MicroCon EU will continue!

 Just a brief update tonight, but we have confirmation that the European Union edition of MicroCon will be an ongoing event.  I believe the plan is to hold them every two years, like the current one, but on the "off year".  More information when I have it, of course!

Awards standardization - an example

 Recently, I've been proposing a standardized form for awards (i.e. medals) - see, for example, our brochure on the topic at the MEDALS website.

Today, I'd like to show you why this is something I think is important.  The below picture has two awards: on the left is the the "Order of the Pink Flamingo", which was presented to me by Aigues-Mortes at MicroCon in 2019, and on the right is the "King's Mark of Friendship" (or KMOF), which is a small award I give out to people I've formed a close personal bond with, both inside the micronational community and outside of it.

The size disparity is, to say the least, striking.  Attempting to wear both of these awards at the same time would look fairly awkward, in my opinion.  And, I'll admit that part of this huge disparity is my fault, because I'm the one who designed and makes the KMOF medals, and I chose to make them small based on the parts that I'd found.  (I have a LOT of those crown charms!)

Now, this example is somewhat contrived, as these are, respectively, the largest and smallest awards in the MEDALS collection (at least, at the time of writing).  However, I think that it demonstrates my argument for me, that standardization of award sizes within the micronational community is beneficial.  Of course, if you're only giving awards within your own micronation, and not presenting them to people from other micronations, then you can model your awards any way you wish.  (I'm aware, for example, that the "Klingon Assault Group" (or KAG, a Star Trek fandom group) uses "battle notches" for marking event attendance that are small, triangular pieces of medal - they have hook-and-loop fastener on the back, and as more are earned, the wearer can arrange them into more complex geometries.)

NOTE: The Order of the Pink Flamingo is, unfortunately, damaged - one of the flamingo feet "snapped off" during the MicroCon closing banquet, and has never been seen again.

MicroCon retrospective video from West Who

West Who recently posted this video over on YouTube - a nice little retrospective of MicroCon, including a good shot of our delegation (in all of our gala finery) at about 0:43.  The video's literally only a minute long, perfect for those of us with busy days or short attention spans!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDr1rZ38OXg&ab_channel=WestWho 

Pamphlets available for download from MEDALS

Five years ago, I established MEDALS, the Microphalerist Educational Archive and Library of Slabovia.  That site (and the physical collection) documents the wide variety of medals, honours, and awards bestowed by various micronations.  As part of this, we've created several different pamphlets that we distribute at MicroCons.  And, as of today, these pamphlets are available for download (PDF format, English only) from the MEDALS website under "Printable Materials".

The first pamphlet, Introduction, (which we first made up for MicroCon 2019) provides an abridged history of phalera (decorations) and the field of phaleristics.

The second pamphlet, Storing and Displaying, (which was premiered at MicroCon 2022) provides the reader with thoughts about storing, caring for, and repairing their decorations and honours.

The third pamphlet, Standardization (new for MicroCon 2023) proposes a standard size and materials for decorations, and gives some suggestions for how to present awards.

If you're at all interested in micronational awards, feel free to go to the MEDALS website and browse around!

MicroCon photos!

 My thanks to Adrienne Baugh, First Lady of Molossia, for these photos.  The first is a picture of me with the President and First Lady of Molossia, and the second was taken during my cyber warfare talk.

Another MicroCon is done...

 Another MicroCon is in the books... and in some ways, this was Slabovia's best ever!

Slabovia gave two amazing (but VERY different) talks during the conference - Our chancellor presented the recent "Zenda" mission as a photo essay with accompanying commentary, while We spoke on cyber warfare as an existential threat to micronations and steps that can be taken to reduce the risk.

Related to the latter talk, We also proposed that individual micronations sign the CHICAGO (Cyber Hostility Intervention Comprehensive Agreement Governing Offense) Accord that We'd authored, which prohibits the use of offensive cyber weapons or cyber attacks by signatories.  The leaders from24 micronations signed the accord on Saturday, out of approximately 40 micronations in attendance, so the proposal was very well received.  Notable signatories included Molossia, Westarctica, Ruritania, the Aerican Empire, and Aigues-Mortes.  All signatories were presented with a special challenge coin that was created just for the occasion, shown below.

We were also able to present a number of awards while We were there.  We gave out patches to a number of delegates who'd attended all of the first five MicroCons, We presented Queen Carolyn of Ladonia with the Order of Slabovia for organizing a successful MicroCon, and We awarded the Make George Cross to Commodore Jonathan Miller of Molossia for his repeated attempts to get Us to give him a Coke Zombie award.  (Details on both of these awards, as well as all of the others that Slabovia awards its citizens and others, can be found here.)  We also presented five "King's Mark of Friendship" mini-medals and one "King's Mark of Merit", to the Sultan of Slowjamastan.  

The commemorative patch for the attendees of all of the first five MicroCon events is shown below - it lists the host nations and their flags for each of the five MicroCon events.  The patch was designed by Our chancellor based on an idea We came up with, and We think it turned out quite well!

Finally, We got to reveal the location of MicroCon 2025 and introduce its hosts - this event, which marks ten years of MicroCons, will be held in Montreal, QC, Canada, and will be hosted by three micronations, including the Aerican Empire, the Newgraviate of Saint-Castin, and the Principality of Sancratosia.  It's currently scheduled to be held the last weekend of June (subject to change based on the world situation at that time, of course...), and We hope to see everyone there!  We're already planning some interesting ideas...

Another preview for MicroCon

 Just got these in the mail to distribute to certain people...  I'm QUITE pleased with how they turned out!

So what's going on?

 Can't say much at the moment, but we're busily preparing for MicroCon 2023 in just over two weeks in Chicago.

