Long message time:
To kick us off, I would like to start with something a little different and discuss a new scheduling direction for Office Hours. This is something I’ve been grappling with since November and has been growing in urgency since those first suspicions emerged.
With the changes to DC Universe and the emergence of DC Universe Infinite, my responsibilities in the organization are changing and growing. This is good and bad, depending on how you look at it.
For the past two years, I have been trusted with the rare honor of nurturing and standing sentinel for our beautiful proverbial living room, along with the outstanding moderation team. That will not change. That, in agreement by all involved, from the tippy top to the bitty bottom, will remain a core focus.
However, there continue to be additional responsibilities I am taking on that are humbling, intimidating, exciting, and, in my personal opinion, demonstrate a real investment in a quality experience for all DC fans. Not only is the company focusing on retaining and growing community for DCUI, they have also employed my time to focus on building more long-term community programs, increasing talent appearances, creating a structured network of like-communities to spread our wings of awareness and membership, and align our communication with up-to-the-minute DC announcements; you may have noticed a marked increase in these announcements/sneak peeks/and teasers like we never got as DC Universe, and maybe you also noticed I’m in the forums overall much less. Because of the attention required to building these projects, there is an increased need to cool off my brain in the evenings. I love Office Hours with all my heart, BUT - the later nights and long work days are starting to impact my efficiency and focus.
You: "WHAT IS YOUR POINT GET ON WITH IT"
My point is, this directly impacts my bandwidth for executing Office Hours every week. I absolutely adore being able to run Office Hours on a weekly basis, but for now, in the interest of self-care, I would like to present a few alternatives for the group to chime in on.
With that, I lay before you this poll on which of the following models you would like to see for Office Hours:
- Remain weekly, keep the topic open all week long, and start an hour earlier at 5:00pm PST. However, a strict 2 hours of time is allotted. This means fewer questions will be answered, and not all questions are guaranteed a response. It also means a hard stop at 7:00pm PST.
- Move to a monthly rhythm. People can submit questions all month long. On the day, questions are still cherry-picked, and not all are guaranteed answers, but 3-4 hours are allotted.
- Move to a monthly rhythm. The topic is open and available for questions ONLY for 3-4 hours, but chances are, all questions asked during that window will be answered.
Phew!! Well. With all that, I’ll get on with answering your questions- Be aware, some of my responses may seem pathetically tone-deaf with regards to any questions or comments coming in after this announcement, but I think you’re all used to that by now!
Thanks to everyone who chimes in on this, and who knows! Maybe once we’ve hit a rhythm with launching these new programs, things could change back.