About charter memberships...

OK, this one kind of hit me alongside the head, so I'm going to ask you all what I should do about it.

Originally I asked Rashelle to make me up a little graphic for Charter Members, with the intent of giving them to the first 100 members to register on this site. So I figured out a filter so I could look at who they may be and came up with a list of the first 100. Hmm. Seemed like an awful lot of them hadn't been back here for a while, so I refined the filter to show me how many of those first 100 have been back here since June 1, 2007. I came up with only 39.

Now it just doesn't seem right that I give that Charter Member graphic to 61 members who have apparently abandoned the site after registering. Not when there are many others who are here NOW and apparently putting a lot of time and effort into getting this site growing. Kind of dilutes the recognition, I think....

But what do I do about it? Just forget this plan entirely? Or go ahead and give those 39 members the graphic and forget about the rest of them? Give the graphics to all 100 regardless of their current presence here?

Or just figure out a different plan altogether? I thought about perhaps giving the graphic to the first 100 paid memberships (when implemented), but heck, that seems kind of mercenary somehow.

What do you all think? I sure as heck don't want to do this in any manner that winds up pissing people off.

Man, I sure do wish more things were just BLACK and WHITE and not all of this gray stuff. :banghead:

Now that's a tuffy. Many active folks on the site probably were not part of the original 100 but you stand in fear of alienating many who have (since) become mainstays of the forum. That would be less then considerate or caring. Maybe just leave it alone?

I'm always a little curious of those who seem to need badges and trophies to make themselves extra proud or to establish themselves as "valid".

Ken

Rich, you're probably much wiser than me, but my wise Father frequently told me, "you can't always make everyone happy".

First of all, in general I think the charter member graphic is a neat idea. I'm sure you have bulk email capabilities. I'd suggest sending a blanket email to the 1st 100, stating your quandry and adding a qualifier. Something along the lines, that if they'd like the charter member graphic, they would need to email you or post their answer.

Something to keep in mind on those 61 people who haven't been back in a while. In most cases, you probably don't know the circumstances that prompted them to register in the first place. Maybe they were bored at work one day. Possibly they were thinking about buying a corvette and simply wanted to see what others were saying. Heck, they may have even done a google search, or simply stumbled upon the site. For some, maybe life just happened and they no longer have time to peruse the web, sold their car or simply aren't interested anymore...a myriad of reasons. Maybe a blanket email to those 61 if they would still like to be members?


Mercenary, shmercenary! Who cares! My wise old Father also told me "Nothing is free!" well, maybe a couple of things but I digress :reddevil:

Whatever you decide. I'll stick around. Show up at a show or a cruise every now and then. Post once in a while. Pay for the membership when you implement it.

Life is busy.. kids, girlfriend, scouts, WORK!..woohoo earning money again! Now it's football season, GO BUCs..clean house, do laundry, cook, blah blah blah...Sometimes finding/making time to do everything I WANT to do, takes a back seat to doing everything I HAVE to do. For example, yesterday, I started to detail my "black beauty". ummm.. now I'm halfway through it, and she'll be sitting in the garage while I take the Armada to the Bucs game today

Yep, Ray has an Opinion....

I'd give it to the members who qualify for (Deserve) this badge of honor.

Maybe change the qualifications a bit though (if the program allows it).
For example...
The 1st 100 with 100 posts (or whatever# of posts).

Maybe leave it the way you have it (with 39 members) and if some of the Others show up at a later date, you still have the ability to grant them the badge.?:shrug01:
My feelings about "Charter Members".... Just because a person registered on this site back in the day, isn't good enough and That ALONE Shouldn't qualify them for Charter Membership. The people who stuck it out, continuously posting helping to keep this site Alive DOES!

JAT...These people were the Pioneers of this forum and IMO deserve a Tribute recognizing them for their efforts. I know some of them won't give a hoot whether they're recognized or not, But I Do, and I think it's a nice gesture on your part Rich for wanting to do so!!!:thumbsup:

~Ray:thumbsup:

Shhh Ken,

Kap142 said:

I'm always a little curious of those who seem to need badges and trophies to make themselves extra proud or to establish themselves as "valid".

