Greetings, all! I trust you've taken this slower winter period to patch up your uniforms and charge up your disruptors...because there are some COOL KAG things on the horizon.
Greetings, all! I trust you've taken this slower winter
period to patch up your uniforms and charge up your disruptors...because
there are some COOL KAG things on the horizon.
DAYS OF HONOR. KLINGON YEAR GAMES. HOPECON (our own conference,
our way.) You'll find more info about all of these, in this issue.
While we're still working on who's to do what when it comes to MINDSCANNER, there are a couple of certainties: Articles and info, oddities and points to ponder get sent to Captain KwISt.
Joel "Twisty" Nye
628 Buckeye St
Hamilton OH 45011
([email protected])
Subscriptions and spare change get sent to my dear chum, Admiral Kishin.
Sue Frank
2508 Pine St
Philadelphia PA 19103
([email protected])
As always, bribes in the form of blasters and belt-buckles
can be sent to me...
John Halvorson
2550 Purvis Dr
Burbank CA 91504
AND, just when you'd think I'd run out of addresses--HA! One more. There is the General Martok Fan Club, run by a good-natured gal named Jennie Hamilton. If you crave more information about Martok, are interested in joining, OR just want to have descriptions of the patch, contact Jennie at:
SO...get up off the couch, and get going to some conventions.
And if your brains are up to it, start thinking about how we're gonna celebrate
KAG's ten year anniversary, next year! Tell me ALL about it!
GO FOR GLORY!
KRIS epetai-KURKURA
Thought-Admiral
KAG Command
|
The tradition of the Day of Honor
is explained in the StarTrek series as a holiday which each Klingon marks
in his own personal way. The concept of the fan Days of Honor is for all
Klingon ships, regardless of club affiliation, to participate on the same
weekend in a uniformed activity of their own choosing which best reflects
their individuality, and reflects the honor of Klingons.
Inspired by the concept of establishing
within the Fan Community a holiday that is all our own, Cmdr. Khar'Ton
first took this idea to the Epetai in November 1997, where he received
enthusiastic support. In the 4 months since then he has laid the groundwork
for this unifying celebration to span not only KAG but all Klingon clubs
and ships everywhere. In December he contacted leaders of several Klingon
clubs, who responded with positive reinforcement. Among them were Adm.
Tosach of KAI, Adm. Klad of IKEF, General Klag of The Empire, and various
leaders of the KAG Kanada community.
In an interview with the MindScanner,
Cmdr. Khar'Ton explained why the weekend of March 20-21 was chosen as the
ideal day for this Klingon Holiday. "The first appearance of Klingons on
television was in the classic StarTrek episode "Errand of Mercy", which
first aired on March 23, 1967. What better weekend to mark the celebration?
The Klingon fan DAYS OF HONOR will bring all Klingons together for one
weekend, united in celebrating both our collective and individual honor
and enthusiasm."
If your ship would like to share ideas for this first celebration of a concept that is uniquely Klingon, feel free to contact Force Recon at [email protected] ,or by phone:(513)-923-3029. |
Commander Khar'Ton sutai-Koltar, (Ed Charlton) wears many hats. He is Head of KAG's Force Recon Division, responsible for introducing new members of KAG to the rich heritage of information available on Klingon culture and lore. He is also the Executive Officer of the Say'Ha'ngan Ruv, a ship of KAG's Demon Fleet. He has a strong personal interest in KAG history, and served aboard the IKV BortaS as archivist from 1993 to 1996. He is the line leader of the House Koltar, and he plays Zantai Klaws every Christmas for the KAG children in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. |
![[HopeCon 98]](ms510{image1}.gif)
HOTEL CHANGE:
Another new development (for those of you
who received information earlier that the convention was to be held at
the Henry VIII hotel) is that HopeCon will be held at the Howard Johnson's
Airport Hotel in St. Louis.
THE HOMEWORLD BANQUET will be held
Saturday night, at a cost of $20. per person. Tax and tip are
included in that price.
The menu is being planned, and the banquet will be 'flatware-optional'!
MINDSCANNER has it straight from Stacie Cupples of the Gateway Squadron,
this year's ConMistress, that the catering staff are thoroughly enjoying
the prospect of feeding a hoard of Klingons, and plans are being laid to
make the meal and ambiance something special.
SPARRING-On Friday night, warriors
will have a Sparring Area to show their prowess in battle, and to Win a
Seat at the Head Banquet Table. There will be a $5 fee for the competition,
with all proceeds going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
WET T-SHIRTS-We will have the pool
until 1AM both Friday and Saturday nights for outside water festivities.
ROOM PARTIES
We want to encourage you to throw parties.
