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From The 7 Essential Questions of Every Beta:

Discussing the criteria of a great moderator is important and picking out potential candidates is a great way to introduce outstanding contributors to your community.

and from the Moderator Pro Tempore blog page:

If your meta site does not have a post to nominate Moderators, start one now! Pro Tem appointments will begin about two weeks after the site is created. The more guidance we receive, the more informed our choice.

  • Each nomination should be a separate answer. Link the name to the user’s profile (parent and meta) so we can see their activity.
    • The nominee should indicate their acceptance by editing the answer, adding that they accept the nomination. Optionally they can write something about themselves.
    • Self nominations are okay, and even encouraged. Most sites have not had sufficient time for many users to stand out. Self nomination is simply a way to say, “I’m interested. Let my record speak for itself.” Links to other activities may be helpful: Area 51 participation, participation in other sites, blog posts reviewing or announcing the site, etc.

We're looking for members of this site who:

  • Have a reasonably high reputation score to indicate active, consistent participation.
  • Show an interest in their meta’s community-building activities.
  • Lead by example, showing patience and respect for their fellow community members in everything they write.
  • Exhibit those intangible traits discussed in A Theory of Moderation.

It's also good if the moderators:

  • Are members with participation in both the meta and main site.
  • Participated in Area 51, generate social network referrals, or blog about the site.
  • Are members who have already shown an interest or ability to promote their community.
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    $\begingroup$ You seem like a good candidate. You have a high reputation on the site, and have been active in Meta. There are usually about three, so you and Danu could both serve. $\endgroup$
    – Tom Au
    Oct 31, 2014 at 14:12
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you @TomAu! $\endgroup$
    – user22
    Nov 1, 2014 at 7:52
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    $\begingroup$ I don't know anyone enough to make a nomination, but I would like to say I think it's important, or will be important, that we have at least one moderator per major discipline - math, physics, and biology, and that's taking quite broad definitions of "biology". In any case its important that the set of all disciplines discussed on the site be contained in the union of the disciplines known by at least one of our moderators. $\endgroup$
    – Jack M
    Nov 4, 2014 at 23:42
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    $\begingroup$ @JackM I don't see any reason why it would matter what discipline moderators are most familiar with. Deep technical competence is not required of moderators. What can matter somewhat here is diversity in outlook (scientist vs historian, academic vs layman, …). $\endgroup$
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Nov 9, 2014 at 9:25
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    $\begingroup$ @Gilles I have seen sites go down the drain due to deep technical incompetence on the part of moderators. Stack Exchange sites are more resilient to this, but not immune; I've seen knowledgeable users leave due to a perceived (real or not) deficiency in the knowledge of the moderating team. I don't think we need researchers in every field, but having someone who knows the difference between e.g. cytosol and ribosomes would go a long way to building trust among biologists that the moderators are capable and knowledgeable. I agree though that different perspectives are more important. $\endgroup$
    – Logan M
    Nov 18, 2014 at 7:42
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    $\begingroup$ I agree with Logan. There is a certain amount of technical competence required, not per se only for building trust (although this too), but for reasons of outlook. Technical competence in a field leads to a different outlook, typically one that leads to better outcomes in disputes. $\endgroup$
    – Gottfried William
    Nov 19, 2014 at 18:53
  • $\begingroup$ @LoganMaingi I totally agree. The good thing is that there are a lot of users who are really active here in typical community moderation. It's not just going to be a few moderators who will be helping the community; it's going to be a lot of knowledgeable people, each able to contribute a bit of his/her expertise. By the way - I'm not a biologist, but I know that the answer to your example is that cytosol is a fluid, while ribosomes are organelles that process proteins. Freshman year Biology is somehow still with me! :-) $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Nov 20, 2014 at 16:00
  • $\begingroup$ It's curious that we haven't heard anything from the community mods of the high-level SE people about this. It's been a month since this question was posed. I wonder what the wait is - although I'm of the opinion that the site is doing just fine without moderators, and I haven't noticed any problems that would require them. We're doing pretty well. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Dec 3, 2014 at 16:51
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    $\begingroup$ @HDE226868 Sorry for the delay, I'm working on it, and almost done. You guys haven't done anything wrong, and I apologize if I gave that impression. It's simply been a bit crazy around here recently. $\endgroup$
    – Pops
    Dec 4, 2014 at 20:44

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I feel a bit weird about posting this, but I'm going to go out on a limb and nominate myself. I was encouraged by

Self nominations are okay, and even encouraged. Most sites have not had sufficient time for many users to stand out. Self nomination is simply a way to say, “I’m interested. Let my record speak for itself.”

Anyway, I think I'd be good as a moderator because

  1. I have a wide range of scientific knowledge, from physics to biology
  2. I'm only exceptionally active in a few SE sites, with HSM being one of them.
  3. Being a fairly new user, I try to be especially kind to new users who show good intentions (i.e. everyone who doesn't post spam-like answers). I still remember the first good advice I got from experienced users, and I'm still receiving some today.

