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NOJ - Nouvel Ordre Jedi Réunion au Temple

Abbra Erato speaks in a clear and strong voice...                                (he is Master of NOJ)

Hello everyone. Thank you for being here. If you are wondering whether what I’m about to say has anything to do with my “scream” from last week, you are right. This is a serious conversation about how we all take care of this order.

As you may already know, NOJ is the biggest and oldest Jedi order in SL. We’re also one of the most visited. THE most visited of any place that is strictly a Jedi order rather than a general “city” sim. But although we’re the biggest, oldest and full of traffic, I don’t think we’re the best. We're about 90% good, but I think…I know…we can be better.

As I talk tonight, I want you to think of who we do all this for. For who are we spending hours coding, or writing, or teaching, or building. If this were a business, we’d be asking who our customers are. This is an extremely important point. If we want to be the best order, we need to understand what our “customer” wants. To be truly great, whether it is a business, a club, an organization, whatever, the goal is to create customers, so focus on your customers.

We have three types of customers that we need to think about, and they are all equally important. First, is the newcomer. The person that is visiting us or any SW sim for the first time. What kind of first impression do we want to make with such a person? Second, is the existing SW community. The long-time SWRPers from other sims that we respect as good RPers. What will make them say we kick ass and make them come visit us or RP with us? Our final customer, and no less important, is…

Us.

We need to create a place that we will love to be in. Our members should feel like there is no other place they’d rather be. I’d like you to keep these three groups in mind as I continue saying what I have to say.

The first topic is about something we need to catch ourselves from, and that is COMPLACENCY.

This happens to all of us. After we’ve been in the group for a while, we let ourselves slip a bit from staying in character. Maybe we find an outfit that has no business being in the SW Galaxy or being worn by a Jedi, or we decide to start playing all the gestures we have in our inventory, whatever. We let ourselves slip out of our Star Wars character just a bit. I’m guilty of this too.

/me chuckles “Anyone who has seen my Grover slippers will know that.”

We need to remember that each one of us is an integral part of creating an immersive experience. Theme parks like Disney world are good examples of this. When Cinderella comes out, she is Cinderella. You won’t see her scratch her ass or imitate Homer Simpson for a second. And that person is Cinderella until she goes behind some door. If we can create a place where people forget reality and forget Second Life for a moment, then we are creating an amazing place.

So please remember, you are part of the "show," not just for visitors but for ourselves. It is so easy to slip up. One person lets out an inappropriate gesture and it soon snowballs to everyone present. Instead, keep your character. I know the Space Station is supposed to be OOC, but I stay in character even there. We set the example that way. We become people what other people want to copy.

My next point hits a little closer to home among us, and that is, the effort we put into connecting with fellow members of our group. We all need to take time to get to know each other, to RP with each other, to just hang out with each other. No member here should feel isolated.

I must confess that I have been guilty of this myself. I often felt that I needed to run the order “from above.” That I would just get too distracted if I hang out in the main areas. Well, a good friend of mine pointed out that that is not where I was most needed. I need to be “on the ground floor” spending time with everyone. And so, many felt disconnected from me. I don’t know as many of the people in this order as I should either.

Well I’d like to say right now to everyone that I will change that. I plan on making it my first priority as I spend my time here. In fact, as of last night I got the idea of something particular I’d like to do. I don’t spend enough time in SL to train a Padawan. That is just the sad reality of it. BUT, what I can do is help Padawans, kind of like an extra tutor when they need it. A Padawan’s priority will always be their Master of course, but I want all Padawans to know that I want you to come to me with help like studying the Jedi code, building your sabre, sabre training, etc.

Even if I am not logged on, I receive offline IMs via email and I check email all day. I can help the best I can that way. Finally, if you have more personal problems that have nothing to do with RP or training, any of you can come to me for help. People have come to me with things ranging from clinical problems to annoyance with the everyday grind. At the least, I will be a good ear for you.

Both in here, and in life, wherever you go, it’s the connections you make between yourself and others that creates the reality of your experience. This digital game becomes real when you laugh and cry and love the others in it. That being the case, make your connections with others good ones.

I’m actually quite proud of a recent decision by the Council. An idea I had long ago is being restarted soon. Even more flattering to me was that someone else suggested, not me. Soon there will be an OOC bar called NORPs (NORP = no RP). It is a place where, although we are all still in Yavin, we can be together as friends and completely out of character. It was once a place regularly used and I hope that will be the case again.

In Second Life, NOJ has been my home. Its members have been my family here. That is what I want you all to feel as well. As I mentioned before, I for one plan to change the way I spend my time so I be with each of you. I encourage you all to find the way you can better connect with the other members of the group.

The last main thing I’d like to bring up is what you can and should do when you find something about NOJ you don’t like. One of the things that helps NOJ be great is that we are willing to change what doesn’t work. The Council, in their weekly meetings, try to be as level-headed as possible. BUT WE CAN’T CHANGE WHAT WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT. We also cannot change everything ourselves.

