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Merging in CN, The best way NOT to mess up.
Topic Started: Jun 10 2008, 03:43:24 PM (206 Views)
sam


Merging in Cybernations,


A lot of people underestimate the consequences a merger can have on a community, there are alliances that completely fall apart after a merger and others that rise, become popular, strong and will never be forgotten.
Merging is more than transferring a bunch of Members, writing up a cool new Charter and enjoying the applause in the announcement on the CN Forums. Merging is a difficult and complicated process that has just very little to do with Cybernations but more with dynamic structures of an internet community.

Before I go into detail, let me talk about my qualifications and experiences. I am a lazy person. Although we recruited hard in 2006, I realized quickly that the only way to gain a lot of Member in Cybernations is to merge with another alliance. I had a lot of failed merger attempts, with smaller alliances but also with mid-sized alliance like “The Oasis”. (How ironic they later got attacked by the MCXA) We learned out of the mistakes we made, and in 2007, about a year ago, I was the one who proposed one of CN’s greatest mergers in history. The CXA-MCCF merger. Later the MCXA merged with the MDC, and additionally I helped a lot of alliances to fulfill their dream of “more strength, more members and more activity.”

Before I go into detail I want to differentiate. I won’t talk about absorptions. Absorptions are “mergers light”, like coke light just with less coolness. Absorptions can be quite useful, when an alliance is totally down, the leadership unable to react. But absorptions are just one sided. Usually the other party either doesn’t have the right, or doesn’t want to use the right to decide about the given terms. So absorptions are unfair, since both sides are usually not treated equally.

Now to the mergers. I define mergers in CN as the unification of two, equally treated parties. Merger can involve the change of the alliance name, alliance charter and alliance flag.

I will right away start with the most important point. A lot of people just look at the stats when they try to merge. “Ahh look it is ODN, MCXA and ODN – if they merged- would perfectly fit together because combined they were CN’s #1. That is wrong.

The most important thing is to look at the community structures of both involved parties. The community should –at least a little bit- know each other, they should fit well together. Alliances with a complete different CN philosophy will not just have a problem finding a Charter that fits both sides, but on a long term base, their Members will be in a constant bickering.

An example would be NPO and GATO. You just can’t mix them, and that is not only because of their different ways to play CN, but also because Members of GATO desire a completely other form of community than Members of the NPO.

That leads me to my next point. Compromises. A merger is not done as soon as all nations are transferred from one AA to another. In my opinion a merger starts when all nations are transferred. As a leader you will find yourself in a difficult position afterwards. There will be a lot to mediate; you have to seek compromises. The main problem is that Members that have semi important positions in your alliance often fear to lose power. That will lead to a constant battle on your Forums and on IRC, which is why I think one of the most important things is: Plan everything very exactly. Find compromises, involve your Membership, but define everything before the merger takes place. Everything has to be done. The Charter needs to be agreed on by both parties, the positions need to be filled.
I could avoid a lot of drama because we have 13 High Council Members, so everyone in a leadership position in both MCCF and CXA could keep their spot.

The next very important point is motivation. After the merger was done the MCXA had lousy 150 Members. However we were able to motivate our Members to be part of this great project and thus most of our Members stayed active and we started to recruit. If you are able to motivate your Membership, then you will have an increasing number of very motivated people around you. Offer them jobs. Give them the chance to help. You won’t regret it.

Motivation is the key. It won’t take long you will see your Members working together which creates a unity feeling, and this feeling will make your merger successful. It won’t take long until new friendships are born and your alliance will prosper.

As a leader it is important to built up good relations to a few Members of the other party. They have to accept you as a leader and for that, they have to know and trust you.

At the beginning conversation is key. Not only the Members but also the Governments merged. Try to get to know each other better, especially get some experience in working together.

That’s about it. A few questions stay open though. It is often difficult to say which community fits to your community; I’d say the best is to listen to your feelings.


So, here is a short summary:

(1) Don’t check the strength of an alliance, check the community.
a. Do you like the Members, do your Members like the Members?
(2) Motivate your Members to merge. Explain them all advantages
(3) Make compromises in the merger talks but…
(4) …define your Charter very precise…
(5) ….and fill all positions before your start moving to new Forums (if you move) or transferring members
(6) Be prepared on little bickering at the beginning, de-escalation is key here, try to find compromises
(7) Motivate your Members, show them that they are part of something big



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Duncan King
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Great read.

Do you believe that there is ever a point where a merger wouldn't work even if the communities in question were compatible because the alliance that would be the result of the merger would be simply too big?
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sam


Good questions, and very difficult to answer, since there has never been a mega merger in CN before.

I think that if you have a mega alliance (over 1000 Members) you simply lack of experience how to handle it.
As soon as you know how to handle it a merger is possible, but it requires a lot of activity etc. to make it happen.
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