Hello!

I am excited to announce major updates to staff including thoughts on its core purpose, the roles and who have been assigned into them, tools to help, and a mindset I will be expecting moving forward of all staff, leaders… and the rest of us (you!).

Mindset for Growth

I want to begin here – an important ask I have of you all as you go about your day-to-day decisions while collaborating within the community. When you are presented with an unusual idea, what is your initial reaction? Does your mind quickly fall into a “No, because” trap or are you open to opportunities with a “Yes, if”?!

As our community grows, it is essential to embrace the "Yes, if" mindset, especially given our rich legacy and canon spanning almost two decades. Even when faced with ideas that seem unconventional, tried before, or outside the box, beginning with a positive attitude of "Yes" followed by a collaborative "if" can foster creativity. Of course, there will be times when we must say "no," but arriving at that decision requires careful thought and discussion.

First impressions are also important as we gain new visitors and players daily – we must do our part to open doors (“Yes, if”) to ideas rather than shutting it quick (“No, because”).

This is the mindset that all our staff and leaders will adopt – it’s one that we should always strive for, both on and off the sim!

The Mission

It’s simple – as staff and leaders, we are responsible for fostering a safe, inclusive, and collaborative space to share stories and ideas. Mentoring new players is also paramount to the future of our community – with many visitors and new applicants daily, we must all do our part to integrate these folks into our storylines.

Tools for Scaling

Our community continues to grow in complexity, and so does managing it all. We cannot continue our trajectory of growth without the help of tools to bring us all together. Here is what you can expect to see:

• Simplification of rules and policies. Working with our new leadership team, I will be reviewing existing policies and simplifying where possible.
• Refreshing existing tools and features is an on-going process. If I can eliminate the need to read documentation by simply baking it into ‘features’, I will do so! There are a number of broken systems that require mending, as well.
• Events posted on our calendar will be promoted via group notices and group chat automagically. Marrying up bots and AI have allowed me to come up with a moderated approach to reliably get the word out on events.
• Discord continues to evolve. Yes, we do have one officially for staff and leaders, however I am exploring expanding that to the wider community following feedback from the survey late last year.

Senior Leadership Roster

My approach to designing the new team started with the actual roles we need to support our growing community, followed by assigning members of our community to them. We will also double down on in-world presence and active discourse via Discord to make sure we have accessible leadership across time zones as best as possible.

View the Full Roster

Admins – Bluebell Noel & Audrina Tolsen

As my proxy, both Blue and Audrina will be point for all staff and leaders on sim. As close partners, they will co-manage all aspects of the community and leverage me as needed. Moderating OOC-related issues also happens at this level. Blue will continue her role as admin and I’m excited to announce that Audrina will return into the role after a decade-long hiatus.

Community Managers (no particular order)

• Businesses – Alexandra Melune
  Recruiting new leads and ideas into business is crucial to creating storyline opportunities for the wider community. We are always looking for fresh and active leads to help bring people together. Alex will continue her great work on the team and will partner with me and our admins to expedite and simplify the current process.
• Gangs – Piper Rewell
  Interoperability between gangs and law enforcement requires tight collaboration between the groups. Reviewing proposals and balancing which gangs are admitted to spark new ideas is also crucial. Piper has been a trusted advisor in this role since near CD inception and I’m happy to have her as part of the senior staff team to help steward our future.

• Campus – Sabrina Morningstar
  Building a community from scratch is no easy task! Though the campus has been around for a long time, it fell derelict for many years until a recent rebuild. Sabrina (aka Buffy) returned to help lead this group again.. The campus stands as a beacon for players on the grid who are seeking more social type RP and has been steadily growing with a cult following. I’m excited to see this continue to grow under her leadership.
• Law Enforcement – Krystal87 Resident, Carlito Savira (Julian)
  One of the largest active groups on sim, from rank management to navigating complex storylines, the Den’s “largest gang” requires complex leadership and coordination between groups. Krystal has been doing a phenomenal job with group operations and will continue her leadership there. We’ve also recruited Julian (aka Parnell) to help steer story arcs to ensure the group maintains its heinous reputation. I’m excited to see the direction this team will take the HPD in due course.
• Mentors – Carlito Savira
  From new player outreach, providing guidance, to orchestrating classes, mentorship is one of the most important aspects of our staff team. I will work with Julian, tapping into his tenure of CD culture, to reboot this program and build a team of players who are exceptionally helpful and around enough to support our growing base.
• Events – Lozza Weymann
  Bringing players together to spark scenes is an important function that requires coordination and outreach. Loz will work with me to rethink this role as we roll out new capabilities for event promotion. She will continue to be your point of contact for setting up scenes and general event orchestration.

• Hospital – TBD
  The complex coordination between HGH, Fire Rescue, Social Services, and even the new clinic on campus requires dedicated leadership. This role is currently open and we’ve tapped Alex to step in as interim lead while we seek a new leader.

In Summary …

I’m grateful for the help and leadership of our volunteer staff. Without these folks, and all of you, there wouldn't be a Crack Den.

While I’ve got my team assembled now, I’ll be working in the coming weeks to staff up in certain functions. There will be even more leadership opportunities as we ramp up Columtreal, new business in Hathian, and the imminent opening of an all-new expansion community, the Backwaters.

We have an exciting year ahead of us and can’t wait to unveil even more.