When I was reached out to about becoming a moderator here, I was quite surprised. All previous Meta SE moderators were already established moderators elsewhere. I've never been a moderator on the network. Having the confidence of my new colleagues to take up a diamond here despite that is amazing. I sincerely hope to live up to that sentiment. I know that, while I have been around for a little bit now, I still have much to learn from all of you.
The core community here at Meta SE is pretty self-sufficient. We all manage the stream of ill-fitting content here quite well... But Meta SE serves as one of the primary places for the company to communicate with the community. We've had to have some tough conversations in the past, where a lot of care and discretion was needed on the part of the moderator team here. I expect that we'll have to have more of those tough conversations in the future. It's in those moments that I hope to best serve you all, and earn the same trust that my new colleagues earned a long time ago. The most engaged of us are in-tune with the mixed feelings we may or may not have at the moment. My hope is that things will improve, and I'll do everything I can to help work towards that end, in whatever capacity I'm able.
I am, as always, happy to help out with the ordinary janitorial tasks we're familiar with here, and if there are larger curation tasks that would benefit from a diamond, sign me up. Don't be afraid to call me out if I mess up, in whatever avenues you feel appropriate. I firmly believe in the concepts of transparency and open communication when it comes to moderation. That's something I picked up fighting spam with those awesome Charcoal folks (come say hi!), and it's not something I'm interested in changing my mind on. I'm certain to get it wrong at some point, and I'll always be willing to chat about it.
With all that out of the way... Thank you all so much for your support! Thanks, of course, to rene for being willing to jump into this with me, and to the existing moderators and CM team for their trust in me. These folks always give us their best, even when we're not always thankful for it. You guys are awesome, and I'm immensely grateful for the chance to work with you.
