RT0904- CINCSF Report

Assembled Delegates,

Once again it is time to give the CINCSF report to the Round Table but this time
I decided to do things a little differently.  Normally I would tell you all
about the difficulties we face in recruitment, in our posting rates, or even in
the little political tiffs that go on between players; this time I want to talk
about the exact opposite.

Why are we still here?  Why does ASR exist and why do people take time out of
their busy schedules to sit down and write for no real reason?  I've thought
about those questions quite a bit lately and I've only been able to come up with
one answer, it's because of you.  To a point, the simple act of writing is
enjoyable but what is writing without someone to read it.  You are all authors,
you all write a story in your mind and then sit behind a keyboard to produce a
product, hoping that others like yourselves will enjoy your story.  It's that
interaction, between you and the other writers that makes ASR what it is.  That
special interaction that changes typed messages on a screen into friendships and
makes us all fall in love with the story. 

"Well it's no different than blogging, people become friends over blogs," you
might say.  What we all take for granted is that we are doing something special,
we are working together to blend our individual ideas together to tell a bigger
story and that's something that bloggers can't do.  When you make a post, you
don't know where the story is going to go or how the other authors are going to
take your product and build on it but we still put our contribution out there. 
Somehow, maybe by magic, we all take each post and twist it all into a story
told by not just one, but by all.

The magic of this organization is that we can take these stories and not judge
or "flame" each other for them.  How many times have we all seen someone post
something that took the story in a totally different direction, usually in a
direction that we didn't want to go.  The difference between what we do and
bloggers is that as an organization, we put the story first.  We take these
sudden story changes and build on them rather than sending the author that hate
filled email about how bad a writer we think they are.  Writing is an emotional
investment, we are invested in the characters we create or the story lines that
we build, and that creates an emotional risk.  What I respect in each of you is
that unlike other places, that emotional risk is respected and even encouraged. 
The players here respect each others work, even if we disagree with it, and move
on with the story.  What we don't have here, is the people that take more
pleasure in
cutting each other down than they take writing the story.

So...what am I trying to say here...it's that we have a lot to be proud of as a
group.  I know we could always use more people to actually post something.  We
still have our disagreements and don't always see eye to eye on all the issues
but we are still here.  I wanted to remind everyone that what we do here is more
than just tell stories, we make friends.  Other organizations have come and gone
but we are still here and we will be here for a long time to come.

As some of you know, due to real life issues that has been taking up my time,
I'll be leaving ASR at the end of the Round Table.  I leave with may happy
memories and with more friends in the world than I had when I started.  The
stories that I have been involved in are all unique and have entertained me for
years now.  I still find the time to go back and read some of the old stories
and find myself smiling as I read them. 

If there is one thing that I would ask of each of you, it would be to make a
point to get involved with the other players on your units.  If you take a few
moments to encourage and to publicly praise the other writers on your units I
think you'll find that they in turn post more often.  Get involved with their
posts and make them know that they are appreciated and respected for their
talent.  I want to praise Sean Murphy for doing this exact thing for me when I
started writing with him on the SERAPIS.  Sean took the time to let me know he
enjoyed my writing and it encouraged me to write more often.  He and I played a
boarding action once that stands out.  Sean played the good guys and I played
the bad guys, both of us playing off of the others posts as we tired to "one up"
the other side.  Instead of posting one or two times a month or even once or
twice a week, Sean and I were posting multiple full length posts back and forth
a day.  Needless
to say, that was a good month for SERAPIS's posting rate.

In conclusion, I want to thank you all for allowing me to serve as CINCSF and
would like to thank the Flag Council for their support.  We all owe them a lot
for keeping the behind the scenes stuff running smoothly so we have the frame
work in place to build these stories on.  Keep the stories coming and keep
supporting each other, not just as authors but as friends.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bruce Summa
CINCSF
Chair, ASR April 2009 Round Table