We are running very short of time for creating a new site. We have one member of staff who has already volunteered for a post on the Board; other staff are already busy with their existing roles. We are looking for an additional 2 community members who wish to serve on a temporary Board so that we can create a new company and purchase the data, domains and other assets from the current site. But perhaps I should explain a little further....
The Board should, as a minimum, consist of 3 people, A Chairman, a Secretary and the site's Accountant. These people will be named at the creation of the new company and will each assume one of those formal roles. There are implications to this. Firstly, the company data is not publicised widely but we can make no guarantee that it will always remain hidden from public view, either by a change in US law or by, for example, the action of an hacker. Therefore, any volunteers must be prepared to waive his/her anonymity although as things stand it should never actually be compromised. Secondly, this is a temporary post. The latest draft of Bylaws is a very good starting point but it has become apparent that they are not perfect. There will be changes required to the Bylaws and, when they have been changed and accepted by the Community, all posts on the Board must be filled by people who have been elected by the community. You could, of course, stand for election at that time if you so wish.
Currently, we are only looking at putting names to roles so that we can create a company. Your experience and skill level are not the most important aspects. We will employ an professional accountant to produce the annual formal account reporting and it will not simply be left to our own 'Accountant'. Rather, the role is one of providing checks and balances for any expenditure and the management of the site's accounting records.
How long the 'temporary' role will last is not something that we can currently forecast. But I would estimate it to be weeks or months rather than a long term responsibility.
I think any sensible person would agree that we cannot simply pass control of the site and finances to unknown people so we must limit applications from those who have held an account for at least 6 months and have contributed to the site. The staff will treat all applications as sensitive data and we will only refer to individuals by their user name in any discussions or at subsequent meetings. We will, of course, need to know your true identity and contact details for the creation of the new company.
This is a chance for us to move the site to a new start and to ensure that we can provide continuity of stories each day for everyone to enjoy. We will all be involved - Board, staff and community - in producing new policy documents that are a reasonable balance between discussions and freedom of speech. We are almost at our 10th birthday. Many people did not expect us to reach our 1st birthday. I would like to see the site looking forward to many more birthdays to come.
We can only achieve this with your help. The are approximately 250 unique accounts, excluding ACs, active on the site each week although not all commenting in stories. We are only looking for 2 volunteers.
If you wish to volunteer please send your email giving your username to admin@soylentnews.org with the word "volunteer" in the subject. All emails will be treated in the strictest confidence. Time is of the essence so please don't delay in contacting us should you wish to volunteer.
UPDATE: 31 Jan 2004: We have the volunteers that we need to create a new company, many thanks to them for stepping forward. However, if you feel that you have something to offer and you wish to volunteer also then please do so.
There is still some preparatory work to be done but I am doing that as quickly as I am able within my current time limitations.
Another point worth noting which may, or may not, be related is that the number of active accounts has gone over the 300 mark for the first time in many months. There are probably many more who are lurking or posting solely as AC.
janrinok
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday January 28 2024, @09:19PM (6 children)
I'm wondering about how to separate a volunteer username from RL name/info/data.
Maybe email under your username so that the username can be confirmed, then all other emails go to RL email address and the first email is deleted permanently?
Then, at least a username can't be connected with RL name for doxing the username???
Give me 2-5 years and I'll be retired and probably have time to volunteer: as it is, i don't have time to sleep. :/
Thank you to all involved: it would be sad to see the SN name disappear, though.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Sunday January 28 2024, @09:24PM (5 children)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Sunday January 28 2024, @10:08PM
I'm not sure I understand. There has to be communication between the Board and everyone else (staff and community). The most secure way (least likely to be compromised) is for everyone to use your nickname. NCommander, k0lie and others who have been happy to reveal their true identity have each done this. I'm not sure why you should feel that you have to be detached from your site history but, I suppose, that we could always kill one account and create a new one under a different name to replace it. But then nobody in discussions would know who you had been - and reputations count for a lot IMHO.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Wednesday January 31 2024, @05:01PM (3 children)
I'd guess if I was worried about this, I would simply sign up with my current nick, which would then be tied to my real name, then just create a new account.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday January 31 2024, @06:56PM (2 children)
Then all your previous posts would be tied to your real name.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Opportunist on Thursday February 01 2024, @03:32PM (1 child)
Gee, I'm glad I posted only stuff I'd also say to your face. Preferably at a distance where you can't punch me, but otherwise...
Look, most of the world knows I'm an antisocial bastard. There are a couple people who can stomach that and who enjoy being around someone who doesn't blow sugar up their ass. I tentatively call these people "friends". Funny enough, my friends also know that they can rely on me and that I would actually go out of my way to make sure their problems vanish.
If you can deal with that, welcome. If you cannot, fuck off. I'm not here to hold hands, I'm here to solve problems.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday February 01 2024, @06:08PM
Glad you are glad.
In that case my comment is somewhat moot.
But I thought I'd point it out in case it *did* matter to you.
-- hendrik