SSD Member Council? An idea I had, take a look.

[Jack]

I was thinking just now that we as members have no real means of getting our ideas and suggestions through to the admins and mods. Some of us do - those of us friendly with the admins etc - but as a whole the vast majority of us have no means other than an individual suggestion in the suggestion board. Now that's by no means a bad route to take, but it has the drawback of the staff seeing no percieved want for it other than your own.

So, what I'm proposing here is a Council of SSD members. This is a council of four people elected by you guys. All this Council does is listen to your request and present them to the staff members. It's done so that it is the will of ALL the members that this action be made - so for instance, someone wants a Terragen board as a sub-board of Misc Programs. The Council listens to this request and if they feel it has any merit will post a poll outlining the person's request. The members then vote on it, and if a majority is found then this request - and others voted on in the same process - will be presented to the staff formally as the will of the members as a whole.

I'm sure that if there's enough interest we can get ourselves our own board set up for voting and requests etc, but right now I need to know: Are you guys interested? What I've outlined here is only one of many ways that this Council can be beneficial, and it's a great opportunity to get some more power to the members around here.

So again guys: If you're interested in being a Council member or in the idea generally, please post here

[acoolie530]

Would the Council members have access to the staff boards? Would we have our own boards?

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lol i probably won't get elected but i might as well try

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Good idea, i have seen this shot down at many forums though.

[Akai Shuichi]

This doesn't sound like a bad idea in my opinion

[James]

Sounds like the US Government version of the ZD council. Only, this one isn't going to feed lies(stab at the government..not ZD).

[whitney2]

jessejames said:

Sounds like the US Government version of the ZD council. Only, this one isn't going to feed lies(stab at the government..not ZD).

What he said.

*doesn't really like it just because it sounds a lot like the ZD council*

But, whatever. I wouldn't mind.

[Shadow]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Although I have my own council. The Shadow Council. Muaha. Chances are only one of you will get that. -shakes head-

[Jack]

Yeah...Well the last time I was at ZD was late 2003 so I wasn't aware of the Council there. There will probably be some differences naturally.

I'll discuss it with Oliver tonight and see what he thinks, we can go further if he's agreeable towards it.

[TheDiaryRoom]

The ZD council (in my opinion) wasn't planned too well ... it was more of an extra suggestions board with a new rank.

So now we just have advisors. Much better!

[Josh]

i quite like this idea. it would give the staff more of a chance to look at suggestions and it would hopefully get more member involvement with decisions, which is pretty much always a good thing.

i like the board idea, but the problem being, it would probably be spammed with "BRING BACK V4!" replies no matter what the subject is.

[woodys]

any reason we as members not just make a suggestion here in "chill out" that all members and admin will see.

Jim

[Psionic]

It's an interesting idea you've got there, Jack. However, you'd have to lay down some suggestion guidelines so the council won't get floods of "Bring Back Version ___" or anything like that. Must we forget the "Flash for Mod" fiasco last summer?

[Mitchell]

*blank stare*

I like the idea, although I feel this site has enough staff members and if we add another board with more staff, it may just look too cluttered. I dont know, but it's a good idea in my opinion, as long the staff selected responsible, kind, active members to be on the council.

[jaroessa]

acoolie530 said:

Would the Council members have access to the staff boards? Would we have our own boards?

No.

[Mith]

I've seen this done before and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Firstly, surely the "election" would just be a popularity contest with people who may not be exactly well known, like myself, not having a chance. As long as you have lots of friends who know you'll get in.

Secondly, what would happen if the admins/mods just put their foot down and said no? There would be a gridlock, and as the council have no enforcement powers then there would be nothing they could do (for example skins at the moment - a lot of people want them but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen).

Thirdly what's to stop the council just being another set of friends to the admins? And let's face it, the people who will get elected are likely to be their friends anyway.

Also, what would happen if there was no clear result in an election? And is only 4 people enough to have their voice heard? How many hundreds of people are there on this forum? Maybe 10 would be suitable - at least that would increase the chances of "less well-known" people getting in.

It's a good idea but it needs backing up with actual powers. For example a decision MUST happen or there is some kind of reprimand. And the "Council" should be able to view the admin boards and the such like to see what's going on.
Also, they need to not all be coders and image-makers. There needs to be a good representation of all peoples on SSD, otherwise it won't work.
Another point which you may ahve to consider is what would happen if a a person/people were elected who voilantly did not get along with the admin, and the admin couldn't trust them?

n2f said:

*blank stare*

I like the idea, although I feel this site has enough staff members and if we add another board with more staff, it may just look too cluttered. I dont know, but it's a good idea in my opinion, as long the staff selected responsible, kind, active members to be on the council.

I whole-heartedly agree.


In short, I do think it's a very good idea (and as I love politics I love things like elections ), but if it is to be implemented then you must be careful as otherwise they'll just be more people out of reach from members and not actually doing what they want.

[Psionic]

mith said:

I've seen this done before and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Firstly, surely the "election" would just be a popularity contest with people who may not be exactly well known, like myself, not having a chance. As long as you have lots of friends who know you'll get in.

Secondly, what would happen if the admins/mods just put their foot down and said no? There would be a gridlock, and as the council have no enforcement powers then there would be nothing they could do (for example skins at the moment - a lot of people want them but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen).

