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-   -   Updated Eratosphere Procedures for Members and Moderators (https://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=9675)

Alex Pepple 12-19-2009 04:34 PM

Updated Eratosphere Procedures for Members and Moderators
 


It has been years since a significant change has been made to the way Eratosphere operates, especially, as it pertains to members-moderators interaction. In our formative years, such changes were more commonplace, however, things seemed so much simpler then as we were smaller and nimble, and fewer conflicting viewpoints to reconcile.

Part of the challenge of Able Muse’s Eratosphere forum is that it has become a victim of its own success and explosive growth, becoming a melting pot of contrasting opinions and sensibilities on what is acceptable behavior, and competing philosophies, even among the moderators, on how much or little moderator involvement is called for. Our ad hoc ways of handling the differences are no longer working.

From our current and past upheavals, upheavals which seem to play out with increasing frequency, I have identified three significant types of problems to address:
  1. Complaints from members that their concerns are silenced by being deleted, and then are ignored.

  2. Complaints from members that the staff is oversensitive and prone to overreaction and inappropriate reaction.

  3. Uncertainty and even disagreement among staff members about what constitutes disruptive behavior.
To address the problems, we need to take steps that fulfill these requirements:
  1. First, by providing a mechanism that preserves posts even in a turbulent Eratosphere state, and allows the registered members to continue the discussion at hand. This is accomplished with a new private forum, Eratosphericals, accessible after an additional sign-in to all members registered long enough and with enough posts to earn thread creation privileges — that is almost all of you except the newly registered or the perpetual lurkers. This forum is minimally moderated by Maryann. She might move posts deemed suitable for members only to this private forum where all members with access privilege are still be able to view it or post to it. Furthermore, one sub-level of this forum is used as a nonpublic forum, Pub, for the discussion of publication issues. A second sub-level, Dear Moderators, is provided for members with access privileges to officially submit queries, issues, or a complaints thread to the entire staff, and the thread originator is able to interact with the staff on that issue through that thread. A third sub-level, Dear Administrators operates like the second one except that queries or complaints made there are visible to the Administrators (Maryann and Alex), and the thread originator only. Please allow at least 24 hours or so for the staff to look at, evaluate and respond to you in the Dear... forums due to the differences in time zones, and the real jobs — yes, most of the staff members also have real jobs and need to make time for those as well! To summarize, note that members cannot start new threads in the main forum of Eratosphericals although they can post to existing threads or threads that get moved there. Members can start and comment on new thread in all the sub-forum with the visibility constraints as previously described. Still, be advised that even posts in the private forum need to be made in accordance with the Eratosphere guidelines. Furthermore, although this private forum is available to all registered members with enabled access privileges, its contents remain private to Eratosphere. Hence members are prohibited from publishing its contents in the open and public forum areas of Eratosphere, or worse, outside Eratosphere.

  2. Second, to minimize staff intrusion into conversations on the General Talk board and the other conversation boards, a specific moderator, Adam Elgar, will be assigned there (and Maryann will stand in when he's not available). Adam will moderate these in addition to the Translation Forum. Other moderators not assigned to the Conversation forums will abstain from taking disciplinary action there unless they clear it with Adam first, although of course the other moderators may participate in the conversations.

  3. Finally, to create a self-checking and reevaluation system for moderators' actions — for the members and for the staff — we're instituting this procedure:

    1. A moderator needs to ignore actions from members when there are no clear-cut violations of guidelines or disruptive behavior.

    2. When a moderator encounters from a given member a pattern of behavior or a post that cannot be ignored, the following procedures are to be used:

      i. The moderator should proceed, depending on the severity of the situation, with either a) a friendly reminder of the guidelines; or b) a request to edit the post to conform to guidelines; or c) a private advisory that s/he will be issuing an official warning.

      ii. At the same time, moderators need to hold themselves to the same standards that they ask of other members in terms of maintaining a civil level of discourse. Posts and Private Messaging communications from moderators that are clearly provocative or insulting are just as unacceptable as they would be coming from anyone else. If a member feels that a moderator has behaved in an inappropriate way, they are requested to report the offending post or PM to Maryann. She will evaluate the circumstances and may tell the moderator to cease and desist, or take a more stringent action as she deems necessary.

