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Senior Members - The Process Explained

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hokiealumnus

Water Cooled Moderator
Joined
Oct 14, 2007
In the past people have brought up that the process of becoming a senior member isn't widely known. At least, not widely enough. Hopefully this post can help remedy this. In our rules & guidelines, there is an explanation for each star color. The senior member section says:

Senior Members are knowledgable, experienced and level headed members who have contributed greatly to the forums. These members have no moderating authority but are an important part of the forum staff - they are the link between the members and the moderators. If you would like to nominate an outstanding member to be considered for promotion to senior please contact any moderator or administrator with who and why.

Unfortunately as many people that read the rules (heh), less have read that paragraph in detail. So, as best I can, here is the deal laid out for all to see.

The members are how seniors get promoted. They're nominated by other members, then the staff look at their history (inclusive of posting history as well as past infractions/kerfuffles/bans/troubles/etc) and vote on whether to promote them. These are not all encompassing, but when we look at a potential senior promotion, we include these four points in our consideration:

1. A willingness to help others, particularly when an individual has little personal interest in the topic or problem. As when a Senior helps a beginner with a problem which has been discussed many times in the past.

2. A demonstrated patience and reserve in dealing with disagreeable people.

3. The ability to discuss or disagree in a topic on the basis of REASON rather than personal attacks, which never further knowledge, but can only wound hearts.

4.A reasonable to good background in overclocking and cooling combined with a general knowledge of hardware as a whole.

In addition to that, I once asked a senior member how seniors get there and was told that just being a helpful person is perhaps not enough. I've omitted examples from the quote, but it's a PM I kept because it's what enlightened me and actually helped me become the sort of member that might be nominated for senior (which, eventually and thankfully, I was).

Over the last year or two, just about everyone that has become a senior has overseen something, not just helped out from time to time.

So my view is someone with lots of helpful posts, and also seems to take something (anything) to the next step up.

If anyone reading this sees someone you believe exemplifies these qualities, by all means nominate them. PM any staff member (preferably check and see if they are active first) with who you think should be considered and why. These should always be sent to a mod or admin via PM. Please don't post in this thread to nominate someone and for that matter please don't post anywhere in public. If someone gets nominated and doesn't make it, it's not fair to them to have the public know that.

Every nominee is given a fair shake and thorough examination of their history (heh, sometimes along with a lively, passionate discussion...we take these very seriously) prior to mods/admins casting their votes. Everyone that receives a senior promotion has been agreed upon unanimously by the staff. Don't expect it to happen overnight; there is a minimum waiting time required to give all staff that want to the opportunity to weigh in. It also gives ample time for staff to review their history and not make a hasty decision. There is also a minimum number of required votes. As we all have lives, we can't always meet that requirement overnight.

If a person doesn't receive the promotion, that's not the end of the line for them. There is a mandatory waiting period before someone can be brought up for a vote again to give plenty of time for either correction / tweaking of certain things that may have hindered them or just so they have more time for us to keep an eye on their progress as a member. After that, they can be brought back up for a vote again. It's not a one shot deal where if you don't receive the promotion, you're out of luck for life. People change. They mature. We certainly understand that and, provided they progress well and thoroughly enough, we don't hold the past against them. Of course, egregious past violations weigh strongly in their consideration.

So, once they are voted on and accepted as a prospective new senior, they are then asked if they want the promotion. When I send the PM, I quote those four points as well as what someone once said to me:

Seniors have an expectation to uphold the honor of the privileges they have earned. Acceptance of senior membership is the acceptance of formal responsibility to the site.

If they agree to be held to that higher standard, they are then promoted to senior member.

Again, if you think a member that isn't a senior should be one, by all means PM a mod or admin and nominate them! Tell us who you think should be a senior member and why you think that. You (the membership as a whole) are how we know who to look at. We aren't omnipresent and it's impossible for us to know every member that posts on the forums. However, with your help, we can give credit where credit is due. Nominate your fellow members.

If they don't get it, that's ok too. Maybe they will later. If you see someone you've nominated in the past that didn't quite make it, but they are contributing greatly to the forum - bring them up again! They'll be given the same courtesy as a new nominee.

Whew...that was long. Sorry if it was too much, but people in the past have commented on the senior thing being somewhat of a mystery. Now it's all laid out for everyone to see and consider. Nominate people for senior! It might be the only way we see how great some of our members are.
 
Hokie thanks for the post, but think your poor fingers need a rest after that.:D
 
Wow i can not believe how time has gone so quickly, that post seemed only like yesterday!!

AJ.
 
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