CSM X Thoughts

I voted my slates for two accounts this morning, both exactly the same. It was not particularly difficult to choose 14 candidates. It was MUCH more difficult to prioritize them.

My primary focus in game these days is corp management, new player assistance, and community building. CSM X candidates who focus on those things got preference on my slate. However, some other things factored into my choices as well, such as:

• Stand-out incumbents doing good work deserve to continue doing that work and are also important in terms of continuity from one term to the next. 
• While I could not care less about sov mechanics, it is an important topic that the CSM will be addressing this year and I have clear opinions about who I prefer to see leading the CSM side of that discussion. 
• Fresh voices and perspectives are important; I prefer that each council have no more than 25% incumbent carry-over. 
• Candidates with large voting blocks behind them potentially shouldn't even appear on my ballot but other factors may influence me to include them.
• Candidate affiliation with a particular corp or alliance doesn't matter to me; I assess candidates based on their likely expertise, their campaign discussions, and how they have conducted themselves during their campaigns, not on who they play with. 
• Loyalty to friends and colleagues factors in somewhat, but less than you might imagine. 

I'm not going to share my specific slate. Voting a slate of candidates is a highly personal and complicated choice with such a large field of quality candidates. It's practically a moving target right up until you cast that vote. However, as a way of supporting and endorsing them, the candidates I voted for are listed below in alphabetical order with a brief comment about what I think they bring to the party.

• Ashterothi (lore, communications)
• Bam Stoker (community advocate)
• Cagali Cagali (new bros, life in null sec)
• Chance Ravinne (fresh new player perspective, community support)
• corbexx (wormholes)
• Endie (sov) 
• June Ting (new players)
• Khador Vess (new players, exploration, diverse experience)
• Manfred Sideous (sov)
• Mike Azariah (new players, high sec)
• Psianh Auvyander (mercs, new player training, community) 
• Steve Ronuken (third party tools)
• Sugar Kyle (CSM MVP of all time)
• Xander Phoena (communications)

I encourage everyone to inform themselves about candidates and vote their own preferences and interests, prioritizing candidates in a way that makes personal sense to themselves. Many bloggers have published endorsements and suggested slates. Check out the following links for a plethora of information about candidates:

• CCP Leeloo's CSM X Spreadsheet
• Nosy Gamer's CSM Wire
• Steve Ronuken's Eve Bloggers aggregate

And finally, VOTE HERE!