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In connection with the moderator elections, we are holding a Q&A thread for the candidates. Questions collected from an earlier thread have been compiled into this one, which shall now serve as the space for the candidates to provide their answers.

Due to the submission count, we have selected all provided questions as well as our back up questions for a total of 8 questions.

As a candidate, your job is simple - post an answer to this question, citing each of the questions and then post your answer to each question given in that same answer. For your convenience, I will include all of the questions in quote format with a break in between each, suitable for you to insert your answers. Just copy the whole thing after the first set of three dashes. Please consider putting your name at the top of your post so that readers will know who you are before they finish reading everything you have written, and also including a link to your answer on your nomination post.

Once all the answers have been compiled, this will serve as a transcript for voters to view the thoughts of their candidates, and will be appropriately linked in the Election page.

Good luck to all of the candidates!

Oh, and when you've completed your answer, please provide a link to it after this blurb here, before that set of three dashes. Please leave the list of links in the order of submission.

To save scrolling here are links to the submissions from each candidate (in order of submission):

  1. After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE.
    How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?
  1. How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?
  1. How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?
  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?
  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?
  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?
  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?
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5 Answers 5

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enter image description here Jachym Michal

Update, October 18th
I decided to withdraw my nomination from the 2020 Moderator Election.
Due to some unexpected circumstances (new job and stuff...) I probably wouldn't have enough time in the next few months to properly fulfill moderating duties.

Good luck to all the other candidates :).

  1. After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE.
    How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?
  • The same way moderators always did.
    By relying on self-moderating mechanisms of SE and stepping in when needed
  • Blender SE is becoming a library of sorts, already having answers for most basic questions.
    It's increasingly more important to keep it organized, so it can keep fulfilling it's purpose.
  • Adding more moderators (eventually more and more) feels like a step in the right direction


  1. How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?
  • In summer 2019, I finally worked up the courage to try 3D. I downloaded Blender 2.8 and got hooked instantly (often spending 16 hours a day) and have been using it every day since then.
    It's an awesome journey, and this site is a big part of the experience.
  • But if you're wondering, no, I don't get paid to use Blender. And I like it like that :).


  1. How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?
  • The community here is amazing, otherwise I wouldn't stick around. Yet I understand some people became disillusioned with SE over time, and I don't blame them.
  • But for me, this is still the go to place to meet skilled yet humble people, willing to learn new things and actively share their expertise. Not just about Blender.
  • Meta is a useful tool for giving feedback to moderators, and a good way to learn about how the site works and what moderating is about.
  • Chat (Renderfarm) may feel a bit uninviting at first - I personally didn't want to intrude as a new user. But I belive it's a good opportunity to talk about (un)related stuff, and get to know people around here just a little better
  • And the encouraging?
    How about: "Hey, great answer [new user] make sure to visit our chatroom here, we'd love to get to know you better :)."


  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?
  • We're human, right? Let's open a personal chatroom and talk.
    I'm not here to deal with anyone, I'm here to make this site a better place :).


  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?
  • Again. We're people, we can talk about stuff.
    → "Hey, I noticed you closed this question. I feel we should keep it open, it could generate a lot of interesting answers. What do you think?"


  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

In no particular order and often intersecting:

  • First, they should (and currently do) keep this site a pleasant place to visit, mostly by helping others use and navigate the site
  • Second, they help where SE self-moderating mechanisms fail (rude comments, disputes between users, trolling...)
  • Third, they keep this site going! Their job isn't to know everything, but to make it easier for others to find the right answers


  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?
  • Honestly, I could do without that BIG RED Diamond next to my name.
    I'm proud of my involvement on the site, but I'm a bit afraid some (new) users will take me just a bit too seriously
  • However, I'll gladly wear the diamond so users know where to turn for help. For this reason alone, the diamond is worth it.
  • It's also a nice reminder that people around here trust me


  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?
  • That was my first question before I even considered running.
    It's simple. Regular users are limited by the system in their involvement. Instead of flagging problems, why not solve them right away?
  • And regarding the rep - I'm almost at 18,000 with most moderating tools available, yet I still feel I could help more


Well, this was fun :).

