2015 Annual Report

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TarValon.Net

413 Graycroft Drive, Huntsville, AL 35815

2015 Annual Report

TarValon.Net, Inc.

Property of TarValon.Net, Incorporated (hereafter referred to as TV.Net)

Compiled and edited by Anne Vanolli

With Assistance from Karen Sheridan and Ashley Morgan

Contents

State of the Tower – Amyrlin / CEO Welcome

As I look back on 2015, my first almost-year of being the fully inducted Amyrlin Seat, I have a lot of pride in what we as a community have done. I used 2015 as a year to get things settled at TarValon.Net after the big changes of my being selected as Amyrlin and the start of Integration in January.

I was fully inducted in March, at our Fourteenth Anniversary Party. We had two other changes at the Officer level. Cassie Dainar was selected as CFO/Shatayan and fully inducted on July 1, and Toral Delvar officially became the CRO/Archivist on November 11. I consider myself very lucky to have them as fellow Officers, along with Lireina Dormerus t'al`Bearach, the COO/Keeper.

In July, we switched banks from Chase Bank to Wells Fargo because neither Cassie nor I had a local Chase branch near us. We amended our Articles of Incorporation with a list of the current board members and officers. Going forward, we will amend this annually at tax time (in the first quarter of the year), if needed.

In March, we paid off all our debt. To celebrate, we decided to have a Tower Free Day on March 27. We ran a contest, asking members to submit potential names and then to vote on the three the Exec team liked best. Mychael Ritoryn's suggestion of (In the) Black Tower Day won by two votes! It was neck in neck with Day of Broken Shackles.

The Re-Readalong with the Amyrlin proceeded throughout the year. We closed out December with Lord of Chaos and will start A Crown of Swords in 2016. At Anni, I awarded the four Amyrlin Awards to Lireina Dormerus t'al`Bearach (Member of the Year), Taika Vinh (Philanthropist of the Year), Shariyan Al'Feay and Alyssa Letherio (Unsung Servants), and Zandera Sommers (Volunteer of the Year). I am so very lucky to lead a community that has these amazing people in it.

Finally, 2015 saw the publication of the Wheel of Time Companion. I was fortunate enough to live close enough to Raleigh, N.C., to be able to attend the last book signing of the last Wheel of Time book to be published, and I got to chat with Team Jordan there.

In 2016, now that the administration is stable and things are running smoothly, I plan to start looking to the future of our community. It is no secret that we have few new members joining, so we need to find ways to both draw in new members and retain our current members. I will continue leading the re-read. I am looking forward to participating in the Tar Valon Book Club which Kerna plans to start in January. We have great events planned, our Fifteenth Anniversary in our "hometown" of Placerville, Calif.; Fall Ball in Calgary, AB, Canada; and Euro in Stavanger, Norway. I am looking forward to another great year at TV.Net.

The complete list of Executives is given in #Appendix F.

Yours in the Light,
Rhed al'Tere
The Watcher of the Seals
The Flame of TarValon.Net
The Amyrlin Seat

Statement from the Board of Directors

The Board thought that 2015 was going to be calmer than 2014, but the Board was wrong. Training with the new CEO/Amyrlin Seat, Ashley Morgan, was completed in early 2015. The Board then worked with the existing Officers to process the resignations of the CRO/Tower Archivist, Jen Halbman, and the CFO/Shatayan, Jessica Beaushene, and before the year's end they had been replaced with Greg Shelley and Amanda Caldwell, respectively. These changes in Officers resulted in legal and administrative hurdles with regards to paperwork and banking, but those were cleared.

Amanda Keen was re-elected for a full term at the annual Board meeting in March 2015.

Our current statement about B. Riley Robinson follows.

"On January 24, TV.Net's legal counsel, Hammar O'Justice, updated the community on the status of TV.Net's dispute with Riley Robinson that began in 2012. TV.Net reported Robinson to local law enforcement in New Mexico and to the FBI on the basis of several potential crimes. These agencies have not concluded their investigations and those criminal investigations remain pending. The IRS was informed by TV.Net leadership of Robinson's possible failure to report as income the money misappropriated from TV.Net's accounts. Hammar and the leadership at TV.Net continue to have no comment on the proceedings."

Amanda M. Keen, Chairman of the Board of Directors

In Memoriam – Martele d'Acre – November 9, 2015

TV.Net wishes to honor the memory of members who were active and in good standing

Amyrlin's Announcement

My friends, it is with a heavy heart that I come to you now.

Martele d'Acre, Gaidin of Val'Cueran, passed away this afternoon due to complications from a recent surgery. He is survived by his wife and Aes Sedai, Muerandah d'Acre of the Green Ajah.

The Light shine on you, Martele Gaidin, and may you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand. The last embrace of the mother welcome you home. We will miss you here.

Randah, my deepest condolences.

Rhed al'Tere

From the Tar Valon Times

With every year's ending comes a time when we think about fresh starts, make new promises, set our minds to new goals. As we embark on our journey through 2016, we have time to reflect on what the previous year had brought us... and what it had taken away.

On November 9, TV.Net's community lost an old member and a dear friend: Martele d'Acre Gaidin passed away due to surgery complications.

Martele Gaidin joined TV.Net in 2006. As he revealed in his Senior Member interview, he was introduced to the Wheel of Time series by a friend, but he continued reading past book 3 only when he found TV.Net. In May 2008, he became the newest Gaidin in the Val'Cueran pack.

Martele Gaidin attended multiple official events, among which was 10th Anni, where his wife Muerandah d'Acre was raised to Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah, which was followed by their bonding.

Outside TV.Net, Martele Gaidin was also a husband, a loving father of two sons and a daughter, a grandfather to six grandchildren.

Following the sad announcement, numerous TV.Net members said their last goodbyes to Martele Gaidin — those who knew him well, those who had met him, and those who have only heard of him.

Lilli Sedai wrote a touching poem in his honor:

Sorrow bends our heads,
but we are not dead.
Memories wash over us,
but will not get the best of us.

To live is to honor,
with laughter and candor,
those that nurtured us,
with such care and devotion.

Weep for the one lost to sight,
as is right,
but remember to honor
a life with life.

And just as the poem says, while we as a community will mourn, we will always honor those that are no longer with us by cherishing the traces they had left in our lives. Martele Gaidin was and always will be an inseparable thread of TV.Net's very own Pattern.

As Mother put it:

"The Light shine on you, Martele Gaidin, and may you shelter in the palm of the Creator's hand."

May we meet you again in a new Age, Martele Gaidin.

Theolyn Maryash

Keeper / COO

Annual Overview

2015 has been an eventful year for the community—changes from the top down have had some very positive overall results for the community as a whole.

Departments Overview

The Executive team was touched by change once again this year, with the official induction of our Amyrlin, Rhed al'Tere, at 14th Anni in Georgia being the biggest change in the roster.

