Manticoran
News Bureau
“Can’t Stop The Signal“
The Cup
entering Arizona, with the Grand Canyon in the background.
The
Unexpected Journey of the Admiral’s Cup
by Chief Petty Officer
Wendy Cheairs, HMS Anasazi
In 8th Fleet there is a now annual
competition for the Admiral’s Cup, last year we of the HMS Anasazi won the Cup.
With the honor and respect due to the Cup, we now take it on “Adventures.” One
of the unwritten rules of the “Adventures” is to take photos to post on the
Facebook feed for the Cup. One
of the recent “Adventures” took the Cup from its life in Albuquerque, New
Mexico to Phoenix, Arizona for the annual Phoenix Comicon.
Two of the HMS Anasazi members, Chief Petty Officer Wendy Cheairs
and Spacer 3/C Dee Spirock, took the Cup to introduce
it in and around the con itself. This gave them the chance to meet, greet, and
introduce many, many people to the organization since the cup itself is quite a
conversation starter. During the time of the con, the 8th fleet along with many
other people followed the Cup’s Adventures via Facebook.
Spacer
3/C Dee Spirock, The Cup, and Chief Petty Officer
Wendy Cheairs visiting a Galaxy far, far away…
During the long weekend, the Cup was
passed between a wide variety of comic book artists and writers to pose with
and learn about the fan organization. Since the Cup is not the smallest object,
it always makes a quick conversation starter, allowing the two from the HMS
Anasazi to introduce themselves, the organization of the TRMN along with the
Charity work and other works done in the challenges offered in the 2014
Admirals Cup to win.
The Cup with Artists Jae Lee, Marat Mychaels,
& Brian Augustyn
The Cup passed through different fan
groups, showing that the RMN could mingle with a variety of people from
different groups. They were able to meet
and greet with the Arizona chapters of the Dune Sea Garrison 501st Legion, the
Dark Empire, and R2-D2 Builder’s Club for the Star Wars groups to name a few.
Some
unusual Star Wars Fandom, Hot Pink Wookie, HMS Anasazi’s Chief Petty Officer
Wendy Cheairs, The Cup, Freddie Mercury inspired Han
Solo, and a Hot Pink Jedi
Other fan groups such as the Arizona
branch of the Umbrella Corporation and Department of Zombie Defense set up a
Zombie Walk in which the Cup did enjoy but it had much more fun meeting some of
the local Zombies locked in an elevator later in the evening. It also enjoyed learning how to shoot some
aggressive Zombies.
They were lucky that each of the
different groups welcomed them from the Albuquerque branch of the RMN with open
arms along with our mischievous cup. Even the local pair of SCA groups, from
the Kingdom of Umbria and the Kingdom of Atenveldt
greeted them warmly.
Some of the princesses were from the
Princess Project or the Moon Mermaid. Both groups of course were very pleasant
and cheerful, even if getting the Cup returned from the mermaids was a bit of a
challenge. They do like their shiny objects.
Throughout the weekend, the Cup
brought the RMN into a new spotlight of interest, allowing the HMS Anasazi pair
to discuss the fandom to people at the Comicon that
normally might not have asked or known anything about the RMN group. Neither member were in any cosplay but, they were able to inform and
garner interest within the David Weber world all from a simple conversation
starter of a Cup. The Cup, even through meals outside
of the con area, brought up the fandom and was able to travel through a bar at
the local Hard Rock Café.
The Cup made its way up into the bar thanks to a great
server and bartender at the Hard Rock after explaining the Cup, the award we
won and the RMN.
After the long weekend the pair meet
people from all walks of life, the Cup was passed along to basically anyone and
everyone that wanted to see it, and the RMN was talked about to anyone who
asked about it. It was a fun weekend for the two from the HMS Anasazi and the
Cup, which if the Cup had its way it would have continued its “Adventures” into
Vegas but was outvoted. There were some parts of the trip that were deemed to
be left out due to the volatile nature of the Cup since some things that happen
at Comicons stay at Comicons.
Article
Copyright © 2015, Bureau of Communications, The Royal Manticoran Navy: The
Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc.
CAPT (JG) Marcus Johnston, OC, CGM, Director of Publications, BuComm. All pictures used with permission or used in a way
that qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.