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    $\begingroup$ If I understand well, Blender is still a hobby for you (that's mainly the case for me too). Do you feel it as a limitation compared to professional people? $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 16:44
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    $\begingroup$ Hey :). It certainly limits how much time I can spend Blendering. However, I'm glad my income doesn't depend on my Blender skills yet, it makes the whole learning experience much more fun :). With regard to moderating I don't see any difference. Is that what you had in mind? $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 17:14
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    $\begingroup$ Jachym, yes, thanks! $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 17:36
  • $\begingroup$ @timaroberts How often would you frequent blender.se a moderator and how much time would you dedicate daily/weekly/monthly to review/edit? $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:20
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, you've got perfect timing, @Leander :). I've got offered a new job today, which wouldn't leave me with enough time for proper moderating. I'll decide tomorrow, whether to withdraw or not. $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 18:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Leander As for the dedicated time, I'm in a similar situation as Timaroberts. I frequent the site a few times a day, and that wouldn't change as a mod. I'd make it a priority to keep the queues in check over answering questions :). $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 18:51
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    $\begingroup$ I would be happy if you didn't withdraw. Duarte mentioned, that it could be possible to also add the runner up from this election and they were thinking about it. In that case it would be better to have more candidates than fewer who can split the work. $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 18, 2020 at 18:43
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the support @Leander, I considered that too. But all the other candidates have more experience with moderating than me, so there's still enough to choose from :). Also, I wouldn't withdraw if there were only two other candidates left. $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 18, 2020 at 19:05
  • $\begingroup$ Sad to see that you withdrew, but congratulations on the new job! Even though I don't really have much time for moderation either, I've decided to join as candidate. Just to make sure that people have a bit of a choice. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Gützkow
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 18:25
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    $\begingroup$ Echo Robert, sorry to see you off this list, maybe next time. $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts Mod
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 20:15
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    $\begingroup$ That's great news @RobertGützkow :). This election is going to be way more interesting than i thought... And good luck of course, the lineup is pretty strong this time :). $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 20:34
  • $\begingroup$ @RobinBetts Oh, you can count on that :). Thanks. $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 20:36
  • $\begingroup$ @JachymMichal, it seems the vote is open but you're not there. Is it intentional? If not I think the vote is kind of rigged? $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 20, 2020 at 5:51
  • $\begingroup$ Hey @lemon :). Nothing is rigged, I decided to withdraw two days ago. I've put a short explanation in the beginning of my answer here. $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 20, 2020 at 6:06
  • $\begingroup$ @JachymMichal, ok I understand... too bad for us, imho. Wish you plain success in your new job $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 20, 2020 at 6:13
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After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE. How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?

  • For starters, use your votes. If it is helpful at all, if it is well written, then vote it up. If not, vote down and leave a comment why so the OP can improve their Q/A. Quality content should be voted up.

  • Be patient, and be understanding that the majority of posts currently tend to be “write first don’t read”, and users will generally have no idea how to format their text the way we are accustomed to reading, or how things work here.

    Edit and improve these (ideally leave a short comment why so the OP can learn why their post was changed)

Be nice :)

How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?

  • I started using Blender sometime around 2.70 or so, a little over 6 years ago. My first experience with 3D modeling was with very early versions of Lightwave running on Windows 95, and when I found Blender I was hooked immediately, and have been since.

  • I mostly use Blender for personal projects, but will occasionally use Blender commercially.

How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?

  • This community is an amazing place, and there is an incredible amount of knowledge here. Even though there have been some troubling times in the past year, we're human. I like to err on the side of people personally. Meta and chat are incredibly important to the community, and should be used more!

  • If you have a problem, or question about the site, go to meta! If you want to converse for more than two lines of text, go to chat! Bonus, chat can be a little off-topic :)

How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

  • I don’t think that I have yet seen such an issue here on BSE, however, if ever such a situation occurred, I think I would handle the flags first and then directly contact the user should the situation merit that. Communication is always better. :)

How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

  • Communicate! If there was ever such a case, I would simply reach out and gain an understanding of their point of view. Often, asking questions clears things up.

In your opinion, what do moderators do?

