Photos of John Hallett RSSWed, 23 Jul 2025 13:59:43 GMTTook a guitar that had been sitting in a cupboard for years to a repair café here in Bishkek. A volunteer re-glued the bridge and fitted new strings in about half an hour, and wouldn't take any money. Thanks to everyone in Makers Network who convinced me it was worth fixing rather than replacing.

]]>Wed, 23 Jul 2025 13:59:43 GMTFrom the in-person session for Moderation Essentials. Each table got a stack of anonymised reports and twenty minutes to sort them into act now, act later and leave alone.

]]>Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:12:01 GMTSecond exercise of the day: one person plays an angry member, the other gets three messages to calm things down. Harder than it sounds, and lots of laughing once the timer ran out.

]]>Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:12:01 GMTThe tea break turned out to be the most useful part of the day. Several moderators said it was the first time they had talked about burnout out loud. That's why looking after your team gets a module of its own.

]]>Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:12:01 GMTThe one hard rule at the heart of module 2: nobody makes a ban decision alone. Two moderators read the member's history, agree on the outcome, and only then act.

]]>Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:43:46 GMTYour first event doesn't need a stage. Ten people, a table and one good opening question is plenty, and much easier to get right. That's lesson 6 in one picture.

]]>Tue, 22 Oct 2024 12:53:04 GMTOpening image for the reports module of Moderation Essentials. The rule we borrowed from Moderators HQ: every report gets an acknowledgement, a decision and a note in the log, even when the decision is to do nothing.

]]>Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:07:13 GMTSmall, predictable rituals keep a community warm between the big moments: a Monday check-in, a Friday wins thread, a monthly call. This week's task is to pick one and run it for six weeks before you judge it.

]]>Mon, 21 Oct 2024 08:59:53 GMTA moderator is the referee. You enforce the rules everyone agreed on, you stay out of the match, and you explain your calls. I picked this image for the moderation basics lesson because nobody in the pilot group forgot the comparison.

]]>Fri, 18 Oct 2024 10:13:55 GMTRecord player is back in service after a new belt. Current rotation while I work through the support queue: old jazz, mostly, because no lyrics means no distractions.

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