Atlanta Vampire Alliance [AVA]

[Merticus]

http://smokenmirrorshome.com/

S&M supports this large undertaking, and congratulates the AVA on its hard work and dedication to the Vampire Community and its long term well being.

(Link & Logo Listed On Home Page)

AVA Vampire Survey

The Vampire & Energy Work Research Survey is complete and now available in either online or printed form at
vampiresurvey.com.

etc....

[Merticus]

Lady CG
The Great Ferret

Posts: 25409
(8/2/06 3:34 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter

Advanced Vampirism & Energy Work Research Survey
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Thank you SO much for posting this, Mert!
Its appreciated. This has been such a massive undertaking for you. **takes her hat off to AVA!

Merticus
New Elitist
Posts: 7
(8/6/06 11:36 pm)
Reply | Edit Advanced Vampirism & Energy Work Research Survey
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Thank you Lady CG. This 2nd survey was a massive undertaking but we are proud to announce its release and look forward to analyzing the results along with the VEWRS later this year. Thank you again for your support and participation!

WingsInTheNight
Insane Board Admin
Need Help? Just Ask!
Super Milk Chan say's
You're a DUMBASS!!
Posts: 3015
(8/9/06 11:21 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter

Advanced Vampirism & Energy Work Research Survey
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
oh... I thought this was related to the first. My bad. That's what happns when I read too late/early... how ever you want to classify my insomnia...
Will get it on my desktop and get to it.


Canada Guy314
Fangbanger
Posts: 35
(8/10/06 8:33 am)
Reply Re: Advanced Vampirism & Energy Work Research Survey
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Well I just finished the AVEWRS survey yesterday and i must say it was VERY,VERY well done !!! Yes it was pretty damn long too but i think it'll be worth it, i'm sure a lot of clarification will be happening in the vampire community.

So I bow my head to those who created the survey and give a thumbs up to those who complete it (O and a large cup of coffee...you'll need it )

Best of Wishes and Good luck
.:*Embrace the Darkness*:.

[Merticus]

Winged Wolf Psion
(11/19/06 12:30 pm)

As one of the most surely accused 'naysayers', I believe my posts are very often misconstrued. My intention is to suggest a different way of doing things--not to imply that they shouldn't be done at all.

In my opinion, the OVC is entering a sort of Piscean age...the frantic chaos of youth is giving way to a more mature attitude, more complex--and yes, slower--projects. Take AVEWRS for example. How many here are excited about that project? I know that I am. It's been a LONG time coming. Once the data is in...then there will be even more work to do, interpreting it, hypothesizing and theorizing based on the data, and trying to come up with ways to test all of these new ideas.

If it seems like all your efforts aren't bearing noticeable fruit, well, you're very wrong there. It's not about how big of a dent you notice--you know very well that you've helped people. The numbers don't count. Don't you believe that if you have helped even ONE person with all of this effort, that it was worth it?

If a lot of ideas have already been gone over and over many times...then try some new ones. There ARE new ones. If I can find them, you SURELY can.
There is a hell of a lot more to explore, test, and discover before you're allowed to throw in the towel. But if you need a rest, don't feel that the OVC will collapse without you. It's sturdier than that.

Vyrdolak
Fangbanger
Posts: 23
(11/19/06 1:45 pm)

I'm certainly interested in the VEWRS and AVEWRS surveys, I'm answering them, and I will be most eager to see the results. (If I was more confident in my ability to follow-through, I'd offer to help, but unfortunately I have a lot on my plate and don't want to offer if I can't make good on it. I did most of the work on a huge survey that Earthspirit distributed in the Pagan community in the 1980's, though, so I have some experience with what it involves.)

I do have some questions about the project, though, and about AVA itself. AVA is a very new group, and they still appear to be very small--five people, based on their website--yet they're immediately launching into this enormous project. I am wondering--out of curiosity, not suspicion, mind--what led them to attempt something so ambitious when they are still such an unknown quantity? They appear to be, collectively, an extremely intellectual crew.

