User:Cdoane/Commentary
Platform and Commentary for Christina R. Doane, Candidate for International Coordinator 2010
In my years of service to MFI thats been one of my main goals. To help :). Some of you have known me for years and some my entire adult life, you know what to expect from me. For those who don't know me I look forward to getting to know you and for you to know me. I am always open for questions or concerns. And can be found most often in gmail, I leave my account open when I am working online so feel free to drop me a line!
As I sit here and try to think about what to write for my platform, the same phrase keeps looping in my head. “Care for conditions as you find.”. See I've taken first aid/cpr from the Red Cross repeatedly, mostly because I don't get around to taking the courses again until it's expired * sheepish grin*. So of course they make me sit through the whole thing again. I pretty much have the spiel memorized and one of the things they are always saying ,over and over in the videos lol, is that phrase as one of the steps. The reason this seems relevant to me is that of course I have ideas about what I'd like to see accomplished in the months and years to come but it will all depend on the needs of the members in the organization as a whole.
That is why I will be making a special point to be available to any member who wishes to ask a question, raise a concern, or my personal favorite, offer a suggestion :). Also with the Chief of Ops and the relevant Zone Coordinator, I will be contacting every active Chapter just to see how things are going for them, do they have everything they need, what changes would they like to see?, what are we (as an organization) doing right?. I also hope for significant feedback from our Advisory Council, the ZC's, Branch Heads, and other MFI staff that make up such a vital part of this club. And those views and suggestions will help to play a significant role in upcoming priorities so I hope everyone will make their thoughts known so we can work together to continue to improve this club we all call home :).
Now, that being said I do have some ideas of what I'd like to focus on. All projects will be lumped into two areas, member services and diplomacy. Now when I say diplomacy I am including very simple ideas like the thought of goodwill ambassadors. Which you all are, everytime one of our members represents the Maquis publicly it's not just MFI they are representing but the very idea of Maquis in general. They are an unofficial goodwill ambassador of sorts. As far as MFI goes not only do we use it with other clubs, but with each other, and in recruitment. With that being said, in addition to taking into account any relevant feedback, I intend to work with the Membership Head to ensure that all materials sufficiently support our needs. This includes business cards designed by membership to fit the individual or Chapter that can be printed out by the recipient or sent to a free source. Included also is the possibility of more communications courses on relevant topics as needed.
For member services specifically there are other ideas,
One of which is to possibly bring back the Badlands, now put down those bows and arrows down. Please hear me out *grin*. This will be a simplified version. If a CC position is directly related to serving the members or has something the membership needs to know, once a month or once in a regular time frame they will gather that information and put it in an edition of the Badlands. Not doubt announcements will be made on the list serve but this will help archive the information in an easy to find format. ZC's and others would of course be welcome to send input, I would love two way communication whenever possible. This is something we are investigating the feasibility of.
Another way to possibly improving communications among the members is a forums board. For some this may not be a good idea, for others its great. Thats why one suggestion is that we keep our main list serve for important announcements and discussion. The forums will be for those who wish to make use of it from anything from discussing conventions to a thread for those who play Star Trek Online, or indeed any other topic members may wish to discuss among themselves. Now I know some of you are asking yourselves “why so many ideas on communication?” and if not, I'm going to explain anyway *grin*. We've all seen Star Trek fans of all types, those who go to cons and those who just like to watch the show. Some paint the most beautiful pictures while others can write a ship to ship combat scene that feels real. With all those different types of people it seems to make sense to take into account what best works for them, communication wise and it's logical that it won't be the same for everyone.
Will these ideas work? That I can't know at this time, thats up to you. If these ideas sound good let me know, if not and you have better I need to know that too. It is my hope that by doing our part as a club to help with communication we can increase the sense of enjoyment for those who wish.
The Academy of course is, and will be, examined to see how current courses are doing. I hope to poll students to find out what courses they would like to see and how we might improve the ones that exist. All facets dealing with students from grading to certificates will be examined to make sure we continue to meet the needs of our membership. I also plan on having a section of Academy grounds where a list in order of month/year could be found of those who take course(s). Also there has been an idea of working on certification programs to involve multiple courses, I intend to work with the Academy Commandant to investigate that possibility and should there prove to be interest as well as it being feasible, I intend to do what I can to help that along. Of course as with anything should anyone like to give help or input that is never bad *grin*.
Our Quartermaster well nothing to say there, they already offer more then I could of reasonably expected but should anyone have any suggestions for more to offer please let us know! :).
Another idea will be to do more with the Sim Department aka where all of our gaming comes from. Those who staff the LDO and the Mirror, Mirror event are a part of this. It is my hope and the hope of the rest of us involved in the Sim Department to hold some online event on a regular basis. There's been lots of ideas on this department lately and I look forward to sharing more with you all as things are developed.
Another idea I would like to see is a calender where important MFI/Maquis Dates will be included like Chapter Commissioning Dates, the Birth of MFI, etc. Of course Chapter CO's are always encouraged to inform the rest of us as to their commissioning date, birthdays, promotions or awards, anytime :).
While I can not at this time name my entire CC as some positions are still in a state of flux I can confirm that I have asked two very excellent persons as my right and left hands, and the suckers..er kind volunteers..accepted. Frank Parker as my VIC. He brings with him years of MFI and other fandom leadership experience, in addition to over 20 years as an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, U.S Air Force Auxiliary. Also I am happy to report Steve Lackey our COO has agreed to serve as COS where his years of experience in Operations, Personnel knowledge, and fandom leadership experience can be best put to use.
I want to point out there are many openings in various staff positions for a willing volunteer. Know wiki? Apply to CompOps where one can be on a wiki clean up crew to help keep the site squared away. Like gaming? The Sim department is always looking for volunteers :). Point being if you have an interest or something you'd like to see let us know, who knows you may find yourself in charge of the project! :) and who knows where you can go from there!
These are just a few of whats flying around my brain and I hope this helps give you some idea of what where I am coming from but I want to repeat this is your club. We have basic policies yes but within those very broad outlines, we have a lot of wiggle room so let's get wiki with it..yes I said it :D.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Christina R. Doane IC Candidate
