GA Member Advocate Introduction

[Trebs]

Hi

 

This is in part a follow-up to Myr's "Going Forward" post, and in part, my own coming-out so to speak, as the GA Member Advocate.

 

The bottom-line (for me) of Myr's post is that while quite a few significant items have happened over the past two months, he wants to move forward. One way that he is doing this actually started about a month ago. At that time, Myr and Dan approached me to help out on the site, to be an "ombudsman." It took me a few weeks getting a feel of what Myr was looking for, as well as making sure that I felt that I could be helpful.

 

As many of you know, I love this site, especially since it was through GA that I met my partner Dan (ie, dkstories). I have made quite a few true friends over the past two years of being on GA, as well as many fond aquaintences and more. I love the authors and their stories that are hosted or reviewed here, but more, I love the community that we all have contributed to creating here. I didn't want to step up and say that I would help, if I didn't think that I could actually contribute more to keeping/making GA that special place where we all can connect and share.

 

But it is also a fine line that we all need to be aware of and tread carefully on, as especially with a gay site that welcomes and tries to support teens, Myr basically has created a tremendous potential personal liability. Actions that may seem innocent to those of us who know better, can be misconstrued especially when a parent brings them to the attention of law enforcement. None of us are served if Myr gets all of his equipment seized as evidence because a teen was propositioned (or worse) and a judge holds the equipment for evidence and discovery. Granted, there are times that some may go overboard in reaction, and it is for those times, that Myr asked me to step forward.

 

I think the best description of what Myr sees me doing (and the reason I accepted) is to be a cool-head on the outside that can cut through the bs... I have a TON of admiration for everyone who has put their time and energy into the various adminstration teams here, helping GA to be what it is. But there are times when any of us can get so mired in the trees, that the forest gets obliterated.

 

This especially can be true in a text-only venue. Even the best of authors sometime have problems adequately conveying information, especially emotions. There can be occurances where tempers raise high and over-reaction can happen, both from "members" and "administration" - though ironically, each really has a foot inside the other. The admins here started and continue to be members, and the members, for the most part, want a role in helping to achieve a great welcoming website, even if their only contribution is lurking and hopefully, occasionally commenting. I love the title Myr came up with of "GA Member Advocate" as it is extremely inclusive and I'd like to feel I am here for anyone on either "side" of the aisle as well... Heh - one of the few times when I can be "bi-partisan," so to speak.

 

Best way to get a hold of me for any reason is a PM through here, AIM at "RJsLaptop," or via email at "robertjordan (at) surewest.net". Please, if you do use the instant messenger services - immediately mention "This is re: GA" or something so I know you're not a spammer ;-) And realize, I keep my messaging on at work, even when I'm not sitting there, so starting with "Hi - u there - this is re:GA" can be REALLY helpful to me. Email is a bit spotty as I usually only check it once every two days, but it is there if anyone feels they need a totally outside source of contact.

 

Unless I get a persons permission, I won't share their exact details with Myr or the administration teams, but I will share perspective/sense from communications I get. And at the same time, as having been online with forums since 1983, I tend to try to figure out background before totally leaping into a "gut feeling". Hopefully, this will be helpful to the site as a whole. I'm not here to second-guess nor overrule/veto the admin teams - but hopefully, I can work with everyone to see where possible misunderstandings are occuring and how to address various situations.

 

Robert

[Graeme]

Congratulations, Robert! Based on my experiences of GA to date, I expect that I will never need to contact you, but I wish you all the best.

[NickolasJames8]

There was the internet and forums in 1983?? Wow...I guess I learned something new today I didn't even think there was electricity in most towns in 1983

[glomph]

There was the internet and forums in 1983??

 

Internet, no, not as we know it. Forums, yes. There were lots of forums on Compuserve, GEnie, and other similar services at the time. And then there were hundreds of private bulletin boards one could access. I won't even try to explain FIDOnet.

 

Modems may have been reaching 2400 baud by then, which was at one time the theoretical maximum if you obeyed the laws of physics.

 

There was a Defense Department network that eventually evolved into the internet from the early '60s, and TCP/IP didn't come along until 1983. The WorldWideWeb and the first browser are from the early '90s, and average people like me didn't get access until a few years later. In between, there were indirect ways to deal with the internet, as those capabilities were added to the online services and bigger local bulletin boards.

 

If you didn't have electricity, you had to do all that by kerosene light.

 

Oh, and I forgot to add that Al Gore was elected to Congress in 1976.

Edited December 22, 2006 by glomph

[Mark_l]

Hi Robert

 

would just like to congratulate you and say i think the idea is great i think your role is needed to help diffuse situations early when tempers get raised and i think if we had someone like you before then thing may not have gotten so bad recently, so i think its a great idea for moving forward and hope everyone supports you in your new role and contacts you if they have a problem with someone at the site instead of letting it create problems.

 

Mark

[Trebs]

1983 was both bulletin boards with my AppleCat modem (which went 600 baud when connected to another AppleCat, or 300 baud normally), as well as the UC Santa Cruz forums on their public ucscb pdp 11/70 server running unix. I started by using the nick "NMI" since there was already both a popular Robert (who ran the underforum) as well as a Jordan. And since I had no middle name to fall back on, I used the term frequently used to indicate "No Middle Initial". Then found out, it's also a bus code (Non-Maskable Interrupt) and how many of the computer science geeks thought that was what I meant with my nick. And UCSC was networked, both amongst its own computers, as well as the then arpanet - you just had to know the exact pathway to get to various places. UC Berkeley was only one jump away - but if you had something for MIT, it was quite a long string of "!" between server names. But you could not only send email, you could also, if you knew someone on a remote server, engage in "talk" - a text chat back and forth.

