The 'Shroom:Issue 142/Directorial Address

Directorial Address Written by:

Hello 'Shroom readers. I am, and thank you all for electing me to direct The 'Shroom for 2019. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have this opportunity to serve you all as Director for this upcoming year. I am happy to have alongside me as Sub-Director and know she will do well in the position. I would like to thank all those who participated in the debate and election, no matter what vote they cast. I would also like to especially thank my competition and  for making the race so enjoyable. Of course, I also have to thank and  for having served as great directors, staying with The 'Shroom as Staff Consultants, and for all their help during this transition. As the first official announcement of my plans for the upcoming year, I would like to present the Core Staff who will be serving during 2019.

I am very thankful to have these individuals serving alongside me for the year. In addition to last year's Core Staff returning, I am going to overhaul the old Social Networking Manager into the Social Media Manager. The person serving in the post will be in charge of The 'Shroom's social media accounts and subscription service. Their primary duties will be to expand readership by exposing wider audiences to the publication through its accounts on various websites as well as engage in community building activities with the wiki, boards, and affiliate websites. This position will be accepting applications until February 2nd, 2019 and upon selection by the Core Staff will assume office immediately. Please send applications to both MsRetroGeek and me through our contact links in the table detailing the staff below.

2019 Term Staff List:

I would like to outline some of the goals and projects for the upcoming year. Firstly, one of the first project's we will work on is streamlining The 'Shroom's release process. Ideally, each issue will be up somewhere between 10 AM and 1 PM EST on the days noted here. In order to accomplish this, we will be working with experimental deadline dates and times for uploading pages to the staff as well as participation in Staff Section of the Month (SSOTM). In addition, we will also be working to create an attendance policy for staff participation in each issue. The deadlines will be set as follows: SSOTM Nominations (11:59 PM EST Thursday Before Upload Week), SSOTM Votes (11:59 PM EST Thursday of Upload Week), and Page Uploads (5:00 PM EST Friday of Upload Week). These may be subject to change depending upon staff input.

As for SSOTM, we will also be working to overhaul the nomination system. Under the new system, all staff will be required to voice their opinions on sections for nomination (this would include nominating, supporting other nominations, or simply commenting that no section has caught their eye for nomination) as well as vote on any nominations provided by other members of staff.

To continue the theme of structural changes I will be working with the staff to examine the Manual of Style at large to see if it needs any potential updates. Beyond this, I would like to work with the Team Directors in order to create miniature Manuals of Style for each team. Currently, the guidelines are the same across many teams and do not work well for the particular demands of each team's subject matter. We will be working to examine potential requirements involving minimum character amounts, writing mechanics, and any other concerns that may come up during the process. Ideally, this will be completed sometime around mid-March.

As a final note for internal concerns, I would also like to have four Staff Meetings this year taking place in February, March, July, and December. The early meetings will be used to address the projects listed above, specifically internal policies, the choice of a Social Media Manager, and the examination of the Manual of Style. The July meeting will be used to help plan out Issue 150 which will be taking place in September of the year, I will also elaborate on this later in my address. The December meeting will be used as a reflection upon the changes made during 2019 to see what was done well, what was done poorly, and what should have been done.

To expand upon the mention of Issue 150 in the previous paragraph I would like to have this issue blow all other special issues out of the water. I would like to see community events put in place for the celebration of this milestone issue as well as a large number of guest sections to be written by members of the community. Some ideas may be comments upon the history of the 'Shroom, reflections, or some sort of creative themed section. Speaking of guest sections we would also like to make a call to see an increased number made throughout the year, and not just in the celebration of Issue 150. Your contributions will be welcomed no matter the time of the year, if you have an idea please apply and send an application to. Lastly, as a note for special issues, they will be present for the usual Awards and holiday issues, but likely toned down somewhat in order to not oversaturate the schedule with them.

Another major project that will be underway this year is community building. Some members of the staff will be working with MsRetroGeek in order to find ways to build rapport among members of the staff as well as readers and writers. For the staff specifically, creating policies is only one part of the equation. While they may increase activity among the staff, empty obligations will do nothing to increase motivation which was one of the key goals of the campaign. Outside of the staff, I would like to create a community that readers wish to be a part of so I am entrusting those members of staff with working to make that happen.

Once more I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity to serve as Director for 2019. I feel these projects and goals will really help to uplift The 'Shroom and help our community not only grow but thrive. Throughout this year I urge the readers, writers, and members of staff to contact me if they have any comments or questions about The 'Shroom, no matter how small. In addition, I would like to ask everyone reading this to please return next month when Issue 143 releases on February 16th, 2019. I have high hopes for the issue and the year thereafter.

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