[Interview] An Interview About UCR Con With Aynia Moreaux






An Interview About UCR Con With Aynia Moreaux
Interviewing the founder of the celebration of UCR culture

Written by Pathoal




UCR Con is a big cultural celebration for User-Created Regions like Europeia. In the spirit of the festival, the EBC interviewed Aynia Moreaux, who created and managed UCR Con. First, we asked Aynia how she got her start in NationStates.
"I found NationStates back in 2008 and didn't get very far. I never realized the extent of the offsite communities and assumed the site was mainly answering issues and writing factbooks. I think I played for a week or so before I gave up on it because of university at the time. I randomly remembered it again in 2014 and actually took time to read through recruitment telegrams and see how huge the game really was. I was smitten by Albion and that's where I got my start. I eventually started doing things with Arda En Estel and Equinox, and then moved on to found Caer Sidi in 2017 and have been running it ever since. I've done quite a bit of foreign affairs and culture work for various regions, some legislative work helping write constitutions and things, but Caer would have to be my biggest achievement and my baby."

Besides founding Caer Sidi, UCR Con is one of the crown jewels of Aynia's NS career, and we asked her how she came up with the idea.
"I drew some inspiration from The NS World Fair, but I didn't want to copy it. I kind of sat on the idea for a little bit and then the idea of doing a convention just for UCR's sounded unique and interesting, and I actually just kind of immediately went and made the entire server, planned it all out and did the artwork in the course of about a day, and then went to Carrot and said: 'I need to show you something...' lol. He was on board and I decided to make it hosted by Caer Sidi, so I took it to the region and it was well received. It turned out to be bigger than I expected and here we are starting our 4th year."

With such a large base of participants to herd and regions to organise, running UCR Con is surely no easy task. So, we asked Aynia what she thought was one of the biggest challenges to running UCR Con.
"I would say the absolute biggest hurdle is managing the amount of regions, representatives, lecturers and panelists that we have. Most regions have more than one rep, and it's a lot of different channel perms and management. Moose bot has actually helped a lot with this so we don't have to do everything manually. We've had a kerfuffle or two as far as personalities clashing, but nothing too disrupting so moderation actually hasn't been too big of an issue or a challenge considering that we had over 300 members in the server during UCR Con 3. But I think people enjoy the Con and want to be on good behaviour and just have a good time. We get a lot of good folks that come in. 😄"

The convention’s success is undeniable with the aforementioned 300 server members during one event, so we asked its creator what she thought made it so successful.
"I'd like to say that it's become a successful event because it's something low stress and enjoyable, a way to network, meet new people and make new friends, and that it's just an all around friendly environment to be in. I wanted it to be as close to a real life convention as I could, giving people stuff to do and see, and having that kind of exciting and fun environment you get when you go to a cool convention. However, that wouldn't be giving credit to what makes it a truly successful event, and that is the people that attend, the people on panels and giving lectures, hosting showcases and mini events and just generally taking part in the convention. I really think that it's the people who've come who've really made it what it is, and pushed me to keep doing better each year."

While it might seem a bit like a cliche, we we were curious to know what Aynia’s favourite part of UCR Con is.
"Probably the very first day, the hustle and bustle and seeing how many people come in and getting things rolling. I tend to do well under pressure so it's an exciting time for me. On the other hand, and this might sound a little weird, but the end of the Con is probably the most rewarding and what I look forward to in an odd way. Being able to look back on memories, know people enjoyed themselves and that things were successful gives a real feeling of satisfaction. Like that feeling you get after completing that last half mile you didn't think you could do."

One of the important things about being a leader is learning from mistakes. After four years of running UCR Con, Aynia had some insights into what she's learned and what she would have changed if she got to do the first year over.
"I think one thing we've learned is definitely using google forms for sign ups and things. Our first year was largely word of mouth and people dming me directly, and we started using google forms our second year. If there was one thing I could go back and do differently it'd be to get things organized a little better so our first year wasn't so hectic."

On the other hand, UCR Con is undeniable well-run, and we asked Aynia what specifically has been executed the best about UCR Con.
"Hmmm, I think the structure of the event just works really well. I feel a bit of pride in doing the theming each year and making everything fit, doing artwork for it, etc. The structure of the discord though is a bit of a brand, when people come one year they're going to expect it to be fairly similar the next year, and I feel like we've got something that works."

Finally, we asked a question no doubt critical to Europeia's diplomatic interests, which was how we might "contribute" towards her interests to "promote" Europeia's booth over the event. Although DEIA Kazaman is standing behind the reporter ominously, hands ready to steal his laptop as he types this, we can reveal that Aynia did, in fact, answer.
"I'm thinking about 5 pounds of holographic glitter, and it's a deal."

UCR Con is one of the biggest cultural events in NationStates, especially for UCRs like Europeia. Aynia Moreaux, founder of Caer Sidi, has been instrumental in its development. Although this reporter is currently writing from the darkest depths of the Europeian Prison for that last question, we hope that readers enjoyed learning more about Aynia and her experience managing UCR Con.

 
A great interview Pathoal! The event this year was incredibly fun, but I don't envy the amount of time and organisation that it takes for Aynia particularly to pull so many regions into the same spot. I am amazed at how seamlessly put together UCR Con is when it's all opened up, so hearing this perspective was great!
 
Very well done, thank you Pathoal!

Aynia and her team are doing incredible work each year. I think 2022 may have been a bit smaller than UCR Con 3, but I don't think you'd have noticed it much. There were so many lectures, games, give-aways - wonderful effort on all fronts, including from our own region!
 
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