Announcement, Title: Our Situation.

[StormDawn]

Alright.
Our guild is in a time of trouble. We've all been making promises we've not followed though on. And this, is causing a great deal of unwarrented stress on both Lorika, and the Order itself. The Situation is More Dire than many of us would like to belieive... Hence my involvement.

This place was founded on the principles of helping, working together, and doing what's right. Making the world a better place, if you will. Yet somehow, we've all just left it up to our Captain, to maintain and develop the entirety of the guild by herself. This is unnacceptable, in my opinion. We are more than this. We are more than what we've shown ourselves to be. If we work together, The Order, The Guild, Can flourish. We _Are_ The Benevolent Order.

Now... We've all said that our own contributions with art are great. and I am not going to say they aren't. What I am going to say though, is that they are very few, and generally a great distance apart. Not Only with art... but any sort of Help. I'm quite certain that Coding certain things would help astronomically. But... We may need to go outside our walls. Our self inposed boundries, as little as we've noticed them.. Is that we are secluded. We, Like the Gambino Isle that our temple and Order Resides, are an Island, adrift and apart. An expedition, into the vastness of the outside world, could in fact bring us more than we could have dreamed possible. And... Commissioning Art, Coding, almost anything, outside our rigid and preserved society, as scary as the thought is, could bring us a veritable storm of wonders.

As for Commissions being Outsourced... well, that's up to our Captain. Who we all must remember is in charge, and is left with 99.999% of the work. Coding, Writing, Uploading and even a lot of the art, has in fact been laid on her shoulders. Now, The Guild has a way for us to accumulate funds for our Order, to be speant on the Guild and us. and this is... well, ingenious and perfect for something we hadn't planned. This can be our single ship, sent out to sea, to find what we can't yet describe. (PLease, bare with the metaphors, there are more coming). But, to send that ship out... We need support. Not to be a money gubbing extortionist, to con you out of your hard earned gold, but financial suppot is indeed merrited for a journey of this magnitude.

Metaphorically... We are a historical and monumental building, one that's been joyous and great. But, the workload has been left for the owner, and they cannot keep up with the demands. The building is facing Foreclosure, and Demolition. Now, like every building with the publics interest in this situation, it only needs a bit of work, some remodeling, here and there. But that cannot be done without the help.

And If it is outside help, Contractors from accorss that sea, to come back with the Metaphoric Ship and rebuild our once proud structure, that we need... Perhaps that is simply what we need to do. We cannot say we've been reliable enough, or even knowledgable enough in the upkeep of this beautiful temple to do this ourselves, unless we can turn around and do our part.

We've wasted a lot of precious time filling the halls of this place with empty promises.... and they simply aren't enough. If nothing else, think of the holiday season, a time of giving, and look at this place. This is a gift that will come full circle, (And yes, I know this is seeming to become a major guilt-trip) and will benefit everyone. If nothing else, this Holiday Season, think of your fellow guild members. Think of how we'd be so torn should this place truly come to it's demolition.

Thank you...
~StormDawn

P.S: If you won't listen to me, here are some direct quotes from Lorika so you know that this is serious:

Quote:

Astrid says:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=20608523
I know I didn't stress the situation really in my post
But I was hoping for a little more... oomph
a little less of Bapp being self-absorbed
idk
Also
Perhaps I couldve managed to get the work I wanted to do done
If
Every single artist except Odin hadn't bailed on me, for one thing
This isn't even ABOUT you, or me
It's the fact that at the end of the day, nobody is willing to band together
Nobody I've mentioned anything to has put any effort in to even raise awareness that we have a problem here
I just... yeah
I dunno, at this rate, there won't even be a guild come January
Haha, dramatic statement XD

Quote:

Astrid says:
What it comes down to is
Guilds, especially a guild like ours, take a LOT of work
Both to maintain and to develop
I have been doing both singlehandedly for a year now
I have requested donations of work, effort, asked for help
VERY few of those calls have been answered
And now, as I am no longer able to do the work myself, there is no one here to take my place
So, basically, the guild can no longer be maintained or developed
It's simple logic XD

 

[StormDawn]

So. On the note that for us to thrive, we need to participate... Meaning events.

Lorika has already spoken on this- that it is up to us to hold these ourselves.

Planning, creating and the eventual Follow up and completion.

So, I am organizing a Charity Drive, Auction, etc. as of right now.

The Benevolent Order New Years Charity Auction and Miscelanious.
Anybody who thinks up a better title than TBONYCAAM should Post it and I most likely will use it.

Regardless, this means I need Artists- Yes, that means you, you guys, To be willing to have your art up here with mine. and that's whatever art you do. Character Art, Profile Design, Pets, Whatever.

As for the Organization and Completion, I will be running the show.
Dates and Start/end times will be posted upon further planning, Banners are much appreciated, but don't make empty promises or feel obliged to do it. I can tell you the proceedings will not be running past the 15th of January, Nor will they start before the 15th of December.

As far as the Auction goes, It will be Run out of MY mule, as I doubt Lorika would like it to be run out of hers, this being my event. He will be posted within the next little while as well. Artists will receive A small portion of the final bid, Most likely the top 15 percent will be divied between them. The rest will be going to the guild to find more expensive work. Not gonna bother alaborating, as most of that is listed in the above notice.

And, As a charity drive, that means donations. (I am really coming off as a money hungry bugger aren't I?) Those will all Go to the guild, as well as be rewarded from the artists willing.

Now I can't say how succesful this will be, considering it is in the holiday season, and It'd seem like I could be doing this to scam all of you.
For those of you who don't know already, A vow of truth, once taken (as i have) means I cannot tell a single Lie.
Hence you have my word this is not some sort of elaborite Con.
This being said, all of the cost of this will be run out of my pocket and my time.

Soon enough I'll be doing the work neccessary to get this all going, and I'll keep you all posted IN THIS THREAD, until which time one is opened for the drive itself.

Thank you for Listening.
~StormDawn

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[StormDawn]

Now then, for the last order of Business.

I did a small while ago say in TRG's thread that as an event, it'd be more than awesome if we all decided to get together and apply ourselves (Individually) to the Benevolent Order.

My suggestion was that, IRL we would actually go forth and promote acts of kindness, something we all, as members of a society based on ideals of this very thing, in order to promote the idea. Kind of like 'Pay it Forward' or 'Random Acts of Kindness', but all done in the spirit of the Order.

I may be a bit Fanatical, but hey, what Can you expect from a Bearded Canadian Marxist Asatru?

Not only would this all be based around acts of kindness, but just doing things IRL promoting the ideals that we would like to believe we uphold. Just anything in the real world that would be linked to us- in a good way, of course- such as placing the

BOO insignia in public areas, and/or our posessions.
Examples include: T-shirts, stickers, or any other apperal.

And then we would all go and post in a specified thread. Pictures of the instances where we do these things or just elaborating on your latest kind act, such as helping

a woman accross the street or giving a homeless person a burger. (I've actually done that second one more times than I can count now... XD)

I would like to see this happen. Read and reply, good idea or bad idea, feasable, if you'd like to contribute, etc.

Your comments matter!
~StormDawn