Volunteers Needed! Could you help run Exilian? (2023 thread)

[Jubal]

Once again, we're looking for a number of additional volunteers to join the Exilian team! Our small core team, currently comprising four members (Chair/Exec, Treasurer, Voting Members Officer, and Site Adjudicator) is urgently in need of additional support to keep Exilian running.

We're advertising for four committee-level posts as of now: Tech, Membership Development, Social Media, and Content Editing. The holders of these roles aren't necessarily expected to cover every part of the brief, but they will be taking overall responsibility for these areas of Exilian's activity as part of our admin committee. We have formal titles for each role: except for the Tech officer who is designated as the Technikos, a choice of "despot" or "heteriarch" may be made by the successful applicant for this set of roles. Exilian is a democratically run organisation and in-post committee members will need to be ratified by the voting members and annually thereafter.

All of the available roles will come with the best support we can give: we're happy to train people in their roles and do not expect people to come in with prior experience. We have a strong ethos of supporting our volunteer officers and ensuring help is at hand: for all roles, there will be volunteers around with experience in the role who can help with any problems or queries. If you have any questions about any of the posts and what they entail, please leave a comment below.

The roles are as follows, with the information on how to apply in the post below.



Technical Officer

Key roles
The Technikos has responsibility for the front-end site and the technical aspects of keeping Exilian running - server issues, hosting, the site's programming and software, and so on are all within their remit.

Important powers/functions
- Control over the technical aspects of the forum and website
- Responsibility for look & layout
- Responsibility for the integrated functionality of site applications and content
- Along with the Basileus, responsibility for contact with site hosts

Regular tasks
- Website tech updates and edits
- Helping other staff and mod teams use the site
- Adding updates and mods to the forum to increase user utility
- Ensuring backups are up to date and available

Social Media Officer

Key roles
The Social Media officer will help promote Exilian and our members' creative projects across our social media accounts (Currently Facebook, Twitter, and Mastodon, but this may change and the Officer will have a lot of leeway to help our strategy evolve).

Important powers/functions
- Managing & building up Exilian's social media accounts
- Recruiting new members for the site
- Promoting Exilian's content
- Feeding back to the rest of staff on public perception of our activities

Regular tasks
- Schedule regular social media posts
- Engage & chat with interested parties on social media
- Find optimal audiences for specific pieces of content
- Directly message and invite creators to the website

Content Editor

Key roles
The Content Editor will be responsible for two significant areas: the Exilian Articles section, and the monthly newsletter Updates from the Forge. This is a wide role that involves commissioning and editing/formatting articles, as well as keeping an eye on news from across Exilian's activities.

Important powers/functions
- Editorial control of Exilian's main front-end "voice" via our newsletters
- Commissioning & engaging with article writers
- Representing the needs of the content section in staff meetings

Regular tasks
- Editing & helping write "Updates from the Forge", our monthly newsletter, and getting it released on schedule
- Finding news items from across Exilian's activities that can go into the newsletter
- Finding volunteers to write regular articles for the articles section, and deciding on bursary applications
- Editing and formatting the articles and posting them on time

Membership Development Officer/Forum Admin

Key roles
The Membership Development officer is a more classical "forum admin" role. The holder of this post will be there to engage with and support creative project managers across the site.

Important powers/functions
- Works with Exilian's creators and users to support their use of our website and other systems
- Wide-ranging remit to improve forum structures & functionality to help users
- Feeds back to other staff on how regular members & creative team leads are finding the website
- Responsible for keeping & updating our email list and getting monthly emails out to members

Regular tasks
- Greet new members, discuss projects with game developers and writers and be willing to engage with their work
- Get project developers settled into the site, creating new subforums for them where necessary
- Let developers and new members know about Exilian's democratic features/system and help enable them to take part
- Running creative competitions and/or game jams for the site
- Putting a brief email out once a month with links to our recent newsletter and announcements of other important upcoming events or similar

[Jubal]

How do I apply and what is the process?

Just post a reply below this post with any details you want about yourself. Applications in this thread are open on a rolling basis: we may leave some time after posting this thread for applications, in case multiple people wish to apply for the same role, and applications do need to be ratified by our members: it may therefore be a little while between you posting and your application being processed. You are not required to state any particular details as part of your applications; please do mention particular experiences or skills if you have them, but enthusiasm is probably the most important thing. This thread is the only application place & process: we are not accepting applications made by any other avenue. If you wish to, you're welcome and encouraged to make a thread in this subforum in which voting members can ask you questions.

If there are multiple applicants, the site's voting members (known as citizens) will elect one of them to the position; if there is only one, the citizens will be asked to ratify them in the position. If there are no applicants, the role remains open until someone does apply and that application is then forwarded to the citizens.


Other FAQs

...can you explain what Exilian is?

Exilian is a nonprofit, volunteer collective that supports geeky creative projects. We've existed for around 15 years, and among other things along the way, we've run three small conventions, supported game projects including the dieselpunk tabletop RPG Frozen Skies, the indie beat 'em up/roguelike Son of a Witch, and the award-winning story-choice RPG Roadwarden, and also hosted a wide range of other competitions, discussions, writing, artwork, and more. We quite like llamas, or possibly guanacos. There's a minor debate about that one. Anyway - if we're going to keep doing all this awesome stuff we need people to help us keep the infrastructure behind it running.

Who will I work with?

In any of these roles, you'll work with various other Exilian volunteer staff - in particular the executive officer & chair of Exilian (currently both being done by Jubal, a digital humanities doctoral student based in Austria). On a day to day basis you're essentially your own boss, though you should maintain a line of communication with the chair; ultimately all staff answer to the citizens (voting members) of Exilian, which includes providing them with brief updates on the current state of the site's infrastructure on a yearly basis, and annual ratification votes to signal that members are happy for staff members to remain in post.

I don't think I have the skills for this job but I have time and would be willing to learn.
Then you're very welcome to apply. Our current staff members have all the relevant skills and are happy to provide any training and mentoring needed. We do our best to take looking after our staff seriously, and we want new staff to get as much out of the role as possible - if that means we provide help teaching new skills, then great!

I'd like to help with part of one of these roles but can't take on the whole thing.
This is also fine, please post below anyway and say what you're up for doing: we do have considerable leeway to shift portfolios around or take on non-committee level volunteers as best suits who we have available

I have a question not covered here

Comment below, PM me, or email exilian (at ) exilian (dot) co (dot) uk - we're very happy to answer any queries

[dubsartur]

I am very tired.

I could probably commit a few hours a week for something concrete (ie. I sit down from 7 pm to 10 pm Saturday and I am done for the week) which does not involve writing (I already have a blog, a static site, a newsletter, and social media accounts and paid work).

I am very tired.

[dubsartur]

Bump

Right now I follow two or three corporate social media services and some forums, cross-post to one and a Fediverse service, and I am re-thinking how I engage with the Net and with social media  to avoid putting in too much time and energy.

[Jubal]

Hi - sorry for the slow reply. I'm not sure I can think of any major current tasks that would fit into that sort of concrete slot and don't involve writing - which is I guess the major discussion medium here, after all. If we manage to increase the number of articles coming in, I guess there may be a little more in the proofing/editing line to do which might be something you could help with fitting in those requirements? But we're not at that stage yet, though I am working on it.

[dubsartur]

If I get some areas of my life under control (like a job that pays a living wage, or a love life, or a social life) I might have energy to learn some forum-software-management skills.

After three geeky communities that I thought might have space for me went in directions I could not follow, I have some wounds around putting work and heart into communities.  After what happened to the Internet after smartphones, I have very deep wounds around putting work and heart into online communities!