The Advisory Council returns!

Dagsy, I just hope it works out the way we're planning it.


And about the weekly reports, if you plan to steer away from what the admins are going to report about, I have no idea what the AC would report on.

 

The list of ACs show a range of reps that cover a fair cross-section of the JC population. We all have our opinions on how things should be done, and will give a piece of our minds if we think the wrong thing will be done to the regular members.

The AC reps are the first regular members that the mods will discuss matters with. Any matter that affects the JC populace can be controversial, and difficulties in communication can lead to panic, or overreactions and things like that. By making the AC forum private, these issues will be discussed without scaring the regular members.

For example, look at Lord Banes thread about the JCC. Can you see the member reaction in the thread? No course of action has been decided, yet we have had people offering up socks to be banned, people calling the mods nazis, people going right off the deep end. Surely something of this magnitude should be discussed with a portion of the members, where thoughts can be sorted out without creating the sort of rucus that we have seen in Banes thread?

An analogy for you:
When politicians are elected to parliament (I know we arent quite elected, but the analogy still stands), they are elected to represent their constituency. When in parliament, they try to represent their constituents as well as possible, however they dont go and consult them, they make the decisions for them.
The AC reps are going past that, and are letting you guys have your say in what we say. We are the ones doing the talking, but we want to be your voices.


I can promise you, on behalf of all AC Reps, that we take this role very seriously. We want to help represent the JC members.

You just have to trust us.


Weekly reports will be on whatever we discuss. There will be some matters that come from the mod squad, and some that we bring up ourselves. There wil be some overlap, but not all. Besides, those discussions emanating from the mod squad will come to us as more completed suggestions, and chances are, discussion on that topic will have been somewhat finished in the mod squad. Plus, we might have the matter in more detail for you guys (I cant stress the MIGHT enough...we dont know what format our reports will take)

 

Just for the record, and no offense to LordBane, it was a bad idea for them to say that the JCC might even be closed with the new policy and whatnot. If the course of action wasn't decided then it shouldn't have been announced to the community. I don't know if that was an official message from the Administration or not, doesn't matter, it was careless and not thought out. If anything, its the administrations fault for the 'panic'.

Okay so I've basically heard all that I've wanted to hear. I've always supported the AC idea and will continue to do so. Now I'll just observe how this experiment plays out. In other words, I gotta go study

 

The more i think about the permanent members, the more i think it is a bad idea, that could potentially destroy or at least distort the potential of the AC. I think this because, as I see it, the AC is designed to give the Mods a forum to test and discuss issues that have relevance to the rest of us ordinary members.
Now a reason for having a group of non mods discussing these issues is that the mods acknowledge the fact that they themselves are not the best representatives of the members, given their now official position of enforcement. So by making several members permanent, however worthy they may be, you are negating an important reason for the AC to begin with. That is, to be in touch with the ordinary members. If they are always to be consulted personally then they are no longer ordinary members.
This is because when someone enters a new, important role, that others can see them in, it gives them a new status among their peers. Regardless of colours the permanent AC members especially will be accorded a different respect to the say, less permanent members. Therefore I ask again, why not make these members moderators, if you respect their opinion so much more than the ordinary AC members, you have already permanently altered their status, why not take the next step?

 

Well, thats why we have an AC, so that those things dont need to be released until necessary.

That being said, now I know more about the situation, there does seem to be a few big problems, and the admins seemingly thought it necessary to make the members proactive, instead of reactive.

In terms of the whole AC thing, just remember that this isnt just the mods. This is regular users too. We have no special powers. The only thing we have is a chance to get involved in the higher discussions of the boards. Because we are regular users, we can only want what is best for regular users.

Now go study, Benny

EDIT: Humble, we are yet to decide on the final format of the AC. At the moment the members are permanent. However, the board has only been open a short time. These things will still have to be discussed. These things are being discussed. Nothing is yet finalised.

 

i think that this has a lot of promise, and i do understand why you feel the need for the forum to be private. i do ask, however, that the briefs that we get each week be a bit more elaborate than the modsquad ones. without names being mentioned, detail would be greatly appreciated. if these people are representing us, then we should be able to know what they are saying and what their ideas are. maybe not the ideas and opinions of specific people, but the specific ideas and opinions of the group as a whole.

for example, where in one of the weekly newses we got "Continued discussions of ways to improve mod-member relations," with the advisory council it would be nice to know WHAT some of the ideas proposed were. these people are speaking for us... we should be able to know what they are saying.

just my never-to-be-humble opinion

 

I've already told the AC members that they can divulge whatever they want about what goes on in there, it's entirely up to them.

Also, I think you guys are getting hung up on the whole "if they're supposed to represent me..." thing. You're looking at it wrong. They're not supposed to represent you, they're supposed to be representative of you ("you", meaning the general JC populace). Meaning they're just supposed to be a 'sample' group. A nice cross-section. You're not their constituents, and they're not your representatives. They're just the sample group that has been selected for now. We'll be swapping it out soon enough to keep it fresh.

