Well, I havn't submitted any articles for quite sometime due to exams and such. Although this article is not my best one, I'd thought it'll serve well as a filler.

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What qualities contribute to a good leader?

Everyday, everywhere, we see leaders of all fields all around us, from a Prime Minister to a class captain, who people are leading us in some way. Coach Boone from Remember the Titans, directed by Boaz Yakin, is no different from an average leader. He is eloquent, courageous and daring. Indeed, many of us possess those already, but what set leaders apart from us is that they know when best to harness those qualities when occasions require.

Leaders are usually persuasive and inspiring. They are able to speak critically and confidently to people around them. They are able to assess the situation on what to speak about so that their will become memorable. Martin Luther King Jr., the African American Civil Rights leader, picked the day of the late President Lincoln’s anniversary to not only remind America about Lincoln’s honourable act to the blacks, but to also speak critically about his “dream” of a non-racial America. Effect as it is because racial tensions were in an all time high during the 1960’s. Coach Boone is also similar to Martin Luther King. After the run to Gettysburg graveyard with the boys on 3am, he spoke about them “fighting the same war as our ancestors did”. Indicating the crucial need for the boys to work together and unify as a whole team. Otherwise, they will to be “destroyed” like the ones who died in the Gettysburg war by the pure hatred of racism towards each other. Both leaders made their point effective by speaking critically about the problems to the people around them.

Courage: yet another quality which a good leader should have. Courage is what helps the leader to drive their goals and ambitions. Without courage, a leader will never achieve anything. Unifying the black and white boys together to play football may be an easy task for coaches today, but during 1971 it was a daunting task. Especially for a black coach such as Boone as he had to endure white players not co-operating, insults from the community and a little girl named Sheryl. Times such as when Gerry demanded that he substitute half the black players for half the equivalent of white players, or else the white players won’t even play for the team at all. And the time when he visited Coach Yoast’s house, Coach Yoast’s daughter, Sheryl, gave him a snide comment and almost slammed the door right in front of him. Because Coach Boone had the courage to stand up to what he believed in: unifying the black and white kids to play as a team and win the state champions. He is able to achieve this goal at the end of the film. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, made her own comment about the meaning of courage which pretty sums up what courage is about: “Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through the end no matter what.”

Finally, a leader must also be a risk taker. Not the reckless risk takers, but calculated ones who know what they are doing, and stick through it to gain the greater reward. Martin Luther King risked his life from white extremists during his “I have a dream” speech as well as various riots. But the result from that risk made him one of the most influential person in the 20th century to speak up to the public about racism. The late President Lincoln risked his office time from being kicked out to support his views of abolishing black slavery down south. Coach Boone is no different to them. The risk of attempting to unify the black and white boys together is very high. If the plan fails, the boys will hate each other even more and the end result will be more hatred and racist views to each other. But the careful calculation and planning from Boone, by making know each other, treating them equally unified the team after the camp. It just shows to us that leaders must be willing to take risks to gain the greater benefit, and I second to that.

A good leader should possess those, if not all, the listed qualities above. Leaders are no different from each other, they’re courageous, risk taking and are able to express their views effectively. We all have the same potential to be a leader. It is just how we harness the qualities being given by God that makes us a good leader or not.


Last Edit: Jun 26, 2006 22:20:59 GMT by Chris

Well, at least we know what sort of tricks people will use when they try and spam SZ

And if anyone of you are thinking about that: beware, as Mojo will fry your monkey butt

The same applies to me also. Those who are responsible: I shall lynch them personally.

Indeed. It also points out various methods that admins should be aware of incase of such spamming.

Just a side note: Anyone who attempts to spam SZ will be a...






vegetable

This article is written by Lou Cypher, the sucessful admin of RPG Vault


He deserves this credit for this fine article which he wrote

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Chances are, if you're reading this, you've tried and failed to make your ProBoard a hit. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that anything you do will make your board successful. It’s the sad but true fact of ProBoarding. I’ll try to break down the complexity of a successful board for you as easily as possible though. Taking a look at any successful board, you can split it into 5 different categories: Design, Content, Originality, Communication, and Dedication. I’ll comment on the importance of each of these in turn.

