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hogwartsishomeAll Gryffindors please vote on your Prefect applications here! Thank you! <3
Applicant #1
Give your ideas for a participation activity at St. Mungo's: I'd love to discuss maladies and illnesses as well as possible cures- both Magical and Muggle as described or or mentioned in the HP series. Mostly discussion, but I could see doing contests or giving points for entertaining responses at my discretion. I'd LOVE to get graphic descriptions or pictures submitted of various maladies as well. Maybe... have a diagnostics lab? We could go all DR HOUSE on this comm!
What would you change about St. Mungo's? I have no idea. I'm not on that list. I suppose I would give it a themesong. YES- A THEMESONG! And make the nurses- male and female, wear skimpy uniforms. VOTE FOR ME! (or don't.. that's ok, I won't cry.)
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
Honestly? First off I'd laugh. Coz how dumb can you get. Some people misinterpret and take things wrong, and fire off a reply without thinking. It happens, we're all guilty. I would first FREEZE comments so it couldn't escalate further.
Secondly, I'd mandate a bit of cooling off. Sometimes we just need to sit down and think. We'll either come to our senses- and feel better and stop bickering, or stew and end up leaving. Either way, the bickering stops and we all win!
Thirdly, I would let them both know I understand where they're coming from. Even if that's a total line of bullshit, it seems to work in conflict arbitration. I'd throw a bunch of big words at them to make them feel smart for understanding it, and better because I REALLY CARE FOR THEM.
Then I'd get on with life. And I'd expect everyone else to. I'd post something funny, or a new project, or some OTHER form of distraction to get our gluteal maximii out of the slumps and back on track with activities and earning pointsfor Ravenclaw.
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Applicant #2
Give your ideas for a participation activity at St. Mungo's:
- Perhaps asking memebers to make banners to advertise and promote the community.
What would you change about St. Mungo's?:
- I would make it a place that is for support in general, not just necessarily related to world events (although these would obviously be important) but there are serious problems that individuals may have themselves in their personal lives and St Mungos should be a place they can turn to for support. As an undergrad I trained as a Samaritan and counsellor so I have a bit of experience in this area.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
- It depends what you mean by 'problem'. If you mean a technical problem I'd try to sort out and if it didn't work then ask for help! If you mean a problem with members then I would make sure things got sorted out before they 'boiled over' into big trouble, perhaps in private, by email if people could get eaily offended, but publically posting to say that things are being sorted out and how.
Obviously St Mungos could be a potentially sensitive community so it is important people stick to the rules. If there are severely offensive people I might consider implementing a '3 strikes and you're out' system.
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[Poll #621866]
Applicant #1
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes: Thanksgiving, Christmas, House Pride
What would you change about Flourish? I have been studying the shops very closely and I don't really think there is anything I would really want to change about Flourish. I have some ideas that might make it better. I think that we could do a shop of the week or month by having each shop submit something new they are offering for that week and have HiH vote on it. Then we could get some "advertisment" in the Daily Prophet and promote their shop.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: I feel that if each side has their views acknowledged and brought to the table then we can get the conflict out into the open alot sooner. I feel this would decrease the amount of backbiting and drama behind the scenes. If the problem is dealt with directly we can get back to the task at hand, bring HiH the best graphics and icons that we can produce. If the problem is beyond my capabilities of mod then I will bring the issue up with the needed higher officials.
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Applicant #2
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:Considering it is almost December, of course at Christmas/Winter theme. Maybe a theme using the house animals (lion, badger, raven, snake). Also, perhaps, "geographical" theme. As in, using pictures of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, the Burrow etc.
What would you change about Flourish? I'd change the info. Make it neater and easier to navigate. I would make sure to be on top of everything, and try to not let things get piled up, so at the end of the week or month have a lot of work to do. Also, I would make myself as easy to contact as possible, so if people have a question, they can get it to me quickly.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: First I'd try to contact the person(s) who 'arose' the problem, and talk to them about them. It depends on the severity of the problem. If it were small, I'd just talk to them about it. If it were bigger, I'd take it to the main community. Either way, I'd do the best I could to fix it.
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Applicant #3
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:
- December: Hogwarts Holidays - celebrating winter/new year's/Christmastime Hogwarts style
- January: Heads of House - featuring HP heads of house or house animals
- February: Inter-House Relations - finding similarities
- March: Lucky Charms - featuring things like pennies (knuts!), horseshoes, clovers, etc
- April: Elemental - water, fire, air, earth
- May: Youth - baby animals, flower buds, nappies, etc
What would you change about Flourish?
