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Ever Been AVEN Staff?


firewallflower

Are you, or have you ever been, an AVEN staff member?  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. Are you, or have you ever been, an AVEN staff member?

    • Yes, currently
      13
    • Yes, but no longer
      5
    • No, never
      20
  2. 2. Have you ever run for a position as an AVEN staff member?

    • Yes, and was elected at least once
      18
    • Yes, but was not elected
      0
    • No, although I have been eligible to run
      11
    • No, I am not/was not eligible to run during an election
      9
  3. 3. If you are not currently an AVEN staff member, would you potentially be interested in running in future?

    • Yes
      1
    • No
      10
    • Maybe/unsure
      12
    • I am not currently eligible, but would hypothetically be interested
      2
    • I'm currently an AVEN staff member
      13
  4. 4. Which, if any, of the following AVEN staff positions have you ever held?

    • Administrator
      1
    • Moderator
      14
    • Project Team
      3
    • Declassification Team
      3
    • Other (Training Team, Tech Team, Board of Directors, anything else I missed—feel free to specify!)
      2
    • None of the above
      20
  5. 5. Which, if any, of the following AVEN staff positions might appeal to you?

    • Administrator
      9
    • Moderator
      17
    • Project Team
      10
    • Declassification Team
      10
    • Other (Training Team, Tech Team, Board of Directors, anything else I missed—feel free to specify!)
      6
    • None of the above
      11

This poll is closed to new votes


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firewallflower

Because I'm curious and I like statistics. 🤷‍♀️

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firewallflower

@InquisitivePhilosopher Thanks for the link! Yes, I had indeed seen that thread previously, and enjoyed looking through it. (It may have been part of the inspiration for this poll, I'm honestly not sure.) I suppose another interesting question that I didn't add to the poll would be "Has anyone ever suggested that you run for a position as an AVEN staff member?" :)

 

And @CBC Hah, fair enough. (Harmless arseholes forever. My lips are sealed. :P)

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firewallflower

Okay, so since at least one person checked "Other" in questions #4 and #5—what position did I leave off the ballot? 😮 If it can be told. :)

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firewallflower

@Serran Aha, thank you! Glad I decided to assume I was missing something. :P

And that's fair.

 

@CBC Ouch, that sounds highly frustrating, to say the least. 😕

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Sage Raven Domino

The only positions that appeal to me are the PT ones dealing with research and surveys and the DT ones, but I can't afford to volunteer right now and would probably lose the vote.

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Obviously I am currently a mod. Yeah, there can be drama. And hard decisions. And people who aren't happy with decisions we make (and we don't always all agree with each other 100%), no matter which way the decisions go. But so far, I feel like I'm doing some good, I hope. I wouldn't be surprised if some people who voted for me would vote differently if they had it to do over.

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Sage Raven Domino
44 minutes ago, CBC said:

I'm trying to remember which forums. I know I started with something really lame at first. Welcome Lounge, I believe (I literally never read it, but of course had to as its mod). Then... god I don't know, possibly Musirants?

You were elected as an Announcements mod. I'm too new to remember which forum you shuffled to.

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Currently PT, formerly Mod. I enjoyed being a mod for a while, especially since Welcome Lounge was my baby. However, the stress and drama could be tough to handle, and it was tougher when my anxiety/panic was in control, which is why I stepped down when I did (after nearly 2 years in green). I really like being PT; it's less stressful than being a mod imo (at least for now haha), even though I'm the social media coordinator, which means I'm handling people on FB and Twitter, etc. :P 

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29 minutes ago, daveb said:

Obviously I am currently a mod. Yeah, there can be drama. And hard decisions. And people who aren't happy with decisions we make (and we don't always all agree with each other 100%), no matter which way the decisions go. But so far, I feel like I'm doing some good, I hope. I wouldn't be surprised if some people who voted for me would vote differently if they had it to do over.

Haven't seen you mod much, but you communicate with users and haven't done anything I know of I dislike so... seem to be doing a good job. 😛

 

The drama I hated the most was mainly the back room junk. Don't do this, its toe stepping. Don't do that, we need to discuss it for a month first. Don't have this discussion, we need to finish these five which no one is commenting on so they will take a month or more to finish to even get to talking about that for a month. Don't disagree with me, it makes me feel like you hate me. I mean we had to discuss how to discuss discussing how to discuss. Just, gah. 

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I would consider running if casual part time modding was an option, but this business of having to put in so many hours a day and having to book off fucking holidays is a bit too extreme for me. I already have a job - and I actually get paid for that one. :p

 

That said, any kind of voting is often just a popularity contest - and I know I'm not that popular. So I probably wouldn't get elected anyway.

 

53 minutes ago, firewallflower said:

Okay, so since at least one person checked "Other" in questions #4 and #5—what position did I leave off the ballot? 😮 If it can be told. :)

 

I would have the ability to play some sort of tech role. That's what I had in mind when I chose this option, at least.

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1 minute ago, Tercy said:

I would consider running if casual part time modding was an option, but this business of having to put in so many hours a day and having to book off fucking holidays is a bit too extreme for me. I already have a job - and I actually get paid for that one. 😛

 

That said, any kind of voting is often just a popularity contest - and I know I'm not that popular. So I probably wouldn't get elected anyway.

