This is why we don’t let Yacks go first. He has eloquently summed up Howie’s value to this house and to this clan.

Howie is a key cog in Taldryan’s continuing success based on his active work with the new recruits. Right from day one, they have one of the most experienced DJB members communicating with them and helping them through the processes. Howie stays on top of each recruit (and their eventual masters) so that Tal is able to train up and retain productive clan members.

Aside from his Rollmaster position, Howie is one of the most active communicators in the clan, which is a huge factor in keeping activity flowing. Activity breeds activity, and having a vibrant mailing list and IRC channel is huge in that aspect. Howie is on IRC damn-near 24/7 (so much so that I think he just skips work to be near his home computer) and posts tons onto both the Ektrosis and Taldryan mailing lists, stimulating simple communication between all our members.

He leads from the front, carrying his “Do All The Things (TM)” banner with pride. Without checking the actual stats, I can say with confidence that he participates in more than 90% of all clan competitions and major events. It’s probably closer to 99%, but you get the point. Also, he’s not just a participant for the sake of participating; no, he goes out to win, coming away regularly with medals and placements. This is a panda who takes his role as a leader and a mentor for the young members to heart.

So, like Yacks said, don’t suck. Approve Howie’s GCoDS (or however we’re abbreviating it now). You know it makes sense.

SW Kenath Zoron, Aedile Ektrosis

Howie is the bar by which all other members of Taldryan are measured to. He is what everyone should strive towards, including myself. While he can sometimes be...overzealous, his activity is truly astounding and puts just about everyone else to shame.

Everyone in the DB knows that Howie's warcry is "Do All the Things", but I don't think many people outside of Taldryan, or even within it, truly knows how much he lives by that credo himself. Every major competition that has come by recently, Howlader has done every single event. He has been the main "cheerleader" as well for the Clan, pushing everyone through both e-mail and IRC to participate.

On top of all the damn competitions he keeps participating in, he's also held down the fort of Rollmaster, even though he doesn't even think it's a "real position". Taldryan has been kept afloat above the magic number of 40, without many direct recruits, due to the continued hard work that Howie puts into keeping in contact with all of our newer (and even older) members.

Howie is more than deserving of this medal. It's a no-brainer. Congrats!