|
|
Friday, January 21, 2005
Pondering the Future
Wow, I haven't posted here in a while. Not that there's been much to post about, really.
The main thing is, I have been in the process of developing the style for OB 7.5. It's always quite a long process, largely because I'm rarely able to just sit and work on that one thing constantly. I tend to slip in bits and pieces of it when I can. Slowly but surely, it's taking shape. I hope to have this new edition of OtakuBoards ready to go live within the first quarter of this year (ie: before the end of March).
One of the biggest issues facing 7.5 is staff. The staff situation is really in a state of flux right now. I am aware of some people who are waiting to be hired and some who are waiting to learn their fates (at least, in terms of working out where to position them in the future).
Rather than deal with this issue progressively, I think it's best to just deal with all of it at once. It's necessary to complete this step before the site can go forward.
Perhaps the biggest news is that Charles will no longer be our Administrator. As most of you know, he's been a very busy guy in recent times and we both agreed that this puts him in a tough position.
But having said that, I have encouraged Charles to let me know what he might like to do other than that particular job. It seems that regardless, he'll continue to play an important role at OtakuBoards in the future, which is great. As I said to him in our long discussion earlier, I really want him to stay around in a position that he enjoys.
This means that aside from hiring any new staff in other areas, I am going to be on the hunt for a new Administrator.
I have several people in mind for that job and I had a lengthy discussion about it with Charles. He was very helpful and made several suggestions that we both agreed upon.
The difficulty is that usually, with Moderators or Team Leaders, I tend to know who I want and I simply approach them and let them know what they're in for. At that point it's up to them to say yes or no; to simply accept or reject my proposal.
In this case though, things are very different. Although I value and trust all of the staff at OtakuBoards, an Administrator is a very particular kind of person. The Administrator is someone who has a massive responsibility in the community and who may need to outlast me at OtakuBoards.
Right now, for example, I don't have much of a luxury to simply leave OB and move on to other things. Although we have a team of senior staff (Team Leaders) who are very talented and dilligent, OtakuBoards would still need someone to run the overall site - to be responsible for a wide variety of things that fall outside a Team Leader's role. That person would really be responsible for the entire direction of the site. If you think about it, that person would have the ability to massively change OB in whatever way. So considering that this eventuality is possible one day, I feel that I need to find the most ideal person possible.
This means that right now I am in the process of simply discussing the concept with several people. I'm not ready to make a decision yet, but when I do, you can bet that it will have been done after much discussion and analysis.
Of course, I do not have any plans to simply leave OtakuBoards anytime soon. I committed myself to sticking around to complete Version 7 and I am very committed to Version 7.5, because I think it will come even closer to realizing my goals for the site.
When you also consider that I will probably have some sort of involvement here for some time yet (provided that this network continues to reach new heights, which seems certain and provided that my skills are still needed in some capacity), it would make no sense for me to leave OtakuBoards. But I would hate to be in a position where I have to dig someone up at the last minute, just because something has dramatically changed or gone haywire. Having an active Administrator will create a buffer, that will not only help to secure OB's future, but that will also keep the site operating at a higher level on a daily basis.
My ability to delegate certain tasks to an Administrator (name changing, avatar library development, staff organization/coordination and so on) will really allow me to focus my efforts on the bigger picture; namely, things like new skins, site updates and OB's connection to the rest of our network.
Those of you who read myOtaku here and who are also OB staff will want to note that I'll probably going into this subject in more detail in our staff forum soon. So, now is the time to seriously consider your contribution to OB and your availability in general. I know some people have avoided stepping down or requesting a move, because they feel they are letting me down. But please know that you are doing the opposite by making decisions about these things earlier. ^_^
|
|
|
Comments
(21)
« Home |
|
