EVE CEOing: Corp Programs Continuity

I hear there's a brouhaha happening over on r/eve and the EVE Online forums. I spent five minutes the other day skimming one of the bigger threads and closed it; haven't looked at reddit since. I am in a place with EVE where I am content to not worry overmuch about what CCP does or doesn't do. I log in, I play the game in front of me, and adapt as necessary when they change stuff. Should the time come where I'm not willing to adapt any further (and that would have to be a very far stretch), I'll just quit. This is not to say I don't think players shouldn't express their opinions; I do. I have done so myself quite often and quite intensely (particularly when I was on CSM 5). It's just that to engage in an informed way requires more mental energy and time than I have or want to give to EVE these days.

So, I focus on my corp and its needs almost exclusively during my allotted EVE time. Signal Cartel takes up every minute of that most days, and often a bit more. :P I was speaking with my friend Matterall today (Talking in Stations podcast host, Imperium News Network Creative Director) about the level of effort we put into our respective EVE projects...for no clear return. Except, we both agreed, there IS a most valuable return: the satisfaction of building something meaningful, something that has value to others as well as yourself. For me, that something is Signal Cartel.

To help ensure its success, I bring as many of my real-life business, management, and creative skills to CEOing as I can. Maybe I sometimes go a little too far for an internet spaceships game but I care deeply about doing my level best to serve my corp wisely and with foresight. I am always thinking, "What can I do today that would minimize the disruption in Signal Cartel if I fell over dead tomorrow?"

What's been on my mind lately in that regard is continuity for corp programs. In our 2.5 years of existence, Signal Cartel members have developed programs which have value both to the corp and often to the community. Some have come and gone, some have flourished, others have languished (often due to a key player's departure).

We differentiate between corp programs (which are designed to benefit the corp in some way, are financially supported by the alliance, and subject to leadership oversight) and initiatives (projects run by individuals within the corp on their own and usually funded by them, not the corp). Initiatives sometimes evolve into corp programs if they are well-organized and well-run, and there is sufficient benefit to our members.

The Signal Cartel Anoikis Division (AD) is a subscription program within Signal Cartel for those who want to live in wormhole space. More than a year ago, the AD was floundering and we were going to shut it down. Merk stepped up with a fantastic proposal to turn the whole thing around. He was very successful, expanding the AD and offering even more wormhole opportunities for subscribers. He managed literally every facet of the division and did it *very* well.

For the most part, the AD was off leadership's radar except for Merk's semi-regular status updates. But all the experience he got from running the AD predictably gave him the itch to start his own wormhole project. So, he gave a generous notice, handed off the necessary info to me, and set sail into Anoikis to establish his corp, Lux Permanet. While always bittersweet to see such a trusted and key member leave, we are excited to see how Merk carves out his own space in the sandbox and wish him well.

Meanwhile, I was pondering how best to replace him. The solution had to be one that didn't involve myself or Johnny Splunk running the AD and one that wouldn't fail-cascade if a key person decided to take a break from EVE. Johnny and I are of one mind on corp programs: if our members don't want to invest the time and energy to keep programs they enjoy alive, then we will cheerfully let those programs die. But I knew we had a number of long-time AD members who were invested in the division. There were also a few enthusiastic newer members. Believing that many hands make work light, I coasted the idea of a council to some of them and got a positive response.

So I implemented the AD Council and gave them free rein to self-organize and manage the division as they see fit (within the context of our neutrality and Credo, of course, and their subscription- and donations-supported Anoikis Division fund). It is already working better than I expected. The inaugural council of Alexej Burovshcenko, Ismael Caleb Echart, John Young, Kobo Motsu, Mushroom Greene, Piwakawaka Wakasu and Vladimir Gengodov jumped right into the wake of Merk's departure and kept the AD boat firmly on course. They have written a council charter, updated various documents, and taken on management of membership and other record-keeping tasks. They even already expanded some of the services available to AD members. This bodes well for the AD's future and thankfully has gotten me out of the loop far sooner than expected, so kudos to them!

The model of a shared job or council approach has great appeal. It is robust, proofed against the departure of key people, lightens everyone's workload, and ensures that multiple perspectives factor into decision-making. (Sort of like EVE Online's own CSM, go figure.) In addition to the AD Council, we've implemented a similar "co-leaders" organization for smaller divisions in Signal as well as two key staff positions (Recruiter and Office Quartermaster). Of course, it only works if the appointed people are communicative, responsive, and able to collaborate. My experience is that most who want to do the actual work involved in assisting corporation or alliance operations in EVE tend to be inclined that way anyhow. The team/council approach has alleviated my concerns about whether these programs can maintain momentum. Good teams seem to generate an internal energy that they then pour into their programs. When one member of the team flags, the others take up the slack. That is a much less risky approach than relying on the energy and availability of a single lynchpin player.

The other piece of the continuity puzzle is project resource ownership, access control, and documentation.  As one example, some of our projects' in-game mailing lists and reference documents were owned by players who are no longer with Signal Cartel, which can create intel or management issues. How I wish CCP would let a mailing list owner assign a new owner (if this is possible, it's not apparent to me). Anyway, I've been drafting some policies about these matters as they come to light. The issues are all solvable, it's just hard to think of them all in the crush of a transition.

Always a work in progress, this CEOing thing! Signal Cartel has evolved into something I never envisioned and could never have really prepared for, despite how much work we founders did pre-launch. (Interestingly, the Credo has changed very little and continues to serve us well.) As usual when thinking about CEOing challenges, I find myself wondering how other corps our size handle these types of things, especially if - like us - they are fairly risk-averse and extremely restrained about giving out roles or wallet/asset access.

Generosity and Gratitude

We all know that our community is a generous one. Stories of ISK and in-game items being gifted to to players abound. EVE players donate to PLEX for GOOD to aid in various causes, support auctions and raffles at player meets and FanFest to benefit Child's Play or other organizations, and donate money to help buy pizza for all of CCP or assist a fellow player in need. Like many in our community, I have done lots of little things both in game and in real life to help make an EVE comrade's day a little brighter. Given ISK or other in-game items, handmade or purchased gifts, Rixx Javix posters, Signal Cartel swag, books, a collection of (the now defunct) EON magazine, and more over the years. Sometimes an opportunity presents itself and it's just nice to do something special for someone--maybe as a thank you for something they've done for me in-game or in RL or maybe just as a Random Act of Kindness.

And every once in awhile, what goes around comes around. And boy oh boy, has it been coming around lately.

First there was the amazing poster that Johnny Splunk had made for me by a fellow corpmate, Forcha Alendare. This poster was to commemorate Signal Cartel achieving 400 members and arrived around my birthday back in July. I posted about it on Reddit but notice that I never did blog about it as I intended. The amount of effort that went into its creation still astounds me.

It hangs above my desk and makes me smile every time I look at it. It's remarkable that Signal is now almost double the number of members we were back then!

Hint: Click the images to see them larger.

Next came EVE Vegas and all the awesome swag I received, including a pink Neocom polo shirt from Protovarious, lovely handmade earrings from Kira Tsukimoto, a Total EVE t-shirt from Dirk MacGirk and Wiggles, and fat bee pin from Sion Kumitomo, BRAVE patch and penknife from Dunk Dinkle, and much more. But the best of all was a grungy pink Astero 3D model given to me by Johnny Splunk. You know him: a founder of EvE-Scout, partner in Signal Cartel's founding and leadership, and one of the nicest and best persons I've ever had the pleasure of befriending or working with in game or out. I don't mind telling you that my jaw dropped in amazement when I opened the box. Later on when Johnny had the chance to tell me about the process and effort that went into the creation of this 6" long, highly detailed and complicated form--from the struggles to get the forms to 3D-print correctly to the fantastic work on the custom paint job--I was even more amazed. And frankly, humbled that someone thought I was worth of such a gift. Then to top it all off, he also included an SOE trim kit for my Jeep--or at least, that's how I used those awesome decals. 

