Forum elections..

[Neilp]

This was discussed at the very outset of the forum, and we didnt want to go down the hierachy route. It also adds another task to the already large list of jobs that the team do.

 

The problem is with "democratic" elections, is you end up with the popular people in the jobs rather than those that can actually do the job. What if those elected people leave or can no longer afford the time - do we hand the position to the second place candidate, or run the whole thing again?

 

How many elections would have resulted in the removal of moderating staff that do other good jobs that often go unrecognised. For instance when there was the need for a stand against the ridiculous ammount of spam being posted, and there were toys thrown out of the pram by several posters, had there been an election at that time we could have seen the removal of a mod that does some excellent work organising the Wales event, but this would have seen them removed.

 

Also, the relationships that are built between this club and other clubs and companies could also be jeapordised.

 

Lets put it another way.. If I were to lose my position, who would have got the forum back online a few days ago? If Mike lost his position, who would manage the trader renewals and finances? If Chris's, ebized or beavis were gone - how successful would Wales be? Lexx put some great time in building relationships with Nissan, Martinmac has more contacts than you can shake a stick at, and Neo although often very quiet on the forum is an invaluable techy that has helped build what we see today. The team are not picked based on who we like and who we dont - they are invited to join based on how they have acted on the forum, how they approach subjects on the forum and their personality.

 

Another point to consider is that we have neve been asked by any member whether they could become part of the team, and how they go about it. We have always had to ask people if they want to be part of the team.

 

What we do acknowledge is that there is a distinct lack of female members on the team, this would be good to rectify - but finding somebody that can spare the time is often not easy.

 

What about all the members with lots of time to watch the forum.

 

What about other members with lots of "contacts"?

 

The things you have spoken about, contacts, organising meets etc, this isnt moderating thats meet organising. I posted stuff for sale and bumped it and by the time the bump got approved it was the next day ? This is where the moderating fails.. Almost every moderator on this thread has said they lack time... well why not allow them to organise meets and allow others to moderate?

[Lexx]

me and martin specifically said we don;t have time to run a manifesto and campaign. Nothing to do with moderating.

Do not take what others have said out of context please.

[Neilp]

me and martin specifically said we don;t have time to run a manifesto and campaign. Nothing to do with moderating.

Do not take what others have said out of context please.

I did not take anything out of context. I said you both said you struggle for time.

[Neilp]

Personally and in all honesty. I would never elect myself to be a moderator but I do think some changes would be good.

 

I do think threads on here get closed at the wrong time and far too early taking alot of the fun and humour out the place which used to be here.

Stuff on the forum doesn't get dealt with quick enough ie. for sale threads getting updated and posts approved.

I do think other members would like to help and elect themselves to be part of the moderating and meet organising team.

[Neilp]

So far all I can see is that i've upset the moderating team. However I think my idea is a viable idea

[Builder49]

This was discussed at the very outset of the forum, and we didnt want to go down the hierachy route. It also adds another task to the already large list of jobs that the team do.

 

The problem is with "democratic" elections, is you end up with the popular people in the jobs rather than those that can actually do the job. What if those elected people leave or can no longer afford the time - do we hand the position to the second place candidate, or run the whole thing again?

 

How many elections would have resulted in the removal of moderating staff that do other good jobs that often go unrecognised. For instance when there was the need for a stand against the ridiculous ammount of spam being posted, and there were toys thrown out of the pram by several posters, had there been an election at that time we could have seen the removal of a mod that does some excellent work organising the Wales event, but this would have seen them removed.

 

Also, the relationships that are built between this club and other clubs and companies could also be jeapordised.

 

Lets put it another way.. If I were to lose my position, who would have got the forum back online a few days ago? If Mike lost his position, who would manage the trader renewals and finances? If Chris's, ebized or beavis were gone - how successful would Wales be? Lexx put some great time in building relationships with Nissan, Martinmac has more contacts than you can shake a stick at, and Neo although often very quiet on the forum is an invaluable techy that has helped build what we see today. The team are not picked based on who we like and who we dont - they are invited to join based on how they have acted on the forum, how they approach subjects on the forum and their personality.

