IC Update Saturday 2010.
Saturday is the BIG day for activity at IC. Opening
ceremonies and General session started off only a few minutes late. We were
all impressed with a member from Region 3 singing the UK, Canadian and US
national anthems. All of us Regional Coordinators got up for the Fleet Roll
Call and then came the reports from each of the EC members and the address
by Sal.
One humorous moment happened when a representative from
the IC charity, a wild animal education program, got up to speak with a
large Albino python draped around her neck. Linda Kloempkin, Starfleet
Recognitions Officer, took a turn holding the snake and when she was called
up to the stage to hand out awards the snake had other ideas and would not
let go. The jokes started flying and there are rumors of the two of them
dating!
As RC, I was proud to accept a Marine Naval Citation
Unit Award for the USS Dark Phoenix, the Most Informative Website Award for
the USSTiberius and the Starfleet Commanding Officer of the Year award for
Lucy Ferron.
As typical with these meetings; we ran over schedule.
There was a hot dog and hamburger cookout waiting for us outside. Of course,
outside was 102 degrees and the cookout was at the bottom of a hill. You had
to feel sorry for those still in uniform basting away in the Oklahoma heat.
The schedule for the rest of the day seemed to suffer from the late
start of everything after the Opening Ceremonies. I stopped in for the
beginning of the Meet the Candidates panel in which Emmet Plant (at home
recovering from surgery) conferenced in over the phone.
Just before the banquet was the Final Mission which was
a success as always. A short cocktail mixer came just before the banquet.
The food was the usual for one of these events. Afterwards was the Charity
Auction at which they had a Pie Toss (gee…I wonder where they got that
idea?!) with Sal and Jeff Higdon, the Region 12 RC.
Partying into the wee hours of the morning followed that. I stayed up
with the Marines as their party moved from the Commandant’s room to the
lobby to the banquet hall. I left around 2AM but heard that things finally
died down around 5!
A very full and fun day!
Towaway out.....
Report 2 From the IC 2010.
Friday is the work day at IC. It was up early and to
the hotel breakfast buffet to try to kick start the day. My chapter has just
started a Marine Strike Group, so I spent the time getting some input and
advice from the Marine Commandant, John Roberts.
The joint Executive Committee and Admiralty Board
meeting started almost on time and we breezed through the first half of the
day going through all of the EC Department reports.
After a lunch break, we finished the usual reports from
the EC and Regional Coordinators we dove into the real work of the
afternoon. First, we worked on the selection of the Honorary and Lifetime
memberships. You would think this would be simple and easy, but there were
some minor rules issues which had to be discussed before the final vote
could be taken.
The same thing happened over a discussion over Minimum
Rank Requirements and the Lifetime Memberships. There have been some issues
recently where an officer gets an automatic promotion, say for command of a
chapter, but he/she does not want to take that rank. Some wording in the
handbook was voted on to be changed to allow such a situation.
A discussion over the use of Honorary Memberships for
publicity purposes was tabled for discussion on the ECAB List and a
presentation by the R3 RC Reed Bates was also relegated to the internet.
The final discussion, which took up a lot of time near
the end of the da was over losing our CPA for the upcoming CS Election.
There is still some time to rectify the issue before major constitutional
issues are raised and hopefully a resolution can be found. The AB did have
to make one change to the MHB which gives the Election Coordinator more
latitude in who can count our ballots.
Friday night was dinner in the hotel restaurant and a
swim in the pool. The IC 2011 team hosted a hospitality suite and has been
the perfect place to stop and relax for a while and catch up with friends.
Towaway out.......
Report 1 From the IC 2010.
You've all seen the Travel Gnome? Well, apparently, I
have a Travel Gremlin who follows me around when I go on vacation and that
little SOB has struck again.
The beginning of the week saw me wondering if I were
going to be making the trip to the Starfleet International Conference or not
as I woke up Monday morning with severe back pain. I finally got to my
regular physician on Tuesday who promptly wrote prescriptions for Percocet,
Flexeril and Prednisone.
I like my doctor!
So, with medications in hand and luggage all packed I
headed off this morning, walking upright once again, just after 4AM for my
flight out of West Palm Beach This first flight to Atlanta was uneventful.
That, of course was when that good ole’ Towaway Luck” reared its ugly head
and messed with the rest of the day.
As soon as I arrived at the gate it was announced that
we had been reassigned to a smaller aircraft. I get onto that plane and they
announce that there is a sensor on a door which still shows the door as
open; this is a safety and security issue which has us being led off of the
plane while another one is being flown in from
We finally take off for
I have met up with many old friends; including DJ Allen
and Peggy Moshell from the Continuum. We have dinner together and then spend
some time catching up with John Roberts and other Starfleet Marines.
As you can see, arriving the day before the festivities
begin is a great way to get in, get settled and meet up with friends. Most
everyone has called it an early night to get enough sleep to make it through
the EC/AB Meeting for tomorrow.
Towaway out.......