OVERVIEW OF SCENELINK POSITIONS
| For
starters, everyone can help with scenelink. If you hear about something
interesting that we haven't covered, submit it to the news page. Or if you want
to write an article on something you're interested in, let us know and we'll let
you know what our requirements are for freelance articles. Scenelink was
designed to be just this kind of meeting place, for people from all over to
share their knowledge and opinions. News announcements can be submitted on any
news page, or by clicking
here. People interested in writing freelance articles should
email us here. Scenelink was also designed to be a source for consistent news and analysis, and that's where we've had some trouble with the freelance model. As much as we love getting announcements and articles from people outside scenelink, we need to start balancing these sources with more regular ones to ensure that people can look forward to new material on a daily basis. We're looking for people to fill several spots. Each position has its own requirements, but there are also some general requirements for all of them. Working on scenelink is a job. Nobody gets paid for it, and we certainly don't expect 20 hours a week from anyone (except neofish9 and DeZigner), but it IS something that applicants should take seriously. As seriously as volunteering at a hospital, or working on a school newspaper, and somewhat less seriously than being the dictator of a small Latin American country. We expect everyone to be mature about their commitments; if you promise to do something, it is expected that you do it. If you can't do it, it is expected that you will let us know in advance, that's what "responsibility" means. There are too many things going on in scenelink for us to baby you, please don't waste our time if you can't handle this. Once again, we don't expect 20 hours a week, we just expect that you be aware of what you can and can't do, and let us know before there is a problem. On a lighter note, we expect that everyone have some sense of humor about all this, love the scene, and have an interest in scenelink's goal of bringing people within and across scenes together. Scenelink is a little older than most groups, with an average age of around 20, but any mature, competent, and interested applicant will be accepted without consideration for age. |
AVAILABLE POSITIONS
| Reporter Illustrator News Editor Scene Index Coordinator Biographies and Interviews Editor |
| TITLE: | Reporter (10+ people) |
| DUTIES: | Track down news for the news pages |
| REQUIREMENTS: | Awareness about what goes on in the scene. Time to spend idling in channels, reading texts, and talking with people. Ideally some contacts with important people in the scene. |
| DESCRIPTION: | The scene news pages are maintained by the entire scene, or that's the theory anyway. What we've found in practice is that most people are either unaware that they can submit news, or just lazy. That's why we're going to start taking a more aggressive approach to news. We still want to make sure as much news as possible comes straight from the people involved, but reporters will help to speed the process along. It will be up the reporters to search out new events, basically keeping their eyes open at all times. For someone who already spends a good deal of time in the scene, being a reporter isn't going to mean more than a few extra minutes a week. When they find news, reporters will develop it for the news pages. It will be up the reporter, and the News Editor, whether that means getting a quote from those involved, drawing on another source to provide a different angle, or just adding a note that the information is unconfirmed in the interest of getting it up on the news page as quickly as possible. |
| APPLICATION: | Send an email describing your history in the scene, and why you think scenelink is worth committing time to. Also, submit sample news announcements about the last 2 news events you were aware of, ideally between 75-125 words. See the current news page for examples. |
| TITLE: | Illustrator (4-5) |
| DUTIES: | Produce high quality and diverse illustration for issues. |
| REQUIREMENTS: | High degree of technical skill, creative ideas, and ability to meet deadlines. Looking for illustrators with knowledge of one or more of the following: Pencil/brush, Illustrator/Corel, FDpainter, animation, photography, lo-rez, music/audio, quark/PM, and 3D. |
| DESCRIPTION: | Illustration means just that. Obviously we expect someone who can do more than filtering in Photoshop, but the main requirement is having creative ideas for how to visually enhance articles. The best illustrators for scenelink will be the ones whose versatility allows them to shape art around content. Sometimes a realistic 3d rendering might work, and sometimes a deliberately unnatural look would be better. The point is, if all you can do is little bit of Bryce and Poser, you'll never be able to do anything that doesn't look unnatural. It's ok if you have a high degree of proficiency in just one or two styles, as long as your pieces reflect serious consideration of the effect they have on the viewer. Illustrators will work with the art director of scenelink. |
| APPLICATION: | Send an email describing your prior experience as an artist, and any illustration/design experience you've had in or out of the scene. Explain your personal philosophy about the role of illustration in a magazine, and tell us what you expect to get out of working on scenelink. Include 3-5 samples of your work in a zip file attached to your message that show your preferred style and your range. |
