We have a problem...

[Figrin D'an]

... and I think everyone here will agree that it is a big one.


Activity on the GJO board, especially from the more experienced members, has been all but non-existent for several months now. To be frank, GJO has all but ceased to exist since this past summer. This group is dying a slow death, and I think that some tough decisions need to be made on it's future... now.

First, for the record, let me state that I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in particular. There is plenty of blame to go around. I haven't had the time over the past few months to completely attend to my duties around here. I know many others have been busy as well. That's life, and we all understand that I'm sure. But at the same time, something that has been a pretty significant part of our lives for the past 5 years is in danger of disappearing because it's simply one of the things that is convienient to push aside and ignore when it suits us.

If we no longer have the time to dedicate to running this group, that's fine. But, we need to make it known that we simply do not have the ability to effectively run GJO anymore. We owe that much to the other members of the group.


Each member of this staff needs to decide, for themselves, if he/she can perform the duties required of his/her position. If you can, that's great, and I hope to see you active on the board in the immediate future. If not, then I suggest you submit a resignation so that your position can be filled by someone who can fulfill the role adequately.

For me... as of now, I am going to get back into the swing of things and start doing my job as an administrator should. And as part of that role, I'm making the decision to postpone the Council Election that was scheduled for this month until later in October. Hopefully, by that time, the group will be a bit more organized and ready to elect a new council.

What each of you decides to do is your choice. I only ask that you make known what you intend to do so that this group can move foward.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I'm staying. I apologize if I have been slower than necessary, but a lot of the time it just seems like there is nothing to do around here - as far as staffing goes - as a consequence of the whole group being quite slow.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Dasquian sorta summed up my thoughts. Quiet around here makes it hard to be here, but as you said Fig, we gotta start caring now no matter how quiet it is around here. I don't want to see the place go poof.

My status- Most know about my mom and that does make me go MIA at times, but I am off on the weekends on evenings now. I will do what you need to get things hopping again.

[Figrin D'an]

Part of the problem, IMO, is that those regarded and recognized as leaders in GJO have been mostly inactive, and that has had an effect on the overal board activity. The Council barely posts to anything anymore. After sticking up for the Council when others were being rude in their demands towards them, I now feel that some of the complaints were justified. The solution there is either those on the Council start stepping up and doing what they were elected to do, or we find some others that are willing to do the job. Or, we flush the Council completely and just have a few appointed Elders that run everything.

We made a lot of changes earlier this spring to improve things like admissions and Council threads... but unless we have some semblance of leadership, it's not going to matter what kind of policy improvements we make.

[Navaria Tarkin]

If we decide to keep the council, I think the problem is perhaps numbers. Do we have too many? I know LD was waiting on the rest of council to approve of her Knighthood. I didnt do anything about, which I admit is my fault, because I wasnt sure if it was okay to just do it. Again, that was dumb of me to think =\

If we go with selected elders, need to really think about how they would be given that position. Appointed by voting/because they want to? Might not go well with some, but considering how quiet it has been, maybe not. Depends on how we approach it.

Also, thinking back on things... did the lack of posting happen after the implementation of how to handle council threads? Did some think daunted by the restrictions? Those that have posted have usually been the same person(s)

course, I could be insane. I am tired.

[Morgan Evanar]

I pretty much don't care anymore. I'm going to step down from any position of authority I hold.

[AmazonBabe]

Except the one over AB, of course. :p

As for me, the past coupleof weeks have been busy for me due to everyone coming back from vavaction and a butt-load of meetings and work being thrown into my lap.

I'm actually posting today because thngs are starting to slow down to normal status again.

I'll be staying and helping out where I see fit. I'm not a part of the Council, so i don't have to worry about that. But I will still keep an eye on Yavin (and I hope Morg remains with me on this one as it was something of a project we both conjured up).

And, of course, I will continue to keep an eye on the board as i've always done.

----------

Also, I noticed that Fig stated in a thread in the OOC in Avalon that the Council vote for this month was being postponed.

When it is time to do the voting thread, I will more than gladly take care of it as I've done in the past. :)

[Morgan Evanar]

^ yeah, I guess. I'm in a huge fucking slump right now.

[AmazonBabe]

That's ok, Morg. Honestly, I'm in a half-slump. It happens. :)

[Estelle Russard]

Firstly, I apologize to everyone for not being around. I havent been online at all. It has been 70 percent too busy, and 30 percent slump.

Secondly, I will step down from my Council Duties as I dont know if I am going to be getting back into things like I was before. I dont want to say Im definitely leaving, because I might not. But I shouldnt be where ppl are really counting on my involvement.

Thirdly, I dont really see the difference between having a Council and having Elders. I thought they are pretty much the same thing.

?

[Navaria Tarkin]

I'm back now from being out of town, so I'm ready to do whatever head butting is necessary ... tomorrow =p 5 hour car drive is no fun.

I think once we know who can stay and who is stepping down :( we can start to restructure the council/elder business.

Morgan - :hug I miss talking to you and hope things get better for you

[Navaria Tarkin]

Originally posted by Estelle Russard

Thirdly, I dont really see the difference between having a Council and having Elders. I thought they are pretty much the same thing.

?

I think Elders would be sorta a permanent position for people willing to take up 'running' GJO IC, where the Council would be still elected?

I could be wrong :)

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by Navaria Tarkin
I think Elders would be sorta a permanent position for people willing to take up 'running' GJO IC, where the Council would be still elected?

I could be wrong :)


Nope, you're very much on the right track.

I know the whole "democratic process" is something that a lot of people have liked in regards to the Council... the idea that the Order can choose those whom they feel are the best leaders for them. That's all well and good, and I'd like to see it continue.

However... we have a two-fold problem with the current system, in that a) the same people pretty much get elected all the time, regardless of how active they have been or how they have performed their job, and b) many Council members have been falling short of the responsibilities inherent to the position.

I know things have been slow lately, and a lot of people have been in slumps or whatever one wishes to call it. It's understandable, but it also leaves the rest of the group hanging. So, in my opinion, we need to do something to revamp the group's leadership, because the current setup simply is not working. What that might be is debatable, and is partially the point to this thread. My suggestion was just that... a suggestion. I'd like to hear other ideas and see if we can come up with something that is less drastic than dumping the Council completely. But, it is an option should nothing else be viable.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Well, if we want to keep the voting, we could knock the council down to a smaller number. We still run into the possible problem of having inactivity if someone gets voted in and doesnt mention they do not wish to be part of the council beforehand.

[AmazonBabe]

Originally posted by Navaria Tarkin
I think Elders would be sorta a permanent position for people willing to take up 'running' GJO IC, where the Council would be still elected?

I could be wrong :)

We did this ages ago with TSO. It was much easier and it keeps the number of Elders to a small amount. And it's an amount that are always about the place.

So I could see this working for GJO.

[Navaria Tarkin]

well, since the voting was postponed until october, granted late october, we need to really decide on a smaller council or elders soon, that way we can the choose how to go about picking peeps for the process.

I am tending to lean towards the elder idea myself, that way at least you know the people there will be making it happen. it has been working for tso- we coupld implement that here. It is going to not sit well with people, yes... but as Fig said, something drastic needs to be done.

[Lady Vader]

If the Elder thing bothers people, we could still call it a Council. The only difference would be that it is a set of permanent people and a small number of them. (Council just sounds so much more Jedi than Elders... but that's me)

[Navaria Tarkin]

semantics :lol I meant 'elders in general' :p course it would still be the council :D

[AmazonBabe]

Oh ^_^;

[Ryla Relvinian]

Originally posted by Morgan Evanar
^ yeah, I guess. I'm in a huge fucking slump right now.

Ain't it the truth.

I sort of touched on this in my other post, but I have been so busy lately with school at the moment. It's just so draining! I'm in my final year for my degree and, frankly, my brain is tired.

Above and beyond that, however, I just feel that my character is... well... boring. I feel like there is a point at which it stops being fun, and you've exhausted every possible plot idea. I feel like there are so many pet projects (which are not always bad, mind you) and a lack of group cohesion. We're all off doing our own little things, in and out of character. We need... some sort of storyline for the whole Jedi order that ties us together, I think.

[Dasquian Belargic]

We need... some sort of storyline for the whole Jedi order that ties us together, I think.

Some kind of crisis would be awesome :D

[Lady Vader]

Wants me to blow something up? :p

[Navaria Tarkin]

:lol

Hmm, still need a purpose for the blowing up so we can all resue that which is being blown up o-O

^_^

[Dasquian Belargic]

it would be cool to have something that is a threat to every group, but I think that might take too much planning and thus fall flat on its face :(

[Lady Vader]

Not to mention a few of us would fall flat on our faces if things got too complicated. :x

[Navaria Tarkin]

Also, you can't please everyone. There would be alot of discussion on what to do before we do it heh.

I think something GJOish is more important at this point to bring the group together. How about one big mission taking a ton of folks somewhere to like chill :smokin. For an event that occurs on some planet.. some festival.... I dunno, then maybe someone is there to muck it up :huh

also, we need to decide on what to do with the council if we are changing things - which I think we should. It is getting close to mid-october

[Lady Vader]

Good point. Need to finalize the decision on what is to be done with the Council before the year ends. besides, this is voting month, so we need to get cracking so we don't extent the waiting period for too long.

And I like the idea about taking a big group of GJOers to do something (festival sounds fun... something like the Festival of the Winds on Vortex or something like that). Then we could have some trouble makers come in and crash the party. Doesn't need too much planning or fine-tuning.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Or, the Jedi might get wind of something and try and stop a certain dedication ceremony....

