Mimirswell for Divus [Proposer imb39]
‘But we have forgotten a god. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.’
Mim has been a member of this site for a few years now. I first came to know of him when I was in Staff (I think I was a Quaestor) and we became good friends.
There are, within the context of TWC, a few giants that have left a real and public impact. Through little self advertising, it must be said, many are well known. Sulla, Sim and, I suppose, myself are clear examples of those people. Then we get to someone like Mim.
Mim has always preferred to sit back when the spot light is shining but do not confuse his lack of current presence with a lack of input and effect. Mim came to real prominence within the Site when he became a Curator. I have no problems in declaring that Mim was the best of all the Curators. Hotspur is bloody good – don’t get me wrong, but Mim operated at a time when strife was common place and Staff were quite happy to meddle and eek out their own body of supporters.
Mim’s influence on the Curia is, arguably, second to none in a ‘modern’ context. Much of the ground work was set by previous incumbents but Mim almost codified it all and created the atmosphere that allowed the Curia to be a driving force. He has consistently been for the democratisation of the Site, but in an ordered way. Since his re-emergence a couple of months ago, he has taken advantage of the excellent Curatorship of Hotspur and spurred (pun intended) some thoughtful legislation with the goal of increasing accountability. I do believe that he was one of the driving forces of the CDC and, in fact, named it.
Now none of this is directly relevant for achieving apotheosis but I feel it important to see how I saw him because he has proved to be one of the single most important figures that has shaped the site as we currently know it.
I won’t go into the minutiae of what happens in Staff (non disclosure, and all that) but as he rose through the ranks and became an Admin he set up, or co-wrote several key parts. He was instrumental in developing a mentoring system, before which there was none. He rewrote the Moderators Handbook and made it much clearer and easy to follow. He was, constantly, the voice of reason during troubled times. His influence on Staff is profound, though few actually realise it.
On an Admin level, Mim was given almost complete access by ON just prior to the initial furore in Staff where 90% were sacked by Archer. It is ironic that during the entire time, Mim technically outranked Archer and could easily have stripped him of his powers. Mim had access to all of ON sites and was tasked with, essentially, sorting them out with a view to the perennially promised upgrade. Event after he was ‘sacked’ Ogre did not remove access – his professionalism was impeccable.
Some people think that I should be put forward to a Divus vote. I can understand why that is so, but what have I actually done in terms of being an administrator? I have created one or two subforums. I have changed some account names. I have moderated – actually, I think I was quite at that. In essence that, in terms of being an administrator, is it. Now compare that to Mim.
Mim was the one who first floated the ideas of medals as a system. When he had admin access he installed the necessary software that has so consumed the curia of late. It allows for much more flexibility and, I believe, will go long way towards adding even more flavour to this site.
Mim also fixed parts of the old front Page. This came at a bit of a cost, as he also disabled one aspect (recent posts) but he replaced that with the ‘recent posts’ tab (which is now ‘Today’s Posts’ tab, I believe). Now bare in mind it was broken for sometime.
He has also increased the presence of CA itself within the site - a strong link is vital if we are to have any influence on the games that this site supports.
Mim also implemented the ‘Hide Poll Results’ hack. This goes some way towards making voting much more interesting and, dare I say it, accurate as people are less likely to simply ,vote with the crowd.’ A minor but very much useful addition. I think it fits in wonderfully with the general beliefs that he has put forward over the years concerning democracy.
As part of his general admin work, he has been developing security tools that have proved most useful. I cannot go into the details, for obvious reasons, but I can assure you that it has been very useful for Staff.
Along with Sim, he overhauled the way permissions were handed out. Prior to his involvement they were very much haphazard, with changes to those permissions easy to overlook. Now they are much more coherent. Security of the site is stronger as a result. Now combine this with the fixing of the templates and we have a far more welcoming and efficient site.
Finally, I need to talk about his influence on me. I made no secret in Hex that Mim was almost untouchable in my eyes. The site you see now was profoundly influenced by Mim, both on a practical level (outlined above) and a cultural level. If I needed advice on what to do, I can guarantee you, it would be Mim’s. His value to me, and, therefore, the site is almost incalculable.
I ask that you consider carefully this request. Don't let his recent quietness fool you into forgetting his impact (or being in ignorance of it). He is a true TWC giant.
Originally Posted by aja5191
