We sat down with Vastoom, the Alor’ad of Wampa Clan this month to find out what makes Wampa tick and to get a special look into our Clan of the Month for September!
Q-The clan was founded March 2009. Tell us about Wampa Clan.
A-Wampa Clan is the Maine clan of the MMCC. We have currently 9 active OMs.
Q-Your clan is fairly small compared to others but that doesn’t stop your members from being extremely dedicated. What does your clan do to get your OMs and UMs involved?
A-As a smaller clan it is very easy for us to maintain a tight family bond with all of our members and our UMs. Our leadership team is always keeping the members involved in decision of the clan, everything from the small post troop meal (the hardest decision we ever have to make :laugh:) to the large stuff like who should represent the members as Conclave Minister. Everyone gets a say and everyone is included as an important part of the discussion. We also try to do things outside of trooping together to maintain that close bond such as game nights.
Q-What do you think drives your members to rise up the ranks in the MMCC?
A-Wampa Clan members have a long history of going above and beyond. Our members have done whatever the club has need of them since its formation. Art team, Pod Cast team, App Team, PR team, Tech Team, Supply team, we have had members serve on and in some cases lead all of these positions. While I can’t speak for all of their motivations I can say for certain that all of them saw a need and stepped up to help where and when they could. Wampa Clan has had 5 members receive the Order Of Ori’Ramikad for their service to the club. While that may not seem like much to some in a clan of 9 that is a large percentage and it is something that we all strive to live up to.
Q-87 invasions is impressive for a smaller clan. How does your clan as a whole stay active? Any advice for smaller clans? Or clans that also cover a small area?
A-87, not bad considering 6 months out of the year we have no outside activities. haha The best advice I can give to anyone that wants to keep their members active is simple, Keep trooping. I know it sounds redundant but it really is that simple. Even if you are the only one that can make it keep trooping. Seeing active members promotes activity in your members. I am lucky in that when I troop I usually have my daughters with me in kit which always makes events more fun and three mandos is more impressive than one mando. My second piece of advice is that no troop is too small. Go to the local library events, go to the first time convention, go to the little parades and the fund raiser events. Beyond adding to your troop count those smaller events mean the world to the people that put them on and your support can make their day.
Q-How does it feel being the Alor’ad of a smaller but active clan?
Haha A bit like herding cats I imagine. Even though it is a smaller clan trying to get everyone together for events be it armor parties, photo shoots or just a game night can be a monumental event. Take the small victories where you can such as getting clan troop credit by getting 4 members together in kit at once.
Q-How is your clan handling the situation at hand? Is everyone okay?
A-We are extremely fortunate that so far none of our members have been affected by Covid 19 and I keep my fingers crossed that it remains that way. Our state imposed some strict guidelines early on and as such we have one of the lower case counts in the country. However all of our events are cancelled. I know we are not alone in this as everywhere our clubs membership is seeing the dates of annul troops come and go. We stay in contact and keep our hopes up for next year. It’s all any of us can do right now.
Q-What has your clan done together during this time?
We talk as frequently as peoples schedules allow, I always wish for more, and we have had a virtual armor party while answering questions from our UMs and Perspectives, again I always wish for more here too. haha
Q-Do you or your clan have anything to say about growth of the clan itself? What are the clans plans to grow in the future?
A-The new movies helped us bring in new members but unfortunately we lost some members as well. We have held a pretty stable number for a few years now but of course we always want more. We have several active UMs in various stages of completion and we continue to encourage them but without in person armor parties it can be hard to offer them the help they want or need. As I said we only get a couple months where outside armor parties are available and this year we didn’t have those. Our only plans are to continue to hosting armor parties and keeping UMs involved and encouraged when and where we can.
Q–What goals does your clan have for the year of 2020 and 2021?
Well 2020 is coming to a close and the only thing I will say about that is we hope to finish the year out in good health. As for 2021, get back to trooping and growing. I want to see our long standing UMs finish their kits and get their stripes.
You can find more about Wampa Clan here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wampaclan
Forum: https://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?board=84.0