Oh.  And, don't try THIS at home...

A Few Thoughts on Flags

 One of the most common trappings of micronations I see is flags.  There's nothing wrong with that - flags can help build a sense of identity for your micronation, and there are online groups devoted to micronational vexillology (the study of flags).

However, I also see a very common mistake when it comes to designing flags, particularly for new micronationalists.  There's a real tendency toward making them too detailed, trying to fit everything in.  Flags should be easy to describe and recognizable at a distance.

As an example, Slabovia's flag is fairly simple - three horizontal bars, the top and bottom being purple (to represent our royal heritage) and the middle being silver to represent cyberspace.

And, to me, this is a pretty good flag design. It meets the criteria I outlined above (easy to describe, easy to recognize at a distance).  It's something we can be proud of.

Oh, yes, one more thing - try to avoid making your flag look like any other nation's flag, be it macro- or micronational.

Coming in 2024...?

 A few days ago, We realized that Slabovia will be 40 years old next year.  (Well, sort of.  While it wasn't really named "Slabovia" until 1988, aspects of the nation began to coalesce a few years earlier, in 1984.  To that end, we've always stated that Slabovia was founded "retroactively" in 1984.)

Anyway, leaving that aside, We are working with the Chancellor to investigate a number of possible events and projects to celebrate the ruby jubilee of the country.  Watch this space for more information!

On a related note, depending on how you count, Our own Silver jubilee as ruler of Slabovia is also approaching (when you take into account that there have been two reigns of King George).  We shall have to give some thought to approaches for celebrating that as well.

So you want to start your own micronation?

 One of the frequently-asked questions in the micronational groups over on Facebook is, "I want to start my own micronation - where do I begin?"  Today I will provide several places to start.

First, check out this page, written by none other than His Excellency, President Kevin Baugh of Molossia - you can benefit from his decades in the micronational sphere by reading his thoughts.

Not to be outdone, Grand Duke Travis McHenry of Westarctica has posted a page here with useful advice

Finally, Flandrensis hosts a page on their site.

I'm sure there are probably more out there, but I find all three of these sites to be pretty informative for beginners, and I usually point people to them when "the question" is asked - although I may start pointing them to this page instead, since it already has all three links on it.

Are all micronations the same?

"Strength lies in differences, not in similarities."
-- Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

On the surface of it, all micronations must be the same - we're all just playing at "Model United Nations", like we did in high school, right?  Well, nothing could be further from the truth - micronations run the gamut from electronic simulations in Minecraft to actual physical locations like Sealand, and their objectives can be just as varied.

First, they vary in population.  While few micronations even approach the population of Niue (population 1610 as of 2021), and some are as small as a family unit, Ladonia boasts 27,555 registered citizens as of August 2022.

Second, they encompass many forms of government, from the constitutional monarchy of Slabovia to the technocracy of Theodia and through the spectrum from participatory democracies to dictatorships.  (Not that it's really relevant to the running of the government per se, but micronations also run the gamut from communist through socialist to pure capitalist economies.)

Third, they vary immensely in claimed size, from Slabovia's minimal land claims (only the ground under our feet and the sky above our heads) to Westarctica's claim on 1.6 million square kilometres (over 600,000 square miles) of the Antarctic.  Indeed, some micronations only claim virtual space, as noted above.  Some micronations also have non-terrestrial claims, a matter of some contention in the micronational sphere.  (To those who claim that such territories can't be legitimate, We will point out that the papacy has a bishop to the Moon.  If it's good enough for the pope, it's good enough for you, doubters!)

So, by any normal measure of nations, micronations can fall anywhere on the spectrum.  In short, no, micronations are NOT all the same - they are as varied as anything in nature!  (And that's what makes them so amazing!)

International Relations

 One of the things I like to do to try to maintain diplomatic relations with other micronations is sending out holiday cards at the end of every year.  We have custom cards made up, and at this point we have a list of about 20 micronations we send cards to.  Not everyone sends one back, but this year we got five.

Top left and right sides were from Molossia (one from His Excellency, President Kevin Baugh, and one from Commodore Jonathan Miller and his wife Katie), top middle from John Farr of West Who, bottom left from Queen Caroline of Ladonia, and bottom centre from Zar Antonov of Obscuria.

MicroCon 2022 - A Look Back

 Due to the global situation, the MicroCon that was supposed to happen in 2021 ended up being deferred by a year, to August 2022.  The first weekend of August, almost 100 delegates from about 30 micronations throughout the USA and Canada travelled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to attend the fourth iteration of this event.

Slabovia was well-represented at this conference.  In addition to the King and Queen-consort, the Chancellor and his wife and son, and two representatives from our Navey (sic) all attended.

I didn't give a talk at this one (the first time I haven't done so - I thought I'd give others a chance to speak), but nonetheless I had an amazing time and, as usual, renewed old friendships and made new ones, and came away with many ideas for new projects.  And, of course, we gave out a few medals and awards, and got a few in exchange.

We're already planning for MicroCon 2023 (the decision has been made to return to odd-numbered years with this one)!

MicroCon 2023

 All -

Registration for MicroCon 2023 is now open at https://microcon2023.com/ 

Interestingly, there will be TWO conferences this year, one in Chicago at the start of July, and then one in Ypres, Belgium, in August.

Oh, and unrelated to MicroCon, but Obscuria (whose ruler I was happy to meet in 2019 at MicroCon) is hosting a smaller micronational conference called the Micro Euro Summit.  It'll be hold on July 15th in Chyse, Czech Republic - see https://obscurium-gov.wixsite.com/micro-euro-summit for information.

Stay tuned for pictures from MicroCon 2022, which was held in Las Vegas in August!