Brothers & Sisters of Excidium,

It has been another productive month in House Excidium. We started March with an explosion of activity, but soon came back to an earthly rate of submissions (based on the House’s historical data). While the surge was a pleasant surprise, the return to normalcy was much expected - and necessary. We spent the month of April doubling down on our foundational excellence from March - as a leadership team - and really solidifying the process. We also tried some new formats that got exceptional turnout and found some formats that received very little turnout. It all goes down the in the Excidium Leadership journal, so that we can continue what our members find enjoyable and take other ideas back to the drawing board to work out the kinks.

It may sound repetitive, but I really have to uplift the names of our Aedile, Alara Deathbane, and our Battle Team Leader, Shadow Nighthunter, for the amazing work they do. A lot of the work they do goes unseen, but it sets the tone for our House and what we stand for. In my last report, I discussed our Vision and Mission going forward. These two women work very diligently to ensure that our members have competitions to submit to, an environment they can call their own, and a progressing storyline that compels members to keep coming back. They are the keystone pieces to our House’s leadership; allowing me to focus on other projects or tasks. I am blessed to have both as my lieutenants and will continue to stand behind them and support their dreams for what House Excidium and Battle Team Tacitus Athanasius can be.

I’m excited about May. I believe you should be, too. If you have interest in joining our small cadre of leaders by assisting us with specific tasks and competition formats, please reach out. We have quite a group of crazies and we like adding more like-minded individuals that are ready to work. Just drop me a line on Telegram (@Braecen) or e-mail ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]).

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Star Wars Celebration Orlando

In case you live under a rock, Star Wars Celebration 2017 recently concluded in Orlando, Florida. Several of our own clanmates were present (Shawnathan, Antonai, Braecen) with several prominent Elders in the club (Wally, Aabsdu, Valhavoc). We spent four days exploring the best of what Star Wars has to offer, listening to the future visionaries of the brand (major kudos to Dave Filoni), while falling in love with old stars all over again (I’m looking at you, Mark Hamill!). We did our best to share the on-going action with a special Telegram channel; however, not a great many people joined in the fun. I wanted to take a moment to share some of our best and brightest moments as a club at this major event.

We started the event off right on Day 1 with DJM Aabsdu, DA Marick, EQ1 Antonai, DA Braecen, and DA Valhavoc!

We continued into Day 3 with all of our Elders, but switched out our Equite for Hunter Shawnathan!

Before we took a short break and caught the first episode of the upcoming Star Wars Rebels Season 4.

Be sure to check out all the images saved to the Star Wars Celebartion Telegram Chat from the link I shared above. There were almost 200 pictures shared to that channel that highlight everything from panels, exclusives coming this Fall, and merchandise that could be found at the convention. It was a ton of fun, I truly enjoyed the brotherhood and fellowship of being at this event with other members of our club. It truly recharged my Star Wars batteries and made me excited about representing this club. If you have any questions about the convention, feel free to drop me a line.

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The Message

I recently watched a conversation unfold in the Clan chat about leadership. After nearly fifteen years in retail management, I tend to forget how varying these views can be. While some individuals will singularly defend a certain leadership style, I can tell you that I am far more open-minded about what works for each individual, their unit, and the results they are attempting to bring about. I will also state that my preferred leadership style is a mentor-leader format operating on strength based leadership with a hard line for execution and accountability. I’m all for Managers with a ‘soft’ touch, but my own style is far more in your face (collectively, I hear my former subordinates in the Brotherhood snicker at my understatement of 2017).

Here is what all leadership has in common: Choice.

You either choose to step forward or you do not. Do not believe that there are some magic prerequisites to being a leader beyond your willingness to serve others. If you truly believe in being of service to others, placing their experience over your own… valuing their time more than yours… you can be a leader. It starts with that simple premise: you want to make other’s experiences in our club better.

It sounds so simple. Why do so many people often never lead, then? Fear. It is a terrifying thought for a lot of people to know that your actions will be judged by others. That you will be responsible for the fun and well-being of others. That sort of fear can immobilize a person without experience in leadership. However, not choosing to act is also a choice. And it is one far more detrimental than owning your current situation and feelings. If you are ready to step forward, say so. If you do not feel you are ready, say so. But never say it was because you did not know how to be a leader. Truly, one does not know anything until they have people to lead. You learn so much. And it translates itself so fluidly into your everyday life.

If you are unsure about what it means to be a leader, please reach out to me. I have held the positions, I have read the books, I have partaken of the workshops and developmental classes… and I am willing to share. I want to ease your burden and build your self-confidence as the future leaders of this club. Without the next generation of leaders, we will never progress or reach our full potential. It requires new ideas and new blood to reach new heights.

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The Promised Land

There are some things that continually will be on our project board and some one-time projects that we will focus on. Ultimately, I wanted to quick-hit some of the things I would like to see, some things we are already working on, and create an open invitation to hear your ideas for our future, as well.

Social Calendar. I want to create a one-stop shop for our members to host activities (Gaming Nights, Cards Against Humanity, Google Hangouts, etc) or participate. This club is about the connections we create as people, not our characters.

Movie Night. We tried several pieces of software, but the decision was that Rabbit (powered by Google) is the winner. Please be sure to download Chrome as an alternate web browser, if you do not have it already. With the use of Chrome, we can put 25 people into one chat room and stream Netflix and other content. I am currently in the process of downloading movies from my iTunes and converting them to a proper format. Once that work is done, we’ll have newer/better options to view as a family.

CSP Gaming Level 1. We hosted our initial MAJOR clan gaming event in April. The event went largely under the radar, but we got ten participants and were able to dish out a ton of crescents to our members. It also featured non-gaming competitions (submit your best toon image, submit your gaming playlist, etc) that allowed for individuals without the games to get in on the action. Our future edition (aptly named Level 2) will feature more free-to-play games creating even more accessibility to our membership.

May the 4th 2017. Our very own Rasilvenaira and I will be hosting a series of quick, fun Star Wars competitions starting on National Star Wars Day. These games/puzzles/quizzes have been ripped directly from the StarWars.com website for your enjoyment. Please be sure to carve out some time to celebrate with us as we run these events from May 4th through May 18th!

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THE FIN

Remember that our House creed is have fun! You should be attempting to find one or two unique activities each week that you deem fun. Sometimes they will be challenging events. Sometimes they will come very naturally. The point is that we are here to build our community - Scholae Palatinae - by creating competitions of our own and supporting others (running their own competitions) by submitting to theirs.

We owe that to one another. And I know that we can support one another like the big, goofy family that we are. As always, if you have questions, concerns, or ideas… please bring them to me. Our leadership team is always looking for ways to get people involved and we love to see the initiative!

I am, your servant,

Braecen Kaeth
Quaestor of Excidium