Spring 2018 Executive Meeting
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Contents
- 1 Agenda
- 2 Notes
- 2.1 Introduction
- 2.2 Amyrlin Seat
- 2.3 Keeper
- 2.4 Archivist
- 2.5 Shatayan
- 2.6 Department of Community Outreach
- 2.7 Department of Events and Conferences
- 2.8 Department of Marketing
- 2.9 Department of Membership
- 2.10 Department of Moderators and Operators
- 2.11 Department of Research and Records
- 2.12 Department of Technology
Agenda
Amyrlin
- Looking ahead to 20th Anni
- Annual audit of who can access what on the Drive
Keeper
- Revisiting Director Application requirements for non- Super Admin roles
Archivist
- Same path bonding review?
Shatayan
- Impromptu fundraisers
Community Outreach
- (We didn't make the new guy come up with stuff to talk about.)
Events and Conferences
- General event updates (Fall Ball, Euro, Anni wrap-up, JCon)
Marketing
- None at this time
Membership
- Revisiting second demotion time limits
- Minimum aspiration times for raising
Moderators and Operators
- Transition
Research and Records
- Annual Report update
Technology
- None at this time
Notes
Introduction
Four times a year, the Executive team (the Directors and Officers) meet to talk about their Departments, initiatives, and just to touch base with everyone on the team. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, we talk about big stuff, things that are major changes for the community.
The meeting we had on March 25 was one such meeting. The notes in this forum are the results of that meeting.
We're in a time of transition, with two new Directors (Calen and Asandra), and a lot of changes coming, fueled by a passionate Marketing team. It's an exciting time. :D
Feel free to discuss, provide feedback, or thumbs up these decisions, or you can always email the appropriate Director or Officer to provide feedback.
A special note: We are having a Membership Survey this year. This is the best time to provide input on specific questions, as it puts all the data in one place so we can look at it as a whole. I highly encourage you to participate in the Survey.
Amyrlin Seat
At the suggestion of the Board of Directors at this year’s Anni, we will be implementing an annual audit for the Google Drive to be sure that only those who should have access or who need access to certain files have it.
I asked the Executive team to start thinking about their parts of the 20th Anni party. We want to have a big party on the scale of 10th, so we’re starting planning now.
Keeper
In reevaluating the Director requirements, we determined that for most positions (excluding Membership, Moderators, and Technology), relevant real-life experience will take precedent over Senior Member status. That being said, should two people apply and have similar life experience, and one is a Senior Member, then that will be the deciding factor.
Archivist
We should have a private same path bonding forum up and running soon so Toral and his team can start looking at the data.
Shatayan
We spoke at length about the success of the impromptu glitter fundraiser Jeffan orchestrated. Cassie mentioned that we do need to balance the amount of money we give to charity versus the amount we use toward our goals as a 501(c)(7); that is, as a Social Club as recognized by the IRS. Therefore, the money we raise should go toward community and socializing. Any future plans for using money in this way will be done in a way that benefits the most members possible.
Calen brought up the idea of restarting the Helping Hands fund. However, due to the aforementioned nonprofit status, we cannot legally give money to members, as that is seen as profiting a member and is a huge dealbreaker with the IRS. Cassie and Calen are going to have a discussion about a grant system.
Department of Community Outreach
Calen is working on reviving and rejuvenating the Servant of All forum.
Department of Events and Conferences
- Anni
Forty people attended, and the glitter auction raised over $3000. The silent auction also went well. One thing to work on is making sure that we don't overspend on the food budget, while making sure that we accommodate special diet requirements. It’s easier to buy more food, but not always easy to offload extra food.
- JCon
Planning is going well. There’s a thread up in the JCon forum for people to sign up for working the table, and it reminds folks that sitting at the table earns credit toward an event committee participation merit.
- Fall Ball
Rooms are booked at the Marriott. Registration is open with both a single spot and a room buyout option.
- Euro
We’ll have 40 spots available, and are hoping to fill 20. Ren will train the new Mistress/Master of Revels-Euro, for whom we are in the hiring process.
One question that arose was how to pay for food (or other large expenses) when the Amyrlin or Shatayan (the debit card holders) are unable to attend. Cassie is going to look into a reloadable Visa card for these purchases.
Department of Marketing
- TVT
The blog feature will be live at the end of April.
- Wiki
We should make it clearer that the Library is part of TarValon.Net when people find it on searches. Deoan will set up a header for those pages. We won’t link to specific threads in Wiki articles, because those links tend to break.
- App
Writing an app is a nontrivial amount of work. a basic app would be $35–$40 a month, but wouldn’t be very customizable. Further, having an app in the Apple store is $100 per year, and $25 in Android.
Reminder: The Tech team is always hiring! If you have specific tech skills and you’d like to see if there’s a way to donate your expertise to TarValon.Net, send an email to technology@tarvalon.net and talk to Deoan!
- Visibility
We are updating our logo! The new one (below) was inspired by our latest Anniversary image and is not all that different from our current logo; most most notably, it gives equal representation to our Ajahs and Companies, something I strive for in my representation of the site. The site graphics will be updated sometime in the next couple of weeks, while Cafepress will take a little longer because we need to rework all the graphics. We hope to have this project done by June; if there's a particular item you would like to order before then, let us know.
Here's the logo:
We will also be changing the home page to the TVT or Intro page instead of the forums.
We need to start looking at our SEO (if you have experience and can help, email marketing@tarvalon.net!). Furthermore, if you are familiar with data analysis and would like to help Marketing with social marketing metrics, please email marketing@tarvalon.net. We would deeply appreciate the assistance.
Department of Membership
There is no minimum amount of time a Soldier or Accepted should be Aspired to a membership group before they are raised. The only minimum is 12 weeks at Soldier/Accepted.
- Demotion
The first demotion from a membership group requires the demotee to have been in that group for a minimum of one year. A second demotion requires at least three years in a group before a person can demote. It was proposed to change this to two years, with at least 3 months of activity on return from an LOA to try to reintegrate with the group.
A member who demotes to Citizen from Senior Member must remain a Citizen for at least 3 months before re-entering the Tower.
Department of Moderators and Operators
- Chat and Discord
After discussing the pros and cons of Discord, we voted to move ahead with building out rules and regulations for official channels for TarValon.Net. Deoan will step away from being Chatmaster as we move toward Discord. Asandra, Ninya, and Deoan will work together to create the regulations for Discord. We aim to launch the Discord as an official channel this summer, and open it to the public via our Marketing channels in the fall. We will be soliciting feedback and ideas on the platform throughout the process.
No decisions have been made about IRC at this point; we're focusing on Discord and will decide what we'll do with IRC later.
Department of Research and Records
Kerna asked Deoan to send a list of users on the Library so she can help with password resets there. Kerna will also undertake an audit of Library accounts.
The Annual Report is missing two sections. I will not be able to proofread it this year, given my schedule. The Report should be released in June.
We’re tentatively expecting to release the Membership Survey in May, pending Cahalan’s availability since she’s our Survey Wizard. It will be a shorter survey this year, limited to about 5 questions per department.
As a reminder, the Membership Survey is one of our primary sources of data for member input regarding site and community development, so we encourage everyone to participate.
Department of Technology
Deoan is thinking about creating a tech request form or email, so he can delegate more items to his team.