- I think it runs well, but the allotment of points is a bit blurry. I would make it more clear how many points are given for the graphics made.
- It might be interesting to try a vote for most popular new item each month and award the winner extra points, or possibly knuts (since, I assume, the most popular item would be the one ordered the most!)
- There should be an incentive for ordering outside of one's own house. It does happen, but mostly I've noticed members ordering from their housemates to keep the poitns at home.
- I would like to see more fanart, but I'm not sure if the lack of a shop creating fanart is due to lack of interest or not really having a way to include it with the set up.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
- The first step would be looking over the problem. What's going on? Why is it a problem? Who is involved? Then steps must be taken to fix the problem. How can it be fixed? What is the most appropriate action in this instance? With two or more dissenters, all sides should be regarded equally and no decisions made on just one report. If someone is causing trouble or breaking rules, one warning should be all that is necessary to correct the issue - after that, temporary suspension, then perhaps removal from the community, depending on the severity of the transgression.
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Applicant #4
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes: Zonko's (an emphasis on humorous tags and icons, nothing offensive to houses, but funny quotes, house inside jokes, etc.), Home (an emphasis on Hogwarts rather than houses.), Literary (an emphasis on the books, the chapter art, the covers, quotes from the books, etc)
What would you change about Flourish? Essentially, Flourish is a great contribution to HiH, but it only works if people are there to order things from the shop owners. I think that we need to raise a little bit of the image for it. We need to get people joining. With 551 members of HiH and less than 200 in Flourish, I think it's a bit of a shame. It's one of the easiest ways to earn your house points and yourself points when you sort. I think that it was run relatively fine otherwise, so there's really not that much to change, just little things here and there. I think there's a need to involve the shop owners. And maybe perhaps looking to lift the one post a week limit, perhaps making it two, so that the new catalog items can get a bit more prominence rather than being stuck at the end of a delivery post.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: Identify, contain, and resolve. Three simple steps and usually they work. You identify the problem, contain the situation and the people in it, and then you begin to resolve it. You can't actually resolve a problem that is on-going, which is the reason you need the containment. You have to be impartial and see both sides. It's important that the person stepping in (the mod) not just dole out a solution, but that those involved come to a solution because otherwise, the situation is not truly resolved.
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Applicant #5
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:
-December: Holidays Around Hogwarts
-January: Beginnings (However this wants to be interpreted)
-February: House Unity
What would you change about Flourish?:
First off, I'd change how many points are awarded for things. The point system is seriously screwed up there right now, and I'd like to change it up, a lot. For example, layouts? Are REALLY hard, and the points are crazily low for them.
I'd also change the way that the shops can post. I don't like the one post a week rule, and I think that rather than just having a limit on posts, we should have a limit on number of deliveries.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
I'd handle it the way that anyone would. Depending on the problem, I would address it myself with the person who caused the problem, or I would bring it to the other mods.
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[Poll #621867]
Applicant #1
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:
Being more or less an artist myself, and also having participated in several icon challenge communities, I've experienced that the most popular contests are those, that leave plenty of room for personal likes, dislikes and interpretation - contests that only define a vague outlining, a concept. I've thought quite a while about three subjects that would do well here, and I'll list three of my personal favourites below:
Unfamiliar
Create an icon of your favourite HP character, but do not use images of the actor who plays him or her in the movies. You may use fanart, but you may also use a different model to represent your character (for instance, Boyd Holbrook as Draco), or even a stock image, as long as you find that it represents your favourite character.
Outside the box
Create an icon that is not completely filled with one image. Use spacing to your advantage, try out image repetition, boxes, white space. It does not have to bee 100 x 100, rectangles can make for a really nice and surprising effect.
Creatures and monsters
Create an icon not featuring a human character from the HP universe, but a creature or a monster. You do not have to use a screencap from the movies - you may use stock images and anything else, as long as you feel it represents the creature you want to make an icon of.
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?:
Cheating is, more often than not, a direct result of ignorance, rather than purposely being dishonest. Or maybe I'm simply idealistic to believe this. Either way, I've found that many people who copy other's work, do so out of admiration, not consciously noticing that this is wrong.
I would first collect proof, because accusations must be build on something. After all, it is possible that what seems like cheating, is merely a coincidence. I believe everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, but when I think someone is cheating, I will research it, and when I've found too much proof to deny it, I will e-mail the person in question, confront him or her with the information I've collected, and ask of him/her to not do it again in the future, also explaining why it isn't the right thing to do.
