**Helen**
**Helen** moderates sex, relationships and other boards as part of her Communities Development Officer role. Here she talks about changing other's opinions on education and makes no apologies for loving Russell Brand.
What's been your most memorable experience as a moderator?
That's a really tough one because there are so many memorable experiences! But since I'm being forced to choose, I'd say moderating the politics forum when Jim V is on holiday is always interesting. It's like there's a certain tone in there that I haven't quite got my head around yet. But I do love to read the discussions.
Do you ever have any difficulty balancing TheSite.org's editorial line with your own personal beliefs, how do you deal with this?
No not at all.
What do you do other than moderating?
I work with Jim V to help keep TheSite.org community ticking over. This includes answering board user's requests, running chat sessions, training and managing other moderators and editing various community content.
If you had to be locked in a lift with another person who would it be and why?
Russell Brand. The guy cracks me up as he is so provocative and I'd predict he's pretty intelligent. When he first presented Big Brother's Big Mouth I couldn't bear him, but I really like his humour now and I think he'd have a fair few interesting experiences to talk about.
If you could change peoples' opinions on one subject, what would it be and why?
I'm on a see food diet. Damn that doesn't really work in print does it?
I'll always argue that further education is valuable in its own right, rather than just being about getting a qualification to get a job. I've heard people say they earn £40K a year and didn't need to go to university. Of course I think: fair play to them. However, I do think that if they've got loads of money, they should go and study, because there's plenty of interesting things to learn about and too much ignorance in the world.
Do you learn from the posters' experiences?
Indeed I do, but I'd say usually it's not so much about actually learning from their experiences, it's more about taking them on board and perhaps referring to them if a similar situation comes up in my own life. Several board users are clearly experts on certain subjects which is fab for the community. On a really basic level if someone recommends a bar, film or book on the boards I might take it on board if I'm thinking about what to do or where to go that evening.
If you could set up one new forum what would it be?
A food forum. I thoroughly enjoy eating decent quality food and although there are quite a few threads about grub, I'd love to have a dedicated area. Eating with mates is the best, although I do laugh at how fussy some of my friends are. I'm on a see food diet. Damn that doesn't really work in print does it?
What was your favourite thread?
YouthNet's 10th Anniversary celebration thread.
Finally...
If I were an animal I would be a bird because I'd love to fly to a sunny climate for the winter.
**Helen**
**Helen** moderates sex, relationships and other boards as part of her Communities Development Officer role. Here she talks about changing other's opinions on education and makes no apologies for loving Russell Brand.
What's been your most memorable experience as a moderator?
That's a really tough one because there are so many memorable experiences! But since I'm being forced to choose, I'd say moderating the politics forum when Jim V is on holiday is always interesting. It's like there's a certain tone in there that I haven't quite got my head around yet. But I do love to read the discussions.
Do you ever have any difficulty balancing TheSite.org's editorial line with your own personal beliefs, how do you deal with this?
No not at all.
What do you do other than moderating?
I work with Jim V to help keep TheSite.org community ticking over. This includes answering board user's requests, running chat sessions, training and managing other moderators and editing various community content.
If you had to be locked in a lift with another person who would it be and why?
Russell Brand. The guy cracks me up as he is so provocative and I'd predict he's pretty intelligent. When he first presented Big Brother's Big Mouth I couldn't bear him, but I really like his humour now and I think he'd have a fair few interesting experiences to talk about.
If you could change peoples' opinions on one subject, what would it be and why?
I'll always argue that further education is valuable in its own right, rather than just being about getting a qualification to get a job. I've heard people say they earn £40K a year and didn't need to go to university. Of course I think: fair play to them. However, I do think that if they've got loads of money, they should go and study, because there's plenty of interesting things to learn about and too much ignorance in the world.
Do you learn from the posters' experiences?
Indeed I do, but I'd say usually it's not so much about actually learning from their experiences, it's more about taking them on board and perhaps referring to them if a similar situation comes up in my own life. Several board users are clearly experts on certain subjects which is fab for the community. On a really basic level if someone recommends a bar, film or book on the boards I might take it on board if I'm thinking about what to do or where to go that evening.
If you could set up one new forum what would it be?
A food forum. I thoroughly enjoy eating decent quality food and although there are quite a few threads about grub, I'd love to have a dedicated area. Eating with mates is the best, although I do laugh at how fussy some of my friends are. I'm on a see food diet. Damn that doesn't really work in print does it?
What was your favourite thread?
YouthNet's 10th Anniversary celebration thread.
Finally...
If I were an animal I would be a bird because I'd love to fly to a sunny climate for the winter.