  • As little as possible

  • I think that moderators are the people accountable to the community for the feel of the site and how it runs. Basically, the mods are the ones who step in to handle what the system can't on it's own.

A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

  • New users especially will immediately see mods as an authority, and it is up the mods to be discerning, and fair in how they speak and act towards them. While the diamond will certainly carry it's own weight. I already try to do my best now to treat both new and established users with respect, and fairness. I will continue to do so if elected.

In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

  • There is much more that I would be able to do for the site as a whole, as a mod. I already do what I can, flag, edit, review, comment, etc. This will continue of course, but I will be able to directly deal with the occasional spam, or obsolete comments, help bear the weight of the flags,ect.
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  • $\begingroup$ You're the only one so far that would ask why another moderator closed a question, rather than saying why it shouldn't be closed :) What are the close vote queues like? My impression of being a 7k user on English Language & Usage is that moderators mainly handle flags. $\endgroup$
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 5:22
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    $\begingroup$ +1 from me :). I'd be happy to have you as our moderator. $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 6:26
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    $\begingroup$ The first point about beginners is very important I think. Frequently this is boring, specific, repetitive, and/or with no general interest. However we can answer and be nice, I tried to do often. Yes, ok. Any idea for a better management of these cases? I must add (joke, of course): how to ban directly any question about donuts ; ) $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 15, 2020 at 18:55
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    $\begingroup$ @lemon Yes, sometimes very specific, and to that point I try to remind users that Q's should be useful to future users and the OP. To manage it is good to know the dupes, use the search or even better to have canonical answers or community wikis to refer to. The donut Q's by now are mostly dupes, so close as dupes. But still be nice, and encourage them to ask other Q's. $\endgroup$
    – Timaroberts Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2020 at 21:40
  • $\begingroup$ @timaroberts How often would you frequent blender.se a moderator and how much time would you dedicate daily/weekly/monthly to review/edit? $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:19
  • $\begingroup$ @Leander day to day varies :) Could be 30 minutes, could be an hour in a day... no hard limits. I’m already around a lot, so not much will change. :) I’ll try to at least dedicate enough time to have queues caught up so it stays manageable. Does that answer your question well enough? $\endgroup$
    – Timaroberts Mod
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 10:43
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    $\begingroup$ Yes, it does. Thank you. $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 18, 2020 at 19:12
  • $\begingroup$ Re 1. what is being "nice". We have recently lost RayMairlot, a tireless editor / reviewer / keeper of the tags... A new user took umbrage at a tag edit and spat out some of the usual obtuse, ignorant vitriol. As you'd be aware this occurs too often Our comments are ignored, edits reverted. Then no matter how rude this user may have been, another user rides up like a white knight and comments / answers to reward the tantrum thrower, whom in getting what they want is then "nice". IMO the suggestions in the CoC lean towards patronizing. Do we really want these gimme gimme noobs? $\endgroup$
    – batFINGER
    Commented Oct 21, 2020 at 7:30
  • $\begingroup$ @batFINGER to me, "be nice" means just that, literally not only as in the CoC. At the end of the end of the day, we are all human anyway. :) Some new users will stay and contribute, learn how things work here... great. Others won't. It's unfortunate that we've lost many long time users that contributed great content and worked hard to maintain the site. At the end of the day, remember we all started somewhere with a first ask, some better than others and then learned from other users comments and actions, hence why I suggest be nice, vote, comment. I hope that answers your question :) $\endgroup$
    – Timaroberts Mod
    Commented Oct 21, 2020 at 12:40
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Robert Gützkow

  1. After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE.
    How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?

I would suggest we use the votes and flagging system of StackExchange, just like before and encourage member of our community to participate in the review process. Additionally, new users should be informed about the rules and guidelines that apply to this website. I personally think it's important to keep the community friendly and welcoming, which means when new users are unintentionally breaking the rules, they are given polite reminder.

  1. How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?

The first time I've used Blender was in high school, probably around 2010, and I've been using it ever since. Blender has been a great tool for both professional and hobby projects. The last professional project I was involved in was the preparation of 3D models created with photogrammetry for an augmented reality application. I'm also a moderator on Blender's bug tracker since November 2019 and a Blender developer with commit access since April 2020.

