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  1. Hey there, fabulous folks! Brace yourselves because Awards Ceremony season is upon us, and it's time to unleash your inner fashionista for the grandest event of the year! Before we kick off the show, we've got a fun little task for everyone. We're encouraging all of you to spice up your forum avatars by dressing them in some seriously fabulous outfits, just like those A-listers rock on the red carpet! Don't worry about going all-out perfection—many players simply find a cool snapshot of their character's actor floating around the web and use that, like so: But if you're looking for something more spiffy, you can also head to the Graphics Requests forum and open a new thread asking for some help from our talented community. Make sure you leave plenty of time for the team there to help get something that works – best to start earlier than later! Once you have an image you like, you can change your forum avatar by following these instructions. Challenge: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create the designer name for your avatar's outfit. You can include as much or as little detail as you want. Loaned from the Nova Collection from Betazed? Stolen from the Qo'nos M'ritih museum? Designed by Bajoran protégé Gelys? A showpiece by the Trill artist Pana? Weave a tale around it and it'll be featured in an FNS article.
  2. This wrap-up of the awards is all about giving thanks to everyone who helped put it together. Awards are, without a doubt, our biggest and most involved event every year, bringing together nearly every member of the fleet to make nominations while engaging everyone on staff to publish it all flawlessly and on time. Once again, our first and foremost thanks goes to the producer of the show for the third year in a row: Jo Marshall. Em has volunteered repeatedly and, each year, becomes more of an expert in the many dozens of moving parts required to pull off this thing. She is quick, helpful, clear, and enthusiastic about making this event happen, and I know I speak for everyone on staff when I declare our deepest appreciation at the way she makes this easier for all of us. And all of this is done while also managing many other fleetwide tasks, not least of which is the First Officer the Gorkon! Also Genkos Adea, Elliot, who acted as a deputy to Marshall and helped every step of the way in assembling and publishing content, sometimes even at random times just to confound all the eager beavers on Discord who were counting down the minutes. Many thanks to him for his contributions and the amusement he brought to the staff watching the scramble! And Alora DeVeau, Amanda, for being a cheerleader for this process! Her enthusiasm for everyone in the awards is an inspiration and kept us going! Now onto the Awards Committee, who have the mighty task of reading all the nominations for Special and Duty Post awards and then have to vote to decide who's the winner of each! This is a monumental amount of reading and a lot of decisions to be made in a very short period of time but they did it admirably. Many thanks to these folks: Alora DeVeau Shedet / Nugra Karrod Niac Kali Nicholotti Randal Shayne Endless and deep appreciation for the Commanding Officers of the fleet, who have the job of encouraging everyone to participate in nominations, and then have to pull together a logical and appropriate list of General Award winners, followed by a slew of award presentations for other categories that are heartfelt and draw upon the nominations and things they've observed. It requires much time, energy, and love to do all that and they appreciate our thanks for doing it while also maintaining the rest of their responsibilities. Also our First Officers, who review the Staff Award nominations and provide the Executive Council with recommendations on who to give those awards to. We appreciate the thoughtful consideration of those awards and hope all the FOs know that! The Executive Council, who put so much time and emotion into being the best possible simmers, community members, and administrators as possible. The vast majority of people who've been members of our community will never know the rather incredible and academic amount of work that goes into ensuring our volunteer-led community can sustain itself. They do it for the joy of seeing this community thrive, but nonetheless deserve so much thanks and appreciation – I don't know how we could ever show enough love! And to those who ramped up excitement in the Discord Awards channel, and those who submitted a nomination: Thank you for your consideration and recognizing the work of others. You help the staff make this awards ceremony possible. I'd also like to take a moment to recognize all of our donors for the past year, including those whose names are not published below because they asked to remain anonymous, for contributing to the community's self-sustaining fund to maintain our website and other digital assets. Thank you so much! Arturo Maxwell Baylen Anders Jo Marshall Genkos Adea Jacob Horne Jalana Rajel Kalianna Nicholotti Lephi Oddas Aria Sarah Phillips Serala Serren Tan Wil Ukinix Wyatt Ral Yogan Yalu Our staff also wished to add these words of thanks to the permanent record of our awards ceremonies: Adml. Quinn Reynolds Karrod Niac: When the Embassy needed help in early 2020, Brian (Karrod Niac), along with Matt (Addison MacKenzie), selflessly answered the call. Over the next few months, Brian spearheaded changes and reinvigorated the Embassy, and when there was a change of command, he continued bringing his very best and supporting his new CO. The Embassy became the Thor, and is now the ‘Oumuamua, and is still going strong. It’s very likely that if not for his efforts, we would have lost people recognised in this year’s awards, and so I wanted to take this opportunity to recognise one of the fleet’s most talented writers for everything he has done. Thank you, Brian! Jo Marshall, Samira Neathler, Alieth: You have been a huge support over the past year, helping me to navigate through some tricky situations, keeping our missions running smoothly, and always bringing your A game to your writing. You are a big part of the reason the Gorkon is such a fun place to sim, and I look forward to creating many more stories with you! Tristan Wolf: I don’t have the words to express how much admiration I hold for you; how much time and effort you invest in our world, your unfailing drive to make things better, the way you can cut to the heart of an issue, and so much more. It is an absolute privilege to be a part of the group you created, a group that has taught me so much and made me a better person and asks me to always continue striving to be better, and so from the bottom of my heart, thank you, for everything. Commodore Kalianna Nicholotti Addison MacKenzie, Genkos Adea, and Yogan Yalu: Without these three, the Excalibur would not be what it is and the Resolution would not have been what it was. Steadfast, always willing to dive in and handle what’s needed, I am not only glad to have them as my staff, but also call them friends. Karrod Niac: Injecting drama and humor in equal measure really helps to bring the story to life. In this, Brian is exquisite, and it’s helped shape the ever growing story that we weave. Jo Marshall: You make even the most overwhelming projects fun to work on. I’m sure there is no shortage of volunteers to assist you, but if there ever is, call me. I’ll be your wingman. Captain Shayne: Sometimes you just need to run your ideas by another captain, and get an honest response. Thanks for being reliable and honest and ever helpful. Fleet Captain Aria Lt. Commander T’Lea: Thank you so much for being a steadfast presence on the Juneau, and now the Denali. You have been a steady presence in so many roles for so long, from an XO, to a mentor, to someone just to write or enhance missions and individual storylines. You have a great attitude, writing style, and are just a pleasure to have in the fleet. Commodore Ossa V’Airu Jacob (Wes Greaves): For stepping up into the XO role and succeeding the incomparable job Brian did with his excellent take on, well, excellence. Jacob (Wes Greaves), Amanda (Katsim Peri), and Ben (Alexander Brodie): For the amazing mentoring work. The crew of the ‘Oumuamua/the former crew of the Thor, who threw themselves into creating a new ship with an unusual name with enthusiasm and joy. Also, echoing everything Emma wrote about Brian (Karrod Niac, formerly Geoffrey Teller) and Matt (Addison MacKenzie) holds true for me, too! So many thanks for doing your best with the Embassy and setting first the Thor and now the ‘Oumuamua up for continued success. The other members of the Executive Council (Jordan, Emma, Rich, Jamie, Nick), all of whom are always around to offer guidance and assistance and a chat. And that's a wrap on the 2022 Awards Ceremony! I hope that this Awards Ceremony has helped you feel special, welcomed, and recognized. -FltAdml. Tristan Wolf
  3. Welcome to the last day of the awards ceremony! So far this week we’ve announced the recipients of the Staff, General, Length of Service and Special awards. Today, we present the Duty Post awards. Each award focuses on a different department from the major ones such as medical, operations or engineering to the more unique - like diplomacy, intel or marines. Even civilians are recognised for the valuable contributions those who prefer the path less worn can make to our stories. Each of these awards recognises a player for excellence in simming their duty post. Since we give only one award per duty post each year, we chose only those who sim the duty post in an exemplary fashion to represent. You’ll see from our spread of winners — who range in rank from Ensign to Captain — every player can be nominated for one of these by consistently simming to the best of their ability and striving to improve their craft. The Prantares Award - Medical Awarded to Medical officers who have moved beyond standard competence to display a true gift for the healing arts in the context of space medicine. Officers awarded should display the ability to keep a steady hand in the often hazardous conditions in which they must practice, as well as the willingness to risk their own life to save the lives of others. When they are not actively caring for patients, many doctors spend their time on duty undertaking medical research or familiarising themselves with the findings of previous medical studies. Like their colleagues in the Science department, they have utilised their specific abilities in cross-department collaboration. Trovek Arys, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: Where do I even start? I mean that. There is so much good in what Sarah, the writer for Trovek Arys brings to the position of Chief Medical Officer that we could be here for hours. So let me hit the highlights… When she came onboard StarBase 118 Ops, Trovek Arys had to transition from Counseling to Medical. While the player, Sarah, stated that she was thrilled to write in medical, she also stated that the character, Arys, was less than thrilled about the change. We were introduced to Trovek Arys with a beautiful interplay of narration and action where the writer brought an electric joy to describing 24th-century medical phenomenon, while the character groused about the change of department and the gritty reality of a dangerous combat situation. This mix of focused attention to detail combined with genuine character development makes all of Trovek Arys’ sims a delight to read. Strictly in terms of medical simming, Sarah is an incredible researcher with a vast knowledge of Star Trek and together she combines the two into an excellent study of what medicine could and should be in the late 24th century. Her focus on realistic detail helps her build sims that feel like medicine in Star Trek times and enhance the setting and narration of each mission. Dr. Trovek is entirely committed to simming realism and her writer pays careful attention to canon medical procedures, creatively intuiting new treknology for medicine. In terms of character development, Sarah is a master at giving you insight into who Trovek Arys is and what makes her tick. She is not immediately warm and friendly to everyone, and sometimes it is surprising which characters she does and does not get along with. This may seem like a downside for a medical officer, Sarah is not afraid to narrate Arys’ flaws as well as her strengths. This makes the character compelling and even better Sarah is focused on character development - so even when Arys does not start out on good terms with a character there is a challenging and satisfying progression as the characters get to know one another. Trovek Arys as a character is incredibly responsible and reliable. The sort of officer you can count on to make difficult decisions and take the lead when necessary and this is also exactly what Sarah can do as a player. She immediately started helping teams push the mission forward to a positive conclusion and assisting fellow players. She has reached out to every player on her ship to start scenes with them and often helps them achieve their story goals as well as hers. As a doctor she follows up with patients long-term, creating holistic recovery story arcs and engrossing medical scenes. Add to this Sarah is a strong supporting simmer OOC. She mentors fellow crew, helps with the wiki and quote of the month and cheers her fellow players on the forums. She is the complete package! Sarah is an excellent writer, showing excellent slow realistic character development, an excellent focus on trek-based medicine and excellent OOC support. I am so proud to be able to present the 2399 Prantares Ribbon to Doctor Trovek Arys! The Natasha Yar Pin - Security warded to Security personnel who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to safeguard and preserve their crewmates' lives, even at the danger of their own. As an investigator, police officer, and soldier, the Security officer must be intimately familiar with all of Starfleet's armaments as well as many other styles of hand-to-hand combat. To ensure adequate duty fulfilment, the Security officer must also be well-versed in Diplomacy and Legislation. Named after the USS Enterprise-Chief D's of Security, who was killed in the line of duty. Artinus Serinus, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: I am delighted to present the fleet’s Natasha Yar Pin to Lieutenant Commander Artinus Serinus. For those who know of Joseph, this won’t come as a surprise. He has written and worked alongside me for the majority of my staffing career, providing an example, camaraderie, and perspective throughout. I know I am not alone in receiving the benefits of his dedication and wisdom, but speaking personally, Arrow would not be—and could not be—the ship it is without his steadfast presence and contributions, past and present. So much of what Joseph offers is imbued in his writing, and he is among the most capable and knowledgeable writers I know. He brings his position to life, building outward and upward as only a leader can. His words give depth and weight to the tribulations of our little ship, and he uses his real-life experience to formulate realistic interpretations. He quickly became, and has since maintained, a gold standard (pun definitely intended) on the Arrow, and has been a foundational presence both in and out of character. In essence, Joseph and Serinus both have earned this fully, and I could not be more proud to present the Natasha Yar Pin in recognition long due. Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander! PS: Please scritch the targlet for me- one of these days Shayne will meet her. Until then… The Voyager Medallion - Ops Awarded to Operations officers who have shown great skill in keeping a starship in working order despite near-impossible circumstances. The officers receiving this award have advanced the field of Operations, have acted as the liaison between the Command, Science, and Engineering departments, and are technically proficient in operations maintenance, making sure duty rosters, provisions, gear, and even recreation time are available... no matter what. Karrod Niac, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: It is my honor and pleasure this year to present the Voyager Medallion to Commander Kerrod Niac. Having served in multiple capacities on more than one ship during his tenure with our group, Brian brings his absolute A-game to everything he does, and serving as Operations Chief is no different. I first met Brian when he guest simmed the bad guy for Commander MacKenzie's commander's practical. While I had been made aware of his reputation, I did not know what to expect. Over the course of the mission, I found that I had been treated to some of the best and most intriguing writing I had the pleasure of reading in some time. And I liked having him aboard a lot... ...right up until he blew a hole in my ship. While the ship survived that commander's practical, his presence left a mark that lasted far beyond the repairs of that part of the Resolution's hull. When he requested to sim with us again after his LOA, I knew that we were in for a treat and I was absolutely not wrong. Brian came aboard swinging and stepped into some really big shoes (really, have you seen how tall Yalu is?). From day one, he showed us all what it really meant to be an operations officer, what operations did, and how he could make the position his own. He dives in with everything he has and quickly became the ops officer we always wanted, but never realized we needed. To that end, I couldn't be more proud to present this award to him this year, and I can't wait to see where he goes from here...provided it doesn't involve any more holes in the ship. The Sisko Tactical Cross - Tactical Awarded to Tactical officers who have shown cunning and bravery in battle, including supporting their colleagues in Security, liaising with other departments, and showing the ability to think strategically in a tense situation. Master tacticians, and experts in targeting and shield power distribution, these officers have done the impossible to save their ship and the lives of its crew. Jack Kessler, USS ‘Oumuamua Presented by Ossa V’Airu: It's not easy to master a duty post right off the bat, and yet that's exactly what I feel Joel (the writer for Jack Kessler) has done. He had a really good idea of who Kessler was when he joined the Thor, and over the last six months or so he's refined that as Kessler has found his way. He also does an excellent job of writing Kessler as a tactical officer who is focused on tactical situations and context -- more Worf on DS9 than Worf on TNG. Joel also plays Kessler as a rounded, eager young Starfleet officer, who not only knows his duty post well but embraces all elements of his shipboard service. One nomination, for example, noted that Kessler actively sought out the counselor during his first shore leave, both to establish their relationship and to debrief his first mission. Kessler is able to think beyond just firing torpedoes to really contextualize a situation, whether it's a standoff between two ships or galactic politics, and this is really the mark of a great tactical officer. Another nomination noted that beyond simming Kessler well, Joel routinely contributes solutions that advance the plot IC and are impressively innovative OOC, including firing torpedoes underwater from a downed Thor and using the complement of marine Valkyrie fighters to create a makeshift shield grid for the badly damaged Thor. I’m enormously impressed with Joel’s simming for Kessler, and I’m honored to recognize him with this year’s Sisko Tactical Cross. Shaxs Star Awarded to dual posting Security/Tactical officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting and preserving the lives of their crewmates. Not only do they show cunning and bravery in combat, these officers know how to safeguard lives without firing a phaser, using their knowledge and experience to prevent violence and stay true to Federation ideals. This award is only available to those fulfilling the dual role of Security/Tactical, and not the individual duty posts. Toryn Raga, USS Chin'toka Presented by Mei’konda Delano: A long-term and reliable Security/Tactical player, Toryn made the transition from Marine into this more versatile role some time ago, where he has shown great ability and enthusiasm in both writing for his character manning the weapons and shields of a starship, as well as in leading away teams or security details which require the proficiency of a Starfleet Officer. Rameses, Toryn’s player, can always be counted on to drive the plot forward in creative and action-packed ways without exceeding the bounds of carefully tempered violence that members of Starfleet must occasionally use to protect those around them. Rameses’ long-term devotion to this dual role of Security and Tactical leader has made him invaluable to the Chin’toka in a role that can sometimes lend itself to excesses, and he very much deserves this award of the Shaxs Star. The Phoenix Award - Engineering Awarded to Engineering officers who continue this tradition of excellence in the field of engineering. Named for the vessel that legendary engineer Zefram Cochrane piloted during his historic first warp flight. By performing their tasks with enthusiasm, imagination and diligence, by managing to make their equipment perform above and beyond its rated capacities, the officers meriting this award further the mission of their ship by their superior know-how. In short, miracle workers. Hallia Yellir, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: This year I am absolutely thrilled and so proud to present the Phoenix Award to Lieutenant Hallia Yellir. A long-time member of the fleet who has served on multiple ships and in multiple capacities, tackling Engineering was not a plan, nor a first choice. It was a spur-of-the-moment challenge that was presented, and I can only say that I am so glad that Ryan chose to step up into this role. Originally science and security, engineering was definitely not something Ryan might have considered without the idea being set out for him. The fact remained that we had a lasting gap, and even though we were a science ship, we had more than a few science officers. Shifting was the natural course of action, but no one was completely set on it at first because we wanted to make sure that it would be fun and sustainable for Ryan and the players he interacted with. As with all things, there were worries, there were concerns, and then...Ryan simmed Hallia into the role and all of that seemed to simply evaporate. Transferring any confusion or lack of 'techno' information into the character herself has led to one of the most enjoyable engineering characters that I have ever had the opportunity to read. The character's concerns and inward thoughts bring her to life in a way only Ryan can, and her personality absolutely shines, especially when things get rough. And we all know how rough things can get down in engineering. Knowing now what we know, the only thing I would change is how long we left the role open when we had an amazingly talented Chief Engineer right there. It is so exciting to see where Ryan will grow with Hallia next! The Cochrane Award - Science Awarded to Science officers who have contributed greatly to the advance of science in the midst of their Starfleet career, by staying knowledgeable about their field, participating in the community of science, but most importantly, by placing their knowledge at the service of their ship and its mission. They have performed weird and wonderful feats of scientific innovation and ingenuity, enabling their commanding officer to make those informed decisions. Noa Levinson, USS Chin'toka Presented by Mei’konda Delano: Noa Levinson is a highly proficient and enthusiastic Science Officer player. Making extensive use both of Memory Alpha, our own Wiki, and occasionally independent research into real science, Adi, Noa’s player, is able to integrate these things into his writing in ways that are engaging to his fellow players, drive the plot forward, and which occasionally inspire us to look into the science he’s putting forth ourselves, giving us an opportunity to learn more about both the science of Star Trek and, occasionally, the real world! Have you lost the bleeps, the sweeps and the creeps? Then the Science department has you covered. Away team lost and likely abducted by aliens? Same answer. Need to find them, then look no further than Noa Levinson. Whether it's having to navigate the imposing Jenatris Cloud while being hunted by fanatical Valcarians wanting to wipe out the Federation colony fleet to build the first colony in the Par'tha Expanse, where Noa (Adi) used their skills to boost the sensors as much as they feasibly could with the interference. Or calculate the best possible course to evade their pursuers and even put the enemy in harm's way to keep the fleet alive. To finding creative ways to scan for commbadge signals through interference from both a cloaking device and storms. Noa is always showing off their creative writing and showcasing how much the science officers on board any ship are just as critical as Command, Tactical, Security or Medical. I always look forward to seeing what creative ways Noa will find to handle whatever situation arises. The Pilot's Sextant - Helm Awarded to Helm officers who have proven themselves to be the best of the best, dedicating themselves to improving their specialisation. From finding a safe route home to flying an emergency atmospheric landing, pilots who have earned this award know the importance of staying focused on their task at hand and placing their ability to make spectacular maneuvers at the service of their ship and its mission. Ulasso, USS ‘Oumuamua Presented by Ossa V’Airu: Helm is one of the trickiest duty posts to play well. It feels like even canon Trek has had trouble with finding things for its pilots to do, and even then actors can interact with their consoles -- but our helm simmers have to convey all the action and intention with their words. Waldo, who sims Ulasso, demonstrated right away that he was a master at doing so. Although he's only just been promoted to lieutenant JG (this past weekend!), he's already masterful both at writing complex, enjoyable maneuvers when the situation calls for it and describing pertinent thoughts and memories to his character and the context in quieter times. The ability to bridge intense action and quiet reflection in single scenes, and sometimes in single sims, is one that Waldo had in his toolkit from the beginning, and he can connect such actions – the choice of a perfect maneuver for a high-stakes situation, for example – to a formative Academy experience. Doing so makes for excellent simming, but not unique simming, since this is the standard for Waldo. It’s a pleasure to recognize his abilities with this year’s Pilot’s Sextant. The Order of the Valiant Heart - Counselling Awarded to Counselors who have demonstrated exceptional expertise in preserving their crewmates' mental health, clearly exhibiting the excellent capacity to care for, support, and soothe those in need. They have gone above and beyond the line of duty in supporting their crewmates with their problems, and preventing future issues for the good of the officer, and the good of the ship. John Carter, Amity Outpost Presented by Roshanara Rahman: Ken, the writer behind Counselor John Carter, has been a veteran StarBase 118 member, most well-known for previously playing a Marine known as Hannibal Parker. When Veritas was in need of a counselor, he expressed interest to me in exploring this role with a PNPC, Katy Toliver. I was excited that Ken wanted to try this new duty post because since he came under my command, I had gotten to see how talented of a writer he was, and I looked forward to reading what he would come up with in writing this new kind of character for him. When the crew finished the Veritas storyline and moved to Amity Outpost, Ken and I had frank discussions about his long-term plans in the fleet and how best he could achieve them. One of those ways was retiring Parker and embracing a new character that would let Ken show a character’s IC development that would parallel his own OOC development as a simmer. This new character would allow Ken to more fully demonstrate his simming and collaborative storytelling abilities by having him get deeply involved with his shipmates’ storylines and character arcs. With the creation of Counselor John Carter, Ken has been able to do just that. Numerous players have told me how much Carter has made an impact on them, both in his own personal story of love and loss through divorce as well as the counseling sessions he does with the Amity crew. Furthermore, during missions, Carter plays important roles as both chief counselor and second officer of the Federation’s embassy to the Delta Quadrant. In our first mission, he delicately negotiated a way to balance respect for the religious beliefs of a nomadic species with the needs and interests of Amity and the Federation. His participation in a ritual with that species was instrumental in gaining their trust. In our current “Disaster”-style mission where the crippled USS Independence-B finds itself trapped in a strange spatial anomaly, Carter has stepped up to command the bridge and make hard decisions to keep his crew alive during a crisis. It’s been a pleasure to read Ken’s writing and work with him as his captain on both his OOC and IC goals. I’m looking forward to seeing the continued development and journey of John Carter as well as his player’s. Congratulations, Ken, on being recognized with the fleet’s duty post award for counseling. This accomplishment reflects the impact you’ve had on your crew and is well-deserved! Black Cross - Intelligence Awarded to Intelligence officers who strive to accomplish the goals of Starfleet Intelligence while simultaneously upholding the ideals and structure of Starfleet Command. They display the ability to obtain intelligence through deceptive dialogue or espionage rather than forced admissions. While intelligence is frequently a game changer, this individual attempts to achieve those aims within the constraints of their commanding Officer and Starfleet laws. They are experts in research and diplomacy, as well as reconnaissance and communication. Talos