Public Relations head wanted

[paazin]

Lusipher recently resigned from the position of PR head, after finishing up most of the resources needed for our NWCon4 work.

The position is now vacant and we are accepting applications for those interested in taking the job.

Official PR Head Job Description:

The PR Head is responsible for management and implementation of all aspects of ALFA marketing communication. The PR Head’s goal first and foremost is to sell the community to current and potential members. The PR Head manages the ALFA Brand and the means by which the brand is presented to users including: Website and Forum look and feel, the ALFA MySpace Page, ALFA’s official presence on community forums.

The PR Head should maintain a staff to assist with these goals. The PR Head is responsible for the project management of this staff.
The PR Head is accountable to the Lead Administrator. It should be noted that an essential requirement of the PR Head position is a positive working relationship with the Infrastructure Administrator (IA) and staff. The PR Head must respect the authority of the IA in relation to the ALFA Website and Forums.

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Here's a little snippet by Senor T which describes well what's needed in the position:

In my opinion, the most crucial skill a PR Head can have is the ability to manage a project. The PR job is simply too large for anyone to do on their own. It requires an understanding of the wider NWN community on a page-by-page level. It requires writing text, managing text, managing graphics, creating graphics, managing websites, keeping in touch with the IA and staff, you get the picture. Because of this I've implemented a project management tool that helps a team work together. This means that the BEST use of a PR Heads' time is managing a staff and keeping them on a message consistent with the LA's vision. This means creating tasks when things need doing and assigning the right people to do them and keeping track of the list and touching base with folks to see if they're on schedule or behind schedule.

Really, the ideal PR Head would be someone committed to the community above all others, have the time to spend in the forums/chat/zoho project once a day or every other day at worst, would be respected by the community at large and would not mind following the LA's vision.

A final personal note: the PR department has more than enough to worry about aside from policy. I've tried my best to stay out of ALFA politics during my tenure aside from my vote. As well, drama has a way of making the PR staff's job much more difficult, so contributing to it is rather directly in conflict with the job itself.


If interested, please PM me with any questions.

[Demson]

To add to Paazin's message, now is the time for PR to make a difference. I am convinced that ALFA needs a surge of new blood to help things get along. The dedication and effort ALFAns have put into this lovely community is absolutely amazing, and it does show in the worldbuilds and roleplay.

It's a shame that tensions has risen to what they are today, and the burn-out rate of the creative effort is really very serious and very high. All the more reason we need more people and more talent to keep the effort going. And considering ALFA is still here and still going for it, it deserves that new blood, too.

PR, admissions and retentions is at the forefront of this development, that is already happening. Looking at the application forum and playing on the TSM itself, it's clear we have a steady amount of people coming in for our NWN2 side. And it is making a difference, IMO.

Our main problem is retention. We simply can't keep members for the NWN2 side with the current content and DM coverage. The social aspect of ALFA also has it's influence here.

But all the more important PR becomes because of it. We need to show people what ALFA is about, what we're going for and what ALFA has achived in the past and what we'll have again if we have our way. There's certainly enough positive developments to make this happen. The first impression will bond people to ALFA, and we will need to get this first impression right. It is perfectly natural for people to go, but it should also be natural for them to return. How many of you have not had breaks from ALFA only to return at a later time?

As PA I will commit myself to work with the PR staff head and staff on this, and make this happen. I'll do what I can on the PR side of things, as I already have a commitment and involvement there, that relates directly to Retentions (a PA thing) anyhow. So far I've found it to be extremely rewarding and fun. Focussing on the good things of ALFA really does make you feel a whole lot better about things - why do you think I can manage to be so bloody enthousiastic about ALFA, hm?

[Senor T]

I'll of course stick around to support the team, but I'd very much like to see someone with new ideas and some time to devote to promoting the project take the job as PR Head. There are a lot of great things that really do go on here, and the more people we truly get involved, the more awesomeness we can make happen.

Don't be intimidated by the job description. Really all you need is time, a genuine desire to promote the project and the willingness to learn about our project management system/tools (which I'll be more than happy to help you out with). A desire to defer policy opinions (and therefore drama) to the Lead Admin is a definite help.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.