Posted by Kim on July 1, 2012, 12:00am
Let me introduce you to five heroes of legend.Darth_Angelus, Dylan, Sanne, SeraphicStar and Sherlock.
These five people are our forum moderators, and they are an essential ingredient to the uniquely open, welcoming culture that we have here -- a culture that is nearly impossible to find elsewhere on the web.
Moderating is often a difficult, thankless job, with the tragic consequence of burning good people out and attracting ruthless despots in their place. Every month, I hear from countless users who have nightmare stories about the behaviors of other moderators on other sites. And I hear how surprised they are to have discovered a place where they can be on friendly terms with the moderators, rather than living in terror of them.
I've always tried hard to strike a balance between letting the moderators know how much I appreciate them, without doing anything that could create the perception that I am setting them up as an "elite" class. That worry, of spoiling some of that wonderful feeling of openness that we enjoy here, had guided my actions toward being very conservative in my public displays of affection. But after meditating on all these stories of moderators gone bad, it's obvious to me: Moderating is hard work. Using power responsibly is a task that requires a great deal of presence of mind, consideration and even selflessness. Good moderators are rare. And when we find good moderators, we should show them all our support.
Please join me today in heaping kudos on Darth_Angelus, Dylan, Sanne, SeraphicStar and Sherlock. Let them know that their efforts do not go unappreciated!
The thing about being a moderator is that you're also a human being at the same time. A human being with a personality. With preferences. With pet peeves and feelings that can be hurt. As a result of how immersed in the community the moderators are here, they are often called upon to correct people that they consider their friends, and to be friendly and assist people that they might not normally get along with. Done correctly, moderating is a position of public service. A means of making an entire community run smoothly, not a method of consolidating power. A way to arbitrate disputes and model best behavior. It asks ordinary humans to act with superhuman selflessness, and to bear, without retaliating, the slings and arrows of those who do not appreciate their efforts. That would be asking a lot of anyone!
Our team of moderators is hugely diverse, both in their personalities and in their global locales. With such a spread, there's someone awake and keeping a watchful eye out nearly 'round the clock. And by those same virtues, they've shown themselves capable of together seeing many different sides of a problem and of friendly relations with a wide variety of characters and troublemakers.
They have naturally adopted a policy of gentle warnings and kind suggestions when they see even the glimmer of a potential problem, heading off major issues well before they happen, helping to introduce people into our culture and greatly diminishing misunderstandings of the rules, hurt feelings, and the need for disciplinary actions.
In our two years, we've had a lot of moderator interventions. But we've yet to have a major flamewar, and we have never had to ban someone from our forums. That speaks volumes about the quality of our culture and the skill of this team in helping to keep it alive.
On a personal level, having such a trusted team of moderators has made it possible for me to sleep at night, to go out with friends, to take a bath or read a book without worrying that something might be going on on my site that needs attention. They've helped keep the site alive and at the same time given me back a life.
Let's bury our mods in so many kudos they can swim in them like Scrooge McDuck.
Cake
To show her appreciation, Krissy baked a double chocolate marble cake with butter cream icing. Its deliciousness was so fragrant, so monumental, that she barely had time to pull out a camera before it was devoured by her little neices, and even people who do not normally like cake said it was a flavorsperience not to be missed.
Perhaps if we lick our screens, we too can experience the deliciousness of the Moderator Appreciation Cake. Thank you Krissy!
Post tags: Moderator Appreciation Day
Comments
I might actually try that cake...that means it's amazing...just like our mods!
O.O Caaaaake.
Sorry for being the late hatchling in this, had work plus a five page essay to write for psych. Anyhow,
Happy Moderator's Day!!!
All of you make this site a wonderful place to be and always making it fun and exciting gives something for us to look forward too!
And for always being social with all of us, (even the small cookies and crumbs of the RPR) making us feel welcome and special. So here is thanks to you, all of you.
Happy moderator's day to you
Happy moderator's day to you
Happy moderator's day to each and every one of you
You are wonderfully awesome and you look like it TOO!
Thank you...again.
Sorry for being the late hatchling in this, had work plus a five page essay to write for psych. Anyhow,
Happy Moderator's Day!!!
All of you make this site a wonderful place to be and always making it fun and exciting gives something for us to look forward too!
And for always being social with all of us, (even the small cookies and crumbs of the RPR) making us feel welcome and special. So here is thanks to you, all of you.
Happy moderator's day to you
Happy moderator's day to you
Happy moderator's day to each and every one of you
You are wonderfully awesome and you look like it TOO!
Thank you...again.
Happy MAD to all the mods! 
That cake looks so amazing, I wish I could have eaten some of it! 
That cake looks so amazing, I wish I could have eaten some of it!
The character limit for kudos, I sad at you! 
.
.
Chocolate cake
I am made of cake?!?
That cake looks fantastic, great job Krissy!!
Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the mods! This is like, the only place I can be friends with moderators. Because they are indeed intimidating! They often come off as cold and detached, but not our fellows! 
Yay for the RPR Moderators!!
Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH to all the mods!
This is like, the only place I can be friends with moderators. Because they are indeed intimidating! They often come off as cold and detached, but not our fellows! Yay for the RPR Moderators!!
SeraphicStar
July 1, 2012
8:42am
*sniffs* I felt honored to be a RPR moderator before, but now I feel cake-honored, which is like, honored squared.
Speaking of cake, let us all have a moment of silence for that amazing cake. May it be happy in Pastry Heaven, with all the other great cakes of history.
Thanks, everyone. And especially, thanks, Kim.
This community is, overall, a pleasure to moderate. Everyone's civil, polite and reasonable, and that makes our jobs so much easier. And of course there's the Admin, who is always there to help us when necessary!
