STAFF-ROOM CHAT

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Okidoki, a new week is upon us and new things to take care of are ahead of us Scotland opened up the latest OTMs last night, and that means that if someone wants to take care of the vote assist, let me know within the next day or two, or I'll take care of it this month  

[Finally FaIIout 99]

2 hours ago, Emmy The Boss said:

Okidoki, a new week is upon us and new things to take care of are ahead of us Scotland opened up the latest OTMs last night, and that means that if someone wants to take care of the vote assist, let me know within the next day or two, or I'll take care of it this month  

I volunteer

[Emmy The Boss 308]

31 minutes ago, FaIIout said:

I volunteer

Great  Send me and Scotland a pm, and we'll set up a time where I can go over the basics with you before you get started  

[Finally FaIIout 99]

56 minutes ago, Emmy The Boss said:

Great  Send me and Scotland a pm, and we'll set up a time where I can go over the basics with you before you get started  

Sweet! I will do that once I get home most likely

[Scarface 77 359]

Hey what's up everyone? And if you needed More than 1 for vote assist I'd be down to backup fallout. If not Next month works 

[Emmy The Boss 308]

One person is more than enough, but keep your eyes and ears open in a month's time when it is time for the October OTMs  

[KSI xKing 7DS 795]

Make sure we spread the word about September Otm throughout our div's 

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Alright, so Scotland and I discussed the meeting time after the poll results, and settled on the 30th, 4.30pm EST. We will be meeting on Xbox live, and if you have any specific questions, concerns or ideas you want discussed at the meeting, please let us know and we will add it to the agenda  also, if you know you cannot make it, please let us know so we do not have to sit waiting for you! Talk to you then, and until then I'll see you all in here and in nominations.  

[KSI Airborne 7 565]

Sounds good, will be there

[KSI Collector 7 182]

1 hour ago, Emmy The Boss said:

Alright, so Scotland and I discussed the meeting time after the poll results, and settled on the 30th, 4.30pm EST. We will be meeting on Xbox live, and if you have any specific questions, concerns or ideas you want discussed at the meeting, please let us know and we will add it to the agenda  also, if you know you cannot make it, please let us know so we do not have to sit waiting for you! Talk to you then, and until then I'll see you all in here and in nominations.  

I have a disc golf tournament this weekend so I will not be able to be there for that. I don't really have any questions or anything I feel needs brought up, so I can just message you or Scotland sometime to catch up on anything I miss

[Truecifer 354]

I already posted that I'd only be able to attend for a total of 45 minutes before having to leave for work. Hopefully I will make it.

[Scarface 77 359]

I will be there to attend. If needed i can short hand take notes and pass them to whoever wants them keep every one informed.

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Alright, guys, you don't need to CONFIRM attendance, it is only if you cannot make the meeting that we need to know beforehand  

And with the meeting coming up this soon, I figured that we could take a few minutes to discuss the OS requirements as I always think things come across better when you can actually talk rather than merely typing. However, as a few of you have announced you cannot make it, I will post a summary of the OS requirements discussion as well as a summary of the rest of the meeting. 

4 minutes ago, KSI Skarzx 77 said:

I will be there to attend. If needed i can short hand take notes and pass them to whoever wants them keep every one informed.

Feel free to take notes for personal use! 

[KSI Collector 7 182]

1 hour ago, Emmy The Boss said:

However, as a few of you have announced you cannot make it, I will post a summary of the OS requirements discussion as well as a summary of the rest of the meeting. 

That would be great, thank you

[KSI xKing 7DS 795]

I wont be able to make it due to new work schedule 

[Scotland 523]

Heh meetings are fun. I just went to a squad meeting. That was a blast from the past! 

[Finally FaIIout 99]

8 minutes ago, Scotland said:

Heh meetings are fun. I just went to a squad meeting. That was a blast from the past! 

I like gens meeting more but thats for me

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Speaking of meetings, I hope to see most of you guys today, 4:30pm EST!

[Scotland 523]

10 hours ago, FaIIout said:

I like gens meeting more but thats for me

Just wait till you have to go to Div meetings. I used to fall asleep in them

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Talking Points  from the meeting tonight:

• OTYs: general rules & timeline, voting & award show. Importance of pushing activity and being proactive (and getting correct format), activity from staff and using reasoning to ensure that we cover our backs regarding bias.  
• OS awards: discuss the official requirements, and what to look for from witnesses (quality, quantity, who witnesses are in relation to nominee), as well as compare to thoughts from staff (in staff chat).  
  OS lvl 1-3, straight forward explanations in the awards, as staff look for a reasonable amount of witnesses with solid facts (not enough with "this person has impacted me profoundly", if you are going to write that then back it up with facts and examples) as well as ensuring that the member has the required rank/time in community. Outstanding is defined as "exceptionally good", so obviously it's not enough with "recruited people", "ran a meeting" or other things that are your duties, but rather showing how their presence made a difference for the better and made them stand out. We are however not unreasonable, there just has to be enough facts presented to us (remember, while performing staff duties, we live in a small cave with no contact with the outside world aside from what is presented to us from witnesses).   Comparing the awards given out for the different levels can also give a pointer to the "difficulty" or requirements for each level. 
  In terms of Most Outstanding, this is a little special. While it can be nominated for (however rare), it is also something that can be given out by e.g. the board in outstanding circumstances. To exemplify this, the award was last awarded in 2014. The last nomination was for Huckleberry, and the last handed out by the board was the same year to the two division leaders of the top two divisions in Spirit Week due to some special circumstances at the time, and since then has not been nominated for. It has happened that people have sent in a nomination for someone as Most Outstanding when the nominee had not been awarded any OS award previously, and then we usually ask to change the award to a regular OS award rather than just deny it altogether. 
  Hopefully this makes things a little clearer, but if there are any questions don't hesitate to bring them up here rather than wait until we need to make a decision in a nomination
  As for the question regarding whether you need to be in the correct rank for the higher level OS awards or merely have held the correct position previously, you obviously need to still hold the position required. We do not give out awards "posthumously" so to say, the awards are meant for active members that excel in what they do.  (This usually goes for other awards as well; an example would be how I cannot get the dedicated award now, even if I did hold a gold KSI tag for more than three years, since I do not currently have KSI in my gamertag ). 
• Schedule for the rest of the year. September OTM - October OTM - OTYs, plus regular announcements. New projects and plans mainly implemented for next year (including DOTMs), but hopefully a general timeline over the work for next year can be presented here in the staff area in a while. 
• Things Scotland/Emmy are working on (future projects): 
  Touched on the things in Scotland's "to-do topic", including the DOTMs, a review of all rules and procedures in the department to clarify rules and requirements both for staff and all members, and a staff training handbook to hand out with clear directives on what staff needs to know, how to perform our duties and clear directives on how to call for witnesses (in order to streamline the process and make it clearer for potential witnesses what is required when) to mention the most important things. Hopefully things will be ready to present by the end of the year. 
• Brainstorming with staff: ideas or suggestions to improve the department & our work on a daily basis? 
  Easy day to day work.  
  New awards to help departments out? 
  Reaching out to members, "meet and great", workshops etc.? 
  Discussing some of the specifics of complex awards  

 

 

If anyone has questions regarding what was discussed or anything else in general, don't hesitate to come to myself and Scotland! Also remember that we are always looking for new ideas to improve our work, so we would love for you to share them with us if you guys have anything in mind.

[Finally FaIIout 99]

1 hour ago, Emmy The Boss said:

Talking Points  from the meeting tonight:

• OTYs: general rules & timeline, voting & award show. Importance of pushing activity and being proactive (and getting correct format), activity from staff and using reasoning to ensure that we cover our backs regarding bias.  
• OS awards: discuss the official requirements, and what to look for from witnesses (quality, quantity, who witnesses are in relation to nominee), as well as compare to thoughts from staff (in staff chat).  
  OS lvl 1-3, straight forward explanations in the awards, as staff look for a reasonable amount of witnesses with solid facts (not enough with "this person has impacted me profoundly", if you are going to write that then back it up with facts and examples) as well as ensuring that the member has the required rank/time in community. Outstanding is defined as "exceptionally good", so obviously it's not enough with "recruited people", "ran a meeting" or other things that are your duties, but rather showing how their presence made a difference for the better and made them stand out. We are however not unreasonable, there just has to be enough facts presented to us (remember, while performing staff duties, we live in a small cave with no contact with the outside world aside from what is presented to us from witnesses).   Comparing the awards given out for the different levels can also give a pointer to the "difficulty" or requirements for each level. 
  In terms of Most Outstanding, this is a little special. While it can be nominated for (however rare), it is also something that can be given out by e.g. the board in outstanding circumstances. To exemplify this, the award was last awarded in 2014. The last nomination was for Huckleberry, and the last handed out by the board was the same year to the two division leaders of the top two divisions in Spirit Week due to some special circumstances at the time, and since then has not been nominated for. It has happened that people have sent in a nomination for someone as Most Outstanding when the nominee had not been awarded any OS award previously, and then we usually ask to change the award to a regular OS award rather than just deny it altogether. 
  Hopefully this makes things a little clearer, but if there are any questions don't hesitate to bring them up here rather than wait until we need to make a decision in a nomination
  As for the question regarding whether you need to be in the correct rank for the higher level OS awards or merely have held the correct position previously, you obviously need to still hold the position required. We do not give out awards "posthumously" so to say, the awards are meant for active members that excel in what they do.  (This usually goes for other awards as well; an example would be how I cannot get the dedicated award now, even if I did hold a gold KSI tag for more than three years, since I do not currently have KSI in my gamertag ). 
• Schedule for the rest of the year. September OTM - October OTM - OTYs, plus regular announcements. New projects and plans mainly implemented for next year (including DOTMs), but hopefully a general timeline over the work for next year can be presented here in the staff area in a while. 
• Things Scotland/Emmy are working on (future projects): 
  Touched on the things in Scotland's "to-do topic", including the DOTMs, a review of all rules and procedures in the department to clarify rules and requirements both for staff and all members, and a staff training handbook to hand out with clear directives on what staff needs to know, how to perform our duties and clear directives on how to call for witnesses (in order to streamline the process and make it clearer for potential witnesses what is required when) to mention the most important things. Hopefully things will be ready to present by the end of the year. 
• Brainstorming with staff: ideas or suggestions to improve the department & our work on a daily basis? 
  Easy day to day work.  
  New awards to help departments out? 
  Reaching out to members, "meet and great", workshops etc.? 
  Discussing some of the specifics of complex awards  

