Tarentum,

In the sections below, you can expect to find a new fiction update, the assessment of the situation we are facing, the Clan Summit’s response to Pravus’ “The Future” email, along with an outline of the key focuses from which we will be progressing over the course of these next months. So there is no confusion; this is not a report, a status update, or even an announcement; all of which would be to catch you up on information - which you can expect to receive these regularly and with consistency from Korras, Farrin, and myself as we move forward.

This Clan Address will be our mission statement, our mandate, our pledges; it will be what we need give attention to and what areas we will focus on to do so. Therefore this will be a piece of information we will refer back to should we lose our way. Mistakes, hiccups, and fumbles are part of the learning process; but failure is not acceptable.

Failure over these next three months will mean closure. It will mean a historic part of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood will be removed, permanently. And it will mean that every person who calls themselves Tarenti will no longer have a place to call home. This is our last stand.

Always remember; In Darkness We Trust

SBL Raiju Kang
Consul of Clan Tarentum

Excerpt:

“The bloodcurdling roar of the Battlelord ceased immediately after it began, failing to produce the chorus of support behind him that he likely imagined would happen. Instead, his lightsaber clang to the ground and rattled as it rolled away while the weapon’s owner scratched at his own throat. A hacking, panicked cough sounded from the Battlelord while his gaze settled on the hooded figure in the door - whom stood with an outstretched, clenched fist pointed at the Battlelord. Fruitlessly, the Battlelord kicked at the ground below him for support; yet failed as the hooded figure held him high in the air.”

Read More Here

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The Situation & “The Future”

“Tarentum’s eleventh hour has passed...long ago. No longer is it a countdown to midnight, that too has passed.” - Raiju Kang, Tarentum Consul Application

To understand where I got inspiration for the title of this Address, I refer you to a line from my Consul’s application which I have quoted above. To be able to face the gravity of our situation, we first need to understand it. Therefore I present some hard truths:

• Tarentum has been threatened with closure for years - It was the inspiration for “Project Fisting”, the clan restructure that removed Houses Tridens, Gladius, and Cestus giving way into two new houses. Our struggle is what gave merit to the de-clanning experiment. It is what lead to members like Anshar giving up prominent roles to come back and help us. It is something we have learned to tolerate, despite witnessing House Revan close.

• Tarentum has had plenty of chances - Let’s not kid ourselves here. We weren’t the only clan to drop to House status, our leaders have had warnings/coaching/replacing, and our membership has been informed before. I have seen and heard people make excuses, citing things like “the random join rotation was unfair…”. However, Tarentum has failed to do with the resources its been given. We have just as much likelihood to create active members as other units, we've had just as many competent young leaders rear their heads, we have the same opportunities to recruit/create our own concepts/showcase activity as anyone else.

• We did this to ourselves - It wasn’t the Dark Council that decided we wouldn’t participate. It wasn’t Pravus that held us back from recruiting. It was us that created our reputation. From the defiance to the Dark Council, to the chest pounding that we are worth better than the competitions that have been provided. It was us who chased away new, fresh blood - whether they be in the leadership or the membership. We were the one’s to fail Tarentum, and to better Tarentum we need to hold ourselves accountable.

• Tarentum is out of time - Nine months from now the Dark Jedi Brotherhood faces the best hopes for continuation it has seen since the release of the Prequel Trilogy. Episode Seven and the following spin offs and sequels will create a huge influx for the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Ask yourself - why waste such potential on a unit that isn’t performing? Tarentum is leaking membership away from the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, and it’s time we fix those cracks.

As I have described above, the situation that Tarentum is facing is mountainous. However, the fact is we can do this - but not without changes. I understand the anxiety that this can create, thankfully I know many of you have shared with me your support. It has been a week since Korras and I were placed in the Clan Summit - not a day has gone by without someone contacting me and we’ve discussed change. I have been sent many applications people had submitted for Consul, and I encourage people to keep sending them is so we can look at making your ideas a reality; and I am glad to see many similar themes throughout them - the most common of which was the acknowledgement that this is our last chance ( So many references to the eleventh hour…), what we were doing wasn’t working, and we need to adapt to survive.

