ADMIN Sent on Behalf of Abigail: A Proposal

[elfundeb2]

I am resending this message, first posted last week, as a Special 
Notice to make sure everyone has an opportunity to read and comment.  
Could everyone comment this week so we can move forward (assuming no 
objections) or discuss and vote (if there are objections)?

Thanks!

Debbie

**********

Text of original message follows:

Because Abigail is overwhelmed with RL at the moment, I am sending 
this message
on her behalf as FAQ liaison:

Dear Members of FAQ,

As you've all no doubt noticed, FAQ has faded into silence in the 
weeks since
our most recent unpleasantness. We feel that perhaps enough time has 
passed, and
we're being nudged by list members wanting to know why the FPs 
haven't yet been
updated.

As Tom pointed out, the recent resignations have left several FP 
teams unmanned
or undermanned. Other teams which still have nominal members are 
stuck in
neutral. It is time to make a coherent plan of action. Even if all of 
you take
on a new FP or update, it's clear that we don't have enough hands to 
get the
project done in a timely manner. In light of that constraint, a 
number of us
have come up with a proposal to find the needed manpower that we'd 
like to put
before you.

Instead of selecting good posters and inviting them to join the team, 
let's ask
for volunteers, and let them select which FPs they'd like to work on. 
There are
good reasons to make this a volunteer project -- it would get back to 
the
project's roots, since the first FPs were written by volunteers. And 
even more
importantly, there are many enthusiastic and talented members whom we 
would
inevitably overlook if we undertook to select candidates.

We will provide guidelines for how to write FPs, as well as a list of 
specific
resources (such as the Enchilada). We envision that volunteers
would choose which FPs they would like to work on. If each volunteer 
is working
on a topic that interests them, they're likely to put more energy 
into the
project, and the FPs that get written will be the ones the members 
want most. If
more than one person is interested in the same FP, then they can 
split up the
work as they see fit.

While membership of this list would still be by invitation, we would 
generally
allow anyone who expresses interest to join, as long as they've been 
active on
the list for a sufficient period of time to have a good feel for the 
list and
its culture. The leaders of the project (who will be drawn from among 
the list
elves, reflecting the fact that Fantastic Post is an HPFGU project) 
will
function as the "go to" people if the team members have problems or 
issues, and
will
monitor the progress of the FP project and its component parts.

What would be the drawbacks? Would we get volunteers who don't write 
well?
Probably, but we already have good editors on the FP team. Besides, 
most of the
work is culling the archives for good posts, which doesn't involve 
writing
skills. Would some of them not complete the FPs they chose to work on?
Undoubtedly, but that already happens. We believe the benefits of 
recruiting
volunteers far outweigh these drawbacks.

But we'd like to hear what the rest of you think. Please, tell us 
what you think
of this idea.

Debbie (on behalf of Abigail)
for the list admin team