Quickie Update - CSM Endorsements

Real Life and Eve Corp issues have dominated the last few weeks of my down time and will continue to do so, hence my apparent fall of the face of the earth.  That said, I wanted to get my CSM Votes/Endorsements on the record. I have three votes, and here's how I cast them:

Hans Jagerblitzen

I listened to many podcasts, read many blogs and posts, and Hans is my favorite amongst many good candidates this year who seem to be using the logic of a rising tide lifting all ships, as opposed to focusing on one or two pet areas.  But he was the most outspoken and eloquent, and got my vote.  He also found my blog, which means he was looking rather hard for people to ask to vote for him.  I hope he works as hard at solving issues on the CSM and his campaign seems to promise.

Seleene

Love him, hate him, he knows CCP, he knows how to work with them, and he isn't afraid to call CCP out on things.  I am voting for him because I think he brings a little "insider understanding" to the CSM side of the table, and he can still comport himself well when talking about various issues.  I particularly liked his responses on the last Voices from the Void debate.  Which brings me to:

Two Step

As has been said by many, Two Step turned an alternate position into a full position just by giving more shits than he was expected, or even needed to.  If you haven't seen Two Step talking, posting, interviewing, or being generally available, please do not vote - you are not paying attention.

Interestingly, I was initially not going to vote for any incumbents, figuring most will easily make it back in.  But after listening to Trebor, Two Step and Seleene on Voices, I realized they all deserved another round because they already understand the CSM - They already work together, and the show was less of a debate as opposed to each member explaining what they had done, and what the others did to help.  That speaks loudly to me, and I support all three.  But I only had two votes left, so them's the breaks.

Blog-a-Day 19: CSM7

Poetic Stanziel sometimes posts community discussion questions, with the most recent being:

Question #019

Do you know who you will be voting for in the upcoming CSM7 elections? If not, who are you following closely?

Here is my response:

First off, I have not decided who I will vote for.  I will not be voting for null bloc candidates, as I assume they will have no trouble getting the votes needed.  Those blocs will game the system a bit to try and split the other voting blocs, which are much less organized.  Others have written about this already, and Mittens has talked about the shortcomings and benefits of the CSM voting system in more than a few places.  I am also not terribly concerned about most of the incumbents.  If they are running again, a vote for them is effectively a referendum vote.

I am following a few candidates though, so here are my thoughts on the ones I am aware of.  And yes, I used most of Seismic Stan's links for the candidates, because although I have been browsing Jita Park, it was easier.

Hans Jagerblitzen

I have a post up already on this guy.  He seems to have given a fair amount of thought to his campaign and approach to the CSM.  He seems focused on iteration over transformation.  As CCP seem more amenable to sharing iteration ideas as compared to overhaul ideas, this seems to be a good tactic.  He doesn’t talk about null or WH space, and states other candidates who will be elected can intelligently fill those roles on the CSM.  I like him so far.

Chribba

CHRIBBA!  CHRIBBA! CHRIBBA!  But seriously...

Kelduum Revaan

I like E-Uni, and spent some time there on an alt, and contributed to the Wiki a bit while I was learning my way around Eve.  So all due respect to a great organization.  Campaign wise, I can’t tell what the heck Kelduum stands for.  He polled for support internally, then went silent.  He half announced, then went silent.  Since then most of his statements seem to be more platitudes than platform planks.  Further reading of the forum thread has done little to swat me to vote for Kelduum.  I have hope that this campaign will pick up and gain some content, but for now I cannot throw my support to Kelduum over other High Sec candidates.

Draco Llasa

He seems to be another level headed candidate, but I cannot say I know much about him.  His forum post is nice, and touts some accomplishments.  Unfortunately as I have seen him touting himself until now, and all CSM minutes were attributed to "the CSM", it is hard for me to judge his previous efforts.  This may be a shortcoming of my internet reading, but there it stands for me.

John Revenent

A self proclaimed man of few words.  Those words are interesting, but not terribly informative.  I'll keep an eye on this one to see if anything interesting develop.

Mintrolio

ALL SECS IS GOOD SECS!  HIGH SECS IS DEPPENDIGNBLE LIKES LADY YOUS MARRIAGED TOO.  LOW SECS LIKES LAST CALLINGS.  NULL SECS ARE  VER BEST SECS BUT ALL SECS IS MAENIGNFULS.  WORMHOLES ARE WEIRD SECS, LIKE TIMES BE GOIGNS TO TIGUANAS.  POASTING TO CONFIRMIGN SERIOS AN IMPROTENT CAMPAIGNINGS!

Others

And in order to be complete, here are the incumbents who are running, courtesy of Ripard Teg.

CSM7: Hans Jagerblitzen

So Hans Jagerblitzen, in an effort for publicity and to court my vote, went so far as to find my blog and put a comment up linking to his blog, and even posted the comment on a post that talked about CSM7.  He's got my vote for organization at the very least!

But seriously, I read Hans' manifesto of sorts, and I think he is a very thoughtful  addition to the CSM 7 race.  Although I do not agree with all his stances, I find the effort he spent thinking about issues, compiling his thoughts in a mostly coherent document,  and crediting/admitting lack of knowledge on some issues are all good qualities in a CSM candidate.  He should pique interest, especially in the Faction Warfare and High Sec player bases he seems to be courting.  Hans seems to know where he stands (on the outside, looking in on the bloc voters and the fractured high sec mobs), and does not claim to be the end all candidate, but rather someone who wants to provide a reasoned voice to the CSM and CCP.

I agree with many members of the Eve community who have already given most, if not all, of the "full" CSM seats to null bloc candidates and CSM6 incumbents.  So a player willing and able to make a cohesive opening case for his candidacy ought to be looked at by those who are not already voting for null or CSM6 incumbents.  After all, the "best" high sec candidate is already a bit of a disappointment, failing to do much besides test the waters in order to both count his support and build his platform...

Let's see if Hans lives up to his nice debut.

CSM7: The Blanding

 I am waiting for something to happen in CSM7 land.  So far we know most of CSM6 is going to run again.  Here are my brief thoughts on each, with asterices:

• The Mitanni - CFC will get him elected, so no point in even paying attention.
• UAxDeath - Not sure what he ever did.
• Two Step* - I like this Two Step, talks a lot, even if I do not agree with some of what he says.
• Seleene* - Useful knowledge of CCP and Eve
• Meissa Anunthial* - Posts frequently on the forums, so hooray!
• Trebor Deahdoow* - Another communicative CSM.
• Prometheus Exenthal - Who?
• Elise Randolph - Again, who?

Not already on the CSM but making noise:

• Kelduum Revaan - Eve Uni CEO, no substantial info or platform yet.
• Mintrolio - "I Love All Secs!" campaign is funny but uninformative.
• T'amber - Moar pink ships, smaller boobs and Serious Business.  Probably more interesting than Prometheus, but hey, that's not hard.

And that's about it so far.  I think I saw someone nominating Chribba, but I have doubts.  Ripard Teg made a pass at the pretty girl in the bar, then talked himself out of it in a weird bait-and-switch where he failed to make the bait obvious.  Not much depth in the field, although I have hopes for The Apostle to start poasting, as those are always a good read.

Someone call me when we have new candidates worth caring about.