The leaders of our fair cities gathered this evening for a spirited chat about all things cosa nostra. With all the chaos of recent weeks, thoughts this evening were firmly placed on rebuilding and putting some structure back into organised crime in our districts. For any of the upper structure members that were unable to attend IRC avenue in person, minutes of the meeting have been provided. For everyone else here is a quick rundown of what was discussed and a brief summary of the points raised or the decisions made.

Remember that if you've got points you'd like to see aired at these meetings or issues you feel should be raised you're welcome to put them forward to your leaders or any of the attendees that will be at the meeting to raise on your behalf. At worst they'll raise it and get a kick from it and at worst they'll raise it and steal your idea. Either way, it'll probably work out well for them so they'll be delighted receiving the input.

So, simplifying everything that was said to the point of falsification and putting words into mouths that were never intended, here's a not so brief synopsis type summary of what went down in Chinatown (disclaimer - none of the events mentioned here actually happened in Chinatown. You'll also see my own comments and notes appear which have very little correlation to actual events or facts):

Crew Sizes Pushed to 40

Previous attempts to reduce the maximum crew sizes to thirty member headquarters (to help facilitate closer family ties, greater responsibility, and better training thanks to smaller numbers) hit a large road bump with the recent sharp demand for additional spaces following the war(s). It was agreed that the current expansions to 40 for many families were a necessary step in resolving this situation and that this issue can be monitored going forward and steps to reduce family sizes back to 30 will be looked at again in future meetings.

The reductions in the future will accommodate a better spread of the population throughout the six cities, rather than the current population spikes in Las Vegas and Chicago, and will allow greater room for growth for the new annexed cities once the headquarters in those are in a position to expand.

Everyone was either still asleep or actually did agree with this as other than a few nods of approval it was met with no dissenting voices. This was terribly upsetting as I personally was hoping for more of a bar room brawl type scenario with so many new faces meeting for the first time. Sadly, that wasn't to be and Everyone agreed that the forty man HQs were fine to remain and would be revisited again at a future meeting.  

Punches thrown: 0

Nods of approval: Lots, pretty unanimous, not even close to a scowl of derision except for my own disappointment at the lack of fighting 

Annexed Cities - Q&A and Future Growth

Next up the conversation quickly turned to the new annexed cities. There had to be a fist fight here, right? Right. Just had to be. Lets dive in and see who'd throw the first punch.

The main focus here started on the future growth potential for the families already set up. Those controlling the annexed cities laid down what their hopes and expectations were that would dictate whether a new family was in good standing. They wished to see these families making a positive impact. Leaders having a positive impact on their members and families having a positive impact on our world. No one metric or criteria was laid down to evaluate success in this context, there are innumerous ways to make an impact in this thing of ours, but each of the new leaders contributed thoughts and ideas on what they might do and many of these met with positive feedback. It wasn't a requirement for specific activites like street presence alone, which has so often left questionable results when its nothing more than a tick the box exercise, but each family should be seeking to make a clear and positive impact if they wish to establish their place on a firm footing, retain favour and achieve the growth and expansion these cities need.

The question of what would happen once all six available spots in a city became full and someone else looked to grab one of those spots was also raised. Those controlling the city made it very clear that they wouldn't look kindly on anyone disrupting current activities in the cities without at first seeking approval from those in command. They'd given the nod to begin with, so making a move on a friend of ours without the nod from the standing Godfather of a city would be viewed in a negative manner. Having said that, they also made it clear that if someone approached them to get a nod of approval on removing an existing family that hadn't been performing to expectations and where someone could potentially do a better job they also made it clear they'd happily provide the approval in certain cases. This isn't a free for all, but positions have to be earned and work put in to retain. It's on the shoulders of each leader, new or old, in these districts to earn and retain their spots. There's no permanent safe list and if the work isn't good enough, the protection levels provided will match. 

A quick chat about logistics (costs of upgrades), thresholds of forts that could be obtained (no caps) and should the individual districts be selecting leaders (no, the city heads are the leaders here) quickly got resolved and put aside. The whole meeting was steamrollering along like something that steamrollers along very quickly.

Punches thrown: 1 - During the middle of the discussion on annexed cities, Argyle landed a dinger of a right hook right to the jaw. Oddly, it was his own jaw he struck, but we still have to give him brownie points for having the balls to land a punch of that caliber.

Nods of approval: 3 - Being the known legend that he is for honesty, and punching, Argyle drew a few nods of approval (or understanding) when stating the performance issues he had been suffering from of late.

<Argyle> I have performance issues, so Philadelphia would like to abstain from expansion for now if this is okay.   

This is the sort of honest leadership we hope to see more of. Obviously, the performance issues themselves need not be replicated but it's great to see leaders happy to lay it all on the line (not literally, please) and tell it like it is. 

Pass The Baton

A quick reminder was also dropped for the upcoming Pass The Baton contest. The contest will take place over the February 11th weekend (12:00 on Saturday Feb 11th to 12:00 on Sunday Feb 12th - date announcement here, with some quick details on it here). 

Many pointed out the prizes for these competitions are pretty epic and that everyone should be encouraged to participate as it is well worth the time invested.

Personally I bit my lip and said as little as possible. I was kind of hoping everyone else might forget and I could clean up. But noooo. FitzChivalry and Bonkers wanted to be all inclusive and for everyone to have fun. I was disgusted. 

Excellent Recap! Hopefully the swelling has gone down on @Argyles face. 

Thank you Boss TsuDhoNimh for this excellent summary of our recent meeting. It was nice to see business conducted in a very straight forward manner that didn't consume hours of anyone's time. GFC Fitz and GFC Bonkers had an agenda ready and kept things running smoothly. Questions were answered, all voices heard and we were still in and out in less then an hour. I, for one, have spoken with many of the crew leader's of those smaller crews and I look forward to the potential they have to grow and succeed in this world of ours. 

As for Argyle, I've check in with him myself and can assure everyone he seems to be doing just fine. Or at least as well as anyone who punches themselves that hard in the jaw can be doing. He might feel even better if everyone were to go buy some pizza from him and show him some love.