Greetings my fellow Odanites and onlookers from the Dark Side,

Welcome to the October COU PCON report, which doesn’t need a fancy subtitle because it’s just that awesome. :P

Also here’s Stitch as a Jedi because reasons…

Art by Captain-E0

News

• Now Hiring M:FIST! Applications due by 20 October, but don’t wait!

• Speaking of gaming, the Battlefront 3 beta was this past weekend and it was a fun, if not limited, preview of what is to come. Also Destiny got a new cluster table for Taken King

Also over the beta weekend we discovered that hero battles you thought would be like this:

actually went like this:

Though I did manage to blow up Vader with an orbital strike at least once. Proving that when it comes to Sith Lords, nuke ‘em from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.

• Mamma Tree aka V’yr has been very busy bringing everyoney guns, guns, and more guns!. Be sure to check out his reports and pat your nearest Herald staffer on the back, they have been working extremely hard to give us all the shiny things we enjoy.

• HM Report New CORE courses and our very own Seraphol is Professor of Legends

• After months of teasing, the fiction society, aka the Inquisitorius, has launched. Many people have already equipped the INQ goodies provided by the Herald staff. COU members being members of the Inquisitorius presents some interesting questions, ones you can answer in a competition by our very own Xantros.

• Everyone’s favorite Master of Combat has updated the ACC exams and released Rivalries results. COU had a strong showing in Rivalries, even from some who don’t normally ACC. I hope everyone had a great time, I know I gained an appreciation for the singular ending format. Oh and a certain Master-Student pair from Odan-Urr took 2nd and 3rd #humblebrag

• Mav announced the new Test of Identity and some unit statistics in his DGM Report. We did get a shout out from the DGM in the form of: “Odan Urr weighed in with a whopping 78% unique participant ratio” great job guys and gals, keep up the good work!

On Career Progression…

Okay, so for my “soapbox” subject this month I’m going to talk about promotions/awards and member career advancement. The summit has been pushing awards and promotions lately, not to mention tweaking how we do awards and promotions but more on that later. Also, I’ve seen some conversations on Telegram and on the mailer regarding the subject and members feeling stuck.

Well after personally looking over the entire clan (yes, the whole clan) I found some interesting trends. First, there is some merit to the “feeling stuck” at the mid-range ranks. To illustrate the data I’ve prepared these handy charts, because everyone loves report charts these days. I’ll get V’yr to help me pretty up the Force Ascendant results charts when that time comes I promise. Anyway...

So the pie chart on the right shows the basic breakdown of what percentage of our membership each “class” of ranks makes up. For this chart I separated upper and lower Equites and Knights from other Journeymen to illustrate a few points. First, notice that Knights and lower Equites make up about roughly half the clan. Second, roughly a quarter of our members are in the Novitiate ranks.

If you look to the left side of the chart you will see some figures about the average time in grade (since last promotion) in months. I’ve highlight some areas that I’m concerned with. Look at the average time in rank for EQ1 and Knight (JM4). Traditional logic holds that people get “stuck” at EQ2 because individual activity alone will not carry you to EQ3, but that doesn’t seem to be our problem area as a clan. Now these are just averages and a snapshot of the larger picture, individual cases will each have their own stories. But numbers don’t lie, we have a significant number of people stuck at Knight and EQ1.

Why is that? What can the leadership do to address this? What can members do to help their peers who are interested in advancement? None of these questions have easy answers, but they are worth thinking about. What do you think? Leave something in the comments section or this handy Clan Feedback form I’ve put together. I’ve already heard some good ideas like coming up with rough (very rough, don’t panic MAA office) guides on what it takes to make EQ1 and EQ2 and a post-Knight mentorship program which is on my list of projects to complete.

For those caught in that demographic that feel stuck, I have a few bits of advice in the meantime. First, engage your summit, we are all here to help you have the best experience possible and reach your goals. Second, participate in as much as you can in things you enjoy. Being “active” is the key to making EQ1 and EQ2 but as some have pointed out that can be vague and the definition of what “active” means can vary. So, participate! The MAA looks at things they can quantify and verify so participation in competitions, clan events, vendettas, and gaining writing/gaming clusters are easy ways to bolster your record. But don’t force it, we are here to have fun, so have fun. If you do what you love everything else will follow. Finally, don’t give up. No seriously, don’t. If you have a DB goal keep working toward it.

I’ve made it a personal commitment of mine to ensure no member of COU falls through the cracks and the other leaders are are on the same boat. That’s why a big focus of mine over the next month or so will be tightening up our structure and procedures, seeing what works and what doesn’t. But if you feel stuck or overlooked, please talk to one of us. We are here for you.

Force Ascendant

Force Ascendant is off to a great start with some time remaining to finish up those phase I entries before phase II drops. You can read the fiction updates here and check out the mother comp here. I hope everyone is enjoying the events so far and the story. I look forward to review all the entries. Remember HAVE FUN!!

