Hey there!

You are reading this sheet because you’ve been invited to be a Moderator for a channel(s) in the Out in Tech Slack Community. Many moderators were selected because they were the first to suggest the new channel. Others were persistent in making this channel come to life. Either way, we thank you for your commitment to making the virtual Out in Tech community a better, more engaging place.

So what is a Moderator and why do we need them? Great question! Glad you asked.

First and foremost, this is totally voluntary and super helpful to the growth of our digital presence. Here are some guidelines:

• Make sure to check the channel at least 3 times a week to make sure the content on there is up to par with our code of conduct and ensure channels remain safe spaces.

  

• Check out the Response Matrix to see the penalties for different breaches of the Code of Conduct. Please note that even though you are a Slack moderator (and part of OIT Leadership), we cannot make an admin of the Slack platform. This is to protect the identity of our members, as you have access to everyone's PPI if you were an admin (and have the ability to export it). If you see someone breaking the code of conduct, please alert an Out in Tech staff member immediately.

• Want to address a violation of the Code of Conduct? Check out the Template Responses to see guidelines for how to respond to a violation. And as always, feel free to reach out to any OIT staff member!

• Encourage dialogue. How that’s done is entirely up to you! See below for suggestions.

• Remember you are acting as a moderator, not a gatekeeper. Do not delete a message from the Slack workspace (unless it is a Level-3 violation, in which case you should still screenshot it before removing, and sending to @Chibbi). Instead, please discuss in #slack-leaders.

• While we encourage you to actively participate in your channels as a member, when acting as a moderator, keep your tone and language professional and impartial.

• Moderators work in service of their community, therefore any violation of the Code of Conduct, misconduct reported by other members, or abuse of privileges may result in removal as moderator after 3 incidents.

• Please let us know if you’re going to be away from Slack for over 10 days, so we can find someone to cover for you.

• There are no term limits, but do let us know at least 2 weeks in advance if you’d like to stop being the channel moderator so we can find someone else / you can recommend another person

• As of January 2022, we are focusing on a metric we call “Active Channel Rate”. We are defining this as # of channels / # of channels 1+ messages posted per month.

  • What this means for you: if you admin a channel where we don't see much activity (i.e. messages posted in the month), we will reach out to you/your team privately and offer you one month to get that number up.
  • Why we are doing this: studies and data show that quiet channels lead to members leaving the space altogether. When a member posts in a channel and doesn't get an answer or reply, it hurts a whole lot more than if they didn't have a place to ask it in the first place.

• If you are not sure of what to do/say for a particular interaction, please ping @Gary (he/him) or @Chibbi (fluid)

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Introduce Yourself!

  

  • Who are you? Name & pronouns.
  • Why did you suggest the channel in the first place?
  • What do you hope to gain from this community’s existence?

• Launch a Topic of the day/week

  

  • Prompt your members with a question and let them discuss.
  • Ask them for their own suggestions, too!
  • Perhaps you can create a form so users can submit self-serve or have them reach out to you directly