Thirdly what's to stop the council just being another set of friends to the admins? And let's face it, the people who will get elected are likely to be their friends anyway.

Also, what would happen if there was no clear result in an election? And is only 4 people enough to have their voice heard? How many hundreds of people are there on this forum? Maybe 10 would be suitable - at least that would increase the chances of "less well-known" people getting in.

It's a good idea but it needs backing up with actual powers. For example a decision MUST happen or there is some kind of reprimand. And the "Council" should be able to view the admin boards and the such like to see what's going on.
Also, they need to not all be coders and image-makers. There needs to be a good representation of all peoples on SSD, otherwise it won't work.
Another point which you may ahve to consider is what would happen if a a person/people were elected who voilantly did not get along with the admin, and the admin couldn't trust them?

n2f said:

*blank stare*

I like the idea, although I feel this site has enough staff members and if we add another board with more staff, it may just look too cluttered. I dont know, but it's a good idea in my opinion, as long the staff selected responsible, kind, active members to be on the council.

I whole-heartedly agree.


In short, I do think it's a very good idea (and as I love politics I love things like elections ), but if it is to be implemented then you must be careful as otherwise they'll just be more people out of reach from members and not actually doing what they want.

The points you mention mirror those of politics about the council being too friendly with the admins or getting a big NO before they could relay the suggestion.

The council would have to be independent of the admins enough so they dont get influenced, but close enough that they can relay the info easily and take part in things on the forum.

[jaroessa]

mith said:

I've seen this done before and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

Firstly, surely the "election" would just be a popularity contest with people who may not be exactly well known, like myself, not having a chance. As long as you have lots of friends who know you'll get in.

Secondly, what would happen if the admins/mods just put their foot down and said no? There would be a gridlock, and as the council have no enforcement powers then there would be nothing they could do (for example skins at the moment - a lot of people want them but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen).

Thirdly what's to stop the council just being another set of friends to the admins? And let's face it, the people who will get elected are likely to be their friends anyway.

Also, what would happen if there was no clear result in an election? And is only 4 people enough to have their voice heard? How many hundreds of people are there on this forum? Maybe 10 would be suitable - at least that would increase the chances of "less well-known" people getting in.

It's a good idea but it needs backing up with actual powers. For example a decision MUST happen or there is some kind of reprimand. And the "Council" should be able to view the admin boards and the such like to see what's going on.
Also, they need to not all be coders and image-makers. There needs to be a good representation of all peoples on SSD, otherwise it won't work.
Another point which you may ahve to consider is what would happen if a a person/people were elected who voilantly did not get along with the admin, and the admin couldn't trust them?

n2f said:

*blank stare*

I like the idea, although I feel this site has enough staff members and if we add another board with more staff, it may just look too cluttered. I dont know, but it's a good idea in my opinion, as long the staff selected responsible, kind, active members to be on the council.

I whole-heartedly agree.


In short, I do think it's a very good idea (and as I love politics I love things like elections ), but if it is to be implemented then you must be careful as otherwise they'll just be more people out of reach from members and not actually doing what they want.

The moderators don't even have access to the admin board. That's reserved solely for Super Moderators and the three Admins.

As for the regular staff boards, even the Herald Staff doesn't have access to those. So, this "Council" never would, as they'd be no different or better than any other member. The mod board is for Moderators solely. Unless your name is on one of the boards at SSD as a moderator you don't have access.

[Mith]

psionic said:

The points you mention mirror those of politics about the council being too friendly with the admins or getting a big NO before they could relay the suggestion.

The council would have to be independent of the admins enough so they dont get influenced, but close enough that they can relay the info easily and take part in things on the forum.

That's my point. But perhaps there should be a mixture of people? Some people who are quite friendly while others are relatively unknown? Either way, the average members has to feel they can talk to these people, as well as thinking that what they tell them won't be forgotten or disregarded.

Maybe, if the staff were to select people first - good representation of members, then after a few months then there could be an election - at least that way their performance could be voted on and others could see what the job entails?

[Josh]

ive put some more thought into it and now it just doesnt seem like a realistic idea. i think it would eventually just fall apart because of spam. looking at last summer (as psionic said), we saw the ffm thing happen. he ended up being banned right around the same time (not the first and only time either i may add) and quite a few others were given warnings because they wouldnt stop. right now it is the skins issue. would this council just be spammed with the same things over and over? imo it will jsut become another suggestions board.

and looking at the current suggestions board, there are very few topics in which a clear cut reason by a staff member, or a long tiem member with much experience here, hasnt been given. it is true that most suggestions are shot down rather quickly, but looking at them, very few are realistic. we have to remember that there are still people on dial up, so we cant have a long loading time and that due to bandwith issues and the fact that proboards only has one set of h+f, skins are out of the issue.

imo (after changing quite a few times ), i dont think that this council should happen.

[Admin]

I don't really like the idea, why should people need a title to suggest something? You are all welcome to do it in the suggestion board and give your view. The ones that get locked are definiate no's or have been completed.

This is your forum too and we welcome suggestions, but making a council won't actually get what is asked done. The admins have the final say no matter what. Many people want the request board back, but you'll get a no from us.

[Pojo]

Sounds like a brilliant idea but I can't think who would get the job. I say go ahead with it.