garbage bag trees
So I’ll paint a scene from memory
So I’d know who murdered me
It’s a vain pursuit but it helps me to sleep”
Edict #17
The work of this term would simply not have been possible without the substantial work of one or two members, including Lindsay Bayes. Lindsay’s work - both visible and behind the scenes this term - led me to at one time to joking that I had three vice-presidents this term: Amber, Cale and Linds. I honestly don’t think I can really do justice to the work that Linds did by trying to describe it all in an edict.
I’ll try, though… :P
After taking a bit of a break from leadership roles in the STF administration, Linds decided to return this term as the new Gamemaster Director. This was important to me as President as I had identified the GM Department as one of the areas that was going to need some work. The GM training and mentorship program had fallen into a bit of a disarray, and although some notable efforts had been made at the end of the last term to reverse the trend, it was felt that more work was still required. It was with that understanding that Linds volunteered to be the new director.
At the time, I thought that was going to be Lindsay’s biggest job this term. How naive I was… :P
Lindsay was able to get her GM Department team quickly on top of the GM training and mentorship issues. It was at that point she identified a much larger concern that had never occurred to me. The Amanda Noon archives (our archives of all of our past and present GMs and their missions) had large gaps in it - some of them being very dated. Getting these gaps filled in was going to be a painstaking job of data-mining through our records and effWeBB archives. And Lindsay realized it had to be done fairly quickly - we may not have access to all of the necessary records for a while after we moved to Exodus. So Lindsay gathered a group of volunteers and launched the Sim Excavation Project - which turned into a huge success for the department.
In the meantime, Lindsay was also still CO of her ship, doing some GM work herself, serving on EGO (where I actually gave EGO some work to do this term :P) and mentoring members in the Academy. Combined with RL, this was probably enough for one person in the club.
However, everything I have described above is only part of the substantial work Lindsay did this term.
Prior to our election, Amber and I had identified the position of Marketing and Advertising Coordinator as an area of concern that we wanted to focus on. Membership and retention issues remained ongoing concerns, and we felt that an effective use of the MAC position could help with some of our term’s goals. Early on in the term, the holder of the MAC role stepped down, and Amber and I began the search for a new MAC who would be able to work with the new plan for that position.
And… we couldn’t find anyone. Well, we found someone who was perfect for what we had in mind, but she was already focused on a number of other projects in STF - and that was Lindsay. Lindsay did agree to help us look for a new MAC, though.
And… we still couldn’t find anyone. We had three main areas of focus for MAC, so Lindsay volunteered to take on one of those roles while we continued the search for a new MAC. Well, Lindsay said, maybe I’ll take on two of those three roles while you look for a new MAC.
Eventually, the inevitable happened. Lindsay had started taking on all of the responsibilities as MAC that it just made sense to appoint her to the position :P. And Lindsay took that role to a whole new level, actively getting STF’s name out in the larger community, encouraging people to check out the club, and creating a whole new buzz about STF. It’s difficult to describe here what Lindsay brought to the role, but it was substantial.
…and that wasn’t the end of it.
Amber and I (and later Cale) had a two-pronged approach to one of our themes this term: a more substantive role with MAC that was focused on specific areas of responsibility, and a more organized approach to our club “community” and community events. However, as the discussion began about our proposed community organizer idea, the discussion began to pivot about the role of MAC in organizing our community events. I was reluctant to add more responsibilities to MAC - I knew what level of work Linds had already put into the MAC role, and I still wasn’t sure about merging the two roles into one. Lindsay kindly (and virtually) slapped me on the back on the head. Where do you think all of this work I have been doing in MAC has been leading to, she correctly pointed out to me. She was right. And so I gave MAC the additional responsibilities for organizing our community events (and to recruit even more volunteers to help with that).
We are still in the middle of trial project on that - and it will be Lindsay working with the next Executive to make the call on whether it will continue in our trial format. But it is obvious already that the work Lindsay has brought into organizing our community events has been fantastic and big success for our current membership. When combined with her work in advertising the events, and focusing them around major milestones for the club (our Exodus pre-launch party, our club anniversary celebrations) - which has led to past members returning and new members checking our club out - it is clear that Lindsay impact on the club this term has been substantial.
