MEMOIRS OF A STAR WALKER
Everyone remembers the first time they saw Star Wars, and as to be expected, I am no exception, In 1977 I was just 10 when Star Wars first came to the big screen. As to be expected, I was a little too young to realise what science fiction was, but all the kids at school were raving about this movie and that prompted me to see it for myself, if only to know what all the excitement was about. It took a bit of convincing, but my mother eventually took me to a late afternoon screening of Star Wars. In those days there were no ads and no shorts, they had been removed to squeeze in as many daily sessions as possible to cater for the demand. I do not remember the day nor the date, but I remember sitting in the totally filled Hoyts Cinema Centre no. 1 cinema in the extreme back row, with the brick wall behind me. The lights went out, the curtains opened and then it began.
I recall very little about the particular screening that day, but I do know that it touched a very deep chord in this ten year old boy, nothing else in my life since has ever made such a large impact on my being. I was a devoted fan of Star Wars from the very next morning, and even though my life has seen a lot of fads come and go, I have remained a Star Wars fan right up to the present day. However somewhere along that path my life took an unexpected turn. From being just another young Star Wars fan in a world-wide sea of millions, I had the privilege to become a part of Star Walking Inc. from its earliest conception in June 1987 right up to where we are today.
Why me? Believe me I have absolutely no idea. If the phrase "in the right place at the right time" can be considered, then that must be it. Despite being high up in the ranks of the club now, back then I was learning every step of the way. I had always been on the receiving end of science fiction conventions, banquets and the like, but now I was part of the team organising them. I now had a voice in how they should be run, and despite being very green and inexperienced, it all came together over time to when people began to ask me for advice on how to do things. However one thing that always remained in my conscience was how little I personally was able to improve the physical appearance of the club. Unlike other committee members, I am neither a graphic artist, an accomplished accountant, an excellent writer of English, a successful organiser of conventions, nor a visionary for backdrops and decorations. In fact I had no real talents at all to speak of that could be utilised for Star Walking. So out of everyone, I always felt that my presence would have been missed the least if ever I departed.
To a large degree I still feel that now, however over time I discovered abilities about myself that have earned me some credibility. In 1988 I organised the music for a large banquet called the Midwinter Palace Masked Ball, it was an intently nerve racking experience, but the end result was that I have been asked by both Star Walking and other organisations to compile the music for their various events. I find it hard, time consuming work, where attention to detail and planning is crucial, but in the end if people say I did a good job (and I feel that I have), I know then that it will have been worth it. I once had the use of two video recorders for a day, so I decided to make a compilation video clip of sci-fi movie scenes complete with music added on top. This taste of creativity gave me the opportunity to compile a tribute video clip to the tune of "Playing to Win" by the Little River Band for The Empire Strikes Back 10th Anniversary Banquet held in 1990. Being my second ever clip, my heart was in my mouth when I saw it projected on the big screen in front of 140 people for the first time. The success of this work allowed me to do a clip for the Raiders of the Lost Ark 10th Anniversary Banquet for the following year, and the creation of the my Return of the Jedi tribute for the Jedi 10th Anniversary celebration in 1993. This was then capitulated by my grandest, and most difficult to produce, work ever. The Star Wars tribute video clip to the song "One" by U2. This "masterpiece" was also shown at The Return of the Jedi 10th Anniversary Celebration in 1993 and again at the opening ceremony of Force 1 which resulted in the winning of the Obie award for best audio/visual production which was presented to myself at the end of the convention.
Feeling that I had some kind of technical knowledge, often the job of organising the techy aspects of Star Walking events was given to me. Despite the fact that on occasions I made things up as I went along and really had no idea what I was doing, I eventually found these jobs becoming easier to achieve, to the point where I now don’t have to think about which end of the plug goes into the socket (most of the time).
Then somewhere along the way I became the auctioneer at two of the three Star Walking conventions. Using an auctioning method that was once described in a written letter as "evil", I now find myself to be the chosen person to perform this duty, even though I have never actually volunteered to do it. I don’t consider myself to be exceptionally good at auctioneering, but apparently other people do.
So after a period of a few years, I started to make a place for myself within the organisation as someone who now had something to contribute; perhaps now if I were to depart, I would be missed after all.
After having built up a small portfolio of achievements and feeling that I now had a purpose within the club, I was entrusted with the running of the most ambitious phase of Star Walking’s evolution by becoming Director of Skyforce. Suddenly I now had the job of booking venues, planning meetings (both committee and social), troubleshooting and problem solving, programming, and being the man behind the mike to introduce the world to Star Walking Inc. This was an incredibly big responsibility for someone who preferred other people to make all the hard decisions about things and usually just went with the flow. Within no time, my position within Star Walking ballooned, to the point where I can now sit back and say, gee haven’t I come a long way.
I think the reason for my good fortune within Star Walking is my desire to ensure everything goes right the first time. If the music is not done correctly the programme goes awry and people become unhappy; if I don’t plug the mike in properly, nobody can be heard speaking and people become unhappy; if I don’t try hard enough to auction that item, no money is made and people become unhappy; if that meeting doesn’t run like clockwork, Star Walking gets a bad name and people become extremely unhappy. So in each case, how people see me is how they see my achievements, and if I perform poorly it reflects badly on myself, and the club, and I cannot afford for that to happen. Star Walking Inc. is made up of achievers who have the desire to improve the quality of excellence with each turn of the wheel, and as I have learnt, if you wish to be a player, you must also do the same.
So what has it taken to be this fortunate? Luck? who knows, but it has been very rewarding to see the club grow so much over the years. It doesn’t take a lot to think back to when The Newsletter was stilled being typed on A4 sheets of paper, social meetings were years away from inception and a trip to Skywalker Ranch was beyond comprehension. It has taken a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice, but the end result is that people eventually look up to you as an achiever, and therefore someone who knows what they’re on about. I am by no means an expert in Star Wars, nor an expert in running Star Wars conventions, banquets or social clubs, but if I can look back on how far I’ve come and say, "yeah I think I’ve done an all right job," then I guess I will have done my bit for Star Wars fandom, putting my little stamp of individuality on all the things I have touched.