Watching a Community Grow: An Introduction to Clans.

One could say that a community is a group of persons committed to a common goal or purpose. In my eyes, that is a pretty decent definition of what a community is to me. When I think of a community, I see people who want to be together, working together and growing together with a greater purpose in mind. Ideas and information are exchanged, each member has distinct responsibilities and functions to perform, accountability starts with the leadership and ends with each individual member. In short, a community is an idea that is personified through it's members and carried out through their actions.

We are starting a new community here at FeltFanatics. Our goal is to share information, grow as players and people, in membership, and make money individually and as a collective. We also come together as a community to play together and show our support of the site and the forum. It is that pride and sense of community and our need as human beings to come together in family sized groups that is the foundation for what is called a clan and what I believe will help grow our membership base for the future.

What is a clan? Simply put, a clan is a group of people who congregate within a community, as a community themselves. For instance, if you attend college and you are part a fraternity, a fraternity is similar to a clan. It functions within the collegiate community, yet has its own goals and structures. The backbone of most colleges are fraternities and they are a valuable asset to the communities they serve. They provide fellowship, entertainment, support and mentoring to their members. Many members enjoy fellowship and affiliation to their fraternities for their whole lives. The ranks of many successful communities are filled with these sub communities (clans). Look at the armed services, churches and civic groups and you will see respective clans in each organization. Clans are an essential part of how we socially function as human beings.

The reason why I am talking to you about this is that I am very happy to announce that clans are coming to FeltFanatics. The ownership has been very gracious and is going to embrace this concept and make it an integral part of this community. Clans will be another great benefit of membership here at FeltFanatics. Each clan will hold private tournaments, have their own sub forum, and offer their own sense of community and fellowship to their members. The clans as a whole will have their own collective sub forum as well. As the clans of FeltFanatics grow, we will compete against one another in seasonal competitions. Being in a clan will provide the community as a whole with rich options for tournament play, a valuable way to congregate with friends and enjoy their friendships.

Any member can join or form a clan. To join a clan all you have to do is notify the clan leader you wish to join and at that point you can discuss membership. You aren't guaranteed membership by asking, most clans have guidelines and policies they wish you to follow and if you can't abide by those guidelines, you probably won't be accepted for membership. That being said, most clans guidelines are common sense and most have some basic moral behaviors they wish you to follow, such as: treat others with respect, cheating is prohibited, don't beg for money etc etc. Most people have no problems abiding by those rules, so it isn't an issue. In addition, all clans strictly adhere to and abide by all the policies and terms of service of this forum.

If you are interested in forming your own clan you will need to contact me, BigJoeJones at FeltFanatics. I am the representative for all clans. You will need to tell me why you want to form a clan, what basic functions you will serve within the forum, your clan name and who will be your clan leaders. I will discuss with the ownership your desire to form a clan and within a few days you will know our decision. Again, we will use a common sense approach to forming clans and will always put priority on what is in the best interest of the forum.

I am proud to announce that The Poker Royals will be the inaugural clan here on FeltFanatics. I am the leader of the clan and would be happy to talk to any members of the forum about joining the clan. In the weeks to come more clans will form and your options will increase, so I encourage you to think it over before you make any decisions. The Poker Royals hold two weekly tourneys on FTP and talk exclusively on Yahoo messenger, my screen name is BigJoeJones there as well. I look forward to talking to many of you soon, those who wish to join the clan and those who wish to form their own, and am very excited for what the future holds.

Be Well,
BigJoeJones