Mirror, Mirror

Thanks all. I'm glad this topic is interesting to others as well.

halfwise wrote:I bring out the "official" in people?  Is that why I find police following me around, so they can be ... er ... 'official'?

Well, getting to speak in my official capacity as forum administrator. The way we do things here I don't act in that role very often. Which is how I prefer things and wanted it to be. But it can be fun every now and then.

Mrs Figg wrote:that's a great interview Eldo. I wonder if you have changed any of your opinions since then?

This interview was conducted only about four months ago, so I'd say my opinions are still pretty much the same at this point.

And I dont even get a mention!!! And after all the hard work I've put in as a moderator trying to avoid doing any hard work as a moderator too!!

Throw sone buckie in there thats the perfect lifestyle!

Pettytyrant101 wrote:And I dont even get a mention!!! And after all the hard work I've put in as a moderator trying to avoid doing any hard work as a moderator too!!

I was trying to give general advice about forums so I didn't want to throw in too many specifics about us, but I did allude to some of the things you've done. And I had an entire section there about the importance of moderators; you're the longest serving moderator on here now.

Yay, Petty!

I felt I had a sort of mentioning too in the 'how to pick mods' section.

Hm, I was sure I had posted a "nice interview, Eldo!" post, but seems I hadn't...

It was a good interview. Good advice and good thoughts.

you're the longest serving moderator on here now. - Eldo

Yes, under protest!! If it wasn't for that 'small' problem over my buckie tax returns you got me on

Pettytyrant101 wrote:you're the longest serving moderator on here now. - Eldo

Yes, under protest!! If it wasn't for that 'small' problem over my buckie tax returns you got me on

In fairness...since I've joined the forum, there hasn't been much of a need for serious moderation (as far as I can tell anyway), the occasional troll or spammer aside, it's pretty quiet and friendly here.

Interesting Interview Eldo

it's pretty quiet and friendly here.- Malick

Yup it is, we've only had one sort of serious issue since I became a mod.
But the friendly atmosphere is entirely down to the tone and direction of the forum set by Eldo as Admin.
We mods are all just following in Eldo's wake.

Well done, that man.

friendly? Has one has forgotten the Amy Pond Wars of 2014?

I said I followed in Eldo's wake of friendliness. I didn't say I lived up to it though

Amarië wrote:I felt I had a sort of mentioning too in the 'how to pick mods' section.

Hm, I was sure I had posted a "nice interview, Eldo!" post, but seems I hadn't...

It was a good interview. Good advice and good thoughts.

Your perspective on moderating is similar to mine in a number of ways, probably because we've both been mods on other more "disciplined" forums, though obviously we've had our disagreements as well. I've certainly always valued your insight and suggestions though and I'm glad to have had you on "the team". I'm glad you liked the interview too; thank you!

malickfan wrote:In fairness...since I've joined the forum, there hasn't been much of a need for serious moderation (as far as I can tell anyway), the occasional troll or spammer aside, it's pretty quiet and friendly here.

Interesting Interview Eldo

Thanks Malick! There have been a number of moments over the years where I've been glad to have a moderating team, but I'm glad that the forum has been so peaceful for the most part and that any bumps along the way don't seem to stand out in people's memories. Certainly in the last year or so the job of moderation has gotten even more low-key since there are far fewer newbies and everyone has had the chance to get to know everyone else reasonably well. But the mods still fill a meaningful advisory role as needed.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Yup it is, we've only had one sort of serious issue since I became a mod.
But the friendly atmosphere is entirely down to the tone and direction of the forum set by Eldo as Admin.
We mods are all just following in Eldo's wake.

I did touch on this in the section about the impact of a forum founder, and I do like to think that I've left something of a legacy on the forum's culture, but given how I came to "power" and the history of the forum before that, much of the legacy belongs to GB as well. Through the combination of Ady being so absentee and GB taking a hippie-ish approach to many issues, the seeds of the Forumshire we know and love today were sown early on.

I fell upon this place by accident..... best accident I ever had !

I discovered this place while I was preparing for my first ever threadrunner gig at LOTR Plaza. I had proposed and been allowed to create an official "Hobbit Hub" of news about the then-upcoming films (and that sentence should give an indication of how much more structured and governed the Plaza could be) and I was scrounging for all the news I could find since it was still the spring of 2009. Ady's blog was one of the best sources I found and I posted a little in the comments and then decided to register on the forums. I had never registered on another Tolkien forum other than the Plaza before and at that point wasn't yet in my "go out and post everywhere" phase, but I thought maybe it'd help me stay on top of news. I guess I just liked the feel I got. Regardless, I posted a bit, then drifted away, and started posting in earnest that September when my aforementioned posting everywhere phase began. But Forumshire was the place I started posting most (except for a couple months when TORn was #1) and and it's far and away the place I came back to most frequently.