Why I'd Love to be a Community Builder @theinkwell

in The Ink Well4 years ago

The Ink Well Call for Community Builders

In the September newsletter, The Ink Well subscribers were updated about some big changes and opportunities, presented by @shanibeer, to move this community to its next level of professionalism, quality, and interaction. It was a great read. If you missed it, definitely go check it out!

The newsletter got me very excited about where this community is heading, and the potential there is for actually having impact. And then there was the introduction of Community Builders - a new vacancy at The Ink Well, focussing on growing engagement and offering support to community members and visitors. We all have till October 15th to apply, so don't miss out on the opportunity!

The Community is looking for Builders who are:

  • Chatty and friendly and enjoy interacting in the community
  • Knowledgeable about the community (and love writing)
  • Interested in building the community and increasing participation

In this post I'll present my application and tell you why I'd love to be a Community Builder at the Ink Well.

maaskade dolfijntje.jpg
An application isn't complete without some personal introduction. So adding some pictures (with random doodles - I always like to add something imaginative to whatever is going on). This is last summer, watching the sunset in front of our house. My husband and I live next to the river Maas, in the heart of Rotterdam.


Three Years on the Hive Blockchain

Below one of my recent posts, I received a comment, congratulating me with three years on the Hive blockchain. Which is true - I started this account that long ago. But of those three years, there's a gap of one and a half where I wasn't active.

When I started out here, I looked around and saw bloggers earning decent amounts of cash with every post. And I'll be honest - I wanted that too. There were so many topics successful people were writing about, and I thought that if I'd cover similar topics, maybe people would appreciate my posts also. Never as a copycat, I've always made my own content and always wrote about things that are really dear to me, that I'm excited about.

I did photography related posts, health stuff, posts about the amazing architecture here in Rotterdam like the Kubuswoningen and the Markthallen and the bridges we live in between of, recipes for fermenting foods or for making your own facial cream, and about one of my BIG hobbies - Ultimate Frisbee. In short, I was all over the place. And I enjoyed writing my articles, but would feel very disappointed if something I had put a lot of time into went unnoticed.

When I got a new and demanding job, I didn't find the time to post anymore. But I think an important factor in taking a break from the Hive blockchain, was that at that time, I was driven mostly by the success of my posts. Which wasn't enough to make me stick around. To do something, and keep going at it even if results are off for a while, it needs to have a purpose that I actually believe in.

bakken eekhoorn2.jpg
Preparing dessert for friends, a rhubarb pie.


Back with a Purpose

And that's why, since a few months, I'm back. I finally figured out what it is I want to be on this Blockchain for. I have stories, in my head, some on paper. When I write, I feel like the world is my oyster. Literally - I can make up worlds and spend time in them, create characters who move around in them, who go through experiences and unexpected turns of events. And I have ideas that I would really love to turn into something good.

As I'm putting more time into writing, I've realised there's a lot involved in getting better at it. There is reading tips and following courses and growing in theoretical understanding. There is the part where you sit down and put your ideas into words, and then read it back and refine your story.

And then there is the part where you need to know what others think about what you've written. Whether what you're telling makes sense to them, is relatable, fun and exciting to read, or not. As writers, we need feedback! Ideally, we connect to others who are also aspiring te be (better) writers. And as we share our stories with the world, we hope to get a general idea about how they are received by a larger audience.

This means that a lot of what it takes to become better at writing, involves other people! A community, interacting. Wanting to be part of and contribute to building a community like that, brought me back to Hive after one and a half year. And it's what gives me a purpose here, that is much larger than just writing a successful post now and then. I'm here to learn, and to connect, to grow together.

vogels en beertje1.jpg
We went to Avifauna this week, a park with its own idealistic purpose (among others) of taking in birds that need shelter.


The Actual Application Part

So this is why I think I'd be a great Community Builder:

  1. Yes, I think I'm chatty and friendly. I love interacting in the community, and also have a great reason to want to do so: if this could actually grow into a vibrant, active place, where (aspiring) writers interact and give feedback on each other's work, then that would be of great help to me personally, and to many others, I'm sure of it. I would be proud to contribute to that!
  2. The many things involved in becoming a better writer, like I listed them above - these are all things I'm looking into, learning about, developing experience in. I'm not an established writing professional, not at all. But I think that the tips and insights I'm coming across as a newcomer to the field, could be of use to other newcomers, and I'd be happy to share them. And of course, if people visit the community or are looking for some general information, I'd love to direct them to the places where they can learn more.
  3. So yes, I'm definitely interested in building the community and increasing participation. As I said, the plans described recently by @shanibeer sound like a lot of fun. If all of us can make that work, together, then that would be really something.

I'll finish this off like I would any application:

Looking forward to hear from you soon!

Yours truly,

Mirte

Mirte1.jpg

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Thank you for such a nice and detail application @amritadeva. I am so glad that someone besides The Ink Well moderators believes in process and great future for this project (a dream, actually)!
Success is hidden behind thousands of untold stories, I'm sure!

Thank you @stormlight24! I'm really happy to apply. It's a great project, and I know and see that the current moderators are working hard on it. So thank you and the team for the efforts, and maybe this will be a way for me and other Ink Well members to contribute a little, too!

Hello @amritadeva, would you like to have a look at these two posts about a community comment drive? I'd like to run a similar thing for @theinkwell. It would be very dependent on the community builders. What do you think?
Community Comment Drive
Comment Drive Week 1 Winner

Yes! This is a great idea! Very doable for all community members, and inviting more comments and interaction. It could even be fun to link this with the weekly @theinkwell writing tips. Like with these weeks lovely post on world building by @jayna, it could be fun to give some special attention to the world building we all do in our stories and posts throughout the week / on a specific day. It's just an idea, maybe starting simple is better. But this is an idea with potential for sure, would gladly contribute!

Lots to talk about there @amritadeva!

!ENGAGE 25

Thank you for your engagement on this post, you have recieved ENGAGE tokens.

Hello @amritadeva, thank you for your application, it's great to hear from you and your interest in The Ink Well :)
I can empathise with your experience of Hive and being all over the place - I've felt like that sometimes. I'm glad you've found your purpose. Here's to the future!

Thank you @shanibeer! I think finding what specific interest we want to pursue here can really improve our Hive experience. For knowing what we want to post about, what we want to invest our time into, and leaving whatever is beyond our scope for what it is. But also, for finding a community! It's just more fun together than alone :). So yes, to the future!!

Hello! Your post was selected by The Ink Well for quality and has received an OCD upvote! Congratulations! Please keep sharing these quality posts.

Thank you so much! Sincerely appreciated :).

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Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:

Feedback from the October 1st Hive Power Up Day

Hello @amritadeva, now that the hard fork is over, I'm getting in touch to follow up about the community builders. The Ink Well would like to accept your application :) I've delegated 1000 HP to your account, if you would get in touch with me here or on discord (@shanibeer#7523).