Throughout this, Lindsay has been a constant adviser and supporter this term - and will have no difficulties telling me when she agrees with something I’m doing or when she disagrees with my approach and why. Lindsay was also a big supporter of mine on the USS Endeavour, where due to being President I wasn’t the most present CO for that ship this term, but she not only helped keep that ship active for me, but supported me as I decided to change up almost the entire senior staff of the ship mid-term.
When I joked a few weeks ago about Lindsay being my third vice-president this term, I don’t actually think it was a joke. Without her, I’m not sure how this term would have worked out.
It is with great pleasure that I promote Lindsay Bayes to the rank of Vice Admiral.
Congratulations, Lindsay!
Daniel Lerner
President
“Late breaking story on the CBC
A nation whispers, “We always knew that he’d go free”
They add, “You can’t be fond of living in the past
‘Cause if you are then there’s no way that you’re going to last” “
Edict #18
Officially, this edict is a commendation, although intentionally separate from my other commendations edict. That’s because there’s not much else I can really do the recognize this person’s contributions this term. Joe P. was promoted to Admiral last term for the work he had done to that point on Exodus and in anticipation of the upcoming launch of Exodus. So as the President in office of the actual launch of Exodus (and aware of everything that went on this term both in the lead up to that launch and the the things taking place right at the time of that launch), there’s not much I can officially do other than issue this commendation. To be clear, if Joe P. did not hold the rank of Admiral already, he would have earned that promotion this term with the launch of Exodus.
Although this is a commendation edict, I’ll break the rules a bit and ignore “approximately 250 words” requirement :P I can do that because Joe is no longer in EGO and can’t do anything about me breaking the rules as President :P
Exodus has been a huge success project. I’m not going to spend too much time describing how great it is or how much potential it has because we all use it and see what it can do every time we log in now to STF. I just want to make a few additional comments about Joe, and his work in leading this project.
Normally, this kind of work is what paid software designers would do for an organization. Keep in mind that unlike WeBBspace (which was based on a pre-existing package), Exodus was custom-built from the start for STF. That is no minor undertaking, and I can only imagine how overwhelming and daunting such a project can feel at times. And this was done entirely by volunteers who would (a) normally get paid for this kind of work and (b) have to do this work on top of their RL lives and jobs.
All of this was done with a ticking clock of doom over all of our heads. To be clear, there were Big Problems for the club if we did not leave WeBBspace (or make radical changes to it) this year. That’s a lot of pressure for this kind of project under these circumstances, and Joe did a massive amount of work - and led the rest of TECH through that pressure - to get to the point where we are now.
This term has not been easy on Joe. We all have RL issues. Joe this term had his own particular RL issues, both difficult issues that had to be dealt with personally and positive but busy developments with work. And all under that ticking clock I just referred to.
We had difficult decisions to make on the timing of the launch, and Joe was able to get it done under that additional pressure. For a variety of reasons, Exodus had to be launched before our just-completed election season (it would take me too long to go through all the reasoning that got us to that point). That led to some very tight timetables this term, with Joe needing to do most of that heavy lifting during that term.
When unexpected “hiccups” came up during the launch, Joe was able to calmly and quickly come with and implement solutions to those problems to keep the launch as smooth as possible.
Joe has been extremely responsive to suggestions about improvements or new features in Exodus - something he has actively been encouraging - and putting out new versions of Exodus whenever he can.
To make sure we could have a smooth election in Exodus, we needed Joe (the lead developer of Exodus) to be the Election Coordinator as well (the same logic I used 10 years ago :P ). So literally within a couple weeks of the launch of Exodus and dealing with any bugs or issues that were still coming up, Joe was also now the EC (which is not an easy job even at the best of times).
I could keep going on, but at some point I need to wrap this up.
Therefore, Joe P. is commended for the completion and launch of Exodus.
Daniel Lerner
President
“Drove back to town this morning
With working on my mind
I thought of maybe quitting
I thought of leaving it behind
I went back to bed this morning
And as I’m pulling down the blind
Yeah, the sky was dull, and hypothetical
And falling one cloud at a time
That night in Toronto
With its checkerboard floors
Riding on horseback
And keeping order restored…”
Edict #19
With less than 3 hours left in my term as President this should (hopefully) be my last edict of the term.
