SAVA Undergoes Metamorphosis

The South African Vampyre Alliance, a body which has been active in building the SA Vampyre Community since May 2011, is in the process of undergoing major internal restructuring, with several changes already in process.

The Regency decided over the past week that the purpose of these changes is to streamline functioning of existing internal SAVA bodies, to determine which of these are redundant, and especially to increase member participation as well as the total effectiveness of the organization itself within the SA VC.

Very importantly, among the things that will undergo radical change is the SAVA hierarchy and structures which are already well known in the general VC.

Shadow Senate

The Shadow Senate came into being in 2013 as a means of empowering the members of the SAVA to elect principal members who would take up certain roles and challenges of managing various aspects of the running of the organization.

Unfortunately, as with its predecessor, the High Council, the Shadow Senate historically continued to divide the internal membership between active and inactive members. After more popular or active members were elected to the Senate, those not elected would often sit back and lurk in the shadows while the Senate would carry the workload. Others would internalize their dissatisfaction about who got elected or lament that they themselves were not elected and did not get any fancy titles for themselves. This naturally led to several unfortunate bouts of drama, where one or two Magisters and Senators discovered that getting appointed or elected was a nice trophy – but that there was a lot of work attached to the position, and while most enjoyed the trophy, not everyone applied themselves to the job.

No More Senate

As central point to this metamorphosis, the Shadow Senate will disband and merge with the current global membership of the SAVA. The reason for this is in order to encourage broader participation among the members. How would this work? Since there will no longer be a separate Senate with a minority of representatives acting on behalf of the SAVA on certain tasks, the entire membership of the SAVA will be involved in voluntary roles in order to ensure maximum efficiency and participation of the SAVA.

To summarize, no more Shadow Senate. The general registered membership of the SAVA) will be merged to form one body wherein there will no longer be Senators, but all SAVA members will play a role as active decision makers and/or agents of the SAVA with responsibilities allocated individually on a round-table platform.

The new amalgamated body will operate as ‘the SAVA Assembly’ or otherwise be referred to as ‘the Assembly’.

New Post In Regency Group

Additional changes include the addition of a new post to the Regency Group, already consisting of the Regent of the SAVA, two Praetors to the Regent and the Secretary to the Regent. The Regency Group (also sometimes called the “Red Council”) will now include a fifth post, that of Maester. The Maester’s role will be to act on behalf of the Regency group, be that as an emissary, an ambassador, an agent or any other kind of factor executing general tasks for and on behalf of the Regency. The first member to be appointed to this post will be Dagan Nightalon.

Changes To SAVA Membership

SAVA membership will evolve to now include both Inner Circle and Outer Circle members.

Currently, all SAVA members fall under what is now termed the ‘Inner Circle’ category.

Since the beginning, the SAVA has been conflicted on member issues because supporters have never been exclusively local to South Africa. This has also contributed to limited growth since we are not isolated from the rest of the VC, but a part of it.

A solution has finally been found which offers a satisfying means for everyone to participate in some way in the SAVA.

Inner Circle SAVA Membership – the current format of invited SAVA members who represent and act on behalf of the SAVA, being local South African residents active in the local VC. This process will remain unchanged, except that it is likely that future Inner Circle members may be drawn from the Outer Circle.

Outer Circle SAVA Membership – anyone can now apply and call themselves a member of the SAVA Outer Circle. This is a limited form of membership. For example, it doesn’t mean Outer Circle members have the right to speak or act in the name of the SAVA or to represent the organization in any manner. It doesn’t, for example, mean that these members are directly bound by any decisions made by the SAVA, or likewise, that the SAVA should be held responsible for the actions or utterances of an Outer Circle member. Nothing further than completing the application process is required of these members, and although they will be welcome to assist the SAVA and Inner Circle members in various social or community-related projects, they will essentially be passive members or inactive supporters.

The catch? None, except that applicants joining the Outer Circle of the SAVA will need to complete virtually the same forms and endure the same administration process as Inner Circle members.

The Outer Circle will also welcome international members and will have its own SAVA general social and discussion group on Facebook.

The SAVA will continue to walk this path of growth with the SA Vampyre Community. Big things are coming. Let us look to the future together!

If you are interested in applying to the SAVA, please download the linked Outer Circle Admission Form and send it to sava.secretarykarayan@gmail.com along with a scan or image of your ID or driver’s license. Application is free.