[Three of Seven]

Strongly Approve - 20%
Approve - 15%
Neutral - 64%
Disapprove - 0.5%
Strongly Disapprove - 0.5%

There of seven

Three of Seven: *Three

KerryMalone: I dunno, maybe this was an attempt at Shakespeare? "There but of seven we boldy rode..."

I am inactive quite now and cannot say Something meaningful here

Three of Seven: Sorry to hear that, hopefully you can find that spark of activity again in the future! We look forward to having you back.

KerryMalone: Even as a lurker, you are entitled to an opinion! I just hope you're able to come back out of lurking in the future!

It feels like the UFP is having a lack of growth under the current Leadership. It can take an incredibly long time to hear back from people at the top when suggesting ideas to improve departments. There seems to also be a lack of drive towards recruitment, growth and innovation alongside a general feeling of lack of engagement with the lower ranks. There are many areas that worked very well when first implemented but now feel outdated or lacking in content.

They also seem to have a lack of care towards growing the UFP as an experience which is especially concerning with the growing disinterest in STO and the increasing rumours about it being shutdown or content slowing down even more than it already has.

I'm also confused why there is no technical department outside of the Head of Tech Services (who I don't see that often) why looking through members listed jobs would indicate there are plenty of people who have the skills this department would benefit from.

Three of Seven: I'm sorry you feel this way, when people have reached out to me personally, I have always replied within a decent amount of time, or if I haven't, I apologise for it. I have had a few personal issues crop up this year that have caused problems, however I hope that you can see that an effort is made at least on my part. If you feel an FEO member hasn't replied to you in a timely manner, you can forward the message onto me, and I will look into the issue.

As for the care, I am always keeping my ear to the ground as to things that might be worth bringing into the UFP, and looking at what others are saying, like the recent interest in the Star Trek Adventures game from our roleplay division, a solid idea from them, and I commend them. UFP didn't start as a STO community, and I don't expect it to end as a STO community, I hope we can continue to thrive through other games.

KerryMalone: I think Three covered off quite a lot of the points mentioned here, but I do have my own views as well.

Growth within the UFP has never been the exclusive prerogative of FEO. They are the facilitators, but the origination has ALWAYS been from our dynamic team within the CL5 and CL4 teams. They are the people who are at the forge day in, day out, keeping events going, generating interest in their area of responsibility and engaging with the membership directly. That is their remit and they have done it incredibly well. It's easy to get complacent when things are going well, but it's when there's hardship and challenge that our team really does step up and above the rest. STO might be a lagging franchise, but you wouldn't notice from the hard work our STO team puts in every single day to drive that interest. Holodeck works tirelessly to bring new ideas and concepts into games. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. FEO are here to see that the big picture is managed and that the community continues to flourish, but we also support and encourage innovation from every level of our community. You don't need a fancy colour to have an idea!

Petrarch: First off, I'll admit that in the course of the last year or so, there are matters that I've missed the cues on, things that I've missed/forgotten about at the time and almost certainly 1 or 2 were I've fallen asleep at the wheel and for that I apologise. I've had various things going on that have required my attention to be directed elsewhere, though I've tried to do what I can where I can at the same time. For what it's worth I agree the UFP needs to grow, but the remit for that doesn't land squarely at FEO's door, that needs everyone to contribute to make a real difference in the ways they can. I'm not going to comment any further than that at the moment for reasons that will soon be made clear.

While FEO has its place within the UFP community, of course, it feels like certain aspects of how it's run have stagnated or been left unchanged for too long. This first point, the stagnation is particularly evident in that many of the top brass members of FEO are incredibly slow to reply to messages, taking weeks or even months to reply to a mail for even a minor matter, despite being active on the forums in other areas. This also extends to a relative lack of engagement with the departments of the UFP, including that which drives the entire community: new membership and recruitment.

Having run communities like the UFP myself (albeit not to this scale), I realise the challenges inherent in it, including attracting new members and the like, though I feel it is still an area to address. I've also noticed that there's only one member of FEO responsible for website maintenance etc (and I don't see him around all too often) even though many of the UFP's members have jobs or experience in web design or other technical services. Is an official Corps of Engineers an idea?

Three of Seven: Please see my above response with regards to response time, as for the running of communities, I can tell you that I have personally run a fair number of well sized communities, some I have passed on, and others I have wound down, from what I can see of the UFP, we are nowhere near the end stage of a community, I say this from experience.