 

Another point to consider is that we have neve been asked by any member whether they could become part of the team, and how they go about it. We have always had to ask people if they want to be part of the team.

 

What we do acknowledge is that there is a distinct lack of female members on the team, this would be good to rectify - but finding somebody that can spare the time is often not easy.

 

 

Like i said earlier, not been here long, but this forum runs well already, and judging by Chesterfield's statement (which I take to be true), a lot of people do a lot of hard work at their own time and expense.

So if you want to put it to the vote, then I for one say 'all existing get my vote'!!!!

[rtbiscuit]

god i can't believe i'm doing this but i think i might have to agree with the mod team... its the old if it ain't broke don't fix it. I may not always agree with things i may not always like the way things seem a little biased towards members etc. but... i've been apart of a previous forum that tried this and it basically fubar'd the forum, as all the people with good intentions and running a democracy, didn't actually fulfil the effort they said they would. but by this point the original team had been pi**ed off so much they let it flounder. the club still lives, but its nothing like it used to be.

 

with regards to choosing the mod team, if it was a paid membership there is a financial vested interest in the club, which i feel gives you some rights in choosing how and who runs it. but this is a free club. so to be honest if you don't like it; its the old no pay no say.

 

I've said before that the forum is a dictatorship, but i accept that and don't have a problem as 9 times out of 10 it means the forum runs smoothly.

[martinmac]

Thats why we have a large team to cover. When someone is going to be offline they let the rest of the team know, that way we know that a continuity of moderating will continue.

 

If you were on the team and happened to have a bad night with a bottle god knows who would be left in the morning.

[Lexx]

me and martin specifically said we don;t have time to run a manifesto and campaign. Nothing to do with moderating.

Do not take what others have said out of context please.

I did not take anything out of context. I said you both said you struggle for time.

 

I do not struggle for time when it comes to my moderating duties and tasks on this forum (including the hours a week I have spent in negotiations with NMGB over the past 2 months).

I merely do not have extra time to spend begging people to vote for me to remain a moderator. And frankly, I don't see why I should.

 

So far as I can see it, Chris has said his piece, the team have dicussed this, and nothing is gonna change.

The forum is being ran perfectly fine, and continues to go from strength to strength under the current system of management.

 

As for your comments about the for sale threads not being approved soon enough - what's to say that if we had an entirely different moderating staff that they would get approved any quicker?

[Neilp]

god i can't believe i'm doing this but i think i might have to agree with the mod team... its the old if it ain't broke don't fix it. I may not always agree with things i may not always like the way things seem a little biased towards members etc. but... i've been apart of a previous forum that tried this and it basically fubar'd the forum, as all the people with good intentions and running a democracy, didn't actually fulfil the effort they said they would. but by this point the original team had been pi**ed off so much they let it flounder. the club still lives, but its nothing like it used to be.

 

with regards to choosing the mod team, if it was a paid membership there is a financial vested interest in the club, which i feel gives you some rights in choosing how and who runs it. but this is a free club. so to be honest if you don't like it; its the old no pay no say.

 

I've said before that the forum is a dictatorship, but i accept that and don't have a problem as 9 times out of 10 it means the forum runs smoothly.

I do see these issues. Possibly the moderation team could be expanded to include more members that want to be part of it. Possibly to have to different levels of moderating team. The golden oldies who have done a fantastic job for years and the younguns that want to become part of the golden oldie team

[Neilp]

Thats why we have a large team to cover. When someone is going to be offline they let the rest of the team know, that way we know that a continuity of moderating will continue.

 

If you were on the team and happened to have a bad night with a bottle god knows who would be left in the morning.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I actually had tears at that

[Chris`I]

I'll post a poll up and submit it to Chris.

I think he might be a bit preoccupied atm

[Neilp]

I'll post a poll up and submit it to Chris.

