@asaf @amWhy we've never set a hard requirement here beyond "fill in a serious nomination" - skipping the q&a looks bad, but... That's kinda its own penalty.
One thing we've tried in the past has been adding links to the answers at the top of nomination posts when voting starts; could do that again if folks are interested
I see that Asaf mentioned "sponsored content" and bounties in the questionaire. I hope the Sponsor Lounge (or whatever name will be) planned by Alexander Gruber and Jyrki Lahtonen will be a successful project.
@MartinSleziak Yes, I also hope so. It's an idea I've toyed with for a long time now, but never did anything about it. It's good to see that it didn't go to waste.
@Shog9 Please note [this most recent common from VonNeumann: "@user170039 As I said in few comments above, I retire from the nomination. I still have too much to learn, in terms of behaviour and so on. I actually suspect I won't do this thing anymore. I just prefer to read answers, answer questions, learn and take this site as the spare time it is for me (an intelligent, awesome, incredible community of intelligent and admirable people, except for someone)."
On the candidacy announcements page, the following instruction appears: "Nominations are not binding; nominees may withdraw at their discretion at any point during the nomination phase." Yet there are no instructions visible as to how a candidate may withdraw their nomination. (Unless such information is provided to each candidate upon nomination.)
The above comments, @Shog9, are primarily an FYI. I asked the candidate, below their comment, to state their withdrawal/retirement as a candidate in bold at the top of their post. I'm not imploring anyone to do anything for them or "to them". But if there is a lack of information provided about how to withdraw, that should be regularly provided, across all site elections, probably.
@SimplyBeautifulArt Great!! Thanks! That's the main thing I was wondering. Non-candidates can't see that there is a "withdraw" button/tab that any sincere candidate wanting to withdraw can click on. The relevant candidate seems to be playing games. :(
@amWhy I've been in hiding since the first few downvotes appeared. It is literally impossible to win the election but I'm thankful this year I was ballsy enough to participate. Kind of hanging my head down in shame for it though. But by the looks of the other candidates, someone worthy will ofcourse win :)
@Nick I respect that! And I respect the fact that you took the time to answer the questionnaire. So, no need to feel any shame now. When you feel "ballsy" again in the future, you'll have a better idea what to expect, and prepare.
@Nick Just as an fyi, I was not addressing your candidacy in anything I've commented on in this chatroom today.
Exactly. This time was very much humbling and I'm grateful for learning more about moderation and the community in this process.
@amWhy yeah, i figured. hope you've put some withdrawal assistance somewhere.
Also, I will not be withdrawing from this years election, I feel it more important to see it through till the end. (It's who I am, like in bowling, I don't turn around in defeat when the throw becomes a gutter ball, I wait for it to fall and for the next ball to reload). What I mean to say is failure is something to be embraced. I'll remember this election for many years to come and hopefully it will be a great story to tell when I eventually do become a moderator some year in the future.
@Nick While I don't plan to vote for you, I do appreciate your willingness to go out on a limb and participate. If you are really interested in taking a more active role in moderating the MSE community, spend some more time on meta, actively engage with the review queues, and generally become a more active participant.
Once you have established yourself as a more active participant, I am sure that you will be able to gain support in the next election (whenever that should occur).
Hell, I'd probably even vote for you. You seem like a nice guy, just a little disconnected at this particular moment in time.
@XanderHenderson definitely. meta is a place I go often to but don't engage with because well, it is entirely different from the main site ... and if you've read the Time Machine by HG Wells, the two races on future Earth...that's what the main and meta are like to me.
I don't think that is a healthy way of thinking about things. MSE is not divided between the morlocks on the main site and the eloi on meta (or vice versa). The main site is for asking and answering questions about math. The meta site is for asking and answering questions about the main site.
If all you want to do is talk math, then stick to the main site---you don't have to worry about what is going on with meta. But if you want to moderate the main site, then need to be active on meta, because meta is where decisions about how to moderate the main site are made.
@Nick And participation on meta includes any/all of the following: voting (up or down), commenting, editing, in addition to posting questions and/or answers. So you don't need to put yourself at the center of attention, unless you feel strongly enough to post a question and/or answer on occasion. It is fine to watch meta, and cast upvotes on useful questions and helpful answers, and downvotes on others; even comment votes are ways of participating
This support you show to me, even in my failing, is something I truly wish to reciprocate to everyone at MSE. It's a blanket of support we need hooded amongst the community.
