Wanted to ask this before. How to we handle users like @Grace for example who do exmplamentary work during the pro temp term, but for some reason do not might not get re-elected.

Howdy btw :)

Especially since they actually add a lot of value to the SE sites?

We send exiting moderator a "token of appreciation" whether they are re-elected or not. But in @Grace's case, we are working with him in another capacity so we won't lose site of him, in that specific case. But in a larger picture sense...

Awesome

Another thing, it got lost in the mod room. Can we have a blog post about the RTFM / LMGTFY issue that keeps coming up. Maybe a restatement of the SE long term goal?

... we are looking for other ways to work with users (beyond moderation). We've started putting together a "speakers' bureau" (for example) where we have a list of users (per site) that can become resources for the site, whether...

It just feels with so many new people around that we loose cite of one of the core goals of SE

... whether it's to speak (oir just attend) a conference or provide a quote for an industry article. Point being that we want many other ways to get more deeply involved beyond becoming a moderator.

I would love to do something like the Stack Overflow talks a while ago in South Africa. But the scale is just to big.

@Diago It is likely there will be a new close reason: "simple reference". Is that what you are talking about? I have to tinker with the wording so it isn't used to close anything that can be found with a Google search. I will likely have to blog about it, too, to explain the distinction between "findable" on the Internet and "trivially discoverable" on a site specifically designed to give you that information.

(e.g. using IMDB to find out who starred in a movie, or using Wikipedia to find out the definition of "Physics.")

Hmmmm... Sounds interesting. I was thinking more along the lines of no question is too trivial, Google is the SE home page, and that a bad question != easy question?

But I like your suggestion. I just think close reasons should make people think before they use it. However, Your IMDB example makes sense on some other SE sites.

I think the "close -- simple reference" reason will likely only appear on sites where it has shown to be a problem (e.g. Scifi). The reason it has not been implemented is that, every time we bring up the issue in meta on those site, the problem seems to go away. We'll get the new reason launched, though. The close reasons might be due for a bit of tweaking, in general.

I think on Super User it's a larger problem that we have questions that are impossible to answer

@RobertCartaino Thanks for your time BTW :) Appreciated.

It's an extension from @Diago's concerns: rather then attracting new users with basic questions, we're moving into obscurity. There it becomes harder and harder to answer questions and they are also of less interest of the general public.

No problem.