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November 2012 Newsletter


LadyInWhite

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From the Detachment Leader

Around the Detachment

Tip of the Month

FISD Swag Alert

Trooper of the Month

Troop of the Month

FISD Website What's Up

Providing TK Build Feedback

Katie's Story

 

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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.

 

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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

 

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Current FISD Command Staff

  • Detachment Leader (DL) - Roguetrooper - Tom Gardner (TK 5940)
  • Executive Officer (XO) - Stormtrooperguy - Brian Anderson (TK 5940)
  • Membership Officer (MEM) - novatie - A.C. Meyers (TK 5597)
  • Deployment Officer (DO) - Locitus - Mathias Rodstedt (TK2959)
  • Intelligence Officer (INT) - Star Raider - Corey Andrews (TK 4524)
  • Public Relations Officer (PRO) - LadyInWhite - Ingrid Moon (TK 6818)
  • Chief Tactical Officer (CTO) - DarthAloha - Eric Brager (TK 9674)
  • Merchandise Officer (MBO) - TK4205 - Wyatt (TK 4205)
  • Detachment Founder (DF) - Daetrin - Paul Hoeffer (TK 8020)
  • 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:

  1. Locitus - 380
  2. chookaboom - 305
  3. columbiamo - 285
  4. gmrhodes13 - 233
  5. captsafe66 - 206
  6. Ourphil - 191
  7. LadyInWhite - 133
  8. jnnfr72 - 127
  9. Darth Aloha - 121
  10. 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

 

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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

 

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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

 

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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

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With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty,

 

Eric Brager

TK-9674 “Darth Alohaâ€

Chief Tactical Officer

 

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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?

 

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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!

 

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With Unquestioned Loyalty,

 

Andrea Loar

TK-6093 “Andrea11â€

Imperial Propaganda Department

 

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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:

 

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With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty,

 

Eric Brager

TK-9674 “Darth Alohaâ€

Chief Tactical Officer

 

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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

 

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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.

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

 

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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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Great job everyone!

 

The certificates look amazing! I want mine too! Bravo to Damian! Can't wait till they're ready!

 

Just for the record, I feel the need to address Tom's disappointment about the Katie's armor event. As a MWG member who was at the troop and a truly proud member and attaché of the FISD. I personally don't feel that we the FISD were "left out" in any way. First of all, the FISD is prominently mentioned in the first lines of the post on the front page of the MWG site. Second, we are also clearly mentioned on Katie's mothers blog about the day. If you read the blog, during Steve Gaza's speech when he presented the armor to Katie, he talked about what the detachment is, who we are, and mentioned us by name as well as making it clear to her that it was all of us who made it happen for her. And lastly, the FISD is clearly written in huge bold golden letters right at the top of the inner lid of Katie's bin along with the names of every FISD and Legion member who donated.

 

Here's the lid:

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So I believe that we were all adequately appreciated here for our contributions to her armor.

 

Just my 2cents on the matter. :duim:

Edited by Solcar23
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Great job everyone!

 

The certificates look amazing! I want mine too! Bravo to Damian! Can't wait till they're ready!

 

Just for the record, I feel the need to address Tom's disappointment about the Katie's armor event. As a MWG member who was at the troop and a truly proud member and attaché of the FISD. I personally don't feel that we the FISD were "left out" in any way. First of all, the FISD is prominently mentioned in the first lines of the post on the front page of the MWG site. Second, we are also clearly mentioned on Katie's mothers blog about the day. If you read the blog, during Steve Gaza's speech when he presented the armor to Katie, he talked about what the detachment is, who we are, and mentioned us by name as well as making it clear to her that it was all of us who made it happen for her. And lastly, the FISD is clearly written in huge bold golden letters right at the top of the inner lid of Katie's bin along with the names of every FISD and Legion member who donated.

 

Here's the lid:

P1030875.jpg

 

 

So I believe that we were all adequately appreciated here for our contributions to her armor.

 

Just my 2cents on the matter. :duim:

 

hi Carlos, I know that the Steve and the MWG added the info about the people that did this for Katie in the tote. We talked about it via emails when Steve and I discussed purchasing the tote.

 

And I am very grateful for everything that the four members of the MWG that worked on it (top notch people) I just saw though out the internet that the 501st "Legion" got the kudos not the MWG and not the FISD. I feel that if you do the work you should get the thank you.

 

If you look thought the internet blogs about this, you will see what I am talking about. It may be in Carrie's blog, but some how via the internet it was lost. 99.9% of the blogs gave the impression that the over 6000 active Legion members did this (which is really not true) that is what I was disappointment. and Not what the MWG did while presenting the armor ( you guys rocked).

 

to show you how the internet blog are, one of the Blogs named Bryan (MWG PRO and one of the great members that worked hard on this) as the "Legion Leader"

 

"But when she went to Legion leader Brian Troyan to raise concern, she was nearly laughed out of the room."