As for the technical services of the UFP, it's a very tough area of the UFP to oversee, and if there is anyone with experience, then feel free to drop me a message, and I'll look into it, however no one has ever shown an interest and as it's such a sensitive area, it's not easy to recruit for.

KerryMalone: Again, Three has covered this quite well, so I won't rehash her words. What I will say however, as the FEO Supervisor of the UFP's recruitment efforts, whilst I might be a recent addition to the team, recruitment has always been handled by Starfleet Academy. They work EVERY DAY to recruit for new members. It is a thankless task and quite frankly, they're damn good at it. We do get new members relatively frequently, I've been back on FEO for barely a month and I've processed a few myself. SFA immediately engage with all new members, the RSOs work with them, and then they are released into the community via the Cadet Handover process. That is a LOT of work that they do, and once they're in the community and handed off, it's on them to become engaged and engaging. We can only do so much in this regard, so it's very unfair to level this criticism solely at FEO.

I do not believe that FEO follows the same rules as it asks the rest of the departments to follow. FEO recently had a number of positions that were not allowed to be applied for. They were simply given to the friends or former associates of the Fleet Admiral or other FEO members. Each position of UFP should be treated the same. When the people who are supposed to provide us with the best example do not follow the rules that were created for us all, this is an indication of favoritism. FEO has a responsibility to allow for proper process and structure... not simply to shoe in whomever it wants in the highest of positions. Although I personally favor the people selected their appointments were not given through the same process as the rest of UFP and that is the real issue that must be addressed. If not then confidence in overall and overall leadership and FEO oversight will be lost.

Three of Seven: FEO doesn't work the same way as divisions/departments, the positions don't go up for application, this is due to the nature of FEO. Historically, even the top level had no say from the community in it, while under my leadership, we have elections for the top of FEO, which is voted on by CL5 and CL6 members.

I am also insulted by the accusation that FEO members are given to friends or former associates, this is an offensive suggestion. I have always looked for people who have worked in a CL5 role, and served the community with distinction, I can say that many FEO members that were appointed didn't start out as my friends, I won't name them, that would be rude, however after working with them, a friendship grows.

If you personally feel someone deserves to be looked at for FEO, you are welcome to PM me, and I will consider them for the future, this goes for everyone. I do however strongly reject that any form of nepotism is involved, if other FEO members, past or present, want to speak about my relationship to them prior to them joining FEO, that is up to them.

KerryMalone: As one of these so-called favourites, I'm feeling somewhat aggrieved that you don't believe I belong here on the merits, but rather because our Fleet Admiral thinks I'm a good friend. I can speak from personal experience that Three does not appoint anyone to anything based purely on nepotism. She always thinks about who is the best fit for the role and whether she likes them or not has absolutely nothing to do with it. Also, in a view of transparency, the Fleet Admiral recommends a choice to the rest of FEO and it is a group vote on whether they are admitted or not. So even if the choice was the Fleet Admiral's best buddy, if FEO didn't agree, it wouldn't happen.

But, I hear you cry, surely that's cronyism! No, it's as fair as it can possibly be. Every CL4 and CL5 position within the UFP is normally put up as a job vacancy and anyone can apply for it assuming they meet the minimum requirements. CL6 and FEO Deputies however, cannot be applied for, and this has been the way for years. Why? The sheer level of trust involved in the position. The amount of access these positions have could cause considerable damage if placed in the wrong hands. We know from the past what a CL5 was able to do with their access, and that's nothing compared to what a CL6 can access.

For the record, in regards to my returning to FEO after Saelanna stepped down, I was the most senior Global Moderator within FAB at the time of her departure. I was also experienced with how FAB worked and with how Community Administration on the whole worked. Since Community Administration is a very important position that literally keeps everything going, it was a position that required experience to handle.

Petrarch: A quick history of how I ended up here: I worked my way up through the ranks via SFA, I did my bit, it caught people's attention and culminated in my becoming the CO, ultimately succeeding KerryMalone in FEO. In all the time I've been CL6 and even before, the one thing I thought people would know about me is that I don't play favourites nor do I appreciate someone attempting to curry favour. Someone's not getting a free pass from me because I happen to like them, neither are they getting condemned just because I dislike them.