Please let us know if you intend to, so that we can block your party as
long as you want. Our list of parties is separate from the hotel's. The
hotel has requested that you tell them you are having a party when you
register. They are requesting a $100 damage deposit.
DEALERS-Mary Stadter will be running
the dealers room. She has had years of experience. Dealers' rate information
will be available after March 29, '98.
ART SHOW-Kathy Randolph is running
the Art show this year with Donna Presnell assisting her. They have helped
with other shows in the past and will help to make available some of the
best work in science fiction and fantasy art. If you are an artist: Panel
or table space will rent for $12 full, $6 half. Original work in any medium
will be accepted.
GAMING-Don Mayford will be running
various types of Trek games throughout the weekend. You are also welcome
to bring games and share them.
MEMBERSHIPS:
Preregistration until May 1st
will be $20
From May 1st until July 1st
will be $25
From July 1st until August
1st will be $30
AT THE DOOR REGISTRATION WILL BE $35
For more info or to be put on the mailing list:
HOTEL INFO
HopeCon '98
Howard Johnson's Airport-(314) 731-3800
Room rates are:
Queen Single $65
King Single $65
Double Queen $65
the rooms are very spacious and the rates
are for 1-5 people.
The desire for Klingon events
has taken two forms, the convention, that ubiquitous Trek event, and the
newer 'cultural' festival, which takes many forms. Most are combinations
of the two.
Conventions become more plentiful year after year, and the Klingon
presence at most of them has
grown to the point where there is almost always at least one specific Klingon
activity at any con. In amongst the morass of Trek-derived cons we find
several examples of Klingon cons. The first tom come to mind is naturally
enough, Klin-kon. Klin-Kon is held in California, and, while there is programming
for the non-klingon, the vast majority is devoted to those of us in the
rubber heads. There are makeup demos, uniforming panels, ship forming panels,
almost anything one could need to become a Klingon. And for those that
already _are_ Klingon, there are rituals, language seminars, and delightful
samples of squirming Klingon food. Most Klin-specific cons take this form.
Two stand out in this field by altering the format. The Camp Dover Peace
Conference parades the governments of the various Trek races, it gets the
various functionaries of the clubs into the same place and gets them talking,
making plans for the next year and generally trying to improve the communication
level between clubs. While this sometimes results in 'peace', it more often
results in the various 'wars' of competitions and charity events that take
place all over fandom.
An excellent way to improve communication
and interaction. Hopecon, the KAG International Convention, also
changes the format. Like the huge Federation club based gatherings of the
past, Hopecon is KAGs chance to bring a large portion of this international
club together. Most activities are devoted to bringing the members together
and helping them to reach ever greater heights. KAG's Grand Assembly is
held there. This can take many forms, last year, it was an innovative Q
& A session in which the members could ask the High Command about various
topics and receive immediate, off the cuff responses. It is these types
of activities that bring the club together. Furthering this are the various
alliances formed in conversation pits, at parties and in the halls that
strengthen both the ships and Houses of the club.The Klingon based convention's
time has come, and it's well worth it to go to them and watch as they evolve
over the years.
Klingon cultural events have
taken place since the dawn of Klingon fandom.
In the beginnings, most were taken from books, extrapolated, or just plain
made up. Well, we still do that, but now we've got the added input of rituals
shown on tv. There has been an interesting addition to these fesivals though,
where once they were small things, consisting of maybe a ship or three,
now they've grown into events in their own right.
The Year Games, whose article
can be seen in this issue, is just one among many. The Klingon Feast, held
in California, is an outdoor event that contains various exercises in warriors
skills as well as rituals and readings from various Klingon sources. The
Monastery of QIn'lat presides over many of these and provides a more active
excitement in their batlh'etlh duels. On the east coast, Klin gather at
the Warriors Weekend, where besides all the competitions and rituals, warriors
gather to party and relax with their fellow Klingons. Newer events include
Klingon Heritage Day, the various paintball war games and one that epitomizes
the combining of the two types of event like no other. The Klingon Festival
of Honor, also called Serenitycon, is held in Ohio. It has all the amenities
of a convention combined with the outdoor activities of a Klingon festival.
The batlh'etlh tournament held at the Festival of Honor is known for its
skilled warriors, ferocity, and the fact that the first place award looks
just like the one Worf won on the show. It, like the Year Games and Dover
(and quite a few of the others) stresses cooperation between clubs. An
admirable trait which brings strength to the entirety of the Empire of
fandom.