Link to blog: http://www.dailydot....e-501st-legion/

 

So, do you see what I am talking about now? That the internet bloggers went in the wrong direction (they had the wrong info somehow).

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hi Carlos, I know that the Steve and the MWG added the info about the people that did this for Katie in the tote. We talked about it via emails when Steve and I discussed purchasing the tote.

 

And I am very grateful for everything that the four members of the MWG that worked on it (top notch people) I just saw though out the internet that the 501st "Legion" got the kudos not the MWG and not the FISD. I feel that if you do the work you should get the thank you.

 

If you look thought the internet blogs about this, you will see what I am talking about. It may be in Carrie's blog, but some how via the internet it was lost. 99.9% of the blogs gave the impression that the over 6000 active Legion members did this (which is really not true) that is what I was disappointment. and Not what the MWG did while presenting the armor ( you guys rocked).

 

to show you how the internet blog are, one of the Blogs named Bryan (MWG PRO and one of the great members that worked hard on this) as the "Legion Leader"

 

"But when she went to Legion leader Brian Troyan to raise concern, she was nearly laughed out of the room."

Link to blog: http://www.dailydot....e-501st-legion/

 

So, do you see what I am talking about now? That the internet bloggers went in the wrong direction (they had the wrong info somehow).

 

 

Ahhhh, I do see that! I didn't read the other blogs about this, only the ones I was immediately attached to. It seems another very typical case of the press (bloggers included) who try to oversimplify for the sake of brevity. It would've been only a matter of a sentence or two to clarify it further and mention us on those other blogs. Also, the fact that they called Brian (the MWG GPRO and Legion PRO) the Legion Leader is another example of their ineptitude and lack of research. Well, cest la vie! Sorry to get sensitive about it, I did see it at like 1 AM and was just compelled to address it without doing the proper research into what I was writing about!(hmmm......something these bloggers should've and could've done just as easily!)

 

I am so damn proud of my Detachment and Garrison for doing this! It was such an honor just to be there and be a part of the day! Hmmm....do I smell an FISD "Katie"patch run for this one in the near future?

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Ahhhh, I do see that! I didn't read the other blogs about this, only the ones I was immediately attached to. It seems another very typical case of the press (bloggers included) who try to oversimplify for the sake of brevity. It would've been only a matter of a sentence or two to clarify it further and mention us on those other blogs. Also, the fact that they called Brian (the MWG GPRO and Legion PRO) the Legion Leader is another example of their ineptitude and lack of research. Well, cest la vie! Sorry to get sensitive about it, I did see it at like 1 AM and was just compelled to address it without doing the proper research into what I was writing about!(hmmm......something these bloggers should've and could've done just as easily!)

 

I am so damn proud of my Detachment and Garrison for doing this! It was such an honor just to be there and be a part of the day! Hmmm....do I smell an FISD "Katie"patch run for this one in the near future?

 

Oh I like the patch idea.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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I am also very proud of our detachment and the MWG for stepping in. I am sure many other garrisons would have done something if Katie had been in their area. But MGW got the job done. And they did it with tremendous support and help from FISD, who, at Tom's request, donated cash and parts to make this a reality.

 

I am not on that list. I was wary of raising the funds this way, and told him if we fall short, I will cover any gap. Any gap! But we raised even more than the minimum, which left me no gap to contribute to. You all really did pull this off, and it shows an incredible solidarity in the community.

 

And this is one of the reasons I love my detachment so much :)

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Doing what we do here in the 501st can be a thankless job from time to time. We appear in front of hundreds of people a month in our armor and are superstars rallying to the cause of whatever troop we are representing at that time. When the helmet comes off, though, did I ever feel that the person standing next to me who I just took 4 picture with their kids, knew it was me under that bucket? Did I ever really want them to thank me? No. Why? It's just what we do. The fact that the 501st seems to be represented more in the headlines than the FISD regarding Katie's armor doesn't seem that big of a deal. WE know what we did and like Carlos said earlier, Katie and her Mom were made perfectly clear with no uncertain terms that if it wasn't for the FISD, the armor plain WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED!!!

I feel a sense of pride beyond anything I have felt before in the 501st donating to the cause alone. HAve had the honor to be on the build team was just icing on the cake. The 501st is the larger entity and our home base. Should we really be surprised that it is mentioned more? Not really. The FISD is proud of what we did for that little girl. No one here will soon forget that. I know I won't.

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+1

Well said, Steve :)

 

I never consider it "thankless" though. Every child's smile means more to me than a Thank You. I hear people say Thank You all the time (no bucket can block those words!) but just knowing how grown men get so excited to take a photo next to a trooper - any trooper - their favorite trooper - is all the Thank You I need :D

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