CSM 9 Elections

So CCP will be opening up voting tomorrow for CSM 9.  I haven't been as thorough in following the candidates this time around, though I think I've listened or skimmed almost all of the Cap Stable podcasts.  I have some suggestion for future candidates and then I'll list my top slots.

Future Candidates: Things not to say when you're running for CSM

• "I'm pretty terrible at expressing myself." - BadAssMcWhatever when being interviewed on Cap Stable.  One of the most important skills for a CSM is being able to communicate with the player base and then communicating that to CSM.  If you say up front that you're bad at communication is pretty much the same thing as saying "don't vote for me."  This wasn't just Mr. BadAss, I heard it in other interviews too.  Often that was when I hit the >>> button to jump to the next interview.

• "I don't know much about anything, but I know some guys." It's fine to not know all aspects of Eve; it's a huge game.  I find it fine for candidates to say "I'm an expert at PVP, but I talk a lot with the guy who does all the logistics for MyBigAllianceDot."  But it gets a lot weaker when your personal POV is weak and you can't really name a heavy-hitter in the other areas.  If your only claim is "I get along with people and can talk to different types of players" then you're on shaky ground.

Top 5 for My Ballot

• Sugar Kyle.  I've followed her blog (Low Sec Lifestyle) pretty much since I started the game.  As a "Pirate Queen" she is a natural for someone like me who plays almost entirely in low-sec, and then the bonus is her experience with trading and industry - which is what I do on my alt.  If you just looked at the blog you might think she's too unfocused to be a CSM.  She makes no bones about getting all rambly about topics.  But if you listen to her in interviews such as the indy panel for Declarations of War you'll hear the more complete story, which I think you can also see in her more recent CSM blog posts.  As a low-sec player we need a voice like Sugar Kyle's.  Yes, that's the reason you may have seen me flying a Jaguar around named "Sugar Kyle for CSM9."  I only wish I'd been flying it around more.

• Ali Aras.  I've been very impressed with her as an advocate and a communicator, though it sure has been tough hearing her have to take all the barbs on the Summer minutes and such on Declarations of War.  The way she's been able to handle all that, plus the positive comments from other CSM8 delegates on her work effort, make her high on the list for me.  I really do want to join one of her Space Hangouts one of these days, which might be one of the few new innovative communication channels recently.

• Mike Azariah.  There are some very serious bizness people in Eve.  People who dedicate hours and hours every week to strategic operations, titan bridge networks, and massive trading empires.  People who set their alarm clocks for 3:30am to meet a CTA or call in sick to work because a Jabber ping called for their Titan alt to log in and fight.  Those people have a lot of good CSM representatives out there.  Mike is a good representative for the largely quiet (I won't say silent) group of people who play Eve more casually.

• Steve Ronuken.  I was impressed by his appearances on podcasts and I want to hear him as a voice for industrialist, third-party developers, and everyone who uses the api (which is pretty much everyone).  To top it off he's also a FW guy on the side.

• DJ FunkyBacon.  Another low-sec candidate I was generally impressed with in what little I've heard of from him.  Where Sugar Kyle is the low-sec pirate, DJ FunkyBacon hails from the Faction Warfare side of low-sec. I'm hopeful he will be a strong communicator as well.

Notable but Not on My Ballot

• Mynnna.  I was not impressed with him during the CSM8 election run, but I have been very impressed during CSM9.  Let's face it though, Goonswarm will elect him without us independents so put your vote somewhere else.

• Xander Pheona.  Much like Mynnna, I expect there is no risk he won't be elected.  I like Crossing Zebras and what he did during CSM8.  He's got a great collection of minds he can draw on - he's a good exception to my "Things Not To Say" number 2 above.  Unlike Ripard Tag's endorsement though I don't think Xander can rise to be the arch-communicator Ripard was, if nothing else because of his RL work demands.