Austinato wrote:

~snip~

I'm active.

As the President of T.O.B.S.
Active!

As the Head Moderator of the USS
I need @78ch3 to put together the owner's message and someone to put together the main updates of the USS in the past month for the newsletter. If P wants, he can make a SOTM part or we could wait until next month. After that, I'll put together the newsletter in full.

For @Austinato's banners, I really like them! Can you please make a newsletter one?

Featured Service
The USS offers many services to its shops that are easy to use, here's one!
ISOC (Inter-Shop Order Completion)
Are you a shop with way too many orders to handle? At the USS, this will never be a problem for you! If you're ever overloaded on orders, just post the ones you need to complete in the thread and you'll get brilliant, high-quality results!

Austinato wrote:

USS Activity Check - March 2021

I'll be taking over as the person who oversees this month's activity check. I'll be slightly changing the procedure, as explained below.

Procedure

• Shops will be colored green if an owner (or equivalent) posts a response in this topic.
  
• Shops will be colored red if we have not received a response.
  
• Shops that have their owner frequently post in this thread will have their shop name colored purple. This distinction is to show that the shop is owned by someone who is engaged in the USS. Although this will be a partially “hidden” component of activity checks, this might be slyly mentioned in the activity check posts that are sent out to each topic.
  
• Of course, a variant of this post will be sent out to each topic.
  
• For general federation maintenance reasons, shops will also be asked to inform us of any changes they wish for us to make for their shop's entry in our official member list.
  
• For this activity check, there are three special updates:
  
• (#1) Shops will be asked if they would like to receive our monthly newsletter. Shops that opt-in to this program will be noted in the list below.
  
• (#2) Shops will be informed of our banner contest. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59pm EST on March 31.
  
• (#3) Shops will be asked what categories they would like to have them listed under in our directory that we're working on (led by p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-.) Preferred categories will include Image Hosting, Banners, and whatever specialty service(s) they offer. It is preferred that whatever categories they choose is generalized, since we will be categorizing shops in our shop directory.

Shop List

Checking | Responded/Active | Engaged | No Response/Inactive | (*Opt-in for newsletter)

The Block Shop
Ye BBCode Shop
Perfect Pearls
Touch of Brilliance Shop
Dorky's Shop
BBProjectiles
Cloud Blue
Warm & Cozi Aesthetics
The Night Wolf
Ihatr's Images
Milky's Image Hosting Service
Bumpy Banners
Hunter's Voice Acting Shop
The Winter Shop
The Tangerine Shop
The Intro Maker Shop
The Imagination Shop
5th Tracing Services

hmm yes activity

As many of you know, the USS is currently seeking new art-related items that will be used mainly by higher staff. Anyone is welcome to submit entries, but all submissions should be submitted by March 31, 2021. Here is more information about this contest:

Info
Items Needed
We are seeking the following:

• Regular banner (primarily for use at the top of the original post of this topic)
  
• Seal (primarily for the head department to use at the end of their posts to make them look formal, should they desire to do so)
  
• Activity check banner (primarily for use at the top of the activity check posts added here or in shop topics)
  
• Newsletter banner (placed at the top of each newsletter, which is posted both here and in shop topics that are opted-in)
  
• Studio thumbnail (used in our official studio)
  
• Membership banner (used by shops to put at the end of their posts to indicate they are members of the USS, optional)

Guidelines

• Obviously, we're not going to accept submissions that have other names on them or break the Community Guidelines.
  
• Writing out (The) “United Shops of Scratch” for at least the regular federation banner is preferred.
  
• You may add our federation's motto (in Latin or English) found in the original post of this topic, though we may decide to drop it from use sometime soon.
  
• Please try to use reasonably-bright colors to allow the banner to stand out a bit, but not too much.
  
• Please try your best to submit each item that is needed. We are aiming for consistency, and having one person's design reasonably adjusted for each item may be appealing and favorable in this contest.

Submissions
Links are provided to keep this post concise.
MClovers - Newsletter banner
Austinato - All items (v1) (complete)
kccuber - Regular, activity check, and newsletter banners; seal, studio thumbnail, and membership banner (complete)
Albraa60 - Regular banner

Thank you to those who have responded to the activity check. Most responses should be added by now; one has been left out but will be added soon. If you're reading this and you're a shop owner (regardless if you have or have not responded to the activity check already), please tell us (for the second time, possibly) whether or not you want to opt-in to our monthly newsletter, any updates needed to your shop's information in the member list, and/or what category you want your shop to be added to in our upcoming directory.

Additional thank you for responding to the activity check. I posted the activity check post before I had the opportunity to send out notifications to each shop or even make it clear that we're also asking for other info (newsletter opt-in, banner submissions, updates to shop information, and directory stuff) which is hidden in this BBCode preview.

The activity check may expand to head staff, even though quite a few have already demonstrated their activity. We will not be asking SCA for activity since they are another federation. Within the next 24 hours, each shop topic should receive a notification about this activity check (once again, found in the BBCode preview) from me.

Austinato wrote:

Seal (primarily for the head department to use at the end of their posts to make them look formal, should they desire to do so)
Studio thumbnail (used in our official studio)
Membership banner (used by shops to put at the end of their posts to indicate they are members of the USS, optional)

ok i will make more banners it looks like

Austinato wrote:

Most responses should be added by now; one has been left out but will be added soon.

andyman11, I went back and tried to find your shop within the member list and it's not included. I did manage to find a post in which you requested for the shop to be withdrawn from the USS, only for you to reverse your decision a little while later. I'll be adding your shop as an active one in the activity check post that I'm maintaining, but I would like to verify the following information regarding your shop, so that 78ch3 can add it back in:

Username: andyman11
Shop name: Disorganized
Shop banner (link only): https://cdn2-scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/get_image/project/421313439_9000x7200.png
Shop Description: Wicked fast since 2020.
Staff members: 8
Shop link: https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/discuss/post/4231979/
Other info: N/A

Please also inform us if you would like to subscribe to our upcoming monthly newsletter.

