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 Issue #79
Winter 2010/2011
 		Mindscanner
Thought Admiral

Krikor Ho, ho, ho, and welcome to another holiday edition of the Mindscanner, eh!

This time, we decided to do another 'themed' issue, and the theme for this one is RECRUITING!  KAG, like any organization, must keep bringing in new members to do what we do (which is to be the best Klingon fan club out there).  So the next few pages will be full of ways for your local group to go out and get those important new members.  Go on and read the rest of the issue, and then come back here.  I'll wait.

Done?  Alright, what I want to talk about is what to do AFTER you've recruited someone.  The two most important encounters you will have with a new recruit are the first and the second.  The first is where you impress him so much with your awesomeness that he signs up to join KAG.  But the second encounter is just as important.  Once you have his name on the roster, is he promptly forgotten about, or is he quickly introduced to what makes KAG so much fun for the rest of us?

KAG Standard New recruits need to be assimilated into our activities as soon as possible, while they are still feeling the rush of joining.  Getting them onto the listserves is a start, but what KAG is all about is in-person costumed events.  Make sure the new member is invited to all local events, and encouraged to participate.  They may need help putting together a uniform; it's probably a good idea to have a couple of 'loaners' on hand to get them over this initial stage, so they can look as good as the rest of us while they are working on a uniform of their own.

There are all kinds of aspects to KAG, and Klingon fandom in general, that we take for granted but will be totally unfamiliar to a brand new member.  The trick is to quickly introduce the fun parts, but ease up on the stuf that they may need to know about eventually but might scare them off if loaded on them too soon.  Joining a House, for example, should probably wait until they have a better idea of who they want to align with.  And if you have a heated rivalry with some other local fan club (as sometimes happens), best not to go on and on to the new guy about how much "we hate those guys"; it will just make him think "All those Klingons are alike; forget it."

KAG group shot Convergence 2010 Because KAG has no dues, the new member has no incentive to insist on getting their money's worth.  So unless we make them part of our family, they may quickly forget the form they filled out and go back to their boring lives.  We have to make sure that their lives stay interesting.

Speaking of which, I've got some holidays to enjoy!  See you in the new year!

- Krikor
for KAG
 
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