2022 Annual Report
The 2022 Annual Report was released in May 2023.
A wiki format report is in progress.
A PDF format is available.
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TarValon.Net
1926 Rosalie Ridge Dr NE
Huntsville, AL 35811
Property of TarValon.Net, Incorporated
Compiled and edited by Erin Miller
Contents
State of the Tower - Amyrlin/CEO Welcome
The year 2022 continued to be a time of change for the Tower with multiple changes in officers, directors, and administrative positions with the Tower. We also resumed holding in-person events and have started attempting to return to business as usual with the schedule of events.
Faeril Munlear was presented with the Philanthropist of the Year award.
Alexr al'Petros was awarded the Unsung Servant award.
Yenie Antagar was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year.
Mendo Cath was recognized as the Member of the Year.
Yours in the Light,
Cassie Dainar
The Watcher of the Seals
The Flame of TarValon.Net
The Amyrlin Seat
Statement from the Board of Directors
On behalf of the Board of Directors of TarValon.Net, I would like to extend our thanks to the membership for once again supporting the Tower through challenging times. I’m sure many of us weren’t sure what 2022 had in store for us. The end of 2021 saw the world begin to allow travel again, so our Events team began planning for EuroParty and Anni Party in the fall. We began to see the changes wrought by the splitting of the Keeper position into Keeper and Cordamora. Life slowly began to return to some sort of normalcy.
With the resignation of Serinia Edoras from the position of Amyrlin Seat/CEO, the Board needed to find a new Amyrlin Seat. We received applications from several interested individuals, and in the end chose Cassie Dainar to become the next Amyrlin Seat/CEO of TarValon.Net. She began training for the position on February 18. She was raised to the Amyrlin Seat on November 12 at our Anniversary Party, held at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
With Cassie moving from the position of Shatayan to Amyrlin-in-Training, we found ourselves advertising for a new Shatayan. Again, we had several applications, and found that Cahalan Sothron was the best candidate for the job. She began her training on April 7, and became the Shatayan May 18.
Morrighan Daghdera, our first Cordamora/CMO, resigned in October. The Board asked for and received several applications, and Tree was selected to be the next Cordamora/CMO for TarValon.Net. She began in the position December 16.
The board wishes to extend our thanks to everyone who has served as an Officer over the past year. Being an Officer is not an easy job. Sometimes it feels like a thankless one. On behalf of the Board, I want to make sure that each person who serves in a position in the Tower knows that we see the work you’re doing, and we appreciate each of you for volunteering your time, knowledge, and skills.
As I’d mentioned in the first paragraph of this statement, planning for two events began in late 2021, and carried over into 2022. Our first real-life event was EuroParty, held in Devon, England at Wheel Farms. It was a small but mighty gathering, with our Amyrlin-Elect in attendance. Our second event was held just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, to celebrate our 21st Anniversary. This event was a busy one, with raisings, bondings, and the official raising of Cassie to the Amyrlin Seat. Erin also participated in the Keeper ceremony. It was wonderful to see so many new faces! Unfortunately, Covid had to rear its ugly head, and many from both parties ended up ill. Discussion ensued on how to mitigate illness at future events. The Board looks forward to seeing what measures may be taken at our next real life event, Spring Fling, to be held in St. Louis, Missouri. Our next Anniversary Party will be held in the state of Texas in the fall of 2023.
2022 was another year of challenge and change, but we also saw joy and happiness. As I keep reminding myself - the only constant in life is change. It is our hope that 2023 will be ayear of positive change for our membership.
Respectfully submitted,
Crystal Dumonceaux, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Keeper/COO
The Keeper is an Officer position and as such will have all responsibilities inherent in that position, such as working with other Officers and Directors. It is legally known as the Chief Operations Officer and handles the duties as outlined in the Bylaws for the Vice President of Operations. The COO is also responsible for ensuring site operations are efficient, effective, and coherent. The Keeper/COO, along with the Cordamora/CMO, is one of the faces of administration within the administration and is responsible for making sure that the administration is focused towards enacting the vision of the organization as a whole.
