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[Melissa McCarthy]

I'm very glad to see that this idea is being tried!  Right now I just have a
few comments on some things that have been posted.
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Joywitch:
> I'd like to have some discussion of how new list elves/admin team
> members are chosen.  Is there a more democratic way of doing this?
> What are the advantages/disadvantages of a more democratic system,
> such as elections?

I think there are a lot of disadvantages to elections.  The one time I saw
it tried elsewhere, it made things much worse.  The problem is that first of
all, few people would probably be bothered to vote, so it wouldn't be any
more representative than the current system.  Second, an election runs the
risk of turning membership in the list administration into a popularity
contest, and turning the admin itself into a clique.  I was willing to
support the idea of an election only when it looked to me like the current
list-admin system was a *lot* more broken than it is.  The lists I
co-moderate aren't democracies, they're benevolent dictatorships.  That
system works well for those smaller lists (tiny in comparison to HPFGU!) and
it should be able to go on working here.

Hebby Elf:
> If you could change one thing about HPfGU, what would it be?

I want people to stop quoting oodles and oodles of previous posts in their
replies.  I read the list through email, not at the site, and it is terribly
annoying to have my mailbox filled up with quoted text that doesn't need to
be there.  The Elves probably can't make that happen, though... ah well, I
can dream.

So, to avoid irritating myself with a lot of quoted text <g>, I'm just going
to say here that I agree wholeheartedly with everything Annemehr said in her
post.

Hebby Elf:
> > Should there be some formal recognition of good/long-time posters?

whizbang:
> Perhaps a members only forum like Hogsmeade.  It would be by
> invitation only and extended to longtime members who meet certain
> expectations.  Abiding by rules, regular activity, thoughtful posts,
> etc.  It might relieve some of the pressure on the main board as
> well.  It would give serious and experienced posters a place to
> advance theories.

I'm not sure I like this idea.  What's wrong with having those serious
posters advancing their theories on the main list?  Wouldn't that just sap
the main list's talent and make it a less interesting place to be?  If this
forum were to be used as a sort of breeding ground for new theories that
would later be posted to the main list, that might work out, but if it
simply becomes a retreat from the main list... I don't know.

As for formal recognition, I've always thought that was the purpose of
Fantastic Posts!

Melissa, still unable to come up with any good ideas