Spotlight Newsletter(My Second Crazy Idea)

[Risti]

Ok, the second idea.  This first came to mind as a way
to continue having emails that show members everything
that's being discussed if a messageboard were to be
set up.  However, I realized that even if a
messageboard wasn't set up, this idea might still help
to solve some of the 'problems' the list has right
now.

The idea that came to me, late last night while
writing the last post, is to start up a weekly
spotlight newsletter.  Written by a different person
every week(more on that later), it would give a quick
look at what went on in the HP4GU world that week.  It
would include:

A List of all new Threads begun that week.  Not every
new reply, but just any new discussions started.  New
threads that come out of an older discussion count.  I
saw it listing the
Thread Name
Thread Starter
Link to the thread beginning
and possibly
# of replies and/or
First paragraph of the first post of the thread

Purpose:This would allow everyone to have an easy
access to all the new discussions started, including
some that they might have missed.



While the first would be more automatic, and perhaps
the job of some dedicated listee to do on a regular
basis, this idea and those to follow would be more
subjective.  They should then be rotated somewhat
through members-and it would be important to include
newbies-so that the opinions don't become pigeonholed
and the expression of a small clique.  Just to put a
term on it, I'm calling the person who compiles this
the editor.

'My Current Favorites'

This would be a relatively short list, although the
exact number might vary from week to week, of the
active discussions that the editor feels are the most
interesting.  Like I said, this would be subjective,
but always coming from a different viewpoint.  They
would include,

The same information I listed in the last point
A short summary of what the discussion is about, and
why the editor feels it is
interesting/important/should be read.
A few short quotes from different participants, cited
of course.

Spotlight On a Post

This would be relatively simple.  The editor would
pick an entire post either from that week, or
important to major discussion that week, and it would
be quoted in full.  It would be a way to highlight
'good' posts, but would be done on a regular basis,
and could just as easily be filled by a newbie as an
oldbie. Also, as should be obvious, the types of posts
chosen by a newbie would probably be different then
those chosen by an oldbie.  Both could be interesting
to many of the listees, so another reason to rotate
the editor.

Alternatively, although I'm not so sure about this,
the editor could pick a member to spotlight.  In doing
this they would write a short blurb on a member that
they feel makes a big contribution to the list, with a
few links to some of their posts that the editor
particularily enjoys.  I don't know if this would
work, and maybe it should be something that is
included as well as rather then instead of the
previous idea, but I thought I'd throw it out.

Editorial

The editor would write a short article, opinion based
or maybe not, that perhaps focuses less on HP and more
on the fandom/forum.  Again, it would be a great place
to hear the impressions from a newbie(btw, I'm using
that term lightly, as it seems to have all sorts of
definitions and connotations within this list.)

Bio and Links

Finally, after putting in all this work, the editor
would write a brief blurb about who they are, how they
got into the fandom, how they got into the list, etc. 
They would also include three links that they feel
people on the list would like(with only one link
allowed to be something personal, ie. their own fan
fiction/fan site).  Other then that, the links could
be to fan fiction, fan sites, sites for another author
they think listees would like, links to a HP news
article, etc.

Finally, when necessary, forum news(announcements)
and/or major HP news could be shared.

Who Does What, and Why, How and When

New Messages-This is just compilation and formatting,
and IMHO, should be done by the same small group of
people who do the final formatting for the whole
newsletter. The tech end of the Newsletter team.

Forum/Fandom News: I see this being done by someone
from the Admin Team as needed.

The Editor.  

Before I go on, I should mention that one possibility
is that all the responsibilities I assigned to the
editor could be split amoung different people, but I
like the idea of every week coming from a different
person, and showing a full view of their opinions. 
Whoever does it, it would obviously not be up to the
minute when posted.  I was thinking that the week it
would cover would be Sunday-Saturday, and the
newsletter would go out the following Monday, leaving
Sunday, which seems to be a day that alot of people
have spare time, for the last details to be added,
everything formatted, and the whole thing approved by
someone on the admin team. Presumably, the editorial
and bio would be done ahead of time, the New Threads
and Favourites done as they appear, and the Spotlights
spotted as they come out, and decided upon at the end
of the week if nothing better comes.

Now, I realize that I've put alot of responsibility on
this person.  Everything I described takes alot of
time and energy, and has the potential to be done
badly.  Not just anyone should do it, because let's
face it, someone would just shrug, and say oh well,
didn't get it done, no big deal.  Some sort of
screening would need to be done.  This screening
process is what I see being the most difficult for the
admin team, and the thing that could turn out the
worst.  I have a couple of ideas, but I'll admit that
I have my doubts about all of them.

Originally, my thought was to have a different editor
every week, which would rotate in some order or
another through Newbies, Oldbies, and Admin(and
possibly a 4th 'General' grouping, as most of us on
the list feel that we're neither oldbie or newbies). 
I realized later that that would be asking alot of the
people on the admin team, since they are the smallest
of all those groups by far, and already have alot on
their plate.  So I then thought, forget the
categories, just have listees apply.

This brings up the question of how do they apply? 
Once they have applied, who decides who will be
chosen?  Will they even want to apply?  I don't really
know the answer to these questions.  

Originally(and originally was 2 am last night on
barely any sleep the night before) my thought was that
the Editorial also served as the application.  A
listie would send in an editorial they wrote, and a
subgroup of the admin team(or the whole admin team)
decided if they sounded like they could do it.  Once
selected, that person would be assigned their week at
least a few weeks in advance.

The other option is for a team of people to be formed
to do this on a regular basis.  Would this be more
stable?  Yes.  Would it be less work?  Yes.  Could
that group of people be seen as a biased clique? Yes. 
For this to work, the team would need to be made up of
a variety of different people with different
interests.  Perhaps it would be a term position that
listees would have, to rotate it through members. 
Another possibility, which is somewhat like my
original idea of having someone from the admin team,
and someone from the list, is that the team would do
it say 3 weeks out of the month, and on the 4th week a
'Readers Submission' would be featured.  Whatever the
situation, I personally feel that it is vital that as
many people as possible get a chance to share their
opinions.

So What's the Point?

Why am I suggesting all this extra work?  As I said in
the beginning, it could be one way for those who like
email to continue getting email.  I've seen in the
responses that have come out to that as I've written
this that it might not solve that issue.  

In any case, whether the posts are appearing through
email or a messageboard, it gives a summary of what's
going on.  Beyond that, it allows everyone to see the
list through someone elses eyes, and points them to
things they might not have looked at otherwise.  Yes,
we could just send out a weekly summary of all the new
posts.  It would be relatively easy to do, and some
might say serves the same purpose, and it would be
better than doing nothing.  However, it still won't
help people to broaden their horizons.

Secondly, it would help with archiving.  Due to the
subjective nature of it, it shouldn't be the only
method of archiving, but it would be a great place to
send someone who's new to the list to see what's been
discussed lately.

Thirdly, for someone like myself, who unfortunately
doesn't have the time right now to read through
everything, it's a way of keeping in touch with what's
going on, without getting swamped with trying to read
everything.  I tend to not even visit the site unless
I have alot of time because it's impossible to
'quickly' get the gist of what's going on in a
discussion.  While the featured discussions are
subjective, it at least gives a small view into what's
going on on the list.

Further, it allows posts(and possibly posters) to be
featured.  If the editor position is rotated well, it
will allow different people who are deserving in
different ways to have a bit of time in the spotlight.
 Not revered as the Best Ever.  Not made out to be a
HP4GU!deity.  Just someone who made a really good
point this week and should be recognized for it.  If a
poster is featured, it could be an oldbie who has been
a wise thinker for many years.  Or it could be a
newbie who has shaken the dust off of some old
assumptions and got people excited over the gleam in
Dumbledore's eye again.

Finally, I just want to stress again how important I
feel it is that if this idea is taken up, it not be
handled exclusively by a small group of people who
rarely change.  If that's the case, then all I've
given to the list is another way for people to feel
like they're being excluded, or not as worthy as other
people.

As per my last post, talk, discuss, rip to shreds.  I
might feel a little more protective of this idea then
the last, but I know it has problems.  The one that I
didn't mention is the fact that there may not be
enough people on the list who want to put time into
this to make it happen.  However, I think something is
necessary.  I love hearing what everyone has to say. 
However, membership is now the size of a small city,
and reading every single post is only going to become
more and more difficult.

~Risti, who will now try to stop stressing over this,
and start stressing on research papers due this week
as she should be.(and who also loves these type of signatures)

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