Hey look, a snowy owl!
Now that I've distracted Arch, let me say some embarrassing things about him. Arch is the guy I can always count on to talk data to me. That is to say, he is going to give me a very in-depth analysis of any topic he finds himself invested in or I've asked him to look into and woe be unto me if I don't listen attentively because if I blink at the wrong moment I'll be gone. Which is so impossibly valuable to have.
I really do trust Arch to always tell me his opinion and throw a wall of data at me, even (and especially) when it doesn't align with my own. That's how we get to the right answers. Or, at least, as close as we can get to them. In the same ball park, even. All this while he is the kind of guy to hold himself to the highest of standards, including self-imposed timelines that I don't even have to enforce, because he'll do it for me and be harder on himself than I ever could be.
So, now that you realized the owl isn't real and I have your attention back, thank you for being yourself Arch. You bring value and progress to anything you put your mind to and this entire club is benefitting from it.
Atra, 2024-04-03 00:10:08 UTC
Hey Duet, Bard Gemni, everyone else is making bird puns, can you give me a good one?
Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field!
I can work with that. That's actually a great place for me to start with enlightening you, prospective readers, to things you might or might not know or realize about the work Arch does day in and day out for this club. I’m sure other people will cover all the cool stuff they do as HM, so I’ll just focus on the things that we overlap with in our rolls as Exarch and HM, and then as friends who don’t always agree on the “how” but always agree on the fact that something needs to be done or changed.
First, let's talk about RP. You know, that hot new platform that's become one of the most popular activities in the Brotherhood. That little platform that generated 2,005,394 words of fiction, which translates to 4,010 Clusters of Ice? Yeah, none of that would be a thing right now without Arch. And while they already technically was awarded for his time as Exarch, I wanted to just shine some light on the fact that my proposal I sent to the GMs back in 2021 with our crazy idea of coding RP wouldn't have been a thing if it were not for Arch's confidence/belief in the idea, and then helping pave the way for me to even exist as Exarch.
I mention all of this to remind everyone how impactful Arch's mere presence, willingness to listen to ideas, and to translate ideas into actionable reality displays a level of emotional intelligence that is not just rare, but nearly non-existent in this club. The ability to listen, to really process feedback and figure out how we could possibly make something like that work.
Next, since numbers are important and stuff, let's talk about data, since I just did math. That's Arch's fault, because they encourages me by being a fellow data-nerd with the intent of using that information to make improvements. Arch's reports are some of the most detailed and informative reports I've ever read in my 15 years in this club. It's not just random numbers or endless scrolling spreadsheets, either. It's a thoughtful analysis of the behavior of our members, their activity, and trends in the data. They’ve been looking at this for years, and only recently were finally given the platform they deserved.
This isn’t what a leader in the Brotherhood does. It’s what someone who sees the bigger picture of what makes our little club on the internet tick, and tirelessly brainstorms, mounts a soap box, yells over the other people yelling, and tries no matter how much resistant or pushback there is to make the club a better place. And that, at its core, is why Arch is such a special birb member. They never stop trying to make improvements.
Speaking of improvements. Anyone else get spammed recently in their email by the Wiki notifications? Probably not just me. I have filters set up for every kind of notice, but not Wiki. You know why? I honestly get them so sparingly, it never seemed worth it. But today, I got a wave of them. Routine file maintenance and cleanup. Seems unimportant, probably, to most people. But when you consider that the Wiki is one of our two main knowledge bases, that houses our clubs literal Covenant, policies, and procedures for how we function, our very history, you might start to realize why it should be probably unkempt a bit better. It’s also where story ideas, creative worldbuilding and the tenants of our writing activities get a platform to live. Sure everyone says “we should really update the wiki”, but how many members, leaders, actually have stepped up to do so?
Surprise. Arch has. And I’ve been fortunate enough to get to see the work that’s happened at a rapid rate. It’s been years in the waiting, and just adds to Arch’s track record of getting things done.
Lastly, when we discuss the ranks of Elders, there’s a lot being figured out right now. I don’t have an answer, and, if I’m being honest, it’s easy for me to get frustrated with how other members or leaders have made their way to their respective Elder rank. But the one member I have no reservations about? That is doing it quicker than I did? That will now become only the second 5 digit [pin] Elder 2 in club history? The one member I think has easily earned this elevation in earnest?
Arch.
Congratulations my friend. I don’t know if myself, or this club as a whole, would be the same without your daily impact. Especially considering I still to this day double check my bullet point lists for continuous punctuation.
-W
Legend Wally, 2024-04-03 03:07:12 UTC