Star Trek Welcommittee
| Name: | Star Trek Welcommittee | |
| Date(s): | 1972-1997 | |
| Moderator: | First: Jeanne Haueisen, Second: Helen Young, Third: Shirley Maiewski | |
| Founder: | Jacqueline Lichtenberg | |
| Type: | ||
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS | |
| URL: | ||
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | ||
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Founded in 1972, the Star Trek Welcommittee was Star Trek fandom's main information center for connecting with each other and assisting newcomers in finding fellow fans, local fan clubs, fanzines, and conventions.
While fan-run and non-profit, the organization straddled a fine line in its relationship to The Powers That Be. It was dependent on maintaining a good relationship with Gene Roddenberry and Paramount. In return for promoting the show with fans, it was rewarded with information, much of which was passed along in its newsletter, A Piece of the Action.
Origins
Jacqueline Lichtenberg writes: "Well, then when I had a contract for Star Trek Lives -- I knew what kind of mail it would generate and I was already over my head in mail. So I asked GR about founding the Welcommittee to answer the STL mail and he said sure, go ahead so I did. At the next ST con, I dragged a couple friends together, and one of them introduced me to Shirley Maiewski. She constructed the Welcommittee as you knew it -- under my direction but mostly it's her work." [1]
Boldly Writing explains how the organization began: "The Star Trek Welcommittee started out as an idea of Jacqueline Lichtenberg's. Jacqueline, a long-time sf fan, had become acquainted with science fiction fandom through the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) Welcommittee. The N3F Welcommittee helped new science fiction fans ("neos") find their way around, and answered their questions. After the first International Star Trek Convention in 1972, Jacqueline concluded that a lot of Star Trek fans would benefit from a group similar to the N3F Welcommittee. She began asking around for volunteers. Jeanne Haueisen, the Star Trek Welcommittee's first chairman, agreed to run STW." [2] Subsequent chairpersons were: Helen Young and Shirley Maiewski.
Some Historical Context
- "Fans didn't have the Internet back in the 1970s. If you wanted to know where to find fanzines, conventions, or even just a list of Star Trek books, you could have a hard time finding it. So the Star Trek Welcommittee came into existence. James Blish provided their address in some of his Star Trek books; you could also find their address in some SF magazines. Volunteers took on the job of gathering information, answering questions, and producing their directory."[1]
Some Descriptions of Duties in 1974
The chairperson, Helen Young, wrote a long and detailed explanation of STW duties and functions in A Piece of the Action #11.
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The Star Trek Lives! Error
"There is a new book on the market, Star Trek Lives!... This book contains several errors which may have grave consequences for STW. It lists the STW Directory of Star Trek Organizations at fifty cents and gives the address as [omitted here]. THIS IS INCORRECT. The correct charge is seventy-five cents and the correct address [omitted here]. The book also requests a self-addressed envelope. No mention of a STAMP! These errors are costing STW a thirty-five cent loss per fan letter plus the extra costs of re-routing the directory orders to the proper address for filling, and then again sending the letters on to the Central Mail Room to have any questions answered. At the rate questions are now coming in because of Bantam's incorrect information, STW is losing approximately $25 per DAY! Losses such as this cannot be absorbed and could conceivably cause Star Trek fandom's finest organization to fold. PLEASE tell all of your Star Trek friends about the correct information and give them the correct information and charges. And DO remind them about the stamp! And pleas write, and get your friends to write to Bantam Books and get them to change the information or to enclose a STW flyer in each book." [This error in the book was soon corrected]. [1]
Neutrality and the STW
At times, STW's neutrality policy came under scrutiny. "... It is very difficult for anyone connected with STW to disassociate themselves from the organization while trying to express a personal opinion. No one knows how difficult this can be more than I. I find it almost impossible to express and opinion in public without someone saying, 'Oh, so THAT is the STW's stand on this subject.' This has happened more times than I'd like to remember. It has also happened to others actively involved with the STW work. NOT SO! Members of STW ARE entitled to their own opinions! Others should not feel that an STW opinion is being expressed when I or someone else tries to express one in a Fannish debate. We do ask our members not to use STW stationary when writing personal opinion letters , but sometimes they forget. They are human, after all!" [2]
In 1984 and 1985, Some Reflection
By the mid-1980s, fandom had become big enough, and had changed enough, that the STW wasn't the only place fans got their information, something that the chairperson of the committee recognized: "We in STW realize that most people involved in Fandom, many no longer depend as much on STW as do the new fans -- neo just finding out that 'There is someone else out there who likes Star Trek, too!' These are the people STW is really meant to help the most, and we do. We have received many thank you letters from them, saying they would not have known where to get started without STW's help." [3]
In 1984, a fan, Randall Landers, proposed a zine called "Dead or Alive? -- A Report on the Star Trek Welcommittee." He described it as a "publication which will try to analyze the current status of the STW. The question is: is STW still alive, or is it really dead?" [4]
Winding Down and Then Disbanding
An issue of A Piece of the Action announced that STW, due to a drop-off in mail, would reduce the size of its organization by not replacing volunteer workers who left. [5]
The Welcommittee was disbanded in December 1997 following the passing of the mailroom director, Mary Louise Dodge. Information had became more easily available on the Internet, and fans no longer depended on the STW the way they used to.
Helen Young, a former Chairman of the Star Trek Welcommittee, died in 2000, as did Shirley Maiewski in 2004.
Online Listing For The Welcommittee
- "STAR TREK WELCOMMITTEE DIRECTORY NOW AVAILABLE
- "The Spring 1995 issue of the Star Trek Welcommittee's Directory of Star Trek Organizations is now available. This directory lists over 600 Star Trek clubs worldwide, over 300 Star Trek fanzines, and just about every Star Trek book ever published. To order, send $4 (USA), $5 (Canada), or $6 (elsewhere) to: Judy Segal.... (Make checks in U.S. funds payable to "Star Trek Welcommittee.") If you wish your club or fanzine listed in the Fall 1995 directory, send information to ....Listings are free of charge.)"
- "The Star Trek Welcommittee (founded 1972) is a service organization and central information center (not a club to join) with over 50 volunteers worldwide, which answers questions about Star Trek (original, TNG, DS9, VOY). STW offers booklets on how to start a club, how to run a small convention, and how to obtain publicity, as well as a guide to Star Trek fandom. For information, send an SASE..."[2]
Publications
Starting in 1973, the Welcommittee also produced its own newsletter: A Piece of the Action (APOTA). It also published the long-running Directory of Star Trek Organizations.
The STW also published a number of booklets.
- The Fan's Little Golden Guide to Thowing Your Own Con
- How to Start a Club
- Communication the Hard Way
- The Neofan's Guide to Fandom
- Protocols
- So You Want Publicity
References
- ↑ from The Halkan Council #9 (August 1975)
- ↑ from the chairperson of STW in Datazine #37
- ↑ from Shirley Maiewski in Datazine #37
- ↑ from Universal Translator #22
- ↑ from APOTA (January 1979)