The Department of Research and Records was moved under the purview of Archivist in a restructuring move, and with the retirement of Serenla Tamowith as Archivist, our previous Director of Research and Records, Toral Delvar, was selected to replace her, leaving yet another place to be filled. Kerna Shedrian then joined the Exec team to fill that role as Head Librarian and Director of Research and Records, working directly with Toral once more. Our Director of Technology, Erin al'Denael, decided to take a well-earned retirement, and was succeeded by Mendo Cath, who has jumped right in to lead the department. And finally, our Director of Administration, Calypsa al'Nicolai, also chose to retire from her role — no replacement has yet been selected for her. Completing their first years in their roles were Aryawnah Federov, our Director of Community Outreach, and Naomi al'Moranwin as our Director of Events and Conferences. Our veteran Executives have continued to expand and refine their departments: Kelgan al'Moranwin in Moderators and Operators, Ariadne Davion in Marketing, and last but certainly not least, Sa'areah Britthorn in Membership.

Integration was implemented at the beginning of the year, and our Membership Survey was geared specifically to gather community feedback on the results of the implementation and participation, along with sections for Events and Outreach. This input has been valuable to the Administration in working on what direction to take these items in the future.

New additions to our forums for various levels of the community were implemented, from Junior and Senior Member–specific forums to the Mafia forum for our dedicated players.

These have been well received by the community and provide more expansive ways for our membership to interact both within their membership groups and across them.

Looking Forward to 2016

2016 will see our community celebrating its 15th year in the hometown of our Koyn Amyrlin, an event of special significance as a reminder of how far the community has come in that time. With our first year of Integration complete, the Administration will continue to evaluate new and expansive ways to encourage growth in the community through refining our presence in social media, along with reviewing our participation in RL events such as JordanCon. Here is to a wonderful 2016!

Lireina Dormerus t'al`Bearach,
Keeper of the Chronicles

Tower Archivist / Secretary

2015 saw our Archivist Serenla Tamowith step down and be replaced by Toral Delvar. It also saw a change to the responsibilities involved in the role. As it is officially the Chief Records Officer, it was felt that the Department of Research and Records would fit better under Archivist than Keeper, so the command chain for that department was changed to report to the Archivist.

Merits were released in May 2015 and the next set of recipients was identified for early 2016 release, which should see them up to date. Work was also begun on updating the Membership Manual.

For 2016, the goals are as follows:

  1. To release the current set of Merits and have at least one more release, to include anyone who was overlooked;
  2. Update the Membership Manual so that it reflects the current state of TV.Net;
  3. Run the Members' Choice Awards;
  4. Review the most recent Merit Badge discussion and identify any additional new Merits.

Toral Delvar,
Tower Archivist

Shatayan / CFO

The year 2015 saw a lot of good things for the Tower financially. As we planned our future for 2016, we have reached a financially stable point and are able to cover all required expenses and relax some of the measures that had been taken to recover financially from Rileygate.

The role as Shatayan / Chief Financial Officer transitioned in May of this year from Ubahsur Kindellaer to Cassie Dainar. Along with this change, the role of assistant to the Shatayan has been discontinued as unnecessary. Sabriane Diamodred continued to provide tax preparation support, utilizing her accounting background and tax expertise.

The first full year of utilizing the new fiscal year provided a little bit of confusion around the budget, but has worked well overall. The 2016 budget was reviewed and approved at the Fall Admin Meeting and it was determined that we have recovered sufficiently to pay for many of the items we have desired for some time (like a public announcement system for events) but have to this point been unable to afford.

The end of fiscal year 2015 saw TV.Net debt free, the final debt payment was made in March. Since that time, we have compiled a list of the life event gifts which were not given to members who had children during the past several years, and we have provided gift cards to approximately 75% of the members identified. Remaining gifts will be provided once the members have been successfully contacted.

Looking forward into calendar year 2016, I expect this to be a quiet year, filled only with normal monthly reporting and assisting the departments with their financial needs.

Financial data is given in #Appendix A.

Cassie Dainar,
Shatayan

Department of Administration

2015 was a busy year for the Department of Administration. The department saw several changes this year along with good project generation. We saw several changes in staffing, new survey report formatting, and faster Annual Report publishing.

Membership Survey

This year we did the Membership Survey a little differently. Instead of a comprehensive survey soliciting feedback on all departments, we focused on a few key administrative areas and on gathering data regarding the implementation of integration. This more focused 2014/2015 Membership Survey ran from June 29 through July 31. A total of 167 responses were submitted, accounting for a 41.75% response rate from the community. This percentage and number of responses is significantly higher than last year's response rate of 116.

As enticement to take the survey, we offered some awesome prizes to five lucky participants: two $25 gift certificates to either Ta'Veren Tees or Amazon.com and three Wheel of Time–themed bookmarks. The winners of the gift cards were Enya Tawarwaith and Laithean Cor'dazar. Bookmark recipients were Kerna Shedrian, Dee ar'Emm, and Syera Faelron.

The 2014/2015 Focused Membership Survey Report was published in the Library on November 12, 2015.

Our survey theme for this year is "Rabid Recruit Jessica." The Amyrlin herself created our advertising graphics and composed a story about Rabid Recruit Jessica and her adventures in the Tower.

Badges: Badges 2015.png

Annual Reports

The 2014 Annual Report was released on May 1, 2015. This was the fastest release we have had to date. The AR format has become more consistent and contributors know what to expect in terms of content and deadlines. We once again had editing and proofing assistance from Kelgan Gaidin and Rhed Sedai.

Department Staffing Updates

2015 has been a busy year in terms of staffing changes for the Department of Administration. Isarma Maracanda has continued on in her role as the Annual Report Project Manager, a job that she has been doing for over five years now!

Mirandha Laflor stepped down as Survey Project Manager in April. Our new SPM, Cahalan Sothron, brings a wealth of experience to the role and has jumped in feet first to spruce up our survey capabilities.

Melisande Arneil joined the Department as the Membership Activities Coordinator on February 3. The role of the MAC shifted from its past iteration; the MAC became a part of the Department of Administration and has focused on generating and maintaining calendars for each Department to increase community cross-functionality.

The Legal Research Team retained its three members: Anirfyan Dayen, Alyssa Letherio, and Xander Silverstar. Hammar O'Justice remains the official TV.Net Legal Counsel.

In October the decision was made to disband the Survey Team. The Membership Survey format, content, and frequency is a current topic of conversation that will continue into the new year. Given the uncertainty, it was decided that the best move for now is to disband the team and to start fresh when we more accurately know the future of the Membership Survey.

In November, Calypsa al'Nicolai announced her resignation as Director of Administration. She will remain active and involved until a new Director or direction for the Department of Administration is decided upon.

Looking Forward to 2016

2015 was a busy year for our department. There were many staffing changes, new projects were started, and our usual projects are finding their zones.

In early 2016, we will begin work on the 2015 Annual Report with an anticipated release date of early spring 2016.

At this time, it is unknown what the 2015 Membership Survey will look like or if there will be one. Hopefully more information will be available by spring 2016.

Finally, the Department of Administration will look ahead to welcoming a new Director or a new direction in the new year.

Calypsa al'Nicolai,
Director of Administration

Department of Community Outreach

Staff Changes

To date, there have been no administrative-level staffing changes to the Outreach Activities Team, the Servant of All team, or the department staff.

Philanthropic Outreach Activities

Real Life Events

North American Anni 2015

For 14th Anni at Red Top Mountain State Park, we partnered with the Atlanta Ronald McDonald Gatewood House. The theme was Waking Up Atlanta. Attendees were asked to bring the makings for a coffee bar including, but not limited to, coffee, tea, sugar, creamer, cups, stirrers, etc. Monetary donations were also taken, raising a total of $133. The amount was rounded up to a $400 donation to the RMD house.