The trouble with surveys of this type is that they ultimately present a lop-sided picture, which can create problems down the line if they're used as the basis of general decisions and conclusions. Any optional survey, to begin with, only includes that segment of the target test group that is willing to reply to a survey, even anonymously. The VC, on- and off-line, is among the most paranoid and suspicious alternative communities I've seen, reluctant to share information and hesitant to reply to even simple polls. Those who are most forthcoming include individuals whose claims are suspect, for a variety of reasons. Further, of that segment (i.e. people willing to reply at all), this one will only include that sub-group that is willing to reply to a survey run by people they don't know well, who have no reputation or history in the VC, and give no real names or verifiable credentials. Everything the AVA says about itself and its motivation has to be taken at face value. They may be perfectly trustworthy, but let's face it: would you contribute at such length, even anonymously, to any other group who asked you 988 intensely personal questions but wouldn't even tell you their names? And on top of this, of that sub-group (i.e. people who trust the surveyors), these two surveys will only include that sub-sub-group that has the stamina to reply in full to a 988-question survey. 988 questions is rather a lot.

So yes, it will be interesting to see the results of the survey, but let's not fool ourselves that those results will apply generally to "the vampiric community" as a whole. They won't. The vast majority of the VC won't reply to the survey, and, just due to the nature of the questions, very few blood-drinking vampires will.

There is a hell of a lot more to explore, test, and discover before you're allowed to throw in the towel. But if you need a rest, don't feel that the OVC will collapse without you. It's sturdier than that.

Quite true, in the sense that no one is indispensible. But alternative communities of all sorts have real problems if their leaders keep burning out and leaving. With no continuity, such communities keep on "reinventing the wheel" over and over again. It may be a cliche that "those who can't remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It's also true. The challenge alternative communities face is developing leadership networks that distribute the pressure, and manage the natural boom-and-bust cycle that takes everything back to the starting point because the leader never evolved past iconic status. I've noticed a number of VC websites putting up Isaac Bonewits' Cult Danger Evaluation document. However, the VC isn't prone so much to "cults" as it is to "personality cults." A "personality cult" doesn't always result from "the personality" at its head: all too often, it exists because everyone else is perfectly happy to sit back and enjoy (and criticize) the fruits of "the personality's" labor. There's a general rule on the Internet that no more than 10% of the membership of any online forum ever contributes. In the OVC, I think it's even less. Look at the top of this board: "806 registered members." Have 81 individual people made posts here? I think not! And even if that many people have posted over the years, are that many people posting now?

Edited by: Vyrdolak at: 11/19/06 1:46 pm

Merticus
New Elitist
Posts: 13
(11/22/06 12:21 pm)

Vyrdolak:

My apologies for being three days tardy to responding to this message and providing you with more clarification to the questions below:

"I'm certainly interested in the VEWRS and AVEWRS surveys, I'm answering them, and I will be most eager to see the results. (If I was more confident in my ability to follow-through, I'd offer to help, but unfortunately I have a lot on my plate and don't want to offer if I can't make good on it. I did most of the work on a huge survey that Earthspirit distributed in the Pagan community in the 1980's, though, so I have some experience with what it involves.)"

Thank you for your participation and time spent taking these surveys. The wait and see attitude displayed by many is not conducive to gathering responses that could potentially be of benefit and undermines the entire process. If more people were able to bear witness to the entire "picture" of this study, we're confident they would be taking these surveys on an even larger scale and to this end we are putting mechanisms in place in December 2006 to provide this transparency.

"I do have some questions about the project, though, and about AVA itself. AVA is a very new group, and they still appear to be very small--five people, based on their website--yet they're immediately launching into this enormous project. I am wondering--out of curiosity, not suspicion, mind--what led them to attempt something so ambitious when they are still such an unknown quantity? They appear to be, collectively, an extremely intellectual crew."