• Run-on

• PVP Gaming

• PVE/PVO Gaming

• Mobile Gaming

• Puzzle

• Fiction

• Graphics

• Create an NPC / Profile

Visions of the Future

• Clan Projects - First and foremost much of the clan project work has slowed due to the launch of Force Ascendant which is ok. The big priorities now are making sure the event runs smoothly, awards and promotions are caught up and given in a timely manner and get the wiki and clan lore cleaned up for the GJW/EP7 season after all…

• Musical Chairs - As Seraphol put out over email, we will be playing a bit of summit musical chairs after the clan event. Seraphol will move from Hoth QUA to Rollmaster and Nathan will move from RM to Hoth QUA. This is really a lateral move to maximize the talents of both leaders. Seraphol has done a tremendous job as the founding QUA of Hoth, but the clan needs his particular skillset for the re-tooled Rollmaster position which will focus on recruitment and member retention. Nathan has been a bastion of the summit for quite some time as a BTL, HOU AED and COU RM and will bring his vast experience and skillset to bear on Hoth. I have no doubt both these fine leaders will continue their respective traditions of excellence in their new positions.

• Project Phoenix - This is what I have (somewhat unoriginally) titled a collection of projects and updates I have rolled into a single umbrella to get the Clan ready for the GJW and the upcoming surge from EP7. This includes retooling summit roles, publishing a summit guidebook for all the positions (which we will post on the wiki when it is complete), updating all our clan policies and guidelines, implementing a tracking system and a host of other small housekeeping matters I’m forgetting. Point is, we are the youngest clan and the challenge is to move forward and become more competitive while keeping the awesome COU culture intact. So I may sound like a broken record here but we want to hear from you. Every member has something to contribute to how we do business. So drop us a note on the Feedback form with your comments/ideas/gripes/whatever.

Competitions

• Force Ascendant - Do eet! Do eet now!

• Double Gorefest, double the fun! - Gorefest I and Gorefest II.

• Question of Loyalty - How does your character feel about COU members being in the Inquisition? Write about it!

• All in a Days Work, Deep Pockets - A pair of Voice comps focused on the new Inquisitorious.

AskTurel

Chib Nyac -#AskTurel if a member wishes to make an NPC clan canon, what steps can they take to do so?

I love making NPCs! Actually there’s a create an NPC competition (more or less) that’s part of the clan event. So go submit to that. Second, run your ideas up the chain (i.e. send it to your leaders). We are always looking for ideas and NPCs to flesh out our world and stories. Just make sure you have some idea of how the BT/House/Clan could use that NPC and where they fit into the story.

Teikhos - #AskTurel Any protips for people having trouble getting past the blank page to write?

Just write something, often I find I sort of have a scene in my head but I get stuck on starting it. Just put pen to paper, stream of consciousness style and edit later.

Mar - In what way would like to see Odan-urr best improve in/at?

Great question! Personally I would like Odan-Urr to be more competitive DB-wide and for other clans to take us more seriously as a threat/contender. That’s not something that can happen overnight, but I believe it’s very doable. We have the talent in the ranks and the potential to recruit the new blood. The question is, as I’ve mentioned before, how to do that without sacrificing the relaxed, welcoming culture that makes us awesome? COU was founded by people who, in a large part, wished to escape some of the excesses of the older clans at the time (i.e. overdoing it when it comes to pressuring people to do all the things, clan internal politics, etc.) I think we can win and be a major player on the DB-wide stage without sacrificing what makes us, well, us.

We will do it our own way and other will follow our lead. Believe it!

V’yr - Does the Summit have a plan for the next several months? (at least until the GJW)

November will mainly be about the teams and Houses, so expect to see a focus on small groups as we reset for the GJW season. I am working on a possible joint gaming event with Arcona that will be very focused on fun and light competition. Also the housekeeping stuff I’ve mentioned earlier.

Celevon - How happy are you about your Brony Saber? Congratulations, btw :)

I LOVE IT!! So somewhat ironically I was promoted to EQ2 while in the middle of writing this report. V’yr, being the awesome friend/master/Herald he is already had the saber done based on the concept I’ve been talking about forever and sketch I did when I was a Knight. You can see the pony-saber on my dossier or in the latest Herald report

TL;DR

• Force Ascendant is live! Get out there and kick butt!

• The summit is re-tooling for the winter season...we can rebuild it, we have the technology

• Look for more focused team and House events in November

Closing

I would like to thank everyone who either wrote a rec or congratulated me on EQ2. It got dusty in here, manly tears were shed, etc. But I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge and thank all the members of Odan-Urr, Arcona and beyond who gave me far more than I’ve ever given them. Thanks for being friends, mentors, comrades and just being awesome. You guys make this easy.

Your humble servant,

Turel Sorenn

Proconsul, Clan Odan-Urr