      iii. If the member protests the advice or action of the moderator intervention in (i) above, the moderator should disengage, and go through a new internal staff appeal procedure—instituted to provide checks and balances on moderator actions—for instructions and the recommended action. On appeal, the course of action proposed by the moderator may be confirmed or denied. If confirmed, the moderator will make the member aware that further consultation supports the moderator’s action and ask the member to comply. If denied, the moderator will stand down completely and smooth matters with the member if necessary.

      iv. Maryann will keep in mind the special status of TDE as a forum with a high standard of poetry post and critique, summarized in its rubric, when handling appeals related to this forum.

      v. I want to draw everyone's attention to our consolidated guidelines here. These have already been up for quite some time now. These are the guidelines that are applicable when we refer to the Eratosphere's guidelines.
      Following the steps defined above will not only smooth the staff dynamics, and the dynamics between the staff and members, but will hopefully reduce complaints about the moderators, and reduce the time spent on disagreement posts and thread instead of the goals of Eratosphere — writing and critique.

Although the Eratosphere guidelines are still in force in their entirety everywhere, we hope that their application will be smoother and result in fewer misunderstandings henceforth between members and staff.

We hope that these changes will be found useful and make for a significant step forward in addressing the concerns of members about their interactions with staff, allowing for the resolution of conflicts before they lead to the kind of unfortunate public strife and deletion of posts that we have recently seen here, for which the staff and I apologize to all those who were affected. Eratosphere remains committed to free speech and democracy, and we hope that with your cooperation, these Updated Procedures will help us maintain that commitment while guaranteeing that all participants—members and moderators alike—are protected from unfair treatment on the Board.

Cheers,
...Alex

E. Shaun Russell 12-19-2009 05:35 PM

While I haven't fully processed the implications (positive, negative or indifferent) of all of these changes yet, I want to at least express my appreciation that something decisive HAS been done. Speaking for myself alone, that was my biggest concern regarding the recent incidents...that it would be met with silence and inaction.

Michael Cantor 12-19-2009 06:04 PM

I'm in agreement with Shaun. This is a good, positive step, and I'm pleased to note that comments and communications (and withdrawals) were noted, and there has been a reaction. Thanks to all involved.

Quincy Lehr 12-19-2009 06:35 PM

Alex--

While I appreciate the work you've done on this, you still don't seem to grasp the basic point--there was a general groundswell of anger against certain moderators, as well as a concern with over-moderation in general, and the reaction was to squelch it, because, apparently, "What would the neighbors think?" Well, those who actually resided here for some time felt that they were subject to too much interference and a habit on the part of the Administration of writing a new rule every time "something" (often fairly minor in itself) came up. What we have here seems to be symptomatic of an unresponsive and, frankly, repressive board culture, which seeks to curb the excesses of the very recent past (which is something, I guess) but does not get to the root of the problem--namely, that many long-time members felt that their grievances were not being taken seriously, and that they were being hounded publicly, encouraged to respond privately, and having private correspondence held against them.

In the interests of "working within the system," I attempted to log into the Eratosphericals area to register my thoughts according to stated procedure, yet my password did not work. Hence I'm stating my position here.

As for whether this is a temporary return or a more permanent one in my case remains to be seen.

Quincy

Roger Slater 12-19-2009 06:42 PM

Is Eratosphericals running yet? It rejected my password, too.

David Rosenthal 12-19-2009 06:44 PM

My password didn't work either.

David R.

Alex Pepple 12-19-2009 06:53 PM

Thank you, Quincy, for your frank opinions. As I mentioned in the updated procedures, we can try and we have tried to address everyone's concerns, but it's impossible to satisfy everyone no matter what is done to address those concerns. Heck, even if we let total anarchy prevail, I'm sure there'll still be complaints! But I hope that these updated procedures are a step forward and sufficient at this time for most of us to be willing to give it a try in good faith instead of outright dismissal, and indeed move forward, than was the case before.

Cheers,
...Alex
p.s. - see your PM.

Alex Pepple 12-19-2009 07:20 PM

Eratosphericals password has been emailed to all active members who qualify for access, so check the inbox associated with your Eratosphere profile email. After you're logged in to the Sphere, you need to use that password/access key as an additional step to get into that forum or the sub-forums.

If you didn't get it and feel you should have, PM me.

...Alex

P.S. - This is a good time to make sure your profile email address is still valid, else Eratosphere notices such as the one described above won't make it to you! To verify or update your email address go here.

