Das Kollektiv

In this chapter, I will discuss the social clubs only. I will not discuss clubs in which people subscribe to a membership package that they receive regularly, and where the members never meet. It is purely a subscription, and in my opinion, falls under merchandising.
I will also not go into Star Trek actors’ fan clubs. However, it should be mentioned that all the major and a surprising number of minor Star Trek actors have a fan club dedicated to them. The members are interested in all the actors’ work, but very often this interest arose seeing the actor in Star Trek, and therefore, the clubs have a very high proportion of Star Trek fans as members.

When you look at the fan clubs, they fall into several categories: they are based on different races from Star Trek. Starfleet-based clubs are the most common. Next are Klingon-based ones, for those who enjoy dressing up in fancy costumes and doing a lot of stomping around and shouting.
Other clubs include Romulan ones, and very rarely, Cardassian and Dominion. An interesting one is the “Maquis”, named after an anti-Federation and anti-Cardassian rebel group that appears most prominently in Voyager. This club, too, rebels against the Federation clubs, saying they are too bureaucratic.

What most clubs of any size have in common is a structure and hierarchy. In almost every case, the hierarchy is copied from that of the race on which the club is based. I came across very few clubs that weren’t based on a Star Trek race. A club usually has the name of a ship, for example USS Bounty NCC 75960, and is run as such. The president is called Captain or Admiral in Federation clubs, and in clubs based on alien races the equivalent in the fleet of that race. (Curiously, all militarily inclined Star Trek races use the same command structure.) Newcomers to the club start with the rank of crewman, cadet or something similar, and by accumulating points (which you earn by participating in various club events, or by achieving something notable in the club), he or she is promoted to the next rank. People don’t take this too seriously; a joke I often heard was “My rank, uniform and two dollars will get me a cup of Starbucks coffee.”
Small clubs consist of one such ship, also called a chapter, while larger ones are made up of many, which are overseen by the flagship (the oldest chapter) or, in the case of most clubs I came across, a command structure.

Thanks to some very friendly members of one of the oldest and largest fan clubs, Starfleet International (short: SFI), I was allowed a glimpse into the workings of this organization. From my experience, it is a good representative of larger Trek fan clubs, and I will go into it in a bit more detail. There are SFI chapters all over America and Canada, as well as in Belgium and Australia - roughly 230 chapters, with more forming all the time. These ships range in size considerably, from 50+ members to 10; a ship below 10 members is “decommissioned” within a few months. Membership numbers fluctuate between 3000 and 7000 members world-wide, depending on the success of Star Trek at the time.
I was very surprised to discover the complicated bureaucratic structure that this club has developed. Countries in which SFI has chapters are divided into regions, and all ships in this region are overseen by a regional co-ordinator, to whom they have to give reports on their activities.
At the top of the hierarchy is Starfleet Headquarters, which consists of the chiefs of the various departments of SFI. There is the command department (President, Treasurer, etc.), the Vice-Command dept. (oversees charities), Starfleet Operations (oversees the chapters, new chapters, etc), Communications (Internet page, club newsletter ”Communiqué”, fan publications), Starfleet Academy, Computer Operations (keeps track of memberships), and Shuttle Operations (oversees shuttles, which are mini-chapters below 10 people).
Decisions are made by the Admiralty Board and Executive Committee. At the top of the hierarchy is the Fleet Admiral, as he/ she is called in Starfleet International - other clubs have different names, although the function is the same: the club president. He/ she is aided by the vice president called the vice-commander. And finally, the rules and laws of the club are recorded in the Starfleet Constitution, which is worked out by Executive Committee and Admiralty Board.
Yearly elections are held for the position of Fleet Admiral (Club President).