I also continuously check the review queue (especially first posts) and HSM meta, so I'm always available to talk about issues. And I check Chat once in a while.

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I would like to add a nomination for quid.

Quid has been on stackexchange for over 4 years making him one of our oldest members. He is already a star moderator on Mathematics Educators, and he has an incredible combined network reputation, with more than 17,000 on mathoverflow alone.

I know quid best from his helpful comments and answers on math.stackexchange, and meta.math.stackexchange.

To say that quid is versed in the moderator tools would be a serious understatement. He has had 10k+ tools on MO for quite a while, and of course he has the star moderator experience on Mathematics Educators.

My primary reason for nominating quid is because I think that we should have at least one moderator who has this sort of extreme experience with actually moderating. Quid could help some of the other moderators that may be elected based on passion, excellent behavior, and prolific participation (the other nominated candidates are terrific to the nines!) who may not have his sort of deep experience.

Should quid accept this nomination, and I am sure he will only accept it if he has the time, I have no question that it would be a boon to our new site.

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    $\begingroup$ Thank you for this very kind nomination post. I am a bit torn. On the one hand I think there is some advantage in moderation being spread out and there are already very capable candidates. On the other hand having been in a team of mods none of which had moderated before on MESE I tend to agree there might be some advantage in having somebody that did it before in the staring team. (Though it worked alright there as well, at least IMO, so it is certainly not a necessity either.) In sum, I am happy to accept the nomination; and, mod or not I intend to be around for doing some stuff. $\endgroup$
    – quid
    Nov 3, 2014 at 13:26
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I am going to nominate Danu to this role.

The reasons are that Danu has been active in both the main site and here in meta, the contributions are exemplary, demonstrating a clear passion for the site and for the subjects included in the site.

Not only that, Danu has sought to to refine and streamline our tagging, has been very active in reviewing and editing posts (including some of mine - which I definitely appreciate).

As can be seen on Danu's profile (linked above), there is a substantial amount of activity, particularly in Science based sites.

Asides, Danu is a genuinely nice and kind individual!

I think Danu would be an ideal moderator pro-tem for this site.

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I'd like to nominate Tom Au if he's willing to do it.

Tom has over 25k rep on History SE, the most of any user on that site, and over 73k rep network-wide. He also has good reputation on Mathematics SE (among many other sites), and studied economics, which would bring some more diverse expertise to the moderating team.

More importantly, he's been quite active here, with a reasonable number of high quality posts on a variety of topics. And he presumably knows his way around SE, having been here for 3 years and participated in literally dozens of sites. If he's willing to accept the nomination, I think he would make a great moderator.

Edit from Tom Au

It was remiss of me not to reply earlier, but "better late than never."

I got off to a strong start, and then "disappeared. The reason was "day job" pressures. My (small) tech company is in the process of negotiating a major hurdle. A successful negotiation of this hurdle would possibly free up more time for me on the site in six months to a year. Perhaps over that time frame, a then moderator will want to "rotate" and leave. If both these conditions converge, I would be happy to be considered as a back up or replacement moderator.

So my answer is (or should have been): Decline for now.

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Nomination

I nominate Logan Maingi

Logan Maingi is quite active on this site main and meta, and has a range of useful expertise on other sites and in other domains. Specifically he is active on Mathematics and Physics with a good reputation.

Moreover he is very active on Anime and Manga with more than 10000 points; thus he is already familiar with a considerable subset of the moderation-tools.

Acceptance by Logan Maingi

I've decided to accept this nomination, but not without some reservations. I hope quid will not mind me hijacking this post to briefly air these, as they're too long for a comment.

I'm a theoretical physicist with a relatively mathematical tilt, and I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about most aspects of physics and math, both in practice and historically speaking. However, I know almost nothing about biology, chemistry, and most other sciences (probably not much more than the average high school graduate). I also have no formal training in history. Ideally I want to see this site expand beyond mostly covering mathematics and physics by getting scientists of various other disciplines and historians to join in. In particular, I hope that this site can become as much a partner to History SE as it will be to the various science sites. But I'm aware that picking me as a moderator does nothing to forward these goals. I hope that we can get moderators whose experience represents a broad subset of science, and in particular I wouldn't want to be picked over a similarly qualified candidate with more diverse interests. I do know that moderators aren't expected to judge technical accuracy of content, but I still think having a team of moderators with broad expertise and interests is in the best interests of this site.

With that provision aside, I'll accept the nomination. Whether or not I'm chosen, I'm sure we'll end up with great and enthusiastic moderators based on the current nominations.

