I'd like to thank...

 This past weekend was MicroCon 2025, held in Montreal, QC. There's a lot that happened this past weekend, but this post is about one thing in particular. During that event, on the Saturday night, I was very pleased to be inducted into the Micronational Hall of Excellence (MHoE)!

Award certificate and medal for the Micronational Hall of Excellence (MHoE)

His Excellency, President Kevin Baugh of Molossia presents me with the MHoE medal

There are so many people that I want/need to thank for this award. Obviously, my wife and Queen-consort, Lynne, who puts up with all of this madness, and my chancellor Rankin, who really does help and co-run the kingdom in so many useful and helpful ways - and the rest of the Slabovians, for putting up with me as their ruler while I figured out what I should be doing (and not doing)! Also Emperor Eric Lis of the Aerican Empire and his people for such a wonderful event, and Jordan Farmer for proposing and organizing the MHoE, and inviting me to join the board when it was started, and President Kevin Baugh of Molossia for organizing the first MicroCon back in 2015, and literally everyone I've met at every single MicroCon event since the first one, and all of the micronationals I've met both online and in the real world. This is such an amazing community, and I'm happy to be a part of it in so many ways!

But I'm not ready to rest on my laurels yet, and I've come away from MicroCon (as always) with some new ideas - watch this space for an announcement about something new, coming soon!

MicroCon host nation preparations

 This picture was posted over on Facebook by the host nation(*) with the caption, "How many big boxes does it take to carry a hundred or so goodie bags? Four and counting. I'm sure glad I don't have to bring most of them home again!"

(*) For reasons I won't get into here, both Saint-Castin and Sancratosia backed out of MicroCon at the last minute, leaving the Aerican Empire to finalize preparations and host the conference on their own. Fortunately, the MicroCon community is stepping up and volunteering to assist in any way necessary.

MicroCon 2025 - two weeks to go!

 We are just under two weeks from MicroCon 2025, which will be held at the Ruby Foo's hotel in Montreal, QC. This year's event is being hosted by three micronations working together, including the Aerican Empire, the Newgraviate of Saint-Castin, and the Principality of Sancratosia. I know the rulers of all three micronations, and I'm quite confident that this will be an amazing event. (UPDATED to reflect new realities that came out shortly after this was originally posted...)

At this point, there's about 44 micronations and 115 people registered to attend, shattering all previous records for both.

Slabovia is, of course, attending, and I'll be on a panel discussion with other former MicroCon hosts, and might also be giving a separate talk, time permitting.

We've also been busy preparing various things to give away at the conference, because that's always fun. One of the things I'm most amazed with and proud of is pictured below - these are custom-printed Lego(tm) pieces we had done by Marc at Million Prints. He does great work!

Micronational Hall of Excellence

 A few years back, I was privileged to be asked to join the Board for a new body being formed, the Micronational Hall of Excellence. Since that time, Slabovia has kept her seat on the board and two votes in the voting body, and we intend to remain a part of this august body for as long as they'll have us.

Previous inductees have included names that ring through the history of micronationalism, including Emperor Norton, Prince Leonard of Hutt River, Prince Roy of Sealand, and Statssekreterare Lars Vilks of Ladonia, as well as a number of micronational leaders who I've been privileged to consider as friends and colleagues, including President Kevin Baugh of Molossia, Queen Anastasia of Ruritania, Queen Carolyn of Ladonia, Prince Jean-Pierre IV of Aigues-Mortes, and Grand Duke Travis of Westarctica.

Voting is currently under way for the 2025 induction, and while I can't comment as to the vote results, I can say that there are a number of deserving nominees, both historical and current.

Re: That last interview

 Available now on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!

Another interview!

 Today, I spent over an hour talking to His Royal Highness, Prince Stephen of Dracul for his podcast, Micro Improvement. I'll post the link once this episode is live (February 7th?) but you can find the podcast on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Now in its third season, so far this year the podcast has talked to Dr. Eric Lis (Emperor of the Aerican Empire), Queen Carolyn of Ladonia, and Sultan Randy Williams of Slowjamastan.

My talk at the Digi Micro Summit - December 28, 2024

 Today I was pleased to give a talk entitled "Find your niche: Making an impact in the micronational community" at the 2024 Digi Micro Summit.  You can see the recording of the video below:

While you're there, you can also watch Zar Antonov's presentation on medals, uniforms, and flags!