Administrators/Senior Staff

[theOperaGhost]

This thread is for the administration of VT, as well as for the entire senior staff (a few of the suggestions are also for the gmods). I want to begin by saying a few things. One, this is not an attack on anyone in any way. I will be pointing out problems that I see and I will be offering suggestions and possible solutions for these problems. These are not huge problems and the site will obviously go on with these problems, but I feel things can be better and I want to see changes take place to improve communication and how this site is run over-all. There will be negative criticism, as I strongly believe negative criticism fixes problems.

Ok, the first problem I see is a lack of presence from the senior staff when it comes to important issues brought up by members. I’m not only talking about the two recent threads regarding pictures in which many members thought should be prohibited, I’m talking about things I’ve seen since about March of this year. The two issues I mention are just the most recent. I myself find it sickening that a major issue can be talked about for days without a single response or opinion from a senior staff member. From a regular member, it makes us feel as if our suggestions mean absolutely nothing to you and we should just live with the site as it is.

Now from talking to Anthony about this issue, the only reason I’ve been able to understand for this is he doesn’t want to close the discussion prematurely. I can understand that, but there are other ways to keep the discussion going other than not responding. What we are looking for is a simple response or opinion. For example, “thank you for making this suggestion. The staff will be considering it. Keep the opinions coming and keep the discussion open and we will come back with our decision as soon as we come up with one.” That type of response shows that you actually have noticed the suggestion, care about the suggestion, and want to keep the discussion alive for more opinions. Simply showing that something is being done with the suggestion makes people feel much more comfortable with offering more suggestions in the future and keeping a vital line of communication between the members of the site and the administration/senior staff as open as possible. Let us know what is going on! Don’t shroud every decision you make from the members of the site.

I also realize you want to avoid over-moderation. I don’t feel responding to threads would be considered over-moderation at all. Actually, the way I see it, by not responding to issues until they’ve gone out of hand, all you are even doing is moderation. Your efforts to avoid over-moderation have possibly made a problem. By avoiding looking like you are over-moderating things by responding, you only respond TO moderate. It looks like all you do is moderate. That is what I see from my perspective anyway. Maybe nobody else sees it that way, I guess I don’t know, and can’t know for sure until responses show up.

That is the biggest problem I have right now. The smaller problem I see only applies to the administrators. This mainly deals with diaries, which I know are your last priority on this site. I actually don’t care about the diaries at all, but they are important to other members. All I can say is, updating of diaries got pretty bad after Alex retired. Alex kept the diaries up extremely well, and I’m not asking that they be kept up that well, but don’t let them go either. My solutions for this are not very set, as I don’t know EVERYTHING you do as administrators. The last time this issue was brought up there were only two admins (and Val was quite inactive). Now there are three of you. All of you (although I’m not sure about Val) are on pretty much daily. It can’t take that much time or effort to check the diary HQ and make changes. I know people can be impatient and want changes right away, which you can’t offer, but every couple of days or even every week is not that much to ask for. Here are my solutions: either set diaries higher on your priority list and take the time to check them, etc. OR Hire a diary admin whose only job is to update diaries and keep them in order. I think hiring a diary admin would be going a little far, since there are three of you who could easily take a couple of minutes out of your day to do the job, but if it’s necessary, do it.

Now the next part may actually verge on attacking, but it’s a problem that needs to be addressed. It was my understanding that Val was inactive because of senior year and concentrating on school. Well, as far as I know school is out at the time being and her activity hasn’t really picked up or anything. Val I like you as a person and you are just amazing, but if you don’t have the time to be admin, you shouldn’t be. Real life should take precedence over VT for sure, but there are people who are less busy in real life who could do your job. I don’t want you to step down, but if you can’t give this job the time it needs, you should. You are a brilliant, amazing person and you are doing the right thing by making real life more important than VT. My purpose of writing this section was absolutely not to attack you, just to address something I, and others, see as a problem.