 

 

I would have the ability to play some sort of tech role. That's what I had in mind when I chose this option, at least.

Dont really have to put in hours a day. Just check reports once a day, skim your section. If you are in a slow section, it can take like 5 minutes a day. And dont have to book holidays, just say "Im off from X to Z, someone keep an eye on my section"

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Another moderator here. First time I stood I didn't get elected, the subsequent times I did - modding got temporarily interrupted by spells on the naughty step :P

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20 minutes ago, Serran said:

The drama I hated the most was mainly the back room junk.

I can't say I've really seen much of that, if any, since I joined the team (not to say I had anything to do with there being less drama :lol: ).

I do try to not be too heavy-handed, to listen to different sides, and to have a thicker skin and sense of humor. (not that I always succeed) :P 

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1 minute ago, daveb said:

I can't say I've really seen much of that, if any, since I joined the team (not to say I had anything to do with there being less drama :lol: ).

I do try to not be too heavy-handed, to listen to different sides, and to have a thicker skin and sense of humor. (not that I always succeed) :P 

My favorite was probably being accused of favortism and bias after I had already abstained to avoid any potential bias. Or being told I was defending a person due to personal connection as I was arguing the protocol is a warning... :lol:

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RoseGoesToYale

This is probably somewhere and my tired behind cannot find it, but... what exactly do PT and DT do again?

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Sage Raven Domino

@RoseGoesToYaleWhat the DT does is clear from the Declass Procedure thread.

 

To find out the duties of each PT member, generally, you can go to a thread in the AVEN Elections forum that was dedicated to a PT election; its first post contains a link to the nomination thread, where the duties of that particular PT position are listed in the first post. Another way of locating nomination threads is the Advanced Search for 'Project Team Nominations' within the Announcements forum.

 

To save your effort, I'll link to the nomination threads of the (re)elections of the incumbent PT members:

 

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/173493-new-project-team-member-needed-answering-team-and-wiki-coordinator-nominations/ (Puck)

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/170632-new-project-team-member-needed-dedicated-research-contact-nominations/ (Jarle)

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/168267-new-project-team-member-needed-director-of-social-media-nominations/ (kelico)

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/165777-new-project-team-member-needed-answering-team-and-wiki-coordinator-nominations/ (Aqua-ace)

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/164382-new-project-team-member-needed-resources-and-education-director-nominations/ (Snao Cone)

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/163161-new-project-team-member-needed-aven-media-coordinator-nominations/ (michaeld) 

 

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*waves* Current mod, here. 😄

 

I became a mod shortly after I joined the site, so I was kind of glossy-eyed about the whole thing. I thought the staff were so freaking cool and wanted to become a mod more than anything. It looked like so much fun--and it is. I love volunteering in this community. The best part is having the team to talk to, all of whom I consider my closest friends.

 

I do agree with a lot of the comments expressed here, though, about it being a little too much. I like that the site is taken care of so efficiently, don't get me wrong. It's definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things--but it is a lot of work, and it's easy to get fed up with it all. Plus, when you're a college student with a part-time job who is also trying to take care of their mental health, it becomes too much. That's why I've decided to go back to being a regular member again. :)

 

I will probably run for another position in the future, whether it be a mod, PT, or DT. The last one has always interested me in particular.

 

8 hours ago, Tercy said:

I would consider running if casual part time modding was an option, but this business of having to put in so many hours a day and having to book off fucking holidays is a bit too extreme for me. I already have a job - and I actually get paid for that one. 😛

1

*nods, nods* I get what you mean. Some forums have really light traffic, like Announcements and Cels, so I think that would be the closest to "part-time" that you can get.

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Some days, it can be quite time consuming and others, very light. There are days when sexual partners, friends & allies has had no posts which really speeds things up. Other days, there might be 4 to 5 pages in the time I've been working.

 

I love moderating census forum, I enjoy reading the posts and interacting on census and the monthly archive is something I quite like.

 

When I ran, it was my first time running but no one ran against me so it was me v leaving the position unfilled

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9 hours ago, Sage Raven Domino said:

To find out the duties of each PT member, generally, you can go to a thread in the AVEN Elections forum that was dedicated to a PT election; its first post contains a link to the nomination thread, where the duties of that particular PT position are listed in the first post. Another way of locating nomination threads is the Advanced Search for 'Project Team Nominations' within the Announcements forum.

 

11 hours ago, RoseGoesToYale said:

This is probably somewhere and my tired behind cannot find it, but... what exactly do PT and DT do again?

Yeah, we need to work on making it more obvious what we as PT do, what our positions are. Or rather, put it in a place that's easier to find! :ph34r: You can check out info on PT on the AVEN Wiki: http://wiki.asexuality.org/AVEN_Project_Team

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I’ve been DT. I really enjoyed the actual work. I didn’t usually like how admods was operating and it was even more infuriating seeing behind the scenes without having any say. For that reason, I can’t see myself ever running again. I wouldn’t want to be an admod and PT doesn’t interest me either.

