The 'Shroom talk:Issue 141/Director Election

Election Process
This page is where members of the community may make nominations and vote for candidates to direct The 'Shroom for the next year. The rules for the election process may be viewed on the election rules article.

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Hello everyone, we and  are here to make an announcement. It pleases us both to say that we intend to run for ‘Shroom Director and Sub-Director respectively for the 2019 term.

Before we get into where we would like to see The ‘Shroom go within the next year we both would briefly like to address our qualifications for these posts. Our shared qualifications are experiences with the Ninth Poll Committee in highly collaborative work on a small team, the formal study of leadership through various classes at the university level, and leadership positions held within student organizations at these academic institutions.

To elaborate further Raregold currently serves as Webmaster for a student organization where his duties involve planning meeting schedules and collaborating on policy with other officers, he is also currently minoring in Leadership Studies.

MsRetroGeek has served alongside students and professors at her former community college where she was a Student Observer for two terms and wrote reports on professors and met with departmental officials to decide whether to grant tenure, was involved in student government, and took classes detailing Leadership, Administration, and Supervision. In addition, she also currently serves as a moderator on 's discord server Meta Server MK II.

There are two major things, along with a handful of smaller projects that we wish to address for The ‘Shroom in 2019, activity and motivation. It has come to our attention through both our writing for the publication and engaging with members of the staff that there is less engagement with the project than in years past. In order to combat this, we wish to a instate strict deadline for uploads of team pages to the staff wiki at 12:00 PM prior to the scheduled days of release which can be found here. Secondly, we wish to add the requirement that 48 hours prior to the deadline for uploading team pages to the staff wiki that team directors submit nominees for Staff Section of the Month. As a final measure, we have also drafted a preliminary attendance/conduct policy which can be found here 9 While the aforementioned proposed policies would increase activity, The ‘Shroom would suffer without an increase in motivation and morale among the staff. In order to do so, we would like to heavily encourage staff input on all projects and policies that would be addressed in 2019. This of course also extends to the community at large. To gain staff input we wish to hold four staff meetings scheduled for February, March, July, and December the exact dates of which are to be determined as to best meet everyone’s schedules. These meetings would be conducted with a quorum of 11 staff members and will focus on specific issues, each of which can be found in the link in the previous paragraph.

As for the smaller projects, a very important one will be taking place in September of 2019. The ‘Shroom will be reaching its 150th issue and we wish to celebrate this important milestone along with the community. It is our wish to see this made into a grand special issue, with participation not just from The ‘Shroom’s own writers, but guest sections submitted by many community members.

The second smaller project we wish to tackle involves the staff itself and the reworking of an unused position. We wish to rework the Social Networking Manager into a Media and Networking Manager. Their job would be to maintain The ‘Shroom’s social media accounts which currently remain untouched for months at a time. They would also work to maintain The ‘Shroom’s mailing lists. Both of these will be done in hope of reaching a larger number of readers.

The third is more of an initiative and less of a concrete project. We wish to see more engagement with The ‘Shroom from the community at large. An increased number of guest section submissions from community members would be greatly encouraged.

The final project we wish to tackle is an update to The ‘Shroom’s Manual of Style. In particular, we wish to see more concrete team-based standards. In order to accomplish this, each director would submit qualifications they wish to see for sections within their specific team. This would then be put to a vote by the staff members in order to move forward and would help clarify the expectations and purpose of each team.

The ‘Shroom has come far in recent years and has become a publication of high quality and professionalism. We Raregold and MsRetroGeek wish not only to continue this legacy but enhance it by working to increase activity and motivation among both the writers and staff. It is our hope to see the publication continue to soar to new heights and be something every member of the community can look forward to by taking part in either reading or writing.

Votes

 * 1) - Both candidates have shown application and interest in the project and its future. The fact that they approached people and asked for feedback on the newsletter before the election even began signals to me that a lot of thought went into this campaign, and I would like to see them get a chance to prove their merit.

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Introduction

Hello to all of you reading this. I am and I’m here to announce, in association with, my campaign for Director of The ‘Shroom for the 2019 term. I’m standing for the position of Director, with Fun With Despair as Sub-Director.