All of these things have been brought up in the past and the response I got from a few people was “we all have real lives, which are more important than VT.” I know that. Ant, you have a job and work a ton of hours. I don’t want you to make VT more important than your life, but you are on VT every day, so you have time to do things that need to be done on the site.

Now after all of the negativity, I do want to say this. Ant, you are an amazing admin for this site and have done a lot of good things for it. I did not write any of these things with any bad intentions against you, Val, Steph, Stephen, or Laura. I love all of you guys and I am only thinking about the welfare of VT when I write this. I don’t want to hurt or demean any of you.

Thank you to anyone who actually reads this and posts their opinions on the matter. I’m hoping I’m not the only person who sees things this way, but regardless, life goes on.

[MoveAlong]

Wow I have a feeling there's gonna be a ton of things knocked down in here. While some of them are accurate, I just feel like they're gonna come back with a better argument.

1. I'm scared to make any comments because I really don't know the whole picture and so I'm only speaking out of opinion, not fact, and I'm sorta scared of staff members.

2. One thing I like about GovTeen is how much Global Moderators are active in the site's maintenance. One of them is a diary admin. Also, their Global Moderators make good comments on their suggestions, and sometimes encourage members that topics are being discussed by the senior staff (Jorge has done this). Personally, I haven't seen a lot of "Administrative Activity" being done from the Gmods here.

3. I agree Val isn't on that much, or maybe she's hidden (?) but honestly I don't want to make a comment because I'm sorta scared of the Admins.

4. I don't see very much that NEEDS to be done with diaries, except the occasional cleanup and creation. Maybe I don't know the whole story, cuz I don't have a diary, but I don't see the issue (personally)

5. In your third paragraph, I think another reason is the fact that with as many members contributing as we have, they can come up with arguments and discussions that the senior staff can't. I think it's a good strategy to let members do most of the discussion, so the senior staff can see the overall opinion. I guess there COULD be assurance from Admins, but it doesn't bother me that much.

6. One thing I miss that VT used to have is moderators of their sections giving advice in their topics. That doesn't happen as much anymore, but happens so frequently at GovTeen.

7. The topic of "you're a staff member, so you should donate a lot of time" has always been a touchy subject, and I think you know that personally.

Ugh I don't know. This is really complicated and I haven't stated all I know, partially because I don't want to be sprayed with poison of hate because of it.

[Antares]

Before I post my opinions, Jared can you elaborate on "over-moderation" and what you mean by that?

[Whisper]

if val steps down no other admin is required
steph is one now
that makes 2 active admins
VT has always been run by 2

[Bobby]

if val steps down no other admin is required
steph is one now
that makes 2 active admins
VT has always been run by 2

Josh, Kiros, and Alex were all admins at once, if I correctly recall.

[Whisper]

that was when Josh was already becoming inactive
the transition period
like we have now

[Bobby]

Except there isn't a known transition...

[Whisper]

bobby the point im trying to make and your nit picking me at
is VT has never had more than 2 ACTIVE administrators
and we do not need to promote anyone anytime soon

[Bobby]

bobby the point im trying to make and your nit picking me at
is VT has never had more than 2 ACTIVE administrators
and we do not need to promote anyone anytime soon

Ah, I understand now :D

[Atonement]

I support many of these ideas in bulk. Some minor details conflict for me, but in the bulk of it, I agree. The exception being the bits about diaries. I see no major problem.

[Neverender]

3. I agree Val isn't on that much, or maybe she's hidden (?) but honestly I don't want to make a comment because I'm sorta scared of the Admins.

4. I don't see very much that NEEDS to be done with diaries, except the occasional cleanup and creation. Maybe I don't know the whole story, cuz I don't have a diary, but I don't see the issue (personally)


I've been concerned for a while about what Val does as an admin. she only posts in her diary, and as of 2 days ago, her last post was July 1st. (Sorry, Val)

Now with the diaries, there were so many that were inactive, until someone pointed it out to the admins a while ago, and now they're in working order, once again.

