Posted 2 August 2008 - 6:58am by Fleet Admiral Daniel Lerner (President) (Daniel Lerner)
Edict #21
“Mostly Harmless”
Provided the club doesn’t go completely crazy over the next day, this should be my last official post as this term’s President.
Although it was always a possibility that as Vice-President I might have to take over permanently as the club’s President, it wasn’t a possibility that I had seriously expected. So having to take over as President during a term which some saw some of the biggest changes being made to STF since the move from Prodigy to effWeBB came as a bit of a shock.
Four months is a very short amount of time to try to carry through an agenda for the term and to help shape a direction for the club and our new WeBBspace software - especially when real life circumstances change during the course of those few months.
The fact that we were able to have a constructive term is in no small way due to the work of a number of individuals who I would like to take the time to thank now. I decided that I’m going to treat Hemenway #32 as the beginning of a tradition, and do this by way of edict.
JACK DIPPER
As soon as it started to become clear that I would likely have to take over as President, I immediately contacted Jack Dipper to be my Vice-President. It was immediately clear that I was going to need someone with more STF experience to help advise me, and Jack was willing to step into the new role right away. Jack would stay in the in the backdrop while I put forward my own agenda as President, but he would always let me know if I had missed something, or give one of my crazy ideas a double-check. If there was something wrong with a proposal, Jack was quick to find it and up come with alternative suggestions. Jack was also able to give me much needed advice when I needed it.
Thank you, Jack!
SARAH HEMENWAY
My term as President could have turned out vastly different if it wasn’t for Sarah Hemenway. Although neither Sarah nor I could have predicted that her RL situation would change to the point that she would have to step down as President, I nonetheless would have been less prepared for the role if I hadn’t been able to learn from Sarah while I was her Vice-President. From Sarah I learned what factors to look for in reaching various President-level decisions, how to build from a club consensus, and how to de-escalate disputes, and I tried to continue her method as President during my own short term.
Thank you, Sarah!
LARRY GARFIELD
I don’t think Larry Garfield and I ever had any long discussions until January 13, 2008. I still remember the long late-night IRC session just before WeBBspace was about to go live, finalizing a number of design elements that would affect STF’s administration of it’s club membership. Being Vice-President during the introduction of WeBBspace and President during much of its in-progress development was a unique experience, and only from that do I have an idea of how much work Larry put into designing the new software. WeBBspace has developed into something that I think we are all extremely happy with, and I think it is now clear to the entire club just what kind of potential we have with it, and this is all due to the enormous amount of time and energy Larry put into the project.
I also want to thank Larry for keeping me on my toes. Larry was quick to weigh in on my various proposals, and point out when something I was planning on doing could have turned into disaster. We may not have always agreed, but Larry’s advice ended up being integral to the decisions I made as President.
Thanks, Larry!
RUSSELL WATT
Russell Watt and I were cadets on the Columbia within months of each other, and we have stayed friends in STF since. I think it was only natural that when I took over as President, I would end up turning to Russ as someone who would listen to what was going on and provide advice that would help me reach my decisions.
Thanks, Russ!
THE CABINET
I want to thank the entire cabinet both the current cabinet and the members who held cabinet positions since last December. This was not an easy term for the cabinet - both the change in Presidency during the middle of the term and the introduction of WeBBspace, but I found that they all did a great job nonetheless. Progress was made in all the departments and fleets, and new policies were developed to fit in with and take advantage of WeBBspace.
ALL OF THE COMMANDING OFFICERS
I also want to thank all the COs from this past term. The switch to WeBBspace probably affected the COs the most, and I found that they all quickly learned to use the new WeBBspace features, found ways to work around the parts of WeBBspace that were different from effWeBB, and teach their crew members how to use WeBBspace.
Finally, I would like to thank the entire membership. You all put up with the crazy changes that took place this past term, learned to take advantage of new features that were developed with WeBBspace, and kept up with your usual strong and consistent role-playing and online presence that makes STF such a strong club and community.
Thanks!
-Daniel Lerner