The Region 12 2008 Summit is over. From all accounts everyone had a good time.  The Friday night Romulan Contest, though only a few contestants, was widely successful!                

For those of you who were unable to attend the winners were:                 

 Sugar Free Competition – Deb Trimble                

 Non-Alcoholic Runner Up – Anne Miller               

 Non-Alcoholic Winner – USS Horizon                

 Alcoholic Runner Up – Walter Otten               

Alcoholic Winner – USS Horizon                

 Next Year it will be the 2009 Intergalactic Food Network Mixologist Challenge – SAURIAN BRANDY.  This will be held in conjunction with the Friday Night Reception at the Region 12 Summit in Columbia, Missouri.                

Saturday morning’s opening ceremony showed that we had people from all over the region and beyond. Old friends Dave and Linda Kloempken were in attendance, along with our own Chief of Operations, Mike Urvand. And from our region, the Inspector General for SFI, Robert Westfall and the JAG for SFI, Greg Trotter were there also.                

 We had a very special guest for Region 12: Lee Schmidt, Region 12’s very first Regional Coordinator was also there. I had tried to get a hold of Lee, and was never sure he got my messages, and he was not sure I got his (an Internet Black Hole I am sure) but he made it! Lee, I hope we have continued what you started and are doing you proud.                

The State of the 12^th Fleet was given, and recorded for podcast, so I am sure when Rolando has that up, he will make the announcement for everyone who missed it, can hear it.  The Poker Tournamnet was not held as the BortaS could have bought it with the amount points they had received over the year. So they were the winners. They received a Star trek poker set as the Grand Prize. Also, the USS Hexum got newsletter of the year. Congratulations again to them.                

All the panels had people going to them, and were well received. The banquet that night had some very good food. Afterwards, there was much talk and laughter and games.                

Sunday morning was the non-denominational church service, followed by closing ceremonies. The 2009 Summit was discussed and planned and people have already signed up for it! 

Now for the details: Five ships turned in recommendations for people to get regional awards.  The 12^th Fleet 2007 Officer of the Year for Region was awarded to: Julie Rickard, USS BortaS The 12^th Fleet 2007 Ship of the Year was awarded to:  USS BortaS The 12^th Fleet 2007 Member of the Year was awarded to: Mike McGowan Congratulations to all who won! 

But the big announcement was that Region 12 had become part of the Empire. For those who are a little foggy; Region 12 has become part of the “Mirror, Mirror” Universe.  How this will work is as such; chapters can choose to be ISS or stay with the Federation. All  12^th Fleet ships must contact me before June 6, 2008 to let me know if you are going to be ISS or Federation. If I do not hear from a ship, then by default, it is allowing the ISS to remain. There has already been much talk about this. What does this mean exactly?  There are ISS chapters, but if all ships in the 12^th Fleet decide to go ISS, then we would be the first Region in Starfleet to be an ISS Region.  But if all the ships want to be the Federation, then the ISS has been pushed back to their own dimension. Attached to this letter is the new 12^th Fleet logo.   You can expect fictional accounts of attacks on different R 12 ships in the future.

And there was a Meet The Candidates panel, as this is an election year for Region 12.  I am running for re-election and Wayne Killough is running against me for Regional Coordinator of Region 12.  The COs will now nominate on who they feel who is best to lead Region 12 in the future. If there is no clear cut winner, we then go to an election. Good luck.

Also, at the CO/XO meeting, our Chief of Operations pointed out that a number of 12^th Fleet ships were under-strength and some had no XOs listed. If you were there you know who you are. If not, I will be contacting those ships that need to raise their membership numbers and to assign an XO.

At Closing Ceremonies, we decided next years Summit, and the way everyone who was there got involved; we did have fun didn’t we?  There were over 30 people there to close it out. Our attendance was 46 with 35 at the banquet on Saturday night. A very strong showing and support from those who attended, thank you. 

Now, Good news and Bad news:  Bad News: The hotel will not be available for the last weekend in April, 2009. So we need to decide on whether we want to go the weekend before that; April 17, 18, & 19 or the weekend after that, May 1, 2, & 3.  I want to know what everyone thinks by June 30. For those who could not make it, the hotel was nice, the food good, the staff very accommodating, the location great, and the price was right.  Which leads me to the Good News!  We paid for Summit!  Add to that we have eight people pre-register for the 2009 Summit, so we are doing well!REMEMBER: Pre-registration for the 2009 Region 12 Summit, before December 31, 2008: $25.00. The banquet is $20.00 before December 31, 2008. After that it is: Registration is $30.00 and the banquet $25.00.  So get your pre-registration in early. The Romulan Ale contest was a huge success! So much so that we are having another one next year. And we are going to take our winner up to Archon to challenge the Klingons.  More on that in another report,                

So, do we want to get t-shirts made with the new ISS Logo? Or t-shirts with the old Region 12 logo? Or hats? Or what?  What does everyone want to see?  Please let me know.                

 In closing, please let me know how the chapters feel about lowering the minimum number from 10 to 8. I need your answer by June 6, 2008. At the same time, I need to know from each chapter if you are ISS or Federation.  I look forward to hearing from everyone.                                

VAdm. James Herring

Regional Coordinator

Region 12