News & Updates

May 16, 2008 @ 7:29 pm

1. New accounts will be screened by the admin--i.e., me--for personality and basic ability. (same ol' same ol')

2. ochi-approved accounts will be posted here in the forum in limbo until a member agrees to be their patron. At least one member must volunteer. If within 48 hours no one has volunteered, then the account will be declined and the applicant asked to register again at a later time.

3. To reward those who take care of this community without penalizing or pressuring those who don't; all updated features will be enabled for patrons only. In addition, patrons will be the 'elite' members and will have access to information that other accounts do not. That said, all general information and all current features will remain open to the entire community, and I don't think our basic features are too shabby

The fine print: this means, it is the patron's responsibility to hold their hand and shove the newbies down everyone here's throat until they are comfortable with us and we are comfortable with them. A perfunctory "welcome to the comm, oemail me if you have any questions" will not suffice. You will be responsible for maintaining regular correspondence, following up with the member if they disappear, encouraging them to post and interact, etc. In addition, your name/account will forever be linked to that member's account and their interaction in the community will be a reflection of your account. In addition, if there is a problem with that member's account, you will be contacted before that member. It will also be your decision as to whether a dead account should be terminated; if an account is terminated it will be done at the expense of the patron's rank--which will be reset.

A couple things to note:
• it is not an easy task, and there is no guarantee a newbie will be responsive
• you cannot dump a newbie who is unresponsive; you must request that his/her account be terminated
• you must have at least 100 rank points to volunteer as a patron
• this system is set up to help foster a nurturing community and social network for talented artists and writers.
• no account going forward will be accepted without a patron

Does this sound like a pain in the ass or are you looking forward to having the ultimate control in shaping and building this community? Either way... welcome to my world

LOL! Actually, I want to be able to say that we are a community which offers what no other community at this time offers: the ability to turn off your ad-blocker plus plug-ins a mature and responsible autonomous community that is one of a kind--no dramas, no trolls, low filters for submissions, and respect for each and every member.

I will post a Pending Member alert thread for all pending accounts which require a patron to join. If you accept their account, you will be then given a link to their portfolio and their email address. It is recommended that you send them both an email and an oemail welcoming them to the community.