Da'covale was also a huge success this year, raising a total of $1,575.

We also raised money for the site this year via pranks, a raffle, and a magic draft. Prank donations raised a total of $185. The raffle raised a total of $324. The magic draft raised a total of $150.

Euro 2015

No event was held this year.

B&I 2015

Britain and Ireland party was held in Dublin this year. There was no outreach for this event.

Fall Ball 2015

Fall Ball was held in Duluth, Minn. Jodea Kegan was the Local Liaison. The chosen charity was Animal Allies of Duluth! They raised $100 as well as various pet toys and fleece for bedding.

Fundraisers

Summer Fundraiser

For our annual Maintenance fundraiser, we held a .GIF off in the hopes to spark activity and fun as well as raise funds for the Tower. We had a prize tier as incentive. The more we raised, the more prizes we raffled out. We raised $2691.12 for the Tower, surpassing the $2500 tier which led to the following prizes being awarded:

For a complete list of donors, please see Appendix B / Summer Fundraiser Donors.

Feast of Lights 2015

This year for Feast of Lights, we once again asked everyone to be a Servant of All within their communities. Unlike last year, we opened up donations to be for anything: time, money, food, toys, or any other form of donation. We had an amazing turnout with 33 charitable acts from 21 members! For every charitable act, the member was entered into our raffle of five tickets to our 15th Anniversary party! Our lucky winners were Adina al'Mari, Cahalan Sothron, Alora Sionn, Tsubasa Kamui, and Brandon Tat'vakja.

For a complete list of donors, please see Appendix B / Feast of Lights 2015 Donors.

Robert Jordan Memorial Scholarship

This year, we accepted applications for the scholarship from June 7 through July 5. We had a large turnout for applications this year from reaching out through social media. We received a total of 12 applications, and the Hall of the Tower chose two to receive a $500 scholarship.

The recipients were Aamir Hussein and our own Miridyth Al'Landerin. Their winning essays can be found in the Library.

2015 Blood Drive

This year's goal was simply to surpass last year's donations of 41 pints of blood. Unfortunately, we fell a little shy this year with 32 pints being donated.

For a complete list of donors, please see Appendix B / 2015 Blood Drive Donors.

Servant of All Program

The Servant of All Program went live May 15, and thus far has been a success and an active forum. We have also started our Servant of the Month program, where one member is recognized for the good they have done in the month. The member is randomly selected from the group, and is featured in an article in the Tar Valon Times.

For a complete list of donors, please see Appendix B / 2015 Servant of the Month.

Outreach Activities

Bel Tine

Bel Tine was held from March 22–28 this year. Our theme this year was Spring Cleaning. In celebration of Spring, we held several events including a Spam-a-thon, Group Theme contest, Story contest, Trivia, Thief Hunt, and Riddles. The over-all winner of the Group Theme was the Brown Ajah with their Be Inspired theme. Mychael Ritoryn won the Trivia.

Saowynn Ardashi (later known as Cahalan Sothron) and Sailea Nerid were the co-winners of the Thief Hunt. Sailea Nerid, Alora Sionn, and Rhed al'Tere got all of the Riddle questions correct. Most Poetic story went to Sailea Nerid, Most Prolific to Saowynn Ardashi, and Most Entertaining to Kyla Sterling, Selvyn al'Aran, Melisande Arneil, Tomeina Raieese, and Zandera Sommers. The Blue Ajah won our Spam-a-thon. Sailea Nerid and Kerwin Thaumiel were announced as our Spirits of Bel Tine, and Taelinn Dolivras was our Rock Star of Bel Tine.

The Group Themes were as follows:

  • Blue Ajah: Winter Blues
  • Brown Ajah: Inspirational Quotes to Make Your Day Better
  • Gray Ajah: Painted Avatars
  • Red Ajah: Vintage Style
  • White Ajah: Cleaning for Bel Tine
  • Novices and Recruits: My Little Pony
  • Accepted and Soldiers: Dwarves for Bel Tine
Shaoman

Shaoman was held from October 22 to November 1 this year in recognition of Fall and Halloween. Our theme this year was Ghosts Invade the Ball. We had a few activities such as a Boasting Contest and our Group Theme Contest as well as storytelling. The winner of the First Place Theme was the Gray Ajah, and the Most Entertaining Theme was won by the Red Ajah.

The Group Themes were as follows:

  • Blue Ajah: Some Call Me Tim (Curry)
  • Brown Ajah: Theme Not Found
  • Gray Ajah: Disney's Grumpy Cats: NO, Just No.
  • Green Ajah: Ghostbusters
  • Red Ajah: Little Red Riding Hood
  • White Ajah: Men in White
  • Yellow Ajah: Healing and Poisonous Herbs
  • Dai M'hael: Tribute to Robin Williams
  • Mahdi'in d'ma Dieb: Celebrating the Democratic Process
  • Val Cueran: Wolves of Serenity Valley
  • Junior Members: Snakes and Foxes
  • Citizens: Fashionably Late

Looking Forward to 2016

For 2016, I intend to get the Avendesora program in full swing and update member pages with the proper leaves. I also want to work with Marketing on getting our scholarship out into the community a little more, in order to hopefully boost both membership and awareness. We are also running another blood drive this year and hope that we can surpass the previous two years.

Aryawnah Federov,
Director of Community Outreach

Department of Events and Conferences

2015 was a good year for the Events and Conferences team. There were no changes to the Staff during the year besides the Events Marshalls position being disbanded at the end of January.

Events held in 2015 were:

  • Anniversary Party 2015: Red Top Mountain, North Georgia, March 13–16 (72 attendees)
  • JordanCon 2015: Atlanta, Ga., April 17–19 (42 attendees)
  • Euro Party 2015: Dublin, Ireland, October 2–4 (23 attendees)
  • Fall Ball 2015: Duluth, Minn., October 23–25 (14 attendees)

Kerna Shedrian,
on behalf of Naomi al'Moranwin, Director of Events and Conferences

Department of Marketing

Staff and Position Changes

Jeffan Caliarthan stepped down as Editor of the Tar Valon Times and Maibella ni Rhoiden t'al'Varrak became Editor on May 1, 2015. Zandera Sommers replaced Maibella as Assistant Editor on May 18, 2015.

At the beginning of April, Rayonin Charin stepped down as Tower Voice. He was replaced by Aintza Bisera on May 1, 2015, who served as Tower Voice until June 2015, when the Tower Voice position was folded into the Social Marketing Team.

Social Media Team was announced April 30, 2015, and the first new staff appointed June 1, 2015.

Social Marketing Manager was advertised September 20, 2015, and Ne'Mireth Delvar was hired on October 19.

Miscellaneous

There are currently no standing changes to the department outside the Social Marketing Team. See Social Marketing for further details.

Tar Valon Times

This year the TVT implemented a theme of recurring articles. Some of these articles are consistently written by one Reporter while others are written by various members of the TVT team. Other changes include consistent publication of the TVT at 10 a.m. EST (US) on the first day of each month. Each edition includes at least 15 articles and almost always includes over 20 articles. The Editor is actively engaging with the Social Marketing Director to increase readership of the TVT and is looking for other ways to increase member involvement with the TVT.

Member Spotlights of 2015

Graphics Development Team

Previously titled "Marketing Team," this section will reflect the graphics aspect of the Marketing Department. Overall, the team continues to plug along. There are fewer requests as the steady stream of events takes up the bulk of the graphic requests.

Site Official Logos

Currently we are processing two logos, the Citizen logo and the Tower Junior Member logo.

We are in the final stages of the Citizen logo and hope to release it in early 2016. We are looking at a late 2016 release date for the Tower Junior Member logo.

TarValon.Net Shop - CafePress and Zazzle

Our CafePress store has done exceptionally well, with more products being purchased this year than the previous, with a show of growth. We are very pleased with this and will continue to cultivate more products and item availability for members.

At this time, after running the Zazzle shop for over a year, and its inability to organize products in a user-friendly manner and the added cost for each item, it was decided that Zazzle was not the best option for our needs and we have closed our account. TV.Net will remain solely with CafePress for the foreseeable future.

Social Marketing

During the Spring Admin Meeting, the need to engage more over various social media, taking into account our already very busy Tower Voices, was discussed. Concluding the need for a team venture, a hiring notice was posted in April, and hires were announced in June.

Organization started slowly, as the Director and team brainstormed ways of how best to be effective over Social Media and sorted the team to be efficient. In September, it was decided there was a need for an Admin to work more intimately with the group and lead the team.

Ne'Mireth Delvar has done wonders following up through the Social Media Team and other venues on how to best optimize our presence online.

Apart from the month of December, where most of organization and experimentation took place, the reach is consistently higher overall, and posts became more relevant, increasing post engagement on Facebook. The team is now focused on building better outreach on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr as well as establishing connections with social media groups relevant to the Wheel of Time.

Goals for 2016 - Moving Forward

2016 is the year of in-house re-organizing and optimizing. Between the Social Media Team and the Graphic Development Team, the goal is to work with the Admins (Siera al'Cere and Ne'Mireth Delvar) in managing short- and long-term projects. We are also looking at re-addressing our presence and involvement in the community as a whole. After all, the best way in putting our best foot forward is by dressing our best.

Facebook statistics can be found in #Appendix D.

Ariadne Davion,
Director of Marketing

Department of Membership

The Department of Membership is responsible for fostering a sense of community within TV.Net. It is involved with the administrative tasks that relate to the membership, and attempts to create a bridge between individual groups and the site at large.

Citizen Status

Applications mirrored 2014, in that we again had 38 new citizens joining TV.Net. The applications were the same rate at three a month. April and May brought the highest numbers, while March and November were particularly quiet. 2015 brought in 18 females and 20 males.

Tower Members

Eleven applied to the Tower last year, and 11 to Accepted and Soldier. Sixteen members were raised to Senior Member status, and 12 people demoted over the course of the year.

Summary of 2015

2015 brought about a flurry of new activity with new ideas. The Welcoming Committee was fully expanded to include more staff, and has brought about an exciting change to how citizens are viewed here at TV.Net. Hall hiring shifted from January until July, to April until October. Integration has now seen the introduction of male Aes Sedai and female Gaidin, and its implementation is successful. With Integration, it made sense to move to one Admin position for the two different Tower tiers, so the creation of a Master/Mistress of Novices and Recruits, and a Master/Mistress of Accepted and Soldiers streamlined that area. The other positions were discontinued.

In May, we held a Membership Cleanup. This is done to ensure that our top priority is to the active members, although we always welcome back old ones. Members who are removed during a cleanup remain in our databases, although Tower Junior Members must petition to come back at their previous rank, or return as a Citizen.

Results of the cleanup
  • 322 members responded on site
  • 78 members were emailed and responded to stay active
  • 3 members retired
  • 440 members are to be considered inactive.

Looking Forward to 2016

Sadly, some of the projects in the pipeline for 2015 did not happen (the Junior Member event in particular). However, they are still in the planning and hopefully will be implemented in 2016.

New raising tests, both for Tier 2 and for the Senior Member should be fully usable by spring 2016. We are looking into moving from an email-based test to a randomly assigned online questionnaire to simplify this procedure.

Membership statistics can be found in #Appendix E.

The complete list of volunteers is given in #Appendix G.

Sa'areah Britthorn,
Director of Membership

Department of Moderators and Operators

Annual Overview

2015 was overall a fairly quiet year for the Department of Moderators and Operators. There were no significant upheavals in the structure of the department itself, as there have been for the past couple years, but there have been a number of smaller changes which have worked out well. We are generally pretty pleased with the way things are running.

Mafia

Most of the changes that took place were with reference to Mafia. The most significant change is the elevation of the Mafia mods to Admin status. With a year of experience with the new forum, we concluded that the Mafia mods were (a) doing a considerable amount of organizational and enforcement work, much more so than their counterparts elsewhere on the boards, and (b) that this work entailed managing the game mods, almost more than anything else. As such, we changed the position from staff to admin. The job description has not changed; rather, this change reflects the nature of the job they were already doing.

The second significant change is the introduction of Mafia Alt accounts. One of the most significant and consistent problems with Mafia here at TV.Net has been "big game hunting," a strategy where players known to be strong, especially those known to be good at playing the mafia side of the ball, are systematically removed from the game "just in case." The result has been that a lot of the older, better players on the site simply do not play with us anymore — it is just not much fun when you do not last more than a day because you are good at the game.

In an effort to prevent big game hunting, we were given permission to create a set of accounts exclusively for use with Mafia to create, effectively, a masquerade. These accounts have the word "mafia" somewhere in their names and have posting privileges restricted to the Mafia forum itself. Not every game uses them, but we are glad to be able to give game mods the option of using these alternative accounts. Reception has been mixed, as many members note that it is difficult to switch between two accounts, and the Mafia admins and the Director do have to be fairly vigilant about removing posts accidentally made from personal accounts in those games. We continue to seek solutions that the membership will find workable and welcome any comments or suggestions on the point at mafia@tarvalon.net and moderators@tarvalon.net (2022 update: mafia emails are not in use anymore, email onlinevents@tarvalon.net).

The other change to Mafia is the introduction of the QuickTopic platform to help manage dead threads and other restricted-access discussions. For those who do not play, these are threads which allow the mafia to communicate and coordinate with one another, which in some games allow certain groups of townies to coordinate, and which allow spectators and those already dead to discuss the game where no one currently playing it can see. We, in consultation with the Department of Technology, attempted to find a way to manage such a restricted access forum within the existing vB 4.2.2 platform, but we ultimately concluded that because of how often changes in access have to be made for some of those threads, there was no viable communications solution available within the existing boards that would meet the required functional specifications. As such, we searched for alternatives and were pleased to discover QuickTopic, a solution which allows us to create single locked threads with unique URLs wherein we can restrict access easily on a thread-by-thread basis and do not have to rely on the honor system. With the Tower now substantially recovered from Rileygate, we were authorized to get an annual subscription to give us much better tools to manage access and moderate those threads. Formally, any Mafia QuickTopic thread is considered as part of the boards and the same rules which apply to the boards generally and to the Mafia forum specifically apply equally in the QuickTopic threads.

Almost two years into our formal Mafia experience, we believe we are in a relatively good place structurally and do not anticipate making significant changes over the coming year, though if we hear a good idea, we will certainly take it into consideration!

