SENATUS POPULUSQUE ROMANUM
SENATE open meeting 10 September 11am SLT
PRESENT:
Emperor Stephanus Galtier
Senators: Silvanus Varro, Gaius Cassius Varro Aquillius, Wolf Confero, Uncasnow, Miles Maximus, Tybalt Caproni, Booker Beningborough, Markus Pompeius-Vindelici, Januarius Vindelici, RegulusAntius Rufus, Cato Leone Elen
Citizens: Sailor Varro-Crucifixus, Leo Verus Aquillius, Gaius Antigos, Aurelius Romanov- Phoenix, Alexi Romanov-Phoenix, Skyrimnar Leone, Petrus Pompeius-Vindelici, Eneas Phoenix, Tiberivs Hadrianus, Damion Draco Antonius, Stef Enduriago Antonius Drakon, Kenzakumi, Luca Mistwood Hadrianvs, Tauris-Crystalis, Candyboy Allen, Zohar Efron Donnchadh
APOLOGIES and PROXIES: none received
I. IMPERIAL STATEMENT ON THE GOVERNMENT OF ROMANUM
Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I am creating a draft change in how governance works in Romanum. It will model after ancient Rome, but it will be a combination of the Republic of Rome, Imperial Rome and some modern forms of practice. I will first share that draft with the sim owners of Romanum. Then we will share it with the Senate. We will have a period for input from the general populace. Then the sim owners will approve first, then the Senate. I do not want to make anyone nervous. Even though I am proposing some interesting changes and some ideas for accountability in officials, it will not be a BIG change per se. But I hope refreshing. I hope people will feel they have a greater input in Romanum. My goal is to have this change adopted by about mid-October.
II. IMPERIAL ACTIVITIES
- Mr Romanum Pageant: Januarius Vindelici: We propose the photo board will go up in late September, with a semi-final in October if needed, and the finals scheduled for 5 or 12 November. (Details to be approved by the Emperor). (Emperor Stephanus Galtier: Reminder: Nov 12 is our November Senate meeting). Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: The most important change will be that there is no pre-election by voting, but that all participants qualify in a semi-final for the final. In addition, it is to be ensured that the participants live in Romanum or are often here. The future Mr Romanum was to be more closely involved in the life and events of Romanum.
- Animalvs Parco is now open for public viewing in Romanum XV. Animals are available for sponsorship and care. Emperor Stephanus Galtier: Will there be a Grand Opening for the Zoo? Cato Leone Elen: Yes, I am planning for it when ALL is fully completed. October I believe.
- The Gallerie de Ars in Romanum IX is open with regular photo exhibitions.
- The Socratic Academy has started the third year of philosophy discussions, now in a new purpose-built academy building on the island in the Romanum IX lake. Tuesdays at 1pm. Ixion Parthicus: Third year of philosophical discussions and we veered into politics too, all welcome!
- On 30 September there is a special event scheduled 11 am - 2pm planned. More details will follow.
III. IMPERIAL APPOINTMENT
Booker Beningborough: The Emperor has appointed Jin of Han as the Romanum Theatre Artistic Director.
Emperor Stephanus Galtier: First, I want to express my continued concern about Hunter. I have not heard anything for weeks since he suffered a serious illness. Hunter has been our Theater Director as well as our Slaver. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. But while Hunter is recuperating I have appointed Prince Jin Liu Karu of Han (acrylix) the Romanum Artistic Director. That is a slightly greater role than Theater Director. It means Jin will be responsible for a variety of artistic events in Romanum. It does NOT mean all artistic events need be coordinated through him but rather that he will promote such events from time to time. And Jin has agreed to be the acting Theater Director of Romanum's Marcellum Theater. I continue to hope we can get that theater alive. My husband has agreed to write Roman plays for the theater. We may have other talented writers too. Jin is a very talented artist and artistic producer. What he will direct and produce will be quite good. But like others, including me, he is having difficulty finding actors in particular. We need actors! I am sure he also needs other people to help. So PLEASE, get the word out and let them know.
Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: It’s great news that Jin is our art director so it would be good if he can work together with us coordinators, so we can have better show parts of the Romanum events like the Olympics, Saturnalia, Mr. Romanum etc.
Gaius Antigos: A question about the Theatre needing actors: will it require to voice when you are an actor? Or would all be done with text?
Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I spoke to Jin about voice versus text and he said he would prefer to pre-record by voice and use a stream during the play. That would be more fun to watch, for sure. As to Markus' point, I agree. I will speak to Jin about helping.
Januarius Vindelici: Jin told me it would be Text, because of accents. Also, I've joined Jin's group and he is supportive of what Markus said.
IV. ROMANUM IC AND OOC ROLEPLAY
Wolf Confero: We are still working on this. Finding the right wording for the rule so as to be fair to all involved is critical for this. Apologies that it is taking longer than expected, but there have been other things to get done as well. This is next up for me to focus on so I'll try to get this done quickly and submit it to the Emperor in the next week.
Ixion Parthicus: I would propose an amendment that IC activities have priority over OOC ones. I have trouble finding a timeslot for symposia due to the preponderance of OOC parties. The Romanum calendar is too tight and actual IC RP misses out.
Wolf Confero: I would oppose anything being given "priority" over another. Just because one person finds one event to be of more importance, it does not mean it is the same to others. The point of what we are doing, is going to allow IC and OOC events to overlap. Not giving one more importance over the other, but equal importance, and letting the population decide what they feel like doing on any given day.