 

 

If anyone has questions regarding what was discussed or anything else in general, don't hesitate to come to myself and Scotland! Also remember that we are always looking for new ideas to improve our work, so we would love for you to share them with us if you guys have anything in mind.

I had issues that came up. bleh anyways thanks for the notes .

[KSI Collector 7 182]

On 9/30/2017 at 5:28 PM, Emmy The Boss said:

As for the question regarding whether you need to be in the correct rank for the higher level OS awards or merely have held the correct position previously, you obviously need to still hold the position required. We do not give out awards "posthumously" so to say, the awards are meant for active members that excel in what they do.  (This usually goes for other awards as well; an example would be how I cannot get the dedicated award now, even if I did hold a gold KSI tag for more than three years, since I do not currently have KSI in my gamertag ). 

To me this isn't so obvious. Lets say someone made it to the BOD, then they go to college and no longer have time to be a Board member. They then choose to go to a div and just be a SGT and do amazing things when they can be active (i.e. summer break, etc.). They wouldn't be eligible for OS lvl 2, simply because they don't currently have a qualified rank? Just wondering because I know there have been people that have stepped down and are in one squad, but still have helped the entire division by holding meetings on improving recruiting, training, all around activity. To me it just kinda seems like well they aren't above said rank so they aren't able to be recognized for having outstanding service, even if they were the most outstanding in the entire community while they are able to be active. By no means was my original question intended to come off as awarding someone for what they did when they were in that rank before stepping down or whatever, which by your comparison with having a gold KSI tag, seems to be how it was interpreted. Also I do understand that they could get "most outstanding", but to me I would think people should have gotten one of the 3 OS lvls prior to getting "most outstanding"

[Scotland 523]

3 hours ago, KSI Collector 7 said:

To me this isn't so obvious. Lets say someone made it to the BOD, then they go to college and no longer have time to be a Board member. They then choose to go to a div and just be a SGT and do amazing things when they can be active (i.e. summer break, etc.). They wouldn't be eligible for OS lvl 2, simply because they don't currently have a qualified rank? Just wondering because I know there have been people that have stepped down and are in one squad, but still have helped the entire division by holding meetings on improving recruiting, training, all around activity. To me it just kinda seems like well they aren't above said rank so they aren't able to be recognized for having outstanding service, even if they were the most outstanding in the entire community while they are able to be active. By no means was my original question intended to come off as awarding someone for what they did when they were in that rank before stepping down or whatever, which by your comparison with having a gold KSI tag, seems to be how it was interpreted. Also I do understand that they could get "most outstanding", but to me I would think people should have gotten one of the 3 OS lvls prior to getting "most outstanding"

The requirements are for the current rank. You could have been the best senior director in the History of KSI and stepped down to SGT and you'd no longer be eligible for OS3

[KSI Collector 7 182]

35 minutes ago, Scotland said:

The requirements are for the current rank. You could have been the best senior director in the History of KSI and stepped down to SGT and you'd no longer be eligible for OS3

got ya

[Emmy The Boss 308]

Hey, guys, so I have a few things that I just want to mention and remind you all of. I'm sure that most of you know this, but it never hurts repeating some of the rules, especially when it comes to things that may not be explicitly written down  

So, when it comes to who can witness for things, we all know the basics of who can do this and that some of the awards have specific requirements on witnesses. I just want to remind you, that if a person is no longer in KSI, they are not eligible witnesses anymore, generally speaking. 

When it comes to how we prefer people to post nominations, we have a three award limit on how many awards can be posted up at the same time. This means that people shouldn't use more than three distinct awards in one nomination. However, it doesn't apply to when you have many people nominated for the same award (like e.g. squad splitter). However, while there is no certain rule against having one post for two awards for two different people, it becomes easier to handle if you stick to one person/post (unless we have the above example of e.g. squad splitter), with up to three awards for that person.  

Just a reminder for everyone, I think that it is important to every now and then review these kinds of things, simply to make sure to stay on top of the game. So keep it up, everyone!