2016 Science Fiction & Fantasy Moderator Election

Grace Note

19:34

Welcome all! This room is intended as a place to converse with candidates, discuss moderator traits, etc. For general discussion related to Science Fiction or Fantasy, go here: chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/198/mos-eisley

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If you have questions about the election process itself, please ask your question on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Meta Site. Remember, folks stepping up to lead this community are committing a significant amount of their time, please keep all discourse civil and constructive.

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Sean Duggan

20:26

Part of me feels like throwing my hat in the ring. The other part says I'm crazy and the fact that I'm hearing voices proves it.

bleh

wel yeah

*well

your not the only one :P

Ixrec

Someone suggested I run in another chatroom. That probably would be crazy though.

bleh

blah

I am not even going to run

Axelrod

How do we nominate someone?

IE, not ourselves.

TZHX

20:53

@Axelrod Pretty sure you can't, you can only prompt them to nominate themselves.

Axelrod

@TZHX Dang. That's going to be work. Thanks for the answer, though!

Loong

19

A: What is the reason for insisting on self-nomination?

When we did allow outside nominations, it caused a lot of problems: users often did not know they were nominated by someone else users sometimes did not want to be nominated at all it implies a lot of coordination, more than there actually is, between users There is, I think, an important dif...

Mooz

21:05

Two moderator positions available. Is someone stepping down, or is that just what the CMs and current mods feel is needed?

Ancalagon The Black

I'll throw my hat in the ring.
I don't want to be a mod. But I don't like this hat either.

Praxis

Hey @Mooz. No one is stepping down. The existing mod team is simply being bulked up with two new positions. :-)

Axelrod

@Mooz Someone already stepped down.

Keen

I'll try to idle in here a lot, so if anyone has questions about being a mod, I can address them.

Mooz

21:21

@Axelrod Yah, that was a while ago, but we're replacing them with two; that's what I was wondering, if someone else had stepped down :)

@Keen You're always helpful mate.

user132126

22:17

@Keen How much time do mods typically need to invest on a weekly basis to pull their weight?

Keen

@CreationEdge The expectation is 30 mins/day, IIRC.

user132126

That's all? Not too shabby.

Keen

But in reality it constantly fluctuates. In general, expect to check on the site daily.

Ixrec

that's a lot less than I thought...I probably spend more time than that here and on PSE already

how much of that time is boring janatorial work versus the less common "incidents" that require intervention and active cleanup and telling people off?

Keen

22:58

@Ixrec The bulk is clearing flags (i.e. 'boring janitorial work').

Participation in Meta and Chat are recommended too, especially Meta, since that's where you see the policies you need to enforce.

Keen

23:12

So... who's going to be nominated first?! :3

bleh

Anyone

Ixrec

in The Whiteboard, 40 mins ago, by Ixrec

I'll think about it if none of the obviously more qualified people choose to run for some weird reason

i.e. not me

Keen

starts chanting Ixrec, Ixrec, IXREC, IXREC!

Wad Cheber

Can I just say who I nominate? Like, several people?

Ixrec

there is no formal way of nominating other people, you can only poke others to nominate themselves

so yes just saying it in chat is fine

Wad Cheber

23:21

I nominate @Mike Edenfield, @Ixrec, @Slytherincess, @Praxis, and @N_Soong.

Ixrec

yep, that's a lot of obviously more qualified people

Wad Cheber

And I'm surprised it has come up, but it apparently has, so I have to say this: DO NOT NOMINATE ME. I would make a terrible mod. I will not accept a nomination. Just because I'm here a lot doesn't mean I would be a competent mod.

2

Ixrec

that's a more forceful denial than Slytherincess gave

therefore Slytherincess is in the running!

Wad Cheber

@Ixrec If literally every person on SF&F lost their minds and tried to get me to run, I would still say no.

rand al'thor

@WadCheber Haven't Ixrec and Slytherincess un-nominated themselves?

Wad Cheber

23:27

Pro Tip: Don't nominate the guy who got suspended a couple of months ago for his part in killing the entire chat room for a week. He's probably the worst possible candidate.

@randal'thor I dunno

Ixrec

I like how we're discussing this as I watch a video of people playing Secret Hitler

no connection whatsoever

Wad Cheber

I haven't been on much the past two days, so I am out of the loop.

I just discovered that elections are happening, and I don't even know how they work.