I’ve also had a chance to catch up on the exchanges during the time between Scion’s removal and my placement. Dismissing the unpleasantries, which we will chalk up to going through an emotional transition and we will forgive as such, there was plenty of concern of how Pravus and the Dark Council will see our failure/success. There was concern that if we can’t win GJWs we will close, that the Dark Council is out for Tarentum, that the stories we create are offensive, and many more claims that didn’t address the real problems of the clan.

Last Saturday, after Korras and I were placed, Pravus released an email to our mailing list titled “The Future”. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to go back and do so - the message is clear: It doesn’t matter if we win GJWs, its not about what our theme is, we don’t need the most members, nor is anyone doing this for the sake of getting rid of Tarentum. This is about membership experience; getting them set up, engaged with the club, and having a unit to call home. Again, I want to stress the upcoming new member influx and how they are going to experience the DJB when they join Tarentum.

The Grand Master stated it clearly; We have until June. And there are specifics we need to address:

• Lowest Participation
• Worst Member Retention of the Club
• Lowest Member Count
• Worst Member to Member Recruitment

Thankfully, and the reason we were selected, Korras and I focused on all of these issues within our applications - as did Farrin. From our philosophy of the issues to specifics, we have plans to address each of these and below in our key focuses section are the priorities we will have to address them. Before I get to that, I do want to stress: Korras, Farrin and I do agree with Pravus’ analysis of the situation. We need to make great changes to address these issues. We need to break down the barriers keeping Tarentum from fully engaging them. And we need to be a functioning part of the club.

Furthermore, we will not stand for dissension, sabotage, or even disrespect for your fellow Tarenti. There is a place for every Tarenti going forward, so long as they respect other Tarenti’s rights to be involved in and experience the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Those that struggle with this concept stand against Tarentum’s progression and will be left by the wayside.

We are united on this message.

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Consul’s Introduction

“For whoever is successful as Consul, the chosen person needs to face some hard truths about the situation. This isn’t going to be a cakewalk, this isn’t a high risk-high reward opportunity, nor is this a chance to develop oneself as a leader. This is a last stand.” - Raiju Kang, Tarentum Consul Application

For the past seven years or so, I have gone by the name Raiju Kang. My real name is Brett, and before I joined Tarentum I was known as Warhunter. Over eleven years ago, after my MSN Gaming Zone club, Corellian Knights (CK), disbanded; I was searching through the Battlestats.net (BSC) website looking for a new Star Wars club to join. For the previous four years I had been a top contender in Jedi Knight and through CK I learned of an earlier SW game; X-wing vs. TIE Fighter. These two games are what lead to my passion for all things Star Wars and they are what lead me to start reading the Expanded Universe, which in turn lead me to begin writing fan-fiction. At the time I didn’t know there were clubs for this, but again as I was searching through BSC I found this funny image of Fox McCloud (the Nintendo character) with a lightsaber - an early concept design of our Firefox? ;)

I ended up going to the club it linked, found this amazing website with many different units (reminding me of the clubs TFA/TRA, who ran BSC), and discovered not only could I play my SW games but I could do fan-fiction with others as well. The concept blew my mind, I joined that day - being placed within House Kirleta of Clan Satal Keto. Within a week, there was this epic event known as a “Great Jedi War” and it was the first to be done in the DJB since some “Exodus”. The energy and hype lead to an incredible time and I was sucked in, there were nights I’d wait until my parents were asleep and then I’d sneak down to the family computer so I could participate - thanks DJB for keeping teenaged me at home and away from such things like drugs….or girls.

