Help Wanted: Join the Clips Nation team

Long time readers may recall a time here at Clips Nation when it was a one man show. Some guy named ClipperSteve wrote every word on the site, except on the rare occasions when he went on vacation. Over time, lots of great members in the Clips Nation community have stepped up to help out. But things are in flux at the moment, and it's time for another infusion of new blood.

Citizens John Raffo and Lucas Hann have been my associate editors over the past few years, but life has a way of intervening and these days neither has as much time to devote to the blog. They'll still be around, but with Lucas starting college and John enjoying success in an off-shoot career writing comic books, they simply don't have the availability they once did.

But the simple fact is that we have needs across the board. Clips Nation is a terrific site for Clipper news, but it can certainly be better.

What's in it for you?

Well, not money. Let's get that out of the way right up front. However, I can certainly attest to the fact that having your voice heard on a subject about which you are passionate and making a significant contribution to a community are rewards in and of themselves.

There can be more concrete rewards as well. Many of the leading media voices in NBA circles today, people like Zach Lowe and Rob Maloney, began as bloggers writing about basketball just for exposure. They got that exposure, they gained a following, and they now get paid to write full time (lucky bastards). A long series of SB Nation NBA bloggers -- most notably Ben Golliver, but the list includes eight or so names -- have gotten paying media gigs after starting with SB Nation blogs.

And even if you don't parlay the exposure into a career (which, let's face it, is a long shot if only because so many people are trying to do exactly that) there are other benefits to the exposure. Lucas' experience contributing to Clips Nation looked very, very good on college application; Raffo writes for a living, and the opportunity to write about the Clippers gave him another outlet to hone and display his craft. Heck, Clips Nation got me into Journalism school.

If you're a journalism student looking to build your resume, give me a call. If you're someone who wants to become a better writer, the best way to do that is to write. And if you want to direct the conversation rather than simply follow along, there's a place for you.

Qualifications

You must love the Clippers.

It's not a requirement that you've been a long time member of the Clips Nation community, but it certainly doesn't hurt if you are. Call it highly recommended.

You need to be able to write. We take it pretty seriously around here. We even know how to use semi-colons; see, right there, I used a semi-colon.

Even if you aren't a great writer, there could be a role for you. There are important roles on the blog for people to find and post news pieces; to grow Clips Nation's social media presence on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and whatever else comes next; to moderate the comments sections. Basically, there's a lot going on, and the more help we can get, the better it will be for everyone.

Needs

We have needs across the board at present. Not only are Lucas and Raffo less available than they once were, I too have experienced an upheaval in my schedule. For the first time in a dozen years -- that is since before I founded Clips Nation -- I'm working full time. It's a good thing, it was time to go back to work, but it's going to significantly alter my availability on the blog. Reacting to breaking news, writing recaps -- all those things that I wanted people to help with before, but could still do myself if no one else could -- those things now simply won't get done without more hands on deck.

Off the top of my head, here are some roles we need filled:

Associate Editor -- This person or persons would be my right hand man (or woman) and would need to do more than even Lucas or Raffo did, as my own time will be more limited. That means coordinating coverage, writing, scheduling, trouble-shooting, and generally making sure things are working well in Clips nation.

Recappers -- We always need recappers. There are 82 games a year, plus eight preseason, plus a whole lot of playoff games if things go well -- and they all need recaps. We've had great success with getting recaps from a lot of different voices on the site over the years, and it's time to return to that model. These are good because we can schedule them in advance, and if we get a lot of people who want to write recaps, then the workload can be reduced for everyone.

Previewers -- I've never farmed out previews in the past, but this season I fear I will have to get some help.

Recurring features -- Last season I wrote a weekly "Power Rankings" watch that was a useful meta-post looking at the expert opinions on the Clippers. There are many other potential features of this sort, which frankly don't require a lot of effort once you have a template. If there is a weekly feature that you think might be of interest, maybe you're the person to take the lead on making it happen.

Feature writers -- If you can write, and you have something of interest to share with the community, maybe you can be a feature writer.

News Clippers -- We'd like to get back to a point where we have a consistent "Daily Clipper" post with all the news about the team collected in one place every day. There are tools that make this process pretty straightforward. This is a GREAT job for a Clippers fan based on the East coast (or even overseas); someone who could collect the news and have it waiting for the bulk of the fanbase on the West Coast.

Social media -- Clips Nation has never had a very prominent footprint on Facebook or Twitter, and that needs to change. The content is all there -- someone just needs to promote it on social networks, someone who is a social network native preferably. Apparently I am not too old to blog, but I do appear to be too old for Facebook. I need help with this stuff.

Video -- Like social media, we've never had great success crossing over to video. If you are a video editor or avid youtuber, maybe there's a way to leverage your skills and the Clips Nation platform.

Moderators -- We haven't had a huge emphasis on site moderation, and for the most part the community self-polices well. But Lucas did the bulk of the moderating that did occur, wielding his mighty ban hammer like a Norse god. Long time members who are respected and liked in the comment sections are the ideal people to be moderators.

Define your role -- If you love advanced stats and want to write a weekly feature on some statistical observation, terrific. If you love sneakers, and want to write a feature on "Shoes of the Clippers" -- that could work. If you love rap music, and want to write a feature that you can relate to the Clippers in some way, pitch it to me. If you love fantasy basketball, maybe there's "The Clippers in fantasyland" feature that would be of interest to people. Basically, if you have an idea, let's talk about it and see if it works.

Epilogue

Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of Clips Nation. On the brink of what figures to be the best season in the history of the franchise, the blog is in flux. Doc Rivers has assembled a great team to play for the Clippers -- would you like to be a part of a great team covering them?

You can contact me in the comments section, or at the site email (ClipsNation@gmail.com).