Thats what i know. Dont slam me for it.

[Mzor203]

Well, I have a couple things to say. I'm sorry Jared, but I am actually gong to have to disagree with a bunch of this.

At this point, I really can't see why the diaries are a big deal. Actually, I think the diaries are being taken care of pretty darn well at the moment. Well, actually, they're being taken care of the est they possibly can. I've seen numerous requests in the HQ be dealt with quickly, and at this moment I can't find any inactive diaries that need to be taken care of. Everything there is in tip top shape, especially seeing as the diaries are hardly an essential part of this site.

As for the whole not responding to suggestions thing, that's also hardly a problem. The majority of the threads in that forum are answered promptly. And right now, I know this whole spiel was inspired by my thread, which upsets me quite a bit because I thought proceedings were going perfectly fine there. The members alone were doing a perfectly good job discussing the issue, and that is good for a site's growth and interactivity. And I did notice that when the admins posted with their opinions, things did die down. So I think Ant had a very valid point there, and I think what you're posting is a little nit-picky.

Following on from what I said above, I hope you realize that it is the staff's job to moderate the site and keep it running well... I don't think there is possible over-moderation involved anywhere here. If staff, or anyone for that matter are pushed into responding prematurely, their responses won't be as good as they could be given some time and thought.

Next, I don't think anyone can really comment on staff activity. It's impossible, given that we don't know what is going on in their lives. Those are issues that don't need to be dealt with by the members, those are internal issues and nothing more, really. Val has really done an excellent job in her admining thus far, and it's worth it for us to hold out until she's back to her old self, especially since the other two admins have everything under control.

I think that's everything. I love you, Jared, but I think some of this may be getting blown out of proportion.

[Zephyr]

As far as diaries are concerned, that is mostly my responsibility. I'm doing the best I can since I've had to figure out how to do everything on my own for the most part. Now that I've finally nailed it down in the last couple weeks, I've got an upkeep schedule on it. If you notice in the Diary HQ, I've got the waiting list available for all to see. And if you also notice, I have been taking care of switching out inactive diaries for new ones. I've been updating the featured member forum every couple weeks or so, and I already have a plan on diary reshuffles once a month. Trust me, it's been getting taken care of pretty well for being last on the priority list.

And I am quite active despite my personal life going south for the last few months. I just got my job back in late May meaning I'm not quite as active during the evenings when I work, and I'm very much needed at work ever since my friend Lynn (who also worked there as a supervisor) got severely burnt and I've pretty much come back to work to take her place so that my boss doesn't have to re-train anybody. I'm even starting to do training for other responsibilities that Lynn had to help cover them. That's almost 30 hours a week that I'm covering that I wasn't doing before when I first became on Admin. I've also moved a couple of times in the last 2 months and my relationship with my father is now basically non-existent at the moment due to a lot of bullshit and troubles that he's been putting me through. Like most, I don't prefer to make every bit of my personal life public information outside of my diary. But there you go.

Things do get discussed by senior staff, so don't feel like it falls on deaf shoulders. Things do get considered, they just tend to take a bit longer to get taken care of because all of the seniors are in different time zones around the world, save for Ant And Val. You have Stephen in Sydney, Laura in England, Ant & Val on the USA East Coast, and me on the USA West Coast, those are pretty big time gaps, 3 hours or more apart if I remember correctly.

Also, I find people making a big deal out of Val's activity to be unnecessary. Last year when Francis was here, he was just as inactive and nobody said a single thing about it since Alex and Ben were active. What makes Val different from that? Ant and I are active enough. And just because she's not as active as you think she needs to be, it doesn't mean that she isn't doing anything behind the scenes. That is what senior staff do, we take care of the behind the scenes stuff.

[redcar]

Josh, Kiros, and Alex were all admins at once, if I correctly recall.
When Francis came back the second time he was there because Ben was having major problems with internet access so was potentially going to be inactive for a long period.

