2017 Annual Report

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The 2017 Annual Report was published in October 2018.

A wiki format report is under preparation.

A PDF format is available.

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TarValon.Net

413 Graycroft Drive, Huntsville, AL 35815

2017 Annual Report

TarValon.Net, Inc.

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

Compiled and edited by Erin DiSimone

With Assistance from Christopher Berger and Ashley Morgan

State of the Tower: Amyrlin/CEO Welcome

This year was a tumultuous one, to say the least. Tumult, however, often brings about change, and I expect this year's to be no different.

In March, we had a homecoming of sorts, when Anni took us back to Estes Park, Colorado, a long-time favorite destination for members. I was very happy to raise Elania al'Manir to Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, and to conduct a sneaky raising and bring Analiese Sinclaer up to Soldier. We had a staggering amount donated to our charity, Ronald McDonald House, and I was overwhelmed at the generosity of members who donated items for our raffle. Many people brought items to raffle off, and many people bought raffle tickets with which to bid on those items. My personal favorite was Jeffan donating a bag of glitter and confetti to allow himself to be glitter bombed. Shockingly, I won, though I was not trying to, and I duct taped Jeffan to a chair and glittered him up, inviting attendees to join me in causing him much outrage. Ah, memories.

At Anni, I had the privilege to announce the Amyrlin's Awards. These four awards are the highest honor to receive at TarValon.Net. Ne'mireth Delvar of the Green Ajah was awarded the Volunteer of the Year for her service in the position of Social Media Manager. Philanthropist of the Year was awarded to Onis O'Leia, for her consistent donations to fundraising as well as her efforts within the community. I was proud to award Kitan Tataru the Unsung Servant award; her passion is an inspiration to me. Finally, Melisande Arneil was named Member of the Year for her service to the Tower not just in 2016, but also in her many years as a member at TarValon.Net.

Shortly after Anni, the Spring Executive Meeting took place. The Executives meet four times a year, and the Spring and Fall Meetings are when the big changes or news tends to come out. And we had news in the Spring. Testing of the new forum software was well underway, which was one of the bigger changes of the year. We also announced that we were not planning on moving forward with same-path bonds at this time. It is not a closed issue, and we are open to revisiting it, but there did not seem to be the interest in pursuing it as we would have liked to have seen. After that announcement, conversations ensued, both in that thread and in private forums. Everyone was much more vocal about the possibility, whether they supported the change or not, and we have much more data to work from in the future. A bonding change that did occur was allowing the Companies to determine if their Gaidin would be allowed to have a second bond, and all Companies opted in.

I was sad to miss Fall Ball, which was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this year, but all reports made it sound like a fabulous party. So too was the British and Ireland party, held in Callander, Scotland, what with their wellie tossing.

I did my best to keep up with sending congratulations cards to newly raised Senior Members, and other members who had a special life event or who I just wanted to send a kind word to. So often, it is easy to get wrapped up in the ins and outs of running the site, and overseeing what is going on, and forget that the most important part of our community is our members. I try, as often as I can, to participate throughout the site, in public and private, because I embrace the idea of being Of All and None. I do my best to embody that, and live that, and I want the members to see me as All and None rather than any one Ajah or Company.

One of my goals for 2018 is to find a way to open up the behind the scenes stuff that happens. I see a lot of distrust of how certain things are handled, and I want to get to the bottom of that and see what we can do to change that distrust. I want members to have the same confidence in the Executive and Administration team that I do, and I want members to be able to speak out if they feel something is unfair, and for them to receive an honest answer. I want the Administration to be able to apologize openly, fix what went wrong, and continue doing their jobs to the best of their ability. I want to foster a feeling of inclusion, rather than exclusion of any person or group, and I want everyone to be celebrated for what makes them unique.

Most of all, I want TarValon.Net to continue to be a place that welcomes everyone, and celebrates everyone. I hope that you, as a member here, will help me in that goal. 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

We fortunately had another year of calm for our Board of Directors and the management structure of the organization. At our annual meeting in August, Joe Pistritto was elected our Chairman, replacing Jim Beattie who remains a member of the Board. We also added Crystal Dumonceaux (known on the site as Melisande Arneil) fulfilling a long standing goal of bringing the Board back to five members after the current Amyrlin left the board to assume that role. Crystal is also our first non-US-based board member.

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. We thank all of them for their service. We look forward to 2018 and all it will bring for TarValon.Net and its members.

Joe Pistritto, Chairman TarValon.Net Board of Directors

Keeper / COO

Annual Overview

2017 saw a bit more activity in the Executive forums, with changes in three of our Director positions and a stronger focus on our external site promotion and involvement with the WoT community at large.

Departments Overview

Unlike the quiet of 2016, 2017 started off with two changes to our Executive roster. Our Director of Marketing, Ariadne Davion, stepped down after 3+ years of amazing work in our Marketing department, and was succeeded by Jaryd Kosari. Naomi al'Moranwin, our Director of Events and Conferences, also stepped down from her role after 2+ years serving as our party planner in chief, to be succeeded by Melisande Arneil. Finally, our Director of Technology, Mendo Cath, stepped down after nearly two very busy years keeping our happy home up and running, and was succeeded by Deoan Kakarot.

Looking Forward to 2018

Our new forays into social media have been bearing fruit, as more WoT community members are becoming more aware of us and involved with our social media outlets. We will continue to explore what opportunities exist to network with our fellow WoT fans to encourage membership growth and involvement both inside and outside our community.

After our community focus group met and reviewed the previous suggestions to our Bonding structure — an opportunity for Gaidin to exercise a second Bond and a review of same path Bonding — the decision was made to allow the Companies to discuss whether or not to allow a second Bond in their individual Companies, but the same path Bonds were not put through at this time. However, the decision sparked a very thorough discussion in the community that Exec will be reviewing in 2018 to determine if any further action needs to be taken with regard to this decision.

We are looking forward to a busy and productive 2018!

Tower Archivist / Secretary

Staffing Changes

Under the Archivist, the only staff member to report directly is the Awards Historian. Sailea Nerid stepped down, and Izabella Serra took over the role.

Annual Overview

For the previous year, the goals were to keep the merits on the three month schedule, run the Member's Choice Awards, and keep updating the Membership Manual. One batch of Merits was missed in July, but otherwise, we kept to the quarterly schedule. The Member's Choice Awards were successfully run and changes were made to the Membership Manual.

Looking Forward to 2018

  1. Keep the Merits on the quarterly schedule
  2. Run the Member's Choice Awards
  3. Make further changes to the Membership Manual as required
  4. Make sure the Membership Survey and Annual Report are published on schedule
  5. Complete an Archivist manual, which would detail all the components of the Archivist duties, together with the approximate time to run them. As part of this, I want to formalize some of the other duties, such as receiving and storing records.

Toral Delvar,
Tower Archivist

Shatayan/CFO

Overview

The year 2017 saw an overall financial gain of approximately $5,000. This overall gain was due in large part to exceeding our goal for fundraising and having successful events which brought in enough money to cover both the expenses for the event and the fundraising donations. Overall financially, the Tower remains stable with sufficient capability to meet all financial commitments with the capability to pay for additional desired items.

The 2018 budget was reviewed and approved at the Fall Admin Meeting with minimal changes from 2017.

Looking Forward to 2018

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

Cassie Dainar,
Shatayan

Department of Community Outreach

Staff Changes

Department Staff
Outreach Activities Team
  • To date, there have been no administrative-level staffing changes.
Servant of All
  • To date, there have been no administrative-level staffing changes.

Real Life Events

North American Anni 2017

For 16th Anni in Estes Park, Colorado, we raised $1000 for Ronald McDonald House, and donated $300 worth of goods from the event. We also donated a ton of towels and pop tabs.

Britain & Ireland Party 2017

The year's Britain and Ireland party was held in Callander, Scotland. Ealandrelle Melyma was the Local Liaison. The chosen charity for the event was Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care, a local organization which runs both a baby bank and a school uniform/equipment bank, providing essential items to families in need. We ended up putting together 4 full bags of items for the school/baby bank (consisting of clothing and writing equipment), as well as a cash donation of £500.

Fall Ball 2017

West Michigan Humane Society

Fundraisers

Maintaining the Tower Fundraiser

In 2017 there was no particular theme for the fundraiser, but the prizes were all decks of The White Tower CCG. Two standard prizes of Tower CCG starter decks were given away from start, as well as one grand prize of a Tower CCG starter deck including a personal character card for the winner. For each $500 donated above the original goal of $3500, another standard prize was added to the prize pot; for every $1000 above the goal, a grand prize was added.

A total of $4931 was raised, resulting in five grand prizes and 11 standard prizes being given out, with a standard prize draw from the donators.

Our prize draw results were:

Feast of Light

This year, we asked our members to donate to their local charities of all kinds, contributing to their local communities in any way they chose. For every reported charitable act, the member was entered into a prize draw, with a chance be awarded a $25 donation to be made on their behalf to the charity/cause of their choice. Members were encouraged to share their charitable acts on social media and include the hashtags #TarValonGives, #FeastOfLights, and #ServantofAll. The three chosen winners were Eren al'Velle, Imzadi Hopewind, and Jeffan Caliarthan.

Robert Jordan Memorial Scholarship

This year, we accepted applications for the scholarship from May 27 through July 1. We received a total of five applications, and the two recipients chosen by the Hall of the Tower to to receive a $500 scholarship were Jessi Dean and Nicholas Sargeant. Their winning essays can be found in the Library.

2017 Blood Drive

2017 completed with a total of 20 pints of blood donated. Donations increased by four over the 2016 drive. Continued efforts to increase blood donations throughout the community of TarValon.Net will continue into 2018.

For a complete list of donors, please see Appendix A: 2017 Blood Drive.

Servant of All Program

The Servant of All Program will be rewritten and relaunched after the scholarship is awarded this year. Please look for site announcements for more information towards the end of August.

Outreach Activities

(In the) Black Tower Day

(In the) Black Tower Day was celebrated on May 27 this year. Members were asked to share stories, pictures, and memories of what makes this community great, who and what has inspired them, and how they have helped and been helped by other members.

Beltine

Events

  • Group Theme Contest
  • Quest of Champions
  • Boasting Contest
  • Find The Ogier! (Would You Rather)
  • Spamathon

Themes

  • Brown Ajah: Brown Ajah Bunnies
  • White Ajah: Bubble Lab Experiment - Gone Wrong!
  • Yellow Ajah: Tea-nanigans
  • Dai M'Hael: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
  • Val'Cueran: VC Pantheon

Winners

Spamathon

  • Spamathon Winner - White Ajah
  • Best Matchup - Red Ajah vs. White Ajah
  • NPC Award - Kitan Tataru
Homecoming

We held our second Homecoming Ball in 2017 between October 13–16, with a masquerade theme. It included events such as a Masquerade Parade with a Float Contest, a Homecoming Dance and a Homecoming Court. Winner of the Float Contest was the Brown Ajah. Jaim al'Bearach was voted Homecoming King, and Nebka Galyn Homecoming Queen.

Shaoman

Events

  • Group Theme Contest
  • Would You Rather
  • Beneath the Tower
  • Blessing or Curse
  • Spamathon

Themes

  • Blue Ajah: Shades of Blue
  • Brown Ajah: The Brownish Inquisition
  • Gray Ajah: Ghosts of Great Authors
  • Red Ajah: PokéReds - Gotta Scare 'Em All!
  • Val'Cueran: Captains for Hire
  • Junior Members: Famous Witches of the White Tower

Winners

  • Group Theme Contest - Brown Ajah
  • Most Entertaining Group Thread - Brown Ajah
  • Spirit of Shaoman - Tallan Daar
  • Rock Star of Shaoman - Avendaella Tikvah

Spamathon

Avendesora

Leaves were added to member pages as of December 23, 2016. Further updates and leaf additions for 2017 have not been processed. Discussions are being done in regards to making this a yearly item.

Looking Forward to 2018

The Department plans to rework the Servant of All Program. We will be asking for all people who are interested in working with us on this to look for a new posting for a focus group.

The Department will continue to focus on ways to empower groups in different ways to give back like the blood drive, a voice drive, and other important focuses.

The Tower will be looking to sponsor office "Tower" groups in individual home towns led by tower members at new charity functions.

Calen Velervron,
Director of Community Outreach

Department of Events and Conferences

2017 was a good year for the Department of Events and Conferences. Our team continued to work on providing fun, budget-friendly events for our membership. We saw a change in leadership, as Naomi al'Moranwin retired from the position, and Melisande Arneil became the new Director.

North America

Anniversary Party

Our first event of the year was our 16th Anniversary party, held in picturesque Estes Park, Colorado, at the YMCA of the Rockies from March 17–20. We had 52 event goers, with many first-timers! As always, Estes Park did not disappoint. The weather was beautiful and the views breathtaking! We supported Ronald McDonald house with approximately $300 in food and supplies, towels, pop tabs, and a whopping $1000 cash donation.

JordanCon

Once again, we participated in JordanCon, held in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 21–23. Around 49 members participated in JordanCon 9, visiting vendors, attending panels, and getting to know others in the WoT fandom. Our marketing team continued the plan from last year in branching out to the fandom and getting our site known to both new and dedicated fans.

Fall Ball

Fall Ball was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from October 13–15. Drury Inn and Suites was our headquarters for the weekend, with 16 members attending. We enjoyed an afternoon at a local museum, as well as enjoying the local cuisine for our Amyrlin's feast. Games and visiting rounded out the weekend. Our charity of choice was the West Michigan Humane Society, which received bags of goods for animals waiting to be adopted by their forever homes as well as a donation of $90.

Europe

EuroParty 2017

Our Britain and Ireland event was held in Callander, Scotland from September 1–3 with 29 members attending. Trossachs Tryst was our headquarters for the event, with members journeying into town and around the countryside to sightsee. Everyone had a wonderful time playing games and visiting. Our charity for this event was Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care, which received four bags of goods donated by the members present and a smashing £500. House of Bread in Cumbernauld also received a donation of foodstuffs.

Looking to Forward 2018

The Events team is looking forward to our events for 2018, to be held in Gooding, Idaho, in March; Schmitten, Germany, in September; and Sleepy Hollow, New York, in the fall. Our Mistresses of Revels North America and Europe have been instrumental in creating events that are both enjoyable and easy on the finances for our membership.

The Department of Events and Conferences welcomes all member input regarding our events. If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, please feel free to email anyone on the Events team. If you have a location that you think would be a great place to host one of our events, watch Site Announcements for our request for bids. We would love to come and visit you in your neck of the woods!

Melisande Arneil,
Director of Events and Conferences

Department of Membership

The Department of Membership is responsible for fostering a sense of community within TarValon.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 came in at an average rate of about two a month. We saw 25 new citizens in total, the activity in January and May being much higher than other months.

Tower Members

Nine members applied to the Tower this year, and five to Accepted and Soldiers. Eight members were raised to Senior Member status. Four people demoted, and one retired, bringing the totals to the numbers in the graph in Appendix C.

Summary of 2017

We held a focus group on additional bonds for Membership Teams. The consensus was that Gaidin could decide whether their group has an extra bond. All Gaidin groups have utilized this.

TarValon Membership Guide (TMG) is a new starting mentor/mentee initiative that is entirely voluntary. It allows new citizens to be contacted by older members across the board via a matching system (similar to the Tower entry mentorship), and means that new friendships can be forged at a much earlier level.

Looking Forward to 2018

This year will be a year of reviewing practices and ensuring manuals and application processes are all up to date.

The TMG will begin the pairing process, and will hopefully be ironed out over the first quarter.

Membership statistics can be found in Appendix C.

The complete list of volunteers is given in Appendix E.

Sa'areah Britthorn,
Director of Membership

Department of Technology

Annual Overview

The Department of Technology supports the infrastructure of TarValon.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 TarValon.Net

Staff Changes in 2017

Technology staff underwent a few changes over the year.

The Director of Technology, Mendo Cath resigned and Deoan Kakarot was hired to replace him. One of the Masters of the Watch, Erin al'Denael, also resigned, and Ariadne Davion was hired to replace her. Members joined tech: Stasia t'Andrei, Qamra Daielin, Brian Mandragon, and Mendo Cath was retained as a normal tech team member to retain valuable trade knowledge.

Thanks again to Mendo, who stepped down from Director of Technology to a technology staff member, Erin who stepped down from Master of the Watch and departed the team, and to Ariadne who was promoted from tech staff to Master of the Watch.

Projects

  • Replacement of vBulletin with XenForo was completed.
  • Raising Test - TAO - was put on hold pending the other changes being made.
  • Maintenance - Staff continues to do host / site maintenance as needed.
  • Spammer reduction - Efforts have been made to improve the captcha system.

Looking Forward to 2018

The redesign of the Tar Valon Times along with a couple of related projects is a high priority for the technology team in 2018. We are also focused on aligning team skills with goals to better distribute workload, and will be hiring to fill noted gaps.

Deoan Kakarot,
Director of Technology

Appendices

The Appendices can be viewed in the PDF file. We are working on adding them to this page.

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