2016 Moderator Election

nomination began
Jun 6, 2016 at 20:00
primary began
Jun 13, 2016 at 20:00
election began
Jun 17, 2016 at 20:00
election ended
Jun 21, 2016 at 20:00
candidates
14
positions
2

On Stack Exchange, we believe the core moderators should come from the community, and be elected by the community itself through popular vote. We hold regular elections to determine who these community moderators will be.

Community moderators are accorded the highest level of privilege on our community, and should themselves be exemplars of positive behavior and leaders within the community.

Our general criteria for moderators is as follows:

  • patient and fair
  • leads by example
  • shows respect for their fellow community members in their actions and words
  • open to some light but firm moderation to keep the community on track and resolve (hopefully) uncommon disputes and exceptions
  • signed the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, 2.0, and link to your Launchpad.net page showing you have signed.

We encourage everyone who has contributed to the success of Ask Ubuntu through all moderation tasks - flagging, editing, Meta Q&A, chat discussions etc. to put their names forward.

Every election has three phases:

  1. Nomination
  2. Primary
  3. Election

Please participate in the moderator elections by voting, and perhaps even by nominating yourself to be a community moderator!

Nominees, please consider placing your answers to questions you deem helpful to your nomination inside your Nomination post.

389

My name is Thomas Ward, and I'd like to nominate myself for community moderator. My Launchpad profile is here and in order to do the package maintenance I do, I already signed the community Code of Conduct.

I have been using Ubuntu since 2009, and Ask Ubuntu since 2011. I had obtained my Ubuntu Member status by contributions to Ask Ubuntu, and I have been an active contributor to the site since my initial appearance here.

I have since branched out into the development side of Ubuntu, maintaining the nginx package in the repositories. However, I still frequently visit Ask Ubuntu, both to get help, or to give help, or to just help with moderation and cleanup.

Many times, I try and view a question or issue on Meta from all view points, or try to approach it with open mind. With the rare exception of users who will refuse to accept any viewpoint but their own, I feel that I have tried to help squish or squash disputes on Meta with a neutral analytical viewpoint that tries to be respectful to all users.

I continue to help out on Ask Ubuntu, but hope to be able to help as a good moderator as well as a good user!

122

Hi, I'm Andrew (andrew.46) and I would like to put myself forward for the position of Moderator in Ask Ubuntu.

I started my Ubuntu connection with Breezy Badger with work on the Ubuntu Forums since 2006 and more recently with contributions to askUbuntu. I also maintain a Linux-centric website.

More important than my level of technical expertise with Linux are the following points:

  • I bring with my application the maturity of a man who is in his late 50s with 3 children and 6 grandchildren.
  • I have the ability to withstand stress and make measured decisions that comes with a 30 year career as an Intensive Care Registered Nurse.
  • I have the calmness of mind that comes with being a qualified Satyananda Yoga teacher, a calmness I bring to this online world.

My Ubuntu Launchpad page is here where I have signed the Ubuntu Code of Conduct. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding this application for the position as Moderator.

390

Coding brought me to Stack Overflow (mostly as "consumer"), and since I wrote for Ubuntu, also to Ask Ubuntu (mostly to answer stuff).

To my advantage

  • I know the site quite well, endorse the general way of thinking and like to take part in the discussion on the direction(s).
  • Without being a “people pleaser”, I am constructive by nature and can easily step over things once worked out.

How I look at moderation

  • I strongly believe in the concept of AU. No concept on earth however can guarantee perfect procedures and -results in all occasions. The way the site is moderated adds the human factor and makes possible imperfections acceptable, as how I look at it. Playing a role in that is a special thing.

Motivation

  • Although I really didn't like the effect of the recent "clean up", at the same time, it proves the site is what I was hoping it would be.
  • I love the idea to focus on quality and joint result, which is imo the key of the success of the site, grew fond of many individuals because they focus on quality.
  • I highly value the current group of moderators. I would feel honored to fit in.

Launchpad

529

I've been active on the site for three years now and have grown to really care for this community. I believe I'd make a good moderator because:

  • I hope my presence here has shown that I am fair, polite and patient.
  • I am always open to—and indeed welcome—corrections.
  • I believe it is very important to be welcoming and polite to new users. Even when they post horrible questions or haven't read the help center. Instead of berating them, we should educate them and explain how the site works.
  • As a moderator on Unix & Linux, I am familiar with the mod tools and well aware of what it actually means to be a mod (more of a janitor than a ruler).
  • Given the obvious overlap in scope between the two sites, I believe sharing a mod would be useful for both communities.
  • Finally, I feel I am quite good at moderating: keeping the peace and encouraging civil discussions.

