In March of 2009 Cosplay Gallifrey was born, David Tennant was still the doctor, but was also almost on his way out and an unknown named Matt Smith was soon to take the reigns.
At the end of all-con 2010 there were 7 people in Doctor Who Costume and those seven members made up the original base of Cosplay Gallifrey.
For a short period of time, we rose from 7 members to 48, and initially those early members were invited in with the understanding that rules would be implemented, but that for the most part members were required to have a costume.
Initial members also began posting Doctor Who Updates, links and news, and from this our group began to grow.
In some ways, getting new members was part curse and part blessing--early individuals had an opportunity to become members, but they could also invite new members--the problem there, was that certain people began to use the group as a hookup site, or that people joined and sat on the site, pretending they were unaware it was a cosplay group.
These numbers were very very large and even though I wan't the president, myself and others were complacent in turning our heads to some of those members. The later cleanup of what we labeled "fans" was slightly messy, due to two factors.
Some members forgot why the group was started, and others felt that it was unfair to remove them, even though they were inactive--kindness was used constantly, but for lack of a better term, members of this group failed to do many things--like checking the board, like answering questions, or working on a doctor who cosplay.
One such discussion is still on the board for you to read, its clear the member didn't have a costume, nor were they willing to build a costume, nor be a real part of the group--when asked if the person would be willing to make a costume the person gave vague anwers, laced with attitude--and to be honest, the time of complacency is over.
Other groups out on the internet, cosplay groups, require the same things we require, one event, one costume.
This seems to most of the officers and myself as utterly fair. Though I will be honest, people left the group when I tried to instill these rules. I thought long and hard about whether I should turn my head again, but then after a while, i put my foot down hard.
We lost people, and I'm going to explain why, it has something to do with Ambition.
For those of you who don't know me, i was raised by a father and mother who were both teachers. I myelf am a professor of English at a community college in Dallas. On a daily basis, I encounter students with little or no ambition or initatiative.
I can only define it as this because there are no other words to describe it.
This lack of ambition or "strive" or "initiative" worms its way into their behavior.
It affects their work, which to be completely honest, is sloppy, thrown together last minute, and their study habits are non-existent, their ambition to read--let's be honest, they don't read. I look at the spines of their 50 dollar books and there are no ridges, because the books have never been opened.
All of this to me is part of a larger apathy that infects a lot of people.
This apathy is rampant, and when I look at these kind of people, I dislike them more and more.
If this seems like a personal rant, i apologize. This apathy infected our group and from time to time, it rears its ugly head.
It told members not to try, or it makes them not try in many many ways.
And let me be as kind as possible about one thing, if you are in our group, for the trickle of information that comes through it about Doctor Who Fandom--and thats all you're in it for, and have no intention of being a part of our future, except to sit on your butt--please, with all the respect and kindness I can muster--LEAVE!
Now, before this becomes a gloom and doom essay, lets point to what we do do.
As a group, Cosplay Gallifray has become a leader among other Cosplay organizations here in Dallas.
We DO A LOT of cool stuff, and people know it--there's also a lot of professional jealousy that comes from that. Here are some examples of what we've done. We frequent all-con every year.
All-con is our anniversary date and we do a photo-shoot at All-con every year since our inception.
From Day one, the officers and I tried to find a niche for any cosplayer who was on the fence about what they wanted to be, and any cosplayer who wanted to be 10 or 11 was never hindered in anyway based on their looks, body weight, height, age or race--ever.
From Day one, we debated about projects that we could do that would push the limit of our group, and decided we would try all manner of things.
Most of these things, all require costuming or at least attendance, but at no point before recently were the words, "We can't do that..." or "why would we do that?" or "This is beyond us." or my absolute favorite, "We're just a cosplay group..." ever uttered.
The last statement is as far as i can gather the one said most recently.
The last statement, for me, draws on that disgusting spirit of apathy that essentially says, "Meh," or "why Bother," or "What's the point?" of "YOU CAN"T DO IT." To me this statement also says, "Your group is a joke and weak." and this was uttered by an officer.
And having tried to talk to this ex-officer, about how this statement isn't "Harmless" or "a joke." or even "No big deal"--I hit a wall.
The officer in question wanted to remain an officer, but couldn't be asked to rethink his/her statement. The officer in question also didn't want to do anything for the group, other than take credit for every thing the group did. The officer adamantly refused to admit that the group had any potential, or as far as I'm concerned "basic value" or worth--any worth.
So after extensive argumentation this officer was removed as an officer. As you might imagine this upset him, but after arguing for days and weeks, it came down to the basic idea that an officer either leads by example or they shouldn't be an officer.
Now to the statement. "We're just a cosplay group.." is a damaging statement, especially if it came out of the mouth of a president.
Saying that kind of thing, is the first step to believing it. Believing it leads straight to apathy. How can I expect a person with such passive language to go beyond the pale, or push the limits of what this group can do?
The answer is the person can't. A person acts as they usually believe. A leader who utters something akin to "the masses believe what I tell them," or "what's the bother of trying..." will do nothing. That level of complacency will always infect, degrade and destroy, the bright and shining beacon that is ingenuity and initiative. Someone must stand at the lighthouse, and someone must be vigilant to a future that needs ideas, and desire, lest the flame of ingenuity be snuffed.
There's no excuse for this and I as president want people with initiative and ideas.
As the new president of this group with new goals, and new rules for a new future, I will ever utter this--for we are more than "just a cosplay group," and we've proven it for 4 years.
After invading Scarborough Faire, they instituted Time Traveler's Day--thanks to Cosplay Gallifrey. YES thanks to us. We have built Tardises, we've shown up to conventions and brought new members into the fold. We've written fan films, and are in the process of filming them, We've made contacts with KERA, and might be helping them on television, and we may be filming our first Adaptation of a radio drama. As far as i'm concerned we've just scratched the surface of our possibilities.
As of 2010 my end game was to bring a Doctor Who Convention to texas and be a major part of it, and WE DID that. We were a major part of that. Now we're onto our new season, and we need go getters, and people with ambition. We need ideas and ambition and drive and those who seek to find and do not yield. Help us keep the group alive--help us keep it in striving and pushing beyond the limits of what some apathetic individuals believe it to be and only be.