Design: A design… that’s like one of those gradient things, right?

A good design is one in which a) the colors match, b) the colors suit the theme (yes, colors can be themed), c) the graphics suit the theme, and d) the graphics match and flow together well. A good design is important because, many times it is what will draw in potential members. Many times if I see a board that has a horribly designed skin, I won’t even bother checking the content because I know I won’t join if I have to see the same ugliness every time I go there. That’s the importance of design, but design is hardly everything. Boards that base their entire being on design are ultimately doomed to fail, because design isn’t what keeps members coming back for more... content does that.

Content: Oh yeah, content… the reason I made the board.

Content is half of what keeps a member coming back to your board. If the design is your board’s physical appearance, the content is its personality. Choosing a theme seems to be something that many people have problems with. When deciding on a theme, ask yourself the following: a) ‘Do I know enough about this theme to properly run a board about it?’ b) ‘Do I like this theme?’ c) ‘Am I just trying to get members, or is this a genuine attempt to make a place to discuss my theme?’ You’d be surprised at how many people have made boards with themes that a) they know nothing about, b) they don’t like, and c) they’re only trying to get members anyways. Steer away from falling into those pits. If you want to make a graphics board because you’ve seen some, like G101 Design, with 3000+ members, don’t; that motivation will destroy any meaning you could have had behind your board. After you’ve come up with a theme, write down an outline of categories and boards that could apply to your theme. I suggest having an Administration area, a General area, and then any categories/boards that relate to your theme. Keep it organized, and keep it easy to understand. This will make navigating your board much more appealing, and will keep your members happy. Once you’ve planned the categories and boards, write up some opening posts, board descriptions, rules, etc and make sure the spelling and grammar is always flawless. Anything less will give people a bad first impression of your content.

Originality: Originality... is that what all those graphics forums have?

Originality is a definite must have for all boards. If your board doesn’t have some aspect about it that isn’t original, it won’t be able to stand up against the innovative and the unique. The easiest way to get noticed for having an original board is to have a design that includes ideas that have never been used before. This can be anything from graphics that are put together in such away that the board looks completely different than any board in its class, or a layout that adds to and changes the default one that so many boards still use (best done using innovative coding). The hardest, and ultimately most rewarding, way to be original is to have a selection of content that no one else has. If you’re the only person with one type of board, and there’s a high demand for that theme, your board will become popular. Note that while an original concept for the theme is good, it should never lead you to answering ‘no’ to any of the questions listed in the content section. Whatever form your originality comes in, it is a necessity for a good board.

Communication: Communication... sounds like a lot of talking.

This is the more important second half of keeping your members coming to your board. As an admin you are responsible for communicating with your members. Be friendly, light-hearted, even a little crazy, and your members will like you. If they like you, they’ll want to post at your board more often because they see you as a friend. I highly suggest putting your screen names for any instant messenger programs you have in your profile. By chatting with your members, you may become close friends, and close friends will stick with you (and your board) through thick and thin. If and when you promote trusted members to staff positions, be sure that they’ll be as member friendly and supportive as you are. This will insure few member/staff conflicts at your board.

Dedication: Dedication... doesn’t that mean I’m committed to doing something?

Possibly the most important aspect of keeping your board alive, and making it successful, is dedicating a lot of your time and resources into the board. If you don’t have, or want to spend, the time needed to create a successful ProBoard, you won’t have a successful ProBoard. Being the admin, you are always in the public eye. You have to be there, posting, updating, discussing, etc or else your members won’t feel like stopping by. After all, ‘if the admin doesn’t want to post at the board, why should I?’ Everybody wants the easiest way to get successful, and they want it fast. Unfortunately, in most cases board growth is very slow, especially in the early ages of the board. Don’t panic if you only have 10 members after a month. These things take time, and you must be willing to dedicate that time to helping your board grow, else you will lose anything you had to begin with.

