A Note From The Editor

As Editor of The Voice I try to stay away from writing editorials. The Voice is not about me, it is about the writers and the people, places and the events they write about.  This is what makes this site what it is. The Voice has been in publication for four months now and since we’re nearing the end of 2004, I thought I might answer a few questions that have been sent to me and give my thoughts.

The Voice is just a name and this is just a website where I insert the articles and the graphics that I make for those articles. The heart and soul of this paper are the writers. What gives them the drive to write those articles are the amazingly talented members of There.  I am extremely fortunate and proud to be associated with this talented team of writers.

Yes, the Voice is a virtual newspaper for a virtual world, but when it comes down to it, it’s a fan site. When I receive letters asking why we don’t publish articles on controversial subjects, my answer is that if something is indeed factual and newsworthy, it will be printed.  Most who know me, know I have to many opinions on most subjects, but that’s not what drives this paper. Negativity or baseless accusations are not news.  What I choose to publish in the Voice is a reflection on all who write for The Voice.  So I very carefully choose my battles. To do otherwise lessens the reputation of this newspaper.  

Believe it or not, we’ve received negative feedback on certain articles we’ve done.  Part and parcel of doing a newspaper is that you aren’t going to please everyone, but I stand by what I publish and I will stand by the writer who wrote it.  

Now it's time to get off my soap box and answer some questions that have been sent to me. :)

Does the Voice have a webmaster or does someone on staff do it?
We do not have an official webmaster. I do all the publishing and graphics for the paper.  So if you want to add that title to my description go ahead. I like to think I'm just a jack of all trades.

Where do you get your article ideas from?
The Voice is very laid back.  We do not assign stories, all writers have the freedom to write about what they’re interested in. On occasion we do have something that needs to be covered and I will put it out to all the writers. Who ever wishes to take the assignment does so.  I’m pretty lucky that we are all in game almost every day and most of the stories we publish are just from exploring the world, going to events, or people writing in letting us know what a member has done or is going to do.

What happened to Mondo Kane?  I really liked his column but haven't seen him since summer.
Mondo went on holiday in mid summer and suspended his account while away. When the Voice went live, I was in contact with him and he was on board as a writer for the Voice.  He has not reactivated his account as of this date.  He is currently involved in another project in RL.  When he is returns to There he will be able to resume his column.

What happened to There in Style and JoeyG?
That’s the most asked question. :)  Joey has been working on his thesis and has many real life obligations which have taken him away from There. So I guess we can say he’s on sabbatical.  I would not attempt to replace There In Style with another writer because in my opinion it just can’t be replaced.  Who knows, with the new year and completion of his thesis, Joey may be able to return to There. We will keep you updated.

Where does Kitteee get her questions from?
Her questions come from members who write in.  As you can see some of her columns are ummm colorful.  We only do publish questions that are There related.  There have been some who seek advice from Kitteee about real life issues that do not make it to publication. (For that one letter that came in which could not be publish may I suggest Penicillin)  So if you have a There question or problem send Kitteee an email. She seems to have an answer for everything.  Even if you don’t ask she has an answer for everything. :)

Sometimes I see an article by a writer but then I never see that writer publish anything again?
The Voice has a staff of writers, but we also use contributors too.  If an article is submitted by a contributor, it is stated so before the name in the article.  We do have a staff page that lists all of our writers, with their Voice email addresses. 

I would like to thank all the readers of The Voice and hope we can bring you the news of There in 2005 as well as we did in 2004.  Happy New Year to the Staff of the Voice, to the entire membership of There, and The There Team.

Peace ~Geea