Gaius Antigos: I support Ixion. IC activities should have priority over OOC ones. There seems to be no space for RP, no wonder Romanum has no real RP going. But yes equal treatment of both would be fair enough.
RegulusAntius Rufus: I would like the Emperor to see if we can find Ixion a time slot that is good for him and all concerned.
Tybalt Caproni: One person’s personal preference does not need to be given priority over another’s. We are big enough & have diverse interests. I think allowing overlaps & concurrent events work better. Case in point, we were doing tavern but also Hayt was running extra Pankriatist Fight Groups, which was fine. That allowed more activities of both interests. Scheduling is a beast! I think talking to each other & working it out & letting each other know what’s happening is fine without rules in place undermining someone else’s interests.
Wolf Confero: What Ixion does, is every bit as important as what Cato does, and what he does, is every bit as important as what Miles does, and Tybalt does, and on down the line. To imply that one person’s event, whether it be IC or OOC, holds more value than another person’s, is frankly in bad taste. We should respect and appreciate what everyone does here, equally, and support it equally. This is exactly why we are revisiting the rules on the events calendar, and making it more open. But it will be done fairly and impartially. We are a community of many people with many interests. We should celebrate what each of us brings to the table and celebrate all that we have to offer, never place one person over another. We are one community.
Ixion Parthicus: There have been instances where I got very bad feedback because my event was interfering with a commercial OOC party. It's not an issue of personal preference at all, I'm all for choice in the range of activities and I don't mind overlaps, it's the more commercial promoters who object usually.
Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: i agree with Ixion, we have too many OOC parties. It seems to me every sim owner has his own party now. So in fact, overlapped events will be normal in future but I had some bad experiences with it. During Neptunalia I got trouble with the Aquilius family because one of the Neptunalia events was overlapping with their party. I think, there will be more such trouble in future.
Wolf Confero: No one will be able to object with the new system Ixion, including the commercial promoters so it will not be something to worry about. That is why this is taking a long time for me to put together. I’m working very hard to make sure it is carefully written and fair. Everyone will be given equal opportunity to host the sort of event they want to give to Romanum and everyone will be given equal opportunity to advertise it.
Gaius Antigos: I don't believe that the OOC party promoters have to worry about a lack of general approval, But with the few IC events we have its a different case. And it’s not just one person’s preference. There are many people here who would love to RP but feel that not enough space it given to RP. I think that is why the proposal was made to allow at least to overlap IC and OOC.
Emperor Stephanus Galtier: I agree we should allow overlap. But I have seen a lot of OOC events, some in the same venue. Yes, we should be fair and allow people to have fun as they choose. I have not spoken with Wolf about this so he may be already thinking of this. About fairness that is. But I have an idea to throw in the mix. Maybe we should have a small committee ( a few people) who examine proposed events and see if they may sense or if anyone is taking up too much calendar time. Then again, maybe this opens a can of worms.
Leo Verus Aquillius: As we were mentioned explicitly, the trouble at Neptunalia came up out of pure lack of communication. With that said, I totally agree to Senator Tybalt, communication is the key to all.
Januarius Vindelici: I would say as events co-ordinator that sometimes the task is difficult. I've been ready to quit. I welcome the suggestion that we allow parallel events in a tight calendar.
UncaSnow: I just don't see how some people can't see that giving one priority over the other is telling one group that they are less important or what they do does not matter, that is not what Romanum is about and if we start showing favorites we will only become more fragmented. That is all.
Wolf Confero: we already have a limit (recently determined) on how many events a venue can do per week. It will be possible I believe to keep that intact, and still give equal opportunity to the IC events in the future. I just need a bit more time to finish putting this together. We intend to give you what you asked for, the ability to overlap IC and OOC events. It just is not as simple as it sounds on its face. This is delicate. Be patient a bit longer please.
Ǥαιυѕ Cαѕѕιυѕ Vαяяσ Aqυιllιυѕ: Will these changes constitute a change to the Romanum Covenant? If so before those changes can be done I believe there are protocols to consider.
Emperor Stephanus Galtier: Actually these types of matters are not in the Land Convenant. The Land Covenant is more for rules of conduct and the look and feel of Romanum. The calendar issue is more of a process issue. And I will include any rules we setup on the website's Calendar page.
Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: If Romanum is a RP sim there should be indeed a priority of IC events. OOC parties are mainly the same as everywhere in SL, if you know one, you know all.
UncaSnow: Romanum is a place for men to be men and experience and enjoy what they will. Again Markus, you are saying that what one person enjoys is less important than what you think they should.
Leo Verus Aquillius: I don't agree to the "same as any party on the grid". We are doing our OOC event as an outreach programme to bring new people to Romanum and lately we have quite nice success with having one or two interested men to show around after the party.
Cato Leone Elen: This is SL. People choose yes no or log out. Scheduling should just be discussed and decided and then set.
Markus Pompeius - Vindelici: we need more people who are interested in RP not just dancing around.
RegulusAntius Rufus: At the risk of creating a problem. I think we need to decide what Romanum is. A RP sim, a lifestyle sim or gay men's fuck and suck sim anyone of the above is acceptable to me by the way.
Booker Beningborough: The next item on the Agenda was one brought to us from Markus. The Senate has met and continues to discuss that issue. No discussion will be needed at this time.
Next meeting of the Senate of Romanum will be October 8 at 11:00am SLT.