*“Catalysts try to resolve problems, not through the use of authority and special privilege, but by fostering consensus, gently nudging participants in the direction of more appropriate behavior and by generally reducing the level of confrontation rather than confronting users with problems…[while] Channel and network administrators may be catalysts…[a]n important characteristic of successful catalysts is the infrequency with which they wear authority or invoke special privilege.” [http://blog.freenode.net/ (February 23rd, 2007 by Donna "SportChick" Crawford)]
See http://freenode.net/catalysts.shtml