That is what senior staff do, we take care of the behind the scenes stuff.
Couldn't agree more with this.

There is always complaints that the senior staff aren't living up to expectations but until you actually become one you will see that there is SOO much to do, that most people will never see. Like you have to respond to various posts in the private forums, which could take upwards of half an hour. Respond to all the PM's, emails (and there can be a lot of them), review infractions, review bannings and all before you have a chance to post anywhere else. There is a lot to do and if that means other things get pushed down the priority list then so be it.

[Θάνατος]

One thing you all must realize here this is not a paid position here. It is done on a voluntary basis.

Jared I know you have had issues since you resigned from VT. I don't know all of the details because I like the rest of the regular members are not privy to their moderation forums. I don't mean this as a slam since I don't have all the info I will not judge you. Jared you have been a good friend but I know you like to debate things and keep things going once in a while.

The senior staff all have jobs as far as I know and all have real lives that keep them busy.

I just don't want to see VT lose any more good staff members. I think that the staff members who are active do an excellent job with their responsibilities.

[Gumleaf]

just in addition to what has been said above. contrary to what many believe, the seniors don't just sit here twiddling their thumbs doing bugger all. right now as it is, we are working on a number of different projects, one of which was revealed today being the new fashion forum, which i might add, came directly from ideas from the suggestion forums. often a lot of these things take time because of logistics and other things we want to get right before revealing them or taking action on something. the other thing people need to realise is that all staff do this in their time for free and in anthony's case, at his exspense. we all live our own lives too and i know in my own personal case, i'm generlly on here much more then i should, so although constructive critsism is welcome, it should also be remembered that the site staff do it out of the love for the site and we all have a vested interest in it and want to see it continuing to be a safe, happy and open place for other teens to come with their issues for support. but for this to happen we can't just jump and do things willy nilly, they have to be worked out properly and i think until some of you people who do have issues with how this place works behind the scenes, you only see a small piece of the pie and i don't think thats enough to have a full opinion of things.

[Antares]

Well to Rex, the diaries were inactive until people started complaining. Then Steph took charge of that and since has been directly on the ball. So thanks Steph for doing that. Much appreciated.

The responding to suggestions thing, I think it is absolutely important to show you care about the suggestion, you see it, you are monitoring it, and then acknowledging that you are actually discussing it. Not lying about it just to shut us up. If you are actually going to consider it, and talk about it, post it maybe halfway through the threads and mention that more suggestions are welcome. If you think its horrible and youre not going to give it the time of day, just say it.

My view on staff inactivity is, if you are inactive and you feel like you aren't giving VT the time of day, then you just need to quit and give other people the chance. I know it may be hard but it is something that should be done on the other peoples side. And if the staff is inactive it puts more work on other people that need to do crap and the other mods or whatever have to pull extra weight. So if you are dedicating a couple hours to VT a day. Great but if you barely find time to be on here, and you have a booming personal life, the chase your personal life, not VT.

Quickly back on to the Senior Staff getting things done. I feel like on the outside, it takes you guys forever to get things done. For instance, the Fashion forum. It was created today. Yet it was reported that it was going to be talked about like a week or two ago. I don't know what was discussed but it seems like it should take two or three days tops to get five people, that respond to threads everyday in their private forum, considering that can take 30 mins to agree to make a forum. Making the forum isn't hard. It takes like 15 seconds. The discussion takes a while but getting five people to agree shouldn't be that hard. In my opinion, but I do want to say I have no idea whats going on in there. Thats just one example. There are other things that take forever and it seems like it shouldn't take. But umm yea, I think that the senior staff should do their own review and see if they are to the top of their performace in every area they possibly can and see if they can improve it. If they can't that sucks, if they can awesome. But at least identifying strengths and weaknesses may help a lot :D

*Disclaimer* This wasn't meant as an attack to anyone, I am just vocalizing my opinions.

