As Jar-Jar Binks once said, "How Rude!"

[Malarky]

First off I just want to say that the FISD and all its members have been kind and more than helpful in assisting me in getting started with this great hobby. I only wish other garrisons had the same courtesy as the members here.

 

I live near Toronto Canada and it was suggested on many posts that I should contact my local garrison for advice from people in my area to help me get set up. So I contacted the 501st.ca which is the Canadian detatchment and asked about getting access to view their forums. Got a very short and terse response from Roy demanding my TK number and if I didn't have one I cannot have access.

 

How does Roy expect to attract new recruits when his garrison won't even allow potential new members to ask questions to their members? Does he think I'm some kind of rebel spy who is going to steal the secret as to wether he has one or two rivets on his cod piece? It would have been nice to talk to some fellow local Canadian troopers and benefit from their advice on getting set up or assistance with costuming, but when it comes to the Canadian garrison it's TK or get lost.

 

If I had written to Roy before buying my suit I probably would have said forget it. I'm glad I was fortunate enough to come to the FISD first and met a great bunch of Star Wars fans with a penchant for assisting charity.

 

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Malarky

[Mosi[501st]]

You may want to try again with them and try to get along if you want to be in the 501st. You have to be assigned to the garrison or squad that is closest to where you live, and they will review your 501st application, not here. Then you have to troop at least once a year (official troop) to retain your 501st status.

[bigironvault]

FYI - Roy is the CO of the Canadian Garrison. Different garrisons have let's say....different approaches to recruits. I had that discussion with Roy. I want to give him the benefit of a doubt here that he probably gets a hundred requests a day. I agree with you though, that's not the right way to treat recruits because I was also taken aback by the responsea and he didn't tell me that FISD would be a good place to start or explain the application process. I found that out from other TK's.

 

That being said, I did meet a TK from the CG (TKkenny here I believe) and the meeting was really good at Toronto Comic Con. Also the Rebel Legion folks for the Canadian Garrison are very open (www.rebellegion.com forums) ... especially Jedi Doug and miqt from the forums whose main role is to get newbies started and help them source costumes. In fact miqt is making a part of my sister's costume for her.

 

I wouldn't sweat it bro, there's 4 soon-to-be TK's from the GTA alone on FISD right now... if you're around here (sorry I can't remember if you are or not)... we'll be happy to troop with you once we've all got our kits together.

[Malarky]

Thanks Major. Glad to see I'm not alone with this catch-22 situation. I'm well off and travel to cons all over North America every year. I'll just join a different Garrison if neccessary and troop with them. Until I get my TK designation I'll gladly settle with the good folks at FISD.

[bigironvault]

LOL btw, Major is my forum title (just from number of posts...

 

Anywho - on the flip side the Indiana Garrison (Bloodfins) have been the total opposite, their forums are public and even I've posted in their Garrison etc. lots of great people on there. We're trying to arrange something for GenCon this year in Indy when I'm down in the states.

 

Btw the 4 soon-to-be TKs on here are thinking of throwing a "newbie" armour party once we've all got our kits. Where abouts are you from again?

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Hi Malarky,

 

I know how you feel - I have had similar experiences before.

 

Please rest assured you are more than welcome here at FISD and you can get any and all the advice you need. I'm sure you'll be a valuable member of this community and we look forward to having you on board.

 

Always feel free to post or PM if you have anything to discuss whatsoever

[bigironvault]

Hi Malarky,

 

I know how you feel - I have had similar experiences before.

 

Please rest assured you are more than welcome here at FISD and you can get any and all the advice you need. I'm sure you'll be a valuable member of this community and we look forward to having you on board.

 

Always feel free to post or PM if you have anything to discuss whatsoever

 

Lucas, so what happens in a case where the TK just doesn't get a long with the local Garrison for whatever reason. Is he then screwed from joining the 501st?

[TD-3425]

One thing to note Keith. Garrisons have elections every year, so it's possible that the current CO would not be voted into the position next year. You have to be a Legion member and member of that garrison to cast your own vote.

 

Sorry to hear you went through something like this. On our garrison site, when we have a new members sign up, one of the questions that is asked is if the person is a guest, working on a costume or already a legion member. If they are working on a costume then they have access to certain forums to ask questions, etc but don't see any of our event stuff. Once they are a legion member they can sign up for events, etc. Guests only get a guest forum where they can ask questions, or use our contact form on our website.

Edited May 20, 2012 by TK3425

[Locitus[Admin]]

You can't join another garrison other than the one designated to your geographical area, unless you move of course. While I know very little of how 501st in Canada works, I think that the site you liked to is the Main Garrison, responsible for the whole of Canada, but your main point of contact would be with one of the outposts for your area. IE the garrison is split into sub-groups responsible for one part of Canada each and each seem to have it's own forum in addition to the "main" forum on 501st.ca. You should try signing up for the forum of the outpost of your region, I bet they are more welcoming.

 

And you are of course more than welcome to stay here too, but you can't really troop with FISD as we are just a forum and a "R&D" department of 501st specializing in Stormtroopers.

 

Either way, I'm happy that you feel welcome here, because you most certainly are!

[bigironvault]

One thing to note Keith. Garrisons have elections every year, so it's possible that the current CO would not be voted into the position next year. You have to be a Legion member and member of that garrison to cast your own vote....

 

Sorry to hear you went through something like this.

 

My question was really just in general, but I did get the "You need to be a TK to join the CG." line which to me is kind of weird since if a person didn't know about FISD. How would one become a TK? I like how the Rebel Legion CG does it. They have designated people to help future recruits etc which is REALLy good.

[inglorious trooper]

this sounds a real pain,im part of th u.k. garrison an to be honest i found everyone overwhelmingly friendly!

i just assumed that every garrison had a new members thread.

maybe someone from there should think about doing this as it can be a bit daunting when you start off and a friendly hello goes a long way!!

