Welcome to Gaia! ::

I had a big long spiel typed up here but I can't find it now... auu oh well.

Time to summarize!

First order of business; donations. I hate asking for them, and they're not
necessary, but they would really help out. I'll see what I can do if I get an art
shop up and running, but for right now we've gotta work with what we've got,
yeah?

For those that don't know, there are two reasons guilds might need gold;

The first reason is sub-forums. To create a sub-forum, it costs 2,500 each.
It doesn't seem like much, but they really start to add up.
I started us off with some general subject forums, but my goal is to have one
for each type of art; for example, not just visual art but realism, cartoon,
abstract, photography, and graphic design. It would be cool to have a sub
forum for each category, too (eg. writing vs. interactive media) but that would
tack on a few more.. I don't know about all this, though.
The problem with slowly saving up and buying one at a time, starting with
the most general is that once you create them, you can't rearrange them
(unless I'm missing something?); You can change the names, but that
would cause a lot of misplaced threads. So unless we can whine and
complain at the Gaia staff to make this a doable thing, the only other
solutions I can think of is buying them all at once (I'm starting to wonder if
there's a limit, that would be unfortunate) or to just make due with what we
have. Any suggestions on this?

I've started making a list, too, so an estimate of how much it would cost
would be possible. Before making any decisions final, though, I will be sure
to run the list by everyone to make sure nothing gets left out.

The second reason guilds need gold is for chat spaces.
Now honestly, I've never seen these before, but if they're a real-time chat area
specifically made for guilds, I think it would be really handy (not to mention fun)! But to rent one, it costs 100,000g! I think that's more than I've ever
actually owned, haha.

Again, I'm going to see what I can do about tossing in some spare coins
every now and then, but if you've got some change lying around as well,
consider putting it towards one of these. By no means do you have to,
though!

Second order of business: Getting this place looking nice!

This guild may only be two (or so) days old, but I'm already getting antsy
about the "excuse the dust" message going on. I've got a header in mind
that I want to create, but it would require more drawing; which I wouldn't
mind doing, but this week is finals week, and as such, I've been really busy
slacking off. /shot
But in all seriousness, if anyone has any suggestions for a better welcome
message; slogans, graphics, anything; feel free to speak up!

Speaking of graphics, some of you may have seen the logo mock up I
doodled on my calc notes; I'll see about making that a thing within the near
future. ;P I plan on featuring Kyr's wallpapers on the front page as well.

Third: Concerning Crew Members/etc.

I've already promoted two people to the Crew Member position based purely
on their activity and attitude. However, I think it would be beneficial to have
a few more, especially if more people come to the café. I'll eventually want
to choose a Vice Captain as well, but I'm not sure how to go about that.
Obviously I want to choose someone trustworthy; I don't like choosing
based on how many times someone has advertised, or how many people
they've recruited. But perhaps it's too soon to be able to judge based on
anything else.

I apologize for thinking aloud on this matter, but I don't have much experience
being in charge of anything, haha! I just wish there were higher positions
between Crew and Vice Captain. sweatdrop

Fourth: Official directories.

Either on the ad boards page or the introductions page, I was thinking it
would be nice to have a thread as host to a list of members and their
respective tumblrs, deviantArts, SoundClouds, YouTubes, whatever.
(And art shops! An open art shops thread would be nice, yes?)
I'm not sure where this thread would belong, though, or whether it would be
on one page separated by site or each having a different thread.
I would think one page would be better to keep the rest of the forum clean.
Or, we could get rid of the "Ad Board" sub forum and have two stickies for
these threads in the Introductions section, how does that sound?

Five: Monthly themed challenges?

(Running out of time here so I'll make it quick)
Perhaps I'll trash the "Ad Board" section like I just mentioned and replace
it with a monthly challenge board instead. Basically, each month will have
a theme or challenge that members can use to give something new a try, or
well... whatever they would like to do based on the theme. Note that it won't
be a contest! I'd rather keep contests out of this guild, but if it's a popular
idea I might consider it. I think contests add unnecessary pressure, though.
Challenges are more fun, more friendly, and less stressful in my opinion.


I think I had a few more things on my mind but I seem to have forgotten them.
OTL Oh well!

In any case, feel free to leave opinions or suggestions!
Ciao!

I don't have much gold at the moment since I'm new, but I made a small donation. All of your ideas sound great...I honestly don't have much to add or suggest.

Good luck with finals! I feel your pain. sweatdrop