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offtopic:welcoming_act

Welcoming Bill

Overview

In Fall 2007, AH.com came under siege by ravenous Trolls. Amidst the calls for government and administrative action, some members began advocating the creation of a “Welcoming Committee” to welcome newbies, help acclimate them into board society, and act as an early warning system against potential trolls. Acting President Sargon (E) endorsed the idea, even moreso after several incidents of new members being unfairly targeted as suspected trolls/sockpuppets and driven away. While the Welcoming Bill received more votes in favor than against, it failed to meet the to meet the minimum passage threshold of 8 votes due to parliamentary absences.

History

On May 18, 2008, Acting President Sargon (E) officially proposed the creation of a Welcoming Committee:

“On a more serious note I would like to introduce a proposal to create a Welcoming Committee for new Board members. The requirement is that it ought not step on Ian's toes in any way and seem like the Committee are bossing people around which is NOT their remit, and if he does not like the idea, it will be dropped. They are to be the friendly and helpful face of AH.com for new members.

Reason: Some people are leaving after being labelled as n00bs when they haven't actually done much to warrant it, are overwhelmed by board culture and perhaps need less into-the-fire primers and guidance about it and so on. Helpful hints and guidance how to use the board features, set up polls, troubleshoot simple problems etc., would be useful for them. A friendly collection of faces if you like to make the place seem a little less intimidating perhaps and maybe people who are open to being PMed for assistance regarding the Board if necessary could do that.

And certain members' attitudes do cause new members who may potentially be great contributors to leave. I know people I have referred to this board, and more than one has left in disgust because of unwelcoming comments. At least one was a good female friend of mine who was pretty upset about it. I think we should be a little kinder to new members and help them settle in.

That's the serious bit and we perhaps should do something to lessen that impression. Of course, those who come here and act annoyingly despite being called on it, can continue to be labelled as the rest of the Board see fit. The Government need not deal with that as such members will have brought it upon themselves and Ian will no doubt deal with them if they cause too much trouble.

I think discussion of this would at least be of merit.”

On May 22, President Midgard (E) also voiced his support and called on the Hono(u)rable members of Parliament to begin discussing the proposal.

Text of Legislation

NOTE: This legislation is still pending and the author of this article has taken some liberties in the wording of the legislation, based upon what has thus far been debated in Parliament.

ARTICLE I

Recognizing that some people are leaving after being labelled as n00bs when they haven't actually done much to warrant it, and are being overwhelmed by board culture, the Parliament shall establish an official Welcoming Committee of AH.com.

ARTICLE II

Section 1: Committee members are not permitted to give orders or boss around any member of AH.com.

Section 2: Committee members are permitted to provide helpful hints and guidance on how to use the board features, set up polls, troubleshoot simple problems, and similar related issues to new members.

ARTICLE III

New members who act annoyingly despite being called on it, can continue to be labelled as the rest of the Board see fit.

ARTICLE IV

Section 1: It is not the responsibility of His Administratorness' Government to address the annoyingness of certain members, as such members will have undoubtedly brought it upon themselves.

Section 2: It is the responsibility of His Administratorness Ian and the Moderating Staff of AH.com, not His Administratorness' Government, to directly respond to any new members which prove too troublesome.

Section 3: Should His Administratorness Ian deem the Parliament to have overstepped its bounds, the Welcoming Committee shall be immediately abolished.

Result

As it was proposed by Vice President Sargon, Chairman of the Evil Party, and President Midgard, the Evil Party's founder, it could be assumed to have had support of the Evil Party, the largest party in the 2007 Parliament and half of the working majority coalition.

The Welcoming Bill was placed to a floor vote on May 22, 2008:

Douglas (E), Kidblast (YSP), Haggis (E) and Nekromans (YSP) voted in favor.

The Bald Imposter (KETWIWB) and Superdude (PPP) voted against.

Agentdark (E), Gladi (E), Flocculencio (KETWIWB), MrP (KETWIWB), Steffen (FFF), Historyfan92 (YSP), Kabraloth (FFF), Michael (KETWIWB), and Ran Exilis (E) hdid not participate in the vote, resulting in de facto abstentions.

Unable to meet the minimum passage threshold of 8 votes, the Welcoming Act thus failed to pass.

See Also

offtopic/welcoming_act.txt · Last modified: 2019/03/29 15:13 by 127.0.0.1

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