[bigironvault]

Well since there's been an influx of newbie troopers from Ontario, Canada joining FISD. We've decided to start a mailing list so we can all stay connected and help each other through the TK process. Malarky if you're interested in our list please send me your email via message here.

 

Cheers bro! You're not alone.

[Malarky]

Message sent. Let the group begin.

[Tray[TK]]

Yeah, It's tough to keep up with non members really. We, Garrison Carida, have an Academy where we let people join our forums with limited access and our cadets assigned an adviser who is always there to help with questions. All members are able to post and chime in with help. Each cadet also gets their own build thread to post photos and questions of there build during the process so that when the time comes they go through the approval process very smoothly with little to no changes needing to be made.

 

I think this would be a great thing for other garrisons to adopt if they don't have anything like this already.

[bigironvault]

Yeah, I totally get it. Especially in major cities etc. I was saying to another person on this forum that I bet 100's of people sign up and only 1% or less actually do something about it other than troll the forums. So it's a tough job. I don't envy the administration of it all.

[Pickles[TK]]

Canada is known for it's friendly, helpful and understanding people!

 

I am somewhat disappointed by the response (or lack of) that I received from "Roy" of the Canadian Garrison. I signed up at the 501st Canadian Garrison, hoping to meet people in my area who are both veteran and novice TK builders. It seems that FISD set the bar pretty high when it comes to welcoming new people and aspiring TKs because the only contact I had with the Canadian Garrison was an email (sent to me and many other people in this thread) saying I can't join unless I am already a 501st member.

 

I would have figured they'd have some kind of 'newbie' rank with limited forum access so that people just starting out would could dip their toes in. That is, unfortunately, not the case. I sent a reply to 'Roy' asking for clarification on the matter but have yet to receive any kind of response.

 

I did meet some of the Canadian Garrison members at the most recent Toronto Comic Con and they all seemed very friendly so I am wondering where the disconnect is. I'd love to troop with fellow Star Wars costumers! I have buckets of enthusiasm to go around!

 

In the meantime, like Keith said, a bunch of us in the relative Toronto area have been talking and getting to know each other. The plan is to meet up mid-July and talk armor!

 

Also, I'd like to thank everyone here at FISD as you've made me feel very welcome here and I very much appreciate all of the valuable information and experiences that you all have shared.

 

<3

[Will M Bison]

It would be nice to get a Trooper here in Kitchener.

[bigironvault]

I did meet some of the Canadian Garrison members at the most recent Toronto Comic Con and they all seemed very friendly so I am wondering where the disconnect is. I'd love to troop with fellow Star Wars costumers! I have buckets of enthusiasm to go around!

 

There's definitely a disconnect. Because I would echo that every TK I talked to at Toronto Comic Con was great and very friendly. I'm concerned about the TK approval process frankly and how that could possibly work given the what appears to be typical experience so far.

 

But like Andrea said, for now we have each other. We'll all figure it out together. I think we're seven TK's now in our little ol' group.

Edited May 21, 2012 by bigironvault

[Clamps[TK]]

GTA newbie TKs Unite!

[Daetrin[Admin]]

On the plus, as long as you have an acceptable costume, troop once, and are over 18, they really can't deny you membership because they "don't like you". Once in, as long as you troop once a year and keep your head down, there's not much they can do either. There is no rule people have to be one big happy family. I don't get along perfectly with everyone in my garrison, but it's a "to each their own" kind of thing.

 

I am surprised by your reception though - sounds very un-Canadian. Fortunately, there are other Canadian Garrison members here who can help ensure you're taken under wing.

[bluehickey]

I'm sure if "Roy" knew that he was offending serious prospects by his snippyness, he would change his ways.

[bigironvault]

I'm sure if "Roy" knew that he was offending serious prospects by his snippyness, he would change his ways.

 

I think there should probably be a standard email from the CG that addresses the following,

 

1. Need to be a TK to join

2. This is how you become a TK

3. This is how the process works

4. This is where you can get help (link to detachments)

 

I think that would help immensely. Don't even have to be overtly friendly or anything. This would really ease people's fears etc.

 

Anyhow - there's 7 TKs now on the newbie GTA mailing list/FB group. We'll all figure it out together... and troop together no matter what.

 

Our goal, to get every member in our little group a TK number!

[Will M Bison]

G-Go TEAM!

[pandatrooper[TK]]

In the Badlands garrison (western canada), you can simply register on the forum and as long as we know you're not a spambot and that you are indeed a real person, you can see our public forums. The only sections you can't see are the 501st members sections which have event planning, merch etc. This is not unlike Fisd where there are sections you can't see unless you are logged in or are a 501st member etc.

 

I know that on Badlands, we are very open and welcoming to new members and we get the "hi I'm new and I want to be a TK and I don't know where to start". Everyone knows to point people to Fisd or they refer new members to the garrison armorer - which me.

Edited May 21, 2012 by pandatrooper

[carbonitekid]

Sorry, but this "Roy" bloke sounds like a total knob.

 

This is the sort of behaviour that not only encourages others to see the 501st as Eliteist but also ensures the standards in some parts of the world never improve.

How the hell are you supposed to gain the advice required ( no offence to det leaders ) to make a costume or, more to the point get to know fellow members in the area and decide if you even want to be a part of it!!

 

With an attitude like his how many potential members have said: "Fudge him!! Fudge the 501st!!" ?

 

Is the LCO aware of this situation?

If not perhaps he should be made aware of it:

 

• rc6247@gmail.com
  
• kkuipers@krkconsult.net
  

Both email addys are out in public domain.

Edited May 21, 2012 by carbonitekid