Announcing the Support Team, BZ Helpers Options

[Binkmeister]

The observent among you (and there are many) will notice a few BZ members now have "Support Team" as their group name. Their names will also show up in green on the active list of members.

What is this Support Team? And well you might ask. Even with 24 moderators, the volume of posts to read and review is enormous. We have found that many regular BZ members have been extremely helpful in answering questions from new members, notifying mods when a topic needs attention, and generally being helpful and good citizens of the board.

So we decided to create the BZ Support Team. These new team members have already shown themselves to be good BZ citizens, and helpful with new and seasoned BZ members. We are starting with a small number of people to begin with, to see how it works out.

Here is what these Team members are responsible for:

• Notifying mods when a thread requires attention (off topic, flaming, question answered, duplicate, etc.)
  
• Answering questions about routine things, like: how do I make a poll, what are emoticons, why can't I post in COT, what's a Premier membership, etc.
  
• Providing a positive and upbeat example.
  

Here's what these team members aren't:

• They are not moderators and don't have mod powers - they can't close threads, or redirect them, or anything like that.
  
• They are not arbiters of keeping the peace. If there's an issue between members, they are not required to step in to deal with it. That's a moderator or admin task.
  
• They are not any different than regular members, Premier members, moderators, or admins. Like everyone else, they are unpaid volunteers who have shown a willingness to provide help and information to members and moderators.
  
• They are not necessarily moderators in training. While some Support Team members may move on to become moderators at some time, this is not a new "proving ground" for mod candidates, and indeed the two roles are quite different in how they are executed.
  

So please welcome me in joining the first five Support Team members!

Kaiapu

Kanohi Kakama

Poorpip

Jaster Mereel

IM Wright

One last word about the Support Team: these members were chosen by the admins, not as a reward for past behavior but because of their ongoing commitment to quality on BZ. We do not anticipate adding more team members right away, so please don't PM asking if you can become one. The same rules apply as when we select who to ask to become a moderator.

- Binkmeister
BZ Assistant Admin