Newsletter Announcments - One Open Positions - One possible Position

[BlackOak2]

***Edited to highlight:
There are still two open positions and potentially a third in the newsletter roster.

-->The English-Other Branch is still missing a writer. Term is only for 3 months (you decide if you want to stay longer). Other rules are included below. - filled

-->The manager position will remain open until an acceptable candidate steps forward and is voted in.

-->There is a potential position for a classifieds manager that might open up. This position will fall under the same rules and regulations as the other writers, but instead of reporting on competitions, this position will be responsible for overseeing the ads of sale and stud horses, trainers, boarding facilities and some other currently anonymous classifieds. If interested in this position, it may not start immediately and the format and upkeep are both still undecided.


As many of our community already are aware of, our newsletter founder has been forced to step down as the manager for the time being. Real life hits all of us hard and fast at times, what more really needs to be said?

I have been appointed the interim manager of the newsletter and will remain the manager until an appropriate appointment has been decided upon by those that may want to take over the semi-permanent position and that has also been agreed upon by the writer's of the newsletter branches.

This post is to describe and enlighten two major topics for the newsletter at this time. First is to inform the community to some of the changes that have taken place in the newsletter and second is to search for a couple replacement writers.

First, let me introduce and reintroduce you to the Current Newsletter Writers:
Racing Branch - Tisha - new addition as of January 27th
English Eventing Branch - HorzeLover101
English Other Branch - Baranduin Brewster - new addition as of February 10th
Ranch/Stock Horse Branch - RenegadePegasus (formerly covered/called Western Timed)
Gymkhana Branch - Lila25172 (formerly covered/called Western Scored)
Driving Branch - Veterinarian

Now the changes.
To make better sense and use of the categories that horses are generally placed in, the Western Branches have been revamped. They have now been changed to reflect the 'Stock' or 'Ranch' horse style of breeding and the 'Gymkhana' or 'Western Show' horse style of breeding. These two types of horses, in real life, are decently different, even being broken down further in their respective categories into specialists.
So now, please enjoy the Gymkhana Branch that will in February and thereafter cover: Barrel Racing, Pole Bending and Western Pleasure.
And the Stock or Ranch Branch that will in February and thereafter cover: Cutting, Reining, Western Trail and Working Ranch.
There have been no further changes to the branches directly.

We are currently seeking Writers.

There are currently two positions open that can be filled.
These are the:
Racing Branch - filled
English Other Branch

There is also the position of Newsletter Manager.
Yes, the position I currently have. I am the interim manager until a semi-permanent manager can be located. I'm here to streamline the newsletter a little bit, help to get it a little bit more interactive and keep it going.

There are separate requirements that need to be met for the writer's versus the manager. So check out the rules below and if you're still interested, please contact me either here, or through a PM or in the writer's chat.

Writer's Section - for hiring
The rules for Writer's:
Schedule
Racing Section- posted on the 1st friday of each month
Both English Sections- posted one week later on the second friday of each month
Both Western Sections- posted one week later on the third friday of each month
Driving Section- posted one week later on the fourth friday of each month
(There's a little give and take to this posting, as long as it's released within that week)

Payment
*You are being paid to write for the newsletter ($50,000 per issue), and you agree to follow the rules. Therefore, if you break one rule, you will get a warning and it will be overlooked; if you break two, you will get another, firmer warning; but if you break three or more rules, you will be fired.

Rules that will result in warnings and possibly, eventual firing.
1. Absolutely no foul language.
2. The manager has the right to ask for something in your newsletter branch to be removed. It must be removed within 24 hours of the request.
3. There is a format that you should follow, it will be included below. It is not imperative to have the format exactly as laid out, however it should be similar and the required additions should not be left out. Required points are noted.
4. Please, please, please keep in contact with the manager! This is very important! The manager (currently the author of this topic) wants to hear everything and anything you have to say about the newsletter, including improvements and changes. If you don't like something the manager is doing, tell us. The manager might be the head of the newsletter, but that does not mean your input isn't important. This is supposed to be an elected position, so your opinion is important. Please be honest and upfront. The manager wants to hear your suggestions, and anything else you have to say too!
5. Please bookmark the writer's chat page. Pinging can be missed or forgotten, plus it's important to stay up-to-date on what the other writer's of the other branches are doing.

