November Wrap-Up

To start off, our annual Membership Clean Up started in the very beginning of the month. Membership Sedai (aka Serenla Sedai of the illustrious Brown Ajah) posted a thread in the Hallways and the Barracks, respectively, for the boys and girls of the Tower to post in. You had until November 20th to post in these threads, and if you didn’t, then you should be expecting an e-mail from membership@tarvalon.net in your inbox! Remember, if you don’t respond to that e-mail and you’re a JM, you will have to go through the ranks again upon return. If you’re an SM, you’ll just be removed from your usergroups. When you return, you’ll be able to get them back, so don’t worry!

November also means NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Since this is the November Wrap-Up article, that means that NaNoWriMo is over, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t go check out the very active thread that was created in General for the event! We had a lot of people hit their 50k goal, and even some that went above and beyond. This participant barely hit his goal of 120,000 words.

There have been a couple of Mafia games that popped into existence in Frivolous Fun after they decided to take a long hiatus. The first, a Wheel of Time themed Mafia game, hosted by Kitan Sedai, ended rather quickly when the Darkfriends managed to kill off three White Tower people in a row. It was so much fun that Eli Gaidin started up another Firefly themed mafia. Sign-ups are closed, but you can still watch the fun if you’d like a laugh.

Vivianna wanted to know how we celebrated Thanksgiving. While Thanksgiving is only a November holiday for those in the US, people are welcome to post with the things that they’re grateful for, regardless of the holiday.

Have you read the Executive Blog? I was implemented back in October, and it’s been a busy month for the blog. There have been five entries from Leora, Vivianna and Ubahsur discussing various aspects of the Tower. Go check it out!

Now, onto the more official things:
- An Events and Conferences Naming Challenge was held, where Tower members were encouraged to put forth more interesting names for the European events (Winter and Summer Euros). Suggestions are no longer being accepted, but we’ll find out the names chosen soon!
- A Feast of Lights Charity Poll was announced as well. There were three charities to choose from, and going by the poll, it seems that Leora Sedai’s suggestion, Room to Read, has been chosen as our charity this year!
- Applications for Bond Dissolutions and Demotions will be taken through December 17th. See the thread in Site Announcements for more information.
- Leora Sedai is looking for helpers for a project that involves writing profiles on Staff and Admins and what they do around the site. There are two threads, one for the boys and one for the girls. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be open to Citizens at this time, but you can send an e-mail to keeper@tarvalon.net to see if Leora is still accepting applications!
- The Amyrlin and Keeper have been holding Office Hours recently. They’re held twice a month, one for each the Amyrlin and the Keeper. The times are staggered, to accommodate all members of the site. A thread in General will announce when the next sessions are so you can attend!
- On the subject of official chat events, the 2011 Town Hall Meeting was held on October 28th. It was a formal meeting held in #oldewarderandhen to discuss the changes made at this year’s Admin Meeting. The transcript can be found in the library.

There are currently four classes going on in the Classroom right now that you’re free to join. Not a lot of people venture into the Classroom, but these are pretty interesting classes that you should check out!
- Around the World with Aryela Sedai (and the entire Tower), a unique class on the different cultures of the world.
- Diversity Awareness with Soldier Nethanel, a class on all of the different peoples in the world.
- Ogier with Lyara Sedai, a class on our favorite race of gigantic friendly treehuggers from the Wheel of Time.
- Working with Paper, taught by Erin Sedai, a fun class on all of the things that you can do with a piece of paper.

A quick summary of all other official things:

RAISINGS:
Nov 2: Verscen Ter Sala is raised to Recruit
Nov 14: Marivea al’Corriyi is raised to Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah
Nov 19: Ajailyn Morrivinna is raised to Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah
Nov 28: Mernea Averyl is raised to Accepted

ASPIRATIONS:
Oct 31: Nethanel al’Tere aspired SDS
Nov 16: Stephen Lightheart aspired SDS

BONDINGS:
Nov 17: Skaya Tristian of the Green Ajah and Gedhan Audax of Val’Cueran

HIRINGS:
Oct 30: TVT Editor (applications closed)
Oct 31: Green Head of Ajah (applications closed)
Nov 8: Writers for the Department of Research & Records
Nov 17: OAGC (applications closed)
Nov 28: Marketing Product Manager

NEW POSITIONS:
Oct 31: Jodea Sedai announced as the new Director of Community Outreach
Nov 22: Cealestis Sedai announced as new Green HoA
Nov 30: Jeffan Gaidin announced as the new Editor of the Tar Valon Times