To begin, I’d like to address why I feel that we’re qualified for these positions. As the current Director of Strategy Wing, I’ve become acquainted in the past few months with the management of the ‘Shroom, working on one side with writers to ensure the Team goes up without issue and with the rest of the Core Staff on the other side as we work on various projects and monthly tasks. In addition, I have experience working in other community projects through my place on the current Poll Committee and through various small-scale collaborative efforts with other users. In all that I do as part of the community, I strive to maintain a high level of thoroughness and professionalism, closely following discussions and projects so that I can contribute in a useful and meaningful manner.

As for Fun With Despair, his experience in the community may not be as readily apparent, but he has worked closely with community members during his time on the Poll Committee, both on the current Committee and the Eighth Poll Committee. In that time, he has demonstrated his willingness to intelligently contribute to projects and work with a small selection of community members and, through his work on Poll Committee Discussion, gained experience with Wiki syntax and The ‘Shroom’s policies. He has, in the past, come in at the clutch, putting Poll Committee Discussion together with limited time when issues arise that prevent others members from doing so. Finally, he comes with administrative experience from Minus World and the knowledge in management and running community events he has obtained in the course of hosting large KGs. All of this taken together, I trust in his ability to competently serve as Sub-Director, with administrative experience and the ability to step in and complete tasks in a professional and rapid manner when others require assistance being key qualities in a Sub-Director.

I’d like to begin by addressing what we want to aim for as the general goal and feel of our tenure. We aim to strike a balance between striving for a more professional and elaborate publication and the recognizing that The ‘Shroom is a community project that requires voluntary investments of time and energy. Too much focus on the former element and change from the top can tire people out, reducing enthusiasm for additional projects and potentially discouraging Staff members from coming forward with their own ideas and concerns. At the same time, there is a continual need for improvement and change. I feel that Meta Knight has, in his time as Director, found a balance between these two elements of The ‘Shroom. Special issues have continued to be large and enjoyable events for writers and readers alike, but their numbers have been reduced to a manageable two each year with other issues adopting specific themes without being explicitly designated as special issues. Likewise, community events which have allowed users to engage users with The ‘Shroom (including ‘Shroom KG and the Super Mario Odyssey Photo Contest) and internal projects meant to improve The ‘Shroom for readers and writers (Staff changes and the font size change, for example) have continued but with additional input and discretion from the Core Staff. I want to maintain the balance between a more professional publication and a relaxed project that Meta Knight has built during his time as Director of The ‘Shroom. I want to encourage discussion and input from the Staff in regards to the nature and timing of these events and projects, ensuring that there is flexibility so that we can accomplish our goals without tiring out or stressing out our Staff and writers.

Specific Plans and Policies

Now, we’d like to move to a discussion of our plans and policies for this term. I understand that this is a bit of a large wall of text, so to make it easier to follow, we have organized it into a bulleted list. Indented bullets are usually more in-depth explanations of our goals and contain information that doesn’t have to be read in order to understand our proposals but may make clearer what it is that we’re aiming to do or why we feel it would be beneficial. Overall, the list moves from more important or pressing issues to more specific or secondary proposals and goals.