If it occurs more often by the same person, I don't think I'll have a choice but to ban him or her (temporarily) from participating.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?:
Suggestions are always good, and often they are useful because they really reflect what members like, and what they would participate in. On the other hand, sometimes, suggestions are simply not suited to be carried out. In any case, I would seriously think over it, perhaps modify it a little when necessary, but in most cases, I would probably carry them out whenever possible.
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Applicant #2
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:
1. Inanimate objects!
Lots of graphics challenges focus on the characters or scenery of Harry Potter. But what about that poor Monsters Book of Monsters? Or Harry's overlooked Firebolt? This challenge would be to make an icon/friends only banner/journal header starring one of those rarely-seen inanimate objects that are still ever-so-important to the world of Harry Potter.
2. Rare ships!
If you ship R/Hr, H/G, or even D/H, more power to you--but this challenge is for those lovely rare ships that hardly anyone writes fanfiction about but you love them anyway. The challenge is to create a icon/FO banner/header for whatever rare ship of your choosing. Manips are welcome, as well as using other actors and actresses (for people such as Luna, Narcissa, etc.)
3. Seasons challenge
This would be split up into four different challenges. There would be the spring challenge, in which one would create an icon/FO banner/journal header featuring HP characters or scenery in the springtime. The next would be the summer challenge, followed by the fall challenge, followed by the winter challenge. The fall and winter challenges can include aspects of various holidays during those times (Halloween for fall and Christmas for winter), but they shouldn't be dominated by those holidays (meaning, they would have to show all aspects of the season).
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?: I would first give that person a warning and remove their entry from the challenge. I would probably put them on a three-strikes type of system, where if I saw them cheating more than either two or three times, I would discuss having them banned from participating in the challenges.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?: I would take it into consideration! I'm sure there will be times when the mods are either busy with real life or just absolutely stuck for ideas, so they'll have to ask others for help. And, if more than one person comes to me with the same suggestion, it probably means that it's something that a lot of people want to see so I would be even more willing to take their suggestion into consideration and, if it's a good suggestion, I would probably use that challenge/their idea.
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Applicant #3
Do you have restrictions on your time here at HiH?:Really I spend a lot of time online, doing nothing, so I have a good bit of time to give.
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:Designs based solely on chapter art; a design which represents a spell found in the spell section of the Lexicon; Farewell to Dumbledore; Animals of the Magical world; etc
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?:Number one, I'd confront them about it. If I had proof they were cheating I'd disqualify them from the contest and discuss it with my co-mod and you and whoever else you thought ought to deal with it.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?:I would definitely consider it. I can't be creative all the time (although I'd like to think I am!) I would of course discuss it with my co-mod, but if it was a good idea, I'd deffinitely try it out!
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[Poll #621868]
Applicant #1
Give your ideas for a participation activity at Insomniacs: Seeing how it's about a place to talk about other fandoms besides HP, perhaps have crossover graphic challanges
What would you change about Insomniacs? Instaed of waiting till 2 am to post, making it midnight to start posting.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: Talkk t the other officials about it and see what to do as a whole.
I loved the idea of the insomniacs comm, and I'm almost always up past 4 am EST anyway.
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Applicant #2
Give your ideas for a participation activity at Insomniacs: Well I think to increase a communties activities you need to have something people want...so I would have open discussions of course(like the community has right now) but I think they're should be at least a Debate/Theories Contest held once a month...((I NOTICE THEY BRING ALOT OF PARTICPANTS)) And I think alot of people here have a knack for Debating and that would allow people to participate more. Also, there is so much to debate about in the world and in the Harry Potter universe. Plus, people who like to debate would spend hours late at night just to debate someone(sad but true) I do that sometimes when the subject is I'm debating is passionate enough.
I would have special late night fun activities...like trivias and scavenger hunts for those I know willing to make some extra points for their house...**these of course dealing with harry potter and its universe**
And finally once in awhile a drabble or icontest something dealing with sleeping (or any other theme contest)...or lack of because well this community is just about that people not sleeping. (hehehe)
What would you change about Insomniacs? I would change the hours just for alittle bit because no offense some people do have work and daily activities, so instead of 2:00 am-8:00 am...I would say 12:00am- 8:00am...just to make sure people would be up alittle to participate more in this community. I also would change the journal layout, user info page, and official icon for community because it needs a complete makeover and i know alot of people who would be glad to help me with that department ((not the best in graphics but learning)), more promotion is needed to bring people over to [info]hh_insomniacs because its fairly new to the community and I only saw one post talking about it, and finally I think a Co-Mod is important because I learn no good community is truely sucessful unless they have a Co-Mod plus with late night contests and discussions posted it would be good if two people were in charge just in case things do go out of hand, because we don't appreciate drama at [info]hogwartsishome.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: If its in a post and its breaking a rule I would most likely delete the post (and note the officials of action and copy what happen noting what rule they broke)) and give out a warning to whomever posted it. If it continued I would seek advice from the officials and layout any consequences the officials and I think is suitable for breaking rules after I gave a warning to be respectful.