  1. How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?

I think the community is fairly organized and well behaved, despite the exodus of moderators. It does seem that the number of questions since the 2.80 release has grown significantly and the number of answers not as much. I hope that we can create an atmosphere that encourages our newer members to contribute high quality answers of their own.

Meta can be useful to help members with issues that they have within our community and how it is organized. It also allows me to ask question to fellow community members, when I'm unsure how a particular issue could/should be handled. This is important since the perspective of one moderator may not be same as those of the community members or other moderators. Feedback and communication are key components to a healthy community.

Chat is great for the communication between members of the community, especially for having a direct conversation with a particular user. This can be helpful as a tool to solve issues one-on-one. Furthermore, it allows to facilitate more lively discussions that sometimes occur on questions and are better suited for this purpose than the comment section. If I'd see a particular long list of comments as moderator I would move them to chat.

  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I would try to have an conversation over chat with them, to see why they are leaving such comments and if they are aware of the impact these comments have on other community members. I'm certain that reasonable members will try to improve their behavior in the future, if they are politely reminded of the positive and helpful community we're trying to create here. Should the problematic behavior continue or even escalate, I would confer with the other moderators and take actions that we deem appropriate.

  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

That would depend on the particular case. If it was closed, then I would leave a comment why I think it shouldn't be and vote to reopen discuss this with the other moderators since moderator votes are binding. If it is an action that can only be reversed by moderators, which poses a high bar for reverting the action, I might post a question on Meta to discuss or contact the other moderator directly.

  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?

Moderators help to keep the community organized and running. They ensure that the members don't have to deal with rude comments, spam, overly large number of low quality posts or duplicates, content that belongs on another StackExchange website and much more. Essentially, they are are the teachers or parents of this community making sure that nobody is fighting, everybody is learning and the place stays tidy.

  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

I'm not sure how much different others will look at my past, present and future actions. I do know that I have and will work hard to ensure that all my posts have a high standard of quality. Everything I do on here already has my real name attached to it.

  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

I believe it allows for potentially quicker actions and a better ability to intervene e.g. when I'm seeing an argument that happens in the comments. Since I'm not a moderator yet, this is likely something that I could provide a better answer to after having used the moderator tools for a while.

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    $\begingroup$ "I would leave a comment why I think it shouldn't be and vote to reopen" as a moderator that vote would immediately open it. In my opinion moderators are like parents, and should be a united front to the community :) $\endgroup$
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 18:51
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    $\begingroup$ @marcellothearcane My bad. In that case, check with the moderators first. If this candidacy wouldn't have been so spontaneous due to Jachym withdrawing, I would've had time to familiarize myself with the moderator privileges. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Gützkow
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 18:54
  • $\begingroup$ I've asked a question for each candidate, about a point (that I feeled) to be cleared or explained or simply want to react on. From your answer, there is this "teachers or parents". You certainly know that rep points or any status does not give the values here (because we are just participating but low rep users can be as skilled as we are or more). On which plane "teachers or parents" is to be considered? $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 18:55
  • $\begingroup$ @lemon This was only meant to be interpreted figuratively, not as a statement about experience or status. Essentially the moderators make sure everything is running smoothly, similar to teachers or parents. $\endgroup$
    – Robert Gützkow
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 19:50
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    $\begingroup$ Curiously, the private moderators chat room over at stack meta is coincidentally called Teachers Lounge in a nod to how moderators are supposed to be the "shepherd" guiding the various communities $\endgroup$
    – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Mod
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 23:25
  • $\begingroup$ @DuarteFarrajotaRamos, appears much more like school supervisor to me. Don't know if shepherd is better (will try to find some sheeps here and ask them) ; ) But ok, nothing essential, just wanted to know what Robert meant. $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 20, 2020 at 6:46
  • $\begingroup$ You are not the first to dislike the name, it is subjective but seems to be a common misinterpretation. $\endgroup$
    – Duarte Farrajota Ramos Mod
    Commented Oct 20, 2020 at 11:34
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BSE! I would like to be in the running for the 2020 moderator nomination. I have already within a span of 8 months completed over 1,400 reviews, and answered many topics in Blender Stack Exchange. I believe I would be a good moderator on BSE, so I nominate myself in for the election.

