Hello again! This month, I am proud to have Demonica from Vampire Community Issues with me as my guest in the spotlight. Demonica's work takes her from house to house and organisation to organisation, checking out the various e-lists and who offers what to the vampire community - fascinating work! It's a great help to those who are searching for a place to call home, and this is all due to Demonica and her staff. Their website can be found on http://www.angelfire.com/vi/vci
I hope you all will enjoy the interview :o).
Silver: Greetings Demonica :o) Thankyou for meeting up with me. I am happy to be interviewing you at last :o)
Demonica: Thank you Silver, nice to see you.
Silver: Ok, for those who don't know of you and your organisation, can I just ask you to give us a simple introduction please?
Demonica: Of course. I founded an organization called Vampire Community Issues about a year and a half ago. It's job is to look into online vampire forums or e-lists, and join them to do reviews for the public, and others searching for vampire forums to join. My idea was to give the public an objective look, and a means to an educated decision.
Silver: Ok, so your organisation is not one in the traditional sense then? In other words, do you have members and a list? Or is this a solo undertaking?
Demonica: The organization has a website where all reviews are posted, and also any news of the organization is posted. We also have our own discussion forum.where we can easily talk with each other. There are several members who help me with the website and the reviews, and we are an online organization.
Silver: How long has your organisation been operative?
Demonica: I started it in March of 2001, and it has been in existence since then.
Silver: So it has been going on for nigh on 2 years then..Excellent.. How long do you normally stick around on the various lists in order to get a decent review?
Demonica: Well, myself and the others who help me do reviews, stay a minimum of a week, but I am usually there about two weeks, and that is what I ask the others to do. We all post introductions so others know we are there.
Silver: What are some of the things that you think make up a worthy list/organisation?
Demonica: Well, we look for how well we are welcomed, what subjects are being talked about, how well the moderators guide the discussion, is the forum friendly to people who ask questions, and is there any flaming by members and/or the moderators of the forum, and is it allowed. Then we do a rating of all these key areas, and do a review of the forum for the website.
Silver: So, that must get a bit "iffy" sometimes huh? I know that sometimes there are lists that don't actually mind flaming and actually encourage it. Have you ever had any bad experiences due to the reviews of some lists?
Demonica: Well, we have found some lists that actually allow flaming even though they may say otherwise, like a free for all, but this has been in the minority of all the lists we have reviewed. We have had people contact us about a review, complaining about what we say in our reviews, but I respond with examples of the posts that we base our reviews on.
Silver: That's crazy..I can understand that sometimes you get people who are especially difficult, but to actively encourage flaming other people, what is the whole point of having a list that deals with vampirism? Why not just change it to a list for those who love to flame..?
Demonica: Well I think that some forums are just a place for someone to push his/her agenda, or for a few moderators to do whatever they want. I will tell you that I was quite surprised at some of the stuff I have seen, people who have the power to do whatever they want to others. I have also been flamed for just asking questions on some lists, and yes I suppose it seems crazy.
Silver: Wow..Still, I suppose they can't all be up to scratch, but it's good that your organisation is there to give the rest of us a choice to make when it comes to who to join and who not to join. Have you ever found a list that was enjoyable enough that you decided to stay?
Demonica: Actually the majority of lists we visit, we find are ok in a general sense. We have only found a few that were very negative in their content. Yes, I remain to this day on some lists that I originally joined to review.
Silver: Oh that's kewl, about remaining on some of the lists that is.. I am glad that there have only been the odd few out of all the organisations out there, that you actually had negative experiences with.What made you decide to start an organisation that checks out other vampire organisations and how they function, what they offer the community, and how one can be expected to be treated on their respective e-lists?
Demonica: Well, I started this organization because I had people ask me what my opinion was on this or that list. And I thought that if I started an objective service based on actually visiting these vampire forums, that the public and other vampires could use my service to make educated decisions on what would be the best vampire lists to join.
