An open letter to Chalex4

[Vicious Horizon]

Bumping for great justice!

[Chalex4]

So now it's time for me to chip in on the conversation! I'll try to keep this concise .

Firstly, thanks for being proactive and all getting behind an idea like this. It makes a lot of sense, and I'm completely happy to admit that. My views on how the community should be run have dramatically changed since we started it 5 years ago. Like any organisation, people have their time, and fresh blood can really help revitalize things.

So why did I not do this before? Indeed I have tried (Siepie & Kata) but perhaps I was focusing too much on technical expertise. I had no idea you were all so keen on keeping ATK fresh and exciting!!

What can be done? Well, I don't think it should all rely on one person at the top. Here are some ideas:

--------------------

ATK Manager:
Description: This person needs to have a real vision for where ATK can go in the future, and how to manage what we already have. This spreads from our servers and website to making sure the members in the community have their views heard. They are also responsible for finding sponsorship, ordering merchandise and ensuring that there is regular communication and meetings with the rest of the administration team.
Time: During the week, at least an hour a day. Weekends should be considerably more.

Head of Technical:
Description: ATK is your oyster. You can really make a difference in this role, whether its from the more menial tasks of updating the website and servers to designing applications for mobile devices and tools that make ATK unique. Experience in HTML, CSS & PHP would help. Advanced technologies like C++ and Ajax can be learnt if necessary.
Time: During the week, at least half an hour a day. Weekends should be considerably more.

Community Manager:
Description: Responsible for gaming nights, LAN trips and everything social (online and offline!). They are THE port of call for all community members. This person must keep track of the community's growth and, with the admin, draw up a plan for how to improve it. Current statistics must be taken and targets set. They are also responsible for advertising the community and ensuring that everyone knows all the latest ATK news.
Time: During the week, at least half an hour a day. Weekends should be considerably more.

--------------------

So where are you Chalex? Still here, but I won't be in on every meeting. I will need to be consulted though by the "ATK Manager" before major changes are made.

So who's admin? The "ATK Manager" is really the admin position, but I wanted a name that's easier to understand. In fact, all 3 positions would have administrative control (to a degree).

What about current positions? The moderators will report to the "Community Manager". Current "Head of Graphics" roles (Chaz and Vox) would have a slightly adapted role. They will liaise with all three new positions, providing valuable design choices and keeping everything to the "ATK theme". Obviously they're also there to do awesome graphics work too!

Why would anyone give up their time? Having an ATK position will REALLY boost your CV, and give you masses of experience. I found it invaluable and have spoken about it in every single interview I've ever had! I can also write referrals for LinkedIn etc.

--------------------

That's it folks! We need to get ourselves back on track by the time BF3 comes along .

PS. I REALLY appreciate all the kind words you've said about me. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys can do.

[Joe]

I think the ideas about the 3 positions sound really good and getting back on track for when BF3 comes along is a good idea! It's cool you agree that this needs to happen also as you can't be around all of the time now ( not your fault ). Hopefully with the help of everyone in ATK at the moment we can now start to help the community grow and have a community vote on who should be the ATK manager etc... Look forward to seeing what happens as a result of this!

[Vicious Horizon]

^ What Joe said.

Also I think one of the reasons we're annoyed about the way that things are currently run is that we're often left out of the loop (I.e. The super secret project that you were working on that you wouldn't release any details about; as well as the fact that a lot of us have been with the community for a number of years and I think most of us have a feeling of ownership of the community, a bit like a business has shares I suppose, so having more community appointed roles would be beneficial to the community as a whole I think.

[Isphera]

Just to pre-emptively answer these questions, a method for selection for these roles as well as nomination is being developed currently and will be published tomorrow evening in a new thread. As it stands, you will only be able to apply for ONE position, so please do not write masses on why you should be both Technical and Community. Current rough process is for interested people to come forward, writing a little bit on why they would like to take on the role, then all candidates to be vetted by Chalex and senior members that do not run for positions. Following this community voting will take place.

Please bear in mind this is very rough and likely to change.

--

Official stuff out the way, I appreciate your input Chalex, and I look forward to resolving this in the next few days. On mumble, the ideas that have come out would make the whole leadership more open and accessable to members in order to see what we are doing and to make inputs into ideas easier.

A quick joke, The ATK Manager role in video form:

[Colonel Mitch]

This sounds reasonable so long as this means we really do have the power to change things more than now, like the website etc, say we wanted to add a page and move a link somewhere.

[Hutch]

I might run for something, then change the background to a giant picture of Pinkie Pie, demand everyone make meringues and photo them to become a full member, make the movies section just links to My little Pony videos and then quit. That is my campaign promise.