Q&A: Audra Lynne Atkins-Reeves, Candidate for Commander

[Admin]

This thread is for Audra Atkins-Reeves, candidate for the position of Commander. Audra, feel free to post an introduction to yourself and your goals as a potential officer.

[heartofthetardis]

Hi,

Just a quick blurb about me for those whom I have not had the chance to meet yet. My name is Audra and I'm not ashamed to say I'm a new Whovian. I came in with the 9th Doctor. Doctor Who was something I heard about my whole life because most people couldn't believe I wasn't already a fan since I was pretty much born into nerd-dom. I was just in that unfortunate space of Doctor Who pretty much being off the air by the time I was old enough to chose my own television and it was relegated to reruns on PBS if you were lucky enough to catch it. Naturally after hearing about it when it relaunched I said I have to get on board this crazy train! I'm so glad I did. It was love at first whoop whooop. I've been working my way through the older who (I'm loving the 80's!) and it reminds me of watching old ST:TOS reruns with my dad.

I tend to be a bit of an open book. It can be both a good thing and a bad thing but I will pretty much answer any question put to me. I pride myself first and foremost on honesty. If you ask me an opinion or advice know I'm going to give it to you straight. I feel that it's a sign of respect for others and for myself. So ask away and know you won't get a "political" answer. My goal is always to be the best I can be and feedback I give is always with that goal in mind for you.

As far as being a part of The Order of Gallifrey, I came on board right after the first Galliday at Disneyland. That was also my first foray into the wide world of cosplay. I knew Galliday was something I couldn't pass up and I wanted to go in style so I created my exploding Tardis dress. After the day passed people were sharing photos on the Galliday event page and someone posted that they had started a small local costuming group. Since I had so much fun both designing and creating my Tardis dress I knew it was a hobby I wanted to pursue and Doctor Who provides such a great diverse base of costuming options. I joined the order that day and though small they were mighty and wonderful and welcoming. I felt very at home which was important because I knew from friends who cosplay how the cosplay community can be wonderful and discouraging at the same time. Since then I have added an Elizabeth the 10th cosplay, created a newly regenerated 10th Doctor PJ cosplay for my husband, and a Sibylline Oracle cosplay that I debuted at Gallifrey One.

Since joining I've watched The Order grow and helped recruit members. I think one thing that would be very important to me as Commander would be keeping that "small group" welcoming feel for those who are new to the hobby and may feel overwhelmed as I once did. Even though we're growing by leaps and bounds and I want to keep that momentum going I think it's very important for each person that comes into the group to feel special and feel at home. I never want people to feel off put by us even if our sector has 5,000 members. (Wouldn't that be awesome!) Other groups can come off intimidating either because of their reputation or size and I never want us to come across that way.

I was raised to believe that any position in any organization is a position of service not a position of prestige. This was a very important lesson instilled in me by my father from a very young age. I realize there will be a lot of work involved in this position as we grow and I wouldn't have accepted the nomination (for which I am greatly humbled) if I didn't feel I could devote the time and effort to it.

Obviously I want to see our membership continue to grow as it has. Whenever I see someone at a con in a Doctor Who costume either myself or my husband runs up and slips them an Order card. I've had many great conversations with people at cons who are so passionate about Doctor Who and cosplay and I always try to make sure that my passion for our group comes through. I want them to see I genuinely believe that we're creating something great for fans of all levels and to have them experience that same joy I felt in joining The Order.

I would like to see our official presence grow at cons in and around the sector and I would like to see our presence become as interactive as possible. This is something we've started to do and we've done it well so far with things like the Peanuts Tardis which was a big hit at LBCC. We have our first panel coming up at Wondercon and I would like to see Order panels become a staple at as many conventions as possible. The Doctor Whoniverse (sorry I love that word) lends itself to so many great and wonderful discussions and we have such great diversity in The Order itself that I think we can be a force for good and thought provoking discussions on the Con scene as well as a premiere resource of Doctor Who costuming and cosplay.

Speaking off the cuff tends to come naturally for me so I find it easy to speak to people who come to the booth or who may approach me. I felt bad at LBCC because I felt like I was talking a little bit too much to people who came to our booth, however, I do feel that my ability to speak extemporaneously in a relaxed and natural manner makes it easy for me to be a voice representing our local sector membership.

