Hi Bowser...I don't feel particularly flamed, so we could be discussing this on Community, but Flame's sufficient unto the day.

I think the heart of your complaint is that you feel that you were treated differently than Frank. Well, actually, yes you were: Your "D" was on a different scale than Frank's "B". I rated his performance as a moderator, and yours as a poster. Don't get inflamed by apples-vs-oranges comparison.

Bowser, the essential point I need you to get is the difference between the person and the office. Somebody wearing a HabitableZone Moderator's uniform is an animate role, a symbol of the Zone; and as long as the person in the uniform successfully compartmentalizes him/herself separately from the uniform, I expect the office of moderator to be treated with respect.

On the moderator scale, Frank didn't manage to completely keep your past out of his comments, so he got a less-than-perfect evaluation. (I would hasten to add that I've earned that ding myself at times. "A" is a tough grade on the moderator scale.)

On the poster scale, you attacked the office of moderator by attacking the person while he was on-duty. That was a gesture of disrespect to the HabitableZone.

On the question of "backchannel" communications, Fox's description is entirely accurate. There was a huge amount of traffic as first individuals, then the groups that formed as mutual interests were discovered, worked out platforms and ways of working together.

I'll get the email links that Fox mentioned working soon. That brings up another aspect of backchannel emails: Anybody's free to email a moderator at any time, and private conversations happen all the time. Bowser, I've invited you to email me on several occasions, but you've never taken me up on it; but you're welcome to write at any time. Having a backchannel conversation with me or any moderator is not a privilege reserved for a select few.

Maybe you should drop me a line, Bowser. Sometimes I get the feeling that you hold back when we talk in public, and maybe you'd find private email less inhibiting.

Even in public I wouldn't be shy about saying that I enjoy having you around, Bowser. You add an interesting spice to the mixture. You shouldn't interpret a spot of negative feedback as in any way a sign that I don't want you around or consider you any less a Zoner than anybody else.

Peace, Bowser.