General Writer Rules & Obligations
1) Term Limits - 3 month turnaround (exception, you may choose to keep your post, but there is a minimum of 3 month writing promise)
2) current writer is responsible for finding their replacement, or choosing to keep writing
3) all writer accounts must be at least one month old with regular activity
4) all writer's must be familiar with the codes written for the forum
5) must write in english, but can use a translation tool
6) upgrading is helpful, but not a requirement
Writer Emergencies
The writer is responsible for finding a fill-in if release date may be missed

Newsletter Format
Before applying, please familiarize yourself with what's expected.
So format goes:
First is: interview/player spotlight is first (if offered, this section is not necessary)

Then each discipline separately
news per discipline must note broken records then anything else optional
rising star, but is not needed
competition/entrant spotlight
Repeat discipline separately and as needed

Then last: extras

I recommend having one rising star per release, not per discipline, of course you're welcome to have more, or none at all.

Now for further information on each section.

Interview/Player Spotlight
The interview is optional. An interview is not necessary, but it offers a lot to the newsletter. It should include what breeds generally populate the player's primary farm (or the farm that the interview is coming from), their top horses either in the competition or breeding sheds, which horse is their favorite or that they're looking forward to the most and what one of their current goals are. You're welcome to design your own interview questions separate from these; this is simply a guideline to make it streamlined. You can also include the guideline and additional questions as well. All this remains at the your discretion.

Instead of an interview, a player spotlight can be used, a spotlight is a non-interview overview of what an account has been recently producing. The general breed population on the farm should be included and one or two, at least, of their competition horses should also be noted.

In the interview or player spotlight, horse links, instead of pictures can be used. Try to use the URL coding properly and name the horse: Toxic Starlet, instead of just having the URL address: http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/1908287
This just makes it visually more appealing.

News Per Discipline
News needs to include the record breaks that have happened since the last newsletter printing, or just a 'no records broken' notation. This section can also include a high-pot competition or a recurring competition to help bring notice to it. It can be requested by the host of that competition or otherwise. If too many request to publicize competitions comes in, we'll have to discuss what can be done about it.

Rising Star
This section is not necessary, but we all find our eye attracted to something from time to time. This is what this section should be. So, rising stars are at the sole discretion of the writer. However, please note why the star caught your attention. Plus, a Rising Star need not just be a horse, it can also be a stable, however, they will need to appear to be focusing on that discipline in this section.

Competition/Horse Spotlight
The Spotlight section is to cover a competition or horse in the past month that drew the most attention.
OR...
it can also be a random competition.
Please, if noting a race, horse or owner/breeder that's separate from the spotlight, please include the links, it should not be a horse picture, just the URL link.
Please keep these things in mind when considering how you'll handle this section:
Horse Spotlight:
Spotlights should include general best times (one or two that pops up most often on the recent history of that first page), some form of current competition record (percentage wins versus total entries or first places versus total, etc) and one other thing that stands out about the horse (such as BR, Conf scores, color, etc).
1) The spotlighted horse can be one that has offered a lot of wins. This is easy to see directly from the Competition Results page, just look for one that keeps popping up. This can be your spotlight horse.
2) A spotlight horse can also be one that comes close more than once to the current records, again, this can be seen from the Competition Results page. But you'll need to know off-hand, what your competition record score is.
Competition Spotlight:
1) A spotlight competition can be a high-pot, which are easily found on the Competition Results page.
2) A spotlight competition can also be a reoccurring competition, but these are a little more difficult to locate. But by looking at the individual competitions, either on the Competition Results page or the Competition Entry page, reoccurring competitions has the past records visible.
3) A spotlight competition can also be a competition that drew a lot of attention from currently, strong-competing horses. This is at the writer's discretion.
4) This can also be the competition posted in the news section of the previous month, giving the highlight of how it concluded.