In essence, Starfleet International is no different from all large clubs. Yet I found it surprising that such an involved organisation has sprung up around a television series. SFI has really taken on a life of its own; even if Star Trek came to an end, this club wouldn’t. Reading through the “Communiqué”, a newspaper-format update on the goings-on in the upper levels of the club, what I noticed immediately is the fact that in the whole 40 page newspaper, Star Trek doesn't feature much, and there are no updates on the latest news about the series. The major part of the paper is composed of reports from the Department chiefs. It is no longer the series that’s important, but rather the club as a social organisation. It originated with the fans’ enthusiasm for the series, and that’s what attracts new members, but it is really a social club of people with similar interests. Clubs bring people of all ages together. The people whom I talked to ranged between 18 and 70 years; however, the majority were between 30 and 50.
Most notably, the “Maquis” Trek fan club has complained about the infighting in large Trek fan clubs, and certainly Starfleet International is no exception. At the time of the writing of this project, there was a scandal over one member accusing others of wanting to destroy the club. However, in SFI at least, this infighting is reduced to the upper echelons, and the members in the individual chapters don’t notice much. They seem to be very independent and free to do what they want.
And what fans in every club world-wide want to do is enjoy themselves and often to help others. Most American clubs do charity work, which I will discuss later on.

The chapters typically meet once a month to discuss official business - a rundown on the latest activities of the chapter and (in the case of bigger clubs) the parent organization. Charity and social events are planned, upcoming conventions are announced. Additionally, the clubs meet socially, in SFI often several times a month. They arrange all kinds of activities - throw parties, go to movies and conventions, do sports, march in parades, sew, hold games evenings, produce fan magazines, and so on. Role playing games have become popular in the last few years, and some clubs specialise in it. Recently, several SFI chapters in Mississippi visited the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, the namesake of the fictional Star Trek starship. One club even built a copy of the Enterprise’s bridge for fun! German-speaking clubs typically hold so-called “Trekdinners” where members from all chapters get together and have a meal, often combined with other activities such as games.

People in Klingon clubs tend to be more in the male 20-30 year old range. Some like the opportunity to play tough warrior, while others like the ideals of honour and loyalty that the race stands for. They like to drink a lot and see themselves as the tough bunch of fandom, although one Klingon member said they’re often not. They can be seen in full costume at many conventions, and in America they often provide security forces at the events.
Carol Bockelman says they tend to be “artistic, creative, whimsical and prone to play even as an adult...This is not the type of person you find at the top of the economical ladder or having their nose glued to the grindstone of work.” I do not have many replies from people in these groups, but what I have does support the theory that they are very creative.

Recently, there has been a decline in clubs memberships, for which the Internet can be blamed to a certain extent, as I have mentioned before. Some say there are the same number of people in fewer clubs, others say there are fewer fans in general. While this doesn’t present a large problem for big clubs, smaller clubs are having difficulties keeping up memberships.
Tricia Rohal runs a Romulan club, and says that in the last few years, she has seen several Romulan-based clubs having to close down as a result of too few members. To keep hers going, she has to advertise extensively. Clubs also have had to become more creative, and offer more to ensure that they attract enough members to make it worthwhile.
This doesn’t seem to be restricted to America, either. At the USS Batai Trekdinner some fans from another club told me that many of their members aren’t motivated to come to the meetings anymore.

Whatever the club people are in, they are there to have fun. Many fans I interviewed stressed that this is what it’s all about.
They are not above getting together to play, be it dressing up in uniform for a convention, or holding a water fight!
“Neila 8” says “May I never lose my ability to enjoy playing childish games, even if it is dressing up and acting like an alien!”
And Bud Cullum thinks, “Some [non-fans] envy us that we are outgoing enough to do the fun things we do.” An advertising pamphlet for the club USS Rogue Phoenix reads: “Come join us on our trek as we strive to keep life from becoming monotonous and boring. Why be like everyone else when you can wear costumes while doing community service, having dinner or appearing in parades?”
Trek clubs are sometimes especially invited to events because they are always bright and interesting!

What people treasure as well is the possibility of meeting others with similar interests, be it Trek in general, or something more specific, such as role-playing games. People with the same interests get on well, and as a result, Trek fans often form firm friendships among themselves and do a lot together, be it with the club or privately. It seems not so much a club as a community, even a way of life. Sherry Anne Newell says: “We do not consider Starfleet a club. It is a world-wide organisation of concerned, caring people.”