Greetings Troopers,
The EI and Centurion certificates have been created and are waiting on a couple of "tweaks." Several outstanding graphic artists put forth their blood, sweat, and tears to help create these awards. Hats off to them for the long hours they spent on this project and for their dedication. The designs that were created by Damian (Dmian) are the ones that we have chosen to use. With this new design, anyone that is proud to have achieved their goals with the FISD artisan program will able to show their achievement by displaying the award on their wall.
Rob Kingman (Matt Black) who was a great part of the staff this year, not only working as the Deputy Provist Marshall, but also working behind the scenes with the day to day details that kept the forum running has asked to step down and take a sabbatical due to personal reasons. A side note that Rob was the first UK Centurion.
I would like to take this moment to thank Rob for all that he has done for the FISD forum and wish him the best and hope that he won't be stranger. I know a lot of you think very highly of Rob and hope that you will take time to thank him personally and wish him well.
If anyone hasn't been around for the last month or so, the Katie Goldman story about the little girl becoming a Stormtrooper hit big time across the internet. In everyone of the blogs or videos that I saw, it was about the 501st Legion helping her. I was somewhat disappointed in not hearing anything about the FISD and the members of the FISD that "really" made this happen. The FISD members were the ones that generously made the donations that made it possible to purchase the child TK armor and all the accessories that finish out the costume. The four members of MWG, who are FISD members as well, are the ones that put blood, sweat and tears in to putting together the suit for Katie.
At this time I want to thank everyone that is on the list below that donated money, time, and product to make this project possible so Katie could have a Stormtrooper costume. With out you, this would not have happened:
NAME AND FISD MEMBER NAME
Andrew - HeloTrooper
Gary - Magicmemories2
Jenny - JNNFR72
Brian - Fleetfang
Anthony - TK 6527
Ron - Challenge64
Adriane - Beans
David - Dizzydevil105
Aaron - Thrawns_Drycleaner
Nathan - MisterFubar
Tony - Columbiamo
Greg - Laserbrain
Jonathan - evilboy
Steve - gazmosis
Diana - daennika
Glen - gmrhodes13
Gordon - Papatrooper
David - dgcook
Patrick - Front-a-Little
Sven - Vadier
Todd - Toddster
Nicky - Nicky
Carlos - Solcar23
Craig & Marissa- Hyper
Joel - hemostat1976
Jaime - whiteowl
Leonard - Leo
Heidi - Heavy
James - Sith Devildog
Mark - Kade
Eric- Trooper328
Simon - SIMpixels
Johannes - Spectre
Kathy- Ciderqueen
Ian - nai-retep
Javier - TK265
Kristian - Rikku
Mike - necron999
Jesse - TrooperJesse
Gary - flashpoint0214
Stephen - southsidetrooper
Robert - TKittell
Matthew - Nicholls
Kevin - kaa1304
Jeroen - svache
Kevin - MrCosmo1
Hans-Petter - hanspl
Craig - dm101
Reza - Rezablad3
Sergiu - Romania
Kevin - KevinB85
Jason - boomshakra
Jeffrey - mu5a5hi
Anthony - xapologiesx
Keith - TK 5376
Andy - TK0932
Terrell - Supertrooper
Tom - Roguetrooper
We do have some funds left over from the donations made for this project. I will be posting a thread topic on what we should do with the money that was donated over and above the cost involved to get Katie her suit.
Moving on, I want to touch base on the Attache program. We are going to be setting some guidelines on how those members should conduct themselves. The attaches truly represent what this forum is about. This is a title that is earned and not freely given. The attache program is not only about how well you understand the Stormtrooper costume, but also about how you conduct yourself. As an attache, you are an ambassador for the FISD. So, how you act how you re-act and what you do, not only here, but on other forums and social medias will be part of the code of conduct, among other things. Stay tuned.
How we conduct ourselves with one another:
I think we as Star Wars fans and as 501st members have a great passion for our hobby, because we love our Galaxy, far, far away. I think our passion and beliefs sometimes override how we conduct ourselves with our fellow forum members. Thus, this can make a topic or thread become an uneasy situation. I think we all sometimes forget, because we are so passionate about the Stormtrooper and hobby, that we let our emotions take over and in the process lose our civility and courtesy towards others. I recently was asked by Albin Johnson, (501st Legion Founder) to help him take a 5-year-old suit of armor and get it up to standards. Within the conversations that I have has with him in the past week, he reiterated a sentence to me that rings true. I will share this sentence with all of you in hopes that it will help to control our over zealous moments and loss of civility over the TK costume. Here are the words that Albin told me, "we are just a bunch of people wanting to be plastic spacemen, that want to have some fun." With that in mind, I think we first have to look at the fact that this hobby should be fun and sometimes can be looked upon as being taken to the extreme without anyone else's consideration.
