Topics like this are difficult for me to respond to because it requires that I evaluate the individual, rather than a "staff". To group them up together, for means of appeasement or praise, doesn't sit well with me (as each one is different and I can't "curve" the grade). I think to truely value one's staff, one must recognize the entities which comprise it.
I don't dish out idle praise to people of authority, regardless of the ammount or level. They have to truely earn it if they're getting any of my respect. Simply meeting the requirements and fullfulling your basic duties doesn't cut it for me, as anyone can do that if given the chance and declared reasonable and sound enough.
I reward and acknowledge extraordinary activity; things that really make a difference, and help the site strengthen.
Each moderator here is different.
I will only focus on one however, as I believe it is this particular mod which does much more behind the scenes and in public, dispite her personal loss of free time, to keep this site in one piece and to ensure that the diplomacy and good times continue.
Mistakes have been made, and contrary to what Socks says, there have been instances (however infrequently) where mods have put their personal agendas or feelings before their duties and allowed themselves to carry on in these types of uncooth manners regardless of the cost of reputation and integrity.
When all is said and done however, the one moderator who sorts it all out, cleans up the problems, and that truely deserves to be spoken of in the highest possible regard is Mistress Valerie. She does so much to keep this site going, to repair damage done, and to keep diplomacy hard at work. She talks to all parties, not just some, and she always makes the right decision. She does the majority of this behind the scenes and is never truely given credit for it as it is publically not as apparent.
She is the fiber, the being, that keeps this site going in an upright, clean, and honest to goodness sort of way. When people try to fight dirty, she takes away their toys. When people argue and bicker, she calms them all down (mod and user).
She is the dove with the olive branch, and there is no one else here quite like her. The best anyone could hope for beyond her is an imitation. There is one Mistress Valerie, and one only.
I am a moderator and administrator of sites as well and have been for years, so I know what this level of dedication feels like (good and bad). I know what kind of a toll it takes on you, and I know how frustrating it is. So I know what type of a person it takes to do what she does without complaining about it.
And it takes a great deal.
All the mods, in their own special way, are great as people. In a moderator capacity however, Val is that first and last line of defence. And I have yet to see any situation that, in the end, can get past her.
She carries herself in a very professional way, despite the leisure of such a site she services. I am grateful particulary for her mere presense. It is her qualities as a good human being that make her an extraordinary mod, not the simple existance of being one in name.
She puts her given power to good use always, and its clean and without waste. She's my kind of moderator and if the internet could have more of her sort everywhere, then it would be all the more richer and fulfilling for it. :happy: