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Firstly, I'd like to recognize all SFSE moderators for their valued contribution to this valued community. I look forward to meeting them at the DF16 Dev Community Breakfast.

My question is really out of curiosity. I note that the last SFSE elections were held two years ago and I'm wondering what the election term is for SFSE moderators?

2 Answers 2

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From the help page Who are the site moderators, and what is their role here? (emphasis mine)

At Stack Exchange, we believe moderation starts with the community itself, so in addition to all users gaining privileges through reputation earned, each site has moderators elected through popular vote. We hold regular elections to determine who these community moderators will be (except in the case of new beta sites, which have moderators pro tempore, who are appointed by Stack Exchange staff). Moderators are elected for life, though they may resign (or, in very rare cases, be removed).

There's a post on meta.stackexchange that goes into a little more detail about when elections are held.

Basically, it appears that

  • A community starts with some number of moderator positions available (we're currently at 3, which looks like the default)
  • The StackExchange community team can modify the number of moderator positions available according to the work load (consulting with existing moderators)
  • The StackExchange community team reaches out to moderators every year around the anniversary of their election

So, it appears that an election is only held when there is a need for additional moderator(s). Elections may be more regular on larger sites.

+edit:

It took a good bit of diving through our meta here, but here's some additional information:

  • SFSE was proposed around July of 2012 by LaceySnr ( http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/37589?phase=beta )
  • Private beta began around August of 2012, and it looks like the public beta began not too much later
  • We were in beta for a little over 2 years, mostly due to a general StackExchange redesign and the need to resolve IP issues with Salesforce ( When are we graduating and Coming Out Of BETA? )
  • The first (and so far only) election was held in September 2014 following our graduation from beta (this meta appears to be the first mention of graduation: New Design Launched )
  • Two of our 3 current moderators (metadaddy and LaceySnr) were moderators pro temporae during the beta
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  • 1
    Thanks, so it's essentially a life sentence :-)
    – Eliot Harper
    Sep 20, 2016 at 22:10
  • 1
    @EliotHarper There is no escape :D
    – Derek F
    Sep 20, 2016 at 22:57
  • 2
    It's not too much of a hardship, but sometimes I come here looking for an answer, see a few flags and leave half an hour later completely forgetting whey I opened the site in the first place :) Regarding work load I think myself and Samuel are pretty much staying on top of things right now. Sometimes I will ignore flag on a contentious question because I want to see how the community will react. But we don't get heaps and I try to deal with any outstanding when I visit the site.
    – Matt Lacey Mod
    Sep 23, 2016 at 2:06
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Based on other comments, it sounds as if people are happy with Sam and Matt. And they are happy to continue.

However Pat Patterson (metadaddy) has moved on from Salesforce and is only occasionally involved in projects that touch our technology.

I suggest we hold an election to replace him.

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    It looks like that might happen soon-ish as a matter of course. The first election wrapped up on Oct 7 2014, so SE community staff should soon be reaching out to the existing moderators for the annual check-in. (I hope it's a bit after so as not to lose the email among those piling up in the next week...) It seems likely that that check-in could result in Pat resigning and Sam & Matt agreeing that they'd like to get back to 3, and then we'll have an election. But I don't think there's a mechanism to force the resignation or election.
    – Thomas Taylor
    Oct 2, 2016 at 17:47
  • If Pat is not able to put in the time it would be useful to have third moderator elected that is more tied into SFDC at the moment then as though Sam & Matt are doing a good job it is useful for more cover to exist in case of project time commitments/illness/vacations.
    – Dave Humm
    Oct 3, 2016 at 9:14
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    In response to @DaveHumm, rather than another SFDC expert, I think it would be beneficial for the community to also have an SFMC expert as a moderator, considering the growth in marketing-cloud related questions.
    – Eliot Harper
    Oct 3, 2016 at 18:46
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    @EliotHarper -I wouldn't disagree with having a moderator from the SFMC side as that is an important element of the Salesforce ecosystem now.
    – Dave Humm
    Oct 3, 2016 at 19:15
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    I share the feeling for more moderators, I do however that we shouldn't specify who or what knowledge is required. Elections are public and everyone should be able to nominate themselves, and have the community vote on what they feel is needed most.
    – Samuel De Rycke
    Oct 4, 2016 at 23:58

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