Silver: Well, all in all, it was a great idea to start it off.. I have gone to your site many times and had a read through the lists you reviewed and then went to have a closer look at what they offer, and I am sure others have also done the same, and even joined due to the information supplied by yourself and those who assist you. How have your experiences on other lists made you feel about the vampire community as it stands now?
Demonica: It has been a sobering experience since I started this organization. I have found just how selfish and full of hate some people can be. I have also learned a little about the ridiculous, petty little spats or wars some groups engage in. Even my staff has voiced the same amazement. But I still have a respect for what some groups online here, are trying to do for the vampire community. I have met some new people, and I have learned a lot from many since I started this organization.
Silver: I can imagine there would be alot to experience with such an undertaking as this is. Have you found the descriptions for some of the lists, are actually what the list is about? Or do you find some to be falsely advertising?
Demonica: I have found overall that the descriptions mainly match what the groups are about on their forums. But I have also found that there have been some groups who have openly lied in their groups descriptions regarding what their list does, and the subject matter allowed on their lists. I have also found descriptions that were written to get attention, and not to tell the truth about the forum, but many write very good descriptions that say a lot for their forums.
Silver: OMG. That's a bit "out there". Actually lying just to get your attention? Wow..
Demonica: I have seen it, and what people will say to achieve their ends.
Silver: Amazing.. No wonder you all shake your heads at it sometimes..Just when ya think you've heard it all :o)
Demonica: Yes we do.
Silver: Do you actually suffer from the vampiric condition yourself, and if so, what is the nature of your vampirism?
Demonica: I am an empathic vampire, Silver, but I also have a relatively new donor right now. For many years I have had to depend on my empathic vampirism. I work in the club scene, and so have a lot of possibilities for empathic feeding.
Silver: So was this maybe another reason for reviewing these other lists? To maybe find others like you, to get to know and hang with?
Demonica: Well I have joined many lists since I bought this computer, and many of them have helped me with my vampirism, to better understand it. But it was what I witnessed on some of these lists that just amazed me. The outright pettiness at how people attack others, or belittle others. That was why I started Vampire Community Issues - To bring to the public eye what others do in their vampire forums. We are like the community watchdog, that reports what other vampire forums do, and what they are like.
Silver: Well we are definitely grateful for your position in this community.. Demonica, thank you again for meeting with me, I wish you continued good luck in the future with your organisation. Thanks for all you do to educate people out there :o)
Demonica: Thank you Silver for selecting me for this interview, and allowing me to talk about my organization. Thank you for your kind words.
Silver: my pleasure :o)
Silver's Final Words~
Greetings :o) Well I do hope that you all enjoyed this month's
interview with Demonica. It's very important what she and her staff do for this
community. I think it's very helpful to those who are just discovering
their vampiric side, to be able to have a site to access, that has good
information about many of the houses and organisations out there, who
is friendly, who offers what, how good (or not) their information
databases are, etc. She points out that while flaming is relatively low, that it
does in fact exist, and to those lists that encourage such behaviour, you
have to know that you are hindering the growth of yourselves and of this
community. Providing positive information not only to those who are new to their
vampirism, or whether in truth they do in fact suffer with and from the
vampiric condition, but also, you send a negative picture to the
general public who do in fact access your groups. Of course, seeing eye to eye
is not always possible, but controlling onesself is..
With that, I would like to thank Demonica for her time - she was not
well when this interview took place, and so I thank her for braving it
anyway, and also to the VC's own Demoness Barbie, for assisting me last minute
with several of the questions I posed to Demonica within this interview -
she knew my schedule has been hectic lately, and threw out some decent
questions that pretty much saved me at the last minute. Thanks again ladies..
:o)
I'd like to leave you all with a parting quote, of which, the author of
it, you will find amusing, because it is a children's author. But it's a
rare gem, and for this moment, it is appropriate, and one hopes you all take
away with you, what this quote is meant to impart..
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t
matter, and those who matter don't mind"...
- Dr. Seuss
And once again, dear readers, we bring this leg of things to a
close..Until next month :o)
Many Blessings for the upcoming holidays..
~Silver~