Ken

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:wavey: ..I NEED my PRECIOUS!!!:crazy03:

I see what you're sayin Ken and :iagree: .
But in this situation It's Not a question of the members needing or wanting, It's simply a gesture on Rich's part to recognize them... IMO.
But who knows, if people get titles and are recognized they may come back or change their mind about leaving.:shrug01:

I'm a charter member of the Blue Knights LEO M/C here in Tampa. Got a mug for that one:rofl1: It's on my shelf

Get 'em a mug and move on......

Seriously though, I see Kens side and Rays. The recognition would be nice for those that pioneered the site, but you have to wonder about the other 61?

Like FlaDad said though, you don't know why they left?

As an addendum to one of the previous suggestions:

You could send out that bulk e-mail to the 61 and give it say a month for a response (if you're not even lurling or looking at the site in a month, you're not interested).

No one responds?

Fine, move to the next 61.

Say 10 respond. You're at 49. Now take the NEXT 51 members to join. Look at thier stats. Are they currently active or like the others, not back since Moses?

If thats the case, send them an e-mail as well and give them however long to respond?

Say 5 respond, now your at 54.

Take the next 36, and so on.

You'll end up with the first 100 people still around (might even consider trimming the deadwood to leave you with the truly last surviving "first 100), and maybe prompt those that are not posting to come back as as an added bonus:thumbsup:

An exception to this procedure IMO, would be one of the 1st 100 who has passed away or someone who has had some major event occur in thier life that has prevented them from posting for a while (but occasionally pops in:thumbsup: ) Some things in life just take precendence.

The down side to the above? A lot of extra work for you

The charter memberships for paid supporting members is cool, but like Ken said, you don't want to alienate anyone either. there may be some that for whatever reason, at the moment can't do the supporting member thing. They want to support financially, but when thier ability to do so is met, they miss the 1st 100

Besides, you I think were planning special "badges" for those members who decide to support (financially) the site anyway right?

So lets use Greg as an example. Since I believe he was in the 1st 100, if you were to make him a mod in a section, he could theoreticlly look like this:

Supporting member
Supporting vendor
Charter member
Moderator....

He's start looking like Castro with more crap under his name than Fidel has on his chest!! Maybe some scrambled eggs to go with it? :rofl1: Seriously though, there's nothing
"wrong" with that. On the "other" forum, we had people with moderator, St. Jude Supporter, Supporting Member, and how many cruise inns they've attended among other stuff under thier name. But most were in the form of "tag lines" and not ICONS.

So, another solution? Just put a tag line (just like the moderator or vendor-but in another color) under the name of the 1st-100 regardless of thier current posting status and fawgettabowtit!

They'll get the recognition if they're still around (or when they visit) and if not, they won't miss it and no body should be upset:thumbsup: Fact is, they were the 1st 100 and why they're no longer around is immaterial

That said, it's a tough decision, and I'll support whatever you decide to do:thumbsup: Everyone has good ideas and all have merit.

It's good of you to be thinking about those that helped get the ball rolling:thumbsup:

I've been trying to write a reply for 20 minutes and I seem to be on the harsh side each time.
I believe it's the "small number" who contribute today are what's important to growth.

chris308 said:

badges.....!! We don't need no stinkin badges!! :hehehe: S

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About badges in general... I don't need one for anything I may do or don't do here. Actually most would probably say to give me badge if I keep quiet :lmao:

This is so easy to solve,Just give the it to the one who is the funniest,most handsomeist,not sure if that is a word:lmao: and who has the SHINIEST corvette and the winner is .........................
ME


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Backyard Mechanic said:

This is so easy to solve,Just give the it to the one who is the funniest,most handsomeist,not sure if that is a word:lmao: and who has the SHINIEST corvette and the winner is .........................
ME


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

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..Now where did I put my boots?:rofl1:

Backyard Mechanic said:

This is so easy to solve,Just give the it to the one who is the funniest,most handsomeist,not sure if that is a word:lmao: and who has the SHINIEST corvette and the winner is .........................
ME


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

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I think Rob has been sucking on too many live wires. :lmao:
Rich, what you are attempting to do in the good spirit of things is wonderful. We come on this forum to chat, have fun, and just enjoy the friendships we've all made. I don't see the badges making a big difference but I can appreciate what you are trying to do. I think Gordon and Ray made excellent suggestions to get your initial charter group. I agree that just because you signed up in the beginning isn't enough to warrant chartership.
Your chartership should include those folks like Ray, Gordon, SteveK, etc. and who you feel help bring life and continuity to Corvette Florida.

