Hi A-M
You asked what the difference is between a moderator and a forum advisor ?
I thought my explanation about Forum advisors had answered this - but I will try to put it more
simply as I know I can get tied up in words - sorry.
There is a very big difference between a moderator and a Forum Advisor.Basically any role on the forum is fundamentally my invention as I can make any member category I want to and give these categories any role
- but I only create categories if they will serve a purpose that will be helpful in the short term to the forum and thus eventually to women suffering from PNI.
I think in short that a Forum Advisor would not be here to support women on the forum directly - unless of course they wanted to , but it would not be expected - on a day to day basis, indeed would not be expected to post at all to support others on the forum.
Basically Forum Advisors will only ever be those who have given probably hundreds of hours of committment to face to face participation on the forum already and there would be no requirement for them to give this on an every day basis anymore unless they want to - they will have done their stint at this! .....while a moderator is expected to login at least once a week, preferably every day , and answer posts to support other women with PNI.
A Forum Advisor will be pretty much expected to use the knowledge of the issues are around running the forum to support
me directly in running it!
Or if neccessary when I am ill or not able to be on here to run the forum with me as a group - with myself having the power of veto on decisions.
Running this forum is much , much, more complicated than it ever appears from the perspective of being a member
( as all long term moderators will tell you)
and it seems to take going through the process of being a member then a moderator and sticking with being a moderator day in day out with quite a high level of commitment to understand what goes on in the background and the issues that come up.
( having said this sometimes the forum runs smoothly for many months with no intervention necessary and no issues that need intervention -
but from time to time issues arise that if the wrong decision was made it could destroy the forum in that the members trust in it would be in question -
so I really need people to help me to take the right turnings at the right time)
As I said in my post about Forum Advisors, in my experience of running a PNI forum for over 8 or so years Moderators can only sustain the amount of input required to be a moderator for a limited periods of time ( often about a year) before for their own sanity they have to focus on other things away from PNI.
In the past when this has happened the knowledge and expertise that these moderator have built up is then lost to the forum and also to me - and more to the point on a personal level I am left on my own and alone ( which is a very lonely place to be ) trying to keep the forum going, answering practically every post myself - until I can recruit and train up more moderators to take their place.
I know members also answer them too, but new members need to be welcomed by someone who has a formal role within the forum also - I also answer all the emails, and I get dozens daily, answer PNs, allocate support partners, do telephone support for APNI and others refered by letter, answer many enquiries from HV, GOPs etc, apply for funding, write and update the forum and web pages, do talks on behalf of the forum, pay the bills and do the accounts etc, etc,
Currently I have recruited Hopeful as a new moderator and she is doing a grand job - but she is so new it would be very unfair to expect her to carry this role on the forum on her own, so in the absence of active moderators this means more for me on top of what I already do to keep the forum functioning,
The invention of a new category called 'Forum Advisors' is an attempt not to lose these peoples ( past moderators) valuable , skills, knowledge and commitment when they no longer feel they can sustain being a moderator for whatever reason.
In part this is very selfish as at this time I am at a turning point again; about to lose or have lost, many of my active moderators and have not yet fully inducted new moderators to the role and what it really entails
and currently if I lose these moderators altogether I will lose my own personal support completely.
This is a position I have been in before and will endure again if I have to - but I would rather not.
So I am selfishly hoping that Forum Advisors will fill, this gap!
i.e continue the continuity on the forum and act in part as my own support that I need to run the forum also.
I would also see the Forum Moderators to be someone members can contact individually for support on forum issues.
It may sound selfish but I need this support if I am to run the forum - if I ever do find it too much and have to stop due to lack of support in running the forum - the forum simply will not exist !!
I am free of PNI but actually running this forum is in itself an incredibly difficult and stressful job , which can rock my mental well being at times . Much more happen in emails pms , phone calls even letters, behind the scenes than I think anyone ever imagines and you can be sure for instance if you email me with an issues I have had at least 5 emails on the same subject and I have to answer each person individually and with care and consideration for each persons individual circumstances, worries and position.
It is a lot to expect one person to do unsupported.
As well as this I am currently quite disabled and awaiting an operation which has a long convalescence period . This operation has now been booked for January 11th - I heard yesterday. This op has a very long and difficult recovery period where I will be bed bound and unable to bear weight for at least a couple of months and probably unlikely to be able to get on the forum at all for some of this time.
The full recovery time is a year but I am told it will be at least 5 months before I can do any of my normal activities - so I have to plan for this and put a forum management structure in place so that the forum will not be in danger of collapsing when I can not be on it.
So I am asking women who have been around literally - in some cases - for years and have stuck with it and understand all the ins and outs of running the forum, both the issues and some of the technical side i.e. deleting any abusive or intrusive/spam posts - to be there in the background if it is necessary when I am not able to.
well that's the simplest explanation I can give - I need these advisors for my own sanity really ..
All the best
veritee