| TITLE: | News Editor (at least 1 for warez, and 1 for art) |
| DUTIES: | Work with reporters/writers to maintain the news pages with interesting, well researched and analyzed material. |
| REQUIREMENTS: | Availability day after day. Interest in current scene news, some knowledge of scene history, and unbiased writing. |
| DESCRIPTION: | The news page is one of scenelink's most important projects. It is the key to building a daily audience, and probably the most useful resource on scenelink for keeping people connected to the scenes. The News Editor is responsible for figuring out ways to find the latest news, and then improving that news as much as possible. If possible, going from rumor to a quote from those involved about what's really going on. Whatever it takes to provide readers with accurate and informative news. Because the news comes out around the clock, the News Editor must be available to handle these developments or offer advice to others about how to handle them. There is no set number of hours they should be online each week, but reporters/writers should be able to expect a response from their letters within 24 hours under any circumstances, unless otherwise notified. |
| APPLICATION: | Send an email describing your prior experience in journalism, even if it's only as a reader. Describe your two favorite sources for scene news, and what you think of scenelink's current news area. Give several suggestions for how the scenelink news area could be improved, and how you would direct reporters. Describe your other commitments and how you think you could work in being the News Editor. Also, submit sample news announcements about the last 3 news events you were aware of, ideally between 75-125 words. See the current news page for examples. |
| TITLE: | Scene Index Coordinator (1) |
| DUTIES: | Coordinate maintenance of the scene index. |
| REQUIREMENTS: | Familiarity with scene groups, and patience with both veterans and newbies. |
| DESCRIPTION: | The index coordinator is scenelink's ambassador to the world. It is their job to make sure that current groups cooperating in scenelink send in their info and that new groups sign up. Each cooperating group has a contact person. The Scene Index Coordinator will send this person an email about deadlines for index submission, and keep track of which groups haven't replied, sending reminders or going to the group's channel as necessary. Basically, anything to make sure that the scene index contains the most up to date info available. In addition to being a coordinator, this person is also kind of a spokesman. Groups that want to join will be sent to them, but they should also make an effort to contact new groups as they appear. Getting submissions is the required task, but it's also expected that the Scene Index Coordinator get to know the cooperating groups and make their involvement in scenelink more personal than a cgi form. |
| APPLICATION: | Send an email describing your involvement in the art, warez, demo/music, and h/p scenes, even where involvement is minimal. Describe the 3 groups of all time that you most respect, and, of course, why you respect them. Give your thoughts on the current scene index and how you think it could be modified to better serve readers and cooperating groups. Find one reputable group not already listed and convince that group to fill out the coop acceptance form, then include the log of your conversations along with your letter. |
| TITLE: | Biographies and Interviews Editor (1) |
| DUTIES: | Work with writers to produce biographies and interviews for each issue. |
| REQUIREMENTS: | Good writing, and decent editing skills. Familiarity with the history of at least one scene, and willingness to learn more about other scenes. Knowing the difference between a log file and an article, and the ability to steer writers towards the latter. |
| DESCRIPTION: | The primary focus of our issues is on news and features, but we'd like to begin doing a little more non-news material like biographies and interviews. Non-news just means an examination where nothing special has occurred recently. For example, an interview with Pitbull about The Punisher's retirement would be news, while an interview with Eagle1 about his thoughts on how couriering has evolved with faster connections would be non-news. Non-news does not mean non-interesting. That's the mistake almost every emag has made, with many of them devoting entire issues to interviews that had no message to convey. The Biographies and Interviews Editor will work with writers to create non-news material with relevance and human interest. Group Biographies are the chance to tell the cumulative history of a group, and should be treated like screenplays for movies, as raw materials for a story. The Biographies and Interviews Editor will be responsible for deciding which groups and individuals are chosen for an issue, for assigning writers, and for helping writers to develop an angle for their pieces. |
| APPLICATION: | Send an email describing your involvement in the art, warez, demo/music, and h/p scenes, even where involvement is minimal. Describe the 3 groups of all time that you most respect, and, of course, why you respect them. Write and edit one interview that you think will be informative for readers, and outline how you would organize a group biography for a group you are familiar with. |