Action/Adventure Aficionados discussion

This thread is to discuss moderator-related topics.

Moderator Duties

1. Keep group organized and mediate discussions so that things stay friendly and conversations continue to flow.
2. Organize monthly group reads, including setting up nomination threads and polls in a timely fashion.

Thanks to you, Hugh and Jason for being moderators. Yay. Also, thanks for the idea again, Hugh! I give credit where it's due. I am excited to get this group going. I love action/adventure, and I hope we can get a lot of good talking going on here!

If you guys have any ideas for the group, go for it!

I humbly accept the praise. (which means I may not deserve it yet). I'm open to ideas, both of you guys are masters, I'm just the poor adept at this discussion board thingy.

Thanks again for the invite, Lady D! :D

Oh, I don't think I'm a master. I think I am just a joiner more than anything!

Glad to have your help, Jason!

Hey, I'm not sure I understand these boards well enough to "moderate" anything. I'm happy with and willing to participate in discussions where I'm involved and useful but I'm not really comfortable on the boards yet. Too new at them, maybe.

I felt genuinely excited when we started them, and I am still excited about them. I know that message boards aren't the same as nuclear physics and there really isn't a right or wrong to them. I just feel a bit awkward so far, as much as I've been posting on them.

I still intend to write reviews and post on those boards where I've been involved in the discussion etc. I think I need to observe a bit more before I have my name up beside them in any official, semi-official or honorary capacity (Moderator).

I also have some family issues distracting me right now and my own surgery coming up within the next month or so. I may have bit off more than I can chew right now.

Again, you'll still have my full participation on those discussion threads where I am involved and I realize that may not be much different than being a Moderator, I'm just not sure I understand the this community (Forum?) yet.

I'm sorry to disappoint you and I wish this didn't mean I have to cut and run on you. I like the Afictionado Group and I'm sorry to let you guys down.

Once my surgery is over and I've had some time to observe, and get more comfortable, I'll be glad to take up being Moderator again, if you have a place for me. (I understand if you don't see that happening again.)

I hope I'm not inconveniencing you guys in any way.

I'm very sorry.

Hugh. Life gets in the way. It always does. There's nothing you can do!

All I can say is that I hope that you have a speedy recovery and come back to us soon. Your recovery is important to us for not only your great personality, but for your knowledge, as well. :)

Good luck, Hugh! :)

Thank you, Jason, Fair winds and following seas. (and I'll still post on those things I can, where I'm involved in the discussion.) Who knows. I'll have a lot of down time after surgery, maybe that's the time to figure out how I can contribute effectively.

You may be on a the short list of "People wanting Hugh Back" but I appreciate your support and kind words. When I do return, I'll do my best to improve where I can.

You have done your best to help me feel welcome. Thank you.

You'll always be wanted back, Hugh! :)

You can expect I'll be active on the boards whenever I can be.

Hugh I hope things go well with your surgery. And I hope you didn't feel pressured to do something you weren't up to. We really appreciate all you've done. Please feel free to come back as a mod when you're ready.

Thank you. I was afraid I was pressuring you to keep me. I'm sure once I figure out what's worth everyone's while and what's extraneious bull stuff destined to cause trouble, I'll remember you said that.

(:{)>

I think you're doing a great job as a mod, if that helps, Hugh.

It does, thank you Danielle.

You are doing a great job as a mod, Hugh. If you need any questions, don't be afraid to ask. :)

Thank you Jason. Again, I appriciate the kindness and suport you and Danielle have shown me since I've become involved here.

(and it almost looks like.. egad, have I beend drafted again? :{)>

No pressure...:)

I know. Just my twisted sense of humor coming out again.

Life needs a lot of laughter, so I appreciate a good sense of humor.

Traci suggested having separate folders for the various genres that contain action elements. What you you guys think?

Should we start with threads for the other genres with action first? If you want to have actual folders, we can do that. But maybe we should see how much discussion goes on first. What do you think?

I'm game for that. The more I get into things, the more I think that people just want a place they can talk about their books. Some of the discussion boards can't help but looked genre limited.

I'm game. And maybe a singe "talk about any book here" place to pick up the stragglers that don't really think their book belongs in a traditonal catagory. Maybe a non-traditional reads catagory?

I like that idea, Hugh. I'll start a genre-bending book thread.