And I still don't understand the whole "Make them VIP's so it doesn't turn into a mini-ModSquad"... that doesn't make any sense. Why would it, and how would making them VIP's change anything at all?

Vertical

 

It's not really necessary to make them VIP's.


Will the AC have any say in who becomes a Mod in the JCC?

 

i actually prefer the representative OF you rather than represent you, but in a way that changes what it's about...

but... is this a forum to test out new ideas with a sample group of members (in which case they'd be representative OF us) or where members can bring ideas to the mods (in which case they'd represent us)? or both, in which case depending on what is being discussed they'd take on different roles?

 

I vote for making them VIP?s for five minutes to grab the special icon. Don?t give them colors to separate them from everyone else, but give them a badge to make them visible.

I agree with Gandolf on this. By making the AC members VIPs would make the whole thing useless, since the whole purpose of the AC is bringing in the regulars, not VIPs. However, they should be distinguished with a special icon and maybe a line in signature. If the icon thing that Gandolf suggested (make them VIPs for a few minutes until they pick the special icon) works, and the icon stays their even after their VIP status has been removed, then I say go for it.

 

Maiden - It's a little bit of both, I suppose. It's a symbiotic relationship. We use them to bounce ideas off of, they use us to get their concerns heard on a more personal level.

Vertical

 

This idea has the Erik seal of approval!

It can't hurt, it can only help.

 

i understand that not everything can probably be divulged, and that not everything about the forum has been figured out yet. i just wanted to make sure that is some sort of way to see if they are bringing up the issues we ask them to... because as far as that is concerned, in that aspect they are representing us, not just representative of us.

 

I appreciate the proactive effort being made to improve the forums. I must admit, after all the drama associated with the events of the past few weeks, I was beginning to worry that this place was on an extreme downward spiral. I took a couple of weeks off, and I know others that did as well.

It has seemed for some time that regular members had little input into the decisions of the administration. Now, I understand the argument that "It's a free board. They can do what they want." In fact, I support that argument. However, don't be surprised when people start looking elsewhere if TFN ignores the wishes of its members. The AC looks to be a move in the right direction. Admit it or not, many mods often seem "detached" from the boards -- unable to see how their decisions affect the rank and file. The AC should help bring the right perspective into the decision-making processes of the Administration.

I fully support the selection of the permanent members. Even in my short time here, Dev and Auntie have stood out as people who have the best interests of the JC "experience" in mind. I can not speak for Jay because I have had little experience with him, but he comes highly recommended from other respected members.

As for the "temps," more fine choices. Spiderdevil and I have agreed on many topics here in Communications, and he seems to understand many of my own complaints about the boards. Asabrush and I have shared many laughs, and even a disagreement or two in the Senate, and I'm glad that he's on board.

B'omarr is one of the first members I noticed when I signed on here. He doesn't seem to take this place as seriously as some others, but I think that's a good thing, not a mark against him. That's exactly the type member who should be included on the AC. He's here to have fun.

I'm not as familiar with Telly or Dagsy, but they have never done anything that I've seen to make me believe that they have anything other than the best interests of the "common man" in mind.

The selections of all these people should be taken by everyone as an indication that TFN really does want to make the forums a better experience for everyone. Many different styles and attitudes are represented in this group. The only way I could be happier with this group was if Debo and "Weird" Al Yankovic were on it. As it is, I know that the interests of "JC Everyman" will be well-represented.

AYBABTU?

 

Yeah...what AYBABTU said......

 

Well, you'll be happy to know, I'm starting a thread right now in the AC to try to get Weird Al onboard.

Freak power!

 

Yes, colors are a bad idea. Colors which lead to people starting to actually care, caring which leads to an agenda, an agenda which leads to effort, effort which leads to work. Work which leads to ... suffering.

 

As for our own brand of internet drama, I'll start by saying that I'm carrying Aunt Jar Jar Mimah's baby

 

Well, I've kidnapped Bruce!

 

No, not "Bruce"! A day without his melodic squeak is like a day without a rainbow.

Well, do you know where your cat was all that time he ran away? He was sitting on my couch, eating salted potato chips! He liked to watch reruns of Cosby too and often wondered why Coakroach was called coakroach.

 

It's a little bit of both, I suppose. It's a symbiotic relationship. We use them to bounce ideas off of, they use us to get their concerns heard on a more personal level.

Now this sounds like a good idea. I'm anxious to see what comes of it.


!snap

 

It works well actually.

For example, when I want to talk to a mod I don't say, "Hey, I'm sorry to bug you, but..."

I say, "HEY! YOU! Get over here now, we got something to talk about!"

 

Hmm... but that's how you *always* talked to me before....



Verticla

 

Is Verticla one of your socks?

 

you spelled vertical wrong