[Announce] Fleet Address July 2158 and Flag SIM announcement

[Suzanna Batenburg]

Greetings,

I started writing this Fleet Address several times in the last few
weeks. And each time I wrote a few sentences only to come to a stop. It
wasn't that I didn't have the vision or know what to write. It was more
a fact that I had to get over myself. Something that I only realised
last night.

One of the key qualities that is very important to me and in my view is
important to the future of TFE is leading by example. Yet how could I
justify being CO or even Fleet CO when I was feeling that I was not
living up to my own standards, especially when I am seeing the high
quality of writing and activities of so many of our SIMmers. What they
are doing for TFE in their own way made me feel like I was letting
everyone down, especially at times when I have struggled to keep up.

Yet, when I look objectively at the last six months, our SIMs have
continued to thrive, we gained new members. Each SIM in its own unique
way has grown and matured. It was a conversation last night with a dear
TFE friend that inspired me all over again, and helped me to get over
myself.

A conversation we shared, a topic we discussed, and words conveyed
between her and another TFE member that we talked about have lit that
flame again. The one I had almost feared had died out under the weight
of RL.

Our discussion and chat reminded me of the words spoken by my old mentor
(and also founding TFE member) many years ago... Adapting his words to
this group, TFE, is not about me, or a few of the COs. It is about the
people in it. It's YOU that make the SIMs, give them life and identity,
and through that, give life and identity to the group as a whole. Long
after I have gone, this organisation will continue. Because of you. The
new fresh faces and the ideas that will lead TFE forward.

My duty and obligation as Fleet CO is to make sure that each of you will
be given the chance to excel and go as far as your creativity and RL
will allow. Some of you may not make it past Ensign, others will command
your own SIM, or even this Fleet one day (I am not going to be here
forever ;)). My goal is to ensure that everyone is given a fun and
stimulating environment that challenges you to rise to your full
potential within TFE.

These last two paragraphs are almost word for word a copy of what my
mentor wrote in 1999. Yet truer words were never spoken. As long as we
keep the above in mind... TFE will continue to live on.

On a personal note, at times, I have put far too much pressure on myself
and I suspect others in the group may have done the same, by forgetting
part of those words: "... as our creativity AND RL allows".

At times, I've become paralysed by a notion that my writing and
activities weren't up to standard. By the notion that *I* know, that I
can do better. And yes, I can. BUT, not in the current RL circumstances.

And admitting such a thing to ourselves is liberating and inspiring.
Instead of reading logs and thinking "wow... I wish I could write as
well", my thinking has changed to: "I can have as much fun as that".

With all that said, I have a number of announcements to make. The main
one being the appointment of Rob, aka Commodore Thomas Garroway, as
Fleet Operations Commander and Deputy Fleet Commander. Rob has been
around since 2002, and has held various positions in TFE over the years,
including CO, Fleet Ops Commander and Deputy Fleet Commander. He has
been a fantastic sounding board and inspiration to me since returning
from ELOA in late 2007.

Natasha took over as Academy Chief Commandant a few months ago already
but wasn't formally announced then. She, too, is now a member of the
Senior Staff. Natasha is a long standing member of TFE, playing on the
Meridian, and was active in the Academy before. She's has been doing the
same great job as she did before!

The Senior Staff current consists of:

Fleet CO: RAdm Suzanna Batenburg (aka Suzanna)
Deputy Fleet CO: Commo Thomas Garroway Ret. (aka Rob)
Acting Fleet Ops Commo Thomas Garroway Ret. (aka Rob)
Deputy Fleet Ops Cmdr: TBD
Academy Commandant: Natasha
Fleet Advisor: Capt Zane Silverton (aka Scott)

LtCmdr Boyle (aka TC) has been placed in charge of the TFE wiki. The TFE
wiki (http://www.firstera.net/wiki/) is mainly an OOC database for TFE
at the moment. One of the things the Senior Staff discussed over the
last few months is how to get the wiki to be more than just an OOC
archive. One of the key things about TFE is our story telling abilities.
How the SIMs interact, how characters interact and how over the last 6.5
years we have built an IC history.

To that effect, we have asked Advarre' Rhandi (aka Kate) to become our
Fleet Archivist. Her job, together with help from the SIMs and TC, is to
start documenting key events and people in TFE history. So that it will
not get lost, and that we can build upon that in future story telling.

And now the announcements I am sure you have all been waiting for... The
Flag SIM of the fleet for 2008.

The vote was a tie, which made it very hard for the Senior Staff, since
we had to break the tie. Both SIMs had high quality logs, but what broke
the tie is that the one of the two SIMs has been a little bit more
consistent than the other. Both in logging and SIM reports.

As a result the Winner of Flag SIM for 2008 / 2158 is New Darwin Colony!
Congratulations to the Commander and crew!

The Star Award is the single highest unit award available to TFE
simulations. The Star Award Recipient simulations have shown a
commitment to excellence in all aspects of SIMming and can rest assured
their SIM will hold a place of honour in the history of TFE history,
knowing that their crew stands at the pinnacle of The First Era. This
award goes to two SIMs this time. Both the crews of the Yorktown and the
Meridian have performed outstandingly and done a great job and are
hereby awarded the Star Award

Forrest Outpost and the Challenger are both awarded a Starfleet Superior
Unit Award. Both SIMs have continued logging in good quality despite
several crew members being hit (including in one case literally) by RL.
Despite all that, the quality remained and both SIMs are recovering
well!

Finally, I have two Captain Michael Thompson Memorial Awards to hand out
to two SIMmers that have worked quietly behind the scenes to make TFE a
better place. For Quarter 1 of 2158, I'm honoured to award it to Lt
Kjell Lindstrom, aka Josh. When we had some RL issues affecting key
people in the Academy, Josh continued to provide stability in a key area
of TFE and grading exams!

The second one of this year so far goes to LtCmdr Clive Youngblood, aka
Scott, our host for the TFE podcast! It's been a great addition to the
experience of TFE and it takes a lot of time and effort to create on the
regular basis as he does.

With all that said... Congratulations to all the winners of awards! And
Happy SIMming in TFE!

Suzanna
-- 
RAdm Suzanna Batenburg
Fleet Commander
Starfleet: The First Era
"Everything fits, otherwise we will make it fit."
http://www.firstera.net