Moderator Spotlight – Juergen Lins

A few weeks ago Gali handed over the responsibility for the “Moderator spotlight” since she is now managing the “Ignite” project. I was really pleased as the moderator Spotlight is the way the SCN community team thanks an individual moderator for his exemplary work he is doing on SCN.

I’m proud to present my first “Moderator Spotlight”, Juergen Lins, who many of you know as Juergen L. We decided to nominate Juergen for his community spirit and endless efforts in moderation (especially in SAP MM and ILM spaces) and helping other community members. We would like also to thank him for his support in the gamification project. In the interview below you can read about Juergen’s SCN insights, special hobbies and good advice. I’m sure you will enjoy reading this as much I enjoyed his Blog It forward post.

Please share with the Community a little about yourself

I am from Germany and live in a village, 30 km east of Frankfurt together with my wife and my daughter.

In my neighborhood you can find representatives from all the European Countries, however the main reason we chose to live here (of course influenced by my wife) is that the biggest comprehensive school of Germany is located nearby. One of its attractive features is that the school allows children to learn a large variety of languages. I’m proud to say that my company, Evonik Industries AG, sponsored a Cyber-Classroom with 3D equipment for chemistry teaching.

I live actually only 10 minutes from one of Evoniks’ major plants, but unfortunately I have to pass it and drive another hour to the plant in Darmstadt, where I work.

This long drive gives me a lot of time to enjoy my hobby which is listening to audio books, which I also do when I have to do my other hobby that I get assigned to by my wife: ironing. I mostly like to listen to Science Fiction (Eschbach, Crichton) and Thrillers (Grangé, Deaver, Forsyth).

When did you join the SCN community? 

I joined the SCN community on Sept. 1st  2005, but I am certain that I browsed the site earlier. I was probably after information about ALE because it was my first migration project where we started to extract the data using ALE instead of downloading table by table to Excel and Access. I am sure I found the answer in existing content, even though SDN was less than 2 years online. It always takes me a long time until I sign up anywhere in the web, and it took another 2 years until I asked the first question. It is still open. In 2007 I started as well to answer questions. It is just a habit of mine, that I help others as I get helped by others in my issues.

What are the differences between moderating a small vs. large community?

There is not much difference in moderation; it is just less work in a small community. If every 10th question is a basic question, then you may see 3 per day in a large community and maybe only one per month in a small community. You may even have a blind eye to keep the community alive. A community with no activity doesn’t attract the audience.

If you could offer one bit of advice to new members or new moderators what would it be and why?

I can just repeat what was already said by Rob Burbank and Kesavads Thekkillath : Take care about what you post. It will be visible forever on the Internet. Take some effort to formulate your question and do a Spell check. I am sure that employers will investigate your history in social networks. I also recommend reading the SCN rules of engagement and following what Rob has written in Asking Good Questions in the SCN Discussion Spaces will help you get Good Answers will help you get good answers.

How has the SCN community helped you?

It is one of my preferred sources of information. It also helped me a lot as I’ve only needed to ask 11 questions since I am here. I have my personal search cascade: SAP Marketplace for SAP notes, help.sap.com, SCN as well as additional sites via Google search. The sequence of the first 3 may vary depending on the issue I need to solve.

How are you finding the new SCN?

It is already more than a year since the change was made. In the beginning it was quite different from the old forum and I missed one or more functions that I had used for moderation. However the forum is made for people, not for few moderators. I think that our job as IT folks, is to deal with changes every day. We constantly build new applications and new solutions for our customers so I could never understand all the people who complained about that change.

How are you finding the new gamification platform?

Contrary to the SCN change, it looks like gamification gets much more positive feedback. I am personally undecided yet. I have never been a gamer and it does not give me any extra motivation. However, I assume it is anyway not meant to encourage highly motivated people. My daughter asks every day if I got a new badge and how many points I have made. She sat next to me during the tests and was really fascinated. Time changes, the new generation are the people who grew up with computer games. If they can be attracted to the gamification, then it is a good thing. I will get used to it.

Is there another moderator or community member that you’ve found incredibly helpful? 

I have to name Jyoti Parkash who helps to keep MM clean. And certainly Thomas Zloch and Rob Burbank (who may not even know that I am a real fan of his blog: Asking Good Questions in the SCN Discussion Spaces will help you get Good Answers.

Not to forget the whole SAP SCN team that is really incredible in their communication and interaction.

Share a fun fact/story about yourself that people don’t know

Last year a colleague who sat 2 desks away from me, was looking for a solution in a question related to Intrastat and third-party orders. She searched SCN and found a related discussion and was really happy. She printed it and showed it to others. I just asked her if she trusts everything she reads on the Internet. She looked for the identity of the author to see how knowledgeable he was and discovered it was meJ

What is your favorite food?

Pizza is the No 1, followed by Chinese, Mexican and Indian food. I like it hot.

What is the best lesson your parents taught you?

Listen to people before you speak.

If you were given by your work a full day every week to do whatever you feel like, what would it be?

I actually have a full day off every week to reduce my overtime. I use it to relax, reading a book, going shopping, watching a movie and answering questions in SCN

If you were not in your current position, what/where would you be and why?

I guess I would be a tourist guide, as I really love to stay in foreign countries and work together with different cultures. I had done it once in India. I didn’t guide people through touristic places but I did help them at the border, in the hotel check-in, and organizing day trips.

Moshe: Thanks a lot to Juergen for participating in my first “Moderator Spotlight”. Click here if you wish to read previous “Moderator Spotlight” issues. Please feel free to use the comments section to ask him more questions.