Trek International

Trek International was a Star Trek fan club which was formed in the latter half of 1983 by Tony Wynn and several others, including Elinor Heatherley, Delilah Warren, Catriona MacGregor, Randy Brimer and Carol Smith. Wynn had served as the Chief of Communications of Starfleet, under the pseudonym 'T. Wxyn' and held the rank of Vice Admiral in that organization.
Phyllis Wood provided very capable guidance and support in setting-up an organizational bank account, assistance in processing memberships, as well as coordinating printing and mailing tasks.
From the 1983 publicity flyer:
==Club History==
The motto of the group was "Bringing the Star Trek World Together through Service."
At the formation of the organization in 1983, the club had 12 ships (chapters), several of which had left Starfleet in order to join Trek International. By the end of the first year, that number increased to 29 ships in 16 U.S. states, and three countries (the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom). There were over 500 individual members in Trek International by mid-1985.
After about a year in operation, the club sought to streamline itself by designating all ships as Constitution Class, i.e. identical to Star Trek's USS Enterprise. Several section heads had been initially established, but later abolished due to a general feeling by the membership that they added an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy to the organization. Trek International was run by an "Admiralty Board", consisting of five officers.
In the premiere issue of The Fleet Herald, the Chief of Staff wrote:
A fan wrote a letter to Kindred Spirits mentioning Trek International and how they got into fandom:
Trek International operated for some six years before disbanding; many of the chapters merged into Starfleet. The organization subsequently updated the name of the group to STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc., in recognition of the contributions of Trek International. The Guinness Book of World Records now recognizes Starfleet as the world's largest science fiction fan club.
==Admiralty Board==
Trek International was run by a five member Admiralty Board. These members governed the organization for periods of one year (later amended to two years in a revised constitution). Voting for new board members or to retain current members was done yearly (later biennially) at membership meetings. These gatherings were generally held at various local Star Trek conventions. The Admiralty Board members consisted of the Chief of Staff (also editor of The Fleet Herald), the Personnel Officer (memberships and treasury), the Operations Officer (reports and librarian), Academy Commandant, and a Member-at-Large.
==The Fleet Herald==
Published on a bi-monthly basis, the inaugural issue of The Fleet Herald was distributed to the membership of Trek International in December 1983. Published in a 8.5 x 11 inch format, issues typically ran eight pages in length. It was published under the Reconnaissance Press imprint.
Issues included news from the world of Star Trek, as well as information about the actors and guest stars. By special arrangement, Trek International was able to include the column "Dixie's Clippings", the Star Trek Syndicated News Column by Dixie Owen, in The Fleet Herald. Often, interviews with Star Trek actors were printed, including such personalities Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand), Bibi Besch (Carol Marcus), James Doohan (Scotty), and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Additionally, information and reports concerning the operations of Trek International also appeared in each issue. Other features in the newsletter were letters to the editor, Star Trek convention listings, classified advertisements, and reviews of Star Trek novels.
==References==
Category:Star Trek Fan Clubs
Category:1983 Fan Clubs
Category:1980s Fan Clubs