 * Work with the Staff to create a tentative schedule for the year, incorporating internal projects, special issues, release dates, community activities, and Staff meetings, no later than the release of the February issue.
 * Issue 150, a milestone issue, is set to release on the 24th of September 2019. As the September issue, it comes during a period where many in the community are still resting after the business of Awards and the time crunch of creating presentations while working on other projects. Others are still working to close out Awards, with prize distribution and tournaments continuing to wrap up. At the same time, a relatively new Poll Committee will be working to complete for the issue the large project that is Awards Analysis. If the usual schedule of one special issue in June is and the special Holiday issue in December is kept, the issue is compounded. Only three months would separate each special issue and they would all be packed into the latter half of the year. We need to create a schedule for the year with issue 150, as well as other community events and life obligations, in mind. We’d like to avoid having long stretches of the year that are stressful time crunches for writers and Staff alike as well as stretches of the year that feel comparatively barren and uneventful. By settling on release dates for issues, special issues, themed issues, and the timing of The ‘Shroom’s events and activities early in the year, we’ll build a schedule that spaces everything out and create a more balanced year.
 * To address both of the above points, we will also press for the reintroduction of Staff Meetings. In particular, we propose establishing a baseline of monthly Staff meetings with flexibility in scheduling. To clarify, we would schedule a Staff meeting each month, but we do not expect that all of these meetings will be held. Meetings ahead of special issues will be mandatory, as will the meeting for February issue in which we will work to set the schedule for the year. Other than these, the scheduled meetings will only be held at the request of Staff members or if there are specific and concrete projects which would benefit from a Staff meeting. As we do not wish to waste anyone’s time, we will evaluate any non-mandatory meetings ahead of time and, should we decide that there is little that cannot be effectively accomplished through other means, we will cancel the meeting ahead of its scheduled date and inform the Staff.
 * Related to all of the above points, we’d like to see a collaborative project on the part of the Staff for a special issue in this term. Looking back, The ‘Shroom has featured fun projects from the Staff like the Travel Guide in issue 64. These are fun projects which are a treat for our readers and enhance special issues. In addition, they bring the Staff together for creative work, furthering one of our secondary goals of fostering a greater sense of community among the Staff.
 * Better define and distinguish the areas of focus between our six Teams through the creation of, over the course of this term, Mission Statements for each Team and the rewording of section descriptions as appropriate. The ‘Shroom should continue striving for a more professional image, a goal that requires readers and writers alike have a clear idea of what they’ll find in each Team and any given section. My proposal is that the Staff works to better define the nature and goals of each Team and, where necessary, revise the descriptions of existing sections to better match. To accomplish this task, I’d ask that each Team Director works, with input of the rest of the Staff, to create a “Mission Statement” for their Team. From there, they would edit their section descriptions and expectations, with, of course, the input of the rest of the Staff, as they felt necessary to reflect the Mission Statement and expectations of their Team. These Mission Statements would, in simple terms, better communicate the general purpose of each Team and what content fits in a given Team versus another.
 * I’m happy to elaborate on how I feel this will be useful to The ‘Shroom as requested. I have specific examples, concrete and hypothetical, that I can offer for anyone who is curious or would like more information. I’ve excluded them here for purposes of ensuring this campaign is not too unwieldy.
 * Address issues with communication among Staff members, including the lack of input by Staff members on internal projects, failure of Staff members to complete duties in a timely manner, and a general lack of discussion among the Staff. We want members of the Staff to work together effectively, and we recognized the need to address a few issues that have become more pronounced recently. That said, we believe we can address these issues without resorting immediately to additional policies and disciplinary action and that we can do so in such a way that brings additional benefits in the form of greater discussion between Staff members outside of projects and specific needs. Our goal is to create a sense of community among the Staff, getting Staff members involved with each other on personal and relaxed terms. A Staff with members that know each other well and interact with each other is more likely going to engage in discussion and launch collaborative projects that would otherwise be missed for lack of communication. As much of this work is Fun With Despair’s specialty, I will allow him to elaborate further down in this campaign.