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[Poll #621869]
Applicant #1
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: Well it sounds much like any secretarial position. You keep minutes log (chat logs), You keep a eye on memberships (cleaning out old ones, approving new ones), and you keep a calender of events; possibly the event, who participated and point distribution?, basically it sounds like a record-keeping position, I like keeping records of everything so it was something I was interested in when I first noticed it.
I suppose the community would have all the officials as members/friends, then those friends would be sub-divided into groups, chat logs will be posted to those members who are able to view the that particular log if it's not a open dicussion, I'm assuming a lot of the posts will be kept locked if it involves the record-keeping of community decisions and the process there of.
Point and event logs would be helpful for community members on general as they can go back and see what events we've done, how the community responded to said events and give a idea of which events draws the most amount of people. I'm assuming logs like this would be kept as backup/statistical and help with planning future events.
I'm envisioning a filing cabinet, but as a LJ, basically you use tags and identifiers to help sort each item to a specific catagory, for faster browsing to those who are looking up information.
This would also be a good idea for helping new officials and the like to see what we've done in the past and get a idea of how things work.
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Applicant #2
Give your ideas on how to handle this community:
In the recent drama issues (and I'm not just talking about the past two weeks, but the blow up over OUAT), one of the biggest issues for watchers of it all was where it had come from. What was the history? What really happened with the Rebels? Where were the past fights and decisions?
I'm a historian in training at school. In my opinion, we really need a history of not just the controversies, but of our glories as well. Thus, I'd like to make a timeline of HiH events since the beginning. As it stands, I've been in the community for nearly a year now (11/17/04!), and as such, I've collected a fair amount of information about nearly everything. I save chat logs as a matter of course, and as a member of F_W, I've gotten into the habit of saving pages when they seem to be about to blow up.
My basic goals for the community:
1) A timeline, with hotlinks to the original posts.
2) Special reports by people who were there.
3) Working with the Daily Prophet people to keep logs of who has won contests, with possible rewards given to those who participate a lot without winning. (After all, they also earn points for their House, though without so much recognition.)
Another reason for having such a timeline would be setting precedent. That way, if an issue comes up that has occured before, instead of fighting over favoritism and causing chao, one could simply look back and see specifically how it was handled previously. We have a lot of new officials right now, and it's good for them to have a base of what has gone before.
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Applicant #3
From what I have seen of the posts already, this is an active group that won't need much prodding. I think the best way to handle this community will be posting the right questions at the right time. Also, making the community part of the decision making process by listening to what they have to say. For example, the question posted on 10-13-2005 asking how to make the community more active had many good ideas and a lot of interesting comments. I think one of the things that might help is having a short story as part of the monthly discussion as one of the main complaints centered around not having enough time to read. Another is discussing books that most people have already read thereby also saving them time and might even prod them to reread the book in question. I understand completely, having just graduated and contemplating going back for more classes, that time is rather limited when you are a student. I would like to help those who are students participate along with those who might have more time to read.
Additional note: I am an avid reader, a lot of sci-fi/fantasy, some horror, some romance, some myteries, quite a bit of non-fiction, and a ton of cookbooks. My husband and I can boast a library of over 2,000 books. I lucked out, I got my father's collection of books. This is something I am very interested in and will be more than happy to put in the work to make this group successful.
I would like to keep this group going. I think I can do it.
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Applicant #4
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: Well first would be getting a cool layout. :) Keeping the tags and memories section very up-to-date seems like it would probably be the most important thing; I think I could guarantee enough of my time to archive things at least every other day, if needed. It would be an extensive usage of memories and tags, so that things would be easily found and not lost to obscurity. Offering ideas for conversations, coming up with activities, etc...
Also, I would definitely be able to check at approve membership at least once daily, so no one would be waiting to be accepted for any length of time.
As far as moderating posts, if anyone caused any problems then I would be quick to contact them, privately of course, and settle it, not let the drama fester. A drama-free community is a happy community.
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Applicant #5
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: I would definatly be able to handle being archiving, seeing as how I'm online all the time either after school or on the weekends. I don't really think that the posts should be moderated, but more of the membership.
