We have a problem. An interesting problem, but still a problem. The Writers’ Block stays so busy much of the time that occasionally people drop into our Discord server and don’t get a proper greeting. Are greetings important? You bet they are. Greetings establish contact one human to another, and in our case, facilitate the assigning of roles so newcomers can access workshops and other channels in the server.
Not long ago, we implemented the role of “Host.” Our Hosts greet people at the door, which in our case, is the Welcome Center. It’s an orientation room where we do our best to strike up a conversation with newcomers, find out what their goals are as writers, and direct them to other servers if we are unable to provide the assistance they need. We send a lot of people to servers that specialize in English language skills and others, like MSP, that are geared less toward writing and more toward account-building and overall success on Steemit.
The issue we’re having is that we don’t have enough Hosts! Yes, traffic is that heavy at times in the Writers’ Block. Not to mention the fact that our current Hosts double as editors and moderators, and they are pulled in many different directions. So we’re putting out a call to people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as writers but who love to talk and don’t find fast-moving conversation stressful. If we can grow a larger team of Hosts, the workload will be split more evenly and the risk of burnout will lessen.
Writers’ Block Hosts hang out in General Chat and have a good time with other members, or sometimes they simply lurk. But they watch for the Welcome Center to light up and for Muxxybot to announce a new visitor. At that point they scurry into the Welcome Center and work their magic. They find out how the newcomer discovered us, since we partner with other Discords that aren’t affiliated with the Steem platform and are working to build our social media presence. We learn what their Steemit username is if they did come from the blockchain, what kind of writing they do, and what they hope the Writers’ Block can help them accomplish. Answers to these questions help our Hosts decide if the person would benefit from our server or if they need a different kind of support. Answers also determine which workshop and editor we point them to. Host also do a quick check of the person’s Steemit account looking for activity levels and potential plagiarism or other types of abuse. It isn’t a sophisticated process and most people become proficient rather quickly.
One advantage of hosting for The Writers’ Block is that the first people to say hello become memorable to newcomers and Hosts can pick up a lot of legitimate account followers that way. So even if you don’t view writing as seriously as most of our members do, you might have a place at The Writers’ Block after all. The visibility our Welcome Center offers our Hosts is quite high. It’s a great way to meet people and form relationships that build accounts.
If being a Host for the Writers’ Block interests you, please let one of our moderators know. If you’re not already a member of TWB, you can join by clicking this link. After you get situated with Discord and land in the Welcome Center, please tell the Hosts who greet you that you read this post and would like to hang out for a while to see what the job entails. You’ll receive Honorary Member status and would then be encouraged to explore the server so you can better answer questions by others who are new to the group.
One last thing: you don’t have to be a native English speaker to be a TWB Host. But you do have to be fluent. There’s just no way around language barriers in the Welcome Center. Our hosts have to be able to talk to people comfortably in conversational English.
So that’s that! If being a Host interests you, please drop in to our Discord server to learn more.