House AVA is comprised of 11 hand-selected members (60% Sang+Hybrid / 40% Psi) with an average age of 33 who have all have been participants in the Community for many years and generally hold college or advanced degrees and employment in sectors that speak to some of the topics covered in the study. We do not accept those who do not maintain a proficient working knowledge of vampirism and/or energy work. While some may consider this an elitist position, we consider it essential to serving our purpose over the next couple years. Most of us were solitary individuals who came together for this specific research study, while others complimented the networking needs of this study with their involvement in other forums/houses/gatherings. Furthermore, members are prohibited from posting "opinion" or "controversial" Community-related rhetoric on open forums within the Community for the duration of this study under their own names (hence why we're seen lurking or interpreted as being "new") - we maintain a clear line of separation between our own opinions/ideas and that of the surveys. There are a plethora of behind the scenes information, individuals, and sources we have utilized in the drafting of this study, and we admit some aspects require a measure of faith and careful reading of our stated purpose and intentions. Hundreds of hours have been spent carefully editing, crawling, internally debating, and observing the Community and we maintain direct working relationships with individuals from VERY diverse paths and belief systems, many of whom we have met with in person. As an "established" or "prior known" entity such a research survey could have never gathered universal support or attention without turning into a divisive tool. There are far too many petty attitudes, egos, and drama within this Community for a polarizing figure to attempt to "unite" the Community behind a project on their own. We are gathering responses from ALL areas of this Community (online and offline) and ironically individuals who would never speak with one other are banding together for a common purpose to put forth their individual (ronin, solitary, independent, affiliated, left-hand, right-hand, up, down, sideways) view of the vampiric condition and Community. Solitary (Ronin), StrigoiVii (OSV), Temple Of The Vampire (TOV), Vampire Church, Kheperian, Sanguinarium, Sekhrian, Order Of The Vampire (TOS), Quinotaur, Cimmerian, Eclipsan, Pranist, etc. - It makes NO difference of your individual path; this is a universal study directed towards the specific subset of the vampire subculture that identifies themselves as "real psi, sanguinary, or living vampires" and we are sincerely seeking participation from ALL paths, orders, and beliefs without the desire to infringe or violate the tenets or private inner teachings of any particular group. The irony is many are under the impression these surveys will be completed by roleplayers, enthusiasts, or those new to the Community, while in actuality the responses are in stark contrast - the personal e-mails, contacts, and those who have expressed interest is a VERY interesting collection of personalities and extensive experience that we hold in confidence. Is this study too ambitious?... time will tell but in the meantime we are willing to invest the time, money, and effort into seeing it to completion while working cooperatively with others in the Community.

"The trouble with surveys of this type is that they ultimately present a lop-sided picture, which can create problems down the line if they're used as the basis of general decisions and conclusions. Any optional survey, to begin with, only includes that segment of the target test group that is willing to reply to a survey, even anonymously. The VC, on- and off-line, is among the most paranoid and suspicious alternative communities I've seen, reluctant to share information and hesitant to reply to even simple polls. Those who are most forthcoming include individuals whose claims are suspect, for a variety of reasons. Further, of that segment (i.e. people willing to reply at all), this one will only include that sub-group that is willing to reply to a survey run by people they don't know well, who have no reputation or history in the VC, and give no real names or verifiable credentials. Everything the AVA says about itself and its motivation has to be taken at face value. They may be perfectly trustworthy, but let's face it: would you contribute at such length, even anonymously, to any other group who asked you 988 intensely personal questions but wouldn't even tell you their names? And on top of this, of that sub-group (i.e. people who trust the surveyors), these two surveys will only include that sub-sub-group that has the stamina to reply in full to a 988-question survey. 988 questions is rather a lot."