Other Forums

Outside of Mafia, in 2014, we significantly re-arranged the Discussion Halls and which set of mods had responsibility for which set of forums to better balance activity and try to ensure that no one kind of topic was drowning out others in any forum. As part of that process, we had merged Health & Fitness with Home & Garden. While the other changes have worked well, that merger did not, and in the spring of 2015, we decided to return to the previous structure.

Finally, on a happy note, one of this department's perennial problems has been a low rate of applications for moderator and operator posts, particularly in our more intensive positions (e.g. CE mods). While we do not claim that a final solution has been found, we are happy to report that the situation has gotten considerably better in 2015, with as many or more high-quality applicants as were needed on the first try. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the community for their willingness to serve in this department — it is not always the most glamorous work, but it is vital to the community, and we deeply appreciate all those who volunteer to serve with us.

Looking Forward to 2016

For 2016, our goals are primarily to continue delivering high-quality moderation services to the site in both our forum and IRC offerings. A secondary goal is to continue to work toward completion of a Moderator's Handbook, which we hope to see finished in 2016.

Kelgan al'Moranwin,
Director of Moderators and Operators

Department of Research and Records

Annual Overview

2015 continued to be a quiet year for the department — for the most part.

The Companion was released in early November 2015, but due to copyright there should be no major changes to the Library at this time. We will not be adding any of the bonus material available in the book, but will use the Companion to assist in cleaning up existing information, such as full names of characters where appropriate. Our focus continues to be maintaining the Tower histories and expanding the Wheel of Time–related material from the main story arc where possible.

We were specifically mentioned in the Introduction of the Companion as an impressive reference of Wheel of Time detail.

The version of the media wiki was updated to version 1.25.3 in October, which saw us lose some functionality, but also gain others. Gains include the ability to do spoiler tags, whereas losses include the hit counter for page views. We added some wiki extensions at the end of December which should improve display and grouping of information.

Major departmental changes this year included the shift of chain of command from reporting to the Keeper to reporting to the Archivist. Kerna Shedrian was introduced as the new Director in November, after Toral Delvar succeeded into the role of Archivist. We also had a change in the Historians as Kitan Tataru stepped down and was replaced by Nyavene al'Meer. Bryher al'Venna continues to serve in this capacity. Eniara Kisharad stepped into the role of Events Historian at the end of the year and we hope to see more updates to our Histories in relation to this appointment. Charis Delphi continued on as Headmistress.

We no longer can see the statistics of page views so I cannot give stats on our most popular pages, but—especially with Harriet's comment on our efforts — I believe we are still a valuable source of Wheel of Time information. Our content pages have increased by almost 250 pages, although over 150 are TVT articles, including some from the archive.

For 2015 our goals were:

Book Pages
  1. Finish the remaining character updates
  2. Finish re-organizing the principal characters
  3. Use the re-read to update and improve the expanded chapter summaries
Site-Related Pages
  1. Keep the site-related pages up-to-date
  2. Expand and improve the Real Life Events Pages

We continue to work on these goals to improve the content and outlook of our Library.

Looking Forward to 2016

Our goals for 2016 are as follows:

  • Add spoiler tags to main and principal characters, and to chapter summaries to allow new readers to use our library more carefully and therefore more often.
  • Encourage more contributors to the Library, expanding content whether book, site, or community group–related.
  • Increase the exposure of our Library through social media and within our own membership, e.g. use the Desk forum more.

Kerna Shedrian,
Director of Research and Records

Department of Technology

Annual Overview

The Department of Technology supports the infrastructure of TV.Net. While the main objective is to maintain the availability of our website and message boards, members of the department are utilized as a technical resource for other projects. In addition to general staff who work on projects, there are a variety of named positions that handle specific areas of support:

  • Masters of the Watch – Systems Administrators, maintain servers and deal with any and all server-related functions for us.
  • Tower Gatekeepers – Move users into/out of usergroups by administration request.
  • Site Design Team – Create/tweak themes used by TV.Net

This year Technology continued to support TV.Net in a variety of ways. We managed server and vBulletin updates, answered email and help tickets, and did the best we could to keep TV.Net online as much as possible!

Staff Changes

In March, Technology staff underwent changes. Several members bid adieu to Tech - thanks again for your service to those who left: Chiyuki Nohara, Elorenya d'Rahien, John al'Ramin, Naomi al'Moranwin, and Qamra Daielin.

On October 16, the Keeper announced that Erin al'Denael would be stepping down as Directory of Technology. The incoming Director, Mendo Cath, assumed responsibility on December 1.

Projects

  • Backup Server – As of June 1, TV.Net officially controls our own backup server! Prior to June 1, we had backups, but they were hosted by Defen Estrator himself. Many thanks again to Defen for doing that for so many years! We have now assumed financial responsibility ourselves.
  • SSL Renewal – SSL was officially renewed in October, with the efforts of not only Azi, but Rhed, Cassie, and Lireina.

Looking Ahead / Letter from the Outgoing Director

Writing this up will be my last task as Director of Technology. The next year holds so much promise! With Mendo stepping up as Technology's new Director, I have high hopes that 2016 will be amazing. He has served as staff within Technology for quite some time prior to assuming this role. He is active, knowledgeable, and helpful. I am stepping down with the confidence that I am leaving the department in good hands.

It will be up to Mendo as to what Technology does in the future. But, as mentioned in the Fall Admin Meeting notes, the Site Design Team will be looking into creating customized Ajah/Company themes. There are a few back-burner projects that Mendo might want to jump-start. Or he could come up with brand new projects! I am excited to see how Technology evolves.

It has been real, 2015!

Cheers,

Erin al'Denael,
outgoing Director of Technology

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Financial Data

Fiscal Year 2016 Approved Budget

Approved
General Notes:
FY 9/1/15 - 8/31/16 Ticket income from 2015 in red
Ticket income to pay for 2017 in green
*Update line 8 with current exchange rate
2016 Budgeted Expenses 2016 Expected Income
Description Date Cost (Est) Notes Description Date Amount (Est) Notes
SSL Certification (T) October $ 120.00 Renewal and Verification cost
Admin (Ad) October $50 Gift Cards
2015 Euro-Dublin (E) October € 1,487.00 Paid for by Ticket Sales 2015 Euro October € 1,487.00 Ticket Sales may be from prior year
2015 Fall Ball - Duluth (E) October $ 3,162.98 Paid for by Ticket Sales 2015 Fall Ball October $ 3,162.98 Ticket Sales may be from prior year
Server Cost (T) December $ 216.00 Linode
Advertisement (M) March $110 J*Con Ad Purchase
Quick Topics (Mod) March $ 50.00 Used for Mafia, Started 2015
Awards (Other) April $500 Amyrlin & keeper Awards
JordanCon (E) April $ 300.00 Toast and gifts
2016 Anni - Lake Tahoe (E) April $ 15,000.00 Paid for by Ticket Sales 2016 Anni April $ 15,000.00 Ticket Sales expected to meet or exceed
Backup Server (T) June $ 84.00 Started June 2015
2017 Euro - X (E) June € 1,500.00
2017 Fall Ball - X (E) June $ 3,000.00
Maintenance Fundraiser (O) July $ 2,000.00
Scholarship (O) Sept $ 1,000.00 Two @$500 each
Domain Cost (T) N/A $ - Expires 9/17/2019
Badge pins or ribbons (E) N/A (want) $ 20.00
"On Duty" marker (E) N/A (want) $ 30.00
Welcome banner (E) N/A (want) $ 100.00
Megaphone (E) N/A (want) $ 200.00
New Flags (E) N/A (want) $ 100.00 Possible Donation, estimate based on material
Safety Gear (E) N/A (want) Some may be donations
(Ad) = Admin
(E) = Events & Conf $ 18,912.98
(M) = Marketing $ 110.00
(Mod) = Moderators $ 50.00
(O) = Outreach $ 2,000.00
(T) = Technology $ 420.00