Being in FEO may have you in a position to do a lot of good for folks, but at the same time you've got to be ready to make the crappy call and take the heat that goes with it. Just as the CL5 posts carry a lot of responsibility and have their vetting process, the CL6 slots are another level again as all the doors are open for those which is one of the reasons why they're not handed out like smarties and only appear rarely. There have been plenty of disagreements and headbutting over the years in the various incarnations of FEO, but it's not a group of "mates rates" or "scratch my back, I'll scratch yours".

As mentioned above, there has to be a majority decision taken for something to happen, no one person, not even Three, holds all the cards.

Sammygm: Ever since Jordan, Jonathan resgined, FEO right now is the most diverse it has ever been. The only person I consider a really good friend is Three. This is not to say the other's aren't my friends, but she's the only one I talk to on a daily basis, and have seen her IRL plenty of times now.

And lets be honest. FEO is a very trusted position, we won't just elevate someone we do not know. They would have access to many sensitive areas of this community that.

Random Comment of Strong approval

Three of Seven: Thank you.

KerryMalone: Random response of gratitude

Both FEO and FAB are doing a terrific job running all this and taking care of things. Thank you so much for your hard work!

Three of Seven: Probably more down to FAB keeping things clean, if it needs to reach FEO level, then things have gotten out of hand!

KerryMalone: Thank you for your nice comment! FAB work very hard in the background to keep everything going and it's nice to see that being acknowledged.

Neutral

Three of Seven: Hopefully we can improve on that opion in the future!

KerryMalone: Beige.

There is no drama or additional nonsense therefore, I am fine with how things are.

Three of Seven: There hasn't been any drama in a long time thankfully, and I hope this long continues.

KerryMalone: Here here!

what a cool bunch of legends

Three of Seven: League of Legends

KerryMalone: Legend...wait for it... dery!

corrupted self-serving

Three of Seven: Please PM me to elaborate on this comment, as you can see above, there are people with concerns who have put effort into their feedback, and give us something to think about, this kind of comment doesn't do anything but maybe make you feel better. I can say we are not corrupt, or self-serving, nothing about FEO is either of those things. I won't judge you if you PM me your honest thoughts, I'm an adult, I can take it.

KerryMalone: Seems a bit harsh if you ask me. If you have concerns, please reach out to Three, or if you don't feel able to approach her, you're welcome to message me instead. Every voice is valid, and we want to hear them, especially if there's something you're unhappy about.

Petrarch: We're adults and can take criticism, it comes with the territory, but this is hardly constructive and instead just comes across as a cheap potshot, especially when stacked against the other feedback that's thought out and addressed to us. By all means if you genuinely feel this, the doors to FEO are always open and you're free to speak with a member at your discretion.

Sammygm: Great feedback, we'll take this into consideration.

WEBSITE

Strongly Approve - 23%
Approve - 14%
Neutral - 62%
Disapprove - 1%
Strongly Disapprove - 0%

none.

Three of Seven: Okay

Website is easy to navigate with good sign posts. Only a few areas that could probably do with switching that are evidently based on decisions from a number of years ago which could be changed to improve the ease of finding areas that are being actively used. I haven't seen the review section used in a while yet it takes up a whole section at the top of the banner for example.

While the website is good and looks pretty, I feel there could be a few improvements made that were, it seems to me, the result of old decisions and such - areas that are no longer relevant, that sort of thing. It continues to be an excellent website, however, and I enjoy using it very much.

Three of Seven: We are looking into areas that need to be mothballed in the new year, if you spot anything you want to see added or removed, let me know, my inbox is open!

It can be confusing to navigate and find just what you're looking for.

Three of Seven: Sorry, please let me know what would help you.

Everyone is doing a great job.

Three of Seven: You're too kind!

There are at least 1 department that need to be deleted. No one has posted in them for years. Why do we keep them if no one is using them? Starfleet Tactical needs to be removed.

Three of Seven: Starfleet Tactical exists as a discussion area for retro games at the moment, it's not a division anymore, perhaps we can look into making that more obvious.

Sammygm: Don't really see a point to get it removed. It's there for classic Star Trek game. It's not a proper Division like STO or Holodeck, yes, but it's still suitable for a discussion forum about classic or miscellaneous Star Trek Games.

Random Comment of Strong approval

My computer HDD died, taking all my logins and passwords with it. The PW reset process was painless, thank you.

