From: "Terry H. Vibbert"
<terry@evansvillescholasticchess.org>
To: Chessoffice@aol.com
Cc: Joel@channingcorporation.com, CHESSJOEL@aol.com,
Paultruong@aol.com, SusanPolgar@aol.com
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:54:00
+0000
September 18, 2007
Bill Hall
Executive Director
United States Chess Federation
P.O.
Dear Bill:
We are ready to take big steps to make the forum project better for all. As
a result, this is to confirm our resignation from our positions on the Forum
Oversight Committee (FOC) effective immediately.
As you have previously indicated this is a project that is in its infancy
and must undergo an evolutionary process. Growth is a difficult and painful
process and the forums must go through this to reach a more sophisticated and
mature place. The implementation of the new forum software is indicative of
another positive step forward. There is now opportunity to further evolve the
forums towards a new structure
to be more member centric and to streamline the
layers of oversight/bureaucracy.
As communicated before, for months now, the FOC has not been able to work
effectively. Wayne has developed an opinion piece which outlines the need
for change in the current process. It can be found at
http://www.betteruscf.org/bbs.htm
. We strongly urge
you to consider empowering the moderators with strong moderation powers
backed by a revamped AUG. We honestly believe that this is the future.
With that challenge in mind we have drafted a new proposed acceptable use
guidelines shell for consideration which can be found at
http://www.betteruscf.org/newaug.htm
. The key
aspect of the new structure is that it focuses on a simplified set of rules
that should not be further parsed below each bullet or complete thought. Under
such a system the moderators are completely empowered to moderate the forums
without the need for interpretative intervention by System Administrators,
FOC or Executive Board (EB) members. Under this system the FOC can be better
focused by the following charter:
The purpose of the FOC is to hear appeals on forum ban sanctions on
behalf
of the Executive Director (ED) and to render Forum
opinions which are
written decisions authored by the committee members explaining how they
resolved
a particular forum sanction appeal and explaining their reasoning.
Appeals
should only be granted on findings of improper procedure or moderation bias.
The FOC Chair will be appointed by the ED to facilitate the committee on his
behalf.
If you feel that the ability to implement ban sanctions unilaterally would
be problematic for moderators then you could
consider all ban actions to be
automatically appealed to the FOC, understanding that such a process would
necessitate placing a user in a moderation queue while an appeal is processed.
We wish both you and everyone involved with the forum project well and
would
like to thank you in particular for having us as part of the team. We
want
you to know if a new structure as described above becomes a reality, Terry
would be glad to serve as a moderator .
Sincerely,
Terry Vibbert
and Wayne Praeder
____________________________________
Subj: The Need for a Chief Moderator/Administrator
Date:
9/23/2007 9:15:56 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From:
WPraeder
To:
bh...@uschess.org
Bill,
We
know your current plans are to provide a disconnect between the
Moderators and the FOC. The Moderator's would be
empowered with full
moderating authority and sanctioning capability and the FOC
would
become a body for hearing sanction appeals. We hope this
will
eventually foster a more constructive environment where
members can
interact with their leadership and discuss difficult
issues.
Terry
and I left the FOC to create an opportunity to rapidly
transition to this new structure and to give the Moderators
some
unhindered practice at guiding the forums. We strongly urged
you to
continue along the line of empowering the Moderators with
strong
moderation powers backed by a revamped AUG. The key aspect of this
new structure is that it will focus on a simplified
set of rules that
should not be further parsed below each complete thought.
Under such a
system the Moderators are completely empowered to
moderate the forums
without the need for interpretative intervention from
outsiders. We
still believe we need to empower a Moderator like a
sports referee. We
hope that by moving to a simpler system based on a
proven and more
open model will improve our speed, consistency, and the
enjoyment of
our guests. It is important to note that the USCF
President has also
agreed with the suggestion that the Moderators be allowed
to make
decisions and issue sanctions, with the FOC available to
hear appeals
to these sanctions.