 * We’d like to work on codifying in writing the duties of Staff members so they can be collected in a central location in the Staff Board. As it stands, the duties and responsibilities for most Staff position are scattered and haphazardly collected. Now, this hasn’t been too much of an issue, since, as a small community, new Staff members have been able to rely on guidance and support of the predecessors and other Staff members. Still, having a checklist of regular duties and clear descriptions of the associate responsibilities for each Staff position would be beneficial for those instances in which, due to unforeseen circumstances, someone must quickly step up and fill a position. When a position is filled in the usual manner, candidates or interested applicants can be presented with a clear and concise description of the work and responsibilities that come with a position, improving the application process by letting applicants know precisely what to expect and allowing new Staff members to quickly learn the salient points of their new positions. Much like occurs with surgeons or pilots, we may find that checklists aren’t strictly necessary but do improve the overall experience for everyone involved.
 * We want to offer more assistance and feedback to rejected applicants by making the rejection process more formal. One thing that I’ve observed in my time on the Staff is the struggle between finding a balance between The ‘Shroom’s increasing standards of quality and the need to give new writers and opportunity to join and develop their writing. Remembering that many of those who have worked on this project started with less than stellar sections, we need to assist new writers to ensure the long-term success of The ‘Shroom. As part of this, I would like to make the process of rejecting a writer more formal. I’d like for rejection messages to contain specific criticisms and advice for improvement, offer resources to consult, and point rejected applicants towards an appropriate Staff member who can help them if they want to work on revising and sending in a new application. The rejection messages should be posted with the rejected applications (as opposed to the current system, where they are sent only between the Statistics Manager and the applicant) so that all Staff members can see what the rejected applicant was told and so that we maintain a record of the rejection. An applicant can then use the feedback and resources provided and will know a particular Staff member they can feel comfortable turning to. If they choose to ask for assistance from a different member of the Staff, though, all Staff members will be able to quickly and effectively consult their rejected application and the suggestions offered in their rejection message.
 * We’d like to continue The ‘Shroom’s current activity in regards to social media outreach, particularly through Facebook and Twitter As a hub for community news and information, The ‘Shroom is an important entry-point for anyone looking to learn more about or join our community, making additional exposure for The ‘Shroom valuable for all aspects of the community. We believe it is necessary to keep The ‘Shroom’s Twitter seperate from the Wiki’s Twitter, but we’d like to speak to Glowsquid and see if there’s any opportunity to use the increasingly popular Wiki Twitter for a one-time plug for The ‘Shroom and its Twitter.
 * We’d like to extend an invitation to Meta Knight and Superchao to become Staff Consultants. Their experience remains invaluable to The ‘Shroom and we welcome their input.
 * Currently, we have no plans to make changes to the positions of Graphic Design Manager, Website Manager, Programming Manager, or Statistics Manager. The individuals we have in these four positions are doing wonderful work and we will invite them to continue in their roles. We look forward to continuing to work with them and hear their concerns and comments.
 * One particular event we have in mind for this year is a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Photo Contest. The Switch has made obtaining and sharing screenshots from Nintendo games easier than ever. With the success of this year’s Super Mario Odyssey Photo Contest, it seems sensible to hold another such contest. Of course, Super Smash Bros. has a long tradition of fans taking and share funny and interesting pictures, so, a few months into the year to give as many people as possible time to get the game, we’d like to hold a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Photo Contest. The details can be determined later, but we can model it off of last year’s contest, offering two or three categories for images with or without captions and allowing readers to vote on their favorites.
 * Finally, I will admit freely that improvement of the Archives would be my personal pet project. Of course, there’s already plenty promised in this campaign and activities going on in the community, so any work on this would necessarily be a backburner project. Nonetheless, I’d at least be interested in working with LTQ and 2257 as necessary to explore ways the Archives could be made more accessible to the casual reader. We have a great system of records in place as it is, but The ‘Shroom now has quite the backlog of content that may interest newer readers. Finding specific content in that backlog should not require particularly intensive work on the part of readers. The ‘Shroom has come a long way and should continue to focus on moving forward, but we should not forget how much work has gone into getting where we are.