Speaking of cake, let us all have a moment of silence for that amazing cake. May it be happy in Pastry Heaven, with all the other great cakes of history.
Thanks, everyone. And especially, thanks, Kim.
This community is, overall, a pleasure to moderate. Everyone's civil, polite and reasonable, and that makes our jobs so much easier. And of course there's the Admin, who is always there to help us when necessary!
Witness
July 1, 2012
7:30am
Having come from sites with strict moderators and strict rules, I was a little apprehensive about chatting with the moderators on the site; however, I quickly realized just how special our brand of moderators are!
I could have never got as integrated into the site if it weren't for the efforts of moderators like Sanne and Darth, even if they are on the Dark Side
, and I most certainly agree that all the moderators' efforts must be celebrated!
I can't offer much, but I can offer my sincerest thanks and my hopes that our moderators continue to be awesome and make things around them awesome too!
I could have never got as integrated into the site if it weren't for the efforts of moderators like Sanne and Darth, even if they are on the Dark Side
, and I most certainly agree that all the moderators' efforts must be celebrated!I can't offer much, but I can offer my sincerest thanks and my hopes that our moderators continue to be awesome and make things around them awesome too!
The cake has been eaten already? 
On a more serious note, RPR has such a great community, everyone makes it a pleasure to moderate. As Kim mentioned in the news post, we've not had a major incident and that makes me very proud to be here.
Well, that and being able to call so many of you friends
On a more serious note, RPR has such a great community, everyone makes it a pleasure to moderate. As Kim mentioned in the news post, we've not had a major incident and that makes me very proud to be here.
Well, that and being able to call so many of you friends
I woke up, scrolled sleepily and promptly wetted my pillow with excessive drool at that amazing cake. It saddens me greatly I didn't get to taste it, but I shall cherish its photo for all time!! You did an AMAZING job just on its exterior, it's mindboggling to imagine its delicious innards.
Anyway!
All I can say is, thank you, too! All of you. Being a moderator and having fun doing it depends largely on the people you moderate, and so far even people who broke the rules have displayed a maturity and calm you don't expect when you tell them they did something wrong!! It gives me strength to keep going doing what I do, and although I can't speak for the other mods, I do have a feeling they share similar feelings.
But you know what I like best? I'm not treated much different from other members in my experiences. I'm not put on a pedestal, I'm not considered out of reach to talk to about (personal) problems, on or off site. I'm just one of the guys who sometimes has to step out and take care of some things, but otherwise I party right along with everyone else.
You did an AMAZING job just on its exterior, it's mindboggling to imagine its delicious innards. Anyway!
All I can say is, thank you, too! All of you. Being a moderator and having fun doing it depends largely on the people you moderate, and so far even people who broke the rules have displayed a maturity and calm you don't expect when you tell them they did something wrong!! It gives me strength to keep going doing what I do, and although I can't speak for the other mods, I do have a feeling they share similar feelings.
But you know what I like best? I'm not treated much different from other members in my experiences. I'm not put on a pedestal, I'm not considered out of reach to talk to about (personal) problems, on or off site. I'm just one of the guys who sometimes has to step out and take care of some things, but otherwise I party right along with everyone else.
Trickster
July 1, 2012
1:21am
"But we've yet to have a major flamewar, and we have never had to ban someone from our forums."
Mission Accepted
Mission Accepted
Phrostphyre
July 1, 2012
12:43am
RPR mods are best mods, hands down. This is fact, as handed down to us by the ancient, learned, All-Knowing auspices of the august body that is the Internet. My Internets. You may have all of them.
I just realized that you already said in the original post what the cake was. I fear I may have skipped the description to stare at the cake, it is also 1:30am in the morning, making me somewhat tired + overly excitedly to see this!
/scampers off to bed!
/scampers off to bed!
No no no, thank YOU!
The cake is double chocolate marble cake with butter cream icing, and it was made by Krissy.
The cake is double chocolate marble cake with butter cream icing, and it was made by Krissy.
I forgot to add, THANK YOU Krissy for the cake! That is amazing, and unexpected.
And I feel that I should be adding many, many, many more thanks but I'll think I'll stop now to avoid flooding the screen.
THANK YOU ALL, THANK YOU KIM!
And I have to add that Sanne, Darth and Sherlock are some pretty awesome peoples to be moderators with!
And I feel that I should be adding many, many, many more thanks but I'll think I'll stop now to avoid flooding the screen.
THANK YOU ALL, THANK YOU KIM!
And I have to add that Sanne, Darth and Sherlock are some pretty awesome peoples to be moderators with!
sadfiasuopydaihsda-[0s8du7q3-04ujqasl'dka;sdNaz'SPD:INHb$E#A( +]6-tnrgp7ew3azu
That was me, excitedly smashing my hands silly all over my keyboard.
AND A CAKE? Oh my goodness.
First off, I was so VERY happily surprised to see this (I had gotten up from bed to do something and saw this) Kim, thank you, so, so much, thank you for giving me - and us all - a chance to help you, RPR, and all the very fine people here.
Might I add, that the cake is just.... the icing on the cake.. to this moderation day! PS, what kind of cake is it?
That was me, excitedly smashing my hands silly all over my keyboard.
AND A CAKE? Oh my goodness.
First off, I was so VERY happily surprised to see this (I had gotten up from bed to do something and saw this) Kim, thank you, so, so much, thank you for giving me - and us all - a chance to help you, RPR, and all the very fine people here.
Might I add, that the cake is just.... the icing on the cake.. to this moderation day! PS, what kind of cake is it?
Kim
July 2, 2012
10:00am
Mods: You're amazing, and we continue to appreciate you every single day. Thanks so much for all you do.