General Questions
Who are you? What are you about?
Founded in 1993, T.H.E.M. exists to promote social interaction among fans of science fiction and fantasy. While we're all fans of the genre, we're more about the people and the socialization than we are about the science fiction. We go out to dinner as a group after meetings, gather at members' homes to watch anime, descend upon movie theaters for showings of interest, play games, and sometimes even go bowling. We are currently celebrating the 15th year of THEM at ASU.
What does T.H.E.M. stand for?
You aren't cleared for that information. But feel free to guess wildly.
Where can I find more T.H.E.M. Information?
- THEM Online – The Official web site for the T.H.E.M. Organization. Here is listed the club activities, meeting times, and other general information.
- Live Journal - T.H.E.M. LiveJournal Community. Used for outside meeting contacts and planning. Your best place to find details about upcoming events and contact the club.
- THEM Anime – Arguably the largest and most comprehensive English-language anime review site in the world. Ran by Carlos and Christi of the Anime Reviews Cartel.
- Facebook - Find us on Facebook in the ASU Network.
How do I join?
The initiation ceremony begins in the evening, when the aspiring member performs Ritual Karaoke. After spending a night fasting and meditating on the Sense of Wonder, they are then examined by the High Court of... oh, all right: show up to two meetings and enjoy yourself, and you're one of T.H.E.M.
Running T.H.E.M.
The Fearless Leader (a.k.a. the Charismatic Figurehead) runs the meetings, but real power rests in the Ruling Junta:
- Faithful Lackey – Also known as the Man Behind the Curtain (regardless of actual gender. This will be fixed). This person is In Charge. This year's sucker: Miroku (a.k.a. Jeremy).
- Crazed Scribbler – keeps the minutes and checks the mail. This year's martyr: Sarah.
- Money-Grubbing Slime – embezzles club funds and keeps the club documents. This year's target: Leah.
The Meetings
Though the meetings may seem totally disorganized and loud, there is a method to our madness. The meetings are led by The Fearless Leader and follow the basic agenda of:
- Ascent to Lesser Chaos (Call to order)
- Officer Reports
- Grubbings
The person in the corner is the Money-Grubbing Slime. T.H.E.M. does not have formal dues; we collect money by throwing it (underhand, of course) at the Slime. Extra points if you get it down an article of clothing.
- Cartel Reports
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Cartels are the sort of thing other organizations would call committees. Cartels deal with helping in club operations while SIGs deal mostly with events and event planning.
- Anime Reviews – T.H.E.M.'s Anime SIG runs themanime.org. If you're a fan and can write reasonably well, Carlos will be ecstatic to have you contribute a review or three or twenty. If you're interested in involving yourself, talk to Carlos after the meeting, or email him at carlos.ross@gmail.com.
- Constitution – We are currently in the process of rewriting our club's constitution and to start off the upcoming THEM: ASU and THEM: Phoenix chapters. It is an eye-bleeding and painful process that rarely gets anywhere. Bureaucracy at its worst. Dave is in charge of it.
- Entropy – Entropy is our 'zine. Published whenever our revered editor manages to browbeat folks into producing enough material for an issue, it includes fiction, commentary, art, and the occasional recipe. None were published last year. Interested in submitting something or helping with production? Talk to Mari after the meeting.
- Historian - This is the guy who happens to have the nicest camera and likes holding the Box of Antiquity. Currently this is done by Carlos.
- Library – T.H.E.M. has a library of science fiction and fantasy books we lend out to members. The list can be found on the web site, or you can talk to Brian. The library is (almost) always run by the current Slime or, as now, by whomever has the available space.
- LiveJournal – Most of the members of the group have LiveJournals. We not only keep up on each other’s lives there, we also plan gatherings and events. If you want one (or just want to know what one is), or have questions about joining the t_h_e_m LJ community, talk to Brian.
- Web – Maintains the themonline.org web site. Interested in helping? Email webmaster@themonline.org or talk to Andy.
- Welcome Wagon – These folks are charged with making sure that newbies feel welcome and comfortable and understand what’s going on. Carlos is in charge.
- SIG Reports
- Activities - This is just one person who is in charge of doing all the leg work when it comes to running and planning T.H.E.M. activities and events. This is Jennifer's this year.
- Anime Nights - The Anime Nights SIG hosts regular anime showings at people's houses. Talk to Duckie for details.
- Creative Writing - Like to write, or just want to try writing with others? Talk to Mari.
- Gaming – Surprisingly enough, some of the members of the group like to game. Whether it's PC, console, tabletop, or board, Gumby is the one to talk to about finding others who share your interest.
- Live Action Nights – Not all movies and TV shows are animated, and some of those are pretty darn good. Therefore, just as we gather for anime, we gather for this stuff, too. Ask Dave for details.
- Movies for Newbies - There are only so many movie nights a year, and so many geek classics that need to be seen. Join Adam in learning of Geek Movie Classics and get some of our references.
- T.H.E.M.fem – All the female members of the group. They get together for slumber parties and other "girly" things. Mely is in charge.
- T.H.E.M.men – Created in response to T.H.E.M.fem, this is all the guys. T.H.E.M.men is all about doing "manly" things... as soon as we all figure out what those are. Abilash leads this group.
- Outdoors – Believe it or not, there are things to see and do out-of-doors, too (once the weather cools off, anyway). Interested in hiking up mountainsides? Going birding or biking? Talk to Carlos, he's in charge
- ????? - Something you don't see here? Ask around and see if there’s interest. If there is, we'll add it to the list.
- Grubbings Report
- Old Business
- New Business
- Media Reports
Think about what you've watched, read, played, seen, or heard in the past week. Pick either one item to wax rhapsodic about, or spend thirty seconds (total) telling us about whatever noteworthy items you encountered. Remember, there are a lot of us, so keep it short, keep it interesting, and tell us why you liked or disliked it.
- 5-Second Open Mic
Here we go around the room and give everyone 5 seconds to say whatever they feel like saying. This can be an ultra-short Media Report, a random noise, or just whatever thought pops into your head.
- Announcements
- Descend to Greater Chaos (Closing of meeting)
Other Meeting Shenanigans
Somebody just said something about a revolution and now they're running the meeting.
The position of Fearless Leader is not elective. It changes hands by coup d'etat:
At any time during a meeting (but no more than once per meeting), any member may stand and Declare the Revolution. If 20% of those present stand with the Revolutionary Hero, then the Fearless Leader is deposed and the Hero takes over. If the Revolution fails, the Hero must wear the Space Helmet, which has gone missing. Occasionally, someone will attempt to Suppress the Revolution. If the Counter-Revolutionary Champion gets 60% of those present to stand, then the Revolution is suppressed, the Leader remains, and the Hero wears the helmet.
Note that this does serve a useful purpose: in order to run for Faithful Lackey, a member must serve one full or three partial meetings as Fearless Leader.
And the one yelling at everyone to be quiet?
That's the Lord High Executioner, who maintains order. The Lord High Executioner may or may not be waving an axe or other instrument of doom, depending if we could find it or not. That position changes hands by challenge (again, limited to one per meeting). The contenders stand back to back, take five steps, turn, and do rock-scissors-paper.
What's The Conspiracy?
There's a tradition in T.H.E.M. of giving names to houses at which we commonly gather. In the past, there’s been the Commune and the Condo; anymore, many gatherings are at Conspiracy HQ. (The inhabitants of Conspiracy HQ are, naturally enough, The Conspiracy.) Other residences have names which will all become clear in time.
This page is available as a downloadable PDF Document
This page last updated: August 23, 2008
