Sunday, August 26, 2012

Byzantium Novum State of the Nation - August 2012





Byzantium Novum State of the Nation - August 2012


Greetings all,

The Summer season was quiet in Byzantium Novum. This is the time of year when
folks tend to spend less time on the Internet. This was certainly true for me -
it is the busiest season for my business and that kept me away from "things
Byzantine" much more than I wished. It is good that we're heading into the time
of year people have more time and our small new nation is more active!

In spite of the season Byzantium Novum has continued to do very well. We did
have people posting in the public forums, and we have continued to gain new
Citizens and build our Internet presence. The biggest news is that we have
finally broken the "300 mark" and now officially have 302 official Citizens!

In addition to that we now have a total of 3,607 contacts on Facebook, so we are
reaching a good audience with public posts. It is very heartening to find that
there is more Byzantine interest around the world than we ever dreamed existed
when Byzantium Novum was founded!

As a Micronation, Byzantium Novum exists as a successor state to the Byzantine
Empire, and our ultimate goal is the revival of Byzantine civilization and
culture. We will continue to work toward this in the months ahead by
strengthening our infrastructure and building our international Byzantine
Community.

The most effective way we can do this is for each of us to help build and
participate in our various Byzantium Novum Colonies and Villages. Building our
community on the local, real world level is critically important. We need to
build local friendships and work toward more face-to-face meetings and events,
where we can enjoy the wonderful history, arts, and culture of Byzantium
together!

Happily, you don't need to be any kind of "official recruiter" to work on
building Byzantine interest in your area. Simply share your interest in
Byzantium with others - and tell your friends about Byzantium Novum! As folks
hear about our fascinating work toward making a "lost" civilization live again,
and learn that they can have a role in making history... a lot of recruiting
will happen on it's own!

The other thing each of us can do is simply participate more online. Byzantium
Novum maintains many "special interest" forums for the exploration and enjoyment
of various aspects of Byzantium... and the more we do in those forums the
stronger our Community will be. If you haven't checked the "forums" section of
the Byzantium Novum website in a while it's worth a look... we have places for
discussing Byzantine literature, religion, culture, military history and more!
The more we talk to each other, the more life our renewed Byzantium has. You
don't have to be an expert on Byzantine topics to post!

I look forward to hearing from more Citizens in the forums, and watching as our
local communities grow. My personal goal is to help build Noviodunum, the
northern New England USA colony where I reside, by advertising it in the local
listings on Craig's List. They have tended to frown on international
organizations posting, but at least they have a much more liberal policy for
those posting for local events.

May we all, and Byzantium Novum itself, have a wonderful Fall season!

-Marcus Cassius Julianus
Senate President, Byzantium Novum