h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm feeling the call of Scoutdom again, and if you'd have me I'd like to be considered in the next round of recruitment

I almost feel the urge to tell you to get involved in Peer Review to get a feel for what the guide is like.

But I won't

Glad to see you're ready to join again.

Is that you Jodan? What's the translation of your current name?

Yes, it's me in disguise. Jodan.

It means We can not do all things. Rather appropriate for me, apparently.

'We can not do all things'

Will you tell that to my boss? In fact, will you tell it to every single manager of a retail store, all of whom seem to think that their employees and underlings should be able to deal with four customers and six tasks at a time and be in several places at once

Hi - thanks for your interest in becoming a Scout. I'm just one Scout and I don't speak for all of us, but hopefully this will be useful advice for you! As far as I know, they're not recruiting new Scouts at the moment, but , all is not lost...

The best thing you can do in the meantime is to try and get up to speed on what the Scouts do, the most important of which is contributing to PeerReview - by helping to comment on other people's entries and get them up to the standard required for the Edited Guide. That way, when the next recruitment drive happens, people will have already seen you around Peer Review and know who you are and that you'd be a useful person to have on the team... compared to someone who just wants a nice shiny badge and the chance to pick two entries every month.

To contribute to PR to maximum effect, it's a good idea to learn the Writing-Guidelines inside out so you know what's required - and more importantly, the kind of thing that will rule an entry out, like being written in the first person. Another good idea is to read all the new entries that come up on the front page to get an idea of the length of entry and quality of writing that the Scouts are looking for when they select an Edited Guide entry - you can find the complete list of entries published over the last month on the Month page.

Best of luck!



Cheers,
Number Six

er, No.6, have you seen whom you're addressing there?

Or maybe Six is just picking up where I left off with post 2.

Jodan's right, I couldn't resist it

Most of what I know about being a Scout, I learned from watching Gosho...

You flatter me, Sir

I think perhaps I should withdraw my (re)application.

Whilst I haven't been involved in the recent hoo-hah regarding aka and Saturnine, I would find it very difficult to be hamstrung by the Volunteers code of conduct and not be able to speak my mind (within the House Rules of course ) in that, or any other similar situations, or indeed in any h2g2 conversation.

You really should take me off the Scouts email list and remove my monthly reminder notice from the calendar, Jimster

Is that it?

The legend of Gosho ends because you're not sure you can adhere to a now barely-enforced Code of Conduct? That's no good and I won't have it.

Now put on your green hat and jump in the owl suit!

Me, a legend? Only to my cat, and only because he sees me as alpha male

You heard the man... now withdraw your withdrawal, or expect a squadron of North London s on your case!

'Withdraw your withdrawal'

I'll reconsider it. That's the best I can say for now.

And you Norf London mods don't frighten me mate I'm an East London boy

How'd you like a good sheep-mauling?

"Me, a legend?"

Yes, you. If there was a Scouting Hall of Fame, you'd be inducted immediately. You know that.

I don't... I honestly don't

I was only a Scout for a little over a year, and there are those who have been Scouts for much longer. I was never particularly fluffy in PR. I barely dabbled in the other review forums - Bossel was much more busy there than I ever could have been. There are Scouts who got involved in many more PR threads than me. There are Scouts who gave much more constructive criticism than me. There are Scouts who were much more perceptive in Scout group discussions than me. I'd count you in most of those categories Jodan.

As for a sheep-mauling, well I am part Welsh you know

Personally, I don't want Scouts who are fluffy in PR. I want Scouts who are *useful* in PR. I want Scouts who contribute to PR, know what's required by the EG, know what the EG actually *is* and have an idea what it could and should be. I want Scouts that generally do some work to earn their badge - as opposed to those who do nothing all month except wander into PR to make their two picks without so much as contributing to a thread.

All of the above means you, Gosho. And you know it.

I know I did a good job as a Scout... I wouldn't go so far as to say I did a great job. I did take the job seriously though

Since Whisky re-applied after me and has since been reinstated as a Scout, I can make one of two conclusions - either Jims and Natalie have somehow missed this thread, or my former 'unfluffiness' precludes me from being a Scout again.

Just checked at Yahoo Groups - I'm still on the list