© 2004 Lou Cypher


Last Edit: Jun 26, 2006 22:22:57 GMT by Chris

Written By Xylish
Please do not repost this article without prior permission

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_{It's not really a article..but I'll just ramble on..>.<}

Yes, everyone wants to stand on that big stage: where you will be praised and hailed for being the most successful administrator of a well designed graphics forum. They think they can find happiness and pride over that achievement where in a actual fact: you cannot.
Because you're using your own time where you can read, watch the television or do any other meaningful things without having to log in the internet, into your own forum and sort out the "paperworks" like today's C.E.Os without a secretary.

You have to organize the staff's needs and wants, the member's needs and wants, create new templates, communicate with the members, fill in requests, get "in trend" of the latest demands in the Proboards community etc.

Not only that, you have to be skilled yourself. Being a admin requires your staff and members to look up to you and respect you. Otherwise, the whole community falls apart.

I think that's all I can think of..if you give me any other ideas, I may expand it further...>.<


Last Edit: Jun 26, 2006 22:20:20 GMT by Chris

Relative Links: Table of Contents


About Articles
So, what exactly is the "Articles" board you may be wondering? Well, let's find out.

This board is a collection of articles that are written by the members and staff of the Studio Zero community. Articles are similar to essays, short tidbits, and/or rants that can either be humorous, informative, persuasive, declarative, or just random in nature.

All articles are submitted by members or staff to this board. They are read before hand by staff members and will not be posted unless they receive the approval of said staff member.

Some articles may be found offensive therefore they are often given to a few different people who could be offended. These people then give their views on the article and let us know how they stand on it. They also give suggestions on how to make it less offensive (which are then passed onto the writer) so that it will be accepted. If they are hardly offended, chances are the article will be accepted.

If you have any more questions about the Articles board, please take a look at the FAQ.

Thanks,
Team Studio


Last Edit: Jan 5, 2014 20:55:55 GMT by Team Studio

Maybe..though I have more negatives about Windows compared to Positives..

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Next article is due at Friday 8:00pm GMT+1200
Topic: The hard life of being a admin

Umm..windows? The root of all evil? (maybe not..)

I'll write more articles...soon..maybe? XD

^^;;
*needs time off computer*

Written By Xylish
Please do not repost this article without prior permission

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Studio Zero, in many ways, is very similar to the big computer giant: Apple Computers. Both of us want to "innovate our way out of the big market." instead of following a "common trend."

Take the "trendawhore" graphics for instance, with rendered graphics and the "super smooth" design. Sure, they may look good for a while, but once everyone starts to follow the same design it gets bland and common. Apple computers share the same ideas as that of SZ. Instead of a bland interface for a normal PC, Apple had a vision to extend the PC's design to the max by offering the well designed Mac OS X with the new "Dashboard" feature, seamless intergration with programs and the trademark "eye candy" icon design.

Both Studio Zero and Apple plays a similar niche in each of their respective market: Small audience with a very high potential to become big like the others. However, no one dismisses them as niche players. Because for SZ, all we need to do is attract 3 active members from other websites over to SZ, and our post counts and activity will double. This is similar to the Apple company as for every 5 people converted from their Windows based PC into Mac, Apple doubles their market share.

Apple and Studio Zero's product offers are less than that of their competitors. However, they are of the highest quality that you can find. In SZ, we test our codes, innovate new ideas to change your experience in using those codes in a entirely different way. Our graphics are made with the highest quality that you can get and are made by the best artists. Same as that of the Apple company, they innovate their ideas to change the way you use computers by combining both the screen and the computer itself.Also, because the computers are apple made, the Mac OS X seamlessly intergrates with the imac computers, preventing any "blue screen of death" events.

As you can see, Studio Zero is very familar to Apple computers in many, many ways. Both parties favours innovation, plays a similar niche in their respective markets and praise the term "quality over quantity".


Last Edit: Jun 26, 2006 22:22:48 GMT by Chris

Nice one mucleus!

...on second thought. You just gave me an idea for Version 2 Luci!

Thank you so much!

Nice...
So what's the card for? XD