[C James]

Welcome, Trebs!!!!!

 

I think this is a great idea, and I think you are the perfect choice.

 

You hit on one issue that I've raised many times: the limitations of text-based communications, and their inherent predilection for being misinterpreted due to the lack of body language and voice inflection. The human brain is hard-wired to put things in the frame of reference of a verbal communication, so very often "fills in the blanks" and adds emotional subtext where it is lacking. In many cases, it ads the wrong one. I've seen this happen, many times: one person types something that could possibly be read the wrong way, and it is likely that it will be, in the worst way possible. I know I've put my foot in it more than a few times in exactly that way.

[Bardeara]

Welcome aboard mate. Thanks for becoming the 'GA Member Advocate.'

[NickolasJames8]

1983 was both bulletin boards with my AppleCat modem (which went 600 baud when connected to another AppleCat, or 300 baud normally), as well as the UC Santa Cruz forums on their public ucscb pdp 11/70 server running unix. I started by using the nick "NMI" since there was already both a popular Robert (who ran the underforum) as well as a Jordan. And since I had no middle name to fall back on, I used the term frequently used to indicate "No Middle Initial". Then found out, it's also a bus code (Non-Maskable Interrupt) and how many of the computer science geeks thought that was what I meant with my nick. And UCSC was networked, both amongst its own computers, as well as the then arpanet - you just had to know the exact pathway to get to various places. UC Berkeley was only one jump away - but if you had something for MIT, it was quite a long string of "!" between server names. But you could not only send email, you could also, if you knew someone on a remote server, engage in "talk" - a text chat back and forth.

Wow.....were there flames wars too??

[Camy]

Welcome, Trebs!!!!!

I think this is a great idea, and I think you are the perfect choice.

Ditto!

 

Camy

[old bob]

Hey Trebor (why not?)

Advocate, Ombusman, Mediator, all these words are good to describe a very important function and to ask Trebs to fulfil it is a very good idea. I just hope that some people will not think that the choice of the denomination "advocate" could suggest the ideas of "prosecutors", "courts" and "judges"!

May I just bring a proposition from my personal experience to have been an "Ombusman" years ago in my professional life?

An Ombusman has two possibilities to bring peace in a conflict: wait till one or the other party asks him to act as a mediator, or take himself the initiative to talk with both parties. The first one is easier, the second more efficacious, but it means that the "Advocate" should be able to follow the rising of "misunderstandings" and so prevent the conflicts. Not an easy task!

 

And thanks to you, to DK and last but not least to Myr to show us with this suggestion that they all and together want to "go forward".

Old bob

[rknapp]

There was the internet and forums in 1983?? Wow...I guess I learned something new today I didn't even think there was electricity in most towns in 1983

 

Oh for the love of all things sacred, tell me you were kidding on the last point...

[colinian]

Hi

 

This is in part a follow-up to Myr's "Going Forward" post, and in part, my own coming-out so to speak, as the GA Member Advocate.

 

...The bottom-line (for me) of Myr's post is that while quite a few significant items have happened over the past two months, he wants to move forward. One way that he is doing this actually started about a month ago. At that time, Myr and Dan approached me to help out on the site, to be an "ombudsman." It took me a few weeks getting a feel of what Myr was looking for, as well as making sure that I felt that I could be helpful...

 

...I think the best description of what Myr sees me doing (and the reason I accepted) is to be a cool-head on the outside that can cut through the bs... I have a TON of admiration for everyone who has put their time and energy into the various adminstration teams here, helping GA to be what it is. But there are times when any of us can get so mired in the trees, that the forest gets obliterated...

 

Robert

 

What a great idea! This proves that GA is more than just a story site.

 

Be sure to let us know if you need help.

 

Colin

[NickolasJames8]

Oh for the love of all things sacred, tell me you were kidding on the last point...

You're right.....I really didn't think there was electricity anywhere in the US yet, but I thought I'd humor the old people here

[glomph]

Back then the wireless network wouldn't even reach to the outhouse.

[CarlHoliday]

This is in part a follow-up to Myr's "Going Forward" post, and in part, my own coming-out so to speak, as the GA Member Advocate.

 

As someone very new here and still not too certain :wacko: how these forums work, I simply look for familiarity, and, well, you did comment on my blog. So, am I supposed to comment here? Member Advocate? Yeah, it's great to have a buffer between the lords on high and commoners, especially for those of us who tend to step on toes, unintentionally of course. Hopefully, you'll delay the axe of retribution in time for me to duck.

 

 

. . . as having been online with forums since 1983, I tend to try to figure out background before totally leaping into a "gut feeling".

 

Ah, the good old days. (Gasoline televisions for those who didn't have electricity!) I remember them, but I didn't get personally computerized until 1990 (486 was out, but got a "deal" on a 286, stupid! stupid! stupid!) when I left UPS (the college, not the men in brown) for greener pastures (seared to a dusty plane only months later). Strangely, never wandered into forums or chat rooms, must have been an age issue.

 

Anyway, I hope you find your new position enjoyable.

 

Dan