So with that in mind lets all make a concerted effort toward you fellow "plastic spaceman" to be more understanding, show less derisiveness and be more civil so we can continue to have fun.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Tom Gardner
TK5940 "RogueTrooper"
Detachment Leader
Current FISD Command Staff
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Detachment Leader (DL) - Roguetrooper - Tom Gardner (TK 5940)
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Executive Officer (XO) - Stormtrooperguy - Brian Anderson (TK 5940)
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Membership Officer (MEM) - novatie - A.C. Meyers (TK 5597)
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Deployment Officer (DO) - Locitus - Mathias Rodstedt (TK2959)
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Intelligence Officer (INT) - Star Raider - Corey Andrews (TK 4524)
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Public Relations Officer (PRO) - LadyInWhite - Ingrid Moon (TK 6818)
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Chief Tactical Officer (CTO) - DarthAloha - Eric Brager (TK 9674)
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Merchandise Officer (MBO) - TK4205 - Wyatt (TK 4205)
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Detachment Founder (DF) - Daetrin - Paul Hoeffer (TK 8020)
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Provost Marshall (PRM) - captsafe66 - Mark Ryner (TK 4584)
October Centurion Awards: 5 (total 62)
October Expert Infantry Awards: 16 (total 277)
October Fire Team Tally: 2 new (11 total)
Newest Fire Teams: Fire Team 7 "River Rats" - Squad 7, Florida Garrison; Men in White - Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, IL areas
October Attache Tally: 4 new
Newest Attaches: TK9492 (Isaac, "theisaac" Dune Sea Garrison), TK25267 (Charles, "chookaboom" Canadian Garrison), TK8981 (Serge, "Mogwai" German Garrison), TK3483 (Jimmy, "Darth Furious" Terror Austalis Garrison), TK3796 (Phil, "FunkyTrigger" UK Garrison)
What's an Attache? Someone in your garrison who represents FISD with the friendly "Troopers Helping Troopers" spirit!
New members in October: 191
Active members in forums: 494 people created 7203 posts
Top Ten Posters in October:
- Locitus - 380
- chookaboom - 305
- columbiamo - 285
- gmrhodes13 - 233
- captsafe66 - 206
- Ourphil - 191
- LadyInWhite - 133
- jnnfr72 - 127
- Darth Aloha - 121
- TrooperJesse - 117
Reported Field Exercises: 35 ! We're so active!!!
Field Exercises: Check here for the full list!
Number of Twitter Followers as of 9/30: 511
Number of Facebook Followers as of 9/30: 1464
Do you know of people in your garrison who don't regularly visit whitearmor.net, but might benefit from the FISD and Legion updates, as well as tips and some community-oriented fun? Invite them follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
Halloween was here, and if the death troopers didn't eat your face, be sure to check out the awesome photos the troops sent in from Halloweens past and present.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Ingrid Moon
TK-6818 “LadyInWhiteâ€
Public Relations Officer
Pimp Your Blaster!
Tired of carrying around an average, run-of-the-mill E-11 blaster? Jealous of those scruffy "bad boys" with the average, run-of-the-mill BFGs?
Feel inadequate no more! With a few modifications, you can pimp your blaster to turn heads, attract admiration from your fellow troopers (or the ladies), and scare the bejeezes out of those rebel targets in orange space suits.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Tom Gardner
TK5940 "RogueTrooper"
Detachment Leader
There are some fun & interesting things for sale in the FISD Merchandise threads, so take a peek and see if something strikes your fancy. We may also have some new items coming up this month, so keep an eye out in that section for cool surprises! Right now it's decals, t-shirts, and more!
Most notable right now are TRADING CARDS! Yes, if you've been living under a krayt egg this past month, you've probably not noticed that the FISD Trading Cards are back. They're beautiful (as always) and ready for your awesome photos and TK-details, so get yours in now before the holiday rush, so to speak. The thread says 2010 Trading Cards but 2012 is in there with 'em, and there is a separate thread for the actual 2012 submissions.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Ingrid Moon
TK-6818 “LadyInWhiteâ€
Public Relations Officer
Congratulations to our Provost Marshall TK-4584 Mark "Pull my finger" Ryner for embodying the spirit of FISD through his mentorship on and off the forums, patience, dedication to the FISD forums, and being an all around costume maniac. Thank you for all you do for the detachment and Bloodfin TKs.
- TK - Nov 2011: ANH - Stunt / EI - June
- TI - Feb 2012: Tie Reserve Pilot
- IC - Feb 2012: Imperial Bridge Crew
- TD - June 2012: EI June 2012 / First HWT Centurion
- ID - July 2012 Imperial Staff Officer
- Fire Team 500 Founder May 2012
- Provost Marshall - October 2012
With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty,
Eric Brager
TK-9674 “Darth Alohaâ€
Chief Tactical Officer
Once again, we can't pick just one! The more fantastic troops you post, the harder it is to choose - and we love it!
