Each month, we interview a captain or first officer of the fleet to gain more insight on what it takes to command a ship and learn more about how each of these staff members found their way into these roles.
This month, we’re interviewing the Commanding Officer of the starship USS Artemis-A, Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie, a Human female.
SALKATH: Exciting news! You’ve been recently promoted to Fleet Captain, an amazing achievement, and well earned! Congratulations! How does it feel reaching such a major milestone?
MACKENZIE: Well, it’s a great honor. Promotions to our staff ranks all require a series of nominations, tests, and other requirements. Getting promoted to a flag rank is really something totally different. It involves years of service and leadership, and the nominations/support of the highest officers in the fleet. It’s an incredibly humbling recognition.
When we spoke with you about being a commanding officer of the Artemis a year ago, the ship was still relatively new to you and the crew. Now that you have had that extra time to settle in, how is the ship treating you?
Oh, it’s great! We’ve had the chance to welcome quite a few really talented writers in that time and we’ve enjoyed a period of incredible stability among the crew. That stability is really the secret sauce – having the same group of writers sitting around the table weaving a story together over the course of several missions really leads to incredible character development.
Just this summer, the Artemis took part in the fleet blockbuster, Frontier Day. The crews of the Artemis and Amity Outpost collaborated closely during this event. How challenging was it to pull this off, either In-Character or Out-Of-Character?
Well, it’s definitely tricky. We weren’t the only two crews that were flip-flopping writers, either. Rich (Admiral Rahman) was the one responsible for coordinating the OOC inter-crew assignments and coming up with the story’s structure. Each week, we’d have a check-in with all the various crew participating to gauge where the action was headed and what had been established. From an IC perspective, the only tricky thing was trying to coordinate having more writers aboard (and a higher sim volume). From a creativity standpoint, it was an incredibly fun story to write!
You’ve been serving as the Captain’s Council Member-at-Large on the Executive Council, and also remain active with the Academy Training Team, which can be a demanding if fulfilling team to work with. Do you find it challenging to balance your various roles with the fleet?
Yes and no. I’m pretty particular about what OOC tasks I volunteer for – each the roles you mentioned has a cadence to when the work happens. For example, as the Captain’s Council Member-at-Large, a lot of that work occurs at the beginning of each month (except for weighing in on matters with the Executive Council as they arise). With the Academy, we volunteer to lead classes each week, so if I know I have a particular busy week with RL obligations, or if there’s a lot happening on the Artemis, I won’t volunteer.
What advice would you give to aspiring members of the fleet, looking to contribute more in the fleet as you do, in balancing their workload?
The great news is that we have a lot of different ways to contribute to the betterment of the organization that is suitable for a variety of skillsets. The important thing to remember is that you want to keep a close eye on your workload to make sure the OOC work doesn’t supersede or detract from your simming. Sometimes an officer’s enthusiasm to get involved accidentally leads to becoming overcommitted. If you’re overcommitted for too long, that’s when burnout occurs.
Finally, do you have any exciting plans for Captain MacKenzie or the Artemis over the next year?
Nothing specific, if I’m honest! One of the things I love about my crew is that all the writers are incredibly talented – they’re always coming up with new mission ideas or interesting plot twists, and 9/10 times they end up being way better than anything I might dream up. Who knows that’s around the corner!
Thanks for your time, Fleet Captain MacKenzie!
You can read more about Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie on the wiki.
