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12:31 PM
@jmort253 You realize this would invalidate nearly 90% of the content on this site, right? ;)
12:47 PM
@enderland Haha yeh, it would. I kinda chuckled when I saw that one.
@jmort253 is there a polite way to basically ask maple_shaft - "do you plan on dramatically increasing your involvement on Workplace if you are elected? You basically haven't been here for a year" without sounding so confrontational?
I want to ask something like that because from my perspective it's important that someone actually is committed to the site and not just the idea of being a moderator there
@enderland If you're a candidate for an election, I think it's reasonable for people to ask you questions about your participation.
I'd just suggest making sure you're not asking a loaded question, and that you include relevant facts.
For instance, when you say "gone for a year" I think no activity for a year, or very minimal activity.
But looking at maple's answers, he does post regularly....
only recently
4 answers in 2014 other than the ones since the election started
@enderland Okay, that's a bit more reasonable.... you don't want to use a "Shock and Awe" headline like "no activity for a year" as it could hurt your own credibility.
I know, that's why I'm trying to figure out a good way to phrase that
12:54 PM
One of the questions on the list does kinda address that.
A: Summer 2014 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection

Matt Giltaji Asked by Monica Cellio during the previous election If elected, do you plan to increase your time on the site, or are you going to spend about the same amount of time but reallocate it? If the latter, what won't you be doing as much of now? What is the opportunity cost to the community of yo...

I guess what it comes down to is I don't want an inactive or even sorta inactive mod here with only 3
You dealt with this a ton during the beta and bore a ton of the moderation responsibilities for a lot of it at the end
That question isn't in the top 8 though.
It would need to be voted up a couple times.
I already have upvoted it, too
how about this @jmort253
> Are you planning on significantly increasing your commitment here? Before the election you only had 4 answers, 1 edit, no reviews, and 1 question in 2014.
> It doesn't look like this will be top 8 but I think this is important.
In my experience, usually person's activity shoots up because of renewed dedication and excitement. At least in the short term.
Right, but there needs to be an underlying interest/commitment longer term
1:01 PM
It's tough to ask in the question collections list if it's targeted at a specific person. For instance, I don't think JimG's questions will make the cut since they are directed at you and maple.
Nah it's only directed to me
Ideally, candidates would come in this room for election discussions. So that others could interact w/the candidates and ask specific questions like these.
I posted that comment since I will have to go shortly, I think
So far, I think you and @MattGiltaji are the only candidates in this room....
Or in chat ever, for that matter
1:59 PM
oh, jimg asked this already
A: Summer 2014 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection

Jim G.@maple_shaft: You've been a fantastic moderator on Programmers.SE for some time, but I see that you haven't really contributed a whole lot to TWP.SE in 2014. Should we be concerned that you're splitting your attention between multiple StackExchange sites? @enderland: Without question, you've bee...

5 hours later…
6:56 PM
To answer your question because it is directed at me, I am not going to pretend like I will be as active on the site as @enderland but I feel I take a balance between preserving and promoting good content and encouraging community participation which I am concerned is missing in the stronger candidate. I have experience in this with Programmers. — maple_shaft 5 hours ago
1 hour later…
8:19 PM
@enderland - As for participation, a self-imposed sabbatical can be a nice break... and it's way better than letting yourself get burned out. It's awesome that you know when it's time to take that break.
In comparing your nomination with @maple's nomination, I know @maple to be a person with deep empathy, a skill that I believe is valuable in a moderator and a leader.
You've mentioned in the past that empathy isn't your strong point, and it is that component where I struggle in deciding who I would vote for. On one hand, you've put your heart and soul into this site more than any other candidate and would bring a lot of energy to the team, but on the other hand, I wonder if this character trait could get in the way of taking into account how the community feels about a decision.
Is this something you've considered, and if you see it as a challenge, how do you think you would overcome that challenge?
1 hour later…
9:33 PM
@MattGiltaji - I'm really enjoying your participation on The Workplace. You've posted a lot of excellent answers, provided lots of helpful comments, and have jumped in with both feet to make this site great. That's awesome! My question, asked with respect and (I hope) tact: do you think you think you're here for the long haul? (I sure hope you are!) Maybe there have been other sites/projects/etc you've jumped into enthusiastically in the past; how has your engagement played out over time?
@WesleyLong - thank you for not running a negative campaign. Could you elaborate on what you said here? Maybe you could point out some cases where you think "back it up" was mis-applied? Are there other rules besides that one that you think aren't being followed on the site?
9:49 PM
@jmort253 100% yes!
@MonicaCellio I don't think Wesley will see unless he has been in this room.
Perhaps drop a link on the nomination?
@jmort253 ah, good point. I knew he wouldn't get pinged but thought that your meta post might get candidates to pop in and then he'd see it.
@jmort253 done.
10:24 PM
@Rachel Where is your nomination?
21 hours left to get in on this...
10:37 PM
A: What are the most effective ways to guide new users?

RachelTreat new users like actual people. Understand that they don't understand the site yet, and show a genuine interest in helping them out. I still remember my first experiences with both SO and Programmers. I thought I understood the sites, but realized later that I had barely scratched the surfac...

@jmort253 Oh. I would be THRILLED if @Rachel entered the race!
Just so you know, if you ran, @Rachel, I'd have a very tough time not voting for you. We don't always agree on everything, which is important for balance, and you have a lot of strong character traits that would be great to have on the team, IMHO.
