Regional Forums Moderator: Charles!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

by all means keep whinning that someone that routinely pwnes you has been picked to be a mod

That's not fair, SMOKE.

i'm not a mod. i don't have to be fair. i'm just being honest.

It's not even honest.

Charles and Gene don't pwn each other. They don't even talk to each other. They talk at each other. Big difference.

[Amby 490]

I get along with Charles, but I thought the decision to make him a mod was hilarious. He doesn't really fit the typical criteria for a mod; however, I know he does frequent and get along with the people in the MENA and Canadian regional forums, so he's a good choice for the regional forums. Give him some time to show he can be fair. If he sucks we can boot him.

[SMOKE 1,426]

by all means keep whinning that someone that routinely pwnes you has been picked to be a mod

That's not fair, SMOKE.

i'm not a mod. i don't have to be fair. i'm just being honest.

It's not even honest.

Charles and Gene don't pwn each other. They don't even talk to each other. They talk at each other. Big difference.

oh yah i forgot they have a 'special' TOS.

[LoriLawless 0]

I will agree that you are seperating your personal feelings, but then again so am I so please return the favor before you say the bolded.

Fair enough. I amend the statement to read "As it turns out, every one of his supporters except one are also his friends, mostly from OT."

thanks.

And I'll concede to your further statements and let Ewok address them if need be. I wasn't aware of the moving of threads or what happened so I'll have to stay out of that one.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Ewok is here, everyone hide

[rebeccajo 14]

RJ, why not just make a policy that all non consulate immigration discussions in the regional area get routed to the Upper Forum? If that happened wouldn't the noise level as mox put it get drowned out once ppl returned to the top?

You could do that. IMO that doesn't help people (new members) understand how the process (immigration) works.

I think they need to visually SEE a place to post their question about what's gonna happen at the interview window at their particular consulate.........and all the jazz that goes with it.

And I think the site should be visually constructed in line with reality.

[LoriLawless 0]

Ewok is here, everyone hide

You have time I'm sure, he has at least 5 or 6 pages or more to catch up on

[mox 298]

But secondly - the Regional Forums were created and people started migrating to them. Now - there would be nothing wrong with that migration if the Regional Forums had been kept to the purpose they were created for. If you wonder what that was all you have to do is go the Forum Home Page and read the description of what type of discussion those communities were supposed to be for. What happened though is a lot of immigration talk went on. That talk makes sense from the Consular standpoint. It doesn't really make sense for the rest of the process. There has also been an unwritten policy of not moving immigration talk back up the "right" forums.

Everybody knows I've long advocated dissolving the Regionals. I never wanted that done to break up friendships or the community atmosphere. My main concern has been the placement of information.

Would Admin seriously consider creating Regional Forums as sub-forums to the Consulates PLUS effectuate support for organizers/mods to move all immigration talk to the "right" place PLUS add Forum Mods (what Ewok is calling Deputies)? Keep the Regional Forums but have them be more or a 'fun' place; a place for cultural discussion; a place where like-minded individuals (for lack of a better phrase) can gather?

I'd like to add this - my concept of a Forum Mod is a person who 'specializes' in that Forum. They don't cruise up and down the Upper Communities and play God. Their 'special powers' are limited to one or two forums only. They are the knowledge police - so to speak. But they can't be bullies. They have to be willing to hear out conversations, but put the hammer down when talk that compromises the site arises.

I really think if this were done, the Upper Forums would improve.

I've always been a "free market" kind of guy myself. The reason I see people asking for advice in the regional forum I haunt is because they can't make sense of the information they're getting in the upper forums. They ask a question and are immediately assaulted with "read the guides noob" and worse. They're subject to incorrect information and threads that break into flame wars between opposing egos who have completely forgotten about the OP. Then they come over to the RU forum, ask their question, and usually within the hour they not only have the answer, but they have a new set of friends who aren't just interested in upping their post counts.

Now, if you had to pay to be a member of the upper forums, or pay to be a member of the regional forums, which one would be better value? If you're going through Moscow, the answer is absolutely you'd pay for regionals. (and yeah, I know the analogy breaks down because at some point we've inherited a lot of our information from the upper forums, but I think the basic point stands.)

There's a problem with signal to noise ratio in the upper forums, and I don't believe adding a regional component is going to help. The basic problems need to be fixed first. When a member asks a question, they expect to receive a timely and accurate answer, or at least polite inquiries to help with a more informed answer. The upper forums are a gold mine of information, but it's hard to get an answer. The regionals, being dilluted, have less expertese but more willingness to provide timely and accurate information. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think reorganizing is it. Perhaps moderation of a sort, but heavy handed moderation tends to create more problems than it solves.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

RJ, why not just make a policy that all non consulate immigration discussions in the regional area get routed to the Upper Forum? If that happened wouldn't the noise level as mox put it get drowned out once ppl returned to the top?

You could do that. IMO that doesn't help people (new members) understand how the process (immigration) works.

I think they need to visually SEE a place to post their question about what's gonna happen at the interview window at their particular consulate.........and all the jazz that goes with it.

And I think the site should be visually constructed in line with reality.

I see your point. For instance I was really shocked at the reasons for denial of K1s in Vietnam. I only became aware of it when it was in the upper forum.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What we need is a better search engine.

[MonkeyJuice 3]

I'd love to see him give advice to a new member whose thread is titled, "I'm new to this forum & I'd like advice on how to be with my fiance in the US"

His pre-mod reply, I'm sure would be, "read the guides n00b"

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Krikit, I love you!

azz kisser

[Captain Ewok 1,891]

Ewok is here, everyone hide

You have time I'm sure, he has at least 5 or 6 pages or more to catch up on

I am on your post now/..... almost there ...

[TracyTN 237]

What we need is a better search engine.

More importantly, posters who will actually use even the one we have now.

I am just appalled at the number of repeat questions in the 'upper' forums. Even questions that have answers in pinned topics. They just can't be bothered to look.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

oh noes!!! the furry one is here