First, an explanation of the theme of my edicts this term. Shortly before this term started, Gord Downie, lead singer-songwriter for the Canadian band The Tragically Hip, died at the age of 53. His music was a constant for my adolescence and young adulthood, and was often considered one of the most influential voices in Canadian music (and later, with his activist work on important Canadian and international causes, an influential voice in Canadian identity). This term, I decided to share some of my favourite lyrics from Gord Downie in my edicts (saving the best for last…)
This was an usual term to say the least. We moved to Exodus this term, which was a huge success. We created a new approach to MAC and our community events, which I truly will have long term benefits to the club’s ongoing success. We have created a new foundation for our mentorship program, and I am excited to see what new developments that sparks in the Academy.
I also was pleased with how on one hand we have been taking steps to make major changes in the club this term, but on other hand the club has remained so stable. Overall, we had very few changes to our COs this term, which causes me to be hopeful that we are entering a stage of long-term stability in the club.
As has become tradition with these final edicts (a tradition I may have helped start :P), I would like to thank and acknowledge a few people for their work and support this term, especially those I haven’t yet had a chance to acknowledge in the last few edicts.
Amber Hagan
It was probably around a year ago that I decided I was definitely interested in becoming President for this term. But there was one person I really wanted as my Vice-President, and that was Amber. I vividly remember Amber’s agreement (and I’m only sightly paraphrasing):
Amber: Okay, but if you resign then I have permission to come over there and murder you.
Daniel: Fair enough.
Amber and I spent a long time thinking about how we wanted our term to go, what issues we wanted to address, and how we wanted to work as President and Vice-President. The entire theme for my presidency came out of those early discussions.
Amber and I were also preparing even before the election for an usual term. TECH originally though we would have no choice but to move to Exodus before January 2018 (i.e. within weeks after the election). Amber and I began plans of what those first few weeks would look like and how we would plan for a such a quick move to a new site. Fortunately, that requirement changed a bit, but it definitely meant Amber and I knew we had to plan for an unusual term.
Our term was cursed a bit, though. As the election started to really pick up steam, Amber started having health issues that was affecting her in STF. She persevered, and continued as a valuable vice-president - especially through some very difficult decisions about the new cabinet, our early plans for MAC, our on going difficulties implementing those plans for MAC (see Edict #17 for more on that), the behind the scenes work in re-staffing the Personnel Department, and the early communication issues that started coming up between TECH and the rest of the administration (see Edict #15 for more on that). But Amber’s health issues continued, and Amber had to eventually step down as VP. However, Amber’s influence - especially in those early discussions - continued through the rest of the term, and Amber was still able to continue as Fleet Commander for the rest of the term.
One of Amber’s influences this term has to be specifically recognized. If Amber was going to be Vice-President, she told me that one the term’s priorities had to be to address community events and what we do on Discord. That we needed a position that was going to plan and organize regular events - she felt that it was something we had lost from her earlier days in the STF, and it was vital we do something about it if we were going to keep people interested in STF. That early idea of Amber’s continued throughout this term, and I think the work so far in the new organization of our community events has been a huge success for STF.
Cale Reilly
After Amber stepped down, I needed a new VP to assist me for the rest of the term. Discussion items were planned that were coming up, the final Exodus timetable had just been completed, and I needed someone to be my new VP.
Cale didn’t threaten to murder me, fortunately. She just called me crazy (and continues to call me crazy even today).
Cale became Vice President at just the right moment. Because of both major RL issues and ongoing major stressful STF projects, a lot of senior members were under a lot of unusual stress (this includes me). Discussions in Command were starting to reach a low point, tempers were flaring a bit, and people were making unfortunate comments. At one point even I had to step back and take a break. It was into that fray that Cale, the newly minted Vice-President, stepped in. Taking over as a moderator in Command for a while, talking in DMs with various people, making calls - she was everywhere at once to help get things settled down. Her role at that time was invaluable. She continued to be an important adviser for me for the rest of the term, and someone to help me bounce my various ideas off of.