Michael Juster 12-19-2009 08:13 PM

I'm practically an original member, and I was the original moderator, so I just wanted to add my divided thoughts. On the one hand, being a moderator here is tough and I stopped doing it because I just couldn't take the childish abuse any more. On the other hand, I have experienced problems with a nasty moderator, and took a year-long sabbatical until that person left as a moderator. There's clearly merit on both sides of the complaints.

My conclusion is that we have to try much harder to leave the flaming culture of the Internet at the door and try to be a lot more civil to one another. I believe it was Aristotle who rejected the theory that the venting of anger released it. Regular venting of anger just trains you to be better at being angry, which is why I never approved of opening up General Talk to explosive nonliterary issues. Accordingly, I'm dubious that a special board to continue some of these savage debates is really a good idea, though I admire Alex's intent.

FOsen 12-19-2009 08:32 PM

Well, I'm offering my thanks. Encouraging members to express grievances by pm and on alternate boards will only work if the members believe the administration will respond to reasonable grievances. This seems designed to address recent concerns about repressive and non-responsive board culture. We shall see. I support it.

Frank

Quincy Lehr 12-19-2009 09:15 PM

Frank's right about the membership needing to feel it's being listened to for this to work, and that's a matter of implementation rather than structure.

Editing in: As for Mike Juster's point about GT--most of the incidents that provoked the current exodus occurred on TDE (or concerned TDE), and occurred as a result of interactions between members and a few moderators rather than arising from contentious political debates on GT. A large part of the anger evident (at times wearily so) on the Exile board was to do not so much with a desire for emotional validation (though there was that, I think) as much as a desire to set the record straight about what many of us feel was abusive behavior on a fairly large scale. Rightly or wrongly.

I've managed to get in to the semi-hidden boards and have lodged my complaint and main stumbling block to coming back permanently, and will make more specific or pointed observations through the indicated channels. We'll see how it goes.

David Rosenthal 12-19-2009 09:41 PM

Alex,

I appreciate the thought and effort that went into these new procedures and policies. I think they do in fact respond to some of my specific concerns. What remains, as others have pointed out, is the question of consistent implementation. But I do see this as a good, positive step.

David R.

Marybeth Rua-Larsen 12-19-2009 10:17 PM

Although I can log in to Eratosphericals and see that there are is a post in two separate threads, I cannot see those posts. When I click on the link, I get a message that reads "There are no posts in this forum." What am I doing wrong?

Allen Tice 12-19-2009 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Juster (Post 136586)
My conclusion is that we have to try much harder to leave the flaming culture of the Internet at the door and try to be a lot more civil to one another. I believe it was Aristotle who rejected the theory that the venting of anger released it. Regular venting of anger just trains you to be better at being angry, which is why I [don't] approve of opening up General Talk to explosive nonliterary issues... .

Moved and seconded.

Quincy Lehr 12-19-2009 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marybeth Rua-Larsen (Post 136598)
Although I can log in to Eratosphericals and see that there are is a post in two separate threads, I cannot see those posts. When I click on the link, I get a message that reads "There are no posts in this forum." What am I doing wrong?

I suspect this is to protect the accused or some such.

Marybeth Rua-Larsen 12-19-2009 10:43 PM

Ah...my mistake. I did not read carefully enough. So only a moderator can move a thread to the Pub for continued, private membership discussion (but none of us can start a discussion there), and though we may post grievances in the other two sections, they are read privately by moderators, acted upon by moderators and not open to general discussion. I believe I have seen all I need to see.

Quincy Lehr 12-19-2009 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marybeth Rua-Larsen (Post 136601)
Ah...my mistake. I did not read carefully enough. So only a moderator can move a thread to the Pub for continued, private membership discussion (but none of us can start a discussion there), and though we may post grievances in the other two sections, they are read privately by moderators, acted upon by moderators and not open to general discussion. I believe I have seen all I need to see.

I'm of two minds about this. If there were a case, say, of a groundswell against a member--"You should ban John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith!"--one would not necessarily want a massive pile-on and almost certain flame war. On the other hand, when dealing with moderator abuses and a general surfeit of rules and procedures--the main source of complaints at present--allowing other members to pile in with "I agree" or "I disagree" would be helpful in identifying what is simple animus or isolated discontent versus a groundswell. This seems to be a slight expansion of the old "take it to PM" policy, which didn't exactly work all that well in rectifying things.