Extras
This section is for whatever else, you, as the writer of your section of the newsletter, want to include. These can be sales, studs, contests, interesting facts, your favorite horse over the past month (and can be wholly unrelated to your newsletter disciplines), a joke you recently heard or wrote, etc.

*********************************

Manager's Section
For Consideration of Election into the Position

General Manager Rules & Obligations
1) should be a vote-in by current writers
2) should not be a newbie
3) should consider a term limit
4) should NOT change the pay-rate-per-issue
5) has responsibilities for final fill-in if a newsletter writer or replacement cannot be found
6) changes to the newsletter as a whole should be majority vote
7) changes to each section should be agreed between manager and the current writer of that section
8) Should Be Upgraded! Not a requirement, but by being upgraded, it enables full use and assistance wherever the need may be.



Questions, comments, concerns, please let me know.


Edited to add Tisha to the roster.

[BlackOak2]

Bump

[BlackOak2]

Bump

[BlackOak2]

The position for Racing Branch has officially been filled.
There is still the English - Other branch and also the newsletter manager position.

[Honeybunny#2]

Bump

Welp… another long post by BlackOak read...
Anyway... I think I retained about 50% of the info... The segment about the writers rules caught my interest... and I'm saying this:
1. I would love to fill one of these positions... but I don't have the time to be any of the available slots above... for now at least.
2. However, I am a writer, and as such I would love to write for any of the newsletters! I can write on anything... so I'm open to writing articles of interest/stories and other items... I would love to help and write for the newsletters

[BlackOak2]

Bump

Welp… another long post by BlackOak read...
Anyway... I think I retained about 50% of the info... The segment about the writers rules caught my interest... and I'm saying this:
1. I would love to fill one of these positions... but I don't have the time to be any of the available slots above... for now at least.
2. However, I am a writer, and as such I would love to write for any of the newsletters! I can write on anything... so I'm open to writing articles of interest/stories and other items... I would love to help and write for the newsletters

Our writers are on a 3-month term, they can choose to retain their positions for longer, but after that 3-month, if one of them wants to quit, then there will be a position that opens.
There's also availability in the future, when the branches split further (as there is more interest in the newsletters and competitions, there will need more time to write, thus the branches themselves will need to split apart further)... that will not be happening anytime soon I think.

So there are a few ways you can still participate, if you want to. You can offer mini-write-ups to be published in the corresponding branch (whichever branch it hits under) and I can pay you for each one you offer. But it would be best to have an upgraded account so the article can be sent via PM before the release date, to copy and paste into the branch.
You can also offer your time as an interviewer for any of the branches. You'll need to inquire directly to the branch writer's for that, but again, you're pay will come from me.

There is also the potential for a classifieds manager, which may or may not fit within your time limits. I don't yet know enough about it to say how much time that might take. At the very least maintaining it will require you to log into the game at least once every day or two and spend some of that time directly dedicated to that task. Again, how much time dedication, I don't know just yet. It may be less then the writers, or it may be more, just spread out over the month, rather than a day or two of dedication with the writing, plus making notes throughout the month along the way...

There could be other options, or you can leave it at that and wait until a position opens up and your time is more lenient.

[Bri56830]

I am willing to take any more open spots!

[BlackOak2]

I am willing to take any more open spots!

If you're interested in the manager position, the branch writer's will need to take a vote (that is not something I can decide upon). Do you feel that you can lead the entire newsletter?

As far as the classified ad position. Do you think you can upkeep it? It will require creating a uniform ad for all of the sales and studs (I'd like them to be mirrored after the help section I designed: Creating Sale & Stud Ads Help). You will also be responsible for updating it on a regular basis (which means if you're in school, you're still able to get on regularly, however I don't want it to interfere with schoolwork). Trainers, Boarders, competitions, contests and so on, could likely come under your purview. You'll need to know and understand enough about the competitions, the styles of horses for each of them (and hopefully also colors) to write up the ads in thoughtful and well-rounded ways. Also knowing some of the competition bloodlines would help as well. Really, such a manager would need to have the same understandings and knowledge that each branch writer does separately with a bit on top of that.
Are you far enough into the game that you think you can handle something like that without too much assistance?