Three of Seven: Sorry to hear about your drive, I know that feeling, as my M.2 died earlier this year! Glad to have you back, and that the reset worked without issue, if you ever do need to reach out, you can contact our support email for help to recover an account.

[RavenSplat]

Glad to see the Survey responses returning. Thank you to all 4 FEO members who responded to the questions and comments here and for making as many of these points an oppurtunity to explain how UFP works or to explain what FEO has been doing in these areas that have been raised. I appreciate the numerous comments asking people to reach out in certain situations, having it reiterated that FEO is open and ready to listen does make me happy to see.


My survey on the retruning survery responses is: 'Geninue comment of strong approval'

[Cadmanius]

Hello! Brand new here..have no idea what any of the above means, but I'm willing to learn...avid old school old guy Star Trek fan...

[Stormy]

I want to speak on the negative comments for just a moment and I will begin by saying none of them are mine.

First, I will speak from personal experience. I have always had the impression that Trey (my nickname for Three and this could have something to do with it ) does not particularly care for me. It could very well be something I have said over the years, or something else. Not sure. To me, it does not seem that will change.

I made that statement to say this. It's a big community. We do not all have to be best friends (and the chance of that happening is zero because everyone is unique and sometimes we just do not mesh) in order to get along and work together for the common good, and for the most part I believe that is what happens. There have been complaints about responses from FEO when contacted. On at least two occasions I have contacted Trey with an idea or an issue and both times have received a quick response. If what I said is true about Trey's feelings toward me are true, this says a lot about FEO's commitment to the fleet. In fact, every time I have contacted anyone from FEO, I received a response. No, it was not always the one I wanted but we do not always get what we want in life. Get over it. Move on. I did.

I will also say that I do not feel I will ever be asked to join FEO. Is this because Trey does not like me? Well, maybe a little <g> but the primary reason is that I have not done what I need to do in order to reach that pinnacle. Twice in the past I have been promoted to prominent positions within certain divisions and due to personal issues was forced to vacate those positions. I truly regret having to do so but I do understand that it is now up to me to prove that I can be trusted to see it through if I am to regain those positions... and I truly hope that I will be able to. I believe it is totally up to me.

To the members of FEO, here is my challenge. Let us say, for the sake of argument, the criticisms lodged above are not true. (I say this because if there was some slim chance that they are, my post would be totally pointless because you would not care. ) Going on the assumption that the criticisms are not true, I challenge you to ask yourself what is causing these feelings of aloofness and separation from the membership and what you can do to change that perception. Were this just one complaint, it could probably be credited as a disgruntled member, but there are multiple complaints here. Since I do not know (nor do I care to) where these comments came from, I must assume they are from multiple people and therefore hold some legitimacy as to how these people feel, whether true or not. And, if this perception does exist from those who spoke out, how many more feel this way but have remained silent? For this reason, I do believe there is reason to take the comments seriously and strive to eliminate the reasons for them.

To those who lodged the criticisms, I challenge you to do what you can to build this great fleet up rather than tear it down. If you have issues with FEO or any of the divisions, reach out to them and share your concerns. Changes cannot happen if those responsibile are not aware of them. Let us work together to make the UFP the best it can be, and we can only do that if we put aside personal feelings and work together for the common good.

Stormy out.

[Three of Seven]

Big post

Firstly, I'll say I hold no ill will towards you, never have, sorry if I have sometimes come across as standoffish! I do find the nickname a little weird, but it's not offensive, so I don't mind.

As for your chances personally, or anyone else's chances for FEO, it's hard to predict the future. I never thought I'd be running this place, yet here I am. But who gets nominated to join FEO is upto the fleet leader, followed by a majority vote (50% + 1). I personally feel that I try to be fairer in my choices, than previous leaders, if I'm falling short of that, I can only apologise and promise to do better.

Finally, I want to say that I have no objection to constructive feedback, if it's something we can clarify, or work towards, then that's what we'll do!

Thank you!

[RavenSplat]

Hello! Brand new here..have no idea what any of the above means, but I'm willing to learn...avid old school old guy Star Trek fan...

Cadmanius, Every quarter at the beggining of the season (March, June, September, December) the UFP does a Roll Call and Survey. In the survey each member is given an oppurtunity to give feeback (Strongly Approve, Approve, Neutral, Disapprove, Strongly Disapprove) to the departmentas well as a comment box. The messages above here are the responses from the Federation Executive Office to messages sent to their department. Each member of FEO is given a chance to respond but it is not neccesary which is why number of responses vary from message to message.