But I'm willing to give it a try, if somewhat skeptically.

Quincy

David Rosenthal 12-19-2009 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quincy Lehr (Post 136603)
But I'm willing to give it a try, if somewhat skeptically.

The issue will be the effectiveness and consistency of the implementation of the new policies and procedures. Time and good will can only tell if it will work.

David R.

Michael Cantor 12-20-2009 12:02 AM

Alex and Maryann - there appears to be a discrepancy between what is explained in Alex's letter, and what is available on the new Forums - and it makes a big difference in terms of function.

I'm afraid I may have misread the new measures as well. But I'm puzzled and not sure. On the one hand, all I see that allows open discussion is the new private "public" Forum apparently intended to deal with publications. The two other Moderators or Administrators forums do not allow public discussion - I fail to see how this is significantly different from the old "send us a PM" policy, which is what I believe prompted Quincy's and Marybeth's reactions.

But the letter states, "She (Maryann) might move posts deemed suitable for members only to this private forum where all members with access privilege are still be able to view it or post to it." I gather from this that the new Forum called "Pub" will also serve for broad, member-based discussions of "turbulent" topics, and not just for publication discussions. If so, I'm a reasonably happy camper, because essentially the ability is provided to carry on an open conversation on sensitive issues. If not, I agree with what Quincy had to say. Without an open conversation, where members (with a set minimum number of posts, to assure serious commitment) look in and provide further feedback and input, Administrators are not going to get a good sense of what the membership feels. It encourages more misunderstandings, more unhelpful backchatter.

I think a clarification of the apparent difference between Maryann's statement, and the structure of the Forum, would help. (It might simply be that no discussions have been moved there, so no thread appear yet. I can't tell.)

I also recognize that open discussions can get out of hand. We're all going to have to work on that one. It is my sense that the Administration does realize that a great many of the problems which have occurred are due to the insensitivity and overreactions cited in the opening section of Alex's letter; and hopefully the membership also realizes that if we meet a more open and reasonable Administration approach with a more reasonable and less passionate/accusatory response, it will work to everybody's benefit.

Ultimately, it boils down to what David just said. Time and good will.

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marybeth Rua-Larsen (Post 136601)
Ah...my mistake. I did not read carefully enough. So only a moderator can move a thread to the Pub for continued, private membership discussion (but none of us can start a discussion there), and though we may post grievances in the other two sections, they are read privately by moderators, acted upon by moderators and not open to general discussion. I believe I have seen all I need to see.

Marybeth, a slight correction, a moderator is more likely to move a thread to Eratospherics for continued discussion. Pub is for the discussion of publication issues and any member with access privilege can start a thread there. However, everyone will continue to see and post in the moved thread, so whatever discussion was going on before the move continues for everyone with access to the private forums.

Continuing the clarifications, in Dear Moderators, a member starts a thread between him or her and moderators. Dear Administrators operates the same way except that it's between the member and the Administrators.

Michael C. & others who asked, I hope that also clarifies things for you also.

...Alex

David Rosenthal 12-20-2009 12:18 AM

Michael,

Alex should probably answer for clarity's sake, but as I understand things, threads from public forums can be removed to the Eratosphericals area where they would appear where "There are no posts in this forum" now appears. Then only people with the appropriate security clearance will see it.

As for the Dear Mod and Admin threads -- I think that will cut down on PMs for mods and admins when there is an issue. It will also ensure that communications with mods will be accessibel to the whole staff, and make lodging complaints easier.

Alex, I cross-posted with you. Question: if warranted, appropriate, and agreed, would Admins be able to grant another member access to a given member's complaint thread.

David R.

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Rosenthal (Post 136612)
Michael,

....

Alex, I cross-posted with you. Question: if warranted, appropriate, and agreed, would Admins be able to grant another member access to a given member's complaint thread.

David R.

David, that's potentially doable, but there are technical complexities with this forum software that will pose difficulties in pulling it off and I haven't researched them yet to give you a definite yes, answer.

...Alex

Peter Wyton 12-20-2009 01:54 AM

Dear Mr. Pepple, One of the best points in your revised guidelines is that most Eratosphere staff have jobs, in addition to running Eratosphere. I have frequently noticed, in life, that ALL clubs/societies/interest groups are composed of three categories:
1. The people who form committees and do all the donkey work.
2. People who use the facilities and appreciate the extra work put in by people in category 1.
3. People who spend their time nit-picking, complaining and taking constant pot-shots at people in category 1. I think you'll find that a fair proportion of these DON'T have jobs. That's why they have so much time for whinging.