I would like for YeBBCode shop to be taken off the list as I'm currently looking for a user I feel responsible enough to take over

I would like to propose that we close shop applications once we reach 20 total shops. If we get too many shops (like the first period of this federation's leadership, 2016-2018), it starts to become pretty tedious to conduct activity checks and keep tabs on each of our members. As for shop owners, limiting our capacity will allow us to serve our shops better. I would like this federation to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Obviously, no one will be kicked out once this takes effect. Currently, we have essentially 19 shops listed as members, with at least two pending removal soon.

I just did a bunch of stuff for this month's activity check. At this point, each shop should have received a notice about this activity check, excluding those who answered already.

Currently, we have 19 total shops in the activity check. Three are already set to be removed, at least two in risk of removal, and seven safe and active. We are waiting for seven responses. (Source)

Austinato wrote:

Bumpy Banners (?)

i want newsletter please.

NotDucki_ wrote:

I would like for YeBBCode shop to be taken off the list as I'm currently looking for a user I feel responsible enough to take over

kccuber wrote:

i want newsletter please.

Done.

Austinato wrote:

Activity check
5th Tracing Services

I looked in their directory and there was written that they´re closed until “at least 2 people get jobs” (they are probably waiting for more staff). Can you write here something like “temporarily closed” or “under reconstruction”?

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Austinato wrote:

Austinato wrote:

Most responses should be added by now; one has been left out but will be added soon.

andyman11, I went back and tried to find your shop within the member list and it's not included. I did manage to find a post in which you requested for the shop to be withdrawn from the USS, only for you to reverse your decision a little while later. I'll be adding your shop as an active one in the activity check post that I'm maintaining, but I would like to verify the following information regarding your shop, so that 78ch3 can add it back in:

Username: andyman11
Shop name: Disorganized
Shop banner (link only): https://cdn2-scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/get_image/project/421313439_9000x7200.png
Shop Description: Missing
Staff members: 8
Shop link: https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/discuss/post/4231979/
Other info: N/A

Please also inform us if you would like to subscribe to our upcoming monthly newsletter.

1. Description: Wicked fast since 2020.

2. No thanks, I already get enough messages lol.

Austinato wrote:

I would like to propose that we close shop applications once we reach 20 total shops. If we get too many shops (like the first period of this federation's leadership, 2016-2018), it starts to become pretty tedious to conduct activity checks and keep tabs on each of our members. As for shop owners, limiting our capacity will allow us to serve our shops better. I would like this federation to focus on quality rather than quantity.

Obviously, no one will be kicked out once this takes effect. Currently, we have essentially 19 shops listed as members, with at least two pending removal soon.

I agree with you about the need for a members limit, but I think it would be better if the limit would be raised to 30, because I think that 30 is the maximum number of shops with which the activity check is still doable and I hope that with 30 shops the it won´t be too messy and I don´t understand how limiting the capacity would allow USS to serve shops better, because even though ISOC and perks are in USS directory, but they are offered/completed by member shops´s staff, not USS staff (so even if USS staff would be a bit busier it won´t affect ISOC and perks, and I don´t know what else USS offers to it´s members)

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misaPuding wrote:

I looked in their directory and there was written that they´re closed until “at least 2 people get jobs” (they are probably waiting for more staff). Can you write here something like “temporarily closed” or “under reconstruction”?

Thanks for pointing this out. I'll edit the list accordingly.

andyman11 wrote:

1. Description: Wicked fast since 2020.
2. No thanks, I already get enough messages lol.

Thank you for your responses. I should have added that we might be working on a directory, led by p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-. In the directory, we'll be categorizing our shops based on what they specialize. If you would like to be added to it, which categories would you like your shop to be listed under?

misaPuding wrote:

I don´t understand how limiting the capacity would allow USS to serve shops better…

What I meant was if we have too many shops in our federation, apart from making activity checks/other checkups difficult, our relationships with shops would become a bit less personalized, if that makes sense. Limiting to 30, or maybe 25, would be fine with me. I sort of want to avoid having a bunch of shops that the USS only really comes to during activity checks. Somehow I want to have the USS be a bit more involved/helpful with a shop's functions, but I'm a bit unsure how that would work. Right now, the newsletter and directory can be good examples of that.

Austinato wrote:

misaPuding wrote:

I don´t understand how limiting the capacity would allow USS to serve shops better…

What I meant was if we have too many shops in our federation, apart from making activity checks/other checkups difficult, our relationships with shops would become a bit less personalized, if that makes sense. Limiting to 30, or maybe 25, would be fine with me. I sort of want to avoid having a bunch of shops that the USS only really comes to during activity checks. Somehow I want to have the USS be a bit more involved/helpful with a shop's functions, but I'm a bit unsure how that would work. Right now, the newsletter and directory can be good examples of that.

Maybe something like reviewing shops/helping them with guidelines, applications, OP, functions and so on if they have trouble with something? I also think that even being in the directory can help them a bit, because when someone finds USS somewhere (for example in your signature, like I did the first time I found USS´s directory), he may see these shops and order something in them.

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Hi! I'm doing the activity check (again)
yes i would like to recieve the activy check

Active

Active

Username: PowerOfStars
Shop name: Powers Anything Shop (banners, posters, and flyers)
Shop banner (link only): https://assets-scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/get_image/.%2E/76be3d79d34572e5b28a2017c2a8ed33.png
Shop Description: Banners posters and flyers
Staff members: Me
Shop link: https://scratch-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/discuss/topic/495924/
Other info: