Ludo Kressh Quaestor report 8th January 2007

They say the family of the 21st Century consists of friends not relatives. If that’s true your fellow Clan members are the best brothers and sisters you’ll ever have.

Ok before Xayun points it out, the above is my adaptation of a quote from British comedy series Spaced (the original sounded better, good series by the way if you ever get chance to watch it, loads of Sci fi references having a dig at the Phantom Menace), but it holds true to a certain extent. For some of the more hard core IRC chatters, emailers, gamers, runon participants amongst us, think about how much time you spend with the people online in the DB compared with either your family or your real life friends, it might surprise you.

There are certain comparisons to a family. Firstly unlike friends you don’t get to choose them, they’re just there. Secondly you get to know them long enough to notice all their annoying little ways and habits. Thirdly you’re lumped together in one place with them and you need to try and get on with them.

Why is this important? Well firstly because we’re all here to have fun. We don’t get paid to do this, it doesn’t help you get a job in real life (well apart from giving you organisational skills and improve your coding/graphics etc and a bit of experience in job applications) and we don’t have to be here we choose to be because we like it.

So avoiding arguments and being upset and upsetting others is in everyone’s interest. Alright we wind each other up a bit, mostly in fun and mostly it doesn’t cause upset, but you have to know where to draw the line, and who can take it and who can’t. If you are a new member and you aren’t sure then sit back and watch the IRC channel and get a feel for where the line is before you join in. It’s also about how you’d like to be treated yourself.

Secondly it’s about your own image. Though being active and winning crescents or CFs or writing SA exams will get you medals and promotions, if you want to be considered a good member and be considered for leadership positions and DC assistant roles you need to come across as a reliable person who is going to do the role well, be reliable and set an example to others of how to behave.

Thirdly, it’s about doing things for each other. Helping someone if they have a query, saying hello when they come into the channel, congratulating them when they get a medal or promotion, doing a recommendation promptly in a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks if you’re asked to provide one and if someone goes to the trouble of doing a competition having a go at it so they haven’t wasted their time.

On the subject of congratulations by the way, well done to the fourteen HLK people who got merit medals after the feud. It’s a brilliant achievement that we have so many active people working hard. As Thorin said for one reason or another there’s some people waiting a bit longer but be patient and you’ll get what you deserve.

Keep busy anyway people, get on with each other, and from now on the focus in HLK is Lurve. If from now on I suddenly PM you in IRC and say “Hey you where’s the Lurve?” and you reply “Hey Mr Q Man I Lurve my HLK Brothers.” I’ll give you a special authorisation to add the phrase “Kressh Lurve Machine” to your signatures on email and the message board. What’s cooler than that?”

Anyway, have fun and may the force be with you!

Malisane