Annual Overview
Looking back on the year, my overall focus was on setting baseline expectations and getting the ball rolling on various projects. As someone new to the role, I looked at 2022 as a “learning” year. Despite that, many things were accomplished. As Keeper, I focused on the following non-departmental projects:
- Worked closely with the Amyrlin Seat (Serinia Edoras) and CMO (Morrighan Daghdera) to adjust the organizational chart to reflect the structure we hoped to use going forward.
- Revised the “Ask the White Tower” section, including a modified FAQ and the addition of a Community Feedback forum for community-focused discussion and debate.
- Overhauled the forum structure to streamline and focus specific areas.
- Tackled the issue of Annual Reports being on pause due to various circumstances and complications from 2021. Merged the positions of Annual Report Manager and Survey Manger into one Reports Manager position and hired an administrator (Seryse ni Cousland) to assist with both annual reports and membership surveys going forward.
- Worked to update signature recommendations based on Executive and community feedback to be more open and less restrictive, within screen-size and internet speed parameters.
Departments Overview (Events, Marketing, Outreach, Technology)
Each director and department worked tremendously hard this year, establishing themselves and working for the community as a whole. Here are the high points:
- Events & Conferences
- We were able to return to in-person events! Euro Party took place in North Devon, United Kingdom, in September. Our 21st Anniversary Party took place at Fall Creek Falls State Park in November.
- We wrapped up the year by starting a Focus Group to brainstorm ways to make future events safer in light of the impact of COVID-19 on our community
- Marketing
- Marketing worked throughout the year to present new and exciting merchandise based around requested and/or collaborated artwork for the community.
- Siera al'Cere worked incredibly hard to build upon Marketing’s goal of revamping the home page -- a goal that had been back burnered due to technological infrastructure concerns for years. The new page was released in November!
- Outreach
- The Servant of All Team really flourished under Faeril’s leadership, and the team is actively working to promote causes.
- The Robert Jordan Memorial Scholarship was awarded to 2 deserving students in early fall.
- The Tower’s Annual Fundraiser was held in December, and the event was a joint-effort between Outreach and Online Events
- Technology
- Major inroads were made into updating and upgrading our technological infrastructure. Mendo Cath especially led the way here, taking personal time off work in order to make the transition to Xenforo 2.0 happen. This change, and the associated back-end changes, have opened the door to exciting possibilities on the SEO front as well.
Looking Forward to 2023
In 2023, I hope to keep the momentum going. We’ll be releasing the 2021 and 2022 Annual Reports in early 2023. We’ll be resuming our annual Membership Survey as well, hopefully in spring of 2023. I have great hopes for many different areas and aspects of our site, not just limited to those I oversee. Please look forward to what’s to come!
Erin al'Denael, Keeper of the Chronicles
Cordamora/CMO
The Cordamora is the Vice President/Chief Membership Officer who oversees the Department of Membership, Department of Online Events, Tower Mediators, and the Hall of the Tower. The main objective of this position is to maintain or increase membership satisfaction.
As a new position Morrighan Daghdera officially took the role on April 22nd following an “in-training” period, and vacated the role on October 22nd. Tree took this position on December 16th.
Annual Overview
This year was the inaugural year of this position. The first task was to work with the Keeper/COO in finalizing the organizational chart to restructure the departments. Moderators moved from the Department of Technology to be under the Tower Mediators.
Eternal bonds were instituted allowing for surviving members to maintain a bond with a deceased member that transcends other potential limitations for future bonds. Raising requirements were updated and reading requirements relaxed with the advent of The Wheel of Time on Prime TV show. The Accountability Guide was heavily reworked to offer greater transparency regarding potential consequences of inappropriate behaviors, both online and at in-person events. All of the Ajahs chose to add one additional bond slot that is not tied to the merit reward system.
Department Overview: Online Events
Online Events hosted two popular freeweeks, Bel Tine and Shaoman, and supported the Feast of Lights fundraiser late in the year. A new Guild Coordinator was brought in at the end of the year in anticipation of a 2023 launch of a new and more organic Guild program.
As a new Department the first Director of Online Events was Aintza Bisera, from the department's inception on March 4, 2022. Online Events also saw a new Director, Nadezhda al’Lanahrin (Nadie), who took the role October 15th, Aintza completed the changeover on November 17th.