After going to the fan club mixer at Gallifrey One I realized that we really are a unique resource. There are a lot of social clubs for Doctor Who fans and while many of the individual members cosplay some don't. I would like to see us friendlier with these groups so that their members and the groups can see us as not a competing social group, even though we are social and fun, but we are a different kind of home for Whovians in that we are here to help you be the best cosplayer you can be whether or not you're at the level of Carboard Dalek or you're creating that amazingly realistic Cyber suit.

I know it's a large goal but one that has come up in several conversations, I would love to see an Order sponsored event that we could grow into a yearly event for Whovians in the area. While that's not something that would happen overnight clearly I think it's something that would be greatly received and is needed in our area. That is something I would like to explore and at least set framework in motion for the not so distant future even if it doesn't take place during my term of service.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I hope this gives you some insight into myself as a person and how I feel about the Order and our goals as a group moving ahead into this years con season. If there is anything you'd like to ask or if I didn't explain something as well as I thought I did because I'm writing this at quarter to 2am please don't hesitate to post and I will try to respond in as timely a manner as possible.

Cheers!

Oh I also love cats

[heartofthetardis]

1. What types of new events would you like to see us involved in locally? How would you work toward making those happen?

While we currently have members participating in some fashion and/or attending cons within the Bad Wolf sector so far we've only had one charity event which was the raffle that took place at LBCC in 2014. There was really great response to from the attendee's and we did really well for a small local convention. I would like to see us participating in charitable or community events in and around the sector. My first step would be talking to my friends who are already doing cosplay charity/community events and ask them how they got started as this isn't an area I have a lot of experience in. I would probably also talk to people within the volunteer work I'm doing already and see if there would be any interest in our group going to their events. I would think some kind of form at our table during events or on our website for interested people to fill out would help facilitate this as well.


2. How would you grow our local membership while keeping the group fun and laid-back for all?

This is actually something I feel very strongly about because I was once that unsure cosplayer. One idea would be having periodic welcome events for new members. Something casual to help welcome those who are new to the group and introduce them to the current sectors officers and perhaps other long time members who are very active within the group. Nothing that would be overwhelming or cost much money. As far as growing our membership as I mentioned I'd like to make more formalized contact with the leaders of various Doctor Who social clubs. I think I mentioned that after going to the mixer I saw how unique what we're doing is. It would be easy for them to see us as a competing group when really we are a different animal entirely. I think there is a lot of potential for growth there as long as people understand we're not stealing people from their groups. Obviously we'd still be continuing our recruitment at cons and other nerdy/geeky events around the sector. I think encouraging members, who feel comfortable, to carry a few of the Order business cards in their wallet is a good idea. I found a fellow Whovian at Joann's Fabric so we really are everywhere and Doctor Who and cosplay can come up at unexpected times.



3. It has been suggested that Southern California could benefit from another Whovian convention at some point during the year. Do you agree? Is this something you'd be willing to work to make happen?

I think I touched on this in my initial statement. I do think we could benefit from another Doctor Who Convention/Event in Southern California as access to the current one is difficult and there have been a lot of comments about things that can be done better that have been rejected by that organization. Obviously having a large event or convention takes time but I would definitely like to at least start laying the groundwork for such an event to happen even if the initial event was small. I'm definitely willing to not only help drum up interest and get people excited among our group but also the other social groups whose members no doubt would like another event to attend. Also I know there will be discussions with vendors and pricing. I would love to see an event committee formed to help tackle the task once it's past the initial stages. This is a project I'm actually very excited about and as I had mentioned I would love to at least lay the groundwork even if the event didn't take place during my term of service as commander.


I'd just like to include as a closing statement to this post to say I don't think I have all of the answers. In moving forward on any plan I would want there to be discussion and feedback. These are my ideas on how to get from point A to point B but I will always be open for feedback on figuring how what is the best way to complete that journey. As our membership grows I can definitely see committees being formed for the completion of larger goals and projects as well. This also lets people get involved in areas they feel most interested in or passionate about.