All Quiet on The Chicago Front

March has come in like the proverbial lion, but will it go out like a lamb? I spoke with VAdm. Higdon last night who is nervous about the prospect of a long March... long for him because of the election. Region 12 has moved in to the election phase of choosing a new Regional Coordinator. I am part of Higdon's party, serving as his campaign manager as well as being on the ticket as his Junior Vice Regional Coordinator.

I personally don't see the month taking as long. I have the March meeting to prepare for, the fun night has yet to be fully planned, and I'm awaiting word on my date to return to work (of which I hope takes place soon).

On Facebook, I have set up events for both this Sunday's meeting and Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd, and I'll be setting up the March fun night and the Star Trek movie premier Sunday night after the meeting.

Contacting The Empire

Recognizing the interests of some of our crew members, I have sent a message to the 501st Legion, expressing an interest in having members of their organization make an introductory presentation to the USS Chicago. Should 501st membership be something the crew wishes to pursue, then it is possible that our currently inactive 201st Enforcers SFMC detachment could be replaced with Stormtroopers.

I am currently awaiting response from the Midwest Garrison's PAO.

Upcoming Events

The time is approaching where we are going to be appearing as USS Chicago, not just as some Trekkies in costume. Free Comic Book Day is coming, as is the premier of the new Star Trek movie. Both will be costumed events, both will be recruiting events. Both events are going to require a lot of preparation.

Thanks to our XO's diligent work, we've secured the Marcus Theather in Chicago Heights for a pre-screening of Star Trek, one hour before it's midnight release. Before Chicago came to The Zone Comics, I attended the pre-screening for The Dark Knight. OT put on a great show ahead of the movie and it was a very memorable experience. I'm hoping for the same experience with this. I would love to be able to fill a theater, and with any luck, we'll be able to get members of the BortaS and Black Hawk out here too.

Remaining on my list of things to do is to write and send a press release to the local news media. It would be great publicity to get WGN to come out to the premier.

Scene It Game Night Follow-up

For the crew of the Chicago who came together this evening, a challenge was given, a challenge to the knowledge of Star Trek that each member of the crew carried. Scene It put our dedication to our passion to the test, and I can safely say that we all had heaps of fun! As we tested our trivia skills, the XO and Operations Officer treated us to dinner. Even though I won the game with our Chief Engineer coming in second, everyone won tonight.

We played the game on the party mode, which worked out well for us, but Cmdr. Puente and I made the decision to have another trivia night for our April fun night. I'll host the game and remove myself from competition. I will win by seeing my crew have fun.

Welcome to the new Captain's Blog

Welcome to the new and inmproved Captain's Blog. Many moons ago, my blog consisted of whatever I threw on to USS Chicago's Joomla site. Considering that we've gone back to simple HTML (thanks to all you hackers out there), I've decided to start with a blogger site for the Captain's Blog.

I don't have much to say today, at least for the first entry. Our Chief Intelligence Officer and her cadet subordinates remain ill, but her spirits are improving. I, on the other hand, will be headed out to The Zone Comics for an evening of gaming with the crew as we check out the new Scene It! Deluxe Edition Star Trek trivia game. While I don't know if the game has made it in to brick and mortar retailors yet, it is available on the web and my XO has been recieving copies at his comic shop. Last I heard, it was not supposed to be released until May, coinciding with the release of the next Star Trek movie. I do imagine it will be a fun time tonight.