New XO and What's Next?

Posted on Wed Jul 1st, 2009 @ 12:14am by Captain Daniel Butterworth

Hi guys,

I apologise in advance for the long read below, but it was necessary to cover everything that needs to be said.

It has been quite a while since I have last sent through a message to this list and that is something that I must apologise profusely for. Thanks to a busy/draining work schedule and some truly positive developments in my personal life, I just haven’t had the time to devote to the Pacifica that I usually would. This has caused me over the last couple of weeks to take a step back and take stock over a lot of things. One of those things was of course the Pacifica and whether or not it was practical and realistic for me to continue pushing on with running the ship. It turns out though that I really didn’t have a whole lot to consider as I quickly realised that I was far from ready to hang up my boots. The Pacifica has provided me with a lot of fantastic memories over the years and I have also been fortunate enough to have formed a number of close friendships over the years. There is still a lot left to accomplish here on the Pacifica, including many stories yet to be told and I intend to be here to see them all fully develop. For all this to happen though there needs to be some serious changes made around here and some of them may not to be easy to accomplish. But these will need to achieved if we ever hope to return the Pacifica to it’s former hay day.

There have been a number of factors that have lead to where the Pacifica is sitting at the moment. The most important of which is the gaping hole at the top of the CoC with the Executive Officers Position. Since the departure of L’Verrem I have had a hard time finding a suitable replacement First Officer. I had hoped that Matt Horne would serve as a good replacement, but that did not work out due to Horne moving on soon after taking up the position. Following Horne’s departure we have been without a first officer, which left just myself and Connie (who is also struggling time wise) to carry the fort. With both Connie and me struggling time wise, it was imperative that the next First Officer not only had the skills necessary for the position but also the time to fully commit to the position, especially when Connie and I are snowed under. It is fair to say that it wasn’t the easiest of searches but after a bit of work and… some slight arm tugging I have been able to secure the best person for the job.

So without further ado it gives me great pleasure to announce that as of today the Pacifica’s new First Officer is none other then our very own Lieutenant (soon to be Lieutenant Commander) Francine Hart. I don’t really need to tell you all about what Francine brings to the table as you have all simmed with her over the years but needless to say she has been one of the ship’s finest simmers since joining the Pacifica back in 2002. I have a large amount of confidence that Francine is up for the job as she brings not only a strong simming background to the position but also a good understanding on how the Pacifica is ran. So confident am I in Francine’s ability to the job that this is not the first time that I approached her about becoming our first officer, as I have done so before in the past. She had declined my offers previously as she has not been in the best position to take up the mantle of XO for various reasons, but the time is now finally right for her to step up the plate. I would like you all to join with me in congratulating Fran on a much deserved promotion. So Congrats Fran!

With Fran as XO we can expect a more hands on approach from our First Officer which is one of the reasons behind why I chose her from the job. So you can all expect things to be operate a little bit differently then they have in the past, as Fran will be heavily involved in the simming and the administration side of the Pacifica. You can all expect to here from Francine over the next couple of hours as I know that she is keen to address everyone. I will have more news on Francine’s move up the chain of command over the next day or so, but for now I would like to turn my focus to.

As it has been a while since there has been some activity around here, I am going to take the opportunity to perform a comprehensive cleanout of the ships roster. This will be a process that it is not going to rushed as we want to make sure that we get everything right. Before we clean out the roster both Francine and myself will be emailing everyone who is currently listed on the manifest as a active crewmember. We are hoping to touch base with everyone to say hello and more importantly to find out whether or not your still with us. You can all expect to hear from us by the end of the week. Now if you haven’t heard from us by the end of the week we ask that you take a couple of minutes to email us and let us know, as it is possible for whatever reason that we may accidentally miss you. Please feel free to bring up any questions or concerns that you have with us at that time, as we want to hear what you guys have to say. So please keep your eyes open for those emails.

I would finally like to wrap up for now by making a quick note about posting. I will more to post on this issue tomorrow, but for the time being posting is not a major priority. We want to fully use this time to take stock of everything before we push forward so there is no need for anyone to worry about posting at the moment. You guys are of course still welcome to post if you feel like it, just note that the Pacifica won’t be getting underway for the Isis Arm for at least the next week or two. Once again I will more information regarding this tomorrow.

For now though I would like to wrap things up by thanking you all for your continued patience and I look forward to talking to each and everyone of you over the next couple of days.

Thank you and take care.

Daniel.
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Commodore Daniel Butterworth
Commanding Officer
USS Pacifica NCC-72545
"Join the Adventure Today!"
http://www.usspacifica.com
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Task Force 72
Bravo Fleet
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"The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules. It is a philosophy and a very correct one. History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilisation, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."
Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

“If the cause is just and honourable, they are prepared to give their lives. Are you prepared to die today?”
Captain Jean-Luc Picard

 

Category: Simm Announcement