Dakora, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: It is an incredible pleasure to present this year's Black Cross to Travis (Lieutenant Talos Dakora). Writing a black collar isn't always the easiest or most straightforward thing to do, especially when there is much ambiguity and borderline dislike (IC of course) of the secretive duty post and those who serve in it. Travis has taken that challenge on, head first, and has absolutely shined in the process. Dakora is far from the typical shadow-walker. Of all the intel officers I've written for or with, I must say that he brings more realistic ideas into his writing of the post than others, falling back on the character's marine career and the troubles of the Dominion War in a very honest and forthright manner. Travis has managed to work in the character's past into the present, write about interpersonal relationships and the aftermath of the various things he has experienced aboard, and in the process create a very real person that we all look forward to reading. Beyond that, Travis has faced some uphill moments in his path to where he is today, but as a long-time member of the fleet, he is an asset and a credit to his ship and his fleet, where I hope to see him continue to grow. With a steady hand always willing to help, a creative mind that works to tie many pieces and bits that other players put out there while tossing out ideas of his own for everyone to use, and just enough humor to make us all smile, Travis has a bright future with us and I look forward to sharing many more missions with this particular spook. The Lwaxana Troi Medallion Awarded to members who take on a unique and non-traditional role outside of the normal Starfleet positions, while creating a colorful and engaging character such as, but not limited to: Diplomat, Civilian or Mission Specialist. They have integrated into the crew and made their chosen specialist position an invaluable resource for their ship. Yogan Yalu, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: This year, I am pleased to present the Lwaxana Troi Medallion to Justin, the writer behind Lieutenant Commander Yogan Yalu. While he came aboard as our pilot and did a stellar job 'behind the wheel', the host of other roles that he has taken on in the past year has truly earned him this accolade. Having moved into the Strategic Operations role, he is consistently looking outside the norms to tie in other events happening around our area of space and sometimes even the fleet, simming a duty post we have limited knowledge about and making it every bit as real and as vital as any other. Add to that the plethora of other characters in various atypical roles that we don't normally see, and you'll easily understand how Justin was the perfect player for this award. From the librarian who dances with feathers and does math as a talent, to the internal affairs investigator who offers a comfortable approach complete with hot cocoa, to the mind-switched holocharacter controlled security officer, to a host of other characters that filled various roles aboard the ship, there is no question in my mind that Justin knows how to play a non-traditional role. With every one of his characters being colorful, engaging, unique, and yet very real all at the same time, Justin brings to the table something unique that adds an edge to our story and sends it into the realm of the unforgettable. The Excalibur benefits greatly from his contributions, as does the fleet in his other creative capacities. I am thrilled to be going into another year with him aboard and I look forward to what he brings into the fray next. Prestigious Service Medallion Awarded to members in the fleet who are steady and unwavering from their chosen Duty Post. This is a divisional award for each (Gold, Red, Blue) to celebrate a continuing player in the divisional role who has already won (and still qualifies in the eligibility criteria) a duty post award in a similar vein to how we enhance the Service Ribbons each time one is won. For continuous dedication to Medical... Cade Foster (Sal Taybrim), USS Constitution-B Presented by Jalana Rajel: I couldn't be happier to have the joy and pleasure to present the Prestigious Service Medallion Prantares Ribbon to my year-long friend and writer of one of the most impactful characters I have had the honor to write with. Cade Foster at first glance is a cranky, cynical old man. Don't get me wrong he is that, but also so much more. Coming from writing as a Medical Officer myself and having served with many, all of them have brought their own spin to the department. But Cade's spin is the most authentic and raw I have seen in my time. Cade is the embodiment of the Veteran who has seen almost everything, survived wars, lost friends and carries his scars running deep. He masks that pain and experience with cynicism, sarcasm and a dark sense of humor. Under this hard outside shell, though, he never stopped to care deeply for everyone under his care. He does not hesitate to risk his own physical, emotional, and maybe even moral well-being if it means he can save just one life. But that is not where it stops, he also cares about the small things. If you got a medical condition or an injury you sustained in a mission? He follows up on that to make sure you get the best care in the Galaxy. Because he knows he's a brilliant surgeon and doctor, not afraid to point that out, with connections in all four quadrants and uses that to the advantage of everyone around him. He uses whatever methods he needs to in order to break through to a person and get them to begin the healing process, be it a gentle word or tough talk, smashing walls coping or enjoying a chat during a round of minigolf. He is Counselor, Medical Officer, shoulder to cry on and Space Dad for the Conny crew. Neither of us would want to miss this realistic, deep and three-dimensional character, having dug his way into our hearts. I couldn't imagine anyone more worthy of this award! Congratulations, Jamie! For continuous dedication to Tactical... Vitor Silveira, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: It is an honor to present the inaugural Prestigious Service Medallion Sisko Tactical Cross to Lieutenant Vitor Silveira's writer Bruno. Over the course of my career, there have been plenty of collective moments that have become fond memories of the story that stay in my mind. Then, there are some players who can create those moments all on their own. Having experienced Bruno's writing as an Ensign, JG, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, JG, and Lieutenant again, I can honestly say that he is one of these. Tactical in and of itself is not a duty post I have ever even experimented in because, like engineering, it takes some knowledge to truly bring it to life. A good tactical writer possesses their own kind of magic that lends to the protection of ship and crew while maintaining the realism of characters who are not infallible. Bruno does this and while his character can sometimes be a wild card, he is always acting in the perceived best interests of those he serves with. He often presents the challenges in his character's mind and works to share the path towards a solution with any who would like to join. Beyond that, he's been steadfast and reliable, while taking feedback and offering it, generally being an integral part of my crew over the years. I have always enjoyed simming with him and I look forward to working with him for many years to come. Tactical is his home, and he'll always say that he's willing to help out elsewhere, but returning 'home' is always his final goal. Always learning and growing, I am excited to share his journey as we head into another year. For continuous dedication to Helm... Cadfael Peters, USS Chin’toka Presented by Mei’konda Delano: In addition to his other duties, serving as the Chin’toka’s primary wiki editor, a staff member, and most noticeably to me as a person who can be relied upon consistently to have a PNPC available to fill any role we’re a little thin on in our duty roster, Cadfael Peters, the recipient of the Pilot’s Sextant last year, has continued to perform the often difficult and nebulous position of Chief Helmsman aboard the Chin’toka. To that end Cadfael (Riley) is always good at showing off little tidbits of what a pilot does when there's nothing exciting or a need for any aerial acrobatics. However, Riley's portrayal of a helmsman definitely shines when there is a need for said helmsman to make a risky maneuver. In particular, Cadfael continues to show a flare almost visual in its description when he has the opportunity to write his character flying a starship or shuttle with style. Early this year, Cadfael inverted the Chin’toka as it descended down through an atmosphere in order to catch a shuttle within one of our shuttle bays, upside down! It may have technically been a crash landing, but it sure was a fun one to read. For that reason, I’m delighted to award Cadfael Peters with one of our first Prestigious Service Medallions for the Pilot’s Sextant. Congratulations! For continuous dedication to Counselling... Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds I am absolutely thrilled to recognise one of the fleet’s most stalwart simmers with one of the first Prestigious Service Medallions! Corliss Fortune has been writing as a counsellor aboard the Gorkon for nearly four years now, and she continues to delight and astound with the skill she shows in her duty post. The writer balances her character’s bright and bubbly nature with gentle, genuine care and concern for her fellow crew, and when faced with a new situation, dives with glee into the OOC research to bring realism and heart to her sessions. She deftly assists her fellow crew in exploring their characters' trauma and flaws, helping them to develop their characters while showcasing her own character’s professional skills and abilities. All the while, she maintains Corliss’ effervescent nature without ever stealing the spotlight from other simmers, and that’s a truly remarkable talent to have. We are so fortunate to have her with us, and it’s with great pleasure that I award her this year’s Prestigious Service Medallion: Order of the Valiant Heart. Congratulations! Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  4. Welcome to Day Three of the Annual Awards Ceremony 2022! The Staff awards are only for those members who have achieved the rank of Commander or higher. Just like last year, we asked the first officers of the fleet to vote on the nominations for each staff award, providing recommendations to the EC about who should receive each award. We’re so happy to have this valuable feedback and guidance for our staff awards! These awards recognise the hard work of our community members who go above and beyond to ensure that everyone has a glorious experience here. There's so much behind-the-scenes work required to keep the engine of our community running, and these folks are a central part of that. Honor of the Admiralty Awarded to Staff Members who have served for a minimum of five years in a multitude of disciplines. From facilitating our task forces, engaging with the Captains Council, and leading with the utmost dedication, these writers volunteer their time, effort, and skill to building our game and community and have comprehensively earned the respect and loyalty of members. This is the highest award that can be conferred upon a StarBase 118 PBEM RPG staff member under the rank of Rear Admiral. Sal Taybrim, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Roshanara Rahman: One of those strange quirks in life is that despite the years I have known Jamie, the writer behind Sal Taybrim, we’ve actually never simmed together (or if so, just barely during someone else’s IC promotion ceremony). And yet because of many parallels in our “simming career” here at StarBase 118 PBEM RPG and shared milestones, I’ve always felt a kinship with her. Jamie joined StarBase 118 in 2013 and was posted to the USS Excalibur-A under then-Fleet Captain Kali Nicholotti. Over the next year, she rose up the ranks and moved to science officer and then chief diplomatic officer before being named First Officer of our namesake installation, StarBase118 Ops in late December 2014. This meteoric rise was due in no small part to the extensive wealth of knowledge and expertise that Jamie brought to her ships and our community from her roleplaying experience beyond StarBase 118. While I had begun to notice this new rising star as her character was highlighted in quotes and highlighted sims, it was when Jamie joined the Captains Council as Ops’s First Officer that I had the pleasure of seeing just what a skilled roleplayer and gamemaster could bring to our game and community. Jamie is indisputably a die-hard Trekkie like the rest of us, but through the conversations that were had on the Captains Council and then later on the Executive Council when she became a commanding officer, one could easily see that Jamie always approached a topic from the viewpoint of, “What does this mean for the game and us as players?” The 2010s saw our community begin to shift its focus and emphasis towards higher writing quality, and that’s not a bad thing. The sims written today and expected of players of even lower ranks are more developed, have fuller narration, and just generally read more like the kind of writing that you would find in a novel or fleshed-out fan fiction work compared to our earlier script-style writing that mirrored screenplays (indeed that’s where our dialogue formatting for instance originates). Yet we all owe enormous gratitude that Jamie has made sure the group recognizes that there is a distinction between good writing ability and good simming ability, and that they are not replacements for one or the other but complements that fundamentally require different skillsets and training. During her interview with the Executive Council for her captaincy, then-Commander Taybrim wrote some of the most in-depth and thoughtful answers and reflections on both her time in StarBase 118 and on simming and roleplaying. It is not an understatement to say that in some ways, that interview was much like Jamie presenting a PhD dissertation-level of analysis on simming and what we as a group and as COs do well, what we could work on, what we should always remember, and what possibilities lie ahead. Jamie was promoted to Captain on April 23, 2016, several months before my own promotion to that rank later. Because of that, I’ve told her many times I consider her my fellow “Class of 2016” alumna. I must also admit that part of the fondness I feel for her is that we both were a bit of the “troublemakers” as Jordan aka Fleet Admiral Wolf might say during our “lower decks” years. As Jamie herself noted in her captaincy interview, “Because I wasn't married to the game yet, I wasn't afraid of poking the bear - or my mentor, and calling things out.” And yet we both recognized as we continued to advance that having good ideas or questions is not enough; you have to be able to communicate effectively with others and approach your mentors, COs, and the administrators with that same collaborative attitude and collegial spirit that we ask for in the game itself. I’m sure Jamie finds it just as ironic now as I do that today we are on the “other side” of the equation, now faced with finding ways to take and respond to feedback from the next cohort of simmers while upholding our responsibilities as the community’s stewards, tasked with ensuring that we continue the work done by the fleet’s previous leaders who carefully guided its growth over nearly three decades. I want to end this presentation by highlighting one goal of Jamie’s that she has always been particularly passionate about and continues to push for: finding ways to engage and reward good players who have no interest or are not able to command. Just as Jamie reminded us of the difference between good writing and good simming, she has helped broaden the fleet’s view of what it means to contribute at a fleet-wide level. Previously, the group’s main emphasis was on developing command candidates, and while COs and future captains are certainly vital for our fleet to grow and function, Jamie has worked tirelessly to ensure that strong Lt. Commanders who do not enter the command pathway yet are just as vital to their ships’ health feel validated and nourished by great stories and OOC opportunities to help our fleet function. When I see Jamie’s passion on this and other topics during our discussions in the Executive Council, I can still see that rambunctious ensign from all those years ago. I am delighted to consider her a friend and colleague and to present her with the Honor of the Admiralty. Thank you, Commodore Taybrim for all you have done for the fleet! Staff Member of the Year Award Awarded to Staff Members who have contributed tirelessly to the organization through any number of Out of Character channels, while maintaining excellence in simming on their vessel. This is an award granted to any staff member, regardless of rank. Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution-B Presented by Sal Taybrim: In her ten-year tenure on StarBase 118, Jalana Rajel - who started as Jalana Laxyn, and was joined as Trill often do, was recognized as an experienced simmer and steadfast staff member even early on. She had experience moderating a German-language Star Trek sim before she dove into StarBase 118. Oh yes, did you know that Jess, the writer behind Jalana Rajel is not only an incredible writer (and published author!), but that English is her second language? She’s so profound at writing in English that she has excelled in simming with many of her fellow players only learning that she lives in Germany as they made friends with her! She has maneuvered through many difficult situations in her path towards command, including stepping up as the acting commanding officer of the USS Apollo-A when her CO went AWOL after her Commander’s exam. Shortly afterwards she moved to her one true love in a ship, the USS Constitution-B From there she has commanded the Constitution-B for over seven years, creating a most remarkable place to play. There is a stability and familiarity to the Constitution’s game (lovingly called the ‘Conny’ by its players), enhanced by Jalana’s love of her favorite series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, which perfectly matches the ship. You would expect a Galaxy class ship like the Conny to feel like the Next Generation, and for over seven years that is exactly what it has felt like. Congratulations, Jalana, you’re on your eighth season now and going strong! There is a warm nostalgia and welcoming feeling to Jalana’s game, matched by her calm and wise leadership and her compassionate portrayal of her character. Her crew lovingly calls her ‘Mama Bear’ and sometimes “Commodore Hugs-a-Lot” and she embodies both of these aspects in and out of character. As a Commanding officer and member of the staff on StarBase 118, Jalana has always been patient and considerate. She is a joy to work with out of character and always presents a calm, considered viewpoint. She’s unfailingly honest, hardworking and balanced. She can mediate heated discussions with a calm and level head and approaches players new and old with an open friendliness that is unmatched. She is also a wonderful mentor, helping her staff members grow and develop into taskforce leaders, and her newer players grow into staff members. Furthermore, she’s one of the longest taskforce leaders in the Fleet - directing the Image Collective for almost her entire ten years on StarBase 118. She’s a strong graphics artist who has helped with character portraiture for years, and she was a driving force behind many of our badges, award images and fleet graphics. She’s incredibly dependable in her role on the Image Team, and looking back at the amount of graphics she has created, especially the badges and other templates that we use so often and don’t think about much, is overwhelming. Jalana is always quick to get requests done and always puts care and effort into every creation. Consistency, warmth, openness, friendliness, dependability. All of these perfectly describe Jess as a Commanding Officer and as a staff member of StarBase 118. While she may not be a brash voice, or a big personality, her steady contributions over time have grown into an incredible body of work. She has improved the simming experience for countless players and is a wonderful person to work with as a staff member and an incredible friend. I am so utterly ecstatic to be able to present Jalana Rajel with 2399’s Staff Member of the Year Award! Strange Medallion Awarded to First Officers in the fleet who are consistently dependable, perform above the call of duty in their position, and excel not only in simming, but also in their dedicated Out of Character activities. Those awarded are regarded as leaders who excel in their facilitation of their crew, raising the bar and lifting up simmers to the podium. Named after Commander Sally Strange, widely known as one of the most creative and dedicated First Officers in the fleet's early years. Wes Greaves, USS ‘Oumuamua Presented by Ossa V’Airu: It’s my genuine delight to recognize Jacob, aka Major Wes Greaves, with this year’s Strange Medallion for his stellar simming as XO of the Thor and, now, the ‘Oumuamua. He’s far from the first XO I’ve had the privilege of working with, but he’s easily one of the kindest, most capable, most responsible, and, well, one of the best! I was excited to see that his nominations for this award came not only from his fellow simmers on ‘Oumuamua, but from friends and colleagues across the Starbase 118 fleet. That, to me, is one of the marks of a great XO, because they need to take those steps into becoming one of the staff members for the Starbase 118 fleet as a whole, and in so doing shift their perspective from a single ship to the whole fleet. Jacob has done so strikingly well, while at the same time showcasing his skills and realizing the responsibilities that make him this year’s Strange Medallion winner. In addition to coming from around the fleet, Jacob’s nominators include a cross-section of the fleet’s newest simmers and its most experienced. “Minutes after I first logged onto Discord, he had set me up with my roles and welcomed me to the Thor channel,” wrote one of our newest simmers in their nomination. From a more experienced simmer: “He has raised the bar for simmers on the Thor and does it all with a smile, a joke, and a staunch leadership that can't be denied.” High praise indeed! Jacob’s leadership is something that nearly all his nominators commented on, and it’s something that I value a great deal in him as an XO. Some noted his leadership skills as a part of ‘Oumuamua, while others highlighted what a joy he’s been for cadets and trainers alike in the Academy. Still others noted how present he is around the fleet, whether on the forums, on Discord, or in another venue. As one nominator concluded, “Jacob has written his role with care and tact and acknowledges the character's faults, uncertainties and imperfections which serves as a fantastic example to other writers. I firmly believe that Wes Greaves will one day be a name we associate with command.” I do as well, and I can’t say enough good things about Jacob, this year’s Strange Medallion winner! Chief’s Citation Awarded to essential Staff Members whose determined work has benefitted the group In Character, and/or Out Of Character, even while their primary service was not as the Commanding Officer of a simming installation. Inspired by the non-commissioned and enlisted personnel who are the backbone of any starship but were rarely recognized in Star Trek lore in favor of the officers. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Ossa V’Airu: My goodness, what *doesn't* Em do around here?! From handling these awards to running the writing challenge, from actively contributing to everything that comes up in the Captains Council to volunteering to be the temporary magistrate, it often feels to me like Em is the glue that holds so much of what we do together. I can't imagine what this last year would've been like without her at so many different helms! I wrote most of the above in my nomination for Em for this year’s Chief’s Citation, and I was thrilled but not surprised to see that she was similarly nominated by many other members of the fleet – and while those nominations were similar, I learned a little more about how much Em does and how well she does it with every one. “In many ways,” wrote one nominator, “Jo Marshall is and has become the face of this fleet. She's got a hand in damn near everything that goes on, and her energy, leadership and enthusiasm is matched only by her infectious desire to make things run as smoothly and as ‘fun’-ly as they can.” Another nominator wrote “I'm not sure that words can really define everything that Jo does for us collectively,” and still another wrote that there’s “no doubt about the amount of contributions Jo makes to the community.” Beyond what I mentioned above, Em is an active and enthusiastic participant around the fleet – the Image Collective, the FNS, the Training Team, regular contests, including the Writing Challenge – and I wrote above that I can’t imagine what the last year would’ve been like without her, but honestly, I can’t imagine what the fleet would be like without her now, in the past, or in the future, and every time I see her name on the forums or on Discord, I thank our collective lucky stars that we have the gift of Em’s kindness, ethic, and service. She not only earned the Chief’s Citation, she defined it with all she did. Thank you, Em, and congratulations! The Sarek Star Awarded to Commanding Officers who show great diplomatic ability in working with members and staff, related to conduct Out of Character. Organisation, collaboration, mentorship, and ultimately making our game tick can be challenges in every respect, but those Staff Members awarded with this have a clear ability to walk those lines. Oddas Aria, Denali Station Presented by Quinn Reynolds: The ability to communicate with a variety of people is an essential skill for any of the staff in our fleet, but there are those who can elevate that skill to heights we all would like to emulate. This year, it’s my very great pleasure to present this award to someone who has worked tirelessly to improve communications throughout the fleet. As Captain-At-Large, Nick has kept the CC updated on the EC’s activities each month. He also holds office hours, giving our captains the chance to share their experiences, discuss any topics of the day (from campaign settings to how we each handle the OOC administration of the ship), and take advice on how to tackle difficult situations. Nick facilitates these discussions with a dab hand, ensuring that everyone walks away having learned something new. Beyond his role as CAL, he mentors and guides members of the training team as one of our Deputy Commandants, on hand to help them navigate through difficult situations, setting a fantastic example to our aspiring community leaders. Likewise, his crew talk about how much they appreciate his feedback; clear, helpful, and leaving no doubt that his aim is to support and encourage better simming. When dealing with difficult situations, he’s fair, compassionate, but firm when needed. We appreciate everything he does, and so I’d like to offer my thanks and congratulations as I present Nick with the Sarek Star! Christopher Pike Pendant Awarded to Commanding Officers who command their ship with honor and dedication, and help to provide a creative atmosphere which fosters outstanding simming. Not only do they lead by significant and exceptional example, but they engineer their vessels to be inspirational and creative powerhouses for all who sim on board. Kali Nicholotti, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Tristan Wolf: This award is reserved for Commanding Officers who have reached the pinnacle of their role – being able to deftly manage a plot, mentor their crew, and lead a ship "the StarBase 118 way." You can almost think of it as the "experienced captain of the year" award – in contrast to the Kirk award, for new captains – and it's really so lovely to award this in recognition of someone's focus and determination to be the best game leader they can be. Nicholotti – Marissa – has really earned this award over her tenure of more than five years in command spanning more than 10 years as a member of our community! She started in 2009, and first earned the rank of captain in 2012. Since then, she has simmed as the CO of StarBase 118 Ops, followed by four separate commands. It might be a little hard to imagine that now – when six of our nine COs (including Nicholloti) hold the rank of Commodore, which denotes more than five cumulative years in command – when our leadership team feels so stable and long-lived! But Marissa earned her stripes in a more volatile period when there was more turnover in staff ranks. Through all that, she has been a dedicated, loyal, and creative member of the staff who's focused on growing the community and running the best ship she can. All that hard work shows in the nominations she received for this award: "Phenomenal, inclusive, inspirational, fantastically imaginative," were just some of the words that people used to describe her leadership. I get the sense from reading the nominations that many of her crew feel deeply seen and cared for under her command, where their creativity is fostered and the game is exciting and welcoming for everyone. And if it's not the nominations telling that story, it's definitely the sim rates! Excalibur is consistently at or near the top of that leaderboard every month. It's not easy to spin all those plates at once. Until you've been a CO, it's really hard to imagine just how much skill it takes to not only DO it but BE REALLY GOOD AT IT; to maintain that creativity that keeps people engaged while also leading people in a way that doesn't feel punitive or fake. But Marissa's authenticity and love of Star Trek shines through, making command look a lot easier than it is! And so I speak for us all when I say "many thanks, Marissa," for the time, effort, and joy you put into the game. It's a wonder to behold, and your participation is a treasure for our community. You very much deserve this long-awaited award. Please join us in congratulating these members of the staff!