(1) After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE. How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?

With new users, some do not always fully understand the way BSE works, so they may create posts which are not acceptable on BSE. However, this should be (and is) treated with kindness, and a moderator should simply say that it is non-acceptable. This is what I will try best to do. (1)

(2) How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?

I have had experience with 3D modeling for over three years now, and have been using Blender for two years now. I am currently using Blender mainly as a hobby, but am also working with it for commercial purposes. (2)

(3) How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?

I myself do not use the BSE chat often, and so should not be contacted on it frequently, however it is a great way for others to share work and to answer questions that might be off-topic/closed on BSE. I think to keep it, and possibly add newer features that can enhance your experience with it. (3)

(4) How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?

I believe that comments to posts (which in a large way help the site) that ruin/damage or are against the topic, and make the name of the author look bad, are completely unnecessary. I also believe that comments posted as retort to another comment, or in a way that makes fun of the original post (which do not help the post in any way) should be deleted, or not posted. (4)

(5) How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?

(6) In your opinion, what do moderators do?

I believe a moderator should look more deeply into a question before flagging, as I feel they are not currently. I have seen multiple posts on BSE, (and have had a couple posts), flagged as duplicates or something else, which are not as they are flagged for, and can be improved such that they can really benefit the site. However, when it comes to genuinely stupid posts that do not help the site, I will make haste to do away with them, as they do not help the site in any way. (5)(6)

If I am nominated as a moderator, I will try as best as I can to look more deeply into posts before flagging, while also making the necessary edits, and improvements to the question/answer wherever I can. (6)

(7) A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?

I would not see myself "above" everyone else simply because of my status if I was moderator, but would want to be seen as someone that can help frequently when needed. (7)

(8) In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?

I do not have a relatively large reputation (in terms of points), but I have made a large difference in cleaning up the site's new posts, and low-quality posts. I try to review as frequently as I can, and do the best job I can. (8)

Thank you

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    $\begingroup$ Also, don't forget to nominate yourself on the Election page :). $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 13, 2020 at 21:04
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Could you qualify a bit more what you called "genuinely stupid posts"? $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 17:01
  • $\begingroup$ Posts which basically try to troll BSE and/or are spamming or scamming the site. I.e. someone trying to sell scams to users. $\endgroup$
    – Nate_Sycro27
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 17:22
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    $\begingroup$ @Nate_Sycro27, scamming is very very rare. But ok, thanks. $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 18:11
  • $\begingroup$ @Nate_Sycro27 if you wish to run nominate, you have 3 days, AFAIK answering the questions does not nominate you. blender.stackexchange.com/election $\endgroup$
    – batFINGER
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ @batFINGER Completed! $\endgroup$
    – Nate_Sycro27
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 20:20
  • $\begingroup$ @timaroberts How often would you frequent blender.se a moderator and how much time would you dedicate daily/weekly/monthly to review/edit? $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:20
  • $\begingroup$ @Leander It might vary per day, but usually about 2 hours per day whenever I am using my PC $\endgroup$
    – Nate_Sycro27
    Commented Oct 19, 2020 at 2:26
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Teck-Freak