If you feel you might be able to handle either one, maybe that can happen.

If you feel a lighter task, a writer position instead, might be a better fit, then when a current writer chooses to retire, that perhaps can happen instead.

[Honeybunny#2]

Welp… another long post by BlackOak read...
Anyway... I think I retained about 50% of the info... The segment about the writers rules caught my interest... and I'm saying this:
1. I would love to fill one of these positions... but I don't have the time to be any of the available slots above... for now at least.
2. However, I am a writer, and as such I would love to write for any of the newsletters! I can write on anything... so I'm open to writing articles of interest/stories and other items... I would love to help and write for the newsletters

Our writers are on a 3-month term, they can choose to retain their positions for longer, but after that 3-month, if one of them wants to quit, then there will be a position that opens.
There's also availability in the future, when the branches split further (as there is more interest in the newsletters and competitions, there will need more time to write, thus the branches themselves will need to split apart further)... that will not be happening anytime soon I think.

So there are a few ways you can still participate, if you want to. You can offer mini-write-ups to be published in the corresponding branch (whichever branch it hits under) and I can pay you for each one you offer. But it would be best to have an upgraded account so the article can be sent via PM before the release date, to copy and paste into the branch.
You can also offer your time as an interviewer for any of the branches. You'll need to inquire directly to the branch writer's for that, but again, you're pay will come from me.

There is also the potential for a classifieds manager, which may or may not fit within your time limits. I don't yet know enough about it to say how much time that might take. At the very least maintaining it will require you to log into the game at least once every day or two and spend some of that time directly dedicated to that task. Again, how much time dedication, I don't know just yet. It may be less then the writers, or it may be more, just spread out over the month, rather than a day or two of dedication with the writing, plus making notes throughout the month along the way...

There could be other options, or you can leave it at that and wait until a position opens up and your time is more lenient.

I probably could do any of them... I will think on it... Also what type of write-up?

[BlackOak2]

Our writers are on a 3-month term, they can choose to retain their positions for longer, but after that 3-month, if one of them wants to quit, then there will be a position that opens.
There's also availability in the future, when the branches split further (as there is more interest in the newsletters and competitions, there will need more time to write, thus the branches themselves will need to split apart further)... that will not be happening anytime soon I think.

So there are a few ways you can still participate, if you want to. You can offer mini-write-ups to be published in the corresponding branch (whichever branch it hits under) and I can pay you for each one you offer. But it would be best to have an upgraded account so the article can be sent via PM before the release date, to copy and paste into the branch.
You can also offer your time as an interviewer for any of the branches. You'll need to inquire directly to the branch writer's for that, but again, you're pay will come from me.

There is also the potential for a classifieds manager, which may or may not fit within your time limits. I don't yet know enough about it to say how much time that might take. At the very least maintaining it will require you to log into the game at least once every day or two and spend some of that time directly dedicated to that task. Again, how much time dedication, I don't know just yet. It may be less then the writers, or it may be more, just spread out over the month, rather than a day or two of dedication with the writing, plus making notes throughout the month along the way...

There could be other options, or you can leave it at that and wait until a position opens up and your time is more lenient.

I probably could do any of them... I will think on it... Also what type of write-up?

From whatever subject (preferably horse related) that you desire. If there's a great race in real life you want to write a tidbit on, or a current racehorse in real life that caught your eye. That also applies to the HWO world.
Jumpers, log pullers...
A newbie that is doing considerably well in some area or sport.
You can also use the write-up as mini-reminders for how to pick a stud, or sale horse or grinder. Don't be too long about it, give yourself a word-limit so that you don't get that long-winded type that some of us have a tendency to do... i.e. ME...

There is a fill-in position for the gymkhana branch this month, look for Lila25172 topic in the general chat... it's not posted yet as of this timestamp, but I asked for it to be written up so that should appear within the next day or so.

I'm still unsure about the classifieds manager though. I'm receiving mixed reviews about releasing that to the HWO community at this present time, so that might be put on hold for a few months or longer just yet. I'm just not yet sure.

Does that offer you further ideas?