The Council often hears that there are “rumblings” or “discontent” in the order and outside it. People sit in corners and quietly complain about one thing or another. You know what I want? I WANT you to complain. I want to hear what makes you unhappy.

BUT!!! As much as this is my order, or Master Vox’s order or any other Council member, it is your order too. It might be you up here one day giving the speech. If you find something wrong, if you truly care for the order, if you truly believe in what we are trying to do here, you won’t just come tell us what is wrong. No. You will tell us what is wrong, how it can be fixed, AND volunteer to personally take charge of making it happen. THAT is a rock upon which this order can be built.

Until now, the sole responsibility of the Knight has been to train Padawans. As of tonight, I’d like to make a permanent addition to that. I would like to challenge all Knights from this moment on, to be the ones that find and drive improvements to the order. A newly dubbed Knight is deep in the trenches of the order and may have a better understanding of how the order is going and what people think about it. More so than Masters sometimes. A Knight might also have a background that gives them a fresh perspective and fresh ideas for the order. You have the responsibility of looking for how things can be improved or done in a new way. When you do, you bring it before the Council AND take personal responsibility for making it happen.

Finally about RPing. Yes, we try to enforce guidelines to help ensure RPs are carried out smoothly. Master Kellner has done an admirable job holding discussions on this topic and I invite you all to attend them. I myself have attended two of them. All I’d like to say on this is that ultimately, there is one golden rule I would like you all to follow when it comes to RPing:

Communicate and be reasonable. That’s it. Communicate to square away any issues, both before, during and after an RP. And be reasonable. More important than playing to win, is playing to play. In the words of a Master in another galaxy: “Win, lose no mattah. Make gooood fight.” I don’t care if I die or lose an RP, I’m more concerned with whether the other people had a good time. Do this, and you won’t HAVE to memorize any rules on RP.

Those are all the things that have been in my heart for the past week. And I’m sorry that this was just a one-man speech although I’d like people to ask questions and give the other Masters a chance to say something as well. I’d rather not talk about specifics tonight about how things can be better. I’d like this meeting to end with each of you walking away with the broader ideas in your heads.

Avoid getting complacent and letting yours or your fellow member’s RP slip in any way. Take time and connect with others, especially those you don’t know yet. Finally, openly communicate what you see as wrong. If we are completely honest with ourselves on what is going wrong, we can fix it much faster.

There is one final thing I’d like to say. I have said it throughout, but want to give it specific attention. It is everyone one of us, no matter the rank, that make NOJ what it is. You have the power really, to make NOJ good or bad. Many here have often heard me say that it is our choices that define who we are. Likewise, it is your choice of how to act when you are a member of NOJ that defines what NOJ is. When making your choices, remember why you are here, why you first joined. We love Star Wars, we love what the Jedi fight for, and what they believe in. So much so that we came here to take part in bringing it to life.

The intangibles are far more important than the tangibles because, obviously, you can replicate the tangibles.  You can get the same buildings. You can get the same clothing.  You can get the same ships. But the hardest thing to successfully achieve is your culture and the spirit of your people and their focus on serving others because that isn't something you can do overnight and it isn't something you can do without a great deal of attention every day in a thousand different ways.

I want to create that mystique and awe, that FEELING you get, when you see or read about the Jedi. Well now its your turn to do it right for the next guy.

I hope I have lit a bit of a spark in you all to do your part to make Yavin and NOJ better than the best. Starting tonight, I plan to do my part. Find what way you can do the same.

I beg the forgiveness of the other Masters for mouthing off so much. But I’ll let them say their piece now if they wish.

If you have any questions, just enter an exclamation point (!) as the equivalent of raising your hand and I we can tackle the questions in order.

REUNION STAR WARS Grand Rex Paris

Diffusion sur grand écran des six films Star Wars

Pour fêter comme il se doit les 30 ans de Star Wars, la convention Star Wars Réunion II vous propose de replonger au cœur du mythe et de (re)voir sur grand écran l’intégralité de la saga. Ainsi, pour la première fois au cinéma en France, les six films seront diffusés à la suite, en respectant la chronologie du récit tel qu’il est censé se dérouler.

Ce sera l’occasion pour les plus jeunes spectateurs, qui ne connaissent Star Wars qu’à la télévision, de découvrir enfin les films sur grand écran et pour tous les autres de revoir la saga de George Lucas dans un cadre unique et une ambiance fantastique.

Cette diffusion est exceptionnelle car elle n’a lieu que deux fois au cours de cette année. Il y a eu une première diffusion des films au mois de mai lors de la convention américaine Celebration IV et il y aura une seconde diffusion au mois d’octobre lors de la convention française Réunion II.

Les six films seront diffusés en version française sur deux jours.

http://www.legrandrex.com/