  5. Today we are proud to present the Length of Service and Special Awards! Length of Service Awards Length of Service Awards are presented to members who have been continuously active for at least a year, there are also tiers for three, five, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years of continuous service. This year, thirty-two players have achieved a length of service milestone. Eleven of them are enjoying their first anniversary, having received the accolade for one year of active participation. Another nine people have been here for three years and nine others have been here for five years. One player has reached the remarkable ten-year mark, while two others have reached fifteen years! 1-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for one year. Kivik, graduated from training on 2021-06-01 Scotty Reade, graduated from training on 2021-04-20 Ikaia Wong, graduated from training on 2020-11-02 Cassandra Mason, graduated from training on 2021-03-01 Elizabeth Snow, graduated from training on 2020-07-26 Dekas, graduated from training on 2021-02-01 John Kendrick, graduated from training on 2021-01-01 Bryce Tagren-Quinn, graduated from training on 2012-09-01 Meidra Sirin, graduated from training on 2020-07-01 Tahna Meru, graduated from training on 2021-01-01 Aine Sherlock, graduated from training on 2020-12-13 3-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for three years. Wil Ukinix, graduated from training on 2018-11-13 Quentin Collins, graduated from training on 2018-12-01 Edward Spears, graduated from training on 2018-02-01 Lazarus Davis, graduated from training on 2018-10-02 Addison MacKenzie, graduated from training on 2019-02-19 Karrod Niac, graduated from training on 2018-09-01 Samira Neathler, graduated from training on 2018-08-27 Corliss Fortune, graduated from training on 2018-10-03 Sheila Bailey, graduated from training on 2018-12-01 5-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for five years. Ceciri Ariadust, graduated from training on 2014-12-15 Kettick, graduated from training on 2014-07-01 Talos Dakora, graduated from training on 2011-11-01 Vitor Silveira, graduated from training on 2012-06-20 Hallia Yellir, graduated from training on 2017-01-19 Piravao sh’Qynallahr, graduated from training on 2016-11-21 Prudence Blackwell, graduated from training on 2016-08-17 Ishani Kasun, graduated from training on 2016-06-15 Henry Maxwell, graduated from training on 2016-11-21 10-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for ten years. Jalana Rajel, graduated from training on 2012-06-11 Ashley Yael, graduated from training on 2005-11-12 15-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for fifteen years. Atan T'Seva, graduated from training on 2006-12-09 Quinn Reynolds, graduated from training on 2007-01-25 Special Awards Great Bird Award Awarded to an officer who contributes to the development and/or invention of a new method of simming, thinking, or seeing the Star Trek universe. It has only been presented twice in the group's existence, for creating the community, and for defining a new way of what a ship-based sim can be. This is a unique distinction and the greatest honour bestowed upon any officer. Roshanara Rahman (Rivi Vataix), Amity Outpost Presented by Ossa V’Airu: The very first email I ever wrote to Rich was back in September 2012, when he wanted to transfer to the Mercury, the ship I’d begun COing a few months prior. I didn’t know much about him, but I still began my message to him by saying “I'm very happy to have you join us.” He let me know then that he was interested in playing a new character, Roshanara Rahman, and he linked me to the wiki bio he’d created for her. Even from that brief intro to Rich and Rahman, I could tell that he put a lot of thought and feeling into his simming – and about a week after that, he presented a group portrait he’d made of the senior staff to the Mercury’s OOC list. About two weeks after that, he was spearheading the Mercury’s entry for the second annual Halloween Avatar contest. Within a month, I couldn’t imagine my ship without Rich, and thanks to his innovative thinking, I didn’t want to. Jump forward to now, almost a full decade later, and Rich’s fingerprints are all over Starbase 118 – and much like when I first got to know him, he’s irrevocably changed things for the better. When I initially nominated him for this award, I focused mostly on his creation of Amity Outpost, since it is a simming installation that, I believe, improves the simming status quo. I wrote in that nomination that Rich has expanded our corner of the Trek universe with the effect and atmosphere of Amity, and by demonstrating his commitment to changing things up by giving up a Starfleet PC for a thoroughly non-Starfleet CO. However, when I started to talk with other staff members, I received some healthy reminders that Rich’s contributions go much deeper than the simple introduction of a new installation, however innovative. He’s fundamentally changed the nature and operations of Starbase 118 in more ways than I can count – but since I want to make sure he’s recognized well, I’ll try to name some of the most important! For one, if you clicked on those wiki links, especially the old Rahman bio, you probably saw that they’re quite different from our standard pages and bios today. Edit a modern wiki page, scroll to the bottom, and you’ll see the list of templates employed on the page to help make the wiki streamlined and user-friendly. Rich didn’t create all those templates singlehandedly, but he did spearhead the overhaul of the wiki and collaborated with many others, culminating in the creation of the Wiki Ops squadron, where Rich is still the Chief of Wiki Ops. Speaking of creation, Rich has left a substantial trail of game-changing groups in his wake. These include Veterans Affairs, which, in his own once-upon-a-time words, “is a community-oriented taskforce run by general members to support their colleagues who face issues that usually come up after the ensign phase of the SB118 experience and aren't addressed in the Academy.” Ensuring that the Starbase 118 fleet is a fair and equitable place for everyone is one of Rich’s goals, toward which he works tirelessly, which has most recently included the creation of the Investigating Diversity & Inclusion Committee (IDIC). Rich has also put together group elements that are based on expanding and exploring the breadth and depth of the universe we share. These include the Federation News Service, which offers both its member-writers and the larger fleet an outlet for creating and reading about the Trek universe beyond our characters and ships, and the Advanced Starship Design Bureau, which delights in technical details and takes as part of its manifesto that “specifications should mean something” and should “be a fun, interactive process.” I’ve emphasized elsewhere for this awards presentation that part of exceptional leadership in the Starbase 118 fleet is having fun and ensuring that others are having fun, too, and Rich exemplifies that like no one I’ve ever had the pleasure of simming with. Everything he does is in the service of making sure that as many folks are having the best time possible, and whether that’s best done through fleetwide groups and initiatives or through individual interactions, he will do it. As a final example – back when Rich and I were a command team on Garuda and Invicta, one of us accidentally typed DOOF instead of DOOC on a direct email to the other, and from that point, all our direct emails were DOOFs. It’s a small thing, but one that I think exemplifies Rich at his best – creative, smart, fun, and always making sure that you’re having a good time, too. Rising Star Award Awarded to members of Lieutenant Commander rank or higher who show great promise in many facets of their participation in the group, and to whom we look to as a future leader. Officers who qualify for this award consistently demonstrate their capabilities in leadership and facilitation of their fellow officers, including a recognisable dedication in their In Character and Out of Character activities to enhance the community. Wes Greaves, USS ‘Oumuamua Presented by Ossa V’Airu: Jacob (Wes Greaves) won last year's Luminary Award for his impressive accomplishments up until then, including his excellent simming for and reimagining of Starfleet marines, as well as his leadership skills and the beginning of his participation in fleetwide taskforces. A year later, I'm delighted to recognize him with the Rising Star Award as, well, his star continues to rise! He follows in the eminent footsteps of Brian (aka Karrod Niac, formerly Geoffrey Teller), the only other simmer in the history of Starbase 118 to earn first the Luminary Award and then the Rising Star Award, and it’s been my absolute pleasure and honor to be a part of both their journeys. Jacob’s leadership skills have been further honed through membership in the Academy and as first officer of the Thor and ‘Oumuamua, and he further serves the fleet as a mentor on Thor and ‘Oumuamua and as a member of the ASDB. As of this awards season, he's in the midst of his promotion to full commander (lieutenant colonel, in Greaves' case, as he plans to remain a marine -- the only one to do so in the group's history while also serving as a commanding officer simultaneously!), and I confidently expect to see Captain (or Colonel!) Greaves before long, and for Jacob to become a steadfast member of Starbase 118's fleetwide staff. Jacob is also the well-deserved recipient of the Strange Medallion this year, and his nominations for that award and the Rising Star came from friends and colleagues from across the fleet, who both sang Jacob’s praises and helped to put those praises into a fleetwide context. “From the very beginning,” one nomination noted, “he’s been kind, level-headed, has sought to work out what is best for the group as a whole and has always tried to encourage those in the group.” Another said that, “His reputation proceeds him and he's earned the respect of those beyond the bulkheads of his own ship.” Yet another, from a newer member of the ‘Oumuamua crew, said that he was “instrumental in guiding us, while still encouraging us to come up with creative solutions of our own to get out of the perilous situation. OOC, via email and through discord, Major Greaves is usually the first to offer a helping hand when anyone has questions. He is always reliable.” One final quote: “He has fun, but even more wants others to have fun.” And while Jacob’s qualities are many, ultimately this is what I want to see in someone the whole fleet recognizes as a rising star: He’s having fun, and he wants to help everyone else have fun, too. It’s my privilege to recognize an extremely deserving Jacob with this year’s Rising Star Award. Luminary Award Awarded to members holding the rank of Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade, or Lieutenant. Officers qualifying for this award have shown outstanding promise in their future endeavors by displaying their skills in leadership, dependability, and dedication to the community. Trovek Arys, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: I am thrilled to be able to present this year’s Luminary Award to Sarah, aka Doctor Trovek Arys, Chief Medical Officer on StarBase 118 Ops! Sarah is a powerhouse simmer who was also recognized with Ops’ TOSMA award this year, and in the words of her crewmates her “dedication to creating better stories' ' is one of the most notable and driving factors of her simming. Able to sim consistently above full time, even as a Lieutenant JG Trovek Arys was capable of leading away teams, coming up with creative solutions for plot complications and being able to offer tags to other simmers that opened doors for them to join into the action. During shore leaves, she was masterful at creating side plots and actively invited other players to join in. When asked to join Ops’ staff she was quick to jump in and lend a hand and soon was performing far above her rank and helping with administrative details including wiki upkeep, mission summaries, mid-mission and weekly plot updates as well as quickly mastering mentoring skills to touch base with her fellow crewmembers. You might know Trovek Arys from Discord, where she is an active and welcoming chat member, who is quick to say hello. She’s also an amazingly supportive member of the forum community and frequently posts in the appreciations forums, not only recognizing her crewmates, but initiating a positive conversation around appreciation sims from other ships. In this, you can clearly tell Sarah has a love of simming and the stories that we can make possible in a game like this. But one of the best qualities about Sarah is that she is brave enough to look at something and give constructive criticism. Sometimes getting quality feedback is difficult, and having someone who can look at how we run a ship and how we structure our missions and she raises compassionate yet critical feedback is both rare and intensely valuable. It started an ongoing discussion on ‘how can we do better?’ and Ops had markedly improved because of her feedback. But what truly makes her an outstanding up-and-coming leader isn’t just that she started a conversation with great feedback - but that she was also willing to put in the hard work alongside other staff members to make things better. She’s implemented a weekly mission report that helps keep all players on the same page with the mission and together Ops staff was able to update and clarify their wiki and player’s handbook to update old and outdated information to match new simming and story standards. Sarah dug right in and started doing the wiki updates once a consensus was reached on staff. This is the mark of a true leader in the community - one who is willing to be brave enough to say ‘this could be better’ and committed enough to then follow through and help make it better. As this game grows, it will continue to improve, and we need brave, dedicated individuals like Trovek Arys who love simming and see the potential our sims have to bring meaningful stories to life. It is a joy to work with her and I look forward not only to the stories we have to tell together, but watching how she grows and can help the game grow and improve in the future! It is my privilege to honor Sarah as our Luminary for 2399! Locutus Award Awarded to members of the Publicity Team who go above and beyond their monthly requirements for participation on a regular basis. These team members are enthusiastic about spreading the word about our role-playing community and are actively looking for new methods to draw people into the fold. Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: Having led a number of taskforces and worked with tons of people over the years, I can speak to the ever-changing landscape of officers who come and add their personal touch to a project for a while and then leave again. It's nice, of course, to have so many willing to jump in here and there, but at the same time, having a set, stable core to rely on over the long haul is a cornerstone of any successful team. Over the relatively short time that the Social media team has been in place publicizing our group, Samira Neathler has been a steadfast and stable pillar around which so much else is done. Without Samira's consistent additions, posts, and input, the team would be nowhere near where it is and our social media accounts, particularly Facebook, would not be so active, alive, and interactive. Knowing we are active does so much to help push people to join, even if they aren't interacting with the posts themselves. Sometimes just seeing them can spur them to put in an application. Thus, though this may sometimes seem like a repetitive or even boring job, I can attest to the value and importance. To that end, for the efforts, time, care, and attention put into this job, I am proud to present the Locutus Award to Samira Neathler! Thank you for all you do, and I look forward to another year of working with you! Sarpeidon Award Awarded to members who have made outstanding contributions to the 118Wiki. Sarpeidon was the world in TOS's "All Our Yesterdays," in which the planet's population created a library containing their entire world's history. This is, in essence, what our wiki strives to become: a collection of our group's history and a simming database. Maz Rodan, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: When the Arrow was commissioned, one of my preparations included creating the wiki pages for her. I was like a kid in a candy store, yoinking this style and that template and- ooh, that’s a cool GIF…! It was too much, and I quickly realized I’d need help in building and maintaining our nascent pages. Everyone, at some point, has had a hand in contributing to our wiki, but Lieutenant Commander Maz Rodan is the one who not only built upon the framework, but has maintained it, and grown it, in the two years since we’ve been launched. When I head to the Arrow page, I’m always tickled to find that it looks just as sharp as before, but now with up-to-date links. The alert icon in the corner fits the status of the ship. Changes, major and minor, can be found with every new addition of information to ensure that it’s all presentable. His work is not limited to the Arrow- all across the wiki, we can enjoy his input, either as a result of direct contributions or advice and guidance that he helps other players with. His consistency, willingness to help out, and desire to make the wiki the best it can be is why I am truly proud to present this distinction to David, with my thanks. Boothby Award Awarded to a trainer who has gone above and beyond their Academy Training Requirements. These trainers provide an excellent example of commitment to bringing new cadets into our community, strong leadership and innovation to encourage new members into simming, and are continuously offering successful and imaginative training programmes. Genkos Adea, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Quinn Reynolds: I love presenting this award! It gives me a chance to honour one of our fabulous training team and thank them for investing their time and energy in one of the fleet’s most important endeavours. Genkos Adea has proven himself one of the Training Team’s most dedicated members and volunteers regularly, in any post that’s needed. He brings his trademark wit to the role and ensures that classes big and small run smoothly, guiding both the training team members and cadets through the week with patience and positivity. The nominations spoke not just of the cadets who learned from him and thanked him in their feedback, but also staff who’ve used his leadership and mentoring as a gold standard when stepping into the CO roles themselves. High praise, and very well deserved, and it’s for this reason I am delighted to present Genkos Adea with the 2022 Boothby Award! Quark's Bar Awarded to members who are regularly active on the chat room, and forums, and have been supportive and involved in conversations enhancing the overall community experience with activities like keeping a quote thread up to date, consistently nominating simmers in the Appreciations forum, starting engaging chat discussions, attending chat events regularly, or being a helpful presence for new players. Ikaia Wong, Amity Outpost Presented by Roshanara Rahman: If you visit the fleet Discord server, you’re going to run into Ikaia Wong’s writer S4RK at some point. If the StarBase 118 Discord server is like the titular bar that this award is named after, then S4RK is no doubt our Morn! And just like those on Deep Space 9 often noted how much Morn talked with other patrons at Quark’s and added to the life of that establishment, S4RK is a beloved presence on the 118 Discord server. They were nominated by not one, not two, but six separate players for this award! For an award based on one’s impact in a community forum like the Discord server, it only seems fitting to quote the people directly who enjoy what S4RK brings to this venue every day. Here are just a few select excerpts from some of those nominations: “S4RK, Ikaia Wong's writer, is a constant presence on the Discord, always a cheerleader wanting to ensure that the chat areas are fun and welcoming. He shares his art and animations with his fellow fleetmates and he engages with them in interesting conversations about life, Star Trek watch-alongs, and other musings.” “Wong. Wong, Wong, Wong. Where to begin with Wong? [...] He's always finding ways to chat and perk people up in Discord, like coming up with games, or posing questions.” “What I also like is the way he makes us part of the little projects he does, either OOC or even IC. [...] If there's one person who's spreading a positive vibe on Discord, it's Ikaia Wong.” “They embody the very essence of this award through their kindness, humor, engagement, and helpfulness.” I want to end this citation with a particularly poignant comment from one of Wong’s nominators: “It is warming to see Ikaia spread his big heart beyond the Amity channel and bring his joy to the entire fleet. In recent times of RL darkness, Wong brings the light that the world needs.” I wholeheartedly agree! Congratulations, S4RK and thank you for all the joy you bring to our Discord server and community! The Xalor Clan Xifilis Award Awarded to simmers who overcome a disadvantage throughout simming. This award was initially known as the "Rachel Garett Pendant," but was renamed for the 2000 event to commemorate a valued StarBase 118 PBEM RPG simmer who died that year. In each event, this award can be given to all qualifying simmers. Connor Dewitt, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: The past few years have tested all of us, and though the consistency and dedication shown by our members is universally impressive, there are some challenges overcome that make me sit back, shake my head and chuckle in amazement. One of these individuals is Tim, who writes for Arrow’s Connor Dewitt. It’s one thing to work on overcoming a language barrier, but to do so in a way that earns him the TOSMA, on top of building a house? Impressive and remarkable. It’s this sort of thing that inspires me to do my best daily, and in recognition of challenges met head-on, I am pleased to remark upon Tim’s success and contributions with the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award. R'Ariel, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: When you aren’t feeling your best, just finding the motivation to write three times a week can be a struggle. Insisting on high-quality writing each time must feel monumental. But to then balance all of this alongside a cheerful and soulful attitude and a genuinely helpful outlook? That takes a strength I’m not sure I could match, and yet Lieutenant Commander R’Ariel makes it her modus operandi. In many ways, Kat is not just the counselor IC- her writing is provocative and soothing and depthful to the point where I feel like I’m being counseled alongside my character. Her ability to balance exquisite character growth, conflict, and helpful anecdotes makes her a singularly unique individual in my time here, and it is my pleasure to recognize her determination with the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award. Sera, USS Juneau / Denali Station Presented by Oddas Aria: Sometimes the biggest challenges are those that come within, the doubts, the anxieties, and the constant fears that what you are doing is not enough among your peers. Sera not only faced these fears in the past year, but destroyed them, constantly turning in superior work that amazed her peers, staff, and Commanding Officer alike. She does so with “kindness, humor, and love” and, in the words of the nomination “I feel like I've been able to be more comfortable with my own struggles, and my growth into better things because of Hope's friendship, vulnerability, and openness about things she's dealt with, and her willingness to just be there.” Congratulations Sera, you deserve it and much more! Trovek Arys, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: As StarBase 118 has grown and matured, the way we approach the game and its players has changed. With the addition of Discord and better open channels of communication we start to understand that while we write the game in English, there are so many incredible players across the globe that have English as a second language. And often we don’t even realize this because their skills at writing are so good. As her nominator puts it: “ I have always been amazed at those who are able to speak more than one language, but even more amazed when that second language is English. English is not an easy one to learn, has many rules and just as regularly breaks them. To then go beyond and actually write fiction in a language that is not one’s native tongue is even more astounding!” Lieutenant Trovek Arys, however, does just that. Born speaking German, she also knows English, but she does more than simply know it - she uses it artistically to create beautiful sims and engaging characters. She doesn’t just write something and do the bare minimum, either, she always engages in the scene and adds her own flair. She goes above and beyond, in any language and I am so proud to be able to recognize her accomplishments! Vitor Tito, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: One of the wonderful things about SB118 is how many people there are from all over the world. It never ceases to amaze me at how much of the globe is represented in our group which, when you think about it, isn’t all that large considering. Even more astounding is how many of our members are from other countries where English is not the native language. Bruno, the player behind Lt. JG Vitor Tito is one such member. Hailing from Portugal, he lives in a land that speaks a language very different from our sim, and yet he participates using English and does so beautifully. His characters are fun and engaging, and I know that there are times our language doesn’t make sense, and yet he navigates it so well despite that. Furthermore, it has been absolutely beautiful to watch his mastery of both writing and the English language grow over his long tenure on StarBase 118, and with each new sim he gains a better ability to describe the struggles his characters are going through and he continues to connect with his audience on a whole new level. This consistent improvement is not only compelling to read but absolutely inspiring and a great reminder that we are all on a journey to improving our communication skills. I am so happy to be able to recognize all of Bruno’s hard work for so many years and so proud of how far you have come! The Community Champion Award Awarded to members who participate in – or help facilitate – simming community events, representing the best of StarBase 118 RPG to other organizations by hosting events, acting as contest judges, or otherwise contributing their expertise in a way that benefits the wider community. Jaelyne Isa, USS Chin'toka Presented by Mei’konda Delano: Consistent and well organized, Jim / Commander Jaelyne Isa has been facilitating our monthly Fleet chats on Discord for quite some time now. Jim is very well organized, and his predictable methods of encouraging conversation between disparate members of the fleet who are assigned to different vessels, people who may not always get many chances to communicate and catch up with what other ships are up to, is a highly valuable service that he provides to SB118. Northern Star Award Awarded to members holding the rank of Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander who show constant commitment to the fleet as members of task forces and through our other fleet endeavours. These officers are vital to the success of our fleet, showing their support and enthusiasm for their crews and our community through their tireless efforts. Alieth, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: Everyone in the fleet has seen Alieth’s fingerprints. As the facilitator of the Image Collective, she has not only helped many of our members realise an image of their character, but her art direction led the way in the fleet’s new branding, bringing a clean, bold and modern identity to 118. On top of that, she has been a driving force in establishing and increasing the fleet’s presence on Deviant Art—something which has brought in several new members! Her efforts are not restricted to the art and graphic design field, either. On the Gorkon, she’s a tireless member of the ship’s mentoring team, helping the fleet retain simmers by welcoming, guiding, and inspiring new additions to the fleet. She also gives her time to the training team, welcoming and teaching new cadets and expanding her own repertoire of skills. She supports and encourages her fellow simmers with her activity on the forums, highlighting the quotes and sims which stir the emotions. For everything she does, for her unfailing devotion and dedication to making our fleet a better (and prettier!) place to be a part of, I’m proud to present Alieth with the Northern Star Award. Jake Sisko Prize Awarded to members of the Federation News Service Team who regularly go above and beyond in their contributions and participation. These team members show dedication and creativity in editing and writing news reports, helping to maintain our IC news service, build the 118 universe and provide inspiration for our members. Yogan Yalu, USS Excalibur-A Presented by Jo Marshall: Wow, this is an honour! The Federation News Service holds a very special place in the heart of many article writers and article editors who dedicate a chunk of their time every month to expand on our universe. Making sure we have articles to go out every week is a feat in itself, and one Justin rises to with aplomb. Since coming back to the Fleet from his leave of absence, Justin has cracked forward with such vigour in the FNS, that it's left me astonished. He's got plans for the future of it, developing guides for our writers, hoping to bring more of our Fleet into the FNS fold. He writes fantastic articles that are the springboard for missions, for spin-offs, and never fails to come up with something utterly brilliant, insightful, and creative. Where he gets his ideas from, I'll never know, but it's a well I do not want him to stop tapping. For boundless enthusiasm that I couldn't stem even if I wanted to, total dedication to making the FNS the best it can be, and one astoundingly creative writer, I am incredibly happy to present Justin with the Jake Sisko Prize this year! Okuda Award Awarded to members of the Image Collective who regularly go above and beyond in their contributions to this team's efforts, creating images and graphics for the fleet. These team members display their artistry and dedication with a visual feast for members new and old, bringing our creations to life and stoking imaginations. Aine Sherlock, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: Recognized with the Vega award on ship, Aine Sherlock’s contributions to the fleet at StarBase 118 go well beyond just their own ship. Jared, the writer behind Aine is a prolific contributor to the image collective, and specializes in not only character portraiture but more complicated designs such as 3-D models, blueprints for locations and odd jobs such as memorial plaques, coffee designs and in-world signage. This amazing graphics talent helps to being our setting alive and invigorates our wiki! Aine’s skills are always growing and the player is not afraid to tackle challenges. Special thanks for all the hard work done on the 3-D models of Amity station as well as settings for the Excalibur-A and StarBase 118 Ops! It is commendable for a graphic artist to support their ship, but Aine goes above and beyond, supporting other ships and installations at a fleetwide level. Nominations from across the fleet recognized and thanked Jared for his willingness to work with others and incredible graphic skill. A true graphics wizard, a wonderful fleet supporter and an amazing player, I am thrilled to present Aine Sherlock with this year’s Okuda Award! It is very well deserved! Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  6. Welcome to Day One of the annual Awards Ceremony! Each captain has presented the General (Ship) Awards to their crew. The fleet’s commanding officers choose the winners, (or where the commanding officer was also nominated, we called the first officer in to decide) from the nominations made by you! This is your chance to see how each of the other ships did and see who picked up what award. The Order of Starfleet Merit and Achievement (TOSMA) Awarded to members who show great dedication in their behavior and simming abilities. A candidate for TOSMA gives strong, solid ideas to the storyline and character development on a regular basis. They also take the time to edit and proofread their sims to guarantee that their writing is of high quality. Bryce Tagren-Quinn, USS Gorkon Cade Foster, USS Constitution-B Connor Dewitt, USS Arrow Ikaia Wong, Amity Outpost Jack Kessler, USS Oumuamua Kettick, Denali Station Noa T'Nessa Levinson, USS Chintoka Talos Dakora, USS Excalibur-A Trovek Arys, StarBase 118 Ops The Genesis Award Awarded to officers who show conspicuous effort in notably improving their simming skills. Jacin Ayemet, USS Arrow John Carter, Amity Outpost Kettick, Denali Station Meidra Sirin, USS Gorkon Noa T'Nessa Levinson, USS Chintoka Rachel Flores, USS Constitution-B Ulasso, USS Oumuamua Vitor Silveira, USS Excalibur-A Scotty Cross Awarded to an officer who shows extreme creativity while solving a plot dilemma or in character plot twist. Ayiana Sevo, USS Gorkon Chloe Waters, USS Arrow Karrod Niac, USS Excalibur-A Kettick, Denali Station Neelix Award Awarded to officers who go above and beyond the call of duty by displaying additional, Out of Character commitment. This includes assisting fellow officers in need of simming assistance, facilitating Out of Character discussions with the crew, maintaining wiki articles, and more.. Addison MacKenzie, USS Excalibur-A Alora DeVeau, USS Oumuamua Artinus Serinus, USS Arrow Dekas, Denali Station Edward Spears, USS Constitution-B Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Scotty Reade, Amity Outpost Nebula Bar Awarded to a simmer who has demonstrated great imagination in creating or expanding upon planets, stars, stellar phenomena, and other physical environments and settings, such that these settings create a convincing, descriptive, realistic environment that inspires other simmers or improves the flow of a given plot. Etan Iljor, USS Excalibur-A Jacin Ayemet, USS Arrow Tahna Meru, USS Gorkon Toryn Raga, USS Chintoka Wil Ukinix, Amity Outpost Laudean Commendation Awarded to those who have shown great creativity in many facets of species creation or expansion, including physiological, psychological, cultural, social, and more, their creativity will inspire their fellow simmers. The Laudean Commendation can cover many aspects of species development, such as an expansion of the species on the wiki and documenting their history, but should primarily be based on In Character simming. Alieth, USS Gorkon Ar'Gorvalei, USS Arrow Dekas, Denali Station Hallia Yellir, USS Excalibur-A Kivik, Amity Outpost Shedet, USS Constitution-B V’Len Kel, USS Oumuamua Silver Palm Awarded to individuals who are renowned to offer that spark to a plot when it is lagging, or for consistently bringing fun or a touch of humour to the sim, while keeping such sims current and realistic. They constantly raise their crew's morale in a variety of methods, including Out of Character. Anton Richards, USS Oumuamua Keneth Nakada, USS Arrow Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Sleepy Tiberius, USS Excalibur-A Talia Ohnari, USS Constitution-B Tomas Falt, Denali Station Wil Ukinix, Amity Outpost Sheathed Sword Awarded to individuals who choose to inflict mental and/or physical suffering on their character, then dig into the following feelings and decisions in a realistic manner. The term is derived from a passage in a Robert Jordan novel in which a warrior must be prepared to 'sheath the sword' in their own body, i.e. incur a painful wound to attain one's objective (in this case, more realistic simming) rather than a genuine aim of the character. Aine Sherlock, StarBase 118 Ops Ceciri Ariadust, Amity Outpost Cory Stoyer, USS Gorkon Dekas, Denali Station Elizabeth Snow, USS Chintoka Lystra, USS Constitution-B R'Ariel, USS Arrow V’Len Kel, USS Oumuamua Vitor Silveira, USS Excalibur-A B-Plot Award Awarded to simmers who, despite the demands of the core storyline, illustrate a substantial portion of the character's life. Their sims convey the journey of their character while bringing their fellow crew members along for the ride, allowing for collaboration and making their world feel as though their fellow writers are a part of it. Amuro McKnight, USS Chintoka Atan T'Seva, USS Constitution-B Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon Hallia Yellir, USS Excalibur-A Kalia Qinn, Denali Station Quentin Collins, USS Arrow Rebecca Iko, Amity Outpost Vitor Tito, StarBase 118 Ops The Russ Bar Awarded to a writer who possesses an exceptional grasp of Trek mythology. Named after Tim Russ, the actor who portrayed Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager and was a huge Star Trek fan before landing the part. Addison MacKenzie, USS Excalibur-A Cassandra Mason, USS Arrow Kammus Corelli, USS Oumuamua Rivi Vataix, Amity Outpost Sera, Denali Station Tahna Meru, USS Gorkon Trovek Arys, StarBase 118 Ops Pathfinder Award Awarded to individuals who have taken great care in mentoring other members during their early stages of simming and beyond. They are great communicators who continuously find ways to motivate and inspire their mentees. Alieth, USS Gorkon Alora DeVeau, USS Oumuamua Jaelyne Isa, USS Chintoka Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Quentin Collins, USS Arrow Genkos Adea, USS Excalibur-A Khan Award Awarded to a simmer who thoughtfully develops a three-dimensional villain over the course of a mission or more. They create well-rounded and grounded villains, who may be moustache-twirling murderous maniacs or the hero of their own story. A superb villain should be a formidable and deserving foe to your heroes. They should neither be so weak that they are easily defeated nor should they be so powerful that they can only be defeated by chance. Genkos Adea, USS Excalibur-A Jocelyn Marshall, USS Gorkon Maz Rodan, USS Arrow Toryn Raga, USS Chintoka Q Award Awarded to a simmer who keeps their team guessing with unexpected, clever plot twists throughout the year. Though they may be sudden, unexpected, and even dramatic changes in direction, the twists must be realistic and sensible. The twists should never happen in such a way that people feel misled, fooled, or embarrassed. Great narrative twists always increase, not decrease, other simmer’s participation in the story. Karrod Niac, USS Excalibur-A Loxley, USS Gorkon Quentin Collins, USS Arrow T'Lea, Denali Station O'Brien Award Awarded to individuals with the rank of Lieutenant or Lieutenant Commander who assist the ship's command staff by mentoring crew, arranging missions, updating the wiki, and performing other activities critical to the successful operation of our sims. These officers serve as the backbone of their ships and stations, assisting in making simming enjoyable for everyone on board. Named after one of Trek's most devoted and tenacious support personnel. Alieth, USS Gorkon Alora DeVeau, USS Oumuamua Cadfael Peters, USS Chintoka Edward Spears, USS Constitution-B Yogan Yalu, USS Excalibur-A Ikaia Wong, Amity Outpost John Kendrick, Denali Station Maz Rodan, USS Arrow Vega Award Awarded to individuals who bring the worlds of their crews to life with art, videos, and all kinds of artistic endeavours. Named for one of the Federation's earliest colonies. Aine Sherlock, StarBase 118 Ops Artinus Serinus, USS Arrow Jocelyn Marshall, USS Gorkon Rebecca Iko, Amity Outpost Talos Dakora, USS Excalibur-A Combs Cross Awarded to individuals who bring their ships to life with well-rounded PNPCs, enhancing plots and character development, without detracting from the main story and characters of the sim. They add depth and colour to the universe, and make the journey the experience. Named for Jeffrey Combs, guest star of a thousand faces. Alora DeVeau, StarBase 118 Ops Jaelyne Isa, USS Chintoka Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution-B Karise Indobri, Denali Station Kivik, Amity Outpost Maz Rodan, USS Arrow Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Wes Greaves, USS Oumuamua Yogan Yalu, USS Excalibur-A Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  7. Greetings and welcome to the 2022 (2399) Fleetwide Awards Ceremony! You're all welcomed into StarBase 118's biggest week since... well, since this time last year. Hosted this year by two terribly British people. The glamour, the excitement, the length... At least it doesn't take ages to sail across the Atlantic and all we need to do is log in to the networked connectivity box and magic seems to happen. This is the most magnificent of occasions, when the skies break and the mighty and the excellent of our literary community descend upon us, bathing us in their brilliance, immersing us in their grandeur, and showering us in their artistry. Not only do we get to harp on about how amazing everyone is, but we get to harp on about how amazing everyone is, and that is quite lovely. There are five categories of awards: General Awards (which some ships have already given to their crews!), Duty Post, Special, and Staff Awards, which recognise players of all ranks for a variety of accomplishments. We continue to reward membership lengths of one, three, five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty-five years in the member Length of Service Awards! A tremendous number of simmers have been around for such a long time, and they are counted among us. For nearly three decades we have been honouring the best writers and roleplayers in our community. It is a tremendous honour to be part of this event as it celebrates some of the most talented, those who have dedicated their time, efforts, blood, sweat, and occasional tears. As the facilitators for this year, we'd like to express our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who took the time to submit nominations. It's always incredible to read how you all celebrate one another, all the delicious narratives, and coming together as a community despite all that's going on in the world. Every nomination was jam-packed with deep respect, gratitude, and admiration for our fellow authors and roleplayers, and the occasional bribe, and it should serve as a reminder that we appreciate everyone's presence, ongoing efforts, and contributions. As our community grows and matures in the twenty-ninth year, we want to express our gratitude to our courageous chief, Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf, who always takes time to offer assistance on any situation, large or little. Similarly, no amount of thanks could adequately express this community's gratitude to the members of the Executive Council, Captain's Council, and those who lead and serve on our numerous taskforces for your infinite enthusiasm and leadership in ensuring we ALL enjoy a safe, creative, and innovative experience. Now, less of that, and more of this. Happy 28th anniversary everybody! — Em (Jo Marshall) and Elliot (Genkos Adea)