[Atonement]

Perhaps its a problem of you don't gie us updates on stuff you are working on? Like, suggestions or projects that are accepted, working on and compelte etc. like that. Maybe like a bulletin style thing, or in the announcement thread, just let us in on some stuff. Yes, I'm sure some things don't need to be announced, but show us what you are working on. If you open it up, it could be community knowledge and let us see your work. Let us see how you're working kind of thing. If that makes sense. This is nothing like our system, but its kind of what I am talking about: http://livemocha.uservoice.com/pages/2163-features There are topics that are accepted, started, completed, and under review. Just let us know what's going on in our community.

[Antares]

Actually, in the Announcement forum, there is a thing...Ben used to use it a lot, not sure if has been used lately, but it would say Update: theerad name or Upgrade: thread name
yaddy yaddy

maybe we ccan institute that in to our own suggestion forum

[Zephyr]

just in addition to what has been said above. contrary to what many believe, the seniors don't just sit here twiddling their thumbs doing bugger all. right now as it is, we are working on a number of different projects, one of which was revealed today being the new fashion forum, which i might add, came directly from ideas from the suggestion forums. often a lot of these things take time because of logistics and other things we want to get right before revealing them or taking action on something. the other thing people need to realise is that all staff do this in their time for free and in anthony's case, at his exspense. we all live our own lives too and i know in my own personal case, i'm generlly on here much more then i should, so although constructive critsism is welcome, it should also be remembered that the site staff do it out of the love for the site and we all have a vested interest in it and want to see it continuing to be a safe, happy and open place for other teens to come with their issues for support. but for this to happen we can't just jump and do things willy nilly, they have to be worked out properly and i think until some of you people who do have issues with how this place works behind the scenes, you only see a small piece of the pie and i don't think thats enough to have a full opinion of things.

Could not have said it better myself.

And, this is not meant to offend anybody, but this is the internet for chrissake, not some sort of virtual country. VT should not become your entire life. And it is bothering me how people are starting to try and get involved with the politics of the site rather than doing a continuation of what the site was founded for, helping people. I do understand that there is always room for improvement or additions to the site, but you all have to realize that there's more to it all then simply saying, "Oh, let's do this." *snap* "It's DONE!". And it can't always be automatic or as often as you think. The more and more we add without putting much thought into it, the more and more inactive areas of the site there may be potentially, so it would have been a waste of time.

And as Rob mentioned, this is all strictly volunteer work.
And as Stephen said, Anthony even pays with money out of his own pocket to do a bit more for the site.

[Atonement]

Then give us the view we need! You say we don't see all thats going on behind the scenes between a few people, so let us see it please. Open up the senior staff decisions. No, I'm not saying let everything be broadcasted, but share whats going on and keep us updated.

[theOperaGhost]

Ok, there is way too much to respond to at the moment, so I'm gonna take it bit by bit.

First, the diaries. They were the least of my worries and I simply brought them up because of complaints I've heard from other people. I have been inactive since Steph has been admin. I'm glad to hear they are being well taken care of and I am done with that issue.

Now, to John. When I say over-moderation, I mean that the forums look like they have too many rules and those rules are enforced excessively. I feel that when seniors don't actually post opinions on issues and only step in when they get out of hand, all it appears they are doing is moderating, which gives the appearance of over-moderation.

To Rob. I very well know these are not paid positions. I was a moderator and counselor, so I am well aware that this is all volunteer work. Just because it's volunteer work doesn't mean it should be taken lightly though. I know all of these people have lives to live. This is exactly why I said, "I don't want you to make vt more important than your real life" however if they don't have time for VT, they should step down. Now I don't see that as a problem and I never said any of them should step down (although I did insinuate that Val possibly should). When they were chosen for these jobs, they were chosen for qualities. They all have wonderful qualities, but if they don't have time for it, they shouldn't do it.

