We are delighted to announce that the 2010 Global Organiser is Christine Mooney from Portland OR USA, Can’t Stop the Serenity’s founding city. Christine will be responsible for coordinating next year’s fundraising effort, and will be commencing her role on 4 January 2010.

Says Christine:

I’m Christine Mooney (aka cbglacier) and I’m a Browncoat. Whenever I fill out an ‘about me’, I list myself as ‘Mama, RN, Browncoat, Scaper, genre fan’. I am immensely proud of what those labels say about me and what they are coming to mean. Not only are genre fans followers and collectors but also we have become organizers and givers, using our collective passion for causes to come together and do good deeds. Those causes range from Can’t Stop the Serenity, Kids Need To Read, providing copies of the Farscape DVDs to libraries and troops overseas, to Buffy blood drives, and the many other projects that Browncoat groups get involved with in their communities. I have seen my genre groups come together to help each other out through fire, flood, and the loss of loved ones. The opportunity to be the 2010 Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Organizer is a challenge, but I’m excited for the adventure to create another wonderful year for CSTS and to benefit Equality Now.

I have been a member of PDX Browncoats since 2005 and a volunteer at Portland’s CSTS events every year. Due to finishing my Bachelors of Science: Nursing (with a part time job and kids) I’ve only now been able to move further into the organizing side of our group. I was involved with the Browncoat Ball organizing committee this year and it was our Work Group that suggested I apply for the 2010 Can’t Stop the Serenity Global Organiser position. I accept their faith in my abilities and the faith of the 2009 Local Organisers who have voted for me, and I consider it an honor to have been selected as Global Organizer for 2010.

I have a number of goals for 2010:

• I’d like to work on more and earlier PR and advertising. We’re all volunteers and no working budget so there’s a lot of room for brainstorming new ideas. I noticed increased promotion in 2009; a lot more podcast interviews with Global, Broadwave emails and Twitter. We need to spread the word earlier and across more genres, more podcasts and social networking; ‘fans’ unite for good works.
• The 2010 Global Art Design contest is beginning in January, so local groups going to conventions & events can begin to promote early and often with a shiny 2010/5th anniversary design. By releasing the winning design online, allows local organisers the opportunity to save money on t-shirt and poster printing, shipping, and taxes abroad.
• We need to continue to cultivate the outstanding sponsorships of our past genre partners and we should also continue to develop relationships with other brands that are known in the Browncoat community. This could include musicians, artists, writers, and merchants who create and sell Firefly and Serenity merchandise, as well as merchandise from other Joss Whedon productions.
• I would like to see Global look for more cross advertising/sponsorship from conventions; Emerald City Comic Con, Wonder Con, Creation Entertainment, Dragon*Con, and NYC Comic Con. These conventions represent places where concentrated groups of fans gather to revel in their enjoyment of Science Fiction, not least of which is Firefly and Serenity. By working with the cons, we will have the opportunity to communicate directly with these fans thereby raising the awareness of what we are doing and the work Equality Now is doing.

To achieve this and more, I need to build a team. The 2010 Global Team. This team will ensure that local organisers are supported, and that the 2010 fundraising efforts build on the successes of past years. The 2010 Global Team will consist of a Communication/Logistics team and a Financial team. The Communication/Logistics team will include Communication officer (Team Leader under Global Organiser), PR officer, Registration officer, Mentorship officer, and Web guru. The Financial team will include Financial officer (Team leader under Global Organiser), Asst. Financial officer, Merchandise officer, and Sponsorship officer. Please think about joining me and being part of making 2010 a success!

We welcome Christine and look forward to another outstanding of Can’t Stop the Serenity events.

The Global Steering Committee also welcomes new members. This committee is responsible for guiding our events from year to year, and ensuring that our goals stay true. The Global Steering Committee consists of Anne Barringer (Past Global Organiser, from Memphis, TN USA), Jen Cummings (Asia Pacific Representative, from Melbourne, Australia), Marg Grady (North America Representative, from Phoenix, AZ USA) and Amanda Sullivan (from Equality Now). The position of Europe Representative has not yet been filled.