Launchpad

327

Dear AU community,

I think I can be helpful as a moderator at this great site.

My first education is Mathematics. I worked in IT consulting for about 6 years. After that I became a lawyer and now I am a self-employed barrister. That's probably a reason why I am not too friendly at times ;-)

Now IT is my hobby. I contribute to a few open-source projects, including Ubuntu and Linux kernel. Mostly it is bug fixing. Also I maintain a PPA with some drivers and bug fixes.

I have some moderation experience. I used to moderate a professional law forum (for lawyers only) for a long time. That was something, because you can imagine how easy it was to moderate lawyers.

I admire how friendly and wisely this site is moderated. It is a great experience and there is a lot to learn. I do not feel that I am 100% good for it yet, but I will try to improve.

The specifics of my job is that I have to wait a lot at courts. That means that I have enough time to do something useful for the site.

My Launchpad account

191

I'm Tim, I've been a user since August '13 and I started to gain reputation in May '14.

I live in Cambridge, in the UK, and I'm in full time education - I'm in 6th Form studying Maths, Computer Science, Physics and Geology. I work 5 hours per week.

My time is limited. Of course, if something needed doing, I can make the time, but I can't guarantee that I'll be watching the front page for questions, or on the flag queue.

However, I'm committed to keeping this site clean, as evidenced by 664 helpful flags - a 92% success rate on post flags. I have 8 of the 8 Moderator badges, and 5 of the 6 participation badges. Moderator tools would, I believe, enable me to do this the best I can - having a powerful but delicate touch is always useful.

I have moderation experience - I'm a Supervisor on Answers.com.

Meta and Launchpad

A few of my accounts:

232

Hello, AskUbuntu users !

My name is Sergiy, but for the most of the world I am either Serg or 谢尔淇. I've been learning Ubuntu for ~2 years, have been on AskUbuntu for ~1.5 years. Typically you can find me on the command-line questions, or those related to Unity desktop (providing scripting solutions that enhance desktop usability) , and in the AskUbuntu chatroom. Many of the scripts reside on github as well. Time to time, I comment on meta posts, but rarely answer there.

Advantages of me being a moderator:

  • Tri-lingual ( native in Russian, speak intermediate English and Mandarin Chinese ), so i can support questions from users around the world
  • Have discretion in dealing with difficult users, always remain respectful , professional, and honest.
  • Always willing to assist fellow users
  • Have customer service experience from restaurant and lab technician jobs

I've not had any moderating experience in the past, but I am always willing to learn and step out of comfort zone, which is what has brought me to Ubuntu and this site.

Launchpad link

191

Moderating

My aims as moderator are to further improve communication with the community.
I will prefer an open dialogue with a user or the community over non-transparent actions. Of course moderating powers come with a great responsibility. It's all about balancing the interests of the site, the community as a whole and each individual user.

Although I can't list notable moderating experience from other sites or real-life yet, I believe that I will do a good job as moderator. I am highly motivated and a fast learner, so I will improve my skills with the help of the other mods and the community to excel at this job in nearly no time.

About me

I'm about 20 years old, live in Germany and started to use Ubuntu (my first and favourite Linux system) in October 2014. In January 2015, I signed up to Ask Ubuntu and started to contribute almost daily, on the main site as well as in chat, on Meta and on other SE sites.

You see that I am very active and do not only love to learn and share my knowledge with others, but also appreciate meeting the community in our chat rooms.

Launchpad/signed CoC
Mod questionnaire

175

Hello, my name is Videonauth

In the short time I have been a member here, I have already provided many answers, comments, flags, votes, close votes, etc. I'm an early retiree, so I do have a lot of free time. With 37 years of computer experience behind me, I have developed a way to quickly learn about and adapt to work with subjects which are new to me.

I know that the position of Moderator comes with much responsibility, but I am willing to commit some of the 10 hours a day I spend on the site. I am a calm person; I can approach heated situations without being affected, allowing me to judge, objectively, what should be done.

I have listed a few things about myself:

  • My name is Michael (43 yrs.)
  • I speak both German and English
  • I am rather calm and relaxed
  • Helping others with their technology issues is something I love to do
  • Feedback and constructive criticism are more than welcome

I understand that a moderator's job involves cleaning up after others on the site, and that I will need to stop quite a few arguments, but I want to be a good role model and will do my best to uphold the standards of Ask Ubuntu.

This election is over.