How about engaging Facilitators?

Tend to agree with Alan on that one Bob. They will always be looked at as staff, no matter what term you use for them ;-)

Danny.

I understand that's what you mean. But that's not how I interpret the OP's post. Hence I'm confused. 😀

Perhaps I should clarify, and perhaps I shouldn't have included the term "extra Moderators"..... the intention of my post was to ask if encouraging a small team of posters to seek out and at least reply to aged posts would help to keep people with the forum.
I suggested Facilitators as "Moderators" implies policing, and that wouldn't be their role. Their role would be to keep the conversation going..... much like a host.
I do understand, as somebody has pointed out, that posts with zero replies may sometimes be appropriate, but in most cases that's simply not the case. A skilled host would be able to sort wheat from chaff and keep things ticking along.
I hope that clears things up a little! 😀

Just a casual idea that would need thought and criticism:

If the forum members were sufficiently activist, a 'moderator' (by whatever name) might be unnecessary.
I'm thinking about a situation where instead of 'Like', a post would have 'Agree', 'Disagree', and 'Reject', only one of which could be selected.

A sufficient number (?) of 'Reject' choices (meant to flag spammers, trolls, etc.) would refer the post to an admin who could delete/ban/sandbox/whatever that post and/or its poster.

A moderator is someone who helps Admin by overseeing a forum and making sure the rules are followed and appropriate decorum applies. It is a "policeman" role (light touch or otherwise).

The OP seemed to be about something different. Not a policeman, but a helper. Policing jobs are to be left to the mod, the new role is kind of like the volunteer at the hospital who directs you to the cafe or the toilets or the hospital map. They help.

I imagine a facilitator could be like a senior forum member who keeps an eye on things and intervenes when it looks like help is needed. Maybe explaining the forum features, or encouraging answers to an unanswered question or even acting a bit as a forum cheerleader during quiet times, by keeping some reserve posts in hand to act as ice-breakers and get the conversation going.

What the facilitator role is, is not a formal position, not a position with any special privileges, just a poster who helps to oil the wheels and keep things running.

I did not see them as staff at the old place: there were too many differences in style and substance between the various persons who did it. And the rare interventions from staff members were different again. I visit a totally different forum were a 'Moderatoren Eingriff' is mostly seen as unproblematical, but here the M word is for the time being tainted. A lot will depend on the frames within which this going to work and the transparency about it. There is still a lot to be done, but it seems like going in the right direction.

I like facilitator, as well, and was going to suggest curator as an alternative...but you beat me to it :)

DPR's "complain" flag had fields for explanation. Anybody could submit a complaint, however complaints were visible only to that forum's admins (and presumably to those higher up in the food chain).

I majored in English and I had to pull the dictionary off the shelf more than once for this thread!
Just sayin’.

oh... maybe Bob could be called The Terminator, and moderators Stormtroopers. lol

Referee

From the French and Italian sides, you've got an "agreed" !!!

✔ 👍 ✅

If the word "moderator" has a strongly negative connotation, use a different term. If you have more than one "level" of volunteer jobs, label them differently and define them for users somewhere in the FAQ about the forum that will eventually develop.

I've been an overall forum admin with full privileges everywhere, a section moderator with full privileges over a section, and an informal facilitator with no privileges anywhere. My role was not that much different in the 3 scenarios but it was absolutely essential when I didn't have privileges that I could contact someone with privileges at any time because eventually Something Happens that needs to be taken care of quickly. I always saw my role as a helper: help soothe ruffled feathers, help the conversation move forward, help people find answers, help broker disputes, help the forum stay clean, busy and active and help spot signs of troubles before they became serious and ward it off when I could - preferably without heavy handed action. It didn't really matter what I was called.

Bike tour sounds risky. Is that within Bob's Terms of Employment?