LOL, hey thanks! Yeah, I'm still an editor, but I'm a newbie with no power or credibility. Plus, I think I've already ticked off the editor in charge of me.
Hmmm, and I was always under the impression that ODP editors were volunteers therefore there were no 'editor in charge of me' types.
Fauxpaw, copperdrum is right. No editor is in charge of you. Maybe you should find another mentor if you get that impression from whoever you're currently working with.
Well, perhaps I'm not using the proper technical term for it, but there most definitely is an editor who reviews everything I do, sends me feedback on my work and changes things when she doesn't like what I've done. Since I don't have the power to do that to her, I'd say she's pretty much in charge of me. We may all be volunteers, but that doesn't mean everyone's equal.
If an editor higher up the category (or with higher permissions) is not communicating well with you as compostannie said, you should find someone else with experience that you can communicate well to help you better understand whats being done and why. Perhaps this person is wrong or perhaps being new (I think I recall from a different post you said you were new) you don't understand something and they just aren't very good at communicating what is being done wrong to you. Regardless, IMO they aren't in charge of you unless you let them be.
"IMO they aren't in charge of you unless you let them be" I pretend my wife isnt in charge of me... but we both know she is... LOL I'm just kidding of course
Whew !!! Story of my Life. There were 2 Lady of Graces who kept following me. One is a particle composition and the other one is oak on the ridge. If you are a Meta or Admin then the answer is "Of Course".
I don't think anyone was ever in charge of me. Not through want of trying though. Unfortunately whilst some senior editors are excellent at editing and their knowledge of guidelines there is a serious deficiency in effective leadership skills and has been since the departure of the Editor in Chief.
I got news for you, brizzie! That statement was true before the editor-in-chief left. Nothing has changed for the better or for the worse since his departure.
I don't know db, decisions may not always have been right but they were made and the whole community was more involved in decision making - you could achieve change that wasn't dependant on Admin patronage.
Look at what I quoted from your post, brizzie. We are talking about senior editor leadership here. That encompasses much more than the administration in charge. It was lousy then and it is lousy now, for the majority! There are exceptions as in all rules, but for the most part, senior editors take on the role of bully much more often than they do mentor. The former administration and the present administration has never done anything that I could see to prevent or halt it in any way whatsoever. Nothing has changed! I still have editors who have edited for years complaining to me about being belittled by senior editors, being told they are not promotable by meta editors with no reasons being given, no offer to help make the editing experience a better one for newbies. It always falls back to the editor to wear a suit of armor and to automatically know how to function in a secret organization without fear of committing the ultimate sin unawares. I'm sorry but the former administration just set the stage for the latter administration. NOTHING HAS CHANGED!
The former E-i-C was opposed to bullying by senior editors. The current admininstration seem to engage in it. True, considerably more could and should have been done about it but in my own experience things have deteriorated. I complained to the E-i-C direct about an editor who had been bullied by a meta and he supported the editor not the meta. Now it is the Admins who more often than not do the belittling so there is no higher authority to lodge a complaint with. And it is all wrong, culturally. But this started in the early years, there was a period when it started to improve but slowly (as is the way in DMOZ), and then it seemed to revert with the change of administration. Fear of account removal always has been a problem. During the time when there was an AOL E-i-C a lot of effort was made by many people to try and dispell that fear and change the culture but that was never going to be easy or particularly noticeable. It seems to me that things have reversed to an extent. There were also a lot more promotions, meaningful ones, every month or two and now they are a rarity. A lot of the problem is that people do not feel confident enought to report bullying as editor abuse - and it is clearly there in the guidelines for metas. It does need a written and enforced policy. But who these days is there to report it to or to enforce it. I can promise that a report made to the E-i-C for those brave enough to do it did have his support and such activities did infuriate him. Unfortunately, his choice of successors to take over from him was poor judgement in this respect.
In my humble experience the "mediation" is just a bin where your complaint is discarded and forgotten. I saw no evidence of a system of checks and balances to keep bullies under control.
It is a democratic system. You have the RIGHT to complain and they have the RIGHT not to do anything about it.
So after reading through all of the posts it seems the general feeling is what doesn't hurt to apply to DMOZ since it takes very little time. However the chances of getting into DMOZ are about the same as winning the Mega Ball Lottery