Brakkish
11-21-2009, 08:27 PM
Unfortunately, due to work commitments, the existing staff just don't have the time to run the site, sleep occasionally, keep girlfriends and wives from throwing things at us, scour all the gaming websites for news AND write it all up and post it. Not unless anyone's invented a 30-hour day, anyway.
So what we need is news posters - people who will scour sites like Gamespot, IGN, Gamesradar and so on, decide if there's anything there likely to be of interest to our members, and post the gist of the information up for debate. Example 1 (http://www.mature-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=151#post151) Example 2 (http://www.mature-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144#post144)
What we can offer you:
a '@mature-gamers.com' email address.
Access to the 'community staff' private forum.
the chance to have a say in discussions regarding the running of the forum before they're put to the general membership.
What we expect from you:
A reasonable standard of written english - preferably with an interest in games or gaming in general, as it helps if you enjoy what you're talking about.
We don't expect you to post 2-3 articles every day, but we do want you contribute at least a couple of posts every 2-3 days.
We DO NOT want someone who will just go to sites and copy/paste others' articles - that's stealing, and we don't want content thieves.
Participation in the forums in general! :)
Finally, please DON'T apply if you're just going to do this for a week and then lose interest - it's frustrating and doesn't look good for the community if we've got staff changing every week because people like the benefits but don't want the responsibilites.
Consider revising the text I have highlighted.
Here's what I got from the message, right form the get-go:
You were telling me that you don't have a dedicated team for the community here. I shouldn't expect much, and that you are too busy with real life to do anything serious with this.
Now as a new member the first thing I think is "why spend my time here if it's not going anywhere."
Some recommendations:
Always remove negative type statements from anything you want to be looked at as positive. Specifically in this case, never use the word unfortunately if you want a positive outlook on something. It's the first word everyone reads in your thread, and really sets the tone for the rest of your statement to the community. I understand the rest of the statement was actually pretty funny and catchy, but it was grossly overshadowed by the "feeling of doom" :)
Not to worry, it's easily fixed by some simple rewording. Try to always list the positive side to what you may see as your "shortcomings".
For instance:
"Fortunately, the lack of 30-hour work days have allowed the staff and I to expand our development scope and broaden our outlook. We're offering various positions of opportunity to our community members interested in getting more involved with the site development. "
Of course this is only my opinion, but a reflection of my initial thoughts upon reading the original.
So what we need is news posters - people who will scour sites like Gamespot, IGN, Gamesradar and so on, decide if there's anything there likely to be of interest to our members, and post the gist of the information up for debate. Example 1 (http://www.mature-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=151#post151) Example 2 (http://www.mature-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144#post144)
What we can offer you:
a '@mature-gamers.com' email address.
Access to the 'community staff' private forum.
the chance to have a say in discussions regarding the running of the forum before they're put to the general membership.
What we expect from you:
A reasonable standard of written english - preferably with an interest in games or gaming in general, as it helps if you enjoy what you're talking about.
We don't expect you to post 2-3 articles every day, but we do want you contribute at least a couple of posts every 2-3 days.
We DO NOT want someone who will just go to sites and copy/paste others' articles - that's stealing, and we don't want content thieves.
Participation in the forums in general! :)
Finally, please DON'T apply if you're just going to do this for a week and then lose interest - it's frustrating and doesn't look good for the community if we've got staff changing every week because people like the benefits but don't want the responsibilites.
Consider revising the text I have highlighted.
Here's what I got from the message, right form the get-go:
You were telling me that you don't have a dedicated team for the community here. I shouldn't expect much, and that you are too busy with real life to do anything serious with this.
Now as a new member the first thing I think is "why spend my time here if it's not going anywhere."
Some recommendations:
Always remove negative type statements from anything you want to be looked at as positive. Specifically in this case, never use the word unfortunately if you want a positive outlook on something. It's the first word everyone reads in your thread, and really sets the tone for the rest of your statement to the community. I understand the rest of the statement was actually pretty funny and catchy, but it was grossly overshadowed by the "feeling of doom" :)
Not to worry, it's easily fixed by some simple rewording. Try to always list the positive side to what you may see as your "shortcomings".
For instance:
"Fortunately, the lack of 30-hour work days have allowed the staff and I to expand our development scope and broaden our outlook. We're offering various positions of opportunity to our community members interested in getting more involved with the site development. "
Of course this is only my opinion, but a reflection of my initial thoughts upon reading the original.