Consul Report

2005/07/05, 10:00 PM, Consul - Clan Plagueis

Clan Plagueis Report - July 06, 2005

SUMMIT CHANGES

Due to some personal issues, Braecen has decided he needs to step down as PCON of the Clan. His work shall be missed. At current, he has decided to remain in Plagueis to continue the training of his students.

As a result, I found myself in need of a PCON and as most of you know by now, offered the position to our Clan Envoy, Lucien. He accepted, and has been getting settled into his new responsibilities.

Also, due to a lack of time, Cyris has decided to step down as AED of House Satal Keto. Please do not apply for the position. We have a few different candidates that we are considering for the spot and will be filling the position once we have decided on the best person to complete the duties AED has.

A NOTE ABOUT POSITIONS IN CLAN PLAGUEIS

Over my time in the Brotherhood, I've noticed a trend for members to desperately want positions within a Clan (Such as QUA, AED, PCON, etc), yet they don't seem to have any idea why, other than an addition to their ID lines. This will not work in Clan Plagueis.

While I don't mind if the general membership's activity is lax on occasion, I feel the people in the positions in the Clan (ALL of which as key) need to remain active and doing their assigned duties. A position requires dedication and involves a lot of work. PLEASE do not accept a position simply because you think it is a chance to be a "leader" or because you think it is easier to get promotions or rewards in a summit position. You will find yourself very disappointed with the way things turn out. ALWAYS find out what a job you agree to do entails before accepting it. If you have any questions, definitely ask... it's the only way to get answers :)

I also feel I should address the idea that these positions give a person a great amount of authority and leadership. While it is true that my Summit members are the main people I consult with, the positions are not primarily about Leadership. What is most desired for people in these positions is not the ability to lead so much as the ability to do their assigned duties and do them well. THAT will mark the success of the person in the position... not any imagined authority.

This is not to (or as a result) of anyone in particular... it's just a trend I've noticed over the yeas in the club... and one I'd like to see stop.

DARK JEDI KNIGHT+ MASTER / STUDENT PROGRAM ROLLING

I've taken on a few students initially for the new DJK+ Master/Student program and have assigned trials to one of them. I'm currently developing trials for the others, but unfortunately time is sometimes limited and I have been focusing on Clan matters. I will be releasing trials to all of my students within the next few days, though... so they should keep their eyes open!

MASTER / STUDENT PROGRAM ONLINE (MASTERS AND STUDENTS TAKE NOTE!)

I've finally managed to complete the Trials section of the Master/Student Program on the Clan Plagueis web site. If you are a Master I have not spoken to yet, email me at [Log in to view e-mail addresses] (do NOT reply to this mail... it will send your reply to the entire list). I will get you your username and password so that you can log in and assign trials for your apprentice.

I have also updated the Wisdom of Plagueis document, effectively splitting it into two. The first is the public document available on the web site. It contains all of the information on the ranks up to PRT. The new Master's Guide contains information on how to write trials for the Student and contains instructions and suggestions for the ranks GRD to DJK. It also contains a sample trial so that Masters can see what is expected of them. The new guide is available to Masters when they log in to the Clan Plagueis web site, and I request that they all read AT LEAST the sample trial before writing their own Student's trials.

When a trial is submitted, it will need to be approved by the Consul (myself) or the Clan Envoy (Lucien). If changes are needed, we will contact you with those changes and ask you to make them via the web site. Once approved, the trial will show up on your Student's admin page when they log in to the Clan Plagueis site. DO NOT SEND YOUR TRIALS TO YOUR STUDENT UNTIL THEY ARE MARKED AS APPROVED ON THE WEB SITE.

All students that have never logged in to the site before should contact me to get their passwords.

DEBATE COMPETITION

As seen here: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/dbjedi/news.asp

The office of the Krath High Priest is hosting a friendly debate competition. If you are interested in participating, email myself and Lucien ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) with an email that has the subject "Application for Debate Team". If you do not sign your email, or if your subject line is not as described, you will not be considered for the team. I've received 6 interested applicants so far, and have to have the teams selected by tomorrow night, so get your email in to me if you're interested!

SUMMERTIME

Well... it's summer in the part of the world where the majority of our members are, and that means things tend to slow down a bit due to many members going on leave for holidays with their families. This is a great time to get organized and prepared for the fall, when things pick up again. If you have ideas for the House or Clan, contact your QUA and get their opinion.

UPCOMING CONSUL PROJECTS

Well... I've knocked off the Trials/MSP section of my goals, so I feel pretty good. Here's the next things on my plate, in order of my intention to do them:

1) Write an Envoy position manual detailing what an Envoy's job is (at the House and Clan level) and how they are to go about conducting those duties. This will be done in conjunction with the Clan Envoy.

2) Work with the Summit (QUAs and AEDs) to come up with a similar style manual for their positions. This will include exactly what needs to be included in their reports and what duties are expected.

3) Incorporate Rebirth into the Master/Student program. Once the new Rebirth web site is released in August (less than a month away!), our Master/Student program will require some further revision and everyone will require a little time to get settled into the new system. This will be my primary focus when it happens, so I hope to have numbers 1 and 2 above done within the next month.

MAILING LISTS

Just a quick note for our newer members, and a reminder for our older ones:

Please remember that the Clan and House mailing lists are for announcing things related to the DB or Star Wars to the entire unit. They are NOT for discussion of those announcements. If you feel the need to reply or comment on something said in an announcement (or report, like this one), email the person who sent it... do NOT just hit reply, as this will send the message to the whole list.

On the same idea, the lists are also not for one-line comments. Please save that for IRC or the Forum. If you have any questions as to if your mail is appropriate for the lists, please contact your Quaestor, Aedile, Proconsul, or myself.

One last thing to note on this... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... when you are contacting anyone in the club, SIGN YOUR EMAILS with your DB name (or your whole ID line, if you like! You earned it... show it off!). It is really annoying to receive a mail from an excited member, but to not know who that member is. If you don't tell us, how do you expect us to know?:) This is important on ALL mails to club members... but ESPECIALLY important on mails to the entire list.

FIN

Well... that's it for this week. I think I missed a report last week, but I wanted to get all that web site work done and in place for the Masters and Students, and I'm extremely pleased with how the system is working so far.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to email me or message me on IRC.