It
is critically important that if someone is violating the AUG in his
or her forum conduct, it should be reported privately
to the
Moderators,
and the Moderators should act quietly, discretely, and
swiftly. The focus
is to stop inappropriate use of forum resources
rather than trying to punish members. We can find no
other successful
forum that uses the concept of the FOC with a committee
structure to
interpret rules, debate sanctions, and publicly embarrass
violators.
To
be effective with this new structure it will be important not to
model the Moderators and their process like the FOC.
Since not all
moderators will be experienced in forum administration and
cyber law,
as any tricky situations arise where the Moderators
can't agree on how
to handle it in a timely manner, you need an experienced
Chief
Moderator/Administrator
that can always step in to break the deadlock
and provide necessary guidance to both protect the
organization while
enhancing the enjoyment of the forum guests. This
supervision will
also serve to keep Moderator bias in check more
effectively than just
relying on appeals to the FOC.
We
need to think of our Moderators as forum
hosts rather than
sheriffs. I hope we have learned from our previous
experience and thus
I
would strongly recommend we move to a referee model system rather
than a committee model system for moderation under the
supervision of
a seasoned Chief Moderator/Administrator.
Regards,
Wayne
Praeder
____________________________________
From: wpraeder@aol.com
To: bhall@uschess.org
Sent: Fri, 8 May 2009 3:29 am
Subject: Fwd: Towards an Improved Online Community
Bill,
You may find this reference useful: http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/moderator_form.html
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick O'Keefe, iFroggy Network <patrick@ifroggy.com>
To: wpraeder@aol.com
Sent: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:59 am
Subject: RE: Towards an Improved Online Community
Hello Mr. Praeder,
Thanks for the note. Patrick is fine. J It’s
nice to meet up.
I really appreciate the kind words and, wow, thanks for
buying a dozen copies! That’s greatly appreciated.
I’d be glad to offer some quick feedback, if given the opportunity
or to work with them in a more official role, consulting, where I could
dedicate more time. I’d encourage their staff to join CommunityAdmins.com,
where they can share their experiences and benefit from the experiences of
others (including mine), and to read ManagingCommunities.com, where I regularly
blog about community management issues.
Thanks again,
Patrick
Patrick O'Keefe
Owner, iFroggy Network - http://www.ifroggy.com
Author, "Managing Online Forums" - http://www.managingonlineforums.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/iFroggy
Skype: patrick_okeefe
From: wpraeder@aol.com [mailto:wpraeder@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 10:26 AM
To: patrick@ifroggy.com
Subject: Re: Towards an Improved Online Community
Mr.
O'Keefe,
Thank you for your response. Your book is very practical, employing well proven
principles and should be helpful to the USCF's forum experiment. I enjoyed
reading your book and I hope Mr. Hall can make good use of the dozen copies
(one for each forum staff member) I sent him as we are struggling to
reinvent this wheel. If there is interest I would desire the USCF to
find a way to engage you to help them set up or even just review their
proposed staff and situation guidelines.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick O'Keefe, iFroggy Network <patrick@ifroggy.com>
To: wpraeder@aol.com
Sent: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 9:24 am
Subject: RE: Towards an Improved Online Community
Dear Mr. Praeder,
Thanks so much for your support of the book. I am glad
that you found it a valuable resource to share with Mr. Hall and I hope that it
helps.
Thanks,
Patrick
Patrick O'Keefe
Owner, iFroggy Network - http://www.ifroggy.com
Author, "Managing Online Forums" - http://www.managingonlineforums.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/iFroggy
Skype: patrick_okeefe
From: wpraeder@aol.com [mailto:wpraeder@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 7:40 AM
To: patrick@ifroggy.com
Subject: Fwd: Towards an Improved Online Community
FYI
-----Original Message-----
From: wpraeder@aol.com
To: bhall@uschess.org
Sent: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 7:04 am
Subject: Re: Towards an Improved Online Community
Bill,
You are welcome. Even though the
forums are evolving slowly, I understand we all are at the mercy of a non standard
system designed and often empowered by your board. Many who participate in the
USCF issues forum appear to not have a good understanding of polite discourse as
personal attacks are all too common.
