Alex Bagosy - Q&A

[Admin]

This thread is for Alex Bagosy to answer questions in regard to his candidacy for the Presidency. Alex may also use this area to introduce himself and make any appropriate comments as he so chooses.

[The Valeyard]

Hello, everyone.

I thought I should introduce myself.

My name is Alex Bagosy. I am a costumer/prop builder in my late thirties. I am professionally trained as an Archaeologist and Historian, but I actually do most of my work as a freelance writer and board game designer. I am currently self employed, though I am occasionally on contract with various publishers. In the past, I have been a teacher and college professor (History of various kinds.) My hobbies include miniatures and board gaming, roleplaying, and well... costuming. I am married to one of the other members of the order: Jennifer Bagosy (who goes by Jennifer Renee on Facebook.)

My first exposure to Doctor Who was as a child, watching the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Doctor (and occasional reruns of the others) on PBS with my mother, who was a big Tom Baker fan (I don't know if she still is.) After the show went off the air in the United States I stopped watching, but was reunited with it when I lived in London in 1997, at which time they were showing a variety of re-runs of the various Doctors. I'm not sure why, but I particularly remember the Seventh Doctor reruns. Perhaps they were on a Seventh Doctor kick during my time studying there. BBC does odd things:)

I was reintroduced to Doctor Who by fellow Order members (and founders) Christina Amato and Shawn McGaughey, as well as friend Rachel Williams. I was advised to start with the Ninth Doctor and to watch the new Doctors first before returning to the classic era (even if I had fond memories of the classic era.) As a result, while Tom Baker was my first doctor, I would have to say that Chris Eccleston, being my introduction to the New Series and my favorite of the post 80s Doctors, is definitely "my doctor". Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor), Tom Baker (Four), David Tennant (Ten), and Peter Davison (5) round out my top five... with the top three probably being 9, 6, and 10 in roughly that order.

While I did historical reenacting for some time, and prior to that had done a lot of LARPing, my experience with "non historical" and "non LARP" costuming is relatively recent. I came into the costume hobby not as a Whovian, but as a Star Wars fan. I only discovered that Whovians were costuming after being involved in the costuming scene for almost three years. My first Whovian costume was something of a last minute build. Christina invited Jen and I to go to the 2013 Halloween Party at Disneyland. I was at that point a big fan of Doctor Who again, and I was looking for a new avenue for costuming, as I wasn't terribly happy with the politics of the major Star Wars groups. I purchased a Ninth Doctor coat online, got myself a maroon t-shirt, black pants, combat boots, an appropriate wristwatch, and I was good to go. At the time, the coat was majorly oversized and not yet weathered, I was waffling between weights, and I wasn't exactly looking my best, but I had a lovely time with Jen (who dressed as Rose) and Christina, who dressed as her "Shop Doctor" Eleven. At the time, we talked about how much we enjoyed hanging out but complained about costuming politics in the Star Wars clubs we were all part of. On the drive home, I said to Jen that it would be great if there were a group for Whovian costumers and pop builders along the same lines of the 501st Legion, the Rebel Legion, or the Mandalorian Mercs, but without so much drama, and more emphasis on what those clubs had originally been about: helping each other build and make great costumes, having fun, and perhaps helping charity along the way. She told me she thought that it was a good idea and that I should bring it up again the next time we were all together.

The next month, we were at a con with Ingrid Moon, Jeff Donoho, and a handful of others, and I suggested my idea. They liked it, and we sort of created the Order of Gallifrey (a name suggested by Sam Hornedo... we couldn't agree on a name that sounded catchy enough without being too presumptuous) together then and there, then brought in other friends (Shawn McGaughey, for example) as we started to forum up. We went to our first Galliday in the early part of 2014 at Disneyland, where Jeff debuted his First Doctor, Shawn brought his Harold Saxon, I wore my Fifth Doctor, Christina wore her Eleven, and Jen wore her Rose. We got a lot of attention, and met some new folks. By February or March, our numbers had nearly quadrupled from six friends to more than thirty, and by the end of Wondercon in the Spring, we were looking at 150+ members. Many of them were the first costumed members of the Order. And all because a group of us wanted to do something with hanging out in Whovian costumes.

Since that time, we've met a variety of people around the country, and around the globe. We've also discovered that many of our overseas friends were Whovian fans and costumers, and they have joined us as well. It's been my distinct honor to be part of the process, but most of all, I'm just really happy that Whovians have proven to be such a warm, welcoming group of people. Don't get me wrong: Star Wars costuming is a lot of fun, and has a lot of good people, but there's something unique about Whovians... their openness, their warmness, their love for the subject matter, and their genuine kindness to anyone with the slightest amount of interest. I don't know what it is; maybe it's because The Doctor, regardless of regeneration, is equally tolerant of everyone (and equally intolerant of everyone, at the same time). His personality inspires us all to be better human beings, better stewards, better people.

At any rate, I'm blathering, and it's late. I'm a bit ill, so I am perhaps not being as eloquent as I would like. The point is this: I said I would stand for this position if nominated, and I was (thank you for the nomination, those who named me.) I am happy to stand for this office, and to serve the Order in any capacity it will have me. I also believe, and I say this with all sincerity, that the other two candidates: Jeff Donoho and Cullen Skinner, would make excellent candidates for this position as well, and I believe that as voters we're all sort of spoiled for choice.