We are dealing with a very paranoid Community (myself included) and thus we have taken such into account and have put procedures in place to identify and contact specific subsets of the Community to increase the probability of response. At the end of the day this is all any researcher can do without violating ethical procedures, less others in the community wish to encourage their members/friends/etc. to participate. If you wish to know more about my personal background visit www.merticus.com and as for the other members of the AVA - see the contact and bio sections at www.atlantavampirealliance.com. In addition we attempt to maintain open dialogue with all individuals who have questions regarding this research and those involved. For those among you who have questions or seek further clarification we are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions both online, via telephone if necessary, or if you are in the Atlanta, GA area we will even meet with you and travel with regularity to gatherings of the Community. Basically, we are willing to go to whatever reasonable lengths necessary to provide this Community with the most up to date and transparent information on this study as possible and to this end are available at: research@vampiresurvey.com.

The responses, both quantitative and qualitative will be analyzed to the best of our ability (as outlined in detail in the purpose sections located in both surveys) at the cessation of the both the VEWRS and AVEWRS studies in a long and tedious process beginning in 2007. Each individual response from the VEWRS and the first section of the AVEWRS will be correlated and/or linked where applicable in various permutations to highlight both similar and dissimilar trends among responses that yield such information and written responses grouped and interpreted accordingly. Responses will not simply be tallied without intensive cross-correlation and interpretation of written responses. These surveys could have easily topped 1500+ questions... statistically for every two questions we kept one was tossed. This study simply attempts to lay the foundation for future researchers to expand into more in-depth lines of questioning - a roadmap for others to follow. In order for detailed anthropological, psychological, or phenomenological research to be properly conducted on a community a foundation must first be established. Forums come and go and accounts of individual's experiences are spread far and wide. In order to be able to firmly grasp the overall scope of such data there needs to be an exploration into the shared commonalities, differences, and developing trends in a concise and centralized format.

Snapshot On Progress Of VEWRS & AVEWRS - November 22, 2006:

VEWRS Average Age Of Respondent: 28 (1978)
VEWRS Male To Female Ratio: 39% M :: 61% F
226 Responses Since March 22, 2006

AVEWRS Average Age Of Respondent: 29 (1977)
AVEWRS Male To Female Ratio: 36% M :: 64% F
59 Responses Since August 1, 2006

VEWRS Viability Response Rate Threshold: 250 Minimum Returns / 90.4% Complete
AVEWRS Viability Response Rate Threshold: 150 Minimum Returns / 39.3% Complete

www.vampiresurvey.com/images/Global.jpg

Snapshot On Community Contact Regarding VEWRS & AVEWRS - November 22, 2006:

Direct E-Mail: 1,600+ Addresses
YIM: 300+
Yahoo Groups: 80+
Meetup Groups: 25+
MySpace: 1,466 Friends
MySpace Groups: 75+
Other: Tribe, MSN, etc. Groups
LiveJournal: 1,500+ Friends

We maintain internal statistics on cross-over memberships (duplications), which areas of the Community are indeed answering the survey and which ones are not (both geographical and forum based), have translated portions of the surveys in multiple languages and reached out to the global community, and maintain an updated listing of discussions regarding the surveys per individual site along with a copy every post referring to certain keywords associated the study. The following are some of the more public Community areas of concentrated solicitation:

Communities (Condensed List):

Chroniques Nocturnes, Current Of Elorath – StrigoiVii, Cut The Rope, Damn Society Dwelling Vampyres (DSDV), Darkness Embraced, Drink Deeply & Dream Sanguinarius, Embracing Mystery, Further Down The Rabbit Hole, House Aeterno, House Eclipse, House Kheperu, House LostHaven, House Of Ma’at, House Of Ottawa, House Of Simion, House Of The Dreaming, House Quinotaur, Les Vampires, MySolitude, PandoraNyx Vampire Forum, Post Awakening, Pranism Society, S&M, Sanguinox, SLAD, StrigoiVii – France, Temple Of The Vampire, The Circle Of Others, The Psychic Vampire Forum, Vampire Awakening, Vampire Community – SSVC, Vampire Don, Vampires Of Eternal Night – TrueForm

