Moderator Spotlight – Caetano Almeida

Moderator Spotlight is our way to show our appreciation for our SCN moderators.  Caetano Almeida has been selected for this quarters’ Moderator Spotlight. Caetano is a moderator for SAP for Industrial Machinery & Components and SAP ERP Manufacturing – Production Planning (SAP PP)

Please read the interview below to learn more about him.

Please share a little about yourself with the community

My name is Caetano Almeida and I live and in São Leopoldo, in the south of Brazil. I work in SAP Product Support at SAP Labs Latin America, which is also located in São Leopoldo, but currently I’m on a fellowship, working in Newtown Square, USA.  I’m the father of 2 kids, so I don’t have much time for hobbies, besides running behind them. When I have some free time I really like to travel, especially into the country and to see nature. When did you join SCN? I joined the community when I started to work at SAP, but I became more active in the last 3 years.

What motivates you to be active in the community?

I really like to help people and to solve complex issues, so this is my main motivation to share knowledge and to answer threads.  Also, because I work in Product Support, the more I help SAP customers to solve issues on SCN, the less incidents they have to report to SAP. Why did you become a moderator?  What spaces do you moderate? I like to be a moderator because I feel that sometimes new users need some guidance.  I also want to help keep the space healthy.  I currently moderate the SAP ERP Manufacturing – Production Planning (SAP PP) and SAP for Industrial Machinery & Components spaces. What do you think is most important in moderation? It is important to be always present in the space and to take a look in most of the threads to avoid misbehavior from the users.  It is also important to guide the new users, rather simply rejecting the offending threads.

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

I think that the main difference is the workload. In large communities the volume of threads created daily is also large and more attention from the moderator is required.

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

For new users: research before opening a thread!  We have a lot of documentation in SCN, SAP Help and notes, but still there are new users opening threads with very basic questions every day. They should also avoid opening a thread to ask a question that should be easily answered with a basic test on a test system.

How has the SCN community helped you?

I think that the greatest benefit is the visibility. After become an active member of the community, I have already been invited to write articles and also to write a book.  I don’t think that those things would have happened if I was not a known member of the SAP Community.  In addition, my network is always growing and I’m always making new friends.

How are you finding the new SAP community?

I’m part of the SAC, so I’ve been involved in this project since the beginning, testing and giving suggestions for improvement.  I like the new design, as it is clear.  I also like the fact that we can use several tags in the same question, so that it is visible for users on different areas.

What is your favorite food?

My favorite food is Churrasco (brazilian barbecue), especially the traditional one, which is slowly cooked.

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

I can mention Juergen, who is an example to be followed, and Rupesh, who always answers threads in the PP space.

Besides that, Moshe Naveh is always supporting moderators and users with general SCN issues.

If you were 20 again, what would you study?

If I were 20 again, I think that I would still study Computer Engineering, but the difference is that I would definitely take my time to make time make a backpack trip around the world.