  8. Valued members of the StarBase 118 Community, We are sad to report that we've discovered what appears to be intentional tampering with our 2021 Awards nominations. We'd like to help you understand what we found, how it affected the outcome, and how we will ensure it doesn't happen again. BACKGROUND As you know, we use a form on our website to collect nominations. We use a WordPress plugin called "GravityForms" to build this form and manage the entries, and your nominations are stored in WordPress, in the GravityForms plugin database. When it's time to compile the nominations each year, we export the entries and transfer them via a CSV file into a Google spreadsheet. Our Awards Facilitator and their team then collate the nominations and separates them by type (General, Duty Post, etc.). In addition to storing entries in GravityForms, email notifications are generated from each nomination and sent to the original nominators for their records. An additional email record is sent to a private archive. We were alerted by a member that they were not on the list of people who were due to receive a nominator badge, despite receiving email confirmation of their nomination. We verified that the nomination had generated an email notification from the nomination form but was not present in our database of nominations in GravityForms. INVESTIGATION We then began an investigation to try and determine how we could be missing nominations in our database that had been properly entered into our form. Two staff members conducted a full audit of our backup archive of email notifications against what's in our database, and it became clear that a total of eight nominations were missing from our database and therefore not considered by the various committees that review and select award winners. These nominations were for two members, and half the missing nominations were for one member and one award. We also conducted an audit of our 2020 Awards nominations to see if we could find any missing ones there, and found none missing. As we investigated, we found that a former staff member who had left the group last year somehow had access to WordPress at the level required to delete GravityForms entries, despite having been removed from all staff-level access upon their departure – a fact that had been confirmed twice on separate occasions after that. We also found that this player had a secondary forum account from the one they had used as a staff member, and that this player had been logging in to our forums repeatedly around the time of the awards. And, perhaps most damningly, we found server access records that clearly linked the IP address used to log into that forum account to deleted entries in our WordPress Community News queue. Hoping someone would not be malicious enough to delete award nominations for a friend and former colleague in our community, we investigated other possibilities. But we could not establish a compelling, alternative theory on how these nominations disappeared. If the error had been technical, we would not expect to see only two people – from the same ship – affected: The nominations came from several people, who also had other nominations for other players, some for the same award or award category; The nominations were submitted on different days and different times, so where we originally suspected this could be due to overload at peak times of nomination submissions, this is not the case; Those whose nominations were missing received other nominations present in the lineup, both from the same nominators, and others. While we are fairly confident that the pattern of missing nominations, the login pattern on the forums coinciding with the awards release, and the relationship the former player in question had to those affected are pretty convincing evidence of guilt, we don't have an open-and-shut case. WordPress does not have native login tracking, and there are no logs to show records being deleted manually. As such, we are choosing not to reveal the identity of the player we believe may have been tampering with our site. There was extensive conversation amongst the Captain’s Council on this matter, and though some members considered the evidence that we have to be clear enough to name the player in question, we have decided to avoid doing so due to the fact that this evidence is circumstantial. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT The Captain's Council is mortified and upset to discover two members of our community were not properly considered for nominated awards this year due to the nefarious interference of a former member. We have made a personal apology to the two affected players, and we're making it again now in this public forum. Of course, our awards process is one of our most honored traditions in the group and we don't want anything to impact it now, or going forward. As such, we intend to make the following changes to our process immediately: We will increase the time between the closing of the nomination period and the beginning of the Awards Ceremony by one week. This will give us more time to audit the data we have and allow the Staff more time with the administration of awards, ensuring we're not adding stress where we can avoid it. We will change the access to WordPress in the coming weeks and, specifically, move the Awards Nomination Panel to its own WordPress subsite with access available to fewer people. We have already begun a process – and will continue to iterate on it – to strengthen our access control, safeguarding our community by removing members who have retired or taken long-term leave. The Captains Council also has a process of reviewing the awards post-ceremony each year – examining what went well and considering what needs improvement – and we'll be starting this sooner than we normally do, to ensure the most recent Awards Ceremony is fresher in our minds, for the sake of coming up with other recommendations on how to ensure the integrity of our process. Sincerely, Members of the Captains Council
  9. Ever since I handed off the production of the Awards Ceremony to an "Awards Facilitator" – in 2012, I believe – I've been writing a section for special thanks. Looking over those past notes of thanks I've written, they've grown considerably from 2012's very modest couple of lines mentioning the assistance I received, to 2020, which included a detailed description of the rather insane lengths we go to produce this event – our largest, oldest, and most special event of the whole year. This year I want to jump right into the thanks without further ado because the folks who have helped here deserve nothing less than the world. Let's start with @Jo Marshall, Emily, comparable only to Captain Marvel in feats of strength and focus! From appointment as the Awards Facilitator in May, Em took the job of coordinating everything with aplomb, ensuring that each step of the process runs smoothly. If you've read last year's special thanks, you know that Em also facilitated last year and so now has managed two years without a hitch! It's really hard to imagine, if you haven't done this kind of thing, all the plates you need to keep spinning at once but also how much "manual labor" is required. At the staff level of this community, we value making things as easy and expeditious for each other as possible. We have dozens and dozens of administrative forms that allow us to easily catalog data and format it into tables. We have administrative forums, where we organize threads of data. We have Google Sheets galore where everything must be ordered and colored correctly. The goal here is often to present data and tasks to others in a way that feels as seamless and easy as possible, but often it means putting in a hell of a lot of work to move data from one place to another in a format that works. You can't describe it as anything other than a labor of love to help other people participate in the Awards process, even when it means spending a lot of time to make that work. A former boss of mine once wrote in an evaluation that I have a "high tolerance for bureaucratic process," and now I want to pass along this rather backhanded compliment to Em, who never complains, is good natured, funny, quick to volunteer and adapt to the challenges posed. She navigates the intricacies of this bureaucracy with ease and ensures that the rest of us can pick up exactly where we need to. I can't help but feel an affinity for her, and a deep appreciation for her skilled dedication to what we're trying to accomplish when it comes to the awards and any other task she takes on. Next, I want to thank everyone who had a hand in the selection of our awards and other setup: @Addison MacKenzie (Matt): Who assisted Em with the entire process and helped to get everything posted The Awards Committee: Who carefully read a lot of nominations and made the best choices for those awards. Thanks to each of the following people who put in extra effort for this part of the process and it is a HUGE lift to read all these nominations. VAdml. @Quinn Reynolds Com. Aron Kells @Tony, aka Kells Com. @Jalana Rajel Cmdr. @Kelrod Cmdr. @Serala Our Commanding Officers: Who not only tirelessly command and manage their ships, but also ensure that members of their ship are justly rewarded for their contributions during the awards – which requires reading lots of nominations and balancing them all appropriately, all while simming and everything else they do! Thank you for your dedication, your enthusiasm, and the work you put into this process and everything else you do. I know that this is an incredible lift for all of us each year, and your efforts do not go unnoticed! Our First Officers: Who help advise the Executive Council in deciding what Staff Awards are received, by reviewing all the nominations and making recommendations. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into considering the nominations! Everyone who nominated someone else: Your nominations really do matter! These nominations inform the entire process and help the staff and Awards Committee recognize the contributions we couldn't possibly have seen alone. Thank you for putting in that time. There's also a couple other "special thanks" for the year on behalf of the Executive Council. I recognize that putting these at the end of our Awards Ceremony, at the bottom of other thanks, sends a signal about their importance. But I want to counter that impression by saying that the fact these are being mentioned here, and chiseled in the stone of Wiki Mountain in our Awards Ceremony archive, should also say something about how important these notes are! Cmdr. Serala (Jim) deserves recognition for stewarding the crew of the USS Chin'toka after their commanding officer abruptly resigned without notice. Jim's loyalty to our community and skilled intervention helped ensure a smooth transition to Capt. Mei'konda. We want to thank him for making that transition as easy as possible for everyone Capt. @Oddas Aria (Nick) deserves recognition as the EC's Captain At Large who keeps the most consistent and well-communicated office hours for Captains Council questions! Com. @Roshanara Rahman (Rich) deserves thanks for taking on the EC Magistrate role, facilitating and helping to push forward boatloads of to-do items across 2020-2021, keeping us on task and making sure things got completed in a timely fashion as well as taking lead on a bunch of projects. Also, for being an open-minded individual who helped foster meaningful discussions that helped our staff understand other's points of view And Com. Taybrim also had these thanks to offer: So that's a wrap. Awards are presented, thanks are given, and we now head into our 27th year of operation as a community. I hope you all enjoy your time here and feel recognized and rewarded for your efforts, and that the joy of being in fellowship with each other is a reward of its own. Until next year! -FltAdml. Tristan Wolf
  10. Nomination Badges I'm delighted to present the badges for this year's award ceremony! See below for the full badge list. If you believe you should have earned the badge but are not listed, contact your CO. Learn more about badges and how to display them on your wiki pages here. And don't forget: The full ceremony has been posted on the wiki now, as with all previous ceremonies. Awards Chairperson Presented to a staff member that has held the position of Awards Chairperson for an Awards Ceremony. If more than one staff member holds the title, or is appointed an assistant or deputy, all receive the badge. Addison MacKenzie, USS Resolution Awards Committee Member Presented to any staff member that participates in the yearly Awards Committee to select Duty Post and Special Awards. Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Aron Kells, USS Thor Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution-B Kelrod, USS Veritas Serala, USS Chin'toka Awards Ceremony Nominator (Standard) A player must submit at least 1 nomination for a fellow player during an awards ceremony, in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year. Awards Ceremony Nominator (Elite) A player must submit at least 5 nominations for fellow players in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times, but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year. Awards Ceremony Nominator (Legendary) A player must submit at least 10 nominations for players on more than 2 vessels in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times, but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year.
  11. Welcome to the last day of the awards ceremony! So far this week we’ve announced the recipients of the Staff, General, Length of Service and Special awards. Today, we present the Duty Post awards. Each award focuses on a different department from the major ones such as medical, operations or engineering to the more unique - like diplomacy, intel or marines. Even civilians are recognised for the valuable contributions those who prefer the path less worn can make to our stories. Each of these awards recognises a player for excellence in simming their duty post. Since we give only one award per duty post each year, we chose only those who sim the duty post in an exemplary fashion to represent. You’ll see from our spread of winners — who range in rank from Ensign to Captain — every player can be nominated for one of these by consistently simming to the best of their ability and striving to improve their craft. The Prantares Award - Medical The Prantares Ribbon is a duty post award and is awarded to those Medical officers who have moved beyond competence to display a genuine gift for the healing arts in space medicine. The officers given this award should display the ability to keep a steady hand in the often hazardous conditions in which they must practice, as well as the willingness to risk their own lives to save the lives of others. Alieth, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: This year’s Prantares Ribbon goes to Alieth, written by the talented Andrea, who has served as the Thor’s medical officer and, recently, a chief medical officer since its relaunch in 2020. Andrea’s take on medical simming is some of the best in the fleet, and her nominators describe it with high praise: “In our time writing together, I have come to respect the way Alieth crafts a medical scene - whether treating mass trauma events or consulting for one-on-one evaluations, her attention to detail is impressive.” She mixes real-world medicine and science with what they have shown in Trek canon, and the results are technical without losing her fellow simmers’ interest — detailed and engaging, in all the right ways. As important is Andrea’s attention to detail when it comes to the character she’s writing. Several of her nominators pointed out how Andrea’s crafted Alieth, not into the “perfect” Vulcan physician — with “the potential to be stale, describing nothing but a logical progression,” according to one nomination — but Andrea’s writing is anything but. Alieth’s approach “is a treat which strays from tropes and constantly challenges the scene, improving it in every way,” according to one nominator, while another notes “her unique brand of compassion and humour is especially notable because she threads the needle of playing a Vulcan character while still demonstrating powerful empathy and emotional resonance.” Very impressive indeed! While Alieth is an excellent medical officer on the Thor, she’s likely to be familiar to many in the fleet at large, and not only because of Andrea’s presence on Discord, the forums, and in various teams and taskforces. Andrea has gone out of her way to craft stories that include simmers and characters from around the fleet, and usually, with some key grounding in medical science of the Trek universe — one nominator called special attention to her arc with the character Sern. I’ll leave this citation with a final quote from a nomination that summarizes Alieth especially well: “Her professionalism is marked with a hint of humour (but don’t tell her that, she’ll deny it), her bedside manner is far warmer than one might expect from one of her species, and who can resist being given candy for good behaviour after a doctor’s visit?” Congratulations, Andrea! The Natasha Yar Pin - Security The Natasha Yar Pin is a duty post award and is awarded to those Security officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting and preserving the lives of their crewmates, even at risk to their own. Aine Sherlock, USS Resolution Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: There is a lot that goes into a good security officer. With plenty of on-screen examples, we have a pretty good idea of what it takes to serve in this role on a starship, but it takes a special writer to bring it all together. The recipient of this year’s Natasha Yar Pin, Jared - aka Lieutenant JG Aine Sherlock - does a fantastic job and exemplifies everything we look for. Strong, true, smart, and witty. The character Jared writes jumps off the page and fills the role so well I can't imagine the Resolution without her. Every sim that Jared writes and every contribution to the story that he adds is one that we all look forward to reading. He takes us on a journey through Sherlock that shows us that a good security officer is vulnerable sometimes, and not always one to make the best decisions. But, when it comes to the safety of her crew, there are no chances, no second guesses, and no wondering about where her intentions are. Beyond the character, Jared serves in many other roles as well, including the incredible upkeep of the Resolution’s wiki and in the capacity of making graphics and images. With each thing he adds, he offers something that adds to the depth of our fleet and lends credence to why he is this year’s Natasha Yar pin winner. I look forward to seeing him go far with us in the 118 fleet. Congratulations! The Voyager Medallion - Ops The Voyager Medallion is a duty post award and is awarded to those operations officers who have shown great skill in keeping a starship in working order despite near-impossible circumstances. The officers receiving this award have advanced the field of Operations, making sure duty rosters, provisions, gear, and even recreation time are available... no matter what. Maria Alvarez, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: Some time ago, I was interviewed about the Ops officer position, and in it, I advised all future Opsians to simply make the role their own. There is so much variety provided that anything less is a waste of material. I have no way of knowing whether Max read it, but it doesn’t change the fact that he writes an Ops officer so impressively that I can’t help but take notes. His brilliant intertwining of character, personality, past experience and current adversity make Maria Alvarez a delight to read and behold. Max knows just how far to push and pull, and he knows how to make a story work not just for his character, but for the entire ship. It is the Ops officer’s job to keep things organised and running smoothly, to keep interconnected facets of a ship and crew working together harmoniously. I’m not sure where we would be without Max, in character or out. Whether he’s writing for his character, working with others on joint stories, or advising and assisting the Arrow staff, Max is an Ops officer through and through, and I say without reservation that he is absolutely deserving of this recognition. Congratulations! The Sisko Tactical Cross - Tactical The Sisko Tactical Cross is a duty post award and is awarded to those tactical officers who have shown cunning and bravery in battle. Master strategists, and experts in targeting and shield power distribution, these officers have done the impossible to save their ship and the lives of its crew. Atan T’Seva, USS Constitution-B Presented by Jalana Rajel: Tactical is one of these posts on a ship that can be a challenge to write for. As ships do not get into battle all the time, or in the Constitution's case ever until recently, it's difficult to bring this department to life. But not so for the Chief Tactical Officer on the Constitution. No matter the kind mission she joined with enthusiasm, creativity and out of the box thinking on how to integrate the Tactical department. Be it putting together escape routes on Xatrac, training of new officers, suggestions for updates of technology to build an earthquake alarm system on Endaasi, or analyse opponents to predict their moves so we did not have to find out a way into battle. During the last Constitution mission, though, when Orion Syndicate Pirates attacked out of nowhere, she finally could put all her tactical knowledge to good use. With her cool head and confidence, she finally had her time to shine and was a big part of why the Constitution only lost a warp nacelle and was not torn apart. It is my pleasure to present the Sisko Tactical Cross to Atan T'Seva. Congratulations! The Phoenix Award - Engineering The Phoenix Award is a duty post award that recognises engineers. Named for the vessel that legendary engineer Zefram Cochrane piloted during his historic first warp flight, this award goes to those Engineering officers who continue this tradition of excellence in engineering. By performing their tasks with enthusiasm, imagination and diligence, by making their equipment perform above and beyond its rated capacities, the officers meriting this award further the mission of their ship by their superior know-how. In short, miracle workers. Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Presented by Roshanara Rahman: A good engineer is a problem solver. A great chief engineer not only comes up with solutions but leads a team, encouraging and inspiring them to come together as an entire department of problem solvers. Since Wil Ukinix first started simming aboard the USS Veritas, he has shown enthusiasm and knack for tackling whatever is thrown at him in-character and out-of-character. Learning under the guidance of Geoffrey Teller, his department chief at the time, Ukinix was a diligent starship engineer, contributing to various contraptions and imaginative plans-of-action to save the day, ship, and crew. But in this past year when he took on the role of chief engineer, we’ve gotten to see a new side of Ukinix, that of being a leader and mentor to not just his fellow engineers but the larger crew. Within the engineering department, Ukinix writes with two other players, and he often employs departmental briefings and special projects to ensure that everyone is engaged and gets a chance to shine. When his engineering crew came up with ideas to develop animal-like repair drones and other creative engineering tools we hadn’t really seen in Star Trek before, Ukinix worked with both of them on fully fleshing out the idea and how to implement them in our game. Beyond his department, Ukinix has now become one of the ship’s most senior officers, rising to the position of second officer, and he provides a steady hand as part of the command team, perfectly balancing his character’s fun personality and light-heartedness with that of a dedicated Starfleet officer who wants to do the right thing and set a good example for the people under his watch. As he continues to write with StarBase 118 PBEM RPG, I know he will reach any star he sets his aim for, and I am delighted and honoured to see him recognised with this year’s Phoenix Award! The Cochrane Award - Science The Cochrane Award is a duty post award and is awarded to those science officers who have contributed to the advance of science during their Starfleet career, by staying knowledgeable about their field, taking part in the community of science, but most importantly, by placing their knowledge at the service of their ship and its mission. Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Presented by Jalana Rajel: Where do I even start with this one! Science is such a huge part of Star Trek that it can intimidate, not wanting to write the wrong thing and have millions of Scientists scream in pain. But it can be one of the most interesting and exciting posts if you either know what you are talking about or have so much creativity to make up things and mix it with facts so that it sounds real even though it's fiction. One of the people with who I have the joy to write with who can do this to a breathtaking extend is Lazarus Davis. Frequently questions came up on how to solve problems, how to explain a plot twist and the Science never disappointed. Solutions like using a unique gas to our advantage, throw space dust at the enemy - even if the resulting explosion had dire consequences for his psyche, or explain unnaturally strong currents in a nebula with a stellar phenomenon like a starry tempest. At times don't go by plan or the science fails and in those times Josh is not scared to show the ethical dilemmas or struggles that follow as well. During our last mission, he had to face what happens when your science causes fatalities. And seeing that side of Science as well makes a great read! When talking about science with Josh or reading his sims it is easy to feel his enthusiasm for the field and I can't wait to see what else he'll come up with. It's my pleasure to present the Cochrane Award to Lazarus Davis. Congratulations! The Pilot's Sextant - Helm The Pilot's Sextant is a duty post award that recognises helm officers. An award named after an old Earth navigational tool, the Pilot's Sextant is given to those Helm officers who have proven themselves to be the best of the best. From finding a safe route home to flying an emergency atmospheric landing, pilots who have earned the right to this award know the importance of staying focused and puts their ability to make spectacular manoeuvres at the service of their ship and its mission. Cadfael Peters, USS Chin’toka Presented by Mei’konda: A highly experienced member of the fleet who’s played almost every duty post that we offer, Zephyr, the player of Peters, came aboard the Chin’toka as a dedicated helmsman, because we were lucky enough to have an Operations Chief already. Helm can present a challenge for players, because of the occasionally limited nature of the role, but Cadfael Peters has brought life to both his character and to the position of helm by taking the initiative when he can to describe the movements of ships or shuttles through space, particularly during exciting moments like ship to ship battles. He takes every opportunity to describe things visually interestingly that makes it easy for his crewmates to be drawn into the action, and he always gives his fellow players opportunities to add in by communicating directly between the helm and their stations in unique and well thought out ways. The Chin’toka is very lucky to have Zephyr, and I’m thrilled to present him with the Pilot’s Sextant for 2021! The Order of the Valiant Heart - Counselling This award is given to those ship Counselors who show great skill in protecting the mental health of their crewmates, evincing superior ability to care, assist, and comfort those in need. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty in assisting their crewmates with their problems, and in preventing future problems from occurring. R’Ariel, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: Anyone who’s written for a counsellor is well aware of how uniquely challenging the role is. In character, counsellors have to get incredibly creative with how they engage with missions and carry out their obligations to the best of their ability. That’s extra difficult if there’s not a lot of call for diplomacy, discussion or conflict mediation. Many counsellors will take up alternate avenues; they’ll be skilled in other areas of ship operation, or perhaps they’ll take up long-running personal plots. Kat has done these things to a significant effect. However, this doesn't stop her from exploring the first duty of a counsellor at every opportunity. R’Ariel is always there for others aboard her ship, be they Starfleet, civilian or alien. She responds with calm, open tact that soothes not just the souls of characters, but of their writers as well. The adversity she faces does not impede her gracious, kind words from doing good for those around her, and in these ways, Kat and R’Ariel are breathtakingly similar. Both writer and character embody the spirit and strength of a true counsellor, and I can think of no one more deserving of this high honour. Congratulations! The Semper Fidelis Award - Marines For those Starfleet Marines who have shown great skill in protecting their crew, accomplishing their mission, avoiding tragic loss of life in the line of duty, and upholding the values of the United Federation of Planets in times of crisis. Kiran Han, USS Juneau Presented by Oddas Aria: Playing a Marine in Starfleet, a position with little to no screen time in the Star Trek Universe can be tough, which makes this award so special. Knowing how to portray a Marine, how to play a military character in a universe where traditional military stereotypes do not always work. As the nomination put it, Patrick plays Han as the “modern 'problem solver' required by the fleet”, leading a Rapid Response Unit aboard the Juneau. Patrick can always be counted on to lead an Away Mission, lead to exciting situations, and still get his people home. Writing with him is a pleasure, as he can make action out of nothing, and still make you feel as if it was always ‘part of the plan’. He can always make his action sequences and calls for movement fit within the universe and story we are trying to tell, never an add-on or an afterthought, and always furthering his character and plot. Congratulations Major Han and Great Job! The Lwaxana Troi Medallion This award is given to a member who takes on a unique and non-traditional role outside of the normal Starfleet positions, while creating a colourful and engaging character such as, but not limited to: a diplomat, a civilian or a mission specialist. Charlotte DeBarres, USS Arrow Presented by Randal Shayne: Charlotte DeBarres, played by Mark- one of our most dedicated writers- knows what she’s doing. It doesn’t matter where she is or what the circumstances are; you can count on DeBarres for a witty, sarcastic comment and lifesaving, quick thinking. Mission specialist is a tricky role, requiring both an in-depth understanding of the conditions of a mission, and knowing what to do in case things go south. It’s an even greater challenge to write for, but does this stop Mark? Heck no! He’s as much of an everyman out of character as in serving on staff and providing MSNPCs on the regular while helping along the plot and taking care of business that makes the entire ship run better. He’s a shining example of a dedicated, capable and innovative member, and the character he writes for exhibits these qualities, and so much more. Congratulations! The Strange Medallion - First Officer Named after Commander Sally Strange, widely known as one of the most creative and dedicated First Officers in the fleet's early years, we give this award to those who perform above the call of duty in the position of First Officer. Addison MacKenzie, USS Resolution Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: A ship cannot thrive without the guidance of a good command team, and a command team without a good first officer is already setting up the wrong scene. Imagine Kirk without Spock, or Picard without Riker. When countless things could go wrong, it is often this bond, and the sheer will of that first officer, that moves mountains. Having a few years of command experience, and real-world management experience as well, I can honestly not be more proud to present this year’s Strange Medallion to an incredibly deserving officer and my very own XO, Matt, aka Commander Addison MacKenzie. Matt does nothing halfway. At the very base of all, his characters bring realism that provides a shining example of how to sim for the entire crew. Because he is frequently involved in Academy classes, this gets shared with many of the newest members as well, getting them the solid foundation they need from the start. Volunteering his time to many other areas around the fleet, we can all see and feel Matt’s impact. While there are many qualities that Matt has that make him more than worthy of this accolade, one of the strongest is the sheer fact that he is willing to learn, grow, and lead. Fear, hesitation, and inflexibility don’t even slip into the shadows of this equation. I am thrilled to present this to him today, but I am even more excited to see the even greater mountains he is yet to scale. Congratulations! And thank you for your continued work and dedication to the Resolution and the Starbase 118 Fleet! Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  12. Today we are proud to present the Length of Service and Special Awards! Length of Service Awards Length of Service Awards are presented to members who have been continuously active for at least a year, there are also tiers for three, five, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years of continuous service. This year, thirty players have reached a length of service milestone. Of those, eleven are celebrating their first milestone, having picked up the award for one year of active membership. Another six have achieved three years of active membership and ten more have been here for five years. Two players have reached the incredible ten-year milestone, and one has reached fifteen years! We also have two players celebrating their five-year command milestones as Commodores of our fleet! 5-year Commanding Officer For those who have served as commanding officers for their ships and stations continuously for five years. Officers in this category are also appointed to the rank of Commodore to recognize their experience and leadership. Commodore Sal Taybrim, who took command of StarBase 118 Ops on December 12th, 2015. Commodore Roshanara Rahman, who took command of the USS Invicta (NCC-81407) on April 5th, 2016. 1-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for one year. Haley Caden, graduated from training on June 1, 2020 R'Ariel, graduated from training on June 1, 2020 Artinus Serinus, graduated from training on July 1, 2019 Lephi, graduated from training on June 1, 2020 Stefan Mattheiu, graduated from training on May 5, 2020 Noa T'Nessa Levinson, graduated from training on January 6, 2020 Airik Tierney, graduated from training on May 25, 2020 Drevas Matthel, graduated from training on June 1, 2020 Alieth, graduated from training on February 10, 2020 Sirok, graduated from training on February 10, 2020 Wes Greaves, graduated from training on February 9, 2020 3-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for three years. Serala, graduated from training on December 4, 2017 Toryn Raga, graduated from training on October 4, 2017 Jacob Horne, graduated from training on August 23, 2017 Kiran Han, graduated from training on October 1, 2017 Genkos Adea, graduated from training on February 6, 2018 Tatash, graduated from training on August 1, 2014 5-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for five years. Amuro McKnight, graduated from training on February 15, 2016 Jocelyn Marshall, graduated from training on April 10, 2016 Ayiana Sevo, graduated from training on September 1, 2014 Serren Tan, graduated from training on April 1, 2010 Oddas Aria, graduated from training on May 5, 2016 R'Kala, graduated from training on August 1, 2011 Etan Iljor, graduated from training on March 23, 2015 Yogan Yalu, graduated from training on November 13, 2011 Alora DeVeau, graduated from training on August 6, 2013 Anthony Meeks, graduated from training on January 17, 2011 10-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for ten years. Shedet, graduated from training on August 4, 2003 Sky Blake, graduated from training on March 1, 2011 15-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for fifteen years. Lilith Thorne, graduated from training on August 1, 2000 Special Awards The Rising Star Award For members who show great promise in many facets of their participation in the group, and to whom we look to as a future leader. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: We're so fortunate this year to see many people nominated for the Rising Star award, showing what a fantastic community we've built and how many people love to invest the time and energy into making it even better. Those who nominated Jo Marshall talked at length about her leadership qualities; her dedication, her willingness to go the extra mile, and her ability to balance good humour with teaching moments. Over the past twelve months, her contributions to the fleet have bordered on the incredible, showing how much she cares for and champions our community. Not only does she help lead her ship with the above qualities, but she also steers and supports many of our OOC efforts; helping to organise the State of the Federation Address, as a stalwart member of the training team, showing her creative flair in the Image Collective, facilitating the Federation News Service and Poll of the Week. On top of that, she helped champion the return of the Writing Challenge to phenomenal success, and of course, facilitated this very ceremony! Her guiding hand already makes this fleet a more fun, vibrant and exciting place to be, and we're fortunate to count her among the leadership of the group as a staff member. We look forward to seeing her continue to cheerlead, support and innovate, and thank her for everything she does now and in the future. Congratulations and well done! Luminary Award Given to members holding the rank of ensign, lieutenant junior grade, or lieutenant. For those who show great promise in their future endeavours in UFOP: Starbase 118 RPG. Wes Greaves, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: I’m especially honoured to present this year’s Luminary Award to Jacob, aka the marine detachment commander for the Thor, Wes Greaves. Jacob also received the Thor’s TOSMA this year, and one of his nominations for that award included the observation that Jacob “has been a driving force on the Thor since he was a second lieutenant.” I’m borrowing it for this citation and to recognise that Jacob started out running and has only been building momentum since. He’s now a member of the Thor’s staff group, where I rely on his strong senses of leadership and equability, and he’s someone you’ve probably encountered around the fleet as well, whether on Discord, as a new member of the Training Team, or — if you’ve been a member of the Captain's Council over the past year — for his keen insights on marines in the Star Trek universe and for Starbase 118 RPG specifically. Jacob pulls from his own marine background to bring a grounded, experienced perspective to marine structure and function on the Thor, and to say that he’s revolutionized how his fellow simmers and I think about marines is actually an understatement. He’s the well-deserved winner of last year’s Semper Fidelis Award (the marine duty post award), and what he’s done with his time with the 118 fleet has not only changed my sense of marines in Star Trek, he’s done a lot to educate me about marine ethos and ethics in the real world, too. But this citation isn’t for the Semper Fidelis, it’s for the Luminary, and I mention his marine work to introduce everyone to the idea that Jacob’s been a natural leader from the very beginning when he generously allowed me to bring his thoughts on marines to the Captain's Council. He’s a natural leader who seeks challenges both IC and OOC — he recently, for example, came to me with an idea for a series of JPs in which Greaves receives additional command training from Kells. One of his nominators said it best, and so I’ll leave you with some of that high praise: “This is a man with a solid head on his shoulders, who cares about others, has fantastic writing talents, and I cannot wait to not only sim more with him, but to watch where he goes in our wonderful community.” The Sarpeidon Award Awarded to members who have made outstanding contributions to the 118Wiki. Sarpeidon was the world in TOS's "All Our Yesterdays," in which the planet's population created a library containing their entire world's history. This is, in essence, what our wiki strives to become: a collection of our group's history and a simming database. Noa T’Nessa Levinson, USS Chin’toka Presented by Roshanara Rahman: Watching the wiki grow over the years is one of the highlights of being a part of this community and every year, new members bring fresh ideas on how to present information about their characters, the stories of our ships, and the greater universe we’ve all built. Since first diving into the wiki, Noa T’Nessa Levinson has shown remarkable originality and creativity in figuring out new ways to bring style and a polished presentation to the wiki. He similarly continues the long tradition of wiki gnomes before him in diligently maintaining not just his own ship’s pages but that of the wider fleet and its lore to help ensure everything is as up to date as possible. Above all else, Levinson’s passion for the wiki and helping other members learn its power and potential is obvious, endearing, and inspiring. Learning to edit the wiki is often perceived as one of the most intimidating skills for new members to master, but Levinson’s joy in his work and commitment to supporting others by answering their questions and troubleshooting problems helps make the unfamiliar task of wiki editing not just friendlier but an exciting world of possibilities waiting to be discovered. Congratulations, Noa T’Nessa Levinson, on being recognized with this year’s Sarpeidon Award, and thank you for your hard work and dedication! The Boothby Award For trainers who go above and beyond their Academy training requirements. These trainers display an outstanding example of dedication to bringing new cadets to our community. Addison MacKenzie, USS Resolution Presented by Quinn Reynolds: It is always a pleasure to present the Boothby Award and recognise someone who has gone above and beyond in supporting the Training Team. Addison MacKenzie is a name that stands out in the Academy, volunteering regularly and long past his obligations to do so. He supports the team with positivity, respect and good humour, shining in whatever role he takes on—be it mock cadet, First Officer or Commanding Officer. Several of his nominators spoke of how fantastic his mentoring is, offering cadets feedback which not only corrects problems with the basics but gives them things to think about as they move forward into the fleet. But he doesn't just teach cadets! The nominations also spoke of how his enthusiasm and skills inspired them to be better trainers, learning from the example he sets. Besides taking part in classes, he supports the work of the Academy as one of our Statisticians, a role that requires an organised, keen and detail-oriented eye to ensure that we track the cadets passing through, and ensure we properly credit our trainers for their hard work. His presence makes the Training Team a fun, dynamic and streamlined experience, and cadets and upcoming trainers alike benefit from his experience and professionalism. Commander Addison MacKenzie, thank you so much for everything you've brought to the team and many congratulations on winning this year's Boothby Award! Quark's Bar Quark's Bar is a special award and is awarded to members who are regularly active on the forums and have been supportive and involved in conversations enhancing the overall forum experience. Lephi, USS Chin’toka Presented by Mei’konda: One of the fleet’s newest members, Lieutenant Lephi, played by Daphne, has proven herself to be a rising star amongst the Chin’toka’s crew. One of the things we can always count on her for is to be a welcoming, positive presence in Discord, one of the newest and most important avenues of communication with our members. Lephi reliably greets newcomers to the server with genuine and enthusiastic positivity and has been referred to as our unofficial ambassador by members of our crew. She answers questions in the Academy channel when she knows she has the right answer and is a constant source of humour and an occasional participant in our impromptu gaming sessions, such as in games of Bridge Crew. For these reasons, I’m delighted to present the Quark’s Bar to Lieutenant Lephi! The Xalor Clan Xifilis Award Given to any simmer who overcomes any sort of disadvantage while simming. This award was originally called the "Rachel Garett Pendant," but was renamed for the 2000 ceremony to honor a respected simmer in UFOP: StarBase 118 who passed away in that year. This is the only Special Award that is given more than once per ceremony. Alieth and Sirok, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: “There are many types of disadvantages one might have in a community like SB118,” writes the nominator for both Andrea (Alieth) and Miguel (Sirok) for the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award this year, and praises the two simmers’ abilities in a language that isn’t their first tongue. “Despite the difficulty that this must surely present,” the nomination goes on, “they have become a wonderful asset and add a depth and colour to any scene in which they write.” Andrea and Miguel are to be commended not only for their skilled writing but also for their perseverance in a community like Starbase 118, which is so strongly text-based and when so much of what we do revolves around writing our stories. Congratulations to Andrea and Miguel, and thank you for making Starbase 118 a part of your story! Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: One of the bright lights of the fleet and tireless champion of its members, it's a delight to have Corliss as a member of the Gorkon's crew. In the past, she's won the Order of the Valiant Heart for the realism and fidelity she brings to the role of counsellor, the Silver Palm for lifting hearts and keeping morale high, and this year we've awarded her the B-Plot for the windows she creates into her character's personal life. When you realise she lives with ADHD, and the challenges with executive function and writing that often walk hand-in-hand with it, it makes her dedication to simming even more impressive. She's an inspiration and I am very pleased to recognise her with the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award. Drevas Matthel, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: Not everyone has the same access to support and healthcare and knowing that a bright and shining young writer not only struggles with mental health issues but also struggles to get the support he needs is a concerning reality of the 21st century. But over the past year, we are so incredibly proud of Ensign Drevas Matthel for speaking openly about his issues, actively seeking positive solutions and resolutions and seeking support for the right places. His ongoing endurance is a testament to an amazing inner strength that is both admirable and commendable. Many of us know how difficult it can be to push forward at times, especially with everything that has occurred over the last year, and yet Ensign Drevas never failed to persevere. Furthermore, with his continued positive growth in out of character communication, he has impressively improved in his simming, bringing his character to life, creating a meaningful pNPC that his crew enjoys reading about and forming bonds with fellow players and characters alike. Ensign Drevas, your hard work over these past months has been noticed and appreciated and you have done an awesome job in improving your writing and your communication. I am so pleased to present you with the Xalor Clan Xifilis award! Nugra, USS Constitution-B Presented by Jalana Rajel: I have had the pleasure to write with John on and off for years during his guest visits to the Apollo, the Constitution and other ships across the fleet and it finally got to sim with him on a more permanent basis when he was placed on the Conny. John is passionate about writing, listening to his ideas is pure joy and the excitement is contagious. He thinks out of the box, inside the box, around the box and is not afraid to try new things, is happy to help other players and has quickly become a pillar of the ship. As long as I have known him, despite challenges in Real Life, be it his own mental or physical health, difficult circumstances or overwhelming events, he still did his best to not let it show in his writing or in the way he interacted with the players. Through all his difficulties, he wanted to make sure that everyone has fun. During this last year, Jonathan had not dealt only with his own challenges, but has only taken care of his hardships but also took care of his lovely wife who struggled with her health as well and took care of his job, his writing business, their lovely children on top of staying the spark bug we know him as on the Conny. He never lost that light, his humour, creativity or willingness to give his writing his all, reached out to players to plan plots, help them, welcome them and assist despite not being a member of staff at this point. I am in awe that he managed all that despite his RL situation. Thank you for being you, Jonathan, and congratulations on the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award! The Community Champion Award For members who participate in – or help facilitate – simming community events, representing the best of UFOP: SB118 to other organizations by hosting events, acting as contest judges, or otherwise contributing their expertise in a way that benefits the wider community. Zhanyt Lafizatar, USS Veritas Presented by Roshanara Rahman: In the wider world of Star Trek simming and roleplay, one member has consistently shown up to represent StarBase 118 not just as a guest but as an event host. Zhanyt Lafizatar (known to some by his previous characters of Ceciri Ariadust and Tiria Hamasaki) has consistently served as an event host in each year of the Khitomer Conference since 2019. Last year, Lafizatar hosted the informative panel, “Writing with Canon,” showcasing to the wider audience of non-118 attendees how we frequently play and expand on canon in our stories here in the fleet. Lafizatar has also been an active and regular presence at other non-118 simming events such as FallFest. Through his participation in the panel discussions, Lafizatar helps bring awareness to other Trek role players of our organisation’s existence, how we do things, and what makes us special. For his persistence in carrying the 118 banners beyond our borders, I’m pleased to present this year’s Community Champion Award to Zhanyt Lafizatar, one of our fleet’s most dedicated ambassadors. Locutus Award For members of the Publicity Team who go above and beyond their monthly requirements for regular participation. These team members show enthusiasm and flair for spreading the word about our role-playing community and take an active interest in finding new ways to invite people to join our ranks. Alieth, USS Thor Presented by Kalianna Nicholotti: Publicity, or in a more modern term Marketing, is what brings people to the fleet. Without it, we would never meet our newest friends or reconnect with some of our old ones. This year saw the split of the official Publicity Team into one that handled publicity and one that focused on social media. With these changes came novel approaches and a learning curve for everyone involved. Thankfully, we have some incredibly talented and dedicated officers involved, including Andrea, aka Alieth, who is the recipient of this year’s Locutus Award. The Locutus Award is given to recognize someone who exceeds the requirements and participates regularly in activities that bring new members to the fleet. In this, Andrea is a force of nature. She is visual, present, and accounted for in various faucets, even helping to get an Instagram plan in place for the newly developed social media part of this team. She’s always looking out for the fleet, and she is a powerful voice for us when the opportunity presents. It is such a pleasure to present this award, and I offer a hearty congratulations to her - and to say that I can’t wait to see what trail she will blaze next year! Northern Star Award Given to members holding the rank of Lieutenant or Lt. Commander who show constant commitment to the fleet as members of taskforces and through our other fleet endeavours. These officers are vital to the success of our fleet, showing their support and enthusiasm for their crews and our community through their tireless efforts. Alora DeVeau, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: If you have played on StarBase 118 for any length of time, you have almost certainly come into contact with the name Alora Deveau. Maybe it was through an interview for the Community News where Lt. Commander DeVeau is an absolute powerhouse writer, showcasing members of our fleet from every ship and every rank and reaching out to dozens of fleetwide members to help get them in the press. Maybe you heard her on the StarBase 118 PaddCAST where she helps both behind the scenes and in front of the microphone, bringing you special features and special segments that help light up your airwaves. Maybe it was on the training team where she serves as one of the diligent academy officers mentoring new members on their first steps into our community. Maybe it was in the forums where she is a tireless supporter of the Appreciations area across multiple ships. Maybe it was on the wiki where she works hard to make sure ship and fleetwide articles are edited for continuity and accuracy. Or maybe it was on Discord where she’s a bright and shining star, always ready with a positive word for others. And through all this, she also maintains more than full time simming on two ships, with excellent writing skills and a willingness to reach out and create joint posts with any player on any ship in the fleet. She is a generous player who is always willing to bring new people into a scene, facilitate positive storylines for characters and be supportive of her ships in so many ways. She is a mentor, team leader, staff member and an incredible player. Amanda, the player behind Alora DeVeau is truly a positive force for Fleetwide unity and an amazing role model for junior simmers. Her fleetwide mentality helps make the taskforces she works with shine and brings all of our ships and players in the fleet into the limelight so we can grow closer together. I am so incredibly proud of Amanda and pleased to present her with the inaugural Northern Star award! Jake Sisko Prize Awarded to members of the Federation News Service Team who regularly go above and beyond in their contributions and participation. These team members show dedication and creativity in editing and writing news reports, helping to maintain our IC news service, build the 118 universe and provide inspiration for our members. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Roshanara Rahman: There is no one more dedicated to the successful operation of the Federation News Service than Jo Marshall. Em, the player for Marshall is passionate about the unique lens the FNS offers to the world of Star Trek and how it can serve as a great vehicle for storytelling, either complementing and expanding stories from our sims or presenting wholly original and exclusive stories just told through the medium of FNS articles. Like the best editors-in-chief in newsrooms around the globe, Em rallies her bullpen of roving reporters and editors every month with the organisation of a field marshal. No pun intended! She brainstorms headlines to inspire others to flesh out full stories and contributes her own regular articles. She adeptly manages a team of co-facilitators and news editors to ensure that every ship report is revised and proofread in time for publication, her charm and efficiency belying just how much work she does behind the scenes to make sure they meet deadlines. And unlike, say, J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle, Em is always cheerleading and championing her team, encouraging their ideas and giving helpful feedback on their drafts. For her tireless devotion and work to make certain that the FNS meets its publication schedule month after month, year after year, I can think of no one better to be awarded the first Jake Sisko Prize. Congratulations, Em! Okuda Award Awarded to members of the Image Collective who regularly go above and beyond in their contributions to this team's efforts, creating images and graphics for the fleet. These team members display their artistry and dedication with a visual feast for members new and old, bringing our creations to life and stoking imaginations. Alieth, USS Thor Presented by Jalana Rajel: In a roleplay that draws pictures with words and in which we have to imagine our surroundings, the characters and species, one of the most helpful tools we can provide are graphics to kick-start or expand that imagination. Knowing the faces of our characters, the wallpaper in our hallways or the view out of our windows breathes life into the writing. Ever since I started working with Andrea I have been in awe of her carefully honed art, her skill and her knowledge. She has jumped right into new ideas and projects from the first moment, eagerly spearheading the makeover of Ship and Task Force Logos, updating graphics across the board, streamlining processes and sharing her knowledge and tips with the image team. It is no surprise that before long she became part of the Facilitator team and eventually was promoted to the main facilitator. In the shortest time, she had made a name for her and has left her mark on Starbase 118 from the first day on. By now it is almost impossible to look at the website and wiki without finding something Andrea made. And when you ask the members of our community, you'll hear the same reaction: We love it! This brand new award found a worthy first winner! Congratulations, Andrea. Very well deserved! Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  13. Welcome to Day Three of the Annual Awards Ceremony 2021! The Staff awards are only for those members who have achieved the rank of Commander or higher. Just like last year, we asked the first officers of the fleet to vote on the nominations for each staff award, providing recommendations to the EC about who should receive each award. We’re so happy to have this valuable feedback and guidance for our staff awards! These awards recognise the hard work of our community members who go above and beyond to ensure that everyone has a glorious experience here. There's so much behind-the-scenes work required to keep the engine of our community running, and these folks are a central part of that. Elinor of Kanist Order of Excellence Named for one of UFOP: StarBase 118's most significant founding members. This award recognises those who have served the fleet as a staff member for at least 5 years, attained the rank of Rear Admiral or higher, previously been awarded the Picard Award and Staff Member of the Year Award, and continue to serve the fleet to the betterment of all members. This is the highest staff honour, celebrating longevity, dedication to the fleet, and the perseverance for wearing the Admiral's belt. Tristan Wolf, USS Administration Presented by Roshanara Rahman: My first direct interaction with Jordan aka Fleet Admiral Wolf was ten years ago when he left a message on my wiki talk page after I made a bold edit to the Starfleet Marines rank overview page, redirecting it to an existing comparison chart of Starfleet to Marine ranks. Jordan reverted my edit, explaining that the page was part of a larger series of pages for the Academy Library, but he encouraged me to add the table to the original page if I thought it made the information more easily digestible. In many ways, this first interaction is a perfect example of how our collaborative process in the decade since has developed. Like many members of StarBase 118, I was at first intimidated by engaging directly with “The Fleet Admiral” and the founder of our group. But I quickly saw firsthand that while Jordan may have been (rightfully) cautious at times of making hasty changes and decisions without considering the long-lasting effects, he was always open to hearing my ideas and those of other members, from veteran admirals to the newest ensigns. The Federation News Service, the Veterans Affairs team, and many other initiatives came to fruition because Jordan was not just open to new ideas and ways of doing things but enthusiastically so, and his support helped see those ideas followed through. It is this tireless and continual drive of his for innovation that I believe has truly set StarBase 118 apart from other simming/roleplaying groups. Jordan has built a culture from the top of our organisation in which we are open to change and regular self-reflection. As the landscape of Star Trek simming and online roleplaying games has changed over the past 27 years, Jordan has ensured that our fleet evolves with it. In addition to his own ideas and proposals (such as the simplification of our simming formatting and a fresh approach to the recruitment team), Jordan continues the often taken-for-granted role of maintaining our fleet’s “infrastructure.” The website, the forums, the wiki, and more all require never-ending care and attention as web development tools constantly update and change, causing new incompatibilities and technical challenges. Jordan has joked about being the fleet custodian because of this work, but perhaps to make a Star Trek comparison, his closest analogue is Boothby, the legendary groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy who served as a mentor to future renowned captains such as Picard and Janeway. Jordan similarly has supported many other venerated captains in our own fleet at various stages of their development as players and gone on to work with them closely as fellow 118 staff members in our shared goal of maintaining and growing our beloved fleet. Congratulations, Fleet Admiral Wolf! Your modesty in all you do is heartwarming, but know that all of us agree that the work you do has earned you well-deserved recognition with the Elinor of Kanist Order of Excellence. Honor of the Admiralty The highest award that can be conferred upon a UFOP: Starbase 118 staff member under the rank of Rear Admiral. This award recognises those who have served as staff members for a minimum of five years in a multitude of disciplines. From facilitating our task forces, engaging with the Captain's Council, and leading with the utmost dedication, these writers volunteer their time, effort, and skill to building our game and community and have comprehensively earned the respect and loyalty of members. Aron Kells, USS Thor Presented by Sal Taybrim: Funny enough, last year’s presentation for this award started with a quote that said, "He is quite literally the reason that I am still a member of this community." And again, this year, nothing could be more true of Tony, aka Commodore Aron Kells. Truly, he is the reason that I am still playing this game. When I was a junior player, then Fleet Captain Kells was Cadet Steward, the point of communication for new and incoming players in the fleet. He was supportive of new players and junior officers in a positive way I had never seen before. When I reached out to him to moderate a situation on a ship he had never been on — and I was a player he had never met before — his response was timely, fair and supportive. His communication turned an unpleasant situation into one where trust was built across ships and carried on over years, and later he was my command mentor as an up and coming orphaned captain. Year after year he has proven himself a supportive friend and mentor to so many members of the StarBase 118 fleet of every rank. Tony is a longtime steady member of the Executive Council, and in his illustrious career, he has served as Captain’s Council magistrate, facilitator of the writing challenges, promotions coordinator and was the driving force behind the Federation News Service’s Presidential Election campaign in 2392. Commodore Kells also directly fostered and promoted some of the greatest commanding officers in the StarBase 118 fleet and has served his crews tirelessly as a determined, brilliant commanding officer himself. His current crew echoes these sentiments, recognising him as humble, affable and engaging. He is incredibly supportive of new members, gentle but firm in matters of discipline and unbelievably patient. He has the remarkable ability to admit when he is wrong and see the point of view of other people - rare jewels in this world - and he cultivates some of the best writers in the fleet on every ship he commands. They also might have said something about dragging him to Risa, we’ll just say that’s off the record and I’ll send you his Horga'hn in the mail. And let’s talk about those ships he commands for a moment! Tony is renowned for bringing creative, unique and decidedly weird-looking ships into the StarBase 118 Fleet. From the Chariot class deep space explorer the USS Za to the Cardiff class diplomatic courier the USS Invicta, Tony’s legacy isn’t just with ships that look weird, but evocative ships with a specific story goal that helps the Star Trek world come alive. His vivid storytelling ability and steadfast crew support bring everyone from the newest players to the longest veteran along for an incredible ride. There is no one more patient, enduring or devoted and I am so happy to present this award to Commodore Kells! Staff Member of the Year Award For staff members who have contributed tirelessly to the organisation through many OOC channels, while maintaining excellence in simming on their vessel. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Tristan Wolf: Okay, wow, I'm about to blow your mind: We have given this award every year for 10 years and Marshall (Em) is the 11th recipient, but the FIRST COMMANDER ON RECORD. Everyone before her was of captain rank or higher (some admirals!), so she's in experienced company and is clearly setting a new bar (lower? higher? Hard to tell with this metaphor). I had the pleasure of presenting another award to Em last year, as well: Quark's Bar, where I praised her efforts to make the Discord server feel like home for our members who frequent it daily. But that was all practice compared to this year. As one nominator asked, "FNS, POTW, Image Collective, the Academy, First Officer of the Gorkon, images for the Gorkon's Quote of the Month, a heavy presence on Discord and the forums, what DOESN'T Em do?" Another said, "Even if you’ve never spoken to Em, you’d know her presence. She has a hand in virtually every part of this fleet." Indeed. Every time I work with Em it's a pleasure. Like last year's award ceremony, which she also facilitated, where I proposed we formalise the tasks required to conduct this ceremony and she took up the charge without a second thought. And that's really the way she is: Game for anything, good-natured about everything. A razor wit coupled with easy charm just makes it fun to work with her, even as it seems like she's accomplishing impossible tasks on a daily basis. Oh, and since she can only win this award once, I just want to thank her in advance for the huge project she's been working on for months, which will be unveiled in the coming weeks. I think everyone will be amazed by it, and she definitely deserves this award on the basis of all that work alone, even if we won't pull back the cover on it until after the ceremony. So you can read the award description above, and it's easy to see how Em fits perfectly into this. Which is probably why she received so many nominations. "Contributes tirelessly ... while maintaining excellence in simming" defines Em. Congratulations to her for earning this award. It's the absolute least we, as a community, can do to show our gratitude for everything that Em has contributed. The James T. Kirk Cross Given to new a Commanding Officer who shows outstanding potential in command. Randal Shayne, USS Arrow Presented by Quinn Reynolds: It's been a real privilege to watch Randal Shayne develop as a commanding officer over the past year; from his tentative first steps as a commander to the more self-assured captain he is today. Becoming a CO can be a humbling experience, struck with just how much there is still to learn and how many skills there are to develop, and it's a challenge he has met with aplomb. He's worked hard to develop himself as a leader, taking feedback and seeking advice on difficult situations, earnest in his desire to do right by his crew and the fleet. And it shows! His crew enthuse about the friendly, creative and collaborative environment he has created aboard the Arrow; listening to their ideas about story and character, ensuring everyone can shine and contribute to their plots. His investments in mentoring, organisation and mission-building have seen his ship go from strength to strength, his crew dedicated and active. Under his guidance, the Arrow has become more than just a place people write; it's a community, warm and welcoming, coming together to create a haven of fun in a trying year. So it's with great delight and much pleasure that I present Captain Randal Shayne with this year's James T. Kirk Cross. Congratulations, and well very done! Chief’s Citation Recognising the essential staff members whose determined work has benefitted the group In Character, and/or Out Of Character, even while their primary service was not as the Commanding Officer of a simming installation. Inspired by the non-commissioned and enlisted personnel who are the backbone of any starship but were rarely recognised in Star Trek lore in favour of the officers. Sky Blake, USS Veritas Presented by Quinn Reynolds: It's a great pleasure to present this award to someone who has been a member of our fleet for many years now and has spent the past twelve months undertaking some of the least glamorous, but most helpful tasks in the fleet. As Captains Council Magistrate, she organises votes and keeps staff discussions on track and points them toward finding a resolution—not always the easiest of tasks! For two years running, she's been the driving force behind the State of the Federation Address, helping our community and staff to reflect on the year and decide how to move forward even better than before. In her role as Wiki Operations Facilitator, she hosts regular "Help Desk" hours and sets challenges for her team to improve the wiki for the benefit of all. She's also been steadfast in her role as Fleet Taskforce Coordinator, coordinating with COs and Taskforce leaders regularly, making sure membership rosters are up-to-date and keeping our taskforce leaders focused on their goals for the year. As a CO, a taskforce leader and a member of the CC, I've deeply appreciated everything she's done and will do, and I'm delighted to be the one who gets to present this award. Commander Sky Blake, thank you for all the time and dedication you've poured into the fleet, and congratulations on being the winner of this year's Chief's Citation! The Sarek Star Given to a commanding officer who shows great diplomatic ability in working with members and staff. Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Presented by Tristan Wolf: Here's some serendipity for you: I presented this award for the first time in 1996 to Elinor of Kanist. And at last year's ceremony, Emma was the inaugural recipient of the Elinor of Kanist Order of Excellence! And now, this year, I get to present Emma with an award she, perplexingly, hasn't received yet. Full circle. The Sarek Star is an award with a broad mission: Recognise the staff members who show great diplomatic ability with others in the community. For those folks beginning their journey here, this might seem like a bit of an odd one. Diplomatic ability? What exactly does that mean, and why do we need it? But for those folks in the staff ranks, the importance of this award is immediately apparent. Running a community that's as structured as ours is an incredible feat. The stakes aren't as high as being a member of the United Nations, but often the intricacy of our work seems the same. With competing priorities, limited resources (particularly time and energy), and incredible goals, finding the way to not only rally but also befriend people is paramount. Without the skill of diplomacy, it's incredibly hard to make this community work. Emma never fails to impress, generally, but as a "diplomat," she's adept. As always, she brings a seemingly unparalleled knowledge of the workings of the fleet to every discussion, often aware of nuanced interchanges between ships and members that help inform and contextualise our decisions. She deftly charges ahead but also concedes when necessary – always without a hint of ego. Whereas I am constantly reminding myself to temper my frustration, she is a steady voice of reason, never "raising her voice," although I'd never blame her if she did! I'd be remiss, though, if I didn't look to the nominations submitted for her, which clearly came from her crew and speak to a different facet of Emma's diplomatic skill that I see less of: leading the Gorkon. The nominations spoke of how much care and effort Emma puts into working with members of her crew, guiding them in each interaction with expertise – providing options on how to proceed and crafting sims that help her crew members navigate complex OOC situations. A key point I deeply identify with is how Emma seems to handle all this with a well of power, seemingly unexhausted or even invigorated by the opportunity to engage with community members. Oh gosh, even without intending to, I almost wrote, "A compassionate Vulcan is impossible to find but in Emma, we have one," without even remembering that the name of this award is the Sarek Star! Yes, of course, Emma embodies Sarek. We are so lucky to have her here, and I'm deeply appreciative of everything she brings to our community. Christopher Pike Pendant Awarded to commanding officers who command their ship with honour and dedication, and help to provide a creative atmosphere that fosters outstanding simming. Mei’konda, USS Chin’toka Presented by Aron Kells: I had the distinct pleasure of first getting to know Aaron, the writer for Mei’konda, back when he returned to the fleet eight years ago, in 2013. I wasn’t able to guide him through promotion to commander and into his captaincy that time around — that honour fell to Rich (Rahman) — but I’m very pleased that I could see Aaron blossom again as CO of the Chin’toka. He inherited the launch of that ship, along with the crew of the Atlantis, under some very unusual circumstances (the sudden retirement of the Atlantis’s CO), and while those circumstances might have produced an impossible situation for another CO, Aaron has thrived as the Chin’toka’s CO. One of his nominators notes that Aaron “did a remarkable job at setting the crew at ease and building a rapport with them that has resulted in the crew being at ease with him,” and through that rapport, he not only won the loyalty of his fellow simmers but established himself as an accomplished CO at the same time. Some words and phrases used to describe Aaron this year in his nominations for the Pike Pendant include “amazing sensitivity,” “grace and style,” and “standout dedication and honour” — high praise indeed! — and that he encourages “creative and insightful sims from his crew” while also “fostering an imaginative campaign scenario.” I’m incredibly proud to see the strength of character and conviction that Aaron brings to his captaincy, and I’m honoured to recognise him this year with the Christopher Pike Pendant. Congratulations, Aaron! Please join us in congratulating these members of the staff!
