Council of Unions Interview: Orlando_Magic
What was your inspiration to make your union?
Well first I need to give a little background information on Off the Books. Off the Books was one of the earliest user-created boards on Gamespot, getting its start around 2003. It was first formed by then Gamespot Moderator WittyGBanter as a place to discuss hip-hop on Gamespot, and the board was extremely active. When Gamespot switched its servers from Lithium a while later, all the posts were deleted from Gamespot, and all the user-created boards were deleted as well. So we had to rebuild Off the Books on the new Gamespot site, and Criminal5 was the one who created this new Off the Books since WittyGBanter was not that active anymore. This user-created board was for a time the most active user-created board on Gamespot and gained over 75,000 posts in its lifetime. This old board can still be viewed here. However, Criminal5's Gamespot Complete subscription eventually expired, and he lost many of his Admin privileges at Off the Books. We couldn't perform many basic functions, even simple ones such as changing the banner, and with the rise of Unions taking place at the same time, I along with the support of the Off the Books community decided it was in the best interest of Off the Books to make the transition to a union. So on December 25th, 2006 the Off the Books union was formed.
With that being said, my inspiration comes from WittyGBanter and Criminal5 and just wanting to continue what they started originally. WittyGBanter and Criminal5 laid down the blueprint for Off the Books, and I'm just finishing the job now, hoping to keep Off the Books alive and running smoothly into the future.
Did you expect the union to be a success when you started it?
Yes, Off the Books was already a successful user-created board with a strong community. I knew the union would have plenty of activity from the get go because of this. The real question I had to deal with was whether making the transition from user-created board to union would be beneficial to Off the Books, and I feel it has been.
What do you do to keep your members coming back?
I really just try to promote discussion in any way possible at Off the Books in order to keep our members coming back. I think we have a very strong, knowledgeable, and diverse community at Off the Books that provides for some very unique discussions. And because of this, members continue to come back to Off the Books years later, including myself.
Do you think Gamespot has supported unions in the long run?
Yes and No. Yes because Gamespot is supposedly making forum upgrades, and will be supposedly revamping unions to go along with the recent changes we've seen to Gamespot's layout. And No because there have been many technical issues that have been hindering unions for a very long time, ranging from Levels being stuck to Union Views not being updated, and nothing has really been done about this. It seems like Gamespot's focus has been elsewhere and Unions have kind of been forgotten, but I'm hoping the Union upgrades will change my opinion on that.
What makes you want to be a union leader versus somewere else?
I've been a posting at Off the Books for over 5 years now, so I have a feeling of belonging there. I've always been active at Off the Books and once I became the Leader it became my responsibilty to keep the union running smoothly and I like having that responsibilty.
Have you ever considered moving the union off site?
It has been considered, but after consulting with the members of Off the Books it was determined that it was best to just stay put on Gamespot. Gamespot provides a steady influx of new members, while being off site makes it much more difficult to find new members to contribute.
What unique features do you have that keeps you ahead of other unions based on the same thing?
We've never really had too much major competition. Other hip-hop boards like the Hip Hop Review Crew and the Hip Hop and Rap Union have come and gone without really posing a threat to Off the Books. But just the amount of knowledgeable regulars at Off the Books is what keeps the union going and ahead of our competitors.
In times of inactivity who pulled the union through, officers or recruits?
A combination of both is what pulled the union through. Anyone who posts new threads and makes interesting posts, whether it be officers or recruits, is helping to ease inactivity.
Have you ever had trouble keeping the union updated with new news?
The hip-hop world is extremely active. There is always new music being released, new up and coming artists, and plenty of drama (:P) every single day so there hasn't been much of a problem finding something to talk about.
Have you ever just wanted to give up?
Never. I don't ever want to see Off the Books fade away.
What was the hardest choice you had to make about your union?
The hardest choice I've had to make was just deciding whether to form the union in the first place, and deciding if it was really in the best interest Off the Books to make the transition from a user-created board to a union. And I feel that transition has been successful.
Has there ever been a member that has done something that benefited the union greatly?
Sure. IsThisIt_basic's contributions to Off the Books immediately stick out in my mind. Some of the most important contributions that he has made include his gigantic Rap Explained thread which summarized the entire history of hip-hop, and also his FL Studio Tutorial Thread for people who want to produce hip-hop beats. But really, just anyone who brings a unique perspective, provides insight, is knowledgeable about hip-hop, or just enjoys hip-hop has benefited the union.
We Major?
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