Years went by and I experienced first hand the closing of Clan Satal Keto and Clan Exar Kun, struggling to find my place in the new Clan Plagueis - a place, no offense to them, that didn’t fit me. I know first hand why we need to insure Tarentum doesn’t close, while the active members and young of the clan may find homes in other units - the casual or the emotionally invested likely won’t. I left the Dark Jedi Brotherhood cause I couldn’t manage, and I picked up the addiction that is World of Warcraft for a few years but I wanted to do fan-fiction, I still loved Star Wars, and I missed the friendships I had created.

My dossier had been deleted - at my request - so when I decided to come back I started over. My luck had it that I would be placed in Tarentum, because I did find it to be my new home. The members were inviting, friendly, and engaging; most of all was Bloodfyre - my first Consul. Before I joined, I never knew any openly homosexual people; as you will see below, I was unworldly country kid. Yet, it was Beef that picked up on my anxiety and it was at his direction I engaged the open members of the clan to get a better understanding. As silly as it sounds to others that don’t understand the DJB, my experience in this online club has helped me develop and grow into the better man I am today.

However, Beef wasn’t the only person to influence my DJB experience (nor my life). Rekio and Welshman were there to help me get through my trials again, and were the ones I sought out when I had problems at home, struggled in school, or just had a bad day in general. Oberst and Anshar provided challenge for me to improve my fiction; yet also developed how I’d be as a leader and a mentor - skills I use now as a business owner. The Romanae brothers and MERLANCE were always there for a game, and even one provided some entertainment to the clan as a whole with a poem they composed in honour of their master. ;)

It seems silly, but these are the memories I treasure when I think of Tarentum. It’s not how Rekio dominated during a Sith War, what our position was in the GJW, or even how many people we sent to the Dark Council. It’s the impact Clan Tarentum had on me as I went from my late teens to young adulthood. While I have been in other units in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, it’s never been because Tarentum stopped being my home - its because the friendships I developed here carry through the club. Just like why I went with Ji and Windos/Solari to start Odan-Urr, and have returned back to this unit over the years; I’m here in Tarentum to insure the next generation experience what I did when I joined.

Besides my personal investment in Tarentum as being the reason I’ve been made Consul, I also have the background of experience in the club. While a complete view can be found on my dossier, or asking me since my time as Warhunter isn’t listed, I’ve served in every position from Battleteam Sergeant to Proconsul - and for most, multiple times. I’ve created successful, long standing Battleteams, founded a House, brought in new members and engaged them as Rollmaster, been both an Aedile and Quaestor of sub-unit houses, and most recently been Aedile of Tarentum. I have been involved in this unit’s development for years now, under a number of different Consuls and Quaestor. I’ve also been a Professor for the Shadow Academy, a member of the Appeals Panel, and a mentor of several different members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood - including one current Consul, and one soon to be Knighted Tarenti (just one more task, bud!)

Offline, I’m a twenty eight year old employment counsellor from midwestern Ontario. Additionally, my brother and I have taken over the family farm raising hogs, plus I have business ventures in real estate and involved in the family’s new enterprise; a vineyard and winery. What’s it like to live in rural Ontario?

I’ll let these videos explain:

Link One
Link Two

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Moving Forward and Upward; Key Focuses

“The Dark Jedi Brotherhood is an online club dedicated to Star Wars fans. Our club’s purpose is to provide entertainment, enjoyment, and fellowship to its members.” - Darth Pravus, A Letter to the Voters

1. Recruitment - Random joins have just as much luck being successful across the board - but recruited members fair better. This is not news. This is something that we have had repeated to us time, and time, and time again - yet, Tarentum has not picked up the ball. The Recruitment tribune has (and I'm assuming in some role will continue to be) been bringing more attention to the website and getting more random joins however we need to connect person to person for the success of Tarentum. All Summit Members must contribute to recruitment efforts to build the foundation of the new Tarentum. Each will have specific areas of focus and will be required to contribute to/attend recruitment planning. However, in the past the main duties have fallen on the RM whom also takes the weight of the welcoming and Journeymen training - this is one thing specifically we need to change. All of Tarentum’s recruitment needs can’t fall on a single person, nor a junior member. It should be the Consul taking the lead and making each member of the summit answerable to a certain area they have been assigned and we need to engage the current membership to get out and promote the clan as well. Note, this isn’t about bringing new members just to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood; it’s about getting them to Tarentum - which member to member recruiting is the most direct way.