Sounds good to me, too, Lady D! :)

Looks great!

Thanks, Jason!

Lee passed to me via PM that we have a duplicate (or near duplicate) on the "What are you reading now Thread.

That's kind of like Flamable, non-flamable, and inflamable. I think one thread can handled that idea better.

LOL. No worried. I closed the least active thread and Archived it.

How aggressive do you want to be on author's promoting their work on this group? Part of me doesn't mind if, if it's related to the topic. I don't think it's appropriate to have a promo on every thread that is in no way related to the topic. Thoughts?

I think we shouldn't be too hard on people like this. I like your idea, Lady D. If it pertains to the topic, then fine, but otherwise have them post it in an author promotion folder. I also don't mind it if someone announces their writing credits when they introduce themselves in the intro thread. I know that others feel differently about that one though.

Just my 2 cents. :)

I'm with Jason on the intro thread. But, I would say I don't like the idea of opening the boards up to spam. If they want to come talk as consumers on the boards and follow the rules I say bring em in. If they announce on the welcome thread that they are writers, that's great. and if they want a unique thread to talk about their own work, as long as it's with in the framework of posting etc, then fine.

but most of the boards aren't for advertisement. It would be neat if we start talking about a book and the author comes into the thread to talk about it. It wouldn't be so great if they suddenly started driving discussion.

I hope I made sense, it's a bad gallbladder day and I'm having some difficulty concentrating.

You know what? I totally agree with you, Hugh! Spam can be annoying.

You guys are the experts. I'm good with however you decide. I'm going to have to get off line tonight. It's going to be a long two weeks to surgery. I should feel better tomorrow. I'm getting pretty grumpy anyway. Sorry.

I think your idea is good!

Hope you feel better, Hugh! :)

You guys said it well. We'll take it as it comes. So long as the author is participating in the group other than to promote his/her book, we'll be lenient about it. If we get any who are just here to sell their book, we can take action.

Sounds good, Lady D!

Sounds good.

Thank you for the well wishes Jason. I hadn't expected this much discomfort waiting for surgery. Now I know why the looked at me like I was crazy when I pushed it back to help cover work. It's not a full time thing though, yet (knock on wood). At least it wasn't an "attack" (ether a stone or what ever else causes billary collic.) When one of those hits, I'd rather the alien inside me eat it's way out.

I hope you feel better too, Hugh. My aunt had gall bladder diz and it's very painful. (sending healing vibes)

What do you think about group reads?

It's a bit of a headache, but it might be a way to get the group more active. Thoughts?

I like it. I think we should do it. If you guys agree, how do you think we should set it up? Have one monthly group read? Two? Re: nominations and polls, do you guys favor run off polls or the simple and straight forward suggesting a book and then voting for it?

Personally, I hate the run off thing. It makes things more complicated than necessary. It is designed to give the second place book a chance to win, but can backfire if your book won the first round then loses in the second.

I don't favor the runoff idea either. I think just a nomination thread for the monthly read and a poll. If there is a tie, just vote in a tie-breaker. How about we look to start the group reads in October, so we have some time to get it ready. Should we have a theme each month?

To simplify, we could have a poll in which people vote on themes and we can just do the themes each month based on the number of votes. For example: If spy novel gets 12 votes, then it will be the first month's theme and go from there.

Just an idea though.

I like that idea about the themes, too.

So, it'll be one themed book a month starting in October?

I think it would be good to start with one book a month and go from there.

Me, too!

In reference to the above, I concur with you guys.

Cool. And please tell me to sit down and shut up if I'm being too bossy!

No, I'm glad your helping things happen. A) I'm too new at this to have a clue what's a good idea, and B) your giving good ideas. I like arguing too much to just say "yes" if I didn't like it.

(:{)>

I don't knock good leadership, Lady D. You and Jason both are wonderful.

Thanks, Hugh. If you have ideas and things you want to do, you know you are just as much a moderator and have the authority to make decisions.

I'm still learning "What can be done" and how to do the doing. If something comes to mind, ...well... you can probably tell I believe in "A Portrait of the artist by a prematurely dying old man." (Ogden Nash)

It's better to sin by doing rather than not doing. (or the Navy Version, It's better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.)

Thanks, Hugh! You will get the hang of it, so don't worry. You're already doing great!

You are!