[Poll #621870]
Good luck to you all!! <33
Bunny / Gryffindor
Give your ideas for a participation activity at St. Mungo's: I'd love to discuss maladies and illnesses as well as possible cures- both Magical and Muggle as described or or mentioned in the HP series. Mostly discussion, but I could see doing contests or giving points for entertaining responses at my discretion. I'd LOVE to get graphic descriptions or pictures submitted of various maladies as well. Maybe... have a diagnostics lab? We could go all DR HOUSE on this comm!
What would you change about St. Mungo's? I have no idea. I'm not on that list. I suppose I would give it a themesong. YES- A THEMESONG! And make the nurses- male and female, wear skimpy uniforms. VOTE FOR ME! (or don't.. that's ok, I won't cry.)
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
Honestly? First off I'd laugh. Coz how dumb can you get. Some people misinterpret and take things wrong, and fire off a reply without thinking. It happens, we're all guilty. I would first FREEZE comments so it couldn't escalate further.
Secondly, I'd mandate a bit of cooling off. Sometimes we just need to sit down and think. We'll either come to our senses- and feel better and stop bickering, or stew and end up leaving. Either way, the bickering stops and we all win!
Thirdly, I would let them both know I understand where they're coming from. Even if that's a total line of bullshit, it seems to work in conflict arbitration. I'd throw a bunch of big words at them to make them feel smart for understanding it, and better because I REALLY CARE FOR THEM.
Then I'd get on with life. And I'd expect everyone else to. I'd post something funny, or a new project, or some OTHER form of distraction to get our gluteal maximii out of the slumps and back on track with activities and earning points
Give your ideas for a participation activity at St. Mungo's:
- Perhaps asking memebers to make banners to advertise and promote the community.
What would you change about St. Mungo's?:
- I would make it a place that is for support in general, not just necessarily related to world events (although these would obviously be important) but there are serious problems that individuals may have themselves in their personal lives and St Mungos should be a place they can turn to for support. As an undergrad I trained as a Samaritan and counsellor so I have a bit of experience in this area.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
- It depends what you mean by 'problem'. If you mean a technical problem I'd try to sort out and if it didn't work then ask for help! If you mean a problem with members then I would make sure things got sorted out before they 'boiled over' into big trouble, perhaps in private, by email if people could get eaily offended, but publically posting to say that things are being sorted out and how.
Obviously St Mungos could be a potentially sensitive community so it is important people stick to the rules. If there are severely offensive people I might consider implementing a '3 strikes and you're out' system.
[Poll #621866]
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes: Thanksgiving, Christmas, House Pride
What would you change about Flourish? I have been studying the shops very closely and I don't really think there is anything I would really want to change about Flourish. I have some ideas that might make it better. I think that we could do a shop of the week or month by having each shop submit something new they are offering for that week and have HiH vote on it. Then we could get some "advertisment" in the Daily Prophet and promote their shop.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: I feel that if each side has their views acknowledged and brought to the table then we can get the conflict out into the open alot sooner. I feel this would decrease the amount of backbiting and drama behind the scenes. If the problem is dealt with directly we can get back to the task at hand, bring HiH the best graphics and icons that we can produce. If the problem is beyond my capabilities of mod then I will bring the issue up with the needed higher officials.
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:Considering it is almost December, of course at Christmas/Winter theme. Maybe a theme using the house animals (lion, badger, raven, snake). Also, perhaps, "geographical" theme. As in, using pictures of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, the Burrow etc.
What would you change about Flourish? I'd change the info. Make it neater and easier to navigate. I would make sure to be on top of everything, and try to not let things get piled up, so at the end of the week or month have a lot of work to do. Also, I would make myself as easy to contact as possible, so if people have a question, they can get it to me quickly.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: First I'd try to contact the person(s) who 'arose' the problem, and talk to them about them. It depends on the severity of the problem. If it were small, I'd just talk to them about it. If it were bigger, I'd take it to the main community. Either way, I'd do the best I could to fix it.
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:
- December: Hogwarts Holidays - celebrating winter/new year's/Christmastime Hogwarts style
- January: Heads of House - featuring HP heads of house or house animals
- February: Inter-House Relations - finding similarities
- March: Lucky Charms - featuring things like pennies (knuts!), horseshoes, clovers, etc
- April: Elemental - water, fire, air, earth
- May: Youth - baby animals, flower buds, nappies, etc
What would you change about Flourish?
- I think it runs well, but the allotment of points is a bit blurry. I would make it more clear how many points are given for the graphics made.
- It might be interesting to try a vote for most popular new item each month and award the winner extra points, or possibly knuts (since, I assume, the most popular item would be the one ordered the most!)
- There should be an incentive for ordering outside of one's own house. It does happen, but mostly I've noticed members ordering from their housemates to keep the poitns at home.
- I would like to see more fanart, but I'm not sure if the lack of a shop creating fanart is due to lack of interest or not really having a way to include it with the set up.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
- The first step would be looking over the problem. What's going on? Why is it a problem? Who is involved? Then steps must be taken to fix the problem. How can it be fixed? What is the most appropriate action in this instance? With two or more dissenters, all sides should be regarded equally and no decisions made on just one report. If someone is causing trouble or breaking rules, one warning should be all that is necessary to correct the issue - after that, temporary suspension, then perhaps removal from the community, depending on the severity of the transgression.
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes: Zonko's (an emphasis on humorous tags and icons, nothing offensive to houses, but funny quotes, house inside jokes, etc.), Home (an emphasis on Hogwarts rather than houses.), Literary (an emphasis on the books, the chapter art, the covers, quotes from the books, etc)
What would you change about Flourish? Essentially, Flourish is a great contribution to HiH, but it only works if people are there to order things from the shop owners. I think that we need to raise a little bit of the image for it. We need to get people joining. With 551 members of HiH and less than 200 in Flourish, I think it's a bit of a shame. It's one of the easiest ways to earn your house points and yourself points when you sort. I think that it was run relatively fine otherwise, so there's really not that much to change, just little things here and there. I think there's a need to involve the shop owners. And maybe perhaps looking to lift the one post a week limit, perhaps making it two, so that the new catalog items can get a bit more prominence rather than being stuck at the end of a delivery post.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: Identify, contain, and resolve. Three simple steps and usually they work. You identify the problem, contain the situation and the people in it, and then you begin to resolve it. You can't actually resolve a problem that is on-going, which is the reason you need the containment. You have to be impartial and see both sides. It's important that the person stepping in (the mod) not just dole out a solution, but that those involved come to a solution because otherwise, the situation is not truly resolved.
Give your ideas for at least three monthly themes:
-December: Holidays Around Hogwarts
-January: Beginnings (However this wants to be interpreted)
-February: House Unity
What would you change about Flourish?:
First off, I'd change how many points are awarded for things. The point system is seriously screwed up there right now, and I'd like to change it up, a lot. For example, layouts? Are REALLY hard, and the points are crazily low for them.
I'd also change the way that the shops can post. I don't like the one post a week rule, and I think that rather than just having a limit on posts, we should have a limit on number of deliveries.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?:
I'd handle it the way that anyone would. Depending on the problem, I would address it myself with the person who caused the problem, or I would bring it to the other mods.
[Poll #621867]
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:
Being more or less an artist myself, and also having participated in several icon challenge communities, I've experienced that the most popular contests are those, that leave plenty of room for personal likes, dislikes and interpretation - contests that only define a vague outlining, a concept. I've thought quite a while about three subjects that would do well here, and I'll list three of my personal favourites below:
Unfamiliar
Create an icon of your favourite HP character, but do not use images of the actor who plays him or her in the movies. You may use fanart, but you may also use a different model to represent your character (for instance, Boyd Holbrook as Draco), or even a stock image, as long as you find that it represents your favourite character.
Outside the box
Create an icon that is not completely filled with one image. Use spacing to your advantage, try out image repetition, boxes, white space. It does not have to bee 100 x 100, rectangles can make for a really nice and surprising effect.
Creatures and monsters
Create an icon not featuring a human character from the HP universe, but a creature or a monster. You do not have to use a screencap from the movies - you may use stock images and anything else, as long as you feel it represents the creature you want to make an icon of.
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?:
Cheating is, more often than not, a direct result of ignorance, rather than purposely being dishonest. Or maybe I'm simply idealistic to believe this. Either way, I've found that many people who copy other's work, do so out of admiration, not consciously noticing that this is wrong.
I would first collect proof, because accusations must be build on something. After all, it is possible that what seems like cheating, is merely a coincidence. I believe everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, but when I think someone is cheating, I will research it, and when I've found too much proof to deny it, I will e-mail the person in question, confront him or her with the information I've collected, and ask of him/her to not do it again in the future, also explaining why it isn't the right thing to do.
If it occurs more often by the same person, I don't think I'll have a choice but to ban him or her (temporarily) from participating.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?:
Suggestions are always good, and often they are useful because they really reflect what members like, and what they would participate in. On the other hand, sometimes, suggestions are simply not suited to be carried out. In any case, I would seriously think over it, perhaps modify it a little when necessary, but in most cases, I would probably carry them out whenever possible.
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:
1. Inanimate objects!
Lots of graphics challenges focus on the characters or scenery of Harry Potter. But what about that poor Monsters Book of Monsters? Or Harry's overlooked Firebolt? This challenge would be to make an icon/friends only banner/journal header starring one of those rarely-seen inanimate objects that are still ever-so-important to the world of Harry Potter.
2. Rare ships!
If you ship R/Hr, H/G, or even D/H, more power to you--but this challenge is for those lovely rare ships that hardly anyone writes fanfiction about but you love them anyway. The challenge is to create a icon/FO banner/header for whatever rare ship of your choosing. Manips are welcome, as well as using other actors and actresses (for people such as Luna, Narcissa, etc.)
3. Seasons challenge
This would be split up into four different challenges. There would be the spring challenge, in which one would create an icon/FO banner/journal header featuring HP characters or scenery in the springtime. The next would be the summer challenge, followed by the fall challenge, followed by the winter challenge. The fall and winter challenges can include aspects of various holidays during those times (Halloween for fall and Christmas for winter), but they shouldn't be dominated by those holidays (meaning, they would have to show all aspects of the season).
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?: I would first give that person a warning and remove their entry from the challenge. I would probably put them on a three-strikes type of system, where if I saw them cheating more than either two or three times, I would discuss having them banned from participating in the challenges.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?: I would take it into consideration! I'm sure there will be times when the mods are either busy with real life or just absolutely stuck for ideas, so they'll have to ask others for help. And, if more than one person comes to me with the same suggestion, it probably means that it's something that a lot of people want to see so I would be even more willing to take their suggestion into consideration and, if it's a good suggestion, I would probably use that challenge/their idea.
Do you have restrictions on your time here at HiH?:Really I spend a lot of time online, doing nothing, so I have a good bit of time to give.
Give you best ideas for Graphics contests:Designs based solely on chapter art; a design which represents a spell found in the spell section of the Lexicon; Farewell to Dumbledore; Animals of the Magical world; etc
If you saw someone cheating, how would you handle it?:Number one, I'd confront them about it. If I had proof they were cheating I'd disqualify them from the contest and discuss it with my co-mod and you and whoever else you thought ought to deal with it.
If someone came to you with a suggestion, how would you handle it?:I would definitely consider it. I can't be creative all the time (although I'd like to think I am!) I would of course discuss it with my co-mod, but if it was a good idea, I'd deffinitely try it out!
[Poll #621868]
Give your ideas for a participation activity at Insomniacs: Seeing how it's about a place to talk about other fandoms besides HP, perhaps have crossover graphic challanges
What would you change about Insomniacs? Instaed of waiting till 2 am to post, making it midnight to start posting.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: Talkk t the other officials about it and see what to do as a whole.
I loved the idea of the insomniacs comm, and I'm almost always up past 4 am EST anyway.
Give your ideas for a participation activity at Insomniacs: Well I think to increase a communties activities you need to have something people want...so I would have open discussions of course(like the community has right now) but I think they're should be at least a Debate/Theories Contest held once a month...((I NOTICE THEY BRING ALOT OF PARTICPANTS)) And I think alot of people here have a knack for Debating and that would allow people to participate more. Also, there is so much to debate about in the world and in the Harry Potter universe. Plus, people who like to debate would spend hours late at night just to debate someone(sad but true) I do that sometimes when the subject is I'm debating is passionate enough.
I would have special late night fun activities...like trivias and scavenger hunts for those I know willing to make some extra points for their house...**these of course dealing with harry potter and its universe**
And finally once in awhile a drabble or icontest something dealing with sleeping (or any other theme contest)...or lack of because well this community is just about that people not sleeping. (hehehe)
What would you change about Insomniacs? I would change the hours just for alittle bit because no offense some people do have work and daily activities, so instead of 2:00 am-8:00 am...I would say 12:00am- 8:00am...just to make sure people would be up alittle to participate more in this community. I also would change the journal layout, user info page, and official icon for community because it needs a complete makeover and i know alot of people who would be glad to help me with that department ((not the best in graphics but learning)), more promotion is needed to bring people over to [info]hh_insomniacs because its fairly new to the community and I only saw one post talking about it, and finally I think a Co-Mod is important because I learn no good community is truely sucessful unless they have a Co-Mod plus with late night contests and discussions posted it would be good if two people were in charge just in case things do go out of hand, because we don't appreciate drama at [info]hogwartsishome.
If you had a problem arise within the community, how would you handle it?: If its in a post and its breaking a rule I would most likely delete the post (and note the officials of action and copy what happen noting what rule they broke)) and give out a warning to whomever posted it. If it continued I would seek advice from the officials and layout any consequences the officials and I think is suitable for breaking rules after I gave a warning to be respectful.
[Poll #621869]
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: Well it sounds much like any secretarial position. You keep minutes log (chat logs), You keep a eye on memberships (cleaning out old ones, approving new ones), and you keep a calender of events; possibly the event, who participated and point distribution?, basically it sounds like a record-keeping position, I like keeping records of everything so it was something I was interested in when I first noticed it.
I suppose the community would have all the officials as members/friends, then those friends would be sub-divided into groups, chat logs will be posted to those members who are able to view the that particular log if it's not a open dicussion, I'm assuming a lot of the posts will be kept locked if it involves the record-keeping of community decisions and the process there of.
Point and event logs would be helpful for community members on general as they can go back and see what events we've done, how the community responded to said events and give a idea of which events draws the most amount of people. I'm assuming logs like this would be kept as backup/statistical and help with planning future events.
I'm envisioning a filing cabinet, but as a LJ, basically you use tags and identifiers to help sort each item to a specific catagory, for faster browsing to those who are looking up information.
This would also be a good idea for helping new officials and the like to see what we've done in the past and get a idea of how things work.
Give your ideas on how to handle this community:
In the recent drama issues (and I'm not just talking about the past two weeks, but the blow up over OUAT), one of the biggest issues for watchers of it all was where it had come from. What was the history? What really happened with the Rebels? Where were the past fights and decisions?
I'm a historian in training at school. In my opinion, we really need a history of not just the controversies, but of our glories as well. Thus, I'd like to make a timeline of HiH events since the beginning. As it stands, I've been in the community for nearly a year now (11/17/04!), and as such, I've collected a fair amount of information about nearly everything. I save chat logs as a matter of course, and as a member of F_W, I've gotten into the habit of saving pages when they seem to be about to blow up.
My basic goals for the community:
1) A timeline, with hotlinks to the original posts.
2) Special reports by people who were there.
3) Working with the Daily Prophet people to keep logs of who has won contests, with possible rewards given to those who participate a lot without winning. (After all, they also earn points for their House, though without so much recognition.)
Another reason for having such a timeline would be setting precedent. That way, if an issue comes up that has occured before, instead of fighting over favoritism and causing chao, one could simply look back and see specifically how it was handled previously. We have a lot of new officials right now, and it's good for them to have a base of what has gone before.
From what I have seen of the posts already, this is an active group that won't need much prodding. I think the best way to handle this community will be posting the right questions at the right time. Also, making the community part of the decision making process by listening to what they have to say. For example, the question posted on 10-13-2005 asking how to make the community more active had many good ideas and a lot of interesting comments. I think one of the things that might help is having a short story as part of the monthly discussion as one of the main complaints centered around not having enough time to read. Another is discussing books that most people have already read thereby also saving them time and might even prod them to reread the book in question. I understand completely, having just graduated and contemplating going back for more classes, that time is rather limited when you are a student. I would like to help those who are students participate along with those who might have more time to read.
Additional note: I am an avid reader, a lot of sci-fi/fantasy, some horror, some romance, some myteries, quite a bit of non-fiction, and a ton of cookbooks. My husband and I can boast a library of over 2,000 books. I lucked out, I got my father's collection of books. This is something I am very interested in and will be more than happy to put in the work to make this group successful.
I would like to keep this group going. I think I can do it.
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: Well first would be getting a cool layout. :) Keeping the tags and memories section very up-to-date seems like it would probably be the most important thing; I think I could guarantee enough of my time to archive things at least every other day, if needed. It would be an extensive usage of memories and tags, so that things would be easily found and not lost to obscurity. Offering ideas for conversations, coming up with activities, etc...
Also, I would definitely be able to check at approve membership at least once daily, so no one would be waiting to be accepted for any length of time.
As far as moderating posts, if anyone caused any problems then I would be quick to contact them, privately of course, and settle it, not let the drama fester. A drama-free community is a happy community.
Give your ideas on how to handle this community: I would definatly be able to handle being archiving, seeing as how I'm online all the time either after school or on the weekends. I don't really think that the posts should be moderated, but more of the membership.
[Poll #621870]
Good luck to you all!! <33
Bunny / Gryffindor
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Date: 2005-11-28 08:46 pm (UTC)Jessie//Slytherin
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Date: 2005-11-28 08:51 pm (UTC)