2. Leadership Development - This was a shared goal across all the applications I’ve seen. We need to create a strong line of succession, with active and participating leaders on every tier of this unit. For the time being we won’t be looking to open a house, it would create an unnecessary barrier between Clan Summit and Clan and also a unnecessary position, our goal will be to open two houses at once and to do so we need to find capable members for when that time comes. Areas we will be looking at are those who are consistently involved in regular activities, project developments, and recruiting.

3. Accountability/Organization - My friends in other summits offer a great example of what Tarentum should aim for but we as a unit have unfortunately been missing. Lack of public presence, missing core duties of their roles, some of the positioned members haven’t done a report or a competition since they were positioned months ago, and the complete lack of transparency from the summit is a great difference of direction I held as Aedile. Tarentum’s calendar has sat unused for months, its social media rarely engaged by the summit, its summit members regularly missing reports. These things will change. We are going to focus on changes like the calendar being regularly used for accountability for reports and projects, sync’ed with the DJB site for transparency, deal with issues of making timely awards, create an outline of expected roles and duties of each position, and regularly review ourselves with constructive feedback for the leaders - to help troubled leaders correct their mistakes. We are also looking at restructuring what roles each position will be accountable for, including what direction should be taken with the Battleteam Leader positions.

4. Renew Tarentum Theme - Activity in the club starts at the home unit. Farrin, Korras, and myself have all suggested in our applications that Tarentum needs to get its purpose straight, develop an engaging theme that will have a long term investment in the clan (read: long story line) and will inspire inclusion and direction. Whether this be interesting story lines getting participation, showcasing fiction and art to the outside world to bring in new members, or to get members involved directly in the planning and release of this.

5. Open the Sandbox - As mentioned above, we want to see members included in the lore of our clan. Not just as characters in the story line, which itself will be a priority, but to get the members involved in developing it and making it their own. If no one is playing with the tonka truck, its up for grabs in the sandbox. This will mean larger project groups, and therefore test project managers, it will also assist our membership retention so investment in our journeymen isn’t wasted when they reach Equite and seek opportunities.

6. New member experience - When recruitment succeeds, there needs to be a welcoming, friendly, and engaging experience for the recruit to touch down. It needs to be both nurturing and supportive so to increase the likelihood of the recruits making it closer to the higher journeymen ranks and out of the danger zone of dropping.

7. Address the problems of negativity/toxicity/bullying - A thorn for both new members and experienced, which can cause new members to drop and vets to transfer, is the issue of negativity, toxicity, and bullying. While many of our members are in a more mature age bracket, the recruits we get likely wouldn’t be. Furthermore, frustration can amass itself in active, engaged members when their peers aren’t showing the same effort. Those that are providing a positive, pleasant experience for others will always be encouraged to maintain membership - those that do not, will be encouraged otherwise.

8. Bridge out to the club - Finally, one of the other key focuses we will have over the next three months is to further our involvement with the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. On a membership level we need to see more of our members contributing to and connecting with the club. Need I remind us all of the members who held the last Order Leader positions, or the multiple Headmasters we’ve produced? Such things do not happen when members aren’t participating in the projects, developments, and societies of the club. On a summit level we shall take the lead, collaborating with our peers on the Dark Summit and Dark Council to learn from their successes so we can produce similar results at home. When the final toll of the bell has struck, can we really be arrogant enough not to ask for help?

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Conclusion

By now, each of you should have a good idea of what our situation is, where the clan summit stands, who I am, and what we will be focusing on for the next three months. By June we will know our success should we see another Clan Address. In the meantime, the summit and I will promise to provide regular reports, announcements, emails and other forms of contact over the course of this term. Should you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding the material above, please contact me directly at [Log in to view e-mail addresses]

Again, and always; In Darkness We Trust
RK