The Energon Pub

[Seibertron]

[welcometothedarksyde]

So what exactly does the job entail? Day to day I mean. Is it something where you sit down and do your daily work in a couple of hours, or are you always 'on call' so to speak. I definitely need some time to think about this, but it sounds interesting. I thought about applying to the podcast as well, but this being in the background sounds a bit better for me.

[Deadput]

Man it would be nice to be part of the crew.



But I'm not sure if I'm going to have the time to always be here and I decided to look at my history here and I'm honestly shocked at how immature and aggressive I was a few years ago but then again that was when I was like 15 or something but I have honestly grown up and matured since then and am no longer like how I was.


I also have a few news credits here as well.




Once again though it would be really cool to be part of the news team.

[Va'al]

So what exactly does the job entail? Day to day I mean. Is it something where you sit down and do your daily work in a couple of hours, or are you always 'on call' so to speak. I definitely need some time to think about this, but it sounds interesting. I thought about applying to the podcast as well, but this being in the background sounds a bit better for me.

How you work around posting news depends on what your personal availability is. The current staff has office workers, food makers, students, family supporters and more, and all in slightly different timezones too.

As this is a volunteering position, we would not ask you to always be 'on call', as you say. But if you do have ten-fifteen minutes to spare in between cooking or meetings, homework or a commute, then yes, feel free to use them to post something!

(Personally, I find myself more or less always ready to go, except for my full teaching/meeting days. But I am an example, not a sample, and not a representative one at that.)

Once again though it would be really cool to be part of the news team.

Consider applying then! As I said, we turn no one down without good cause.

[MaverickPrime]

This sounds interesting, as a student, I pretty much have mos of my afternoons free, thankfully my career rarely leaves homework
Seriously though, I'd love to be a part of the team, I'll give this a try, I wanted to get in the Podcast team, but I don't have the proper equipment, so this would be a nice way to be a part of the team

[welcometothedarksyde]

So what exactly does the job entail? Day to day I mean. Is it something where you sit down and do your daily work in a couple of hours, or are you always 'on call' so to speak. I definitely need some time to think about this, but it sounds interesting. I thought about applying to the podcast as well, but this being in the background sounds a bit better for me.

How you work around posting news depends on what your personal availability is. The current staff has office workers, food makers, students, family supporters and more, and all in slightly different timezones too.

As this is a volunteering position, we would not ask you to always be 'on call', as you say. But if you do have ten-fifteen minutes to spare in between cooking or meetings, homework or a commute, then yes, feel free to use them to post something!

(Personally, I find myself more or less always ready to go, except for my full teaching/meeting days. But I am an example, not a sample, and not a representative one at that.)

Alright, well I definitely have time to spare here and there and I'd love to help out running Seibertron. I have some experience administrating web-stuff, but the kind of engagement (viewership, comments, etc.) is around an order of magnitude smaller. I'm always up for a challenge though, so consider my hat in the ring.

[Va'al]

I'm always up for a challenge though, so consider my hat in the ring.

Seriously though, I'd love to be a part of the team, I'll give this a try, I wanted to get in the Podcast team, but I don't have the proper equipment, so this would be a nice way to be a part of the team

Drop me an email as I detailed in the OP, so I can keep full and fair track of applications!

[SW's SilverHammer]

Hey Va'al, what are news credits for anyway?

[Va'al]

Hey Va'al, what are news credits for anyway?

My own personal delectation. Much like PCC and Alpha Bravo.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Hey Va'al, what are news credits for anyway?

My own personal delectation. Much like PCC and Alpha Bravo.

Ooooh, so am I titillating? Or do I have to change my avatar to something mooooooore; Alpha Bravo?

[Va'al]

Hey Va'al, what are news credits for anyway?

My own personal delectation. Much like PCC and Alpha Bravo.

Ooooh, so am I titillating? Or do I have to change my avatar to something mooooooore; Alpha Bravo?

News credits are a way to show the community how actively engaged in the news reporting non-staff members are. It holds the importance you give it as a user, so it can be very little or really quite significant!

Once you become news staff, the credits become optional (I had personally planned to keep mine for ever at 42, but other news staff have credited me a number of times). We have our own score board of news posts to keep track of everyone's activity, so credits do not matter as much.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Hey Va'al, what are news credits for anyway?

My own personal delectation. Much like PCC and Alpha Bravo.

Ooooh, so am I titillating? Or do I have to change my avatar to something mooooooore; Alpha Bravo?

News credits are a way to show the community how actively engaged in the news reporting non-staff members are. It holds the importance you give it as a user, so it can be very little or really quite significant!

Once you become news staff, the credits become optional (I had personally planned to keep mine for ever at 42, but other news staff have credited me a number of times). We have our own score board of news posts to keep track of everyone's activity, so credits do not matter as much.

Lol, jokes aside I didn't actually know what they did until this point; thanks

[Burn]

Va'al may have forgotten to mention that News Crew = Seibertron staff which means you're also expected to act as a Moderator and deal with problems as well.

[Va'al]

Va'al may have forgotten to mention that News Crew = Seibertron staff which means you're also expected to act as a Moderator and deal with problems as well.

Yes, very true. Thanks Burn!

This will not be a massive burden, nor a requirement during the initial period of your time as staff. Once you're settled in, however, you will be required to do some tidying up and shoulder-tapping.

[shajaki]

I just went through the training process, and it wasn't too daunting. There's lots of help, and you don't need to be incredibly computer savy. On a personal note, it's very satisfying (and fun) to know I'm contributing to the fandom I know and love!

[Deadput]

Va'al may have forgotten to mention that News Crew = Seibertron staff which means you're also expected to act as a Moderator and deal with problems as well.

Yes, very true. Thanks Burn!

This will not be a massive burden, nor a requirement during the initial period of your time as staff. Once you're settled in, however, you will be required to do some tidying up and shoulder-tapping.

I'm probably not going to be the best when it comes to dealing with arguments I would probably end up getting baited sometimes depending on the topic.


I do however have a news story ready if I do end up joining (it's one of concept art of the wfc ds games that somehow avoided detection).

[shockblast2]

It takes a certain type of person to do this kind of volunteer work. In my experience, some people do not have the patience, people skills, or a righteous attitude to handle it. Va'al and Burn are examples of good moderators and fair people as I have dealt with both many times on this site, and they have always been fair and honest staff members.

I see some names posting here that I do not think can emulate this kind of staff member nor can they properly represent this site.

Hopefully I am wrong.

[Va'al]

It takes a certain type of person to do this kind of volunteer work. In my experience, some people do not have the patience, people skills, or a righteous attitude to handle it.

Just to make sure I am covering all angles of this post: If you have concerns with staff members, please feel free to send me an email directly to discuss this. I, and Seibertron.com, take issues of unprofessional behaviour seriously, and would like to make sure none of it is taking place.

[Henry921]

Obligatory:

unclevaal.jpg (77.06 KiB) Viewed 1803403 times

[Kibble]

Va'al may have forgotten to mention that News Crew = Seibertron staff which means you're also expected to act as a Moderator and deal with problems as well.

Yes, very true. Thanks Burn!

This will not be a massive burden, nor a requirement during the initial period of your time as staff. Once you're settled in, however, you will be required to do some tidying up and shoulder-tapping.

Can you sign up for just the tidying up and shoulder tapping part and not the News Cruise?

[Burn]

Can you sign up for just the tidying up and shoulder tapping part and not the News Cruise?

That would be forum staff and you answer directly to me.

At the moment things aren't too bad, if I were to add any Forum Moderators there wouldn't be any more than two. But hey, you spoke up, I'll keep you in mind!

[Dead Metal]

Oh yeah, to those who'll end up as part of the crew, a few tips from personal experience.

Have fun, and don't overdo it. Never forget, there are others in the team as well, so don't feel like you have to post all 20 potential news stories of the day, post as many as you can, but give the others a chance.

Don't be a dick to the rest of the crew, as in, do not go and delete an existing news story by someone else, just to then post your own version to get all the credit for it.

Do not let members bait you, it will happen to you at least once a week, you make one tiny mistake (mostly spelling or grammar) and there are people who will jump on your back for that, some actually only ever post to do just that. I know what it's like, and I know what it's like to finally loose it completely and start insulting people over it. I know it's super tempting, especially if the person is a total asshole about it and you've seen him do plenty of similar f**kups in the past, going and calling them out on it, especially by quoting their own mistakes will only result in you earning a warning. As a member of staff you're under higher scrutiny than normal members and will actually be more vulnerable to those than normal posters.

Chill and take a break after a while, sure, you have the responsibility of posting news and visiting the site on a regular basis, but if you overdo it you burn out, which will make you just feel even worse if a good chunk of your stories have been deleted and replaced by someone else, making your count look lower than it actually should be. Remember, it's just a number, it's not life or death.

Proofread, always proofread. Do it at least once before you hit publish, and then do it again after it being published and on the front page a few minutes later, this will make it look more professional and protects you from the asshats.

Keep in mind, that as par tof the news crew, you will have a higher exposure to the news concerning our fandom, you will likely know of certain things way before anyone else and have a higher understanding of something. Just because you've dealt with a certain topic for weeks on an almost daily basis, do not assume that all do it. Some might remember my epic meltdown concerning the Masterpiece Movie 01 Starscream, I've been in contact with that thing for weeks and explained over and over what it was just to then explode when after all that someone still managed to miss all that and not understand it. I forgot that not everyone had such a high exposure to it as me at the time, so don't go full Dead Metal on posters. You never do that, especially since that's my stick and I will sue yo ass over it

[Va'al]

don't go full Dead Metal on posters. You never do that, especially since that's my stick and I will sue yo ass over it

Because you'll also be shouted at by me, probably suspended and if too badly dug into a hole, banned for a bit.

[OptimalOptimus2]

Now that I have read your war story, Dead Metal, are you saying that the stress of the job is too much, even if I make one mistake (which humans do on a regular basis)? I want this to be my second chance at earning the entitlement as news staff, to be a part of something, but your post is giving me second thoughts.

[Dead Metal]

Now that I have read your war story, Dead Metal, are you saying that the stress of the job is too much, even if I make one mistake (which humans do on a regular basis)? I want this to be my second chance at earning the entitlement as news staff, to be a part of something, but your post is giving me second thoughts.

No. What I'm saying is don't let it consume you. I was super proud of my position and enjoyed it a whole lot, but I overdid it, and let it become too important to me. In the end I nolonger enjoyed it.

So basically, you're human, you make mistakes do not let them affect you to the point that you hate doing this.

But to clarify, something, I never erased pp's articles, that happened to me a couple of times and I'm not talking about the times an admin did it. I pointed it out because it's a really poopy thing to do.