Help Out E-R.org - Moderators Needed

[Andy R]

Dear Fellow Members,

Most of us would agree that E-R.org is best served with a team of light handed moderators who's goal is not to interfere with the discussions but help keep things SPAM free, greet members, and help point people to information. We recently had some long time moderators retire from our team which has left us with the need to find a few replacements.

In order to move forward we are looking for a few new mods to help watch the forums. This is a volunteer position (our group benefits need to be renegotiated) but it is a great opportunity to give back to a site/community that has hopefully been an excellent resource for you.

We would like your input on who you think would make a good mod. If you are interested in volunteering or think that we should consider a certain member, please send me a PM with details.

Andy

[Cut-Throat]

Sgeee e-mailed me and told me that he'd be willing to help you out with this moderating thing. Of course you'd have to reinstate his account since he's been banned.

I never understood why a prolific and smart poster was banned anyway. He's got a website dedicated to retirement and a book on the subject.

[Danny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat Sgeee e-mailed me and told me that he'd be willing to help you out with this moderating thing. Of course you'd have to reinstate his account since he's been banned. I never understood why a prolific and smart poster was banned anyway. He's got a website dedicated to retirement and a book on the subject.

Cut-Throat - can you post a link to his website.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat I never understood why a prolific and smart poster was banned anyway. He's got a website dedicated to retirement and a book on the subject.

Well, if you'd hauled enough of your share of the moderator's load then you'd've been able to participate in the discussion on the mod's board, including reading an excerpt from a PM that SG sent to at least one Admin.

There's a difference between having potential and using it. Between helping people and toying with them.

In other words, you don't know the full story... and it's clear that you're not getting it from SG, either!

[BigMoneyJim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Well, if you'd hauled enough of your share of the moderator's load

Being one of the lazier moderators and seeing this in the moderator recruiting thread, I feel I should point out that so far there is no quota of moderator activity for a day, week or any span of time. Three moderators have been mostly silent or mostly absent for quite a while, and this is the closest I've seen to there being a complaint about it.

And being a moderator doesn't mean agreeing with the other moderators on everything. A consensus decision often has a minority divergent opinion.

[Andy R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigMoneyJim I feel I should point out that so far there is no quota of moderator activity for a day, week or any span of time.

Jim, you are correct, there is no quota. We are more or less looking for people that are around often to help purge the spam, greet new members, guide people to old threads and help tag discussions. Another attribute that is being sought are members who can help defuse tense situations between members having disagreements. Lastly we are looking for people that are willing to act in a neutral manner which sometimes means keeping your opinions at bay. I think that last attribute is one of the hardest things to do in the long run as a mod. Sometimes you just want to rip into a member and as a mod you have to try hard not to. Trust me, I know how hard it is to practice restraint sometime (last week was a good example). No mods will ever be perfect but we just have to keep trying to do the right things, be as light as possible with our moderation and keep moving forward.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I dont think Nords is so much concerned at the participation level, but the collective effort as a moderator.

Variable moderation is one thing. Creating tensions and yelling "blow me!" at people is another.

I'm suspecting thats not the sort of help Andy needs...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

nm...hit the post button twice...

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cut-Throat I never understood why a prolific and smart poster was banned anyway. He's got a website dedicated to retirement and a book on the subject.

He was a very smart individual and he knew it. The problem with his kind is they do not know how to interact with people without being a jerk.

I have no problem with him being banned.

[Cut-Throat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTien Cut-Throat - can you post a link to his website.

Here you Go.

SGeee Website

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigMoneyJim Being one of the lazier moderators and seeing this in the moderator recruiting thread, I feel I should point out that so far there is no quota of moderator activity for a day, week or any span of time. Three moderators have been mostly silent or mostly absent for quite a while, and this is the closest I've seen to there being a complaint about it. And being a moderator doesn't mean agreeing with the other moderators on everything. A consensus decision often has a minority divergent opinion.

BMJ, I didn't intend to create an impression in anyone's mind that I had a complaint about any moderator other than Cut-Throat. If you felt that I was including you in my previous post then I apologize. Laurence, Astro, no offense intended to you guys either.

BMJ, your claim to being "lazy" is hard to match with all the RSS work and software upgrades you put into Dory's board, and all the hours you spent tweaking the features to figure out what works best. I used to read your ruminations on the things you were working on and think that I was getting away with a lot less work than you!

I'm not complaining about moderators doing nothing. I'm complaining about moderators who create more work than they accomplish, go unilaterally off the rails to make things worse, and then argue about feeling unsupported...

But, hey, that's all behind us now.

[bssc]

I will volunteer.

[wildcat]

I volunteered as well. I mentioned to Andy that I thought it would be a good idea to have some sort of consensus among the board/past moderators as to who becomes part of the new crew.

[Danny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat I volunteered as well. I mentioned to Andy that I thought it would be a good idea to have some sort of consensus among the board/past moderators as to who becomes part of the new crew.

I think wildcat would be a great mod and I second him. I don't know bssc, but if he is willing to cut me the same amount of slack the previous mods did, then I will heartily second bssc as well.
I would like to nominate Cute Fuzzy Bunny. I think he's one smart bunny, is an expert or at least has an opinion on most things and I'm pretty sure has the time for it. Also, would like to nominate Brewer12345 for the same reasons stated above.

[Martha]

I suggest communicating nominations or willingness to volunteer via pm to Andy. Because the group needs to be at least somewhat cohesive there may be excellent people mentioned in this thread that nevertheless are not invited because it just doesn't work out best in the mix.

[wildcat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha I suggest communicating nominations or willingness to volunteer via pm to Andy. Because the group needs to be at least somewhat cohesive there may be excellent people mentioned in this thread that nevertheless are not invited because it just doesn't work out best in the mix.

Agreed. PM Andy if you are interested.

[maddythebeagle]

I would second Wildcat....I dont think I have ever seen him say anything antagonistic besides he is working so has time...Too bad about SG, I enjoyed reading his comments...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTien I would like to nominate Cute Fuzzy Bunny.

You done drinkin' now DT? :

For anyone who took that seriously, if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve!

Now that you have me in a serious mood, I do have a nomination idea.

While the current crew has already "stepped down" (off of what I still wanna know), I'd like to see at least one stick around a bit longer than a week or two for the sake of continuity and to retain some element of history among the ranks.

So which will it be? Last man in? Shortest? Most/least purty? Any of you been drinking with Dan and feel brave?

Can we have a volunteer before we have a draft?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTien I would like to nominate Cute Fuzzy Bunny.

If you're going to nominate CFB then I definitely want a vote.

Which I'll sell to the highest bidder.

As many of them as I can find...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ah hah! Theres one volunteer...

Do we have any others?

All y'all make some room. Theres going to be a little moonwalking any moment now.