The moderation team is about to introduce a new format for the VIPs, which will be renamed the Forum Advisors and started from scratch. This change is based on feedback from members in the town hall thread, the moderation/administrative team, and VIP advice.
6 members will be chosen by the moderators and ADMIN, while the remaining 6 positions will be picked by the moderators and ADMIN based on member nominations. The preference for member nominations will be to have 3 liberals and 3 conservatives chosen, which mirrors the choices by the moderators and ADMIN.
The forum advisors chosen by moderation/ADMIN are as follows:
Chris: original member, long-time moderator, a large contributor to previous VIP discussion.
Common: large contributor to the forum.
Crepitus: large contributor to the forum.
Dr. Who: long-time moderator, large contributor to previous VIP discussion.
Green Arrow: large contributor to previous VIP discussion.
Peter: original member, long-time moderator.
Please nominate anyone that you wish to see become a Forum Advisor by private messaging a moderator. These names will be collected for the moderators and ADMIN to determine the remaining 50% of the Forum Advisors. Anyone with a lengthy recent infraction history will be precluded from participating in the Forum Advisors.
A new responsibility for Forum Advisors will be to start a new thread every day or every other day in a sub-forum they will be assigned to. This ensures that members see Forum Advisors actively participating and contributing. Which area each Advisor gets will depend on what they volunteer for and what is available. Additionally, the Advisor for an area will be expected to report rule violations as they see them in order to assist moderation.
Additionally, based on member request, town halls will be held monthly and run by the Forum Advisors. They can also be requested by members at any time.