When we conceived Beyond Little House two years ago, we didn’t quite know for sure what we were starting.
But we did have hope. We wanted to create a welcome public space for everyone who was a fan of Little House, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and everything in between. We saw the site as a clearinghouse for anyone who wanted to learn, or share, or meet others with the same interests. Ideally, we thought, it could be our own online Friday night literary.
It’s gotten there. It’s bigger than we ever hoped. Not only did we establish the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, we managed to hold the first-ever multi-day academic conference dedicated exclusively to Laura. And we’re gearing up to do it again in 2012.
What this means in a practical sense is that we’re growing. Our small staff of volunteers isn’t enough to do everything we want to do. Most of us have day jobs and although we do what we can, more is needed. And if LauraPalooza taught us anything, it was that there are many, many, many people out there just like us who love Laura — learning about her, talking about her, sharing her. There is no “in-crowd” — we are all in this together. And we’re looking for one of you to join our team.
We are accepting applications for a volunteer online coordinator or two, working behind the scenes of the Beyond Little House blog. Job duties (which may be split between two people, one of whom may or may not be an existing BLH contributor) will include but are not limited to:
- Creating, formatting, finalizing, and scheduling posts written by others
- Assisting with social networking
- Editing current, future, and past posts per editorial standards—copy editing, adding links, categorizing, and optimizing for people searching for Laura information
- Clarifying written posts for the audience’s level of knowledge
- Tracking site traffic
Although the online coordinator is welcome to submit his or her own posts for consideration, this is not a writing position and professional writing skills are not required.
Qualifications:
- Technical savvy and comfortable with all facets of the Internet
- Deep working knowlege of WordPress (or willing to put the time in to learn)
- Willingness and ability to answer emails within a few hours (or sooner)
- Working knowledge of and unbridled enthusiasm for Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House
- An open mind and an ease in getting along with others
- A generous spirit, with a steadfast belief that all knowledge is worth sharing with any Laura fan, from novice to expert
We will be accepting applications for the next two weeks. You may apply via email to beyondlittlehouse at gmail dot com. When you apply, please include the following:
- Name
- Mailing address
- Email address
- Contact phone number, both home and cell
- Time of day you’re most likely to be available
- Three ways you would improve the blog
- Your level of Laura knowledge and how you got there
- Why you want to be the online coordinator for Beyond Little House
- A sense of your technical abilities and experience with the back end of a web site
Deadline: January 28, 2011