Question about guesting forums per the annual report...

[Miridyth Al'Landerin]

I read the report and it stated that (and I could be interpreting it wrong) that some ajahs/companies have decided to open up their guesting to senior members just wanting to hang out in their sitting rooms? Do we have a list of who agreed and a system of asking for guesting privileges?

 

[Ariadne Davion]

There isn't a full list (at least not an official list somewhere). Some are invite only, others (like the Gray Ajah) have this information available in the Wiki. You might have to ask someone from the group you are interested in to see how their group works it.

 

[Miridyth Al'Landerin]

Can we get a full list and post it in the library or somewhere so that people can know where to ask to guest? Also, does the group have the option to not let you in for no reason or do they have to let you in because they voted that everyone can? If they are "invite only" is there a criteria that is standard or is it that they will only let you in if they like you? That seems to me that people may get their feelings hurt but whatever. Thanks .

 

[Ariadne Davion]

From the Wiki:

The groups that have approved this program are Gray Ajah, Red Ajah, Brown Ajah, San d'ma Shadar, Mahdi'in d'ma Dieb and Dai M'Hael. At this time, it is not required for a group to make their invited guest acceptance process public, but they can make it available on their Community page in the Library if they wish.

You will have to talk to each group separately, I believe. I doubt any of them process these the same. Only the Gray Ajah has it public. I believe SDS and Brown are invite only. I do not know about the rest.

 

[Miridyth Al'Landerin]

Thanks so much! My last question now is..."what was the point?" Why did we do this if it is not uniform and seems to be person specific? If only the gray ajah is making it public and is open to all who ask, then one has a perceived notion that the others who do allow certain people in are only allowing people that they personally like? It may not be that way, but from the wiki wording it does seem very cliquish. I do not think that this was the original intention of the tower. I could be wrong, but I really do not think that the administration meant for each ajah or company that would allow people that were not part of the ajah or company to be let in on an arbitrary case by case basis. For instance, if I wanted to guest in an ajah and was an accepted, I would be let in on the basis that I was an accepted. If I wanted to be a part of a company forum, I would have to be bonded to a person in that forum.

From my understanding of why we were doing it in the first place was that anyone who wanted to guest as a senior member, and the ajah or company would allow it, then all would be welcome. That seems to be not what happened. While I totally understand those who chose not to allow guests, for those who did...why were they allowed to put in their own criteria and then not make it public unless they wished? Sorry, but I am all about the "fair" and it seems that the grays have the right of it. Is there a reason for this? If so, why wasn't it put into the annual report?

 

[Ariadne Davion]

The point was, some groups wanted to visit with certain individuals and by Tower membership rules were not allowed and were then removed. MDD (as an example) had many "unofficial guests" before they were asked to remove them, and so the conversation came up at a previous Admin Meeting to discuss it. It was agreed that the control of Unofficial Guests be left to the Ajah and Company instead of an over-arching set of rules that might leave people uncomfortable. I believe the way it was set up was to allow each group to do what was comfortable for them as a group. A 70% approval margin to even opt into the program was required. I believe Green didn't meet that agreed-upon margin and so it never developed further.

I doubt it was mean to be cliquish, and while it can appear that why to some, the same could be said upon just guesting an Ajah can feel cliquish where some fit and some don't. Personally I think this type of label is a little unfair, but that could be just me personally.

Speaking from the Gray Ajah perspective (and being Head at the time) we are looked upon as the "welcoming" Ajah. Even if you aren't one of us we like to party with people anyway. (Loosely speaking). Not every aspect of our policy is posted publicly, our voting methods, requirements for vetoing, etc. That's all locked away in Chambers. We were comfortable enough to share some of this because its who we are as a group. I can not speak for other groups on this matter, however. I'm just Gray.

 

[Kethaana Nia Khamara]

So there is a way to bribe myself into MDD ... this makes it less interesting

 

[Serenla Tamowith]

Arie has the right of it. Each group discussed and voted on whether or not to have Invited Guests. Each group that approved Invited Guests then discussed and voted on a process. The process is pretty individual to each group, which if you think about it, makes sense. Each group has a different feel to it.

Guesting Accepted and Soldiers are looking for their home. Invited Guests are Senior Members that have a home, but also have a connection of some sort to the group they've been invited to guest in.

 

[Miridyth Al'Landerin]

Thanks so much for all the information! *hugs*

 

[Ariadne Davion]

Glad to be of help!

 

[Serenla Tamowith]

 

[Katherine Avery]

getting the guidelines up fro the Red Ajah Guest Program is on my list of To Do's just haven't gotten there yet. But in the meantime you are more than welcome to ask any of my sisters about it.