  14. Welcome to Day One of the annual Awards Ceremony! We’re very excited to present the General Awards today. Each captain has presented the General (Ship) Awards to their crew. The fleet’s commanding officers choose the winners, (or where the commanding officer was also nominated, we called the first officer in to decide) from the nominations made by you! This is your chance to see how each of the other ships did and see who picked up what award. The Order of Starfleet Merit and Achievement First Class (TOSMA) The Order of Starfleet Merit and Achievement First Class is given to members who show great dedication in their behavior and simming abilities. A candidate for TOSMA regularly contributes good, solid ideas to the plot and character development. They also take the time to edit and proofread their sims to ensure quality in their writing. Maz Rodan, USS Arrow Elizabeth Snow, USS Chin'toka Sirn, USS Constitution-B Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Kiran Han, USS Juneau Genkos Adea, USS Resolution Ashley Yael, StarBase 118 Ops Wes Greaves, USS Thor The Genesis Award The Most Improved Simmer Award. For officers who show conspicuous effort in improving their simming skills. Hayley Caden, USS Arrow Noa Levinson, USS Chin'toka Lystra, USS Constitution-B Tahna Meru, USS Gorkon Rel Cassi, USS Juneau Hallia Yellir, USS Resolution Talas Beck, StarBase 118 Ops Anton Richards, USS Thor Roshanara Rahman, USS Veritas Scotty Cross Given to an officer who shows extreme creativity while solving a plot dilemma or in-character plot twist. Maria Alvarez, USS Arrow Nugra, USS Constitution-B Jona ch'Ranni, USS Gorkon Vitor Silveira, USS Juneau Etan Iljor, USS Resolution Prudence Blackwell, StarBase 118 Ops Sirok, USS Thor Ikaia Wong, USS Veritas Neelix Award For extra, out-of-character simming devotion. This includes, but isn't limited to, helping fellow officers who are in need of simming aid, visibility on the forums, OOC list presence, upkeep of wiki pages, etc. Maria Alvarez, USS Arrow Jacob Horne, USS Constitution-B Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Aine Sherlock, USS Resolution Sal Taybrim, StarBase 118 Ops Alieth, USS Thor Hannibal Parker, USS Veritas Nebula Bar Awarded to a simmer who has shown great imagination when creating or expanding upon planets, stars, stellar phenomena, and other physical environments and settings, such that these settings create a convincing, descriptive, realistic environment that inspires other simmers or enhances the flow of a given plot. Chloe Waters, USS Arrow Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Sirok, USS Thor Laudean Commendation Awarded for achievements in exploration with new lifeforms. The recipient will have shown great creativity in many facets of species creation or expansion, including physiological, psychological, cultural, social, and more, and their creativity will inspire their fellow simmers. The Laudean Commendation can cover many aspects of species development, but should primarily be based in IC simming. R’Ariel, USS Arrow Toryn Raga, USS Chin'toka Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Piravao sh'Qynallahr, USS Gorkon Meidra Sirin, USS Resolution Geoffrey Teller, USS Thor Zhanyt Lafizatar, USS Veritas Silver Palm Awarded to a simmer who has consistently boosted the morale of his/her crew. The recipient will be known to be able to add that spark to a plot whenever it may be lagging, or may be able to consistently bring enjoyment or a bit of humour to the sim, whilst keeping such sims relevant and realistic. R'Ariel, USS Arrow Lystra, USS Constitution-B Loxley, USS Gorkon Yogan Yalu, USS Resolution Sheila Bailey, StarBase 118 Ops Dar Elandra, USS Thor Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Sheathed Sword Presented to those to decide to inflict mental and/or physical trauma on their character, and then dive into the resulting emotions and choices in a realistic manner. The name comes from a line in a Robert Jordan book where a warrior must be prepared to 'sheath the sword' in his own body, i.e. take a grievous wound to achieve one's goal (in this case, more realistic simming) as opposed to an actual goal of the character. Quentin Collins, USS Arrow Lephi, USS Chin'toka Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution-B Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Meidra Sirin, USS Resolution Peri Katsim & Wes Greaves, USS Thor B-Plot Award For those simmers who manage to show a good portion of the character's life despite the demands of the main plot. Cassandra Mason, USS Arrow Lephi, USS Chin'toka Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon R'Kala, USS Juneau Yogan Yalu, USS Resolution Tatash, StarBase 118 Ops Alieth, USS Thor Kelrod, USS Veritas The Russ Bar The Russ bar is awarded to a writer whose knowledge of Trek lore is extraordinary. Named for Tim Russ, the actor who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, who was already a dedicated Star Trek fan before securing the role on the show. Artinus Serinus, USS Arrow Sirn, USS Constitution-B Piravao sh'Qynallahr, USS Gorkon Peri Katsim, USS Thor Pathfinder Award Given to those who have shown great care in the mentoring of fellow members. Jona ch'Ranni, USS Gorkon Kiran Han, USS Juneau Addison MacKenzie, USS Resolution Alora DeVeau, StarBase 118 Ops Wes Greaves, USS Thor Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Khan Award Awarded to a simmer who thoughtfully develops a three-dimensional villain over the course of a mission or more. Charlotte DeBarres, USS Arrow Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Yogan Yalu, USS Resolution Geoffrey Teller, USS Thor Sky Blake, USS Veritas Q Award Awarded for continually surprising their crew with unexpected, devious plot twists throughout the year. Lase Ander, USS Arrow Jona ch'Ranni, USS Gorkon Genkos Adea, USS Resolution O'Brien Award Named for one of Trek's most stalwart and dedicated supporting officers, we give this award to members who hold the rank of Lieutenant or Lt. Commander and support the ship's command staff by mentoring crew, facilitating missions, maintaining the wiki and other tasks essential to the smooth running of our sims. These officers form the backbone of their ships and stations, helping to make simming fun for everyone aboard. Lael Rosek, USS Chin'toka Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution-B Samira Neather, USS Gorkon Genkos Adea, USS Resolution Alexander Brodie, USS Thor Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Maz Rodan, USS Arrow T'Lea, USS Juneau Arturo Maxwell, StarBase 118 Ops Vega Award Named for one of the Federation's earliest colonies, we give this award to those who bring the worlds of their crews to life with art, videos, and all kinds of artistic endeavours. Serala, USS Chin'toka Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution-B Ayiana Sevo, USS Gorkon Karise Indobri, USS Juneau Aine Sherlock, USS Resolution Isaiah Andrews, StarBase 118 Ops Alieth, USS Thor Ikaia Wong, USS Veritas Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  15. Greetings and Welcome to the 2021 (or 2398) Fleetwide Awards Ceremony! Every year, this annual ceremony is an opportunity for us all to come together to recognise the accomplishments of this incredible organisation of people. For many of us, this community has become a part of our lives that we couldn’t foresee happening when we first graduated from the Academy, but the more time we spend here, the more time we realise what a truly unique community this is. So, we’re using this 25th Award Ceremony as the opportunity to come together to not only celebrate the group’s 27th anniversary (and what a bloody milestone that is!) but to acknowledge and congratulate the writers who have fuelled our imaginations by creating strange, new worlds, and worked tirelessly to keep the lights on, is worthy of celebration, indeed. There are five categories of awards: General Awards (which some ships have presented to their crews already!), Duty Post, Special and Staff Awards distinguishing players across the rank spectrum for many achievements. The member Length of Service Awards continues to grow as we award membership lengths of one, three, five, ten, fifteen, and even twenty-five years! A remarkable number of simmers have been around for such extended periods, and they count among our numbers. We’d like to extend tremendous gratitude to everyone who took the time to submit nominations this year. It has been absolutely incredible to us to read how you all celebrate one another, the writing that takes place, and the community despite everything currently happening in the world. Every nomination submitted was full of deep respect, recognition, and appreciation for our fellow writers, and it should serve as a reminder that we value everyone’s presence and contributions. As our group continues to cultivate and mature, we’d like to throw a special thanks to our fearless leader, Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf, who always makes time to lend advice for any problem, no matter how big or small. To the members of the Executive Council, Captain’s Council, and those who lead and serve on our various taskforces — no amount of thanks could effectively communicate this community’s appreciation for your boundless energy and leadership to ensure we ALL have a safe, creative and imaginative experience. Happy 27th anniversary everybody! — Em (Jo Marshall) and Matt (Addison MacKenzie)
  16. Welcome to the final day of the awards ceremony. So far this week we’ve announced the recipients of the Staff, General, Length of Service and Special awards. Today we present the Duty Post awards. Each award focuses on a different department from the major ones such as medical, operations or engineering to the more unique - like diplomacy, intel or marines. Even civilians have a chance to be recognised for the valuable contributions that can be made to our stories by those who prefer the path less worn. Each of these awards recognises a player for excellence in simming their duty post. Since only one award per duty post is given each year, only the very best are chosen and they are highly coveted awards. You’ll see from our spread of winners — who range in rank from Ensign to Captain — that every player has a chance to be considered for one of these by consistently simming to the best of their ability and striving to improve their craft. The Prantares Award - Medical The Prantares Ribbon is a duty post award and is awarded to those Medical officers who have moved beyond competence to display a true gift for the healing arts in the context of space medicine. The officers given this award should display the ability to keep a steady hand in the often hazardous conditions in which they must practice, as well as the willingness to risk their own life to save the lives of others. Addison MacKenzie, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: “What makes a good medical officer is, I think, more than just a medical tricorder and a dermal regenerator. For good or ill, every good medical officer needs to have an established bedside manner. It can be supportive, like Dr. Crusher, or irascible, like Dr. McCoy or The Doctor, but it's something that's so necessary to a character. Matt, who I had the pleasure of getting to know when he first entered the fleet with Doctor Addison MacKenzie, who began as a medical officer under my character, the Veritas's CMO at the time, has crafted Addison with a delicious point of view. Simply put, she knew she wanted to be the best, and she knew she could be the best, and that's how she approaches every interaction. Another nominator noted that her demeanor is "mature, professional but wryly funny" — a tall and nuanced order, but one that Matt pulls off extremely well for Addison. I don't think I've encountered a medical officer with so much personality, and that combined with MacKenzie's extremely competent approach to medicine makes her, and Matt, a shoo-in for this year's Prantares Ribbon.” The Natasha Yar Pin - Security The Natasha Yar Pin is a duty post award and is awarded to those Security officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in protecting and preserving the lives of their crewmates, even at risk to their own. Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: “The character of Samira Neathler is written as one of the best examples of a security officer I have ever had the pleasure of reading and simming alongside. Sami has created a shrewd, intelligent and meticulous young woman who carries out her responsibilities with professionalism and restraint, always understanding that in Starfleet, violence is a last resort. We've seen her shine in protecting her fellow crew from dangerous situations while never stealing the spotlight from her fellow writers, shielding them from harm in character while encouraging their creativity and contributions out of character. It's a difficult balance to master and yet Sami achieves it time and time again. As chief, she runs the department with a light touch and a deft hand, meeting and greeting new additions with a wry sense of humour and an invitation to help improve and develop the role of security aboard the ship. She's an exemplar of how to write Security, following in the finest traditions of the on-screen officers and I'm so pleased to present her with the Natasha Yar Pin. Congratulations, Sami!” The Voyager Medallion - Ops The Voyager Medallion is a duty post award and is awarded to those operations officers who have shown great skill in keeping a starship in working order despite near-impossible circumstances. The officers receiving this award have advanced the field of Operations, making sure duty rosters, provisions, gear, and even recreation time are available... no matter what. Jona ch’Ranni, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: “There's something a little bit marvellous about the way Josh (Jona ch'Ranni) approaches the role of Operations Officer. It's a wonder to watch him take relatively mundane scenes of his character's day-to-day duties — PADDwork, inventory and more — that not just flesh out the department, but draw other writers into unexpected and delightful moments of character development. He crafts his sims in a way that really underscores and reminds us how important Operations to the smooth running of a ship, as integral to its fabric as the bulkheads and warp core. He writes his character with engaging, gentle humour and his attention to detail is reflected in his sims. It can't be overstated how much another simmer feels noticed and appreciated when an off-hand comment or situation they write into their sim is later reflected in one of Jona's. The events and situations that other people sim in their storylines are not just acknowledged but reflected in his own scenes with a unique Operations twist. He's a fantastic example of how to sim the Operations duty post and I'm delighted to present Jona ch'Ranni with the Voyager Medallion. Congratulations!” The Sisko Tactical Cross - Tactical The Sisko Tactical Cross is a duty post award and is awarded to those tactical officers who have shown cunning and bravery in battle. Master strategists, and experts in targeting and shield power distribution, these officers have done the impossible to save their ship and the lives of its crew. Melody Delri’ise, USS Juneau Presented by Oddas Aria: “One of the most competent Tactical Officers I have had the pleasure to work with, Ryan's Deri'ise has a combination of attributes that makes her formidable, yet not a cliche. Far from the brooding, tough, rough Tactical Officer that could be imagined, Delri'ise is a character that is a professional - a character that gets the job done efficiently. The award is well deserved for a player who helps sim so much about what goes on outside the ship, how those things affect the ship, and ways the ship and other crewmen can work to solve the problems at hand. Congratulations again Ryan, very well deserved!” The Phoenix Award - Engineering The Phoenix Award is a duty post award that recognizes engineers. Named for the vessel that legendary engineer Zefram Cochrane piloted during his historic first warp flight, this award goes to those Engineering officers who continue this tradition of excellence in the field of engineering. By performing their tasks with enthusiasm, imagination and diligence, by managing to make their equipment perform above and beyond its rated capacities, the officers meriting this award further the mission of their ship by their superior know-how. In short, miracle workers. Romyana Casparian, Starbase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: “Rebecca, who plays Romyana Casparian was posted to StarBase 118 Ops and hit the ground running. From the moment Casparian stepped onboard Starbase 118 Ops, right in the thick of a deadly mission, she has brought her skills and quick thinking to the table. She is consistently able to bring her quick thinking skills and creativity in engineering to her writing, balanced by a truly compassionate viewpoint of a young person struggling in a crazy galaxy. She punctuates action such as holding a ship together in a tense battle with small moments that let her character shine. Furthermore, she goes above and beyond for her fellow crewmates both in and out of character. One example is when Romyana's fellow crewmate, Lt Bailey, was in much need of her expertise. Because Bailey is an Elaysian, she had crutches and leg braces that did her few favors on away missions. Rebecca could immediately see possibilities for improved design and overall mobility. She jumped around the chance to help right away, running with the idea of improved braces and even making the crutches Lt Bailey’s favorite color - hot pink. All of this is bolstered by Casparian's energetic and positive presence on Discord where she is frequently inspiring her crew with new ideas, connecting with others on joint posts and bringing a fun voice to our downtime conversations. She is a friendly, and wonderful person to talk to and has brought an ongoing excitement to StarBase 118 Ops, which we all love! I am so happy to see Romyana recognized with this year's Phoenix award! Congratulations Rebecca, you have done a fantastic job and I am so proud of you!” The Cochrane Award - Science The Cochrane Award is a duty post award and is awarded to those science officers who have contributed greatly to the advance of science in the midst of their Starfleet career, by staying knowledgeable about their field, participating in the community of science, but most importantly, by placing their knowledge at the service of their ship and its mission. Quentin Collins, USS Juneau Presented by Oddas Aria: “For the second year in the row, I have the pleasure of presenting the Cochrane Award. Quentin, Justin, has consistently been the go-to source for all things science - whether telling me why it's why a particular piece of a mission needs to be changed because the science doesn't work, or coming up with a bit of techno-babble to solve an issue realistically, or using regular science to deal with a mission detail like filling out why an antagonist would e searching out a particular area of a newly discovered region of space. Justin is a seemingly endless well of knowledge dealing with all things Science related and seems to be able to apply it to the story at hand in a way that is relatable and not overwhelming. He has a quiet but joyous competence writing for science that the entire ship - and fleet - benefits from. It is my pleasure to present the Cochrane Award for these reasons and more.” The Pilot's Sextant - Helm The Pilot's Sextant is a duty post award that recognizes helm officers. An award named after an old Earth navigational tool, the Pilot's Sextant is given to those Helm officers who have proven themselves to be the best of the best. From finding a safe route home to flying an emergency atmospheric landing, pilots who have earned the right to this award know the importance of staying focused and puts their ability to make spectacular maneuvers at the service of their ship and its mission. Ben Garcia, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: “Wes, who plays Ben García, is in the tricky but rewarding position of playing both the Thor's second officer and another duty post on top of that, in his case that of HCO (helm, communication, and operations). Both roles are very much open to interpretation, each perhaps more so than any other duty posts, and together? Well, let's just say that there are lots of possibilities! But Wes has taken a wholly fresh approach to García's duty posts, playing from strength to strength depending upon what the situation calls for. Need an away team leader? He can do that. Need an audit of the senior staff's crew quarters? He can do that. But this award recognizes the strongest helm officer of the year, and so I want to particularly laud Wes for the way he tackles that particular challenge. Helm is a notoriously difficult post to play well since helm's role in the story often boils down to pointing the ship and pressing the warp buttons. Wes, however, allows García to seamlessly meld his command experience with his piloting skills, as most recently evidenced by his recent turn as an away team commander and ace mission pilot for the Thor's first independent mission. However, I also have to draw attention to his excellent work in simming the Thor's final departure from Duronis II following the completion of the embassy's mission. Great work all around, Wes!” The Order of the Valiant Heart - Counseling This award is given to those ship's Counselor who have shown great skill in protecting the mental health of their crewmates, clearly demonstrating superior ability to care, assist, and comfort those in need. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty in assisting their crewmates with their problems, and in preventing future problems from occurring. Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: “What a wonderful example of a Counsellor Corliss Fortune is! From the very first time she wrote a counselling session with one of the Gorkon's writers, it struck me with how well she approaches the role, bringing a remarkable authenticity to her sims. The research she's done into psychology shows through, with Corliss' patients being guided through their struggles with kindness and patience, backed up by genuine counselling techniques. We've seen her guide members of the crew through marriage counselling, the fallout of a father betraying his son, regressing a mother and daughter through past traumas to heal together, aid a recently joined Trill in understanding and exploring their new identity and support a member of the crew in coming to terms with life-altering injuries. She helps the ship's writers delve into their characters' psyches, crafting sims that inspire, wrench hearts, and begin journeys of lasting character development that we see reflected in sims months and sometimes years down the line. I'm delighted to present Corliss Fortune with the Order of the Valiant Heart. Well done, Corliss!” The Semper Fidelis Award - Marines For those StarFleet Marines who have shown great skill in protecting their crew, accomplishing their mission, avoiding tragic loss of life in the line of duty, and upholding the values of the UFoP in times of crisis. Wes Greaves, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: “Now, what you have to understand first about Jacob, who writes for Wes Greaves, is that he is a marine officer. When he speaks about and sims for Greaves in particular, and marines in Trek in general, he carries real-world authority and experience with him. He's easily been the strongest, most thoughtful marine player I've ever encountered, but I'm very pleased to see him win the Semper Fidelis Award this year for more than the quality of his sims. He's recently embarked upon a complete redraft of the Thor's marine detachment, which anyone can now read on the wiki (https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Thor_Marine_Detachment). He also began a conversation on the Thor's OOC list about the place and status of marines, both on the Thor, and in the Trek universe, and it's been one of the most in-depth and thoughtful OOC conversations I've ever participated in as a member of SB118. As a result of that conversation and of his own experience and drive, Jacob created a guide to both simming for and the role of marines in our game, which I'm excited to share with the fleet as a resource for future marine players and anyone curious about what marines are doing in SB118's universe — so, consider this award very well deserved, but also a teaser for what this extremely talented simmer has in store for us!” The Black Cross - Intelligence This award is given to a member of the Intelligence community that strives to accomplish the goals of Starfleet Intelligence, while simultaneously upholding the ideals and structure of Starfleet command. This person has the cunning to gather intelligence by means of deceptive dialogue or espionage, as opposed to force drawn confessions. While matters of intelligence are often game changers, this person strives to attain those goals within the boundaries of their Commanding Officer, and the regulations of Starfleet. Ash MacKenna, USS Juneau Presented by Oddas Aria: “Marissa, the writer for MacKenna, is an experienced simmer and nowhere does this show more than when she is writing for an intelligence officer. Instead of going the obvious route and writing a character that is rogue or living in the shadows, Marissa writes a character collecting information from both conventional and unconventional sources. Using her position she contributes to both the lore and the action of a mission, the ship, and the region of space she finds herself in. Not only does she contribute to ships in meaningful ways - she does so in a way that is believable to the situation. The information comes to her character through hard work and manner befitting her position and in a way that allows other players a sense of wonder and inclusion in the story - encouraging them to contribute and to play along more. Marissa is one of the best writers I have written with, and I look forward to writing with her for a long time to come.” The Strange Medallion - First Officer Named after Commander Sally Strange, widely known as one of the most creative and dedicated First Officers in the fleet's early years, this award is given to those who perform above the call of duty in the position of First Officer. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: “It is hard to do justice to exactly how good Em (Jo Marshall) is as a First Officer, but I'll do my best! Every role aboard the ship she's involved with is attended to with enthusiasm, meticulous care and a generous dose of good fun. She's a constant force for improvement and positivity aboard the Gorkon; she handles the mentoring program with a kind and supportive hand, encouraging the other staff members to do their check-ins and offer advice on how to handle difficult situations. Her own interactions with her mentees and other members of the crew are all that could be asked for, offering solid guidance with humour and inspiration, always striving to encourage people to be the very best simmers that they can. She guides the plot with aplomb, consistently throwing in delightful twists that keep people on their toes, all the while providing plenty of opportunities for other members of the crew to shine. The efforts of others are always recognised and respected, with Em ensuring that her sims are beautifully written, acknowledging and including all the small details that other writers have introduced and building upon them. Her writing is some of the best I've seen, with evocative descriptions and characters that just beg to be interacted with. She fundamentally understands that this is a collaborative game, celebrating the contributions of our writers with every sim she sends and ensuring that everyone gets to feel like the star of the show and never a supporting character in someone else's story. More than that, her dedication and love for the fleet is shown in how she participates beyond the Gorkon itself. In the academy, she trains new cadets with care and enthusiasm, with other trainers and newly-graduated cadets talking of how much they enjoy working with her. She's also active with the Federation News Team, Poll of the Week, the Image Collective — each task attended to with the same dedication and care that we see in her efforts aboard ship. Em also takes her observer role on the Captain's Council seriously, actively participating in the discussions that take place there and helping to steer the fleet forward. She is, simply put, one of the best simmers and finest first officers that I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. Congratulations, Em! I am so proud and delighted to be able to present you with the Strange Medallion” Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  17. Welcome to Day Three of the Annual Awards Ceremony 2020! The Staff awards are only for those members who have achieved the rank of Commander or higher. Just like with last year, the first officers of the fleet were asked to vote on the nominations for each staff award, providing recommendations to the EC about who should receive each award. We’re so happy to have this valuable feedback and guidance for our staff awards! This year, we’ve introduced two new awards into the fold to celebrate the magnificent achievements of our long-term staff members, for the love and dedication they have poured into our community. These awards recognize the hard work of our community members who go above and beyond to ensure that everyone has a great experience here. There's so much behind-the-scenes work required to keep the engine of our community running, and these folks are a central part of that. Elinor of Kanist Order of Excellence Named for one of UFOP: StarBase 118's most significant founding members. This award recognizes those who have served the fleet as a staff member for at least 5 years, attained the rank of Rear Admiral or higher, previously been awarded the Picard Award and Staff Member of the Year Award, and continue to serve the fleet to the betterment of all members. This is the highest staff honor, celebrating longevity, dedication to the fleet, and the perseverance for wearing the Admiral's belt. Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Presented by Aron Kells: "I first met Emma, aka Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds, back in 2007. I had just been assigned to the Triumphant as its new first officer, and Emma had just seen Quinn promoted from ensign to lieutenant JG in the Triumphant's engine room. The Triumphant crew was very new, and when our CO took increasingly extended (and unannounced) breaks, I looked for help in navigating the uncertainties of my first XO gig. Even then, Emma was endlessly competent and a clear leader and I relied very much upon as Quinn became my acting XO at the tender rank of JG. In fact, my positive impression predates even that tomfoolery, back to when she reached out to me following my transfer to Triumphant. She'd noticed that I was running a PNPC whose last name was Reynolds and suggested that, since Quinn's surname was Reynolds, might they be related? If you've ever noticed the positive simming opportunities that Emma provides to others, then know that this, too, has been there since the beginning! Years later, when I took over the Mercury (and then launched Garuda and Invicta), I very much wanted Emma to return to sim with me, as she was then on a long-term LOA from the fleet. I'm delighted to say that she accepted and wrote Quinn as a captain of intelligence for a few important years. At the same time, after I had a couple of XOs who went on LOA and had no viable candidates, she offered to create a new character who could serve as XO — not because she wanted to sim the position necessarily, but because she knew the ship could use the help. We designed the character with a "kill switch" wherein he'd defect as a part of whatever mission if (and then when) another player was ready for the XO spot. Again, I want to draw your attention to the positive attributes on display here — playing cooperatively, making sure the ship came first, helping out and always adding to the ongoing story. When she launched the Gorkon, I hated losing her, but of course, I recognized that she was a stellar simmer and would come roaring back into that center seat. It's worthwhile too to highlight her choice of ship name — the Gorkon is the first ship in the fleet named for a fictional character, but specifically a character who embodied optimism regarding interactions between individuals and groups, as well as the peacemaking processes as a whole. Emma's credo is right there in the Gorkon's motto: "We succeed together in a greater whole." Nowadays, everyone in the fleet has likely had some interaction with Emma in some way, whether on the Gorkon, as a part of her service on the Executive or Captains Councils, on Discord, or as a part of her long-running leadership in the Academy (or something else entirely!). In fact, the Executive Council of 2015 would routinely seek Emma's opinion on tricky matters, even before she had returned to captain the Gorkon or serve on the EC. It is entirely fitting that Emma is the inaugural recipient of the Elinor of Kanist Order of Excellence, the group's new highest honor — and that she was also the only nominee for the award, and still received half a dozen nominations for the honor! She is the flesh and blood of Starbase 118, and I do now and will always toast to that once-JG who helped me figure out what the heck I was doing back in 2007." Honor of the Admiralty The highest award that can be conferred upon a UFOP: Starbase 118 staff member under the rank of Rear Admiral. This award recognizes those who have served as staff members for a minimum of five years in a multitude of disciplines. From facilitating our task forces, engaging with the Captains Council, and leading with the utmost dedication, these writers volunteer their time, effort, and skill to building our game and community and have comprehensively earned the respect and loyalty of members. Roshanara Rahman, USS Veritas Presented by Aron Kells: "Writes one of Rich's nominators: "He is quite literally the reason that I am still a member of this community." You can't ask for higher praise than that, and yet I think Rich, aka Fleet Captain Roshanara Rahman (and roughly 6000 other characters), has earned not only the respect this award signifies but all the substantial accolades that have come his way over the past decade. I was honestly not sure what to make of Rich at first when he transferred to the Mercury eight years ago. He was already a lieutenant commander and introduced Roshanara as such, so he was well-regarded around the fleet, but then he started suggesting ... things. Not bad things, certainly, but things I hadn't seriously considered before: long-ranging character arcs that lasted for months or years, novel ways to track and recognize promotions (which eventually morphed into the player achievement system), and then, once he became my XO and was able to access the Captain's Council, even bigger ideas about how specific aspects of the group ought to change. Many of the big, structural changes that have occurred over the past several years, from giving commanders the right to vote on most matters in the Captain's Council to the ongoing reform of rights for players on LOA, found their inception in Rich's ongoing fight to make the group more fair and equitable for all. And that's well before we even talk about the wiki! Along with Deliera (aka Lt. Cmdr. Blake and also about 6000 other characters) and a few others, Rich has completely revolutionized how we use the group wiki. Try the Six-Degrees-of-Rich game sometime: Find your way to a random article on the wiki and then click around through a few more linked pages. Odds are, most of those pages will have either been directly edited by Rich or will use a template that Rich either designed or dreamed up. Especially when we talk about the wiki, it's hard to imagine what Starbase 118 would look like without Rich. Despite all of his work, believe me when I tell you it was quite a job getting him to even think about going for promotion and command, even though I knew he'd be amazing. But for a long time, Rich was content to write and edit and work in the background. No matter the way in which you've encountered him, though, I hope you're able to see that Starbase 118 is an endlessly richer place (no pun intended, or maybe pun very much intended) for Rich's presence and all that he's accomplished and will continue to accomplish as one of our most productive and laudable staff members. He is absolutely deserving of the inaugural Honor of the Admiralty, and I'm only sad that he can't win this one twice, as I'm sure that he'll continue to dazzle us all with everything he does and the ways in which he makes Starbase 118 better for everyone." Staff Member of the Year Award For staff members who have contributed tirelessly to the organization through any number of OOC channels, while maintaining excellence in simming on their vessel. Oddas Aria, USS Juneau Presented by Roshanara Rahman: "The past year has been an eventful one for Nicholas, the writer behind Captain Oddas Aria, and the fleet has soared because of his many contributions. While continuing to serve as commanding officer of his vessel, Nicholas planned and executed Project Capstone, a daring and unprecedented 12-week event where players came together to post as a new crew on the shakedown cruise of the USS Juneau. The event was the culmination of a wider yearlong fleetwide plot arc about the development of the Warp XV engine and arguably the most ambitious “joint” simming occasion since Operation Bright Star in 2010. After Capstone’s completion, Nicholas and his crew on the USS Eagle made the Juneau their new home, and behind the scenes, he took on a new role as the Captain-at-Large on the Executive Council. Since his term began, Nicholas has introduced regular CAL “office hours” on Discord and monthly summaries of EC business to the Captain's Council to ensure more of our staff know what’s happening at our fleet’s highest levels. This is all on top of his continuing duties as an Academy Deputy Commandant and co-facilitator for the Advanced Starship Design Bureau team! Our community’s finest staff members and captains are those who grow beyond just the bulkheads of their ships to see themselves as caretakers of the wider fleet as a whole. It is this legacy of service that has enabled our community to thrive for twenty-six years, a legacy that Nicholas has continued as our 2020 Staff Member of the Year." The James T. Kirk Cross Given to new Commanding Officers who show outstanding potential in the field of command. Jarred Thoran, USS Atlantis Presented by Jalana Rajel: "There aren't enough words to describe the impact that this year’s James T. Kirk Cross recipient has had on the fleet and his fellow writers, but I'll try. In his three years adventure of writing with us, he has won numerous awards showing that he is a dedicated writer that his fellow shipmates simply love to write and work with. He has shown early on that he was eager to do more than just show up: he trained new members of the fleet, mentored new players to his ships, became a First Officer, lead the publicity team and has shown great promise from the beginning of his Starfleet career. That potential has not stopped; on the contrary, he brought it into the way he is leading his ship, the USS Atlantis. While researching Richard's accomplishments it was anything but difficult to find voices who spoke highly of him. One of the strongest impressions he made was when he received command of the USS Atlantis. Under the best of circumstances that is a busy and stressful time, even though full of excitement. Things go very fast and are turbulent, especially when joining a new crew. But Richard has taken up this difficult role in a stride and quickly established himself as the kind of CO that inspires his fellow writers and brings out the best in them. Richard has an eye for what the members of his crew need to thrive and he assists them to the best of his abilities to get to their best selves. Richard's crew knows him as a hardworking, fair and compassionate CO who is always willing to listen, communicate and give advice. Between all this work behind the scenes, he does not forget to have fun while writing or joining in the playful banter in his ship's chat, which makes him a well rounded Commanding Officer. He is admired by his crew and the fleet at large and it's my honour and pleasure to congratulate Richard - and his IC counterpart Jarred Thoran - for receiving this great award, which is very well deserved. I can't wait to see where the next year leads you! " Chief’s Citation Recognizing the essential staff members whose determined work has benefitted the group In Character, and/or Out Of Character, even while their primary service was not as the Commanding Officer of a simming installation. Inspired by the non-commissioned and enlisted personnel who are the backbone of any starship but were rarely recognized in Star Trek lore in favor of the officers. Randal Shayne, USS Arrow Presented by Oddas Aria: "The recipient of the Chief's Citation Award is often one of those members of the fleet who works behind the scenes to make the fleet a better place, putting the hours in adding to those activities outside simming that make the fleet more of a club than just a place to come and play a game. Through their endeavors, they work to make the fleet a place to hang out, talk about our favorite things, and participate in a larger universe. Randal Shayne, the recipient of this year's Chief's Citation, meets the above criteria and more. As the Poll of the Week Co-Facilitator, a member of the ASDB, heading up the Picard Canon Committee, serving on the Captain's Council, and more Shayne is involved in several activities around the fleet that make our group the group it is. Congratulations to Commander Shayne!" The Sarek Star Given to a command officer who shows great diplomatic ability in working with members and staff. Sal Taybrim, StarBase 118 Ops Presented by Aron Kells: "It's my honor and delight to award this year's Sarek Star to Jamie, aka Fleet Captain Sal Taybrim. Though I've never simmed directly with her, I've known and respected her since she first came to my attention, the better part of a decade ago now. I was lucky to oversee her captaincy exam about five years ago, and not only was she clearly an excellent CO, but she also helped me rethink how to interact and empathize with my crew. I was predisposed to think positively of her already, though, after an event that had occurred a few years before in which Jamie had approached me on behalf of herself and others who, it seemed, didn't quite know how to articulate what sort of help they needed. At that point, Jamie was firmly established in my mind as someone who not only works well with others but advocates on behalf of others. Over the half-decade or so she's commanded Ops, I've only seen those qualities improve, and so it's very much time to recognize Jamie with the Sarek Star. However, I also recognize that I often view others from the very privileged position of having been a captain for quite a few years and that one's colleagues and crew are often the best when it comes to telling the real story. I read Jamie's nominations for the Sarek Star as impartially as I could, and I was pleased (but not surprised) to learn that she's very much held in esteem by folks on Ops and around the fleet. According to one nominator, "Jamie handles everyone she contacts professionally, with an outstretched hand of friendship and with firm guidance." Importantly, that nominator writes, Jamie has perfected that very tough balance between establishing firm boundaries and cultivating simmers with collaborative and unique opportunities on Ops. Another nominator notes that Jamie is "always on hand should there be a problem, or a crewmember has plot ideas for character development or plot point, always finding a pleasant and interesting balance between the two." And I'm sure that most folks, whether on the forums or on Discord, or somewhere else entirely, have noted Jamie's positive disposition — or, as one nominator put it, "the ever-present encouragement for all." Simply put, Jamie is not only a diplomat but is also a delight, an outstanding CO whose dedication to the growth and sustainability of her crew is second to none. This award is long overdue and extremely well deserved!" Christopher Pike Pendant Awarded to commanding officers who command their ship with honor and dedication, and help to provide a creative atmosphere which fosters outstanding simming. Oddas Aria, USS Juneau Presented by Roshanara Rahman: "Through the words of his nominators, the impact that Nicholas, the writer behind Captain Oddas Aria, has had on his crew is clear. They cite not just his creative energy but the care and support he gives to those under his command. One person noted, “He is humble, exceedingly competent and possessed of a fighting spirit. For every hit, problem and issue, Nicholas has the patience to face it and the desire to find the best answer possible.” As his former training CO and now fellow captain, I couldn’t agree more. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Nicholas develop from a cadet in 2016 to an outstanding first officer and now one of our finest captains. One thing Nicholas has never stopped doing since his first days in 118 is asking questions and advice when he comes across new or challenging situations. That humbleness cited earlier by a nominator has only helped him ensure that he is always learning and becoming the best player and now CO that he can be. And now with his first officer Commander Randal Shayne embarking on a new chapter of his own, Nicholas has ensured that the high standard he has set for himself and his crew will continue to spread throughout the fleet and to the next generation of officers. Congratulations and well-done, Captain!" Kathryn Janeway Award For retired Commanding Officers who have made a great impact on their crew and left an indelible legacy on our community history. Rear Admiral Toni Turner Presented by Tristan Wolf & Oddas Aria: "The retirement of Rear Admiral Toni Turner (Ann) was a sad day earlier this year, as she ended a 14-year run with the fleet, having made a mark on nearly every area of our community. We want to recognize her dedication and loyalty, her boundless enthusiasm for simming, and her fierce advocacy for her crew. How do you encapsulate a career this long and mention all the things that need to be said? I recall so many moments from her time with us, even from those early days as a Counselor at Duronis II Embassy when she struggled to find her voice as someone who had only experienced Star Trek casually and wasn't intimately versed in all the fandom and lore. She was nothing if not persistent and determined, though, to command her own vessel and lead a crew, and nothing was going to stop her. She earned the affection of many in the group with her tireless willingness to volunteer for anything that needed help. As a result, she rotated through many positions in the fleet – winning 19 awards along the way, including the Boothby Award and Staff Member of the Year. In later years of her command, she was an active participant on the Captain's Council and then the Executive Council as a full member. As a Commanding Officer, she returned to the Embassy — after having served on the Challenger and Resolution — and earned the James T. Kirk Cross, Christopher Pike Award, and even the Picard Award. She was single-minded in her pursuit of finding and elevating new officers, encouraging them to look toward leadership and command. She was a booster of everyone she worked with and was incredibly empathetic to those who struggled with finding their voice as she had. We thank her for her long-time service to the fleet and hope she enjoys a restful retirement!" Please join us in congratulating these members of the staff!
  18. Valued members of our community, I hope you've enjoyed reading through this year's awards ceremony. I know it's a lot of text, a lot of recognition, just a lot to read overall! But, in particular, I hope what you take away from this ceremony is the full feeling of gratitude and appreciation that pours out from what we're doing. I'd imagine it's hard to understand, before you reach the command levels of our community, just how much work is going on behind the scenes to pull off everything we do. But let me pull back the curtain and point out just how much this exercise is choreographed: Our process begins in April by reviewing the past year's ceremony, the suggestions we got from the community, and the list of awards to decide if we need to retire or add any. The Captains Council discusses these things at length – considering what's working and what's not – before we have to refresh the nominations form, check all of our award pages, begin preparing our news posts and fleetwide emails, and then launch the process. From there it's a sprint to the end of the nominations process, pushing everyone in the fleet to participate – uncovering memories from weeks and months ago of ways that people impressed us, reviewing each of our peers and trying to understand the impact they've made on our community. All the while, our staff is ensuring that every angle is covered in nominations and that each person who has earned an award gets nominated. Things really get hectic once nominations close as our Awards Facilitator – Jo Marshall, this year – picks an Awards Committee and starts collating the nominations. There are at least 100 tasks that must be done in a line before we actually get to the ceremony, involving every member of the command staff, with some folks being buried in the work, like Kirk opening an overhead compartment to reveal thousands of tribbles. At the end of the day, we are all exhausted, but filled with gratitude for the opportunity to make entirely clear how much we appreciate everyone's contributions. Although we go to great lengths throughout the year to try and help each of you understand how much we value the time and effort you expend to write the perfect sims, we also know the magic of coming together for this recognition – to write down in the annals of our history that "this person was amazing, and we want to thank them for that." It's no trivial effort – as much as we want you to think that it is! – and I hope that those of you who earned awards can take some time to look back over the history of the award you won, maybe read some of the presentation from those past ceremonies, and know that someday someone else will be doing the same with your name. Welcome to the Hall of Honor, you've earned it. Before we close, I'd like to mention some commendations and "credits" where they're due: First and foremost, to Jo Marshall, who stage managed this process – collating, coordinating, logisticating, pontificating, and memeing every step. She brought a whole new character to the role and upped the ante for all those who come after her. I have deep empathy for the person in this position, and even deeper thanks for all of the hard work put in to make sure that every detail is perfect and correct. Thank you, Jo Marshall, for everything you've done to make this "show" go off without a hitch! To our Awards Committee, that read through 22 awards worth of nominations and carefully voted to award the Duty Post and Special awards. You've done a great service puting in this time and consideration, and helping our community come to the best decision. To our Deputy Awards Facilitators, who helped Jo Marshall with the incredible lift of bringing this ceremony to fruition, making sure that all the nominations were properly collated and checked against our rules, and that everything was where it needed to be! To our Commanding Officers, who have been tireless and extremely gracious throughout the whole thing. Your efforts are priceless in how much care and time you've put in. Thank you for everything you've done here, and everything you do to maintain this thing we've all built. This is an amazing thing we have and I hope you know how rare and precious it is to have a "round table" like we're experiencing right now. To our First Officers, who judged the Staff Awards and every other day of the year help make what we do possible. Thank you for being our cheerleaders, our assistants, our defenses, our collators, and our partners in this. I look forward to the day when you sit in the captain's chair and look in gratitude at the person in your seat. And finally, my last thanks is to you, dear members! You make it all worthwhile. The joy you bring, and the joy you experience fuels every moment of this. I look forward to many more years in service to this community. Until next year… 🖖 - Jordan, FltAdml. Tristan Wolf
  19. I'm delighted to present the badges for this years award ceremony! See below for the full badge list. If you believe you should have earned the badge but are not listed, contact your CO. Learn more about badges and how to display them on your wiki pages here. And don't forget: Make sure you take our survey about the awards ceremony to let us how you think it went. The full ceremony has been posted on the wiki now, as with all previous ceremonies. Awards Chairperson Presented to a staff member that has held the position of Awards Chairperson for an Awards Ceremony. If more than one staff member holds the title, or is appointed an assistant or deputy, all receive the badge. Sky Blake, Veritas Ishkabella Journs, Atlantis Randal Shayne, Arrow Jo Marshall, Gorkon Awards Committee Presented to any staff member that participates in the yearly Awards Committee to select Duty Post and Special Awards. Nugra, Constitution-B Ash MacKenna, Juneau Jarred Thoran, Atlantis Awards Ceremony Nominator (Standard) A player must submit at least 1 nomination for a fellow player during an awards ceremony, in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times, but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year. Awards Ceremony Nominator (Elite) A player must submit at least 5 nominations for fellow players in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times, but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year. Awards Ceremony Nominator (Legendary) A player must submit at least 10 nominations for players on more than 2 vessels in any category. This badge can be earned multiple times, but is only awarded once per year. A player earning an elite or legendary badge will not also earn the lower levels in the same year.
  20. This year we had two sets of special commendations we wanted to give out alongside our awards: Written by Fleet Captain Sal Taybrim: Jalana Rajel - for incredible dedication year after year to The (Image) Collective. She's consistently helpful with graphics of all kinds: New awards, character portraits, and more! And, she's consistently a friendly and helpful staff member for StarBase 118. German Galven and Nijil from StarBase 118 Ops: Who took the lead in cheerleading the awards and nominations process, and assisted in writing up the shipwide awards ceremony for Ops. Alex Blair from the USS Constitution: Who assisted Jalana in cheerleading the awards and nomination process on the USS Constitution and also assisted her in writing up the Constitution's shipwide awards. Also, German Galven for his work on the News Team: He has been an integral part of meeting our goals every month and uplifting others through an unending series of interviews! Written by Commander Randal Shayne, new CO of the USS Arrow: LtCmdr. Quentin Collins: Justin has been nothing short of an exemplary first officer from the beginning. He has had a hand in everything from award cheer leading to mentoring to discussing command decisions and making suggestions for our new region. And, on top of it, he stepped up without hesitation when the launch of the Arrow was moved up. All around fantastic. LtCmdr. Kim Chin-sun: James has been similarly helpful in the launch process. Specifically, his input and work in terms of mentoring cannot be overstated. Because of him, we can help guide newer officers effectively from the beginning. On a more personal note, I'd like to extend my personal gratitude to Marissa (Cmdr. Ash MacKenna) who has been spiritually supportive to me, and, from what I understand, functionally essential to the Juneau.