In my view the defining problem is
that those who have been given the responsibility as forum staff often have set
the wrong example in their own postings and messages while having the ability
to judge others in this respect. As a result only the most extreme examples of
personal attacks are addressed which appears as very arbitrary and inconsistent
to others.
The results are many heated or
unproductive arguments about moderation or sanctions on the forum. When I was
on the FOC this translated to behind the scenes activities complaining about or
finding reasons to ban those (who were not board or forum staff members) that
were being critical. Today current or former forum staff combatively tries to
shut down such discussions by using personal attacks. Improving organizational
behavior must start at the top. Thus the USCF must have those who represent it
to lead by example. To do so the forum staff and our delegates must truly learn
to be more respectful of the forum community and its members. Small moves will
eventually get us there.
No single staff member can clean up
this situation – but can of course make it worse; however, you as the Executive
Director can provide direction, guidelines, and standards that the staff will
generally follow. Perhaps you can task the MOC and FOC to draft a set of
moderation guidelines consistent with the books themes (that are coming your
way) that they will all sign up to follow. This would also allow us to use
Patrick O’Keefe as an independent resource for our efforts. I believe Bill Goichberg would support you in this regard without
micromanaging the result. Those staff members who would no longer volunteer if
they have restrictions on their behavior or could not openly attack others
maybe should volunteer to help the organization in other ways. I know you are
swamped with more pressing short term impacting operational and financial
matters. My time is also very limited but let me know how I can better assist
you in this matter.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Hall <bhall@uschess.org>
To: wpraeder@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 7:14 pm
Subject: RE: Towards an Improved Online Community
Thank you Wayne. I appreciate your input and I look forward to
the information.
Regards,
Bill Hall
Executive Director
United States Chess Federation
P.O. Box 3967
Crossville, TN 38557-3967
Phone: (931) 787-1234
Fax: (931) 787-1200
From: wpr aeder@aol.com [mailto:wpraeder@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 1:54 AM
To: bhall@uschess.org
Subject: Towards an Improved Online Community
Bill,
I know you are extremely busy and therefore
must leave the running of the USCF forums to the forum staff. As you have
previously indicated the forums are a project that is in its infancy and must
undergo an evolutionary process. Growth is a difficult and painful process and
the forums must go through this to reach a more sophisticated and mature place.
The focus of moderation should be to
provide a pleasant and informative environment for the forum guests and to
consistently stop inappropriate use of forum resources. Since not all moderators
will be experienced in forum administration and cyber law, as any tricky
situations arise where the Moderators can't agree on how to handle issues in a
timely manner, you usually need an experienced Chief Moderator/Administrator
that can always step in to break the deadlock and provide necessary guidance to
both protect the organization while enhancing the enjoyment of the forum
guests. This type supervision will also serve to keep moderation bias in check
more effectively than just relying on appeals to the FOC. Additionally
education and rules for inexperienced moderators on managing online communities
will help set the tone of how to better serve the organization as well as
interpret and enforce forum guidelines consistently in a laissez faire manner
This of course can create problems if new forum staff may be attracted to
service with the idea they can be more free to post what they feel under a
mantle of protection. Unfortunately volunteering and serving our chess
community can be hard but rewarding work and should not be considered any type
of a perk.
Lately in the forums I have
witnessed a type of combative mentality on the part of the staff that I have
not witnessed since the forums very beginning. The staff has been dominating
the discussion and is not only fighting with the guests but with each other
which hardly provides a good example of decorum. It is unclear how much of this
is due to intermediation on the part of board members concerning the proper
running of the forums.
I would suggest it is useful that
all involved be working from the same playbook regarding the successful running
of the forums rather than allowing individual act ions and interpretation to
prevail. To this end I am shipping you some reference material that you can use
and distribute to forum staff as you see fit. Information about this material
can be found at http://www.managingonlineforums.com/ . Due to ordering time it may take a month or so for the
material to reach you but I wanted you to know it was in process.
Best wishes to you for the continued
successful advancement of chess in the USA.
Regards,
Wayne Praeder
____________________________________
Forwarding
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