I look forward to answering your questions and sharing my own version of plans for things to come.

-Alex

[The Valeyard]

"1. This club started a year ago with less than 20 members on the Facebook group. Now we are well over 200! How would you keep the Order growing while encouraging current members to stay engaged?"

I believe that this is a challenge, but one that can be accomplished.

Part of this is getting more group events together. We have plenty of informal meetups - dinners, hangouts, often in costume: which is wonderful, but it would be an important step toward growing for us to have an "official" presence at more events. That would include various conventions, screenings, charity events, etc. When we are present at such events in force, we tend to get the most interest. There were many, many visitors at our group table at Long Beach Comic Con, and I would think that that would continue on an upward trend. Be present at more events, and more people will be excited about trouping. Be present at more events and more people will learn about our existence. It's a win win. To my knowledge, there are plenty of smaller groups, but we are one of a very few groups of this kind dedicated specifically to the Whovian fanbase. It's something we should take advantage of. When people learn about who we are and what we do, they get pretty excited. "What, you mean you don't have to be personal friends with "Costumer A" in order to get together to do these events? Awesome!"

I'd also like to encourage other activities. Fan films and audio dramas have worked very well for Star Trek and Star Wars groups, and with the talent I've seen in the Order, I see no reason that we can't do that sort of thing ourselves.

Keeping members engaged is partly a factor of individual taste. Some people simply won't participate online but will be very active in person; others will be very active online, whilst appearing only at the occasional event. We can't force anyone to participate, but we can encourage it by keeping them in the loop in regards to our activities (online and offline), and by offering perks for participation. Swag, group rates at events, that kind of thing. This will all come in time as we grow as a group.

Obviously, getting the official blessing of BBC would also be an amazing goal to accomplish, but that, too, is something that will come only after hard work and club building.


"2. We have been working on a provisional charter, which now has provisions for a code of conduct and elected officers. What are the next two things you think the charter will need?"

That's a difficult question, but two things spring to mind immediately. In no particular order...

First, we need Standards. Badly. If we standardize a very simple format that would help folks who'd like to write them and encourage volunteers to take a crack. There are thousands of costumes in the Whovian universe, covering 51 plus years of films, television, graphic novels, audio dramas, etc... far more than any other fanbase that I'm aware of... (even Star Trek pales in comparison). Agreeing to a basic, easy to understand format for standards may seem a minor thing, but I think it would help those who have volunteered to do so but are intimidated by the process.

I believe we are in particular need of more "Femme Doctor" standards. That may seem a bit odd to some of you, but we need to face a reality, gentlemen: the Order is heavily female, and many of those females want to do more than costume the Companions (which are excellent costumes in and of themselves, granted). They want to costume as The Doctor, but they want the freedom to do femme interpretations. I want to get more basic guidelines up for such interpretations so that female costumers feel that they have the absolute freedom to do WHATEVER they like in terms of costuming, and to get it endorsed. Related to that, we need to establish some clear definitions regarding "Denizen" costumes - be they TARDIS Dresses, "Male" interpretations of female characters, etc.


Second, I think we need to begin the process of local leadership and organization. What constitutes a Sector? What constitutes an Outpost? How should they be "governed?" What would someone, say, in San Marino, need to do in order to form an Outpost or Sector? That kind of thing.

If I may, one other thing that comes to mind. It's very simple, but important, I think. This was Jen's idea, but I believe it is something worth looking into. We need to establish a basic amendment to the Officers section that agrees all individuals with access to online polling information will give up such access, with the exception of the Forum Administrator (in the interest of full disclosure, that's currently me) who will agree NOT to deal with polling data unless a critical emergency occurs. This will ensure that the electoral process retains a degree of fairness that will outlast all of the current crop of officers, whoever they may be.

Plenty of other ideas, but those are the ones that spring to the mind at the moment.

[The Valeyard]

"3. Do you serve as an officer in any other costuming club? Please let us know your title/role and the name of the club. Do you feel there is a risk of any conflicts of interest, and if so, how would you deal with those if they arise?"

My only official position at the moment exists in the Rebel Legion, one of the "Big Three" costuming clubs as far as Star Wars goes (the other two are the 501st Legion and the Mandalorian Mercs, though the Dark Empire is rapidly growing to become a fourth). In the Southern California (Sunrider) Base, I am currently serving as Temple Master for the Temple of the Silent Sands. That basically means that I am responsible for coordinating Jedi costuming related activities, helping folks build Jedi costumes and lightsabers, etc. Some months it's very busy. Others not so much. I will be very busy during the month of Celebration, but I do not anticipation that it will interfere with any duties here. If it does, I will temporarily defer to the Chancellor, as required by the Charter.

I have also applied for two national positions within the Rl. Captain of the Guard and Membership Officer. I do not feel that either is likely to happen, but I was encouraged to apply by folks who felt I would be a competent person for the job, and so, I did.... If that changes and something comes of it, I'll let the Order know ASAP.

I have previously been the Assistant Garrison Membership Liason (Costume Approval Officer) for the 501st Legion's Southern California Base. I have also held the position of Executive Officer and Sergeant at Arms (a sort of combined Captain of the Guard/Costuming Officer position) in the Mandalorian Mercs. I resigned the Executive Officer and AGML positions. I was promoted from the SoA position to Executive Officer in the case of the Mercs.