diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index abab2bf..7ca280e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,5 +9,11 @@ coverage/
 data/
 .rbx
 
+
 *.swp
 *~
+
+#emacs files 
+\#*
+.#*
+
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index eaca98e..debb76b 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ end
 desc "start percival, connect to all channels in the CHANNELS env var" 
 task :start do
   system 'mkdir -p data/timesheets/'
-  channels = ENV["CHANNELS"].split(/,\s*/)
+  channels = ENV["CHANNELS"] && ENV["CHANNELS"].split(/,\s*/) || ["#lpmc-bot"]
+  nick = ENV["NICK"] || "percival"
   server = 'irc.freenode.com'
 
   require 'percival'
@@ -30,8 +31,11 @@ task :start do
     configure do |c|
       c.server = server
       c.channels = channels
-      c.nick = 'percival'
-      c.plugins.plugins = [ClockPlugin, LoggerPlugin]
+      c.nick = nick
+      c.plugins.plugins = [ClockPlugin,
+                           LoggerPlugin,
+                           ChannelChangerPlugin,
+                           NameChangerPlugin]
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/percival.rb b/lib/percival.rb
index 72ae60b..cecec07 100644
--- a/lib/percival.rb
+++ b/lib/percival.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 require 'percival/version'
 require 'percival/clock'
 require 'percival/logger'
+require 'percival/channel_changer'
+require 'percival/name_changer'
 
 PERCIVAL_ROOT = File.dirname(File.dirname(__FILE__))
 
diff --git a/lib/percival/channel_changer.rb b/lib/percival/channel_changer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a18b165
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/percival/channel_changer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+require 'percival/channel_changer/plugin'
+require 'percival/channel_changer/user_role'
diff --git a/lib/percival/channel_changer/plugin.rb b/lib/percival/channel_changer/plugin.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ab4dca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/percival/channel_changer/plugin.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+
+class ChannelChangerPlugin
+  include Cinch::Plugin
+    
+  match /join-channel\s+(\S+)/, :method => :join
+  match /leave-channel(?:\s+(\S+))?/, :method => :leave
+
+  listen_to :error, method: :error
+  
+  def error irc
+    debug( irc.to_s )
+  end
+  
+  def leave( irc, channel )
+    if UserRole.approved? irc.user, :channel_changer
+      channel ||= irc.channel
+      Channel(channel).part 
+    end
+  end
+
+  def join( irc, channel )
+    Channel(channel).join() if UserRole.approved? irc.user, :channel_changer
+  end
+end
+
+
+
diff --git a/lib/percival/channel_changer/user_role.rb b/lib/percival/channel_changer/user_role.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3073b0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/percival/channel_changer/user_role.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+class UserRole
+  @test_users = ["colwem", "jfredett"]
+  @roles = {
+    super_user: @test_users,
+    channel_changer: @test_users,
+    name_changer: @test_users}
+
+  def self.approved?(user, role)
+    user = user.name if user.is_a? Cinch::User
+    raise "user not in String, Cinch::User" unless user.is_a? String
+    @roles[role].include? user
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/percival/name_changer.rb b/lib/percival/name_changer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14e339f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/percival/name_changer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+require 'percival/name_changer/plugin'
diff --git a/lib/percival/name_changer/plugin.rb b/lib/percival/name_changer/plugin.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c70c956
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/percival/name_changer/plugin.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+class NameChangerPlugin
+  include Cinch::Plugin
+
+  match /change-name\s+(\S+)/, :method => :change_name
+
+  def change_name( irc, name )
+    if UserRole.approved? irc.user, :name_changer
+      bot.nick = name
+    end
+  end
+end