Difference between revisions of "2016 Annual Report"

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The 2016 Annual Report was published in August 2017.

A PDF format is available.

This wiki format report is a work in progress.

TarValon.Net

413 Graycroft Drive, Huntsville, AL 35815

2016 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

State of the Tower – Amyrlin / CEO Welcome

Unlike some previous years, 2016 proved to be quieter than usual. The Tower and the community moved through the year fairly smoothly, with no upheavals or crazy changes.

I was honored to attend our Fifteenth Anniversary party, held in our founder’s hometown of Placerville, Calif., at the Glen Morey House, where Eleyan grew up. This was an amazing chance to really go back to our roots and see the place that had so much influence on her. We were lucky to have Jason Denzel of Dragonmount as our guest, and since there were so few of us, we were able to have a special toast wherein everyone told their origin stories with Wheel of Time and TV.Net.

As is tradition, I also awarded the Amyrlin's Awards at that event. Sailea Nerid, Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, was awarded Member of the Year for her continuous, extensive involvement since she joined. Philanthropist of the Year went to Ivanor Winshaw, Gaidin of Dai M'Hael, for his commitment to the grill. At many Anni parties he’s attended, he offers himself up as da’covale and cooks a huge feast, spending much of one afternoon grilling; at the Atlanta Anni, he not only did that, but also cooked for everyone as part of the food committee. Volunteer of the Year was easy; that went to Cahalan Sothron, Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. Early in her membership, she offered her services as Survey Project Manager, and she’s done stellar work. I chose Luna Morn, Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, for Unsung Servant, because of all she does to support her ajah, her breadth of work in the Tower, and her cheery, dependable “hello”s in the Introductions forum.

The Spring Executive Meeting saw a few updates and clarifications. At that time, we did not institute term limits for Directors. In addition, it was clarified that it is the purview of the Board of Directors to determine if Officers have term limits. We also determined that most Director roles do not require Senior Membership, and most Directors would be allowed to demote and keep their role. The Amyrlin Seat, Keeper, and Archivist may not demote, and should the Shatayan want to demote, the Board will determine this on a case-by-case basis. Finally (in the Amyrlin section, anyway), we decided to disclose how many applicants we had for each position. We strive for transparency, and there seems to be a feeling that the same people are chosen for positions over and over again, when with some positions we really struggle to have any applicants at all.

The Fall Executive Meeting had us reviewing term limits again, and we decided to institute them. Current Directors were grandfathered in, and any future Directors will have a term limit of 5 years. We clarified further about Director demotions: Any role requiring a supermoderator’s access would be required to retire from their Director role should they want to demote. The only exception to this is Kelgan Sedai, since he demoted due to Integration and would not have to go before the Hall of the Tower to be raised again.

October found us at Fall Ball in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, our second Canadian event. We were a small group, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely at a horse show, a food and wine festival, and a lovely Italian dinner out.

Our site-wide re-readalong kept chugging along, starting with book 7 and ending in the middle of book 11. I for one am looking forward to the Last Battle in 2017.

As we move into 2017, we’re seeing a lot of controversy inside and outside the United States with the new U.S. administration coming in. We’ve had suggestions from members that we should take an official stance on US administration policies; however, TV.Net declines to take any official corporate position with respect to those policies. Notwithstanding that, TV.Net encourages all members to speak in their individual capacities to express whatever views they like, consistent with the terms and spirit of our Code of Conduct, which encourages a tolerant and celebratory attitude toward differences, but does not allow for prejudice or hate speech of any kind.

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

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

This year has been an uneventful year for the Board compared to recent years. At our annual meeting in April, James Beattie took over as our Chairman, replacing Amanda Keen.

On the officer front, this has been a very stable year for TV.Net. All of our Officers completed the full year serving in their respective roles. They have all worked hard to continue the current stability of the Tower and help us to continue to grow in future. We thank them for their service.

We look forward to what 2017 will bring for TV.Net and its members.

James K. Beattie, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Keeper / COO

Annual Overview

2016 has been a quieter than usual year for our community—not as much change in the Executive organizational structure as in previous years, which made for a year of building stability in each department.

Departments Overview

The Executive team was, for the first time in quite some time, not impacted by any changes in staffing, with the exception of the decision to eliminate the role of Director of Administration. The teams within that organization have been divided between Events and Conferences (Legal Staff) and Research and Records (Survey Project Manager, Statisticians). Other departments have begun to work on process documentation and review, making updates to those items requiring either clarity or revision.

No major changes to the overall community structure were implemented this year, including changes to the membership or forum structure. However, consideration for possible changes have been lined up for discussion next year.

Looking Forward to 2017

The community will review a potential adjustment to our current bonding structure in 2017. A focus group comprised of Hall members and representatives from the Junior Member community will be formed, similar to the procedure for Integration, to review our current structure and determine if any changes need to be made at this time. Other than that, a continued focus on overall community development, both on the boards and in the social media environment, will continue to be a priority in the upcoming year.

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

Tower Archivist / Secretary

At the start of the year we had four goals: (1) Have at least one Merit release and get all the current Merits fully up to date; (2) update the Membership Manual; (3) run the Member’s Choice Awards; and (4) identify any new Merits.

These were mostly met. Not only were the new Merits identified from the previous Merit discussion, these were awarded. The new Merits were:
Alchemist Merit: For those who have 4 Silvers of the type that do not become Gold in at least 3 categories
Tournament Winners Merit: Win an event in the Amyrlin’s Tournament for a Silver Merit, or win 5 events for a Gold Merit
Sponsorship Merit: Sponsor 10 people for admittance to the Tower
Gleeman Merit: Silver for running 2 Mafia or Assassin games, Gold for running 5
Logo Design Merit: Silver for designing the logo for one of our official events
Event Participation Merit Da’covale: Silver for participating in da’covale auction three times

There were also changes to the requirements for the Writing Merit, a new Teaching Gold and an adjustment so that the Staff Merits could also have a second Gold.

The Membership Manual was updated for the main page for each of the Departments andthe Community Membership section. Parts of the Community Features section were also updated.

Our 2017 goals are:

1. Keep Merits on a 3-month schedule. Continue to research old classes, sponsorship and participation in contests at official events so that all the people who have earned a Merit can be awarded it.
2. Run the Member’s Choice Awards.
3. Keep the Membership Manual updated as changes are implemented. Finish the update for the Community Features and Philanthropy sections. The official Events section also needs to be updated.

Toral Delvar, Tower Archivist

Shatayan / CFO

The year 2016 saw an overall financial loss due in part to payments made for 2017 event location reservations in the 2016 fiscal year with no income for those events during the year. Overall financially, the Tower remains stable with sufficient capability to meet all financial commitments with the capability to pay for additional desired items.

The 2017 budget was reviewed and approved at the Fall Admin Meeting with minimal changes from 2016.

The backlog of Member Life Event Gifts has been resolved. At this time, no additional backlog gifts are anticipated, and membership administrators are responsible for ensuring any new gifts are identified.

Looking forward into calendar year 2017, I expect this to be a quiet year, filled only with normal monthly reporting and assisting the departments with their financial needs. Some additional mindfulness about expenditures is recommended to ensure we continue to maintain financial stability going forward.

Financial data is given in #Appendix B.

Cassie Dainar, Shatayan