I also have to acknowledge Cale’s role in the Personnel Department this past month. For certain reasons, during the month of July, the Personnel Department needed someone to help out in a fairly large way with processing new member applications. Cale basically stepped in and started taking a major role in processing the applications, and re-writing the welcome email to take into account the changes from Exodus. It should probably be noted that it is not as if Cale had nothing else important this past month that she was planning for… (wait, she got married today?! oh, right..) :P
Finally, there is the move of the mentorship program to the Academy. This actually goes back to some earlier discussions Cale and I had about a year ago, when Cale wanted to talk to me about concerns she had started to observe with the mentorship program as it was run at the time. That led to a brainstorming session, and my eventual crazy idea that the first step needed to be moving the mentorship program to the Academy. That was also around the time I was planning to run for President, and Cale was the first person I tested my new idea on (before I started running it by others). So the genesis of the change to the mentorship program this past term definitely began in that discussion I had with Cale last year.
Lindsay Bayes
I’m not going to repeat what I have said about Lindsay in my prior edicts. However, I also have to thank Lindsay for one last thing. Part-way through the term, I was having certain difficulties related to Command. Without getting into the details, Lindsay helped me through it. I’m sure she knows what I’m referring to, and she has my sincere thanks.
Kat Dedul
Kat has been my rock in the Academy. She was an early supporter of my idea that we needed to start focusing on the department aspect of the Academy, and she was a big believer in my idea of moving the mentorship program to the Academy. She has also been a valuable adviser to me throughout this term, and someone I know who will just listen when I feel the need to rant (an important job for anyone helping an STF President :P)
Kat has also been a big help for me with the Endeavour. I think it goes without saying when a ship CO becomes President, it is the ship that often suffers. My absences from the Endeavour this term have been unfortunate, but Kat has been a big help throughout it. First in her role as Commandant, but then when she agreed to step in as XO during my massive shake up of the ship’s officers (which she then had to help me streamline).
Amber DeSaider
I’ve mentioned three of the four members of TECH elsewhere in my edicts, but Amber’s role has also been extremely important, particularly in harnessing her RL skills and knowledge to assist in a lot of TECH’s work. For example, using her RL skills, Amber was able to identify 19 issues just with the registration application - many of them as a result of typographical errors that no one had identified for however many years we had been using that code. Amber has also been a constant this term in giving specific, actionable feedback - an example of which is the unique feedback she gave that resulted in a redesign of the Exodus Profile page between the beta version and live version.
D Grisham and Krys McLean
Mid-term changes to the cabinet suck. It is hard enough trying to put a cabinet together at the start of the term, but a President is often left scrambling when trying to make changes part way into the term. Both D and Krys stepped in very quickly to take over Fleet Commander positions when changes were needed.
Both also took on those roles in not easy situations. D had to address an messy situation with one of the fleet’s ships shortly after her appointment - a situation which would not be easy for most FComms to handle. Krys took on her FComm position just after she took on being XO for a newly promoted CO on the Bonaventure, and around the same time she agreed to be the CO for the Chernov.
The entire membership
I really did not know what to expect this term with the move to Exodus. I relied primarily on my prior experience as VP and Prez during our move to WeBBspace, but we also knew that this move would be very different from that prior move. I can honestly say that this move was a huge success, and it was in no small part to the support of the entire membership. There were no complaints, arguments, pitchforks or torches. The launch placed a lot of the pressure on the membership (re-creating your characters, having to save your recent posts, having to re-register for new accounts in Exodus) - and yet we got through that weekend with almost no bumps at all. I cannot thank of all you enough for your support and enthusiasm of the move this past term.
Thanks, everyone!
Daniel Lerner
President
Bill #1
NOTE: This bill was vetoed by EGO, and was resubmitted with amendments as Bill 2
This bill amends both the PDICT and CADET bylaws.
PDICT is amended by deleting the section titled “Mentors Program”.
CADET is amended by adding the following after the section “Departing From the Academy Fleet” (with any subsequent sections renumbered accordingly):
Mentoring Program
The Academy shall be responsible for maintaining a Mentoring Program. The Mentoring Program shall be maintained and administered by a Mentors Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the Academy Commandant. Unless otherwise expressly specified in this bylaw, the Academy Commandant may delegate to the Mentors Coordinator all work related to the Mentoring Program.
At a minimum, the Mentoring Program shall have two components:
1) Mentors assigned to all cadets in the Academy Fleet; and
2) Mentors assigned to new members who are on a non-Academy ship, where such a mentor has been requested by the new member (either in the new member’s application or after the new member has joined the club).