Go on and prosper, sir, you and all your colleagues. You do a fine job, as far as I can see. A little more acknowledgement of that from the general membership wouldn't come amiss.
Peter Wyton.

Ann Drysdale 12-20-2009 05:28 AM

For you all, a traditional British toast, from the disappearing world of the working shepherd:

If I had store,
By sheep and fold,
I'd give you gold.
But since I'm poor
By crook and bell,
I wish you well.

And I do.

Petra Norr 12-20-2009 07:17 AM

I haven't read the entire thread yet, but I want to thank Alex, Maryann, and staff for the attention given to complaints and for the constructive solutions offered. And happy holidays to you all!

E. Shaun Russell 12-20-2009 09:14 AM

You know what I think could solve the concern over the transparency issue?

Having the Dear Moderators and Dear Administrators forums read-only to all but the original poster, mods and admin. That way people can read the suggestions, grievances etc. and the mod responses without cluttering up the thread itself. That would circumvent all the earlier concerns about "behind closed doors" (i.e.: PM) moderation.

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 10:08 AM

Shaun, transparency remains in the usual Eratosphere conversation forums and for threads deemed suitable to be moved from those forums to Eratosphericals. See http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showpo...1&postcount=20 . Yes, we're for transparency, but that's not an invitation to flame the Sphere to ashes and bury it's main focus of poetry and critique, because after all Eratosphere guidelines still apply in all cases. What we're done is simply strike a fair balance between all these sometime conflicting requirements. Dear Moderators and Dear Administrators provides everyone with something beyond PM -- a mechanism for having a personal discussion with all moderators or the administrators, without overwhelming them with a free-for-all. Furthermore, it's private nature between member and staff allows frank exchanges that are not always possible in a public setting. Finally, as much as some don't mind broadcasting such discussions to everyone, there are others members who prefer to keep them confidential.

As I've stated in earlier post, we cannot please everyone here due to differences in beliefs and temperament. The best we can do is find the best compromise and I believe that's what this new system is.

Cheers,
...Alex


...Alex

E. Shaun Russell 12-20-2009 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Pepple (Post 136659)
Shaun, transparency remains in the usual Eratosphere conversation forums and for threads deemed suitable to be moved from those forums to Eratosphericals. See http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showpo...1&postcount=20 . Yes, we're for transparency, but that's not an invitation to flame the Sphere to ashes and bury it's main focus of poetry and critique, because after all Eratosphere guidelines still apply in all cases. What we're done is simply strike a fair balance between all these sometime conflicting requirements. Dear Moderators and Dear Administrators provides everyone with something beyond PM -- a mechanism for having a personal discussion with all moderators or the administrators.

...Alex

I deeply respect that, Alex -- truly. But one of the issues with this is that any correspondence with or about the moderators is still essentially private, which bothers some folks. Whether things are conducted via PM or in a forum that no-one but mods can see...it's still behind closed doors, really. This is just an educated guess, but I think you may be quite surprised how much less flaming and mod-griping there would be if there was a level of openness to how things were conducted -- whether that's meting out discipline, or just addressing questions etc. When business like that is conducted completely behind the scenes, and posts / threads / members disappear without a word of explanation, that's where suspicion about mod practices comes in.

I've modded at other boards of equivalent size before and have seen the sheer vitriol that has been leveled at mods (myself included) for not being completely open about the process. If the guidelines are absolutes, and there is a clear means of dealing with breaches, then there shouldn't be any need for secrecy or closed doors, should there?

Just my $.02.

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E. Shaun Russell (Post 136662)
... When business like that is conducted completely behind the scenes, and posts / threads / members disappear without a word of explanation, that's where suspicion about mod practices comes in.

Just my $.02.

Thanks for the thoughts and the $.02, Shaun. However, let me point out that one of the points of this new setup is to address the problem of threads disappearing.

...Alex

E. Shaun Russell 12-20-2009 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Pepple (Post 136665)
Thanks for the thoughts and the $.02, Shaun. However, let me point out that one of the points of this new setup is to address the problem of threads disappearing.

