The Empire Club/Session 9

*Dalton Kingsley suggests we get someone to kintsugi the urinal that Magda broke
**Mme. Gauthier suggests we break all of them and have them all done at once. Magda shoots this suggestion down as "contrived"
*Current status of invites
**M. Emil Efim, Aledrum businessman, yes
**Baron Maleth, Minister of Finance, will probably say yes, but wants to make us wait
***To get him to respond earlier, we are creating the "Founding Member" tier and an event.
**Lord Izoth, Calathan Ambassador, very grateful for the invite and will say yes. Wants to get a Calthan on the board, esp. if Liveth is on the board
***Cassie permits him to join the board, given that he makes a sizable contribution to the Club
***Kingsley proposes we create a system that increases the buy-in required to get a spot on the board, and a subsequent buy-out strategy (with a seniority system so that more junior members cannot eject the original board): board buy-in is calculated as Club Value/N where N is the size of the board if the candidate is accepted. A supermajority of more or equally senior board members may vote to eject the board member, at which point the club will have to pay out a recalculated board seat value based on the time of dismissal (if a board member resigns, the club has one year to make this payment but valuation is calculated at time of resignation).
**M. Wilthan, Calathan Diplomat, yes
**Deputy Ambassador Trifon, Livethan Deputy Ambassador, wants to endow chairs for the important ambassador positions
**Agatha Winthrop and Hortense 
***They discuss why Marie didn't get an invitation; Cassie reveals to them & Marie that Maggie Dawes is the reason
***After Marie leaves, Cassie reveals that Maggie Dawes didn't want any of the Ladies to receive an invitation
**Augustine Norat, Sermayan shipping magnate (her official title is "Rich as Fuck"), asks if her "special friend", the Sermayan Ambassador, can take her spot instead (with Mme. Norat paying the fees)
***We give her a membership and a guest pass that can be used by her friend OTM to come even without being accompanied by Mme. Norat.
***Mme. Norat turns down a counter offer because she is on Aeldrum so infrequently, and would like her special friends to have access because she is so thoughtful in their selection
***Kingsley suggests creating a title of "Club Ambassador" that would permit her to have this type of membership. She accepts this offer and will treat the title with the respect it merits
**Wanda Prince gets her buy-in waved with her performing service to the club as "fashion adviser"
**A dozen "Legacy Members" have also accepted. They will be there to remind us of the old days. One day they will die. We will still collect dues even after their death thanks to our policy of auto-drafting membership dues from bank accounts
**16 founding members; Baroness Salvek's fees are waived and Baron Hathel's auction purchase bought him membership
**Baron Hathel would like to be a board member given how much he has donated to the club (4M Ducats) and would be willing to pay the board buy-in
***Kingsley goes to interview the Baron at his manor built into the side of a spire. The Baron is lounging on his "best lounge couch" when Kinglsey arrives. Kingsley and the Baron play billiards, Kingsley allows him to win. Kingsley asks the Baron his 5-10 year vision of the Club.
***The Baron thinks the Club should maintain excitement in the membership. He spends a while elucidating just how old the club is (Kingsley remembers the Baron's very clever and articulate reputation), and insists that the club maintain its values
**Lord Izoth balks at the extra fee he would pay to be on the board (2.5m Ducats). Offers up a 2.5M (0.8%) share of a Corporation (the Izoth family estate) to pay (estimated annual revenues 150,000 ducats): if Izoth exits the board for any reason, he exercises the right to buy back the shares (either as a direct exchange for all or part of the board payout or partly or entirely in cash if the value of the estate shares is greater than the board payout). The board accepts his offer.
**Baron Hathel is told board membership will cost 2.5M. He immediately cuts a check.
*We figure out the dues/donation situation
**Historical: 50K dues to buy the membership, annual dues were 20K
***Adjusted for inflation it would be ~70K to buy membership, annual dues would be ~25K
***Lord Elsevar held dues down artificially
**Current monthly costs 85K, if we fully staffed up (incl. chef) ~255K
***With food and other misc. entertaining cost might get to 300K
**Mme. Gautier suggests we don't rely on dues as our sole income source and include more events
***Do we want people to fund events (and make donations) to create those events so that people can do an event with a non-zero probability of having someone they would like to meet with in attendance
**Could we instead eliminate the buy-in and up the annual fee? At least for civil servants
**Solution: Have large ticket costs (sommelier, chef, mind singer) be endowed; dues will cover other operating costs. Keep inflated due rates
**Policy: 75k upfront, 25k annual (either/both may be waived for special "unfortunate" cases: officially "For those who have chosen a career of service rather than a career of wealth.")
Izoth Family: Old money Calathans; Jerom's great-grandfather was the first Marquis Izoth. High level noblemen in one of the wealthier former core worlds.
18 founding members plus 12 legacy members plus 3 ladies who lunch (2 politically connected; all three the most beautiful of 15 applicants) plus 6 Confederates (Ambassador plus hangers on, two businessmen from CMs, Celestial Prince, ret.) NO Percellans plus 5 Calathans plus 5 historical society figures plus 5 art collectors plus 8 artists (subsidized 50%) plus 3 cultural coalition MPs
Waiving member upfront fees for: 2 civil servants, 1 Baroness Salvek, 1 Wanda Prince, Lord Izoth, Baron Hathel
Claude, the Timeshare King of Percel was denied membership
Category:Session Summaries