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    $\begingroup$ Wow, I hadn't even considered this. Thank you for the nomination. I'm not yet sure whether I'm able to accept it (I'll try to decide in the next day or so), but either way, I appreciate the nomination. (FWIW I'm male, though I would not be offended to be confused as female.) $\endgroup$
    – Logan M
    Nov 3, 2014 at 0:03
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the reply. I hope you will accept but obviously understand if you decide differently. $\endgroup$
    – quid
    Nov 3, 2014 at 6:47
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    $\begingroup$ After some consideration, I've decided to accept this, but I have some doubts as to whether I'm really one of the best candidates for this. I've edited my thoughts into your post. Again, thank you for the nomination. $\endgroup$
    – Logan M
    Nov 4, 2014 at 4:33
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    $\begingroup$ Great. Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail. I think it is a good place to record it in the post I only change the format a bit to make more transparant what is what. Also, I fixed the pronoun now that I know. $\endgroup$
    – quid
    Nov 4, 2014 at 7:08
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I cast my first nomination for the actual progenitor of this site, Jack M.

He proposed this site, and he did a very great thing there. He also has over 3.5 years of experience on stackexchange, and some pretty high overall reputation, with the bulk of that being 7,140 and counting in Math.SE alone.

He has long experience learning about the SE model, long experience participating in the SE model, as well as demonstrable time surviving the various sites he has participated in with a clean nose. Add to that his visionary ability to even propose this site and get it to where it is right now. With that you can see why I would make Jack M my first vote.

I have seen so many people with his credentials strangely start misbehaving in irritated fits, or just fade away after a year or so, yet here he is. He is extremely steadfast, and his longevity makes him far more knowledgeable than most. Again, My first nomination is for Jack M whenever that time comes up.

There will definitely be other nominations, and I think that desire to do the hard work will weigh in on my secondary and tertiary votes more so than the hang time in SE, but the longevity certainly will not hurt.

All Hail Jack M!

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    $\begingroup$ +1 an excellent candidate for Mod Pro Tem of this site! $\endgroup$
    – user22
    Nov 1, 2014 at 6:21
  • $\begingroup$ To be honest, I would need someone to explain to me what moderators do... I may be a long time member, but I've been that active in site politics. Still, I don't see any reason to turn down the nomination. $\endgroup$
    – Jack M
    Nov 2, 2014 at 23:49
  • $\begingroup$ Jack, I take that as acceptance with the condition being that you have a few questions answered? $\endgroup$
    – J. W. Perry
    Nov 2, 2014 at 23:50
  • $\begingroup$ @J.W.Perry Sure. Thanks, by the way. $\endgroup$
    – Jack M
    Nov 2, 2014 at 23:55
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    $\begingroup$ It is my honor man. I never got to tell you how much I admire you for what you made happen here. I definitely think you deserve it above all. I also like you and how you have behaved over the years. You are definitely, and always will be, my top candidate for pro tem moderator, or even elected moderator in this site, your baby, should that vote ever come up. $\endgroup$
    – J. W. Perry
    Nov 3, 2014 at 0:07
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    $\begingroup$ +1 @JackM I wish I had remembered you were the progenitor; I would have nominated you! Good luck! $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Nov 3, 2014 at 22:54
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I would also like to nominate winwaed for moderator pro-tem.

He has participated very strongly in this private beta over a range of topics, in both answers and questions. He has also been active here in Meta.

His participation in Stack Exchange has been over several years, thus is familiar with the Stack Exchange model and has experience in what is and what is not a suitable question and answer.

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for the nomination. I accept but time could be an issue, also areas of expertise. As one member of a group, this should not be an issue. My expertise lies in the areas of earth sciences / physics / computer science. Some of the maths questions we've had are way beyond me, and I would imagine the same would be true of biochemistry... $\endgroup$
    – winwaed
    Nov 5, 2014 at 1:49
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Following Tom's comment, I'll nominate Omen (Then Sabre Tooth, now gone (shows up as User22 in the grey icon caption)) for moderator.

Omen hasn't been around SE for awhile, but has done quite a lot. He's active on quite a few science sites (like Danu) and consistently gives good answers and asks good questions. On HSM, he's given only a few questions and answers, but they've all been high-quality. Omen's also very active on Meta.

Overall, I think Omen would be a good moderator because of his dedication to all aspects of Stack Exchange.

Respectfully decline from Omen,

I am humbled by the nomination and the kind words here and in chat. However, after thinking about it, I will have to decline the nomination, due to time (I have 4 jobs and are in charge of 4 major research projects) and also my comparative lack of experience in Stack Exchange.

Looking around at the nominations, we have some incredible nominees with a breadth and depth of experience and passion that would be beneficial for the site.

I'll happily support whoever is chosen (have upvoted all nominations), and continue working to build this site up to many levels of awesomeness!

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    $\begingroup$ @J.W.Perry Agreed. I'm really happy with all of the nominations; there will be a lot of good choices for whoever chooses the moderators. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Nov 3, 2014 at 0:26
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    $\begingroup$ @Omen You would've been a fine moderator! Maybe when time permits, in the future? $\endgroup$
    – Ellie Kesselman
    Nov 11, 2014 at 7:37
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    $\begingroup$ Thank you @EllieKesselman, yes, perhaps in the future - currently juggling 4 jobs, a career change, the after effects of a brain-bleed and getting my health back. $\endgroup$
    – user22
    Nov 11, 2014 at 7:45

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