Fiscal Year 2015 Budget

Category Annual - Actual Annual - Projected Notes
Pending/Anticipated 1469.8
Debt 2000 2000
Domain 0 0 Paid through Sept 2019
Hosting 250 250
Scholarship 1000 500
Lawyer Retainer 50 tbd Billy asked for a meal at Jordan Con
Accountant 0 250 I don't think we will need this thanks to our volunteers/members
Office 0
Marketing 110 110 JordanCon Flyer
Anni deposit taken care of, tickets will cover expenses
JordanCon 289 315 90 shotglasses and Goldschlagger (x2 bottles) for toast; goodwill gifts to special guests (x6); fliers; prize cache purchases
B&I tickets will reimburse for deposit and expenses
Fall Ball tickets will reimburse for deposit and expenses; expect $1000 deposit
Euro tickets will reimburse for deposit and expenses
South Pacific 0 See if can reuse data and have one
Awards 500 0 Amyrlin & Keepers
Shipping 200 150 Amyrlin/Keeper awards, membership awards, event stuff (trunk/shenai)
Event Misc. 250 replace items, safety refresh, trunk
Prizes
Membership Survey 25
Membership Awards
Annual Fundraiser 275 (fy14 AF left over) + FY 15 prizes
Feast of Lights 0 Use prize cache
Anni 100
B&I 0 Use prize cache
FB 0 Use prize cache
Euro 0 Use prize cache
Cache 300 Buy @ JordanCon, Buy CafePress
Membership Gifts 20 cards only
Backup Server 200 (research cost)
SSL 60
Retro Membership Gifts 0 Gift Certificate
Networking Expenses 150
Background Checks 100
Misc. 500
7848.8
  • Scholarship for calendar year 2015 was paid in Fiscal Year 2016.

Fiscal Year 2016 Budget

This table reflects the amount of funds used as of December 31, 2015. The percentage is of the budgeted amount for FY2016 that runs from September 1, 2015, to August 31, 2016.

Line Item Budgets Amount Used Percentage
Amyrlin Amyrlin Awards $350 $0 0%
Keeper Keeper Awards $150 $167.89 112%
Shatayan AL Renewal $0 $0 100%
Shatayan Office Supplies $0 $0 100%
Shatayan Shipping $200 $0 0%
Shatayan Misc. expenses* $500
Administration Membership Survey Prize $50 $50 100%
Community Outreach Scholarship $1000 $1000** 100%
Community Outreach Annual Fundraiser $275 $109.79 40%
Community Outreach Feast of Lights $0 $0 0%
Community Outreach Prize Cache $300 $0 0%
Community Outreach Anni $100 $0 0%
Community Outreach Fall Ball $0 $0 100%
Community Outreach Euro $0 $0 100%
Events Jordon Con $315 $0 0%
Events Misc. Event related items $450 $0 0%
Marketing JordanCon ad $110 $0 0%
Line Item Budgets Amount Used Percentage
Membership Membership Acknowledgements $0 $0 0%
Membership Retroactive Membership Acknowledgements 1275*** $900 71%
Moderators QuickTopic $50 0 0%
Technology Domain $0 $0 0%
Technology Hosting $216 $28.81 13%
Technology Backup Server $84 $0 0%
Technology SSL $120 $119.80 99.8%
TOTAL $5545.00 $2376.29 43%
  • Miscellaneous expenses not otherwise budgeted for or predicted.
    • 2015 Scholarship paid in FY2016. Thus there is a reflection in FY2015 showing underutilization and FY2016 will show an over utilization of this line item.
      • Retroactive Life Event Gifts did not receive a line item in the budget but are an expected expense.

Note: Events are removed from the FY2016 budget.

FY2014 Year End Income Statement

Revenue Year to Date
Donations $4,704.41
Event "ticket" $9,923.31
Less Event ticket reimbursements -$1,580.30
Net sales $13,047.42
Cost of Sales Year to Date
Cost of Inventory $0.00
Sale of Goods (Cafe Press) $104.30
Gross profit (loss) $104.30
Operating Expenses Year to Date
Events
Housing $9,227.65
Dining $473.95
Entertainment $89.09
Welcome $212.98
Decoration $33.74
Miscellaneous $0.00
Purchase equipment $0.00
Total Event expenses $10,037.41
General/Administrative
Professional Fees $0.00
Printing/Shipping $18.43
Insurance $684.46
Currency Conversion $1.69
Awards & Prizes $0.00
PayPal fees $87.02
Other fees $42.00
Office supplies $0.00
Networking Expenses $0.00
Marketing $110.00
Debt Repayment $500.00
Total General/Administrative expenses $1,443.60
Community Outreach
Scholarship $0.00
Philanthropy $200.00
Total Community Outreach $200.00
Membership Gifts
Total Membership expenses $0.00
Tech
Hosting $0.00
Hardware $0.00
Software $209.00
Total Technology expenses $209.00
Total operating expenses $1,261.71
Extraordinary gain or loss $0.00
Net Income (Loss) $1,261.71

FY2014 Year End Statement of Cash Flows

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash received from donations $4,704.41
Cash received from event tickets $9,923.31
Cash received from gaming $0.00
Cash received from inventory $0.00
Cash received from sales* $104.93
Cash paid for event reimbursements $1,580.30
Cash paid for events $10,452.76
Cash paid for inventory $0.00
Cash paid for General/Administrative $535.86
Cash paid for Membership Gifts $0.00
Cash paid for Tech $209.00
Cash paid for Community Outreach $200.00
Other $0.00
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities $1,754.73
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash received from sale of capital assets (plant and equipment, etc.) $0
Cash received from collection of notes receivable $0
Cash paid for purchase of capital assets $0
Other $0
Net cash provided (used) by investing activities $0
Cash flows from financing activities
Cash paid to retire debt $500
Other $0
Net cash provided (used) in financing activities $0
Cash balance at the beginning of the period $7,791.03
Cash balance at the end of the period $9,694.25
  • CafePress

YTD FY2015 Income Statement

Revenue Year to Date
Donations $1,426.75
Event "ticket" $6,033.25
Gaming $0.00
Less Event ticket reimbursements -$0.00
Net sales $7,460.00
Cost of Sales Year to Date
Cost of Inventory $0.00
Sale of Goods (Cafe Press) $0.00
Gross profit (loss) $0.00
Operating Expenses Year to Date
Events
Housing $684.45
Dining $319.70
Entertainment $67.50
Welcome $52.47
Decoration $0.00
Miscellaneous $0.00
Purchase equipment $0.00
Total Event expenses $1,124.12
General/Administrative
Professional Fees $0.00
Printing/Shipping $0.00
Insurance $0.00
Currency Conversion $0.00
Awards & Prizes $109.79
PayPal fees $98.11
Other fees $47.95
Office supplies $0.00
Networking Expenses $0.00
Marketing $0.00
Debt Repayment $1,500.00
Total General/Administrative expenses $1,755.85
Community Outreach
Scholarship $500.00
Philanthropy $0.00
Total Community Outreach $500.00
Membership Gifts
Total Membership expenses $0.00
Tech
Hosting $216.00
Hardware $0.00
Software $0.00
Total Technology expenses $216.00
Total operating expenses $3,864.03
Extraordinary gain or loss $0.00
Net Income (Loss) $3,864.03

YTD FY2015 Statement of Cash Flow

Cash flows from operating activities
Cash received from donations $1,426.75
Cash received from event tickets $6,033.25
Cash received from gaming $0.00
Cash received from inventory $0.00
Cash received from sales* $0.00
Cash paid for event reimbursements $0.00
Cash paid for events $1,124.12
Cash paid for inventory $0.00
Cash paid for General/Administrative $255.85
Cash paid for Membership Gifts $0.00
Cash paid for Tech $216.00
Cash paid for Community Outreach $500.00
Other
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Cash received from sale of capital assets (plant and equipment, etc.) $0
Cash received from collection of notes receivable $0
Cash paid for purchase of capital assets $0
Other $0
Net cash provided (used) by investing activities $0
Cash flows from financing activities
Cash paid to retire debt $1,500
Other $0
Net cash provided (used) in financing activities $0
Cash balance at the beginning of the period $9,694.25
Cash balance at the end of the period $14,409.50
  • CafePress

Appendix B: Donor List

.GIF Off Maintenance Fundraiser
Tower Name Number of donations
Aduiavas Ida 1
Alena Mysana 1
Alyccea Nymaessene 1
Anarie De'Thain 1
Arie Davion 1
Aryawnah Federov 1
Ashlyn Sindal 1
Belgareth Kiarc 1
Berior Alaeyn 1
Bryher al'Venna 1
Caerwyn Jolan 1
Cahalan Sothron 1
Cassie Dainar 2
Ebona din Casei 1
Elania al'Manir 1
Enya Tawarwaith 1
Erin al'Denael 1
Hans Babendreyer (No Tower Name) 1
Ilissa al’Nari 1
Illyria Corinye 1
Imzadi Hopewind 1
Keladria Tulin 1
Kerna Shedrian 1
Kitan & Brandon Tataru 1
Kyla Sterling 2
Lireina & Jaim al'Bearach 1
Loraella Melodie 1
Lyra Taryn 1
Megana Vallentin 1
Melearlin Valar 1
Melisande Arneil 1
Mendo Cath 2
Mhor Rioghain Blathnaid 1
Nymala Ingasy 1
Onis O'Leia 1
Osaka & Melvar t'Demae al'Caarn 1
Raeviendha al'Toma 1
Rehtaeh al’Navi 1
Rhed & Nethanel al’Tere 1
Rhed al’Tere 1
Sailea Nerid 2
Siusane al'Cuyler 1
Sofia K'omorebi 1
Vivianna L'antreau 1
Willam Cambrae 1
Zandera Sommers 2
Feast of Light Donors
Tower Name Number of donations
Adina al'Mari 5
Aduiavas Ida 2
Ahmyra al'Ruley 4
Alora Sionn 1
Alyccea Nymaessene 1
Amina Coram 1
Aryawnah Federov 1
Brandon Tataru 1
Cahalan Sothron 1
Eleyan Al'Landerin 1
Imzadi Hopewind 1
Jeffan Caliarthan 1
Keladria Tulin 1
Kitan Tataru 2
Loraella Melodie 2
Nyavene al'Meer 1
Onis O'Leia 1
Samarasin Tavaral 1
Tsubasa Kamui 3
Vivianna L'antreau 1
Xylina Tyloredrid 1
Blood Drive Donors
Tower Name Number of donations
Aryawnah Federov 6
Brandon Tataru 4
Dnae Ila 1
Dreia Raieese 1
Elin al'Nia 1
Hilwa Katir 1
Ilissa al'Nari 1
Kitan Tataru 5
Marivea al'Corriyi 2
Melearlin Valar 1
Osaka ni Demae t'al'Caarn 1
Rahiliana Ritoryn 1
Sabriane Diamodred 1
Sonea Ilandred 1
Taika Vinh 1
Tallan Daar 2
Tomeina Raieese 1
Servant of the Month
July Ealandrelle Melyma
August Lyara Tieran
September Nymala Ingasy
October Sofia K'omorebi
November Cahalan Sothron

Appendix C: Award Winners

Amyrlin Award Winners

Member of the Year: Lireina Dormerus t'al`Bearach

There was no question about who was going to receive Member of the Year in my mind. When Viv’s real life attacked and swallowed her up, Liz, our Keeper, stepped up and kept the Tower running. For the better part of six months, she juggled two jobs at the Tower, that of Keeper and Amyrlin. I am so very lucky to have her by my side as Keeper. This is a small way to thank her for all she’s done for the Tower so far. I hope that we have many years as a Keeper–Amyrlin team.

Volunteer of the Year: Zandera Sommers

Zandera became Mayor in August of last year, and she hit the ground running. As we’ve seen from the Members' Choice Awards, she’s a friendly and common face among the citizens. She’s shown amazing passion and initiative in her role as Mayor, and has come up with some amazing ideas about how to bring citizens into the TarValon.Net fold, including ways to increase activity and a new shiny welcoming committee who make sure no one’s entrance into Tar Valon goes unnoticed. Her passion and dedication to her position made her an easy choice for this award.

Unsung Servants: Shariyan Al'Feay & Alyssa Letherio

Unsung Servant was a difficult category to find winners for. So many do so much for TarValon.Net, and it’s hard to pick just one. So I didn’t. I picked two. Shariyan and Alyssa have worked on several parties together in the past, and they continue to offer valuable advice for our Euro 2015 event. They’ve both credited the other with doing more of the work than herself – which goes to show that perhaps neither really knows the amount of work she’s done. Thank you both for your hard work on the Euro events you’ve worked on.

Philanthropist of the Year: Taika Vinh

This year for Philanthropist of the Year, I wanted to look back at all the records and find a pattern of giving, regardless of the amount of the donation. I looked at our fundraisers for the Tower and for charities, at da’covale purchases and volunteering services, and at positions held in the community. One name came out of all that record-searching: Taika Vinh. She’s given in nearly all of the fundraisers we have records for, she’s served in all the official positions of the Brown Ajah, and she’s a quiet but consistent presence at TarValon.Net. Taika, thank you for all you’ve given over the years, be it money or time and service.

Keeper Award Winners

Membership Admin of the Year: Andra Mikolan

Being a Membership Admin here is a role that has a lot of personal involvement- oftentimes people selected for this role are chosen for specific characteristics that make them ideal leaders within their groups. As the case often is with this type of role, there are good days, bad days, and days you just breathe a sigh of relief over when they're done. Those are also the days that I'm glad to have leaders of this caliber in our organization, and this leader in particular.
Within the tight knit communities on our site, people find places to go to share happy news and sad, to congratulate a Brother or Sister or give them a shoulder to lean on, or to just share in what it means to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Sometimes that means sharing in a great deal of joy, and other times, it means being a source of inspiration in times of hardship and sorrow. I've seen this person do all that and more, both for herself and her Ajah.