Additional Comments by Fun With Despair

Hey, everyone, it’s me. , and I’m honestly at a loss for things to say about myself or the campaign that my man Pitohui hasn’t already. That’s honestly one of his best qualities, and the reason I’m backing him; I’ve never seen someone with his eye for detail, and with the willingness to genuinely go in-depth with his feedback, something that’s been immensely useful over in the Poll Committee.

But enough about that, despite his introduction, I should probably speak a bit about myself as well. Most people probably know me as the “Killing Game guy”, and they wouldn’t be entirely wrong in that assessment. KG isn’t why I’m here today though, so don’t worry about any political assassinations, at least for now. Instead, I’d like to take a moment to discuss my personal goals here, and how I plan on complementing this partnership. As I said earlier, Pitohui’s done a lot of work in his own writeup at explaining everything, and I’ll likely be repeating things, but that’s largely unavoidable when someone does a great job of covering all the information.

In my time on the Poll Committee, and engaging in ‘Shroom community events, I began to notice a couple things, namely that there’s somewhat of a lack of communication involved, which tends to lead to either delays, missing segments, or rushed content. Now, my stance on stuff like this is that it’s largely no one’s fault when stuff like this happens. People get busy, people forget, and that’s just how it is. But with proper communication, I genuinely believe that we can avoid 90% of these issues. Actually coming together as a group of staff, rather than a few disjointed teams that don’t intercommunicate nearly as much as they should, can help us not only better roadmap out each issue’s development and progress from the start (letting us plan for potential missing articles, or delays before it becomes a last minute panic), but will also allow us to make the ‘Shroom feel like a better defined and more complete experience.

Pitohui briefly touched on community events, such as the ‘Shroom KG, and I think those sorts of things are a lot more important to the survival of the newsletter than some people may think upon first glance. Events like the KG, or scavenger hunts, etc. all help expand the reach of the ‘Shroom to people who may otherwise not be interested, and help us, as staff, get a feel for the community and what they’re into, while allowing the community to get a feel for us, and the kind of organization we are. The KG was a great example of this, really conveying the fact that on top of being a monthly newsletter, we’re fun, and we like to do wacky things and have a couple laughs. These events make the ‘Shroom, and the people involved, feel much less daunting, as it’s not just a newsletter, but a group of people you can have some fun with too, which is great for attracting new readers and prospective writers alike.

That there is one of the reasons I’m big into getting the ‘Shroom staff closer together; not just so we can organize each issue better, but so that we, as a group, can be a community that people want to join as writers. In doing so though, as Pitohui also agrees, we need to be a lot clearer in many of our guidelines, as well as our feedback to writers both new and old, so that rejected writers don’t feel like they “suck”, but get the motivation to improve themselves with real feedback from the people they could be working with in the future. Likewise, giving more active feedback to existing writers is important too, as everyone has room to grow and improve. These aspects of the ‘Shroom are what I, personally, hope to focus on as Sub-Director.

But what makes me qualified for this? Despite a relatively low general postcount on the boards, I frequently engage in community events such as the KGs, and have been a relatively active Poll Committee member for two terms, even being the guy people go to to fill in for missing Analysis articles, as I’m capable of getting a lot of writing done in a short amount of time. Pitohui of course, has said all of this himself, but I figure it’s good to go into it a bit on my own, just for clarity’s sake. I’m also a moderator over at MFGG and Minus World (Warning: Strong Language), two of our affiliate sites, and engage in similar levels of community management and event stuff over there. This gives me some confidence that I will definitely be able to fulfil my duties as Sub-Director, as I’ll definitely be able to fill in on the occasion that Pitohui is otherwise engaged.

In Closing

Whether we win the election, or whether the community decides some other people are a better fit for the positions, I’ll still be sticking around with the Poll Committee, as well as aiming to write several new ‘Shroom segments in the new year regardless. Now, I’ll let Pitohui close us off. He’s went above and beyond my expectations in detailing our shared goals, and I feel it’s only right that he gets to seal the deal with his own words.

I thank Fun With Despair for his elaboration. I know that this has been quite a bit of text to read through, but I thank you for taking the time to read through our plans and consider our campaign. Ultimately, I’m running for the position of Director because I feel invested in The ‘Shroom, its history and future. In whatever way I am able, I want to offer my services to keep it going and improve it. I can assure you that, if I do not win this election, I’ll gladly continue working as Strategy Wing Director to improve the Team I oversee and, in cooperation with the Director and the rest of the Staff, offer my ideas and energy to improve The ‘Shroom as a whole. I thank you again for your time and consideration, and I hope you have a grand day.

Votes

 * 1) - Pitohui has shown great promise and enthusiasm in his work as Strategy Wing Director, and clearly cares about the 'Shroom and wants to see it succeed. Fun With Despair has a proven track record of community involvement and work with community projects, as seen even on MarioWiki with his work for the Poll Committee. I'm entirely comfortable passing the baton to them for 2019.

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