Let's Have Admins
by Narv & Sil & Uruva
by Narv & Sil & Uruva
As you may have noticed, we don’t really have an 'admin team' at present: we have Narv, creator and coding guy, and we have Sil and Uruva who have been helping out by taking on the basic administrative tasks like site testing, thread pinning, email resets and name changes. We haven’t taken on special icons because a) this was a temporary thing, and b) we don’t really see this kind of administrative work as a “special” or elevated position of power; it’s just doing what needs to be done.
Obviously it looks like a good chunk of people want this new Plaza Junior thing to stick around for longer than the 2 week nostalgia fest we originally envisioned, and with the number of people who have signed up and are participating (yay!) it looks like it's time to get some actual admins to keep this thing going long-term.
We’re hoping that this duty will be light: pretty much all our members here are experienced forumites who know how this whole deal works, and it’s been fun having an unregulated forum with light touch leadership. Of course, we don’t know if this might change, and ultimately the direction will be in large part up to the new admins.
So, in the spirit of the community-driven kind of approach we've been going for here, we're going to attempt some Democracy.
There is a nomination template at the bottom of this post. You can email this template to the email address provided below, using the email that you registered with. Each individual plaza member may nominate up to three people for an admin position by writing their name in the template along with why you think they’d be a good fit. You are definitely allowed and encouraged to nominate yourself if it's something you'd be willing to take on! We'll leave the nominations open for three days (with possibility of extension + nagging if we don't see many come in in that time). Once we have all the nominations in, we’ll release the nominees and their provided 'reasons for being a good fit' and time availability if we have it, and then we'll have a vote on the nominees to select our new administration team.
So that’s the plan - perhaps this’ll work and perhaps it won’t, but we’re gonna give it a try. Finally, note that Narv is still reserving the right to appoint additional admins, if it turns out there’s a gap in needed experience / availability / time zones, etc. in the elected team that needs to be filled.
QWA: (questions we’ve anticipated)
Will I be able to nominate myself?
Definitely, feel free to do so.
How many nominations can I make?
Everyone can nominate 3 people, including themselves.
Will Sil and Uruva still be admins?
No. Sil and Uruva are going into the cooking/voting pot like everybody else. They will have an overlap period of a week or so before they step down so the new admin team can settle in.
What about Narv?
Well, it’s probably not a great idea for Narv to stop being an admin just yet, what with the servers being under his account and that kind of thing. So he will undemocratically cling to power for now. BUT as mentioned from the outset, Narv's time to devote to the site will decrease very soon and it’s likely he’ll only really be able to focus on the technical / behind-the-scenes type stuff (which is already kind of the case really), not so much the actual coordination and planning of the Plaza itself. So, these nominations are important!
How will the voting work?
Once we have all the nominations, we’ll ask you to a ranked-choice vote of the nominees in order of preference. It’ll depend how many nominations we get of course but our current thinking is to allocate three points to your top choice, two to your second choice, and one to your third, to come up with a final point count.
How many new admins will there be?
It’ll depend on peoples' availability and if there are any ties or super-close votes, but we are looking for probably 3-4 people right now.
Will the new admins have Valar icons?
If they want.
What if I’m asked to be an admin but I don’t want to be?
You can, of course, refuse. We’ll also ask any vote winners what their time commitment would be like. If you can’t commit for at least a reasonable length of time we’d ask you either not to accept, or accept on a time bound basis - so to resign once you can’t really be around any more.
Speaking of that, will there be any time bounds?
We were thinking of having the admin role for 6 months and then revisit.
What about rulers, arts Maiar, the Librarian, Lore stewards?
We’re undecided about rulers, and what happens with that will likely be largely left to the new admin team (and everyone else) to decide. If the site stays fairly small and self-regulated, maybe moderators for each individual forum won’t prove particularly necessary, or feasible. Or maybe it would help to have rulers for planning and organizational duties, even if those duties are rather light. In any case, it’s certainly possible that we may have a similar vote for ruler positions after admin roles are filled. Obviously, you cannot be both, so if you are nominated or considering going for an admin position, think about how best you would fit in: steering an individual kingdom/forum or being an admin?
Nomination Template - Please copy this template into an email and send it to [email protected]
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Plaza Name of your First Nominee:
Brief description of why you are nominating them:
Plaza Name of your Second Nominee:
Brief description of why you are nominating them:
Plaza Name of your Third Nominee:
Brief description of why you are nominating them:
If you nominated yourself, what timezone are you in and approximately how much time will you be able to commit to your Plaza-related duties?
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Please let loose with any questions or concerns about this process below. Thanks everyone and happy electioning!
)
I like the feel of this place now and that's largely down to your style - keep your hands on the reins! 
- I think that's a sensible time limit which allows a person to give their best and leave with their head held high, avoiding burn-out; it also avoids the unenviable situation where you have to ask someone to leave because they've effectively disappeared from the plaza for months. 
'cause hey, the plaza grew up! 