I think he might be a bit preoccupied atm

oops forgot about that

[martinmac]

Kind of proves the point Neil, we all know what the others are doing.

[Ricey]

I do see these issues. Possibly the moderation team could be expanded to include more members that want to be part of it. Possibly to have to different levels of moderating team. The golden oldies who have done a fantastic job for years and the younguns that want to become part of the golden oldie team

 

I think the problem is those that 'want' arent necessarily best suited to the job.

 

I mean could you imagine you or me as a moderator????

 

You'd be offerering everyone who gets out of line outside for a straightener and I'd violently abuse any newbie who ever asked a question without searching first....possibly involving knob glassings.

 

Some are born to moderate......others are born to create crap to moderate......this is Gods will Neily and you should respect it or the lord will smite thee with fire and brimstone

[Chesterfield]

This is just me against the moderating staff which is exactly my point. The moderating staff are hand chosen, possibly with the right reasons in mind, but chosen because people either know each other, work together, have personal ties with each other.

 

Find one moderator, administrator or meet organiser that I had met or knew prior to them becoming part of the team in the first six months after I built the forum and you can be a moderator now.

[Jay]

me and martin specifically said we don;t have time to run a manifesto and campaign. Nothing to do with moderating.

Do not take what others have said out of context please.

I did not take anything out of context. I said you both said you struggle for time.

 

I do not struggle for time when it comes to my moderating duties and tasks on this forum (including the hours a week I have spent in negotiations with NMGB over the past 2 months).

I merely do not have extra time to spend begging people to vote for me to remain a moderator. And frankly, I don't see why I should.

 

So far as I can see it, Chris has said his piece, the team have dicussed this, and nothing is gonna change.

The forum is being ran perfectly fine, and continues to go from strength to strength under the current system of management.

 

As for your comments about the for sale threads not being approved soon enough - what's to say that if we had an entirely different moderating staff that they would get approved any quicker?

 

 

Must resist..... must resist

[Neilp]

Kind of proves the point Neil, we all know what the others are doing.

Yeah I'm not debating that at all. I just think that other people should be regularly considered to be part of the team

[martinmac]

Anyone in mind.

[Chris`I]

Kind of proves the point Neil, we all know what the others are doing.

Yeah I'm not debating that at all. I just think that other people should be regularly considered to be part of the team

People are considered to become part of the team as and when they present the traits that the team look for in a new moderator. Also for clarification, Admin are just Admin because they need the technical access to the site to fiddle with it. In the team structure everyone is at one level. Even though Chris B could pull rank and overrule us I cant think of any single instance when he has.

[Lexx]

Kind of proves the point Neil, we all know what the others are doing.

Yeah I'm not debating that at all. I just think that other people should be regularly considered to be part of the team

 

People are regularly considered though.

 

When a team member says they are stepping down, we assess how active the current moderating team are and whether there is need for a new mod to pick up the slack.

If there is, we start a long debate to choose a new member.

The debate for the position I eventually got was over 12 pages long.

[Jay]

Chris I is the techy geek now leave him alone

[martinmac]

Technically the only team member i can pull rank on is Lexx but I dont need to.

[Chris`I]

Chris I is the techy geek now leave him alone

I break it, Chris B fixes it, perfect synergy

[Neilp]

This is just me against the moderating staff which is exactly my point. The moderating staff are hand chosen, possibly with the right reasons in mind, but chosen because people either know each other, work together, have personal ties with each other.

 

Find one moderator, administrator or meet organiser that I had met or knew prior to them becoming part of the team in the first six months after I built the forum and you can be a moderator now.

I genuinely don't want to be a moderator at all. I try my hardest to help the meet organisers in scotland and the meets and runs I have done have been very successful with some of the highest turnouts scottish runs have seen. I possibly could commit to the position but I genuinely don't want to. I prefer to organise meets and get out there and do stuff.

 

I'm not going to get into where my opinion comes from I just think the forum would benefit from a larger moderating team to deal with the online forum. I think some decisions a moderator was making recently were rash and unjust and as far as I could determine nothing could be done about this.