;) @ LV

maybe? tho that would need to be planned and agreed on the outcome etc or something :p

[Lady Vader]

Dedication ceremony? :huh

[Navaria Tarkin]

:lol

read your PM

also, we need to agree about the Council ASAP and then bring it before the others

[AmazonBabe]

^_^;

Oh. Teehee.



also, we need to agree about the Council ASAP and then bring it before the others

Aye. Yo peeps! What say ye? We need to finalize the number of members for the Council and whether it will remain permaent or not. And then we gotta start a thread for some nominations or at least who people think should be on the Council (I kinda think this should be open to the other members as they are a part of this group too).

[Figrin D'an]

We need to pitch the concept to the rest of the group first... either reducing the Council size/making positions more permanent or longer terms, or keeping things the same.

Ultimately, though, the decision is up to the staff. If the response is overwhelmingly in favor of one way or the other, then it would be wise to go that direction. Otherwise, we'll make the call as a staff.

As for the election itself... even if it doesn't get started until near the end of the month, I don't see it as a big deal. We let it overlap into November and let the terms begin on Dec. 1st, if that is the case.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Of course Fig. Like AB said, we need to discuss it with the rest first. With how things are, just saying this is how it is would not go over well.

Shall we start a thread discussing what the rest of the GJO would like to see?

[Lady Vader]

Yes, I think the thread should be started (if it hasn't already) so we can at least get the ball rolling on this issue.

And a link posted here would be a good idea too. :)

[Navaria Tarkin]

http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37053


there it is .. on a side note, I am going to start a new thread in here to do a GJO mission thread to get things moving around here again.

[Navaria Tarkin]

1) The Council should be reduced to at least 5 members.

2) Council members should be replaced if they miss too many threads (i think the consensus is Council Members would be allowed to miss no more than 2 or 3).

3) Members of the GJO would only be allowed to vote for 2 or 3 out of the total 5 members.

kinda putting this here since this is the majority so far. It was a nice summary by Wei too, that way we can work off of this and make if for real - unless there is dissent =p

[AmazonBabe]

That works for me, actually. It's simple. And I think that this point we need simple.

Might also want to add...


To add to this, if someone that was set on the permanent Council were to go MIA without first giving a warning of either stepping down or taking a temp leave of absense, then they should be replaced by someone suitable for the task.

If someone were to however say they are taking a temp leave of absense, we could replace them with a temp member until he/she returned.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Sounds good.

do we want to put this to a vote or implement said plan by a voting of the council?

I say 5 on the council is a good number :)

[AmazonBabe]

5 is good.

As for a vote, it would probably be the most diplomatic so we don't alienate the members?

[Figrin D'an]

This is a staff decision. Bringing it before everyone was mearly to gauge response and measure opinion. The final call belongs to those who run the board, ie. us.

I tend to agree with all three of the major proposed alterations: reducing the council to 5 seats, members will vote for a maximum of three seats, and inactive council members will be replaced by the next highest vote getter.

We can keep the Council seats as 4 month terms. The remaining aspects of the election process can also remain the same.

[Dasquian Belargic]

I tend to agree with all three of the major proposed alterations: reducing the council to 5 seats, members will vote for a maximum of three seats, and inactive council members will be replaced by the next highest vote getter.

We can keep the Council seats as 4 month terms. The remaining aspects of the election process can also remain the same.

All sounds good to me.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Gotcha Fig-man. I am good with everything proposed

Edit- As stated in avalon, going to be compiling lists of Active Jedi and who needs Masters over the weekend to help with the revamping :)

[Navaria Tarkin]

Last week in october :p are we going to start the voting this week or next week for the 5 council memeber thang?

[AmazonBabe]

Well, either way, I won't be able to vote cause I'll be out of the country (in all likelyhood, no net access). Too bad we don't have any early/absentee voting. :lol ^_^;

[Navaria Tarkin]

well if no one objects .. I will start the thread Monday for the voting and use the same requirements as before?

[Lady Vader]

Go for it if you haven't already.

And if you HAVE, then I can vote cause I have net access (for the moment). :)

[Navaria Tarkin]

I am ready to start the voting.. only thing is.. are we going to elect a new Council member.. say two weeks after they are a no show to their seat?

otherwise.. I'm ready to let the proceedings begin :D

[Figrin D'an]

I'd give it two Council threads of non-participation before a person gets booted from their seat. Just my opinion, however.

[Navaria Tarkin]

I plan on posting the nomination thread at the latest on sunday when we decide on the stip... we can go with Fig. That does work too :) I was just throwing out an idea to get it started

[Navaria Tarkin]

I started the nominations thread (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37167) and used the same nomination rules previously used with a wee bit of tweeking for the 5 council member reduction