  21. Welcome to day one of the annual Awards Ceremony! We’re very excited to present the General Awards. The General (Ship) Awards have been presented by each captain to their crew. The winners this year, as in previous years, were chosen by the fleet’s commanding officers (or in cases where the commanding officer was also nominated, the first officer was called in to decide) from the nominations made by you! This is your chance to see how each of the other ships did and see who picked up what award. The Order of Starfleet Merit and Achievement First Class (TOSMA) The Order of Starfleet Merit and Achievement First Class is given to members who show great dedication in their behavior and simming abilities. A candidate for TOSMA regularly contributes good, solid ideas to the plot and character development. They also take the time to edit and proofread their sims to ensure quality in their writing. Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution Caitriona Cayne, USS Gorkon Ash MacKenna, USS Juneau German Galven, Starbase 118 Ops Addison MacKenzie, USS Thor Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Esa Kiax, USS Atlantis The Genesis Award The Most Improved Simmer Award. For officers who show conspicuous effort in improving their simming skills. Jacob Horne, USS Constitution Joshua Sutton, USS Gorkon Artinus Serinus, USS Juneau Solaris McLaren, Starbase 118 Ops Tara Wilkins, USS Thor Charlena Vanlith, USS Veritas David Knight, USS Atlantis Scotty Cross Given to an officer who shows extreme creativity while solving a plot dilemma or in-character plot twist. Toryn Raga, USS Atlantis Randal Shayne, USS Juneau Arturo Maxwell, Starbase 118 Ops Charlena Vanlith, USS Veritas Neelix Award For extra, out-of-character simming devotion. This includes, but isn't limited to, helping fellow officers who are in need of simming aid, visibility on the forums, OOC list presence, upkeep of wiki pages, etc. Edward Spears, USS Constitution Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Noa Levinson, USS Juneau Romyana Casparian, Starbase 118 Ops Wes Greaves, USS Thor Ceciri Ariadust, USS Veritas Esa Kiax, USS Atlantis Nebula Bar Awarded to a simmer who has shown great imagination when creating or expanding upon planets, stars, stellar phenomena, and other physical environments and settings, such that these settings create a convincing, descriptive, realistic environment that inspires other simmers or enhances the flow of a given plot. Edward Spears, USS Constitution Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Randal Shayne, USS Juneau Anath G'Renn, USS Atlantis Laudean Commendation Awarded for achievements in exploration with new lifeforms. The recipient will have shown great creativity in many facets of species creation or expansion, including physiological, psychological, cultural, social, and more, and their creativity will inspire their fellow simmers. The Laudean Commendation can cover many aspects of species development, but should primarily be based in IC simming. Jalana Rajel, USS Constitution Artinus Serinus,, USS Juneau Nijil, Starbase 118 Ops Alieth and Alexander Brodie, USS Thor Raissa Moonsong, USS Veritas Ishkabella Journs, USS Atlantis Silver Palm Awarded to a simmer who has consistently boosted the morale of his/her crew. The recipient will be known to be able to add that spark to a plot whenever it may be lagging, or may be able to consistently bring enjoyment or a bit of humour to the sim, whilst keeping such sims relevant and realistic. Corliss Fortune, USS Gorkon Quentin Collins,, USS Juneau Karen Stendhal, Starbase 118 Ops Geoffrey Teller, USS Thor Clik Zae'Li, USS Veritas Ishkabella Journs, USS Atlantis Sheathed Sword Presented to those to decide to inflict mental and/or physical trauma on their character, and then dive into the resulting emotions and choices in a realistic manner. The name comes from a line in a Robert Jordan book where a warrior must be prepared to 'sheath the sword' in his own body, i.e. take a grievous wound to achieve one's goal (in this case, more realistic simming) as opposed to an actual goal of the character. Cade Foster, USS Constitution Genkos Adea, USS Gorkon Sheila Bailey, Starbase 118 Ops Addison MacKenzie, USS Thor Roshanara Rahman, USS Veritas Serala, USS Atlantis B-Plot Award For those simmers who manage to show a good portion of the character's life despite the demands of the main plot. Ravenna Carter, USS Constitution Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Melody Delri'ise, USS Juneau Sheila Bailey, Starbase 118 Ops Dar Elandra, USS Thor Timothy Alentonis, USS Veritas Toryn Raga, USS Atlantis The Russ Bar The Russ bar is awarded to a writer whose knowledge of Trek lore is extraordinary. Named for Tim Russ, the actor who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, who was already a dedicated Star Trek fan before securing the role on the show. Chloe Waters,, USS Juneau Sirok, USS Thor Jarred Thoran, USS Atlantis Pathfinder Award Given to those who have shown great care in the mentoring of fellow members. Yito Seja, USS Constitution Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Quentin Collins, USS Juneau Alexander Brodie, USS Thor Jansen Orrey, USS Veritas Kurt Logan, USS Atlantis Khan Award Awarded to a simmer who thoughtfully develops a three-dimensional villain over the course of a mission or more. Lazarus Davis, USS Constitution Quentin Collins, USS Juneau Sal Taybrim, Starbase 118 Ops Quen Deena, USS Thor Wil Ukinix, USS Veritas Serala, USS Atlantis Q Award Awarded for continually surprising their crew with unexpected, devious plot twists throughout the year. Quinn Reynolds, USS Gorkon Anath G'Renn, USS Atlantis Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  22. Today we are proud to present the Length of Service and Special Awards! Length of Service Awards Length of Service Awards are presented to members who have been continuously active for at least a year, there are also tiers for three, five, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years of continuous service. And, in recognition and celebration of the achievements of Commanding Officers, we’ve introduced a new award. These are length of service awards given to those who have served as commanding officers for their ships and stations continuously for five or ten years. This year, 47 players have reached a length of service milestone. Of those 22 are celebrating their first milestone, having picked up the award for one year of active membership. Another 12 have achieved three years active membership and six more have been here for five years. Three players have reached the incredible ten-year milestone, and one has reached 15 years! Additionally, we have two players celebrating their five-year command milestones, and our Fleet Admiral is heralding in 25 years! 25-year Length of Service For those who have been members continuously for 25 years. Special congratulations to Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf for achieving his 25-year Length of Service milestone. None of this would be possible without Wolf's dedicated leadership, vision, and driving force for the past twenty-six years. Thank you, Admiral! 5-year Commanding Officer For those who have served as commanding officers for their ships and stations continuously for five years. Officers in this category are also appointed to the rank of Commodore to recognize their experience and leadership. Commodore Jalana Rajel, who took command of the USS Constitution-B (NCC-9012-B) on May 5th, 2015. Vice Admiral Quinn Reynolds, who took command of the USS Gorkon (NCC-82293) on July 7th, 2015. 1-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for one year. Jacob Horne, graduated from training on August 23, 2017 Ferier Kian, graduated from training on January 30, 2018 Ilana Ganarvuss, graduated from training on April 10, 2018 German Galven, graduated from training on July 29, 2018 Samira Neathler, graduated from training on August 27, 2018 Pholin Duyzer, graduated from training on September 13, 2018 Geoffrey Teller, graduated from training on September 17, 2018 Lazarus Davis, graduated from training on October 2, 2018 Corliss Fortune, graduated from training on October 3, 2018 Jona ch'Ranni, graduated from training on October 19, 2018 Chloe Waters, graduated from training on November 1, 2018 Willimina Bellweather, graduated from training on November 5, 2018 Wil Ukinix, graduated from training on November 13, 2018 Esa Darkkdust, graduated from training on November 20, 2018 Quentin Collins, graduated from training on December 1, 2018 James Colquhoun, graduated from training on December 1, 2018 Sheila Bailey, graduated from training on December 11, 2018 Ben Garcia, graduated from training on January 2, 2019 Quen Deena, graduated from training on February 6, 2019 Addison MacKenzie, graduated from training on February 19, 2019 Charlena Vanlith, graduated from training on April 15, 2019 Karen Stendhal, graduated from training on April 19, 2019 3-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for three years. Anthony Meeks, graduated from training on January 17, 2011 Yogan Yalu, graduated from training on November 13, 2011 Ket Shoba, graduated from training on August 18, 2013 Ceciri Ariadust, graduated from training on December 15, 2014 Luthas, graduated from training on June 8, 2016 Krindo Pandorn, graduated from training on August 9, 2016 Prudence Blackwell, graduated from training on August 17, 2016 Piravao sh’Qynallahr, graduated from training on November 21, 2016 Arturo Maxwell, graduated from training on November 21, 2016 Melody Delri'ise, graduated from training on January 19, 2017 Anath G'Renn, graduated from training on February 28, 2017 Jarred Thoran, graduated from training on May 8, 2017 5-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for five years. Raissa Moonsong, graduated from training on July 1, 2014 Cory Stoyer, graduated from training on November 10, 2014 Randal Shayne, graduated from training on February 2, 2015 Nijil, graduated from training on February 9, 2015 Kurt Logan, graduated from training on March 2, 2015 Arlo Thorton, graduated from training on March 23, 2015 10-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for ten years. Dassa Alexander-Dalton, graduated from training on October 1, 2004 Loxley, graduated from training on January 25, 2007 Roshanara Rahman, graduated from training on May 27, 2010 15-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for fifteen years. Nyka Wyss, graduated from training on January 22, 2004 25-Year Member For those who have been members continuously for twenty-five years. Tristan Wolf, graduated from training on… he's never been through the Academy! Enrollment time, Admiral! Special Awards The Rising Star Award For members who show great promise in many facets of their participation in the group, and to whom we look to as a future leader. Geoffrey Teller, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: "The folks who nominated Brian (Teller) for this award wrote a combined total of over 2500 words in support of this year's Rising Star. Many of those highlighted the responsibilities he's taken on over the past year, including as the acting XO and then CO of the USS Diligent for a mission on the Veritas, and then the masterful job he's done as the XO of the Duronis II Embassy and, currently, the Thor. It's even more appropriate that Brian was also last year's Luminary Award winner, as that award recognizes one member per year who shows extreme promise in their SB118 career, but who is ranked lieutenant or under. His dedication, support, mentorship, and involvement have been recognized by all around him, from SB118's guiding councils to the ensigns onboard the Thor. In fact, a group of ensigns approached me unsolicited to sing Brian's praises, noting, among other positive qualities, that he's cheerful, shows a strong work ethic, and is always able to engage simmers who don't know where to go next. A few of his nominators wanted to celebrate "Future Captain" Teller with this award, but I don't think they went far enough -- so please join me in celebrating "Future Admiral" Teller, this year's Rising Star!" Luminary Award Given to members holding the rank of ensign, lieutenant junior grade, or lieutenant. For those who show great promise in their future endeavours in UFOP: Starbase 118 RPG. Alieth, USS Thor Presented by Aron Kells: "I also have the pleasure of recognizing Andrea, aka Lieutenant JG Alieth, this year's winner of the Luminary Award! Even if you haven't simmed with her directly, you've surely encountered Andrea before -- she sims on the Thor, but she's active all over the fleet forums and Discord, and her work as a part of the Image Collective has already become legendary. Her work with her RL husband Miguel, aka Ensign Sirok, produced the Thor's redesigned logo, and this led to a complete logo redesign for all the ships in the fleet. Her sim quality, too, is extremely high, and all of this came when she was just an ensign -- she was only promoted to lieutenant JG a couple of weeks ago! The whole SB118 fleet is lucky to count Andrea as a member, and I look forward to seeing what she does next. If this year is any guide, perhaps we'll be looking forward to Rising Star Alieth in 2021...?" The Sarpeidon Award Awarded to members who have made outstanding contributions to the 118Wiki. Sarpeidon was the world in TOS's "All Our Yesterdays," in which the planet's population created a library containing their entire world's history. This is, in essence, what our wiki strives to become: a collection of our group's history and a simming database. Sky Blake, USS Veritas Presented by Roshanara Rahman: "It seems only fitting to talk about Sky Blake's writer Deliera and her contributions to the 118Wiki in particular because it was through the wiki that we first connected. Long before we wrote together as shipmates and now CO and first officer, I stumbled upon Deliera's wiki page for her character and her behind-the-scenes pages and was in awe. I reached out to her later to help launch the Featured Bio Contest, which ran from 2012 to 2017 and highlighted great wiki bios from across the fleet. In 2014, we launched the Wiki Operations Team (now squadron), where she served as Vice Chief of Wiki Operations and eventually as team facilitator. Today, she continues her work on the wiki as an administrator, ensuring this vital resource of our fleet stays organized and up to date. Taking care of this important work doesn’t often draw attention to itself, and so I'm glad to see that this year six separate nominations were submitted for Deliera to be recognized with this award. Clearly, her dedication and hard work has not gone unnoticed. Besides her own contributions to the wiki, other players also cited how she can always be counted on to provide advice and guidance for those learning how to use it. She is a tireless champion of the power of the wiki to help people further tell their characters' stories, and she is so well-deserving of this award!" The Boothby Award For trainers who go above and beyond their Academy training requirements. These trainers display an outstanding example of dedication to bringing new cadets to our community. Samira Neathler, USS Gorkon Presented by Quinn Reynolds: "Week after week, one name that stands out in the Academy is that of Samira Neathler. She's a stalwart member of the team, volunteering her time and energy whenever she can while knowing when she needs to step back for a week or two to recharge her batteries so that she can continue giving her best — a balance that's trickier than it seems! In every position she fills, she stands out as an exemplar of that role; her sims are beautifully written and set a fantastic example for our cadets, as an XO she keeps the class running smoothly with her organisational skills, as CO she supports both the cadets and the other members of the training team by offering feedback, insight and encouragement. The nominations consistently spoke of what a fun and welcoming environment she makes for our cadets, and how much she inspired and encouraged our newer trainers in their own path through the academy. For all these reasons and more, I'm delighted to present Samira Neathler with the Boothby Award. Congratulations, Sami!!" Quark's Bar Quark's Bar is a special award and is awarded to members who are regularly active on the forums and have been supportive and involved in conversations enhancing the overall forum experience. Jo Marshall, USS Gorkon Presented by Tristan Wolf: "The Captain's Council debated, this year, how to handle the rise of our Discord chat room when it comes to the Awards Ceremony. The end result was to wait until we had a better sense of what was to come in the next year. But it's clear, nonetheless, that many people in the fleet felt like Quark's Bar, created for the forums, as applying to the chat room as well – we had seven different nominees, many of which mentioned Discord. Everyone who was nominated was a vital and enthusiastic voice in our community. They're all people who've contributed to making the vibe fun in the last year – a place where people want to congregate. But one person, Jo Marshall, had the clear endorsement of the Awards Committee. Marshall has been tireless in helping to develop the OOC vibe, particularly on Discord. Between assisting in setting up the bot, to creating fun and interactive commands, and even helping to edit our staff guide to managing Discord, she's been proactive every step of the way. How can we forget that she also led the project to expand our custom emoji, including adding a number of Black actors into the mix. Our Discord is more fun because of everything she's brought to the table. She also led the charge in planning and executing this year's Writing Challenge revival, which saw the largest ever amount of participation in a challenge – all on the forums. Between the theme and rules she put in place, writers from every ship in the fleet demonstrated an incredible level of creativity that put our judges panel to the test in deciding who would win. I've so much appreciated Marshall's quick wit, friendly and helpful personality, and willingness to go the extra mile to try new things. She absolutely deserves this award!" The Xalor Clan Xifilis Award Given to any simmer who overcomes any sort of disadvantage while simming. This award was originally called the "Rachel Garett Pendant," but was renamed for the 2000 ceremony to honor a respected simmer in UFOP: StarBase 118 who passed away in that year. This is the only Special Award that is given more than once per ceremony. Karen Stendhal, Starbase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: "Stefania, the writer behind Lieutenant JG Karen Stendhal, has proved her strength and determination since the moment she joined SB118. From Italy, English is her second language, which is a true struggle in and of itself. But she constantly works to overcome this challenge, upholding a fantastic personal standard of writing as well as a willingness to add as much as she can to each mission. Her writing improves with each and every sim and she brings a wonderful sense of humor and charm to her character and her narrative. Simming with Lieutenant Stendhal is a joy and will bring a smile to the face of any of her fellow crew. During recent events known globally (COVID19), her world has been turned upside down. Italy was one of the first countries quarantined after China. She let us know that she was in a very tense lockdown and dangerous situation. Still, she wrote on, never letting the craziness of the real-world affect her enthusiastic and lively writing. She even maintained an MSNPC throughout the crisis, assisting with our last mission as a leader as well as a player. Stefania, you are truly an amazing and enduring writer. Thank you so much for all your enthusiasm, humor and wonderful simming. I am so proud to be able to honor you in this year’s fleetwide awards! " Toryn Raga, USS Atlantis Presented by Jarred Thoran: "The past year has not been kind to Toryn. Living in Florida he has been at the mercy of numerous storms and tornadoes that have at times prevented him from simming.. Additionally, with the spread of COVID-19, Toryn has been deeply affected, both in a professional and personal capacity. Lesser people would no doubt have thrown in the towel, but Toryn has persevered through it all and is an inspiration to his crewmates. It is my honour to present him with the Xalor Clan Xifilis Award. " Sheila Bailey, Starbase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: "Aly, the player behind Lieutenant JG Sheila Bailey, is an incredibly strong player who is passionate about disability awareness and portraying characters that are not disabled, but differently-abled, showing a true depth of characterization and an honest willingness to explore these characters and allow others to learn more about those characters through writing. In the tradition of all the best characters in fiction, Aly’s characters are in part a reflection of herself and some of her real-life struggles. Some days she does not have the energy to write and Aly communicates well with her fellow crew on days when she needs to rest or take a break, and still maintains a full time posting and excellent writing. We can see in her love for her characters, a passion for this awareness in real life, as well as an overwhelming strength to shine through difficult times and bring something truly creative and meaningful to out simming on StarBase 118 Ops. Aly, you have grown to be a brilliant and respected simmer on StarBase 118 and this shines through all the effort and passion you put into your writing. I am so proud to be able to recognize all your hard work and honor you in this year’s fleetwide awards!" Noa T’Nessa Levinson, USS Juneau Presented by Oddas Aria: "Since coming aboard Ensign Levinson has made herself an invaluable member of the crew by being a source of unending positivity, friendliness, and willingness to lend a hand where needed. In addition to her steadfast devotion to maintaining a positive atmosphere, she has honed a set of simming skills that is hard to rival - using extended prose and commentary in a way that moves the story purposefully and realistically. These are all great qualities for a player to have, something grateful COs love to find in a player that has only been with us a short time, and qualities we are astounded to find in players that are not playing in their native language. The amount of time she puts into each sim, and other interactions with the group, in a language, not her own is an example to all of us and makes the entire group better." The Community Champion Award For members who participate in – or help facilitate – simming community events, representing the best of UFOP: SB118 to other organizations by hosting events, acting as contest judges, or otherwise contributing their expertise in a way that benefits the wider community. Tristan Wolf, Starbase 118 Ops Presented by Sal Taybrim: "At first, this award may seem like a no-brainer. Fleet Admiral Tristan Wolf founded this community and remains on as its head administrative officer. Many players only see Fleet Admiral Wolf as the overarching admin that helps run the game. But what does running the game actually mean? What does it all entail? What does Fleet Admiral Wolf do behind the scenes? Let me take you through just a portion of everything Fleet Admiral Wolf does to support this community. First, he’s the driving force behind our publicity efforts, which reaches out to Star Trek fans across the globe and helps bring new players into the game. If you came here through a link, advertisement, Facebook or Google search, you had contact with Wolf’s work. If you’ve made a new friend in the past year you have certainly been facilitated by Fleet Admiral Wolf’s work. Going along with this Fleet Admiral Wolf runs our News Team which is not only a major factor in publicity but keeps our members constantly informed and entertained. He helps organize every major taskforce from the Chat team to the Academy and makes sure all members are informed of everything from forum outages to fun events on Discord. If you’ve been able to participate in something entertaining on the forums or a fun event on Discord, again Fleet Admiral Wolf helped make that happen and made sure you got the news. Moreover, Jordan, the person behind Fleet Admiral Wolf is a champion for creating a stable, long-term, inclusive, and safe community for writers of every background. He is passionate about making sure this community stays supportive of all players and Star Trek ideals. He guides the game’s staff in timely discussions about how to continually improve our community for all members. Jordan is also consistently focused on fleetwide unity and supportive of all our ships and crews. No one is more concerned about the fleet as a whole and making sure every ship is successful and every player has a good place to sim than Fleet Admiral Wolf. Everyone from newly posted Ensigns to seasoned veterans matters to this game and they matter to our Admiral. All of this has created an unprecedented run of 26 years and counting of a stable, complex and well-crafted game run by volunteers, founded on a dream that Fleet Admiral Wolf had of having a place where people could write about a better future full of fantastic adventures and strong friendships. We are all here today, celebrating awards and enjoying wonderful stories because of Fleet Admiral Wolf’s constant dedication to this community. I would like to personally thank you, Jordan, for creating this wonderful game and I hope that every player will join me in congratulating you as this year’s Community Champion!" Please join us in congratulating these talented players!
  23. Welcome to the fleetwide awards ceremony for 2020, or, in world, 2397! I'm filling in for some hefty boots here, so I'll try to make it quick and lively so we can jump into the deep end and kick the awards off! There are five categories of awards: General Awards (which some ships have presented to their crews already!), Duty Post, Special and Staff Awards recognise players across the rank spectrum for all sorts of IC or OOC achievements. The member Length of Service Awards continue to grow, recognizing membership lengths of one, three, five, 10, 15 and even 25 years! A remarkable number of simmers have been around for such extended periods, and they count among our numbers. This year we’re celebrating our 26th year as a vibrant and incredible community of players coming together. A massive thank you to everyone who submitted nominations this year, and to everyone who had the heart there but not the energy for it. It's been a rough time all around the world and that you're choosing to spend your free time and creative energy here is honestly heartwarming. I've really loved seeing how we celebrate one another, keeping us propped up through the trials and tribulations of a turbulent time, and how every single nomination is a note of love, respect and gratitude for our fellow writers. It's a huge reminder that everyone is appreciated and valued for our imaginative contributions to our collective. Keeping all of this running behind the scenes is no small task — more like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill only for it to keep rolling back down — and yet, it runs smoothly; the welcome is warm and generous, and we have a fantastic fleet to show for it. To that end, I’d like to extend a special thanks to our tireless leader Fleet Admiral Wolf and our wonderful leadership team who continuously drive forward to make the fleet better and better with every passing year. No request for help is too much, nor too silly, and I know everyone in the fleet has benefited from the guidance you all have given over the years. With the addition of the new length of service awards celebrating those in command for five and ten continuous years of commanding a ship or installation, the fleet is in a fantastic position of stable leadership and the ripple effect is felt at all levels. So, on behalf of the entire fleet, thank you for doing everything you do! Stay weird. Stay unique. The future's here, let's take it for a ride. Happy 26th anniversary everybody! -- Em (Jo Marshall) p.s. Can I have the champagne now?
  24. Nominations for the 2020 Awards Ceremony open on Monday, May 18 at 12:15am Pacific Time and close on Wednesday, June 10 at 11:45pm Pacific Time. If this is your awards ceremony with us, welcome! This is a tradition that dates back to 1996, wherein we honor the people of the fleet who are simming really well, or contributing OOC. Back in the "old days," we would gather the entire fleet onto one email list (we were a lot smaller then...) and sim together an award presentation; now we do things a bit differently. Here's how it works today: Everyone in the fleet submits nominations for consideration. The group staff (ship COs, EC members, etc.) review the nominations. Each ship has their own awards presentation on their OOC email list for awards in the General Awards category. Award in this category can be given to one person on each ship. Then, we have a fleetwide presentation of awards here on the forums. Awards in the Duty Post, Special, Staff, and Length of Service categories are presented over the course of three days. One person in the fleet can receive each of the Duty Post, Special, and Staff categories. How to nominate: We rely on each and every member of the fleet to submit nominations so we can recognize the best members of our community who are putting in the time and effort to make this a fun place to be. So we need your help! If you don't nominate your peers and mentors for awards, they won't get recognized. We want to encourage everyone to be really free with their nominations – there's no penalty in putting in a nomination that doesn't ultimately get the award. But ships that have fewer nominations tend to end up having fewer award winners – so don't be shy! Multiple nominations from members of a ship for any given award can help send a signal to reviewers that a certain person is really deserving, but also one really great nomination can be the deciding factor for someone to win an award. Follow these simple instructions to get started: Check out the wiki Hall of Honor to see the list of awards and learn more: https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Award Consider who you want to nominate. Then do a quick check on the list of past award winners to make sure they haven't won the award before: https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_Award_Recipients (You can sort the table by clicking on the column headers, or you can use your browser's "Find" feature to quickly find a character anywhere on the page – on PC, use CTRL+F, on Mac use ⌘+F.) If the person hasn't won the award before, head to the nomination form: https://www.starbase118.net/members/personnel/forms/award-nomination-panel/ Enter your information and select the award. Then write a nomination reason. For some awards, we'll ask you for a link to a sim if you have one readily available that helps justify your nomination. Don't stress out about finding a sim, but if you have one, it could help. If you feel really confident about your award nomination, chat with others on your ship who might also feel the same way and recommend they make a similar nomination! Writing a good nomination: Remember, your nominations are going up against other nominations from your ship (for General category awards), or from the entire fleet (Duty Post, Special, Staff category awards). So the better you make your case for why your nomination should win, the more likely it is that it will help your nominee end up getting the award. After the nomination period opens this year, going to post on the Community News some great sample nominations that helped their nominees win an award. I'll add a link to that post once it's up. But in the meantime, you can check out these from previous years: https://www.starbase118.net/2018/award-nomination-examples/ All that being said, don't go overboard! If the case for a nominee self-evident, or clearly shown by a sim, it's okay to write less in your explanation and allow the evidence to stand on its own. How to get a sim link: You can grab a link to a sim by going to your ship's Google Group archive (the link is in the footer of every sim). Awards Ceremony schedule: June 27, Saturday: Introduction, General Awards June 28, Sunday: Special and Length of Service Awards June 29, Monday: Staff Awards June 30, Tuesday: Duty Post Awards, finale/acknowledgments, complete ceremony posted. Questions? Head to the Discord chatroom, where we have the #awards2020 room where you can ask questions of other members. Or, ask your FO or CO for help – they're happy to answer questions and have been through multiple ceremonies!
  25. After you submit award nominations, you're brought to a form where you can suggest changes to our Awards Ceremony nominations process. On the whole, everyone expresses great satisfaction but how things work! But as with last year, we have some suggestions that came through that I'd like to address: This is an issue with our forms plugin conflicting with our website theme. It's been difficult to fix, but hopefully folks can navigate the form well enough seeing the bold indicator with the selection. If you're an expert in CSS / WordPress plugins and themes – and want to help with this – email me at t.wolf@starbase118.net and I'll send you the information I got back from our form plugin support about it and see if you can help us resolve it! I figured it would slow down submission of the form and frustrate people if they had to check the email address twice. We have everyone's email address on record and can pretty easily track back to what we have on file for you if necessary – but you wouldn't get your nomination "receipt" via email, for sure. We've gotten this a couple years in a row and I've just asked the Captains Council to consider this suggestion specifically. Hopefully we'll have a decision by the end of the ceremony this year. I must admit I'm always a little perplexed by this one. The nomination panel page is already quite large, so I'm trying to minimize the size of it? We have links to the list of all awards and their descriptions under the dropdown boxes where you select which award your nominating someone for. And the idea here is you'd open the Hall of Honor – which is linked from the nominations panel – and decide which awards you want to nominate for, and then go back to the form to do the nomination. From what I gather folks are doing that in reverse, like going to the form and looking at the names of the awards and deciding who to nominate for them? Do we really need to have a list of all the award descriptions on this page as opposed to just having links to the Hall of Honor on the wiki? Open to feedback – please respond below! We're not going to allow anonymous submissions. The only way to make this a little bit faster is to have a profile on the site so it can recognize you when you load the form. As such, I've added a registration form where you can do that. Once you're registered and logged in, you should find your email address and character name filled in the form each time you arrive on it. Sim links are optional. It says that right on the form, and we hide the sim link box automatically for staff awards where a sim link wouldn't make sense. The Captains Council is in discussion about this right now. We're hoping to have a solution before we launch nominations but if not we'll have something to say about it for next year! Thank you everyone for your suggestions! Please feel free to add more to the form this year so we can continue to improve the process!
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