Non Membership Admin of the Year: Maibella Rhoiden

There's a pretty wide range of non Membership Admin folks in our community- some, I hadn't even realized were Admin roles, even though they obviously HAD to be for the kind of work they do. They are the leaders within the community that see to all our needs outside of being HoAs and CCs- entertaining us, teaching us, involving us and finding new and engaging ways to keep us coming back. They write for us, they research for us, they share with us and inspire us to see the world, both on and off the boards, in whole new ways. This year's winner is someone who took on her role by stepping up when her predecessor had to unexpectedly step down. Since then, she has taken on working with her staff to bring our community some pretty fabulous reading a d involvement in the form of our monthly editions of your TarValon Times.

Staff Member of the Year: Enelya al'Morna

One of the many ways in which TarValon.net is working to expand its outreach to our membership and beyond is through the use of our external communications- our social media presence has been steadily growing and will be continuing to do so for the foreseeable future. Our Tower Voices have been a big part of carrying this along and posting both in the community and outside of it, and that responsibility has fallen somewhat recently on the shoulders of a very capable individual who has been carrying it admirably. I look forward to the continued exploration and growth of our social media avenues, and will hopefully see this year's third Staff Member of the Year as a part of that.

Staff Member of the Year: Belgareth Kiarc and Melearlin Valar

There's quite a few folks in our community that serve as Staff in our various departments, working together within their team to help drive a common goal for the benefit of the site and its members as a whole. From the members of the Hall to the graphics team in Marketing, our data crunchers in Administration, many of our Mods and Ops in that department, and so on- but of all our departments, I don't know if there's two folks that work more in tandem than these winners of Staff Member of the Year. They keep the steady streams of traffic flowing all throughout the community groups, allowing our members to move about and learn more of what it means to be part of our wonderful community and the various membership collectives we have here. Maybe one day we'll change one of their titles to Keymaster just for fun.

Op of the Year: Mendo Cath

Our Ops- the unsung heroes of our IRC space, where those of us that might not be huge on forum posting can congregate and converse in our regular community chat channel, #wheel, along with a host of other more specialized channels dedicated to our individual needs. And sometimes, the needs of our IRC community are bots that are named after horses, and let us do all sorts of random things in the middle of conversations with a simple combination of keystrokes. This year's Op of the Year has helped look after our stable of IRC bots, and been an asset to his department.

Moderator of the Year: Eluial Aldaran

For our 2015 Moderator of the Year, the winner is someone that has taken on a special type of moderating role- it was a newly developed position, designed for a specific need in the community. Because of its uniqueness, it left a great deal open to allow it to be molded to the need of the people that populated its particular forum- also unique within the community. This person has taken on the task of getting the environment up and off the ground, rules organized and implemented, and logistical and user based issues addressed all while being involved in the more entertaining goings on within the forum. For her role in helping shape and build the Mafia forum structure and her diligence to making it a world-within-our-world, I'd like to recognize Eluial.

Extraordinary Service of the Year: Pol Rohanson

Sometimes there's a person who deserves some extra recognition, but doesn't fall directly into one of the other categories. In this instance, this person has been a solid, reliable and efficient member of Administration, lending his particulate statistician skills to our surveys each year. He's been a member of the team for three years now, and is always ready and willing to assist as and when needed.

Members' Choice Awards

Appendix D: Facebook statistics

Post reach 2015.png

TOTAL REACH

Total reach 2015.png


Appendix E: Membership Statistics

Members by Rank - Before Cleanup

336 Aes Sedai
165 Gaidin
47 Soldier
69 Accepted
53 Recruit
77 Novice
136 Citizen

Pre clean up 2015.png

Members by Rank - After Cleanup

207 Aes Sedai
106 Gaidin
12 Soldier
21 Accepted
9 Recruit
12 Novice
33 Citizen

Post clean up 2015.png

Members by month 2015.png

Members by location 2015.png

Other = Russia, Malta, Greece, Belgrade, Denmark, Uganda, UAE, Philippines, Mexico, Bosnia, Slovakia, Ukraine

Members by age 2015.png

Appendix F: Executives

Board

  • Melissa S. Craib Dombrowski: January 1 – December 31
  • Amanda M. Keen: January 1 – December 31
  • Joseph Pistritto: January 1 – December 31
  • James Beattie: January 1 – December 31

Officers

Amyrlin Seat (CEO)
Amyrlin Elect
Keeper of the Chronicles (COO)
Shatayan (CFO)
Shatayan in Training
Archivist (CRO)
Archivist in Training

Departmental Heads

Department of Administration
Department of Community Outreach
Department of Events and Conferences
Department of Marketing
Department of Membership
Department of Moderators and Operators
Department of Research and Records
Department of Technology

Appendix G: Volunteer Lists

Department of Administration

Annual Report Project Manager
Membership Survey Project Manager
Membership Activities Coordinator
Legal
Statistician
Department of Administration Staff

Legal positions are placed in the Department of Administration but do not report directly to the Director and are not technically considered staff.

Department of Community Outreach

Community Care Coordinator
Staff

Servant of All

Servant of All Coordinator
Servant of All Staff

Outreach Activities

Outreach Activities Coordinator
Outreach Activities Team

Department of Events and Conferences

Mistress of Revels - Britain & Ireland
Mistress of Revels - Continental Europe
  • Vacant
Mistress of Revels - North America
Mistress of Revels - South Pacific
  • Vacant
Events Marshal
Property Mistress
Conference Coordinator

Department of Marketing

Tower Voice
Marketing Project Manager

External

Social Marketing Manager
Social Marketing Team

Graphics

Graphics Development Team

The Tar Valon Times

TVT Editor
Assistant
TVT Writers

Department of Membership

Mayor
Welcoming Committee
Master/Mistress of Novices and Recruits
Master/Mistress of Accepted and Soldiers

Community Groups

Blue Head of Ajah
Blue Heart of Ajah
Brown Head of Ajah
Brown Heart of Ajah
Gray Head of Ajah
Gray Heart of Ajah
Green Head of Ajah
Green Heart of Ajah
Red Head of Ajah
Red Heart of Ajah
White Head of Ajah
White Heart of Ajah
Yellow Head of Ajah
Yellow Heart of Ajah
Dai M'Hael Company Commander
Dai M'Hael Honour Guard
Mahdi'in D'ma Dieb Company Commander
Mahdi'in D'ma Dieb Honour Guard
San D'ma Shadar Company Commander
San D'ma Shadar Honour Guard
  • Vacant: January 1 - December 31:
Val'Cueran Company Commander
Val'Cueran Honour Guard

Department of Moderators and Operators

Forum Moderators

General, Frivolous Fun Moderator & Mafia
Mafia
Current Events Moderator
Olde Warder and Hen
Book Forum Moderators
Discussion A (Entertainment/Home & Garden/Creative Endeavors)
Discussion B (Sports Fanatics/Health & Fitness/Education & Employment)

Chat Operators

Master of Chat
Ops

Department of Research and Records

Assistant to Director of Research
Headmaster/Headmistress
Historian
Events Historian

Department of Technology

Master of the Watch
Site Designer
Tower Gatekeeper
Staff

Hall of the Tower

Blue
Brown
Gray
Green
Red
Yellow
White
San d'ma Shadar
Val'Cueran
Mahdi'in d'ma Dieb
Dai M'Hael

Other Positions

Merit Staff
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