In addition, the Academy Commandant may create or terminate any additional components to the Mentoring Program, including programs to mentor members who are interested in taking on roles and responsibilities on a ship or elsewhere in the club. The Academy Commandant cannot delegate the responsibility of approving or terminating optional components to the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall be responsible for creating a set of standards and qualifications for a member to become a mentor and remain a mentor, including whether there can be any exceptions and who approves those exceptions. The Academy shall ensure a balance is maintained between having highly qualified mentors and ensuring that there are enough mentors for the needs of the club. Generally, all mentors must have been a member for a minimum of three months which can only be waived by the Academy Commandant in exceptional circumstances.
The Academy shall be responsible for recruiting and approving mentors for the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that every ship that accepts new members has at least one active mentor. The Academy may request the assistance of a ship’s Commanding Officer for that purpose. On an Academy ship, a Department Head shall automatically be appointed as the mentor for the cadets in that department.
The Academy may set policy for the responsibilities of the mentors. At a minimum, all mentors must make personal contact with the member they are assigned to mentor, be available to answer the member’s questions, assist the member with learning how to role-play in the club, and help the member with any problems or queries.
The Academy shall maintain a set of resources to assist mentors, which may include draft emails to be sent by mentors, links to resources, and a mentoring course.
The Academy shall maintain an internal list of active mentors and what ships they are active on, as well as an internal list of which members have been assigned to which mentors. The Academy shall report monthly on the status of the Mentoring Program, including how many active members there are, how many active mentoring assignments there are, ships that currently have no active mentors, and any problems that need to be addressed in the Program.
The Personnel Department shall be responsible for advising the Mentors Coordinator if a member outside of the Academy has requested a mentor.
Daniel Lerner
President
Bill #2
This bill amends both the PDICT and CADET bylaws.
PDICT is amended by deleting the section titled “Mentors Program”.
CADET is amended by adding the following after the section “Departing From the Academy Fleet” (with any subsequent sections renumbered accordingly):
Mentoring Program
The Academy shall be responsible for maintaining a Mentoring Program. The Mentoring Program shall be maintained and administered by a Mentors Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the Academy Commandant. Unless otherwise expressly specified in this bylaw, the Academy Commandant may delegate to the Mentors Coordinator all work related to the Mentoring Program.
At a minimum, the Mentoring Program shall have two components:
1) Mentors assigned to all cadets in the Academy Fleet; and
2) Mentors assigned to new members who are on a non-Academy ship, where such a mentor has been requested by the new member (either in the new member’s application or after the new member has joined the club).
In addition, the Academy Commandant may create or terminate any additional components to the Mentoring Program, including programs to mentor members who are interested in taking on roles and responsibilities on a ship or elsewhere in the club. The Academy Commandant cannot delegate the responsibility of approving or terminating optional components to the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall be responsible for creating a set of standards and qualifications for a member to become a mentor and remain a mentor, including whether there can be any exceptions and who approves those exceptions. The Academy shall ensure a balance is maintained between having highly qualified mentors and ensuring that there are enough mentors for the needs of the club. Generally, all mentors must have been a member for a minimum of three months, which can only be waived by the Academy Commandant if deemed appropriate by the Commandant on a case by case basis.
The Academy shall be responsible for recruiting and approving mentors for the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that every ship that accepts new members has at least one active mentor. The Academy may request the assistance of a ship’s Commanding Officer for that purpose. On an Academy ship, a Department Head shall automatically be appointed as the mentor for the cadets in that department.
The Academy may set policy for the responsibilities of the mentors. At a minimum, all mentors must make personal contact with the member they are assigned to mentor, be available to answer the member’s questions, assist the member with learning how to role-play in the club, and help the member with any problems or queries.
The Academy shall maintain a set of resources to assist mentors, which may include draft emails to be sent by mentors, links to resources, and a mentoring course.
The Academy shall maintain an internal list of active mentors and what ships they are active on, as well as an internal list of which members have been assigned to which mentors. The Academy shall report monthly on the status of the Mentoring Program, including how many active members there are, how many active mentoring assignments there are, ships that currently have no active mentors, and any problems that need to be addressed in the Program.
The Personnel Department shall be responsible for advising the Mentors Coordinator if a member outside of the Academy has requested a mentor.
Daniel Lerner
President