The start this year of the Klingon
Holiday known as the Day of Honor, looks sure to bring us more of these
events. Already several ships in the SanDeigo area are putting together
their own Klingon Festival, to commemorate the day. Many other ships--and
clubs are taking this route as well. It looks extremely likely that in
the near future one will be able to have a busy convention schedule without
ever leaving the company of Klingons.
For information on any of the
events mentioned write to Jack Borkowski, [email protected], and you will
be put in touch with the various organizers.
After spending several years in KAG and
both staffing and running dozens of recruiting tables I have decided to
compile a list of things that work and things that don't. It is of utmost
importance to remember that the average recruiting table has the possibilities
to be both a boon and a disaster to your chapter. Regardless of the situations
under which you are operating, (ie: Where you're at, Who your are raising
money for, , etc...) all recruiting tables can succeed. So, lets get to
the basics.
Preparations
Recruiting opportunities are won or lost because of the before-hand preparations. These are just a few of the things I did before the recruiting table actually occurred. Making sure you have enough recruiting flyers, business cards, and other paperwork is very essential to your efforts. If you don't use recruiting flyers, or run out of them, a handy item is a pen and paper and tell people to jot down their name and address and you'll send them "More Information".
Getting the word out to your crew and any local chapters you wish to invite is invaluable. Without bodies at the function, you are doomed from the start. Don't be afraid to ask for assistance from other KAG chapters. We are all Sister Ships and have a responsibility to help out as we can. Scouting the area at least 3 days before your table is to be setup is very wise. No Klingon fights on unfamilar ground. And no KAG chapter should recruit without finding out where the table can go, how much space do you have, what your allowed and not allowed to do, etc... Many times we are promised the Moon, Sun, and Stars and get then get to the function and receive the dirty end of the stick. This occurs too often and can cause esentment or just plain disappointment. So a quick visual check of the area is very important.
The Recruiting Table
It is not necessary to actually build a recruiting table. Most times an 8 foot long table is being used at this functions. Table space is always limited and should be used most wisely. If you build a recruiting table then you'll always know how much table space you'll have.
Let there be a method to your madness,
organize a table in a stylish and effective manner. Don't allow drinks,
food, and member's junk to clutter the table. If you don't keep you table
clean people will be apt to think your chapter isn't proud it's self, is
unorganized, and lacking direction. All of which are good reasons not to
join a fan club. A well organized table shows the potential member that
you have organization, style, and above all pride in your Ship. Remember
that your table acts as a "Store Front" and that is how you will draw in
business.
Leadership
The Leadership you show and the end results
of your efforts will make a difference in your recruiting efforts. Even
if your are outgunned by other chapters or other goings-on your leadership
can take a bad situation and make it good. Despite the fact that onboard
your ship are your friends, relatives, and trusted comrades you must maintain
order. Now, this doesn't mean to "Rule With An Iron Hand" but it does mean
to keep the crew focused on the objective.
We are all guilty of goofing off and having
fun at recruiting functions. But by not paying attention to the people
around you passing your table, you are losing any chances of gaining potential
members. A few things simple things need to be done to keep the crew focused.
Don't allow anyone of your people in front
of the recruiting table. Since the table is restricted in size, they are
blocking the view of anyone wishing to look at your displayed objects,
or obtaining recruiting flyers. If a member does this, gently remind him/her
that they are blocking the table. Allow members to congregate along the
sides or back but never the front.
It is also important to keep the crew from
standing around like they are bored (My favorite line at recruiting
tables, "Break it up, you look like a Cadet review!"). People standing
around with their backs to the crowd aren't "showing off" their uniforms
and props. These are members being counter-effective to your ships efforts
(Their not doing this on purpose of course!!) . Only keep a few members
around the table. Send the rest out with flyers and allow them to mix it
up with the crowd. Make sure you rotate these jobs so everyone can sit
down as well as roam around.
Don't hog the fun. When interested people
come forward to another member, try to stay out of it. Letting others talk
to potential members is difficult, you want to help out but you are only
displaying distrust in your crew. Trusting your crew is how you show that
Leadership abounds on your Ship.
Occasionally you are recruiting with another
Organization or Club. It is very important to interact with the various
clubs we have in Fandom. However, it can be a Royal Nightmare if you don't
keep an eye on what's going on. Too often one chapter will get distracted
and loses the chances at recruiting. Against chapters of Non-Klingon persausion
this isn't too damaging. However, losing sight of your goals when jointly
recruiting with another Klingon club can prove to be costly. This shouldn't
stop you from such functions, but to is well to keep in mind that you need
to be aware of your surroundings and opportunities.
Keep your people happy. Make sure everyone
has a chance to eat, use the restroom, and yet not abandoned the recruiting
table. No, don't make a schedule about it. Just make sure you don't let
the entire crew walk off to McDonald's and strand one member at the table!