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I am a current Mod and most (OK maybe half) the days I would say its been a good experience. I think my biggest hurdle was just how meticulous the site is. I was a senior Mod of forum of mostly flaky hippyish backpackers and our "reports" were literally a thread for Mod actions-most of which was made up of banning spam bots. So to come to a back room with reports and a written down ToS to refer to and official ways of dealing with things (we never had nudges or warnings) was kind of a culture shock. That being said-frustrating and, dare I say as OTT as it can seem to be at times, I like the fact that AVEN does these things.

The best thing though are my fellow Mods and Admins who are amazing and people I can always talk to. 

I dunno if I would describe myself as a good mod or not. In my first post as a Mod I remember saying mistakes would be made and its fair to say I have made some but I also think when I look back on my days as a Mod I can say I tried and that I did some good and if I can I will say that my time as Mod was successful.

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I'm current DT (orange gives it away :P) and I like the work we do but I agree with Graceful that there are days where it can be difficult to see backroom things without having a say.
 

21 hours ago, Tercy said:

I would consider running if casual part time modding was an option, but this business of having to put in so many hours a day and having to book off fucking holidays is a bit too extreme for me. I already have a job - and I actually get paid for that one. 😛

Same actually. I considered being a Mod a long time ago but the time commitment isn't for me and I'd want a looser Mod structure than there is here. I originally thought Mods here were more like mods I'd heard about elsewhere in their freedom, decision making and time commitments.

 

12 hours ago, Lee 🌸 said:

I will probably run for another position in the future, whether it be a mod, PT, or DT. The last one has always interested me in particular.

We see you and we have cookies and popcorn. :D

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43 minutes ago, Cimmerian said:

We see you and we have cookies and popcorn. :D

 

Haha. xD

 

I seriously might consider a Declass position if one opens up, but at the moment, I'm too busy with personal stuff to handle any kind of staff position at the moment. :(

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15 minutes ago, Lee 🌸 said:

Haha. xD

 

I seriously might consider a Declass position if one opens up, but at the moment, I'm too busy with personal stuff to handle any kind of staff position at the moment. :(

No worries, I'm not pushing; I just think it's a cool idea whenever you decide you have time later on. :)

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firewallflower

Just a note to say that I've really been enjoying reading the discussion here, particularly the insight into the experience from those of you are or have been on the staff now or previously. Thanks to all who have shared so far (and keep it coming!) :)

 

Occurs to me that I should probably participate in my own poll. :lol:

 

I've obviously never been a staff member here myself, being far too much of a newbie at this point to even be qualify to run had I wanted to—I'm barely a third of the way through the six-month tenure requirement. Even if I could run, and even if I wanted to run, I'd definitely be much better off (and fairer to everyone else) waiting to get a more established feel for the community before attempting to take on that level of commitment/responsibility.

I'm not sure as of now if I would, in fact, run for something when the opportunity presents itself—the idea appeals, and I'd love to contribute to AVEN at some point in some way, but personal stuff, other commitments, and insecurity all conspire to make it much less likely. (Plus, for practical reasons, I'd kind of need to come out to my family firsthand, as I can't see myself being able to keep that kind of responsibility a secret in the long term. 😏 Particularly with things like Skype meetings and whatnot.)

That said, in the future in the abstract, the role which appeals to me most, did I choose to run for something, would have to be declass; DT seems right up my alley in terms of skillset and interests (though I suspect I would also find not being able to participate in admods only discussions on which I had opinions a challenge on occasion 😛), and would also be most likely to mesh with my schedule (i.e., working in larger chunks rather than spread out, as would probably be preferable for admod-area positions). Beyond that, there's a part of me that would consider running for a mod position at some point, and there's definitely something both attractive and intimidating in the notion, but I'm not sure if I'd be up to the stress or the time commitment, so that's definitely less likely than DT for me.

 

Of course, all of this is moot for me anyway for a minimum of four months longer, and even if I did definitely want to join the staff in future, I'm in no rush. For the time being, I'm plenty content pitying/admiring the admod team from afar, wasting precious time reading through random declassified threads, and just being a user. 😊

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I've been a mod twice and Dedicated Research Contact for the PT once. I enjoyed them both, but I think I find modding at the moment slightly less stressful than I found PT work - I felt a little out of my depth, even though I knew what I was doing, and there were a lot of things to remember when assessing a research request. By comparison, the sections I mod (JFF and Meetup) are pretty well-behaved and quite straightforward to take care of, so don't need as big a time commitment. 

 

I like being staff - I enjoy the kind of atmosphere within the team, and I find everyone pretty easy to get along with. Plus I feel like I know my sections pretty well, even when I'm only reading rather than posting. 

 

15 hours ago, iff said:

When I ran, it was my first time running but no one ran against me so it was me v leaving the position unfilled

Yeah same, for my first time as mod and for my PT position no one else ran at all, and then my second time round I think the other person dropped out. So every time it was me or nothing :lol:

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firewallflower

Updated the "Other" option to list the positions I'm aware of to which I didn't dedicate a poll option of their own. Please feel free to let me know of any other staff roles I missed. :)

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over a decade ago, I was a mod and an admin and am currently on the Training Team

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