Compared to when SFC began fifty years ago, a lot has changed. Even since Quadrant 2 made the decision to operate independently of our Q1 counterparts there have been a lot of social changes that we’ve always worked to adapt to and keep ahead of with new ideas and innovations. The biggest change from then and now is undoubtedly the growth of the internet as an accessible medium. Whether good or bad, the internet has brought people from all corners of the world together to share in their passions, ideas and complain about films. For Q2, it’s become a vital part of the fabric of the club where you can log in to the membership portal, play co-0p games with our favourite starships, or look at pictures from Tesla’s latest away mission on bluesky. But when it came to being online in Q2, it all began with the Sovereign…
THE SOVEREIGN
For most of our existence, Quadrant 2 has been focused on a collective of localised groups bringing fans together in social circles and environments. But with SFC being open to all, what happened when there wasn’t a group nearby and there wasn’t a desire to put one together? For the past twenty five years, thats where the USS Sovereign came into play.
Sovereign was our first online-based unit, solidifying it’s presence at the time where the mainstream nature of the internet was just beginning. Far form the connected world we have now, the internet was a more social construct compared to it’s commercial nature with forums, news groups and mailing groups propping up a largely dial up service. It wasn’t until 2000 that ADSL connections began being used in home and the world began to interconnect in new ways.
In the same year home internet switched from dial up to AADSL broadband, Sovereign was created for everyone jumping online to find a connection.For those who couldn’t give their nearest unit a call to arrange a meet up, the internet was providing a space for people to come together. For Q2 and places like it, that means new people far from established areas all looking to make a connection.
They needed a home in Q2 that was just as solid and stable as the Broadsword or Northampton, and thus, the Sovereign was launched; the first group win Quadrant 2 where you didn’t need to be nearby a unit to join in the fun – all you needed to join iun Sovereign was an internet connection. If you joined and we didn’t have a unit near you, Sovereign was there to be the catch-all group to bring your experience collectively online.
Surviving the era of Limewire, Geocities and MySpace, Sovereign remains a strong core of SFC today and the groundwork it laid over the years helped re-shape SFC through a difficult reshuffle in 2016.
REGIONAL COMMAND
Throughout 2015-16, SFC was experiencing some fatigue and, to cut it short, needed a bit of a reboot. As a temporary measure all local units were closed down and Sovereign became a template for our restructure. From Sovereigns experience and success, the USS Churchill was created to split the fleet into two distinct groups while we began to rebuild and restructure the fleets operations with Churchill staking claim to South England & Wales while Sovereign took up, well everywhere else in the European continent!
The term Regional Command Unit sounds overly important. In reality, the only difference between them and an Active Unit is the method of communication. Focusing on wider-spread areas, RCU’s focus their efforts online using social media and online communications to keep each other informed and entertained. Represented by hero-level ships (Sovereign and initially Galaxy Class for the Churchill), both units have welcomed members who’d never otherwise have been able to join the Q2 shenanigans, becoming two very unique elements of the club.
The restructure offered a chance to reflect on what as needed and eventually push back to localised units with care and caution; something thats been largely a success with Tesla becoming a force to be reckoned with in Scotland and more units following including Invictus and Artemis; something that highlights the nature of command units being, not just a fancy name for a unit location being a widespread internet based group, but a launching pad for prospective Captains across the fleet.
NEW FOCUS
The two RCU groups are at present – and likely for a long foreseeable future – the only online groups within Q2 with a very high bar of approval of being a unique or extraordinary circumstance to introduce a third and they’ll always be home to any new member who dont have a more localised group to partake in.
With only two online-units approved, Q2 is looking at the future of localised areas with several enquiries in process to follow in Tesla’s footsteps to reinvigorate the fun and frolics of an active unit and groups like Proxima who have formed to build in an area where Starfleet’s flag is now flying to revive the SFC spirit in locations far from Sovereign or Churchill’s base.
Members interested in launching their own group can find out more in the Officers Hub. A new Development Officer role helping in the formation and growth of new units alongside Admin is also open for application.
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