Kind of tried to say out of this topic after that initial contribution but I’ve been following along. In all honesty part of it makes me a little unconfortable and another a little sad. I’m not entirly sure its about the intitial topic, and i think quite a bit migh be miss understandings and timing coincidences. Im hopefuly that maybe voicing some of the issues will help some get back into that happy place.

I’d like to add a comment on a specific thing you mentioned regarding the Discord Chat because I’m hopefuly that that can be resovled as much as the medium alows. By which i take dicord chat to be the Voice /Radio and “text chat” in the chillout bar when theres an Official CoG radio.

Something that we do at work in our meetings is that each meeting has what we call a “bystander”. Their job is to try and ensure discussion don’t get heated, everyone gets a chance to speak and that we stick to an agenda without going off on tangents. I think perhaps the Discord chat needs something similar

Specifically recarding the Offical CoG radio run when Warren is arround i think the complexity of the setup somewhat contributes to the issue, this isnt the falt of anyone just what was avaliable at the time and warrens great production values. This results in a voice channel you join but can’t speak in and a voice channel for callers with anyone who wants to contribute. On the broadcasters side Warren has to join and push up to both of these, possibly not helping connection issues with his 4G, until the shiney fiber cable arrives.

The way callers and guests work anyone can join and speak but its pretty much like any online voice chat, speak first and you win. It can be hard to get attention and join into a conversation. Equally on the official radio’s the text chat is not always that involved in the discussions taking place over voice which is a shame.

The “bystander” approach works great and i think combine that with a move to the stage channels can very much make that more managable, and probably save of some 4g bandwith.

Basically theres a core of the presenters/moderators in the broadcast and guests listen in. The feature that can solve this problem is raising your hand, as above some users have a had raised on their profile stating they wish to speak. A moderator can then let them join the discussion.

With some careful “bystader” moderation and limiting guests allowed to be join and chat this could be a great way of allowing people who wish to speak join in, the key i think is limiting who and how long a guest is allowed in to chat and removing them once the point has been made. This obviously mostly applies when you have more open discussions, if there is a planed specific guest for example I dont think there is as much of an issue.

Similary said moderators could also monitor the text chat and highlight any areas of discussion so that those not wishing to speak can be involved.

Theres some great documentation on how these work here https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500005513722-Stage-Channels-FAQ

I very much enjoy for the most part the Official CoG Radio and the unoffical one, theres some topics i dont enjoy tooand occasionally i also join in and contribute. I do very much feel for those that struggle to join the format, due to location, commitments or as previosuly mentioned being talked over or effectivly shoved out. TBH i’m not sure this entirly fits the topic but theres been some discussion around this for better or worse and it seems as good as any time to mention it.