  1. After the 2.8 series Blender's popularity and visibility in the industry increased considerably attracting a lot of new users, this brought an influx of beginners to BSE.
    How do you suggest we deal with the inevitable increase in lower quality posts, repeated questions and general unawareness of rules and conduct?
  • For dealing with repeated questions we got a nice system of pointing out duplicates, checking if they are indeed duplicates and closing them with a link.
    Concerning unawareness of rules and conduct, it should be pointed out in a comment, linking to our code of conduct. For both, low quality posts and posts not following our rules minimal editing should be considered to bring it up to our standards. And always, always use your votes and comment on why/how to enhance a question or post.
  1. How have you first come in contact with Blender and how long ago? Are you currently still actively using it professionally or for hobbies?
  • When I was young I used to draw and invent a lot. My cousin showed me an early version of blender once it got OpenSource somewhere 2002. I hardly used it, since I could draw well and fast back then, and Blender seemed to slow/hard for my needs. When my brother found out about "Elephants Dream" I looked into it, and when it came out May 2006 I downloaded Blender (2.45? 2.49?) and made my first real animation (a light sabre throw - yes I am a nerd ). From then I played around with it every other week or so. It went much more real in university, where I had my own computer and would use it bi-dayly. Also I learned Python and in second semester got a students job as programmer working with Python and Blender and have been using it ever since.
    Currently I am using Blender almost dayly, but I don't do much artwork anymore. I use it in work 3-4 days a week and for hobby half the other days. (With 2.78 and 2.83 and I still dont like that you're forced an 'active tool')
  1. How do you feel about the current state of the community here? What role does meta and chat play in your ideal for blender.SE, and how will you encourage this?
  • The community is awesome and very helpful. I remember it as even better, but that might be my memory playing tricks on me.
  • Meta and chat are important for BSE, but shamefully I got to admit I hardly ever used either. I would like to encurage usage, maybe with a comment towards new folks.
  1. How would you deal with a user who produced a steady stream of valuable answers, but tends to generate a large number of arguments/flags from comments?
  • Weirdly specific for something very hypothetical. Well, I got to deal with the flags. Arguments should be outsourced to chat (we're all human). If someone just attacs in the comments, I think one should contact them directly. If it keeps happening, I'd delete said comments. I can see how feelings can stir up, but if you don't provide valid reasons for your argument, I'm not sure anyone would like to read it.
  1. How would you handle a situation where another mod closed/deleted/etc a question that you feel shouldn't have been?
  • I would try to explain my reasoning why I think that was wrong, and depending on the individual case I'd try to reopen the question. Communication is the key.
  1. In your opinion, what do moderators do?
  • minimally invasive modifications! In my eyes, a mod is in a weird superposition: you're a friend to anyone, you settle fights, you're the Good-Guy-Greg meme personified. However from the sites perspective, you are also a surgeon - your job is not to show how good you are with the scalpel or to make beauty-operations. Your job is to do the necessary tasks at hand, without to much complications.
  1. A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that?
  • I'm not sure. I see why it is needed, but I dont think that'll change me much. I try to be nice and helpfull anyway. Am I being "the first among equals"? I don't know and frankly dont care much either. On a scale from -10 to 10, with -10 being royally p... unhappy and 10 being highly positive, I think I'm on a -1, maybe? Slightly annoyed, but not enough to even call it annoying?
  1. In what way do you feel that being a moderator will make you more effective as opposed to simply reaching 10k or 20k rep?
  • I could solve problems that standards can only point to. Also, I'm far from a 20k or even a 10k.

Good luck everybody! May the one most fit for this site win. ;-)

$\endgroup$
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    $\begingroup$ +1 from me :). Even if you don't win this time, please do stick around in our chatroom $\endgroup$
    – jachym michal
    Commented Oct 14, 2020 at 6:31
  • $\begingroup$ @JachymMichal Thanks mate. :-D I will try to keep in touch. $\endgroup$
    – Teck-freak
    Commented Oct 15, 2020 at 7:48
  • $\begingroup$ In .3, you say " I remember it as even better". Do you think things have changed with time here? Why and what to do for it in your opinion? $\endgroup$
    – lemon
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 16:56
  • $\begingroup$ Oh. The honest answer to both would be "I dont know". My best guess is that some of the old members are slowly ground down while we get a flood of people that dont see the rules and ... lets say traditions of this site. Like I said though: it might be that I changed. $\endgroup$
    – Teck-freak
    Commented Oct 16, 2020 at 22:07
  • $\begingroup$ @timaroberts How often would you frequent blender.se a moderator and how much time would you dedicate daily/weekly/monthly to review/edit? $\endgroup$
    – Leander
    Commented Oct 17, 2020 at 8:20
  • $\begingroup$ @Leander It might vary a bit between bi-dayly and twice a day. I'd say about 3-7h a week should be reasonable. Probably I'll do more on weekends. If I notice more has to be done, I might up it a bit (maybe 10-ish), but I can't give a fixed top limit right now. Starting from January I should have more time. Sorry if that's not the answer you hoped for. $\endgroup$
    – Teck-freak
    Commented Oct 18, 2020 at 19:40

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