Now to Alex and Steph and Stephen (I think?). I know there is a ton of behind the scenes work (I shouldn't know it, but I had access for about a half hour to unknown parts, so I do). I'm not doubting that you are talking about these things. I'm not asking for you to disregard confidentiality. I'm only saying don't shroud everything you do in mystery and leave everyone wondering if anything is being done. This site is for the members, so let them know they are appreciated and their suggestions are being considered. Compare this to a government. Sure there are things the executive branch of the US are keeping from the citizens...but they don't hide everything and they acknowledge the concerns of the citizens. Not everything you do as staff needs to be hidden...it's not like it's a huge secret.

Another thing. It appears you all think I'm demanding like an instant decision on topics. That is not what I'm saying at all if you read my post. I know important things should be discussed and considered and can't just be jumped on. I'm VERY well aware of that. I specifically said in the OP, a simple acknowledgment of the suggestion would be wonderful. Simply saying, "thank you for the suggestion. we will talk about it and consider it. Keep posting your suggestions and we'll keep you updated." It's that simple!

Sorry, another edit. Just looking through some things. I've noticed this before, but another problem I have is this. "Virtual Teen HQ
The place to post questions to the administrators." I see questions and concerns posted in there all the time, but rarely do I actually see a response from an admin. I see threads go on and on with people answering, but not an admin response. It's a bit misleading. On the first page of threads in VTHQ, there are only about 6 admin responses, with 3 of them in one thread. That is not very many for 20 threads.

That is all I can think of at the moment. I'd like to talk to most of you personally about it if you want. If you have AIM, add me. I won't be on MSN much, but I will when I can. I have AIM on my phone, so I'm on there most of the time. If you have my number, text me. I want this all to be civil and talked through.

[Antares]

And, this is not meant to offend anybody, but this is the internet for chrissake, not some sort of virtual country. VT should not become your entire life. And it is bothering me how people are starting to try and get involved with the politics of the site rather than doing a continuation of what the site was founded for, helping people.This is a haven for some people. They invest a lot of time in here to help people, to get help, to converse with friends etc. VT has expanded from JUST teen help site to more of a...community. It really is like a country. Members stay here for a while. I don't think the administration understands that within a community, there WILL be politics, etc. There WILL be fights, etc. There SHOULD be improvement, etc. People that are involved in the "politics" are still helping people.
Alex said VT runs like a well oiled machine when it really wants to. I don't think that we are that well oiled machine here. We are slowly getting less and less efficient, starting to pollute the enviroment, whatever. We need to get to that state again :)

EDIT: Umm, in response to Jared's claim about over-moderation, there is some truth to it. In fact, about...40-45 percent of people responded to that survey I made a couple months ago, and said the forums were over-moderated.

[Zephyr]

We really don't hide anything from you guys.

You all had your say in having a fashion forum.
You all had your say in the possibility of a VT Newsletter.

Those are the two bigger things that are currently going on,
Besides reviewing moderator applications,
Which has to stay private.

Things like that, yes, they ARE public,
And DO get everybody's opinion involved.

There are certain things that HAVE to stay strictly in the confines of the seniors,
Due to confidentiality of the people that they concern.

And yes John, I know that VT is an escape and a haven for many members, my self included. I do know that people have friends that they've met through VT, I myself an in that position as well. However, I don't promote spending your life on the computer, it's not healthy. Moderation is the key word there.

And that's a wrap, I've gotten called in early to work.

[Bobby]

I don't spend my life on the computer Steph, but some people do and you cannot change that. We want to put time into that, and it doesn't make sense that you don't want to support that.

And what is the update on the "newsletter"?

[theOperaGhost]

Steph, you are avoiding what I've said twice now. There is a huge lack of acknowledgment that things are being discussed. Post your opinions! Post that you care about what people think! Post a simple statement saying things are currently being discussed and will be decided as soon as possible! That is all I'm asking. It's as simple as that! It's a really simple request that everyone is making so much more complicated than it is. You need more communication between yourselves (the senior staff) and the rest of the members of this community. If communication is gone, this site is dead. Don't kill it.