Unfortuantly the survey responses haven't been published in a while (Last one was Dec 202) for a reason I am anot aware of but presumably due to adminstraive work required. The survey's function as an oppurtunity for members to tell departments what they think in an anonymous way so they can either explain why certain decisions have been made or to see how they may change to make things better for members.


I also want to add to what Stormy has said as I'm here already. Having this feedback is very useful (and I look forward to seeing what people have to say about the two departments I volunteer in). I feel that quarterly feedback is quite useful due to implementation times and set up times. I first started talking with the ARES team about a Star Trek Adventures game for UFP back in early November and contacting members I had noticed interested over the years on different topics in late November and early December. I have only just put a session in on the 29th December and for us to know how it will go will take at least 3 or 4 more sessions leaving us with a just under 3 month timeline before I believe I will get any good feedback on my attempt at Star Trek Adventures for the UFP.

I'm glad FEO is taking this feeback seriously and I am sure all the other departments will once they recive thiers. We will all strive together to make this website the very best it can be and it shows with how well it always works. Constructive feedback is useful (which I personally feel most of the above comments are, that final one leaves alot to be desired) and we should all take on board what FEO has said. Especially those who put these comments down but I feel there are some useful things in here for everyone to take not of, I know I certainly found parts of this very good to know and understand.

[Stormy]

Firstly, I'll say I hold no ill will towards you, never have, sorry if I have sometimes come across as standoffish! I do find the nickname a little weird, but it's not offensive, so I don't mind.

The word "Trey" is simply another word for three... just like "Tripp" was another name for Charles "Tripp" Tucker III (or triple) in Enterprise. FYI- Tripp is my all-time favorite Star Trek character, so for me to give you a nickname that links you to him... it is definitely not intended as negative. Just the opposite.

[Cadmanius]

Cadmanius, Every quarter at the beggining of the season (March, June, September, December) the UFP does a Roll Call and Survey. In the survey each member is given an oppurtunity to give feeback (Strongly Approve, Approve, Neutral, Disapprove, Strongly Disapprove) to the departmentas well as a comment box. The messages above here are the responses from the Federation Executive Office to messages sent to their department. Each member of FEO is given a chance to respond but it is not neccesary which is why number of responses vary from message to message.

Unfortuantly the survey responses haven't been published in a while (Last one was Dec 202) for a reason I am anot aware of but presumably due to adminstraive work required. The survey's function as an oppurtunity for members to tell departments what they think in an anonymous way so they can either explain why certain decisions have been made or to see how they may change to make things better for members.


I also want to add to what Stormy has said as I'm here already. Having this feedback is very useful (and I look forward to seeing what people have to say about the two departments I volunteer in). I feel that quarterly feedback is quite useful due to implementation times and set up times. I first started talking with the ARES team about a Star Trek Adventures game for UFP back in early November and contacting members I had noticed interested over the years on different topics in late November and early December. I have only just put a session in on the 29th December and for us to know how it will go will take at least 3 or 4 more sessions leaving us with a just under 3 month timeline before I believe I will get any good feedback on my attempt at Star Trek Adventures for the UFP.

I'm glad FEO is taking this feeback seriously and I am sure all the other departments will once they recive thiers. We will all strive together to make this website the very best it can be and it shows with how well it always works. Constructive feedback is useful (which I personally feel most of the above comments are, that final one leaves alot to be desired) and we should all take on board what FEO has said. Especially those who put these comments down but I feel there are some useful things in here for everyone to take not of, I know I certainly found parts of this very good to know and understand.

Many thanks! And very interesting! Merry xmas!

[Three of Seven]

The word "Trey" is simply another word for three... just like "Tripp" was another name for Charles "Tripp" Tucker III (or triple) in Enterprise. FYI- Tripp is my all-time favorite Star Trek character, so for me to give you a nickname that links you to him... it is definitely not intended as negative. Just the opposite.

Fair enough, although I think my personality more matches that of Lt. Reed from Enterprise, mostly because I am very British.

[Stormy]

Fair enough, although I think my personality more matches that of Lt. Reed from Enterprise, mostly because I am very British.

You definitely do NOT have a US Southern accent!