Day 01 - Welcome

For the fifth year in a row, the Twelve Trek Days of Christmas sets out bravely to celebrate the year we are just leaving behind and to give you a taste of what you can expect in the coming year.

Why do I do it? My son asked me this very question earlier today and I easily came up with a number of reasons.

In some years it has become my major work for the year it's led me to work on some pretty ambitious projects, work that I'm proud of and think of as my main achievements: The audiobook episodes of Dispatches From The Romulan War and the Trekzine issues of Hailing Frequencies Open rate high but the pdf publishing that we started in 2007 has proven to be a niche that was waiting to be filled. Over the past year it has blossomed into TrekUnited Publishing and we have only touched on the surface of what can be done! Next year promises to lead us further into some pretty exciting territory.

Every year I get to network with the wider world of Star Trek fandom and it is a privilege and pleasure! From the big names who have given their time to us freely, all the way through to the newcomers: the guy with his first fan fiction or who has an idea for a new game, the woman who wants to share their fan art or music video. It is my privilege to bring their work to the attention of their fellow fans, the casual browser and, since these become an archive of their work on the internet, posterity.

But perhaps most of all it is my personal statement about my faith in my fellow men. With all due respect to the Christian roots of Christmas as a religious celbration, it is the Christmas message of "Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all men" that is of primary interest to me at this time. Just those two aspects are reason enough to cherish this tradition, plus the fact that this is understood and respected by every caring, moral person on the globe whether they be Christian, Humanist, Buddhist or Moslem. The globalisation of Christmas could be the closest that humanity comes to standing as one brotherhood of mankind and Star Trek is my chosen way of expressing this.

To all those who celebrate Christmas, and to those who do not, I would like to share with you my wish for your continuing health, happiness and prosperity. We have more things to tie us together than we have things that keep us apart, whether it is a shared love of Star Trek or the higher, humanitarian ideals of IDIC.

Over the next twelve days let me share with you the things that amused and amazed me in Star Trek fandom.

The Twelve Karioke Days of Christmas