They say good things come in threes. You may recall that I did a portrait of Jamwara DeCalicoe Ashley not too long ago. We have chatted here and there since then. And then...last week, she direct-messaged me on Twitter. (Aside: I don't know Jam in RL so just go with the character's gender for pronouns.) Seems that when Jam ordered a copy of EVE Universe: The Art of New Eden LIMITED EDITION, she was sent (and billed for) two copies. She held on to the extra copy and recently decided to give it to me "because you've done so much for the community".  MIND BLOWN. The regular edition was already on my wish list, but holy crap, who knew that wish would come true like this?! The book arrived in today's mail, still in its original shrink-wrap. I almost didn't want to open it until I could do so with a couple of hours to just get lost in it. But I had to get pictures for this blog post, right?!

This is a gorgeous book and a splendid addition to my collection of EVE and art books. As an artist, I know I will spend many, many hours studying and enjoying the work and the words it contains that define and describe the art of EVE Online.

Wow. I don't even know what to say in response to being the recipient of the kind of generosity I've described in this post, not to mention the time, effort, and talent that others have invested on behalf of Signal Cartel because they believe in the corp or because I asked for a favor. A simple thank-you hardly seems adequate in comparison to my appreciation for such generous acts. It's not always easy to gracefully accept gifts even when freely given in friendship. But then I remind myself of everything I've done for other EVE players and that makes it easier to accept such generosity as karma or good deeds being paid forward. Regardless, my gratitude is sincere and enormous.

It is truly something special to be a part of the EVE community. It hits me right in the feels every time one of us does something helpful, thoughtful, kind, generous, or amazing for someone--and especially when that someone is me. A heartfelt thank you to everyone.

Impact

While there were always a few Eve players who felt compelled to assert their negative opinions and even outright hate of me, Hellcats, the philosophy behind a women-only corp, my community activities, who I was flying with, and my work in CSM5, the majority of interactions with other players back in the day was positive. As I have discovered upon reconnecting with folks since my return, much of what I did and said as leader of the Hellcats had a strong impact on how others played. Quite a few women have told me that Hellcats inspired them or gave them the courage to take up pvp.

I couldn't ask for a better legacy than that. To be honest, the good press and fans that Hellcats enjoyed always kind of surprised me. We were, after all, a very small corp (I don't think we ever had more than 35 members) that didn't do much but cruise low sec and look for trouble. Yet even after years of being inactive, the corp still inspires wistful nostalgia and positive memories among fans. Something resonated with people, I guess. Which I suppose is why I am now getting earnest requests that Hellcats be rebooted and hearing good ideas for how that could be done.

That would be an interesting effort, but it won't be my effort. I wouldn't mind seeing it happen (especially if done in the same spirit as the original corp) and might even "advise" if asked. But the time and work required to spearhead such a project is for others to invest in who have more energy, time, and interest than I can muster. Yet, I admit that the idea of Hellcats coming back to life makes me smile. It's a good feeling to know that content I helped bring to the sandbox during the Hellcats heyday has had an impact--however small--that persists to this day.

Although I log in these days with a certain sense of remove and casual nonchalance compared to before, the stories created by players continue to fascinate me. If it so happens that the legacy of Hellcats inspires something new and evolved, more power to whomever takes the idea and runs with it. Therein lies the eternal allure of Eve Online...the ability to create an impact at some level of the game and have it endure for years in the memories of players. Such impacts been happening for 10 years across the width and breadth of New Eden and its community. When you think about that compared to any other game, it is quite remarkable*.







* Regardless of mis-steps by CCP along the way and the long list of things in game which still need improvement.