Ixrec

Meek STV is how they work

Wad Cheber

1. patient and fair
2. leads by example
3. shows respect for their fellow community members in their actions and words
4. open to some light but firm moderation to keep the community on track and resolve (hopefully) uncommon disputes and exceptions

Me:
1. NO
2. I'm trying, but I need some work
3. I try, but often fail
4. Nope. I applaud the people who do it, but I want no part in doing it myself.

rand al'thor

@WadCheber I unreservedly like N_Soong, but I'm not sure how good he'd be with the responsibility of moderation.

Wad Cheber

23:34

@randal'thor I have never seen him exercise poor judgment, and I have never seen him be anything less than incredibly friendly to everyone.

rand al'thor

Sometimes he lets his enthusiasm get the better of him (remember the "SFF rank system" meta post?)

Wad Cheber

He might be too nice to drop the hammer when necessary, I guess.

rand al'thor

@WadCheber Agreed - he's always really nice and friendly, but that's not enough to make a good mod.

Wad Cheber

@randal'thor He was very receptive to the overwhelming "NOOOO" he got in response, though.

Alright, Slytherincess has categorically rejected the idea. She's out of the running.

rand al'thor

@WadCheber True.

Eek, we have a nomination!

Mike Edenfield

23:38

HI!

I would hand out campaign stickers but all I got is this M&TV swag.

Wad Cheber

Now that I sort of understand how it works, here's a revised statement: I call on @Mike Edenfield, @Ixrec, ~~@Slytherincess,~~ @Praxis, and @N_Soong to nominate themselves.

And Mike already did.

So I am winning.

rand al'thor

Is it preferred for mods to have knowledge of a broad range of tags?

Mike Edenfield

you mean individually, or collectively?

rand al'thor

It must be hard to handle flags on DW stuff sometimes if you know nothing about DW, for instance.

Ixrec

my understanding is that mods are not meant to apply "technical knowledge" when reviewing things, i.e. they are supposed to make the kinds of judgements that do not require being an expert in whatever the post is about

Mike Edenfield

23:44

I doubt any existing mod is an expert in more than a few of the big tags.

Wad Cheber

@MikeEdenfield Richard was, but...

Ixrec

precisely because it's impossible for anyone to be an expert at everything

Mike Edenfield

but yeah, I think they (almost said "we" :/) would leave it up to the community for things they're not familiar with.

rand al'thor

@MikeEdenfield Expert, maybe not. Familiar with, yes.

Mike Edenfield

@WadCheber I'm not positive I'd agree with that. He was knowledgeable on a few topics, and good at full text searching others, but he posted quite a few answers on topics I'm familiar with that were based on misleading quotes.

Wad Cheber

23:45

How and when do we vote?

Mike Edenfield

7 days from now they will pick the top nominees and then I think the Q/A period starts.

rand al'thor

Thaddeus has a broad range of knowledge, even though only one really big speciality.

Wad Cheber

@MikeEdenfield He lives in a house built entirely from novelizations.

Mike Edenfield

@randal'thor I think most of the mods are that way.

rand al'thor

@WadCheber Noob ;-)

Mike Edenfield

23:46

@WadCheber so he was really good at finding answers to specific questions, but judging things like 'is this answerable' or 'do we know this yet' etc. for things he was not well versed it might have been trickier.

Napoleon Wilson

@MikeEdenfield The top 30 (by reputation) will go into primaries, from which the top 10 (by votes) go into election.

Ixrec

I'm guessing we won't have more than 30 self-nominees

Wad Cheber

I'd actually call on @Richard to run if I thought he would do it.

Mike Edenfield

so when do I start working on my resignation speech again?

@WadCheber I would be cautious with such remarks, according to @richard they did not go over well in chat earlier today.

rand al'thor

@MikeEdenfield I didn't see the thing he was referring to.

Wad Cheber

23:51

I can't help the fact that I like him and he helped me a lot when he was a mod and I was new.

He won my loyalty and respect, and he still has it.

Mike Edenfield

@randal'thor me either, but the fact that there's nothing in the transcript makes me suspect it got yanked.

@WadCheber I'm not arguing your opinion, I'm warning that (according to @Richard) at least one other user appears to have been reprimanded for talking about him

Napoleon Wilson

@WadCheber Buahahaha!

Mike Edenfield

hrm. questions about being a mod.

Wad Cheber

@MikeEdenfield sigh

Mike Edenfield

so many jokes I want to make that I'm pretty sure won't go over well.

Wad Cheber

23:54

Ana understands my feelings about Richard, in any case.

rand al'thor

Oops, missed one.

Wad Cheber

She knows where I'm coming from.

phantom42

@MikeEdenfield it wasn't anything major. i think it was mostly just a pre-emptive strike due to the subject matter and possibly who it was that was chatting

Mike Edenfield

probably a good call.

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2016 Science Fiction & Fantasy Modera…