CSM: Running for Office: Week Eight

Welcome to the second month of my CSM9 run!

 Five days ago voting opened. In nine days, voting will close. And in three weeks we will know the results. Nine more days my “Vote Sugar Kyle” logo will appear attached to my posts. I know that many of you have already voted and I thank everyone that has voted for me. However, this isn’t done until the polls close. There is no slowing down. There are no assumptions about results. I can take a day off on the 23rd.

 Things have become busier since polls opened. I was not sure what to expect. Activity in my thread has calmed down over the days leading up to the election. Recommendation lists had started to come out. Both CSM members current and past as well as individuals made their recommendations on how their CSM ballet would look and why they feel the way that they do.

 I recommend myself. However, there is a list of other ballots that also recommend me (and others) at the end of the post. I’ve been flattered by the things said about me. I believe that I have worked hard and been very focused on presenting myself to the voters at large. This has been a, “This is me, I hope you will select me to represent you,” time for me and it is an intense experience.

 Once the polls opened I started to get mails and conversations and invited to comms. I have penned letters, sent links, and done my best to explain who and what I am. I’m more than happy to keep it up. If you have people you think I should talk to or that you want to talk to me, I’m all ears. I’ve had a lot of help with this. From the German and Russian translations of my CSM platform to people helping me contact people. I don’t know everyone but I’m willing to try to talk to them.

 Speculation runs rampant across the metagame. People are doing math, looking at recommended ballots, eyeing voter turn outs and coming up with probability after probability. Sometimes they are exciting. Someone goes, “You are a shoe-in!” and other times they go, “I just don’t see that low sec can get enough representation against the null sec blocs.”

 I have mountains to climb. People are placing themselves in my care. They are giving me their voices to carry. It is a tremendous responsibility and it is one that I will do my best by. I’m honored, frankly, for all the belief, confidence and trust.

 I find that the CSM election blurs the line between the game self and the real self. In game I represent myself as I am but when I handed over my real credentials to CCP I handed over the person behind Sugar as well. Maybe for some it is the metagame and their Eve character. For me, what you get is the person who writes this blog and plays this game.

  I’m Melanie and I am running for the CSM as Sugar Kyle. I hope you vote for me.

 Here are some other opinions. I discovered that surfing the web for yourself feels a bit weird. The very first recommendation I’m going to point out because he met me IRL last month at a local Eve meetup. I think this may be of interest to some who are curious about meeting or dealing with me. https://splatus.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/csm9/

Also, Kaphine, who occasionally blogs on the General Tso’s Alliance blog realized that he met me at Eve Vegas last October. Small game. :)

 Some who have been kind enough to make endorsements:

 The Nosy Gamer - http://nosygamer.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-nosy-gamers-csm-9-election.html
Eveoganda - http://eveoganda.blogspot.com/2014/04/eveogandas-csm9-official-endorsements.html
Von Keigai - http://vonkeigai.blogspot.com/2014/04/csm-nine-voting.html
Susan Black - http://www.gamerchick.net/2014/04/duck-duck-goose.html
Jacob Anedalle - http://evechecklist.blogspot.com/2014/04/csm-9-elections.html
Kirith Kodachi - http://www.ninveah.com/2014/04/endorsements-for-csm9.html
Raziel Walker - http://razielwalker.blogspot.com/2014/04/eve-csm9-voting.html
Gevlon Goblin - http://greedygoblin.blogspot.com/2014/04/csm-election-recommendations.html
Ali Aras - http://warp-to-sun.tumblr.com/post/82107658604/this-post-will-be-hard-because-the-field-is-wide
Sala Cameron - http://theloveydovey.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/csm9_election_endorsements/
Ripard Teg - http://jestertrek.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-polls-are-open.html
Neville Smit - http://nevillesmit.com/blog/2014/4/5/my-votes-for-csm9
Foo - http://foo-eve.blogspot.com/2014/04/foos-csm-9-recommendations.html
MoxNix - http://merchantmonarchy.blogspot.com/2014/04/csm-voting-recommendations.html
Steve Ronuken -  https://www.fuzzwork.co.uk/2014/04/07/csm-9-voting-list/
Drackarn - http://sandciderandspaceships.blogspot.com/2014/04/csm-who-gets-my-vote.html
Rhavas - http://interstellarprivateer.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/csm9-endorsements/
Malcanis - http://failheap-challenge.com/showthread.php?16445-CSM9-voting-starts-tomorrow
Mangala - http://mangala.rvbganked.co.uk/csm-9-the-mangala-recommendations/
Proc Diadochu - http://ragnarokalliance.com/?p=171
And don’t forget to check out my thread on the Eve Forums for more!

Thank you everyone! We are almost there. Week eight is done and week nine is coming in strong.