Department Overview: Membership
Due to the loss of @tarvalon.net email addresses for Membership many critical processes were moved to Google Forms, this included: Applications to Citizen, Applications to the Tower, Guesting Requests, and Raising packages. Additionally most membership groups have created their own gmail accounts to help fill gaps from the loss in @tarvalon.net emails. The goal is that all Membership groups will have these in place in early 2023.
The Department of Membership also saw leadership changes throughout the year. Alenya Al'Roran stepped down and Loraella Melodie took on the role on April 20th. Later the role passed to Roheryn ni Galghandhrei t'al'Djinn on November 12th.
Mediation and Moderation
Tower Mediators were expanded to a team of three to handle the increased workload. Tower Mediators moved from the Department of Membership to direct reports of Cordamora and managed Forum Moderators and Discord Ops for the remainder of the year.
Looking Forward to 2023
Online Events shall be launching our new Guilds program in the front half of the year. This will be a member driven system wherein organic Guilds will form based on member interests, needs, and leadership. Membership will also be launching a new program, the Builders Grove, to encourage interaction between Citizens and all initiates of the Tower, with Senior Members.
Moderation is moving from Mediation and both will exist as separate entities, both reporting directly to the Cordamora. Moderation will be facilitated and largely run by a now position, Head Moderator, who will be hired in February. Additionally, the Code of Conduct and Accountability Guide will continue to be improved upon and a formal set of definitions created to allow for greater transparency and better accountability for the administration and members alike. Membership Review Committees, when necessary, will be convened with a somewhat different structure to include a Tower Mediator, a member of the Advisory Council, other Membership Admins, and/or Moderators as deemed appropriate.
Finally, 2023 will see the implementation of TarValon.Net’s first Advisory Council which will allow representation for all members, not just Senior Members, and the duties of this Council will include bringing forward suggestions and concerns from membership groups for debate of merit and implementation. The Advisory Council will include up to two representatives from each membership group, in the event that a Membership Group is unable to provide two representatives the remaining seat(s) will remain vacant. Service on the Advisory Council will be in six month rotation and representatives will be disallowed from making any changes to their rank or membership affiliation for the duration of their service. Finally, the Hall of Sitters and Warder Council will be preserved as a subforum and subcommittee within the Advisory Council and will vote solely on raisings as members rise through the ranks to Senior Membership.
Tree, Cordamora
Tower Archivist / Secretary
The Archivist maintains official records. They keep paper copies, ensure notes of meetings are kept, oversee the Department of Research and Records, maintain the Membership Manual, run the merits system, and the annual membership awards.
Annual Overview
Membership Manual update is an ongoing project, but the first stage, to re-organize it so that people could more easily access the information most relevant to them, has been implemented.
Looking Forward to 2023
Continue to improve the Membership Manual, so that any member, whether they are just guests on the forums, right up to the Senior Member level knows what is expected of them, what to do if they have any issues with any other members and what happens if there are such issues reported, by or about them. We are also going to work on some of the missing merits - classroom attendance, mentoring and a few others have been poorly recorded, and the intent is to identify people who might be due but haven’t been recognized because we don’t keep those records.
Toral Delvar, Tower Archivist
Shatayan/CFO
The duties of the Shatayan include maintaining the Tower general ledger; preparing the annual budget, monthly reports, and taxes; and making any payments necessary for Tower events or the normal business of maintaining the website.
Annual Overview
Fiscal year 2022 saw an increase in expenses from the previous year. The largest expenses were related to the return of live events, namely Euro Party and Anniversary Party. There wasn’t as much income generated for Anni during the year as there were 24 carryover payments from the canceled 2020 event. Euro Party saw a low turnout, which resulted in the event being funded by the site rather than being self-funded. JordanCon also returned, which saw some expenses not had from the previous year. New event banners were ordered in 2022, and TV.Net paid for JordanCon marketing.
Looking Forward to 2022
New expenses in the 2023 budget include payment for official Google workspace accounts and hosting for the site podcast. The site’s Patreon page is a new revenue stream that will be launched during the year, with the initial year providing a baseline for budgeting in 2024. Three live events - Spring Fling, Euro Party, and Anni - are budgeted to be self funded during the fiscal year.
Financial data is given in Appendix A.
Cahalan Sothron, Shatayan
