Proposed Officer Position: Poll-Master

[Sommerswerd]

I suggested this to Sommer in a PM before we got our private forum and IIRC he wasn't in favor of the idea, but oh well.

That makes me sad r20. It seems almost like you are saying that I misled you or tricked you somehow...

I felt so bad about it that I checked my PMs to see exactly what you said and what I said... I will only post what you said if you give me permission because I think PMs should remain private unless the person being quoted gives permission.

However, I have to say once I read it, I feel a little mis-represented. All I said to you was that we needed to have elections for our officers and that they couldnt just be appointed unilaterally. I encouraged you to run for office if you wanted to. I also made some recomendations for doing a better welcome ceremony for new AMAZONs.

Again I can post your PM and my response with your permission if you feel I have mis-stated anything, but I don't see why you would imply that I told you I was not in favor of us having a Poll-Master.

 

[SilentConfusion]

I candidate myself. I suggested this to Sommer in a PM before we got our private forum and IIRC he wasn't in favor of the idea, but oh well. I don't really know what to put inn an application, but I promise before I make polls that I will think about them and make sure they're fair. And if any of you thought I'm not very good cause everyone is criticizing the tech poll, I bet you would have do it the same way.

Oh and I posted this before reading norton's comment and I was going to do that anyway.

The tech trade poll will be fine if we do as Norton I suggests, we won't have to redo it. Just add a runoff. If we end up following Norton I's suggestion, the the tech trade poll we have currently running is fine. We'll just have another one after that between two highest vote getters. Either way I definitely don't hold it against remake20. I think this position is important not because people can't write polls, but to help eliminate potential friction.

And, remake20, you said you noticed the amended version... I assume you still want to run under the new terms, right?

 

[damnrunner]

A main aspect of this would be to lead fair discussions on polls and potentially other controversial issues. I think I did a fair amount of that in the last game but I can do that informally rather than with any elected position. Also just to point out that several of us will likely drop off once the game gets going so all of the early elections and positions established will likely get juggled a bit.

 

[remake20]

That makes me sad r20. It seems almost like you are saying that I misled you or tricked you somehow...

I felt so bad about it that I checked my PMs to see exactly what you said and what I said... I will only post what you said if you give me permission because I think PMs should remain private unless the person being quoted gives permission.

However, I have to say once I read it, I feel a little mis-represented. All I said to you was that we needed to have elections for our officers and that they couldnt just be appointed unilaterally. I encouraged you to run for office if you wanted to. I also made some recomendations for doing a better welcome ceremony for new AMAZONs.

Again I can post your PM and my response with your permission if you feel I have mis-stated anything, but I don't see why you would imply that I told you I was not in favor of us having a Poll-Master.

I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. And that's just what I remembered, but my memory is often wrong. I know probably should have checked , I know. You don't have to post the PM it's okay. Again I'm sorry if I did something.

And, remake20, you said you noticed the amended version... I assume you still want to run under the new terms, right?

I'm not sure what your talking about, but I think so.

 

[SilentConfusion]

Just wanted to make sure you were clear about the position as it stands now since it changed.

Instead of constructing every poll, the Poll-Master will instead handle disputes and make sure that polls are handled fairly.

I will assume unless you say otherwise that you understand this.

It's been long enough and I think we can post the poll now. The candidates that have stepped forward are: Norton I and remake20.

 

[remake20]

A will continue to run unless this will be the only position I will be able to fill. I want to be a diplo the most so if I can't be a diplo if I do this, I wont run.

 

[SilentConfusion]

A will continue to run unless this will be the only position I will be able to fill. I want to be a diplo the most so if I can't be a diplo if I do this, I wont run.

No idea how the team feels about this. I don't think I saw anything saying only 1 office. My opinion would be that whomever gets elected is who people want. If people want someone to hold multiple responsibilities and that person doesn't mind, I'd say it's ok.

 

[Norton I]

No idea how the team feels about this. I don't think I saw anything saying only 1 office. My opinion would be that whomever gets elected is who people want. If people want someone to hold multiple responsibilities and that person doesn't mind, I'd say it's ok.

I second that. If people can invest enough time in the game to make contributions on multiple fronts, it would be stupid to not allow it!

 

[remake20]

You know, why are we electing, when we were planing on two anyway? Or at least that's what I understood in the OP.

 

[SilentConfusion]

You know, why are we electing, when we were planing on two anyway? Or at least that's what I understood in the OP.

This is a proposal only a single position. I can edit the OP to make that more clear. The change made was to adjust the powers and responsibilities in the interest of saving time. In my opinion having two poll-masters would be redundant.

 

[remake20]

This is a proposal only a single position. I can edit the OP to make that more clear. The change made was to adjust the powers and responsibilities in the interest of saving time. In my opinion having two poll-masters would be redundant.

Okay.

 

[SilentConfusion]

The details of the proposed position state that the Poll-Master will be responsible for ensuring that polls are conducted in a fair manner, but it says little about how this should be accomplished.

I would like to make the following proposal to accompany the description of the Poll-Master position.

The issue is making sure that the polls written are fairly constructed in a way that is fair for all options.

I think that the best way to do this would be to create a thread where the polls can be posted first by their creators.

This would achieve a few different things:
1) It would allow the Poll-Master to review the poll, with it's wording and options, before the poll is actually opened. This would eliminate the need to recall polls after several people have already voted on them, forcing them to vote again. Not only does this save people's time, but it also could help eliminate potential frustration.

2) Since the poll would be posted for a short time before it actually opens, this would allow us to start discussion of the topic before we vote, which as a side benefit might help us reduce the number of changed votes. If people are aware of the arguments for or against something before they vote, people will be able to make a more informed decision and therefore are less likely to want to change their vote after hearing discussion, which would make calculating poll-results much less painstaking.

I see the process proceeding something like this:
Anyone who wishes to write a poll will post the poll with all wording and options in the Upcoming Polls thread. The Poll-Master will have to review it in a timely manner, and if unable to do so the Captain (or another elected officer) can temporarily assume the responsibilities of the Poll-Master to ensure that polls get put up in a timely manner. Once the Poll-Master has made sure that the proposed poll is a fair poll, he will post the poll. If changes need to be made and the poll needs to modified, then the Poll-Master will work with the creator of the poll to restructure it, so it can be posted ASAP.

This will hopefully eliminate any disagreements regarding fair polling that could conceivably arise, and should help Team AMAZON to run a little smoother.


I have thought about this long and hard and I think the above idea would only help Team AMAZON.

What do people think of this?

 

[remake20]

I don't really see how that changed, but it's fine by me.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I see the process proceeding something like this:
Anyone who wishes to write a poll will post the poll with all wording and options in the Upcoming Polls thread. The Poll-Master will have to review it in a timely manner, and if unable to do so the Captain (or another elected officer) can temporarily assume the responsibilities of the Poll-Master to ensure that polls get put up in a timely manner. Once the Poll-Master has made sure that the proposed poll is a fair poll, he will post the poll. If changes need to be made and the poll needs to modified, then the Poll-Master will work with the creator of the poll to restructure it, so it can be posted ASAP.

I think that this method is a really, really good way of making the polls fair. The only thing I would add, is that:

1. You are not posting a "poll" in the "Requested poll thread" b/c its impossible to post a poll inside a thread (polls ARE threads in-and-of themselves). You are posting the exact wording (everything you want the poll to say) including the exact wording of the choices, in one single post, so the Poll Master (and all other AMAZONs) can see it first.
2. The Poll Master does not need to post the poll. If the Poll Master says that your Poll is fair, then you can just post it yourself, with NO CHANGES from what you put in the thread.

Great Work on this SilentConfusion

 

[SilentConfusion]

I think that this method is a really, really good way of making the polls fair. The only thing I would add, is that:

1. You are not posting a "poll" in the "Requested poll thread" b/c its impossible to post a poll inside a thread (polls ARE threads in-and-of themselves). You are posting the exact wording (everything you want the poll to say) including the exact wording of the choices, in one single post, so the Poll Master (and all other AMAZONs) can see it first.
2. The Poll Master does not need to post the poll. If the Poll Master says that your Poll is fair, then you can just post it yourself, with NO CHANGES from what you put in the thread.

Great Work on this SilentConfusion

Yes. I meant post the wording and the choices into the thread.

I agree that the Poll-Master doesn't need to post the poll, I didn't mean to write it like that.

I don't really see how that changed, but it's fine by me.

It didn't really change anything, just sought to clarify how the officer would review the polls.

 

[fireflames]

It would be good to amend the constitution to reflect a) that the Pollmaster position has been officially established and b) the responsibilities of the position, as discussed here.

 

[Sommerswerd]

It would be good to amend the constitution to reflect a) that the Pollmaster position has been officially established and b) the responsibilities of the position, as discussed here.

Rather than change our Original Constitution, maybe we could have a seperate thread for amendments, new Officers, etc.

 

[Tinkerbell]

How about a new post in the constitution thread? That will keep all our 'rules' together and easy to find.

 

[SilentConfusion]

How about a new post in the constitution thread? That will keep all our 'rules' together and easy to find.

This seems like a wise suggestion. It avoids the clutter of having a separate thread, while not changing the original constitution, and it is efficient and logical.

 

[Sommerswerd]

How about a new post in the constitution thread? That will keep all our 'rules' together and easy to find.

This seems like a wise suggestion. It avoids the clutter of having a separate thread, while not changing the original constitution, and it is efficient and logical.

Good idea! I think Silent Confusion should be the one to post the amendment since he wrote up the election/Office description. My other thoughts:

1. Only the Constitution and Amendments to the Constitution Should Appear in the Constitution Thread. No comments or questions should be there.
2. Silent could edit his first post in the thread to add a LARGE BOLD note that says something like "Please do not put questions and comments here. This thread is only for the Constitution and Constitutional Amendments"
3. Silent could edit his second post to be blank or to be a shorthand list of all the amendments (maybe with links to each one?)
4. We should discuss the wording of the amendment in this thread before it is posted
5. Once we discuss it SilentConfusion can post it (It should end up being the 4th post in the thread)
6. The Amendment should probably be Numbered at the top of each Amendment Post
7. Amendments should be copy-pasted from the thread where they are being discussed (not typed directly in the post, in case there are error/typos) and then Left Alone with NO EDITING whatsoever,... ever. Once an Amendment is posted, Typos should be left as-is. There should never be a "last edited by" message at the bottom of our Constitution or our Ammendments.