See all of this month's field exercises right here and a great summary thread here.
Step Up For Down Syndrome 14 Oct 2012 - Florida Garrison
A great cause and an appearance that goes directly to the hearts of fans. Hey, does that tutu come in trooper size?
Training Day 4 Oct 2012 - Spanish Garrison
I don't think you get the full effect of this parade until you see the thread and all the photos. Every garrison should have a Training Day!
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Andrea Loar
TK-6093 “Andrea11â€
Imperial Propaganda Department
The FISD website and its server seem to be chugging along nicely. Full backups occur monthly-ish and the files are shipped offsite for further protection. Two forum security updates were applied to the forum software recently. A new version of tapatalk dropped the other day and was installed for you smart phone addicts.
Our VPS server hosts three the other detachments and an outpost's site. The Mos Eisley Police Department, Imperial Officer Corps, the Sith Lord Detachment, and the Pacific Outpost's site. We have been approached to host more detachment sites. For now I am trying to understand our existing growth patterns and how that impacts server resources before we commit to piling on more activity The downside to keeping it small means that there are fewer sites to share the yearly hosting costs.
For those who have not noticed we now have a reference gallery with 1875 screen captures from all three movies plus EU video games.
There are other plans in the works to be able to promote forum posts that anyone can author into an organized series of tutorials and information articles. Locitus and I have a development version of FISD up and running where we are testing such things. Stay tuned for that next news letter.
Here is a report from Google analytics for folks who dig this sort of data:
With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty,
Eric Brager
TK-9674 “Darth Alohaâ€
Chief Tactical Officer
5 Tips for Healthy Critiques
The FISD is a brotherhood of well-meaning people who want to look good while doing good. People would not be here if they did not take some pride in their work, but they may not all do it the way you do or do it up to your personal standards. As brothers (and sisters) we must unite in making all members feel proud to stand together. To do this, I recommend the following tips for providing criticism and feedback - from Centurion applications to the new guy's "hello."
1. Remember these are people you're talking to, not anonymous clone-bots. They have feelings, and expect you to respect them. Even if you're the type who would "say it to their face," they may not be the type to receive it that way. Treat people with the respect you expect to receive from them.
2. Always start your feedback with something positive! People put a lot of heart and soul into these builds, and though we're not all perfect, being reminded that we're not perfect can hurt. Being respected for the good we DID do will help soften the feedback.
3. Even if you softened the blow with the positive, your tips and pointers should ALWAYS be stated in a positive, constructive manner. The key word is constructive. Provide supportive information about why it looks X or how they can make it more Y. Don't just rip and run.
4. Make your tone conversational, like you're chatting over coffee. It's great to clarify when something is your OPINION as opposed to a fact; but it's even better to state a fact in a way that is friendly and constructive.
5. Sarcasm, wit, and my particularly parching dry humor don't always come across as such in text, even with smilies. (Another reason why how you choose to phrase something is so important.)
Bonus tip: If something someone says makes you angry, maybe it's best just to ignore it and "walk away" from the conversation.
I hope this helps to remind everyone to be friendly and play nice in the forums. We are an enormous international community with so many diverse personalities - but we can keep the peace by being encouraging and supportive.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Ingrid Moon
TK-6818 “LadyInWhiteâ€
Public Relations Officer
An Update on Katie
Greetings, fellow troopers. Katie's armor has been completed and received very recently. We are all so proud of our little Stormtrooper!
When Katie has outgrown her armor she'll be giving it back to the 501st to pass onto another deserving youngster. Katie will be signing up with the Galactic Acedemy and will be invited to troop along with the MWG.
If you have not seen some of the recent stories and pictures, here are some links you'll want to check out.
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The FISD Original Call to Arms
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Photo Gallery from the Armor Party
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Chicagonow.com article - The Results - All Smiles! (nice mention of our very own Gazmosis)
Thanks to all for keeping FISD updated and for sharing your wonderful stories and pictures.
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
Jennifer Riddle
TK-9496 "jnnfr72"
Imperial Propaganda Department
Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor
Now with "tip of the week" and other ongoing discussions. If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories!
Twitter: www.twitter.com/FISD501st or @FISD501st
From crazy TK merch findings to minute-by-minute Death Star climate control updates, follow FISD on Twitter!
With Unquestioned Loyalty and a Questionable Hole in her Holster,
Ingrid Moon
TK-6818 “LadyInWhiteâ€
Public Relations Officer
On behalf of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff.
End Transmission.
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