Reorganization and Repurposing

[Orion]

Having spoken with both Scott and Andreas, they have expressed that they no longer have the time or desire to continue administering the ICM. As such I have asked them to endorse myself in replacing them, and they have granted that endorsement. Given the recent consolidation of the forums, I wish to pursue a plan that will streamline the efficiency of these derelict organizations in give them an enlivened purpose for serving the community.

Therefore what I am proposing is that the ICM establish itself as an umbrella organization for the subset of organizations now under its care; including the Apollo Foundation and College of Arms. The Micronational Speech Society will be absorbed by the ICM since its functions are the same.

The ICM will take over all administrative duties of the aforementioned organizations. A clear set of tasks and resources will be designated for each of these organizations. And those who wish to act as Contributing Editors can have the leisure of contributing at their own pace without the pressure of having to administer the actual functions of the organization.

Thus, organizationally, the ICM will be formed thus:

International Centre for Micropatriology (parent organization)
-- Oversees the creation and/or preservation of historical documents
-- Focuses on the preservation and display of micronational oratory and literary works
-- Provides assistance in methods of historical preservation and cataloging
-- Provides assistance in micronational workings: diplomatic protocols, mapmaking, wiki editing, etc.
- The Apollo Foundation
-- Oversees the preservation of dead micronations, focusing on their websites, forum(s), and imagery
- The College of Arms
-- Provides assistance and how-to help in creating micronational arms
-- Strives to catalog and preserve micronational arms and heraldry

[Jack]

This is very interesting. Are you planning to create some kind of database that includes all heraldy?

[Benkern]

This all looks like a great step forward in the contribution of the Micran+ sector to micropatriology. I'm happy to help with any projects or administration, since many of these projects are close to my heart.

Jack, interesting point. The Apollo Foundation's remit is to preserve images of dead micronations and that would include maps, flags and coats of arms. On the contrary, the way the College of Heraldry has operated so far is much like a national college - an authority issuing arms according to applicants' desires and strict rules. So we don't really have a place for coats of arms not designed by the College. Maybe we could have a registry service under the College of Arms where national arms/arms providers could get a sort of stamp saying they're good quality, in exchange of which their arms are archived here too?

[Orion]

The Foundation has always strived to hold on to some of the "technical" side of micronations. For example, I still have all of the original AIN website from 2000. All the HTML, Javascripts, site images, etc. Stuff like that isn't normally saved.

I envisioned repurposing the College of Arms as a helping hand organization for people trying to create their own arms. This is something I've struggled with creating in the past, so I'm sure I'm not the only one to face that problem. But the idea of a database is certainly a good idea and something that can be worked into the program.


Vilhelm - You are still on the Foundation staff. Nick said he'll stay on the College of Arms staff. Everyone else is gone. But rather than assigning specific areas, you'll see we now have a mod group named "ICM Staff". This means you can contribute to any part of the ICM. So if you feel like working on something or adding some material, please feel free to!

EDIT: I spoke too soon. I'll ask Craitman to add you. What account would you prefer to have mod powers?

[Benkern]

This is now my main account, so this one will do. Having taken a look at the full list, I've got an idea for the last bullet pointed role of the ICM proper - assistance. We should set up a "Micronational Helpdesk" thread with links to a few good resources about starting up micronations as well as key principles for specific things like flags, coats of arms, mapping. Perhaps also a list of members of the community particularly interested in those areas so people can connect and mentor younger members.

[Orion]

I agree wholeheartedly with the helpdesk idea. A series of walkthroughs and how-tos is on my agenda. Mentoring is something we've discussed in the past but has never really taken root; I'm not sure how to make that work given people's limited time/availability/willingness/etc. It's worth a shot anyway, I suppose.

[Liam Sinclair]

We had a similar forum on MN.net in its last months ... if I can get the forum error fixed so that the archives are back online, we can link to those resources as part of your helpdesk initiative if you like.

[Orion]

That would be great - and eliminate some of my laundry list.

[Jack]

I would be interested to be active in such a creative organisation. Mapping is one of my primary interests in this hobby.

[Orion]

That would be great, Jack. Your maps of Calbion are of excellent quality. I've been giving thought to adding a Cartographer's Guild to this project to specifically assist with mapping.

[Jack]

A shame that Orion went away, how is this going to be managed?

[Brian Barry]

I'm happy to help out. I run http://startamicronation.info/ if this could be useful in starting off this micronational resources thing that was talked about.