[Antares]

And yes John, I know that VT is an escape and a haven for many members, my self included. I do know that people have friends that they've met through VT, I myself an in that position as well. However, I don't promote spending your life on the computer, it's not healthy. Moderation is the key word there.

Unfortunately some people don't venture far away from the computer. You may not promote it but it has to be realized that it is a fact and that there are people on this forum in which VT is like...most of their life. Moderation may be wanted but unfortunately it doesn't happen.

And even if people did utilize moderation, they still visit this site, which is a community, and communities has politics.
So this politics stance and how people shouldn't engage in it, is nearly impossible I think, especially if you are an active member on these forums. As a community member, you should have the right to engage. With a country their is politics, with a community, there are politics, so with VT there are politics.
The only way to escape this would probably be to...ban everyone after their first week and restrict them from contacting people privately.

[Maverick]

Sorry, another edit. Just looking through some things. I've noticed this before, but another problem I have is this. "Virtual Teen HQ
The place to post questions to the administrators." I see questions and concerns posted in there all the time, but rarely do I actually see a response from an admin. I see threads go on and on with people answering, but not an admin response. It's a bit misleading. On the first page of threads in VTHQ, there are only about 6 admin responses, with 3 of them in one thread. That is not very many for 20 threads.If someone has already answered it there really isn't a need for an admin to post.

[Bobby]

People like to hear it from you, the highest power.

[Maverick]

People like to hear it from you, the highest power.
Well I have no plans to change a system that's worked for 5 years.

[Sapphire]

I think that using the announcement forum more often to keep everyone abreast of developments in additions/updates is a good idea.

Otherwise I can't see any problems.

If people really want a response from an admin to a question then they can use our wonderful PM system or ask explicitly in the thread that an admin respond.

And over-moderation? Are you serious?
We've had a thread requesting semi-nude photos be banned recently and now we have one requesting photos of drinking and smoking be banned. Make up your minds will you! Lol. Do we have too many rules or not enough?

[Bobby]

Okay, no more opinions from me. They aren't wanted.

[Whisper]

Seriously you guys are getting into such a fight
I think both sides should step back
take a breather and
calm
down

....OHMYGAWD PINEAPPLE I lurv pineapple

[Zephyr]

And this is why the idea of a VT Newsletter got tagged onto the survey in June. It's an easy and effective way to let EVERYBODY know what's going on and have it as an extra fun thing for the members. It's going to be a work in progress, but there is definitely an overall interest in it.

There really hasn't been much going on at all period until the last month or so, henceforth why there wasn't anything posted in the Announcement Forum to the community for a while. It's not us being all hush-hush, it's that there really hasn't been much at all going on until the last month.

And Jared- sorry, I'm not avoiding you, I've been responding to other things that keep getting brought up. Yes, I can and will improve my presence in the Suggestions forum. It's just been a 'hit the ground running' experience when I got promoted, so I'm trying to get a steady grip on all of my responsibilities, an it's all been coming together in the last week or so. Thank you for bringing this up though, it's been noted and I will be in here more often.

[theOperaGhost]

Thank you steph! That is exactly the response i wanted! You pretty much just made my day bbecause i was excessively pissed last night...just ask john. thannk you!

[Donkey]

Certainly seen an improvement in this.

[theOperaGhost]

Just an update. I have seen an improvement in this, and Steph's last post is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I'm certainly happy with how this turned out and I'm glad no fights commenced or anything like that. I hope at least a few people got the points I was trying to make.

Now since nobody seemed to understand what I was saying about over-moderation, I will address that. Sapphire seemed to think I was complaining that VT was overmoderated. I was not saying that it currently is. I was saying that is a reason I have heard from seniors for not posting in such issues so much. I was also saying that by not posting normal posts, and only posting in issues when things get out of hand, it looks as if all they are doing is moderating. People really made that a bigger deal than even I made it, and I made a pretty big deal about everything, because that's what I do...

Anyway, I'm happy with this, so yeah.