"What is to keep this from all going down again? I've put my chips in this game a couple of times. If The Professor, Cal, Leslie, Fab, and Beaker Ben have never kept this thing alive, how are you going to avoid the same fate? When is your meltdown coming?"Well, I'm going to go at it differently than I did when I was a moderator previously. I'm going to spend an hour in the morning making sure things are okay, AND THEN I'M GOING TO GO ABOUT MY DAY!
I'm on sabbatical, so I have the time, but I'm not going to let myself burn out, implode, etc. The psychic energy that the page CAN take from you is legendary among mods, and we've all talked about it.
But I figure, the page has been dead for more than half a year. We don't even have the same domain name. It'll probably give out before I will!
I love the idea of it. It seems a shame for the forum not to exist. Cal sent me an email that Ben sent to him (and others, I assume), and it sounded like that page was slowing down some. So, I always liked CM. I got a charge out of the PEOPLE of CM, especially the folks we all know and love, Greta, Strelly, Cynic, Cassandra, Hiram, Darla, Cal, Ben, Amelia, Maybelle! I could list a dozen more easily.
And I missed them. I think the academy would be better off if their voices were still out there in the ether, searchable on The Google.
But I'm just going to keep the lights on and sweep up occasionally. If you all want to set the place on fire, then that's on you!
The RGM
(you know, Terry P. Gordon Presto...I have more)
You've got the right idea about moderating. Establishing a work/life balance is hard enough. You don't want to have to worry about a blog/life balance.
ReplyDeleteTo the writer of the Terry's note, I wouldn't worry about the bottom dropping out on you. The web address changes from time to time but we're all still here. Wherever that is.
Endless thanks for keeping the old band together!
DeleteWhen I view Cal's old graphics, it's always out of context of whatever posts in which they first appeared. When I saw this wrestling one, I could not imagine a scenario where it would have been used on the page? Was it just created because he likes amateur wrestling? Is it him as a boy, winning a battle? I like to spend my time wondering such things.
ReplyDelete"Some men just want to see the world burn."
ReplyDeleteYes, I stole that from "Batman: The Dark Knight" but it seems appropriate. When you steal from one it's plagiarism, when you steal from many it's research.
Wernher von Braun said that.
DeleteWell, we've managed two peaceful transfers of leadership -- CM to AWC and back. There were no riots and no tanks in the streets (which, sadly, is a lot more than you can say for a number of other parts of the world, foreign and domestic, lately). Perhaps we can take that as a good sign?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I understand why people burn out in the moderator's job. It's a thankless one, and there are, as Gary points out, some people who seem to thrive on making trouble. I really, really hope your plan works, Terry. I value the community, and it's great to see the old (and new) gang gathering.
Hi Cassandra. I agree with all you said. Don't forget the transfer from RYS to CM, when Fab took over for Cal.
DeleteI have really tried to get my head around a new manner of modding. I've got a whole year off from school, but I'm not going to replace that headache with this one. It's low maintenance for me now. I refuse to give in to the meltdown. We're not shuttering the place again, at least not until I die in a fiery explosion of Walter's exacting.
Good luck to all of us.
Oh, and as always, I'll count on correspondents and readers to send me email when things go awry. I'll always want to know what we can do better, but I'm not sitting at the machine in 12 hour shifts, as Fab used to demand.
DeleteCountdown until censorship and content control begins ... now ... maintain the academic spirit of the original mods by deleting all comments that disagree with the clubhouse
ReplyDelete