The Advisory Council

to be fair its not just a lack of moderator participation, a couple of ACers have stopped posting entirely at these forums........and with our low numbers even 2 missingis quite noticeable

 

Val-
"ACers have to show more definite action."

The problem here is that we, as the general population, don't get to see what the AC does. That is because they help mods to create policy, the mods announce and implement it. The AC never really takes action. They, ironically enough, advise.


I mentioned it before, that whatever the AC accomplishes, it is usually already announced and put into place by the mods/admins. We aren't told what specific parts of the decision that the AC had an impact on, so we aren't really able to judge how effective it is. Moreover, we have no way to know that they are accurately representing us and out opinions.

So, however it is agreed on to alter the AC, maybe we should also come up with a way to make it more clear to everyone what they have done and what they are working on so that we know what issues need input from the JC at large.

 

Although I have been following this topic since its conception, I haven't really felt the neeed to comment until now...

If you want to chose someone from forums, and yet want to lump forums together then you are going to have serious problems. Forums such as Fan Fic are absolutely huge and constantly moving, and yet they wouldn't (according to many people's plans here) recieve as much representation as say the Senate which doesn't move quite as fast as Fan Fic but needs slightly more moderation. This means that a large group of people would be under-represented and that is what I thought people wanted to avoid here

Also, on this topic in representation, shoving all fan activity forums together (including fan fiction) is going to be a little weird. Use this hypothetical as an example... Although User X (the new AC'er) might keep up to date with what is going on in Fan Fic and the Writer's resource, he/she don't know the issues in Fan Films (although they might visit occasionally) and User X have never visited FanArt or any of the other forums in that group. How then is User X supposed to give mods a good idea on what's going on, or the issues that need to be addressed. How is User X supposed to be a good representation for that forum???

Kithera

 

Alike Kit, I think I should step my opinion in here. I like how the issues are being addressed, and we?re debating whether the system needs to be changed ? that means we?re recognising there is problem. There are two options - either reconstruct the system or enforce it. I wish I could see more activity from the AC in certain forums.

Even if new Advisory Council Members are chosen, they might not have the full knowledge of their heralded forum. I often circulate around the Fan Activities boards and I don?t often find myself in Fan Films. However, I do offer my support to this idea. Forgive me if this question has been answered before: if this was to go ahead, how would the AC members be chosen? It depends on what? Would the system function much like how the administration promotes users to moderator status? I can envision the possibility of the wrong user attaining the position.

In my opinion, at the moment, the AC isn?t representing us fully. I respect what they have done for our community, and what we?ve gained from their presence ? but the problem still remains.

Am

 

To second what Kit' said, it would be really weird to throw all of fan activities together. The different groups have very little in common (not even common users for the most part, as is usually seen among the JCC, Senate, and Amphitheatre) and the issues that concern each forum aren't the same. If there's only one "representative" chosen from fan activities, that person is going to have to be willing to spend some more time in visiting the boards he doesn't normally frequent. I like Gandolf's idea better - one person from fan fic (and preferably someone who's been around fan fic for a while and has some idea as to the workings of the board), and one person to represent the rest of fan activities.

Mel

 

You're right, GayLen. Good point there. All the more the need for more updates to keep us aware of what's happening within the AC and what credit should go to them.

 

If they're going to expand the AC roster, rather than focus on representation for individual forums, it'd be much better to select members who are involved in a wide range of forums. It'll still be possible for every forum to have its concerns dealt with if members with enough overlapping interests can be put together.

 

I agree. You cannot necessarily bunch forums together and select a member from each. A Fan-fic rep would be sufficient. I like the lines Herman is thinking along. If an AC member were to be chosen from each grouped forum, it would be beneficial for them to have experience in other forums. This resembles something I?ve seen mods do ? locking a thread in a forum that isn?t their designation, and helping out when needed because they?ve had a whole range of experiences.

This means AC member would have to be chosen depending on a wide range of things, namely; experience, involvement, ability to keep a cool head, logical, and many more.

The question is; is this system likely to benefit the general population? Yes, because our representation is more defined, and we?re able to locate whom we could speculate with if we have a problem. It?s even a greater assistance if you happen to know the representative for your favourite forum; it makes it easier to approach them.

In conclusion, the JC needs to become more a ?community? again.

Am