Added Extras
The following are just things you can do
to spice up your recruiting efforts to make people sit up and take notice
of you.
Is there a video game nearby? Well get
some Klingon to play it and others to cheer him/her on! Nothing draws a
crowd like a crowd!
Be entertaining! Don't stand there like
you are guarding Kahless' Underwear Drawer. People are naturally intimidated
by us to begin with. If you act unapproachable, you'll BE unapproached!
Klingons laugh, smile, joke, and make merry. If you don't frighten the
crowd you might just recruit a couple without even knowing it.
Most Non-Trek fans are usually very nice. Some become interested in only talk of your uniform construction and such. But others are very rude. Always watch out for those who are looking to make a point with their dates or other stupid reasons for smart remarks. Use their wise-cracks to your advantage.
Don't be rude or abrasive but you can turn
their verbal jabs into a display of
your ship's tolerance, humor, and fun. Don't provoke
nor esculate the verbal attack, but turn it from something
negative into something positive.
In Closing I'd like to remind you that
these are just some basic guidelines
that I have found improve the atmopshere for recruiting.
If you have anything to include in this article send
it to me and I'll publish it here for the rest of the Quadrant
to read and use. Information is power, and Klingons just
LOVE power!!!
Cmdr. K'IStagh sutai-Krenn
Cold Steel Quadrant Commander
Once more the Klingons of all the Lines
of the Empire will gather at the Olive Branch Campground, on June 26, 27,
and 28, in Oregonia, Ohio to take part in the Games. This year the Games
are proud to feature a Guest of Honor, he whose writings give form to much
of what is the Empire-on-Terra. He whose writing gave the name to this
very event. The Author, John M. Ford. Writer of The Final Reflection, How
much for Just the Planet, and many other enjoyable works. The man who did
for Klingons what Gene Roddenbery did for the rest of the Star Trek universe
ADULTS- Friday-Sunday $25 KIDS 5-12-
$20
Saturday-Sunday $20 $15
One Day $15 $10
All prices include camping fees and the Banquet. Persons buying One day passes must leave the grounds by 9:00 PM. Make all checks/ money orders payable to Jack Borkowski, 1332 Scott Blvd. Covington, KY 41011-3457
John M. Ford's accomodations are provided by Holman Motors, Inc. John Huddleson, Salesman Specializing in Motor Homes and All Types of Travel Trailers Hwy. 32 and Elick Lane Batavia, OH 45103 (513) 752-3123 or 1-800-323-8677
Directions? Directions are easy. Take I-80, I-70, OR I-40, east or west, depending on where you are in relation to Ohio. From 80, 70, or 40 get on I-71, take I-71 north from I-40, or south from I-80, I-70, to exit 36 in Ohio, and then just follow the signs to the Klingon Year Games. If you'd like further clarification call Jack at (606)-491-2933
Friends:
On February 2, 1998, the Klingon fandom community lost one of its brightest
stars - Charles "Chuck" Elauria.
He was known online as Krell Kag; most of his close friends in the Ring of Fire called him "Slimey", short forTHE SLIMEDEVIL! This was the title most of us knew him by.
Just two months earlier, at Kling Kon 97, it was my pleasure to promote Slimey to full Commander as both Klin and Gowron himself cheered.
The following morning, K'Aos (Michael Sarkisian of Kabin Man fame) and Kestrel (Vera Maheu of Wild Frontier fame) promoted him to fellow Marauder, as he'd spent his five years as a KAG member doing what Marauders are there to do - promoting the club, keeping in contact with everybody, throwing in some fun during lulls in activity, and providing additional support to ship COs, anyone working on a special project, and even his old pal the Fleet Admiral.
Slimey's friendship extended beyond just club activities. Many of us found
in him a friend who was a good listener and who could always help find
the silver lining in the darkest cloud. He had both the wisdom of a much
older person and the playfulness of a child - traits that inspired admiration
and love from those who knew him.
Many of these friends he'd made over the years gathered five days later to pay him final respects. Here was a man rich in friends! As we howled our grief to the heavens, we were answered with a mighty clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning - which had the effect, as Slimey always did, of lifting everyone's mood. He's home.
Afterwards, we made a pilgrimage to one of his favorite spots on Terra - the local Toys R Us, where we each bought a Klingon toy in his Honor. We spent the rest of the evening telling about all the fun times and the laughter we'd shared with him, and the happy memories he left us with.
Thank you Slimey, we love
you. Your Klingon "momeee!"
Kutaj zantai-Kor-DaS/Mary
Cordero
KAG RING OF FIRE