...Alex

My final little salvo on this topic then:

If a thread doesn't disappear, but gets moved behind closed doors, out of the sight of forum members, isn't it rather the same as the "tree falling in the forest when no-one's around" musing? In other words, the thread will still be disappearing...just disappearing to a small room with only the moderators to view it.

David Rosenthal 12-20-2009 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E. Shaun Russell (Post 136667)
My final little salvo on this topic then:

If a thread doesn't disappear, but gets moved behind closed doors, out of the sight of forum members, isn't it rather the same as the "tree falling in the forest when no-one's around" musing? In other words, the thread will still be disappearing...just disappearing to a small room with only the moderators to view it.

Shaun,

I believe the idea is that such threads would remain fully accessible to members with access to the private Eratosphericals area.

David R.

David Rosenthal 12-20-2009 10:55 AM

Alex,

I think members are confused about the physical layout in Eratosphericals. Maybe you should create a dummy thread to demonstrate where removed threads would end up so members can see how it would work.

David R.

Maryann Corbett 12-20-2009 12:41 PM

I've just created the dummy thread. I created it in GT and moved it to Eratosphericals.

What I see on GT is the six-hour redirect I left. If I click on Eratosphericals and scroll down, under Pub, Dear Moderator, and Dear Administrator, I see a separate block, where the moved post appears.

Now, I can never assume that I'm seeing what others will see because I've got superpowers. So please tell me whether this matches up with what you all are seeing!


Oops, cross-posted with Alex.

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 12:41 PM

Sure, David. I'll have one up for those who want to kick the tires of the new system!

Editing back in: Maryann has beat me to it and created a dummy thread there (titled, "A test post, to be moved".)

...Alex

Alex Pepple 12-20-2009 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by E. Shaun Russell (Post 136667)
My final little salvo on this topic then:

If a thread doesn't disappear, but gets moved behind closed doors, out of the sight of forum members, isn't it rather the same as the "tree falling in the forest when no-one's around" musing? In other words, the thread will still be disappearing...just disappearing to a small room with only the moderators to view it.

No, Shaun, you've still got it wrong. It will reappear in the main forum of Eratosphericals, where ALL registered members with access privilege will still see it and be able to continue posting to it. (See Maryann's dummy moved thread there titled, "A test post, to be moved" as an example.) It may be a lot of details to absorb at first, but I'm sure it will also become clearer and even make sense with use.

Cheers,
...Alex

Tiffany Krupa 06-24-2011 10:40 PM

Help
 
I've read this thread 3 times and as I understand it, I've been a member since 2001 and I've posted 88 times, so, does this mean I should be able to post/view Eratosphericals ? Or, am I perceived as a "lurker"? With my schedule and lack of confidence with critiques and my painstaking process of revising my work, I fear I may be in the lurker category, but this would be a punishment I don't think I fairly deserve :confused:

I've been trying to find a somewhat recent post entitled "Rabbit Nest" and before I knew it, it was off the FV boards before I could post my revision. I have no back up of comments to thread to and I wanted to know if there is a way to retrieve posts that have disappeared?

Also, I wanted to know if the Poetry contest is still happening and if a winner was announced. I can't seem to find any info that I can access to answer this question.

Thanks for your time and patience. I get overwhelmed in here sometimes - okay a lot of the time. However, I just finished teaching for the year. I will be more active on the boards - promise! :)

Many thanks,

Tiffany

W.F. Lantry 06-24-2011 11:46 PM

Dear Tiffany,

Thanks for your note. On the FV question: the poetry boards get purged (we call it pruning) once a month. Anything that hasn't been replied to for thirty days goes poof. I try to give 72 hour's warning before it happens, and I'm a little slow sometimes, kinda by design, so people don't lose stuff, But for many reasons it's good this pruning happens.

The 15 critique rule is designed to keep the boards from being swamped by enthusiastic newbies and the verse versions of remoras. Since you've been a member since 2001, it's hard to believe you would fit into either camp... ;)

So here's my best advice: Post away! Save early, save often. And have fun...

Thanks,

Bill

Alex Pepple 06-25-2011 01:23 AM

Hello Tiffany,

Check your PM about access to Eratosphericals.

Cheers,
...Alex

Tiffany Krupa 06-25-2011 11:33 PM

Dear Bill, thank you for the clarification and the encouragement!

Dear Alex, Thank you for your email!

Happy posting :)

Tiffany


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