OMA Introduction

Written Bydulac
Published On

An opening note from the new Director of Mediation & Arbitration!

To all members of Obsidian Fleet:

I want to thank you, the members, and the Fleet Council for this opportunity to be the Director of Mediation & Arbitration in Obsidian Fleet. I bring to the position years of experience in executive leadership in online clubs, as well as years of specific experience in conflict resolution. I’ve even written the judicial code for a few of these clubs over the years! That being said, I use the term “judicial” in only its most basic definition when it comes to where I see OMA in Obsidian Fleet.

I can tell you all that my goal is to make sure no one ever has to get to the arbitration step, and those that do are treated fairly, with respect, and we honor everyone’s rights as a member not just the leadership. The goal of OMA, in the spirit of Star Trek, is not to punish people, but help bring them together to a friendly, peaceful resolution. In that spirit, OMA also won’t be a reactive department under my watch, but a proactive one where we go out and engage you guys in conversation regularly, let you know what’s going on with us, and clearing up and uncertainties in the rules and such.

My goal as the new (and first!) OMA Director is, quite honestly, that 99.9% of you, the membership, will never interact with me in that capacity. OMA is not the Obsidian Fleet police; think of everything you knew about the old JAG, and throw that out. My goal when a conflict comes to the OMA is to settle right then and there via mediation within the chain of command. The TFCOs, TGCOs, other FCs, sim COs, etc are all there to help solve disputes. In my experience, most disputes are simply lack of communication or information anyways, so having these great people as a resource for both myself and all of you is going to be key moving forward.

Now, of course, OMA is a new thing. Nothing is going to be a perfect, well-oiled machine right out of the gate. It’s going to be my job to work with the JFC within the new OMA manual to work out any bugs. See what works, what doesn’t, what could use improvement, and what in there is already working at 100% intended purpose. So I do ask that all of you work with us as well. I can promise that I’m going to keep the legalise to a minimum going forward. My goal in that area is to keep things as basic as possible, as objective as possible, and support the membership as best as humanly possible.

In that spirit, I’m looking to bring on at least one more staff member right away to get them acclimated with the new way of doing things. I’m looking for someone with the basic qualifications: member of Obsidian Fleet, 24 hour-ish e-mail turnaround time, familiar with the new OMA manual, ability to access Discord. But I’m also looking for other qualifications that include: being able to tell me no if the situation warrants it, a strong sense of objectivity and impartiality, a strong sense of standing up for members and their rights, and a drive to help push Obsidian Fleet into the future from the OMAs office!

Anyone wishing to apply please do so by e-mailing me ( oma(at)obsidianfleet.net ) telling me a bit about yourself, what sims you’re currently on, any relevant experience, where you see OMA in the grand scheme of Obsidian Fleet, and what specifically you could bring to the office. Nothing too fancy, but you should be able to articulate those last pieces clearly.

Thank you all, and I look forward to serving everyone as the new Director of Mediation & Arbitration!

Viran
Director of Mediation & Arbitration
Mediation & Arbitration