Forums Listings (Semi-Complete List):

p206.ezboard.com/fsanguin...=495.topic
p206.ezboard.com/fsanguin...=255.topic
www.darkness-embraced.com...d33c.phtml
www.darkness-embraced.com...a3fa.phtml
psychicvampire.org/bb/vie...6de488abfc
www.werelist.com/phpBB2/v...8218#18218
sanguin.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2326
sanguin.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1761
www.cuttherope.com/index....topic=4817
www.cuttherope.com/index....topic=4634
mysolitude.ucoz.ru/forum/2-135-1
mysolitude.ucoz.ru/forum/2-77-2
www.michellebelanger.com/...php?t=3154
michellebelanger.com/v-we...5394#25394
michellebelanger.com/v-we...php?t=2872
michellebelanger.com/v-we...php?t=2426
www.house-eclipse.org/hex...opic.php?1
disc.server.com/discussio...icle=14680
p203.ezboard.com/fsmokean...=540.topic
p203.ezboard.com/fsmokean...=503.topic
p203.ezboard.com/fsmokean...=505.topic
www.vampyres.tk/ftopic-696.html
www.furtherdown.org/ShowT...4312&rid=0
www.furtherdown.org/ShowT...7552&rid=0
www.furtherdown.org/ShowT...6692&rid=0
forum.pranism.net/showthread.php?t=321
forum.pranism.net/showthread.php?t=163
vampirekitten.proboards44...1155749047
vampirekitten.proboards44...1144904105
www.vampirecommunity.com/...php?t=1552
www.vampiredon.net/php/in...086#110086
vampires.nu/pages/Forums....opic/16402
www.postawakening.com/for...hp?p=55#55
www.gothweb.be/viewtopic....&start=135
www.fvza.org/phpBB2/viewt...sc&start=0
www.pandoranyx.com/vampir...da8960acbf
www.slad.net/forums1/view...=2543#2543
www.slad.net/forums1/viewtopic.php?t=388
lordsimion.net/forum/inde...opic=876.0
forum.darkness.com/index....try1673402
p078.ezboard.com/fvampire...=493.topic
p075.ezboard.com/fvampire...=150.topic
www.vamp.com/main/forums/...id/1392729
p080.ezboard.com/fstgerma...=142.topic
p086.ezboard.com/fsleepin...D=45.topic
nytebrigade.proboards58.c...1162331844
vampires.meetup.com/board...es#5623688
www.bitememagazine.com/ph....php?t=893
p088.ezboard.com/fsacreds...=147.topic
losthaven.org/lhpub2/inde...opic=484.0
www.board-server.de/cgi-b...read=336#1
www.traenenfluss.de/startseite.htm
s15.invisionfree.com/Dark...owtopic=41
p206.ezboard.com/faneriaf...=454.topic
disc.server.com/discussio...ty%20Board
disc.server.com/discussio...of%20Night
disc.server.com/discussio...the%20Dark
members4.boardhost.com/Za...09649.html
pub23.bravenet.com/forum/...how/588910
darkrealmsvamps.20.forume...?p=115#115
p089.ezboard.com/fpsyvamp...ID=6.topic
disc.server.com/discussio...The%20Moon
www.vampress.net/forum/vi...php?t=2504
p208.ezboard.com/flemiroi...=118.topic
p201.ezboard.com/fthebone...D=22.topic
www.courtoftheforsaken.co...entry15128
www.tobias69.proboards57....1164214176
www.nocturnusonline.net/p...=2615#2615

We will accept completed surveys until March 31, 2007 (Official End Of 1 Year Duration Study) at response@vampiresurvey.com. If you have further questions please contact us at: research@vampiresurvey.com. I hope this post provides some clarification on the issues raised by your earlier post. Thank you and have a Happy Thanks(Fangs)giving!