Special election-related announcement

[Catspaw]

Is it too late to vote for Harrison Ford?

I'll be honest - that would have been my first choice as well.

Glad to see you back, Shadowpaw.

shadowpaw, shadowpaw, does whatever a shadowpaw can...

Is he strong? Listen bub, he's got admin privileges.

Surfs the web all the time...

Yes, that's what I've been saying. This isn't an empty Term, despite being told that having no Teams in the Election would result in one.

In the past, the expectation was that the term would have to be empty because I only have so much time, and I spend a lot of it at work and doing other non-ToO stuff, and I wouldn't be able to do a ton of stuff. In this case, in a totally unexpected turn of events, the owner of the board decided he had the time to help make this term a lot more interesting than it would have been otherwise. Sometimes things turn out even better than expected! That's what happened here.

[bookworm]

Sometimes things turn out even better than expected! That's what happened here.

That remains to be seen.

[SirWhit]

Way to be a positive Patty. Even if this is a complete failure, it'll only be for a few months.

[American Eagle]

I don't know why I'm here, but I am.

Congrats on the win, Shadowpaw!

EDIT: WOW, I'm still a mod.

[Catspaw]

Sometimes things turn out even better than expected! That's what happened here.

That remains to be seen.

Let me rephrase. Sometimes things turn out differently than expected. That's what is happening here. By the end of the term, different people may have varying opinions as to whether it was better or worse or the same as what they expected, and whether that was a good thing or not. But it probably won't be boring!

[The Kings Daughter]

Welcome back, Shadowpaw!

[snubs]

If we had an 'empty Term' I bet the ToO would die considering the current state that it is in. It's been super quiet around here.. and fewer members have been logging on.

So this may just be what the ToO needs. It is hard to call it this early, but you never know.

[bookworm]

Way to be a positive Patty. Even if this is a complete failure, it'll only be for a few months.

First off, you have to realize I’m just being my overly cautious to change self. (Not your fault for not knowing, you’re new here.) I’m not entirely as pessimistic about this as I sound.
That said though I do still have some concerns, as I do when anything is dropped in out of absolutely nowhere. Uncertainty is always cause for concern.
To your claim though, while under a regular administration a ‘failure’ is only temporary with no real lasting effects, this is not a regular administration. Shadowpaw owns the site. When he does things, they stay. So if it’s a failure, it doesn’t go away when he does.
(Again, I’m not insinuating that I expect implementation of failures in the coming months, I’m only pointing out that in this unique situation your point is inaccurate.)

Sometimes things turn out even better than expected! That's what happened here.

That remains to be seen.

Let me rephrase. Sometimes things turn out differently than expected. That's what is happening here. By the end of the term, different people may have varying opinions as to whether it was better or worse or the same as what they expected, and whether that was a good thing or not. But it probably won't be boring!

Now this is entirely accurate.

[Shadowpaw]

To your claim though, while under a regular administration a ‘failure’ is only temporary with no real lasting effects, this is not a regular administration. Shadowpaw owns the site. When he does things, they stay. So if it’s a failure, it doesn’t go away when he does.

The Town of Odyssey is my child. It's all grown up now and has a life of its own, but I still care about it and want to it to live up to it's potential. If any of the things I want to implement don't work out, I'm not going to leave the town in ruins and vanish. I'll work to get them right.

[bookworm]

You mean you plan to stay around?

[Shadowpaw]

You mean you plan to stay around?

Haha, I've only been back for a few days, and there will come time I have to leave again (just like that time will come for all of us) but I'm not thinking about when I'm going to leave right now, if that makes sense?

[bookworm]

It makes sense, but it doesn’t really answer the question. You’ll be here for at least a few months, since you’re stepping into leadership during the void term, but do you see yourself remaining after that, or are you here to fill the void only? And if you’re staying on, would it be a full return, as a frequent poster and all that, or would you only keep an eye one things from time to time, or would it be like it has been with you popping in just once in a blue moon or when there’s trouble?

[Shadowpaw]

It makes sense, but it doesn’t really answer the question. You’ll be here for at least a few months, since you’re stepping into leadership during the void term, but do you see yourself remaining after that, or are you here to fill the void only? And if you’re staying on, would it be a full return, as a frequent poster and all that, or would you only keep an eye one things from time to time, or would it be like it has been with you popping in just once in a blue moon or when there’s trouble?

That's a lot of questions that I can't really answer without knowing what will happen in my personal life in the next several months. But I can promise that my goal here is to make the Town of Odyssey a fun place to visit, increase traffic, and bring some new ideas to the table. I want to make it a hard place for people to leave again. This goes the same for me. So if I achieve the goals I set out for myself, I will continue to be a presence around here.

[bookworm]

That's a lot of questions that I can't really answer without knowing what will happen in my personal life in the next several months.

Of course. My real question was just, in general, are you actually back, as a member, or were you here in the interim, with that being your only concern. Hold us over through the void and then off you go again. Glad to hear it's the former.

[Agent 86]

WOW, I'm still a mod.

Since the election would have been this weekend, current admins and mods will be removed Sunday evening, around the same time that they would have been if there had been an election.

[Smaug the Dragon]

This is cool. I can't wait to see what kinds of changes are in store for this dear little town. It's been too long since we were graced with the presence of the great Shadowpaw.

[Kenric]

Awww welcome back shadowpaw! It's crazy to think you're back, even if in a limited role. Looking forward to the new ideas and features that are coming our way!

[Catspaw]

Kenric! Talk about a blast from the past! It seems that Shadowpaw has inspired lots of people to come post again!

[bookworm]

So I have several questions. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened here.

How did your return come about?
Were you notified by someone else that you might want to consider coming by because we had an empty ballot?
Did you see the situation and decide to step in yourself?
Were you already considering coming back and the empty ballot compelled you to do it now?

Why did you return?
Was it influenced by the empty ballot at all, or just convenient timing?
If we had had a normal Election this cycle, would you still have come back?

[Shadowpaw]

So I have several questions. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened here.

How did your return come about?
Were you notified by someone else that you might want to consider coming by because we had an empty ballot?
Did you see the situation and decide to step in yourself?
Were you already considering coming back and the empty ballot compelled you to do it now?

While I didn't often post, or even read many of the threads here I do check in from time to time and noticed that the election was going on. I saw Catspaw's thread and thought "Hmm, this hasn't happened before." I then sent Catspaw a message asking if she was interested in me returning, and here we are!

Why did you return?
Was it influenced by the empty ballot at all, or just convenient timing?
If we had had a normal Election this cycle, would you still have come back?

I've always thought I would come back in a limited capacity some day. The fact it's the summer and I should have more free time on my hands soon was also a factor, so the timing was also very convenient.

If this was a normal election cycle and people were on the ballot, I wouldn't have even considered it.

As for board announcements, I should be making some soon. I've had a crazy work week and haven't really been home for more than the time it takes to sleep since I pretty much agreed to come back, but things should die down soon and I'll let you all know what I'm thinking!