SciWorld 20 Years 1999-2019: Saturday May 18th

When I announced SciWorld 2019 last month, I failed to notice that this would indeed be the 20th anniversary of the SciWorld Online Convention (Discord Invite: https://discord.gg/EGBwV54). Wow! What a milestone! How could I have missed it?!?

Well, I did. To make up for it, I’m posting an edited version of a previously unpublished interview I conducted with Ender Maki back in 2011. For those who may be wondering, simmer Ender Maki is credited as being the founder of SciWorld. The interview wasn’t conducted for the purpose of publishing, but rather to collect information so I could flesh out a few articles on the old Simming Encyclopedia (which lives on today as Roleplay Wiki). As such, the interview may seem a little disjointed. But it’s still great! Without any further ado, here is Ender Maki, in mostly his own words, from 2011…

1. Who first recruited you into simming? One of my friends from school got me into simming. She had started months before.
2. What attracted you to simming? I was a huge trekkie. My father and I would watch TNG reruns before bed every weeknight and watch new DS9 and VOY eps. I thought it would be fun to put myself into a Trek of my own.
3. How and when did you come up with the idea for SciWorld? I was frustrated with the way things were happening in the OSA (Online Simulations Association). I had just met Chas (Hammer) who wanted to unite the different sim clubs and there was a good deal of hostility between them. I wanted to change all of that with one swoop.
4. Who came up with the name, SciWorld Online Convention? What is it based off of? I came up with the name. I honestly don’t remember what I based it off of.
5. How did the planning and development of the first SciWorld go down? Who all was involved? I basically told people it was happening if I was going to stay in the OSA. It’s funny how quickly the roadblocks came down… I recruited Tashak from the OSA to help and, of course, Chas.
6. What was that first convention like? What was the participation? The first convention ran much better than I ever thought it would. We had so much participation from all over. I remember the rooms being packed for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and sims and trivia. A lot of groups got a lot of exposure. It was a good time.
7. How closely did you work with Chas outside of SciWorld? Chas quickly became a mentor figure to me. I worked with him on SciWorld and the League. He advised me on matters related to the OSA and, later, FSF (Federation Sim Fleet) as well.
8. Were you involved with any future SciWorlds? I was involved with SciWorld in some capacity through 2001 or 2002. Chas was able to get me back for SciWorld in 2007 or 2008 — I just attended the opening ceremony but it was interesting to see it still going.
9. Describe the events in the merger of FSF and OSA. Lots of frustration and hurt feelings. I had never wanted to be the leader of the OSA to begin with. In the end, I had lots of difficult decisions to make. For many people, it looked like hell froze over.
10. What was your relationship like with Jon Shuni? Mostly civil. Mostly. 🙂
11. What happened when you formally accused Shuni of wrongdoing? I was not ready for the (edited) to hit the fan the way it did. All (edited) broke loose in the Simming League.
12. What was your interaction with Seth Cotis? Seth was a very good guy. We would talk about our simming clubs and other various simming clubs and things going on in the simming universe. I was extremely sad to read of his passing some years ago.
13. After retiring from simming, did you stay in contact at all with FSF? I stayed in contact with some former OSA simmers and a few FSF leaders for several years. Currently, I only really have contact with a couple of people.
14. Who were your biggest influences in simming? Chas was probably my biggest influence. On a secondary level, LtCmdrJami.
15. What do hope your legacy is in the simming community? Lovable failure and dreamer.
16. If you could give one piece of advice to simmers today, what would it be? Avoid the politics. Just have fun.

SciWorld Trivia!

In honor of the 20th anniversary, we’ll be asking 10 trivia questions about past SciWorlds during the opening ceremony. There might even be an answer or two in the interview above! We’ll then ask 10 more trivia questions about this year’s SciWorld during the closing ceremony. So pay attention!

Current Schedule

We still have two open spots left to host. If you would like to claim one, please email me immediately at star [dot] idf [at] gmail [dot] com. I’ll then get your request to the chairs. Otherwise, I’ll see you Saturday at SciWorld! The opening ceremony starts sharp at 1:00 pm Eastern / 10:00 am Pacific.