Backyard Mechanic said:

This is so easy to solve,Just give the it to the one who is the funniest,most handsomeist,not sure if that is a word:lmao: and who has the SHINIEST corvette and the winner is .........................
ME


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

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Rob you are not well! I'll send you a duct tape badge made 'specially for you.:thumbsup: Might just make one for Rick and Gordon and Ray and Mark too.:rofl1:

But seriously ( I hate doing that) Rich I'm with you regardless. This forum is great. You do an unbelievable job juggling all of the work and manipulation required to keep us "sillies" smilin.

My friends are here, advise is here, smiles are here. I'll be here.:dancer01:

Ken:thumbsup:

Man Rich,
What seems to have started out as a fun thing has appeared to turn into a lot of extra work for you :nonod: You're right about thinking about the folks who initially signed up then disappeared. I guess the previous suggestions would take care of notifying them but I don't think you need to give them a month to respond. If they're around and interested they'll check in every few days I'd think, or a direct email would make it even faster. Then, once you see how many are going to return you can go from there with the count. It seems like the only thing to do if you decide you need to give them the option. Or, you can just scratch the "charter" membership altogether. If you know who the first 100 members are then you must know their registration number. If you want to give the distinction of membership why not just add a line under the avatar with their membership number listed. Folks can already figure out the "old" members by the month/year they joined. I think people would be interested to see where they fall in the registration process. Just another suggestion and maybe less work for you :shrug01:

i think its a great gesture ive been here less than a year and only met a few members in person,work family and life keep me from getting to events.i check the forum 3 or 4 times a day just to see whats going on,i dont always post cause sometimes i have nothing to say.i do like the idea of something for founding members,

Rich,
Heck, I've only been a member since Jan 07 and I have met some great people, made some good friendships and I already feel like an "ol'timer" with all the newbies coming on daily. I go out of my way to tell other Vette owners about this site and always let them know that this is a great bunch of folks here. I know I will hang in here, and I believe those of us that are regulars to this site will also, whatever the decision on membership.

Keep up the good work, we all appreciate it everytime we log on.

Joe B.

Thanks for all the thoughts. I'm still not sure what way to bounce with this. Maybe I need to rethink things and start back at square one.

How do I thank everyone for pitching in and helping to make this site something we can all be proud of? Heck, how do you thank a friend for being your friend?

The absolutely last thing I want to have happen is to have anyone feel I slighted them or in any way cause them to feel that I have overlooked, ignored, or worse, PURPOSELY slapped them in the face with anything I do here. It is SO easy for people to mistake intentions on the internet.

Really, the more I think about it, I think I MUST honor the first 100 members here, regardless of their current presence here. That, realistically is the only FAIR way to do it. As for the people currently "regulars" here, well what is the criteria I should use to give them some sort of honorarium for their help? Length of time here wouldn't work because we would be right back where we started with the first 100. Number of posts? Well that sounds reasonable, since that probably is a pretty good yardstick of their involvement. The toe stubber on this is when someone might bring up the issue of QUALITY of the posting. In other words, are 1,000 "Yep, I agree..." messages more deserving of recognition than 10 well thought out detailed help oriented messages?

But wait a minute! We already HAVE something here that might help. The "reputation" system. Where any one of you can give a member's post that is exceptionally well thought out, helpful, or just downright witty, a pat on the back with the reputation system. I can set it up so that when a certain level of "reputation" has been reached, that member can be promoted to a new user group level. Hmm, I need to think about this.... There already has been a post made in this thread where someone indicated that a member having a long string of those graphics might be somewhat detracting. Or would it? Kind of like merit badges. Yeah, it's kind of corny and such, but heck, they WOULD mean something....

So OK, this is out on the table for discussion. What do you all think about using that reputation capability? YOU all then would be in charge of determining who would get the recognition deserved for their participation here. That gets ME off the hook of having to try to decide which of the many of you would be so deserving..... :hehehe:

And if I can avoid additional work and a possible headache, well heck, I'm going to do it. :yesnod:

Rich,

I think I joined in the first 60 days, yet I am not sure whether I am in that 1st 100 members, and to be honest, it is not a big deal to me. I came to this site because I was in the planning process of moving from Maryland to Florida, which by the way, the final move takes place next week, FINALLY! Since I have been active with a Corvette club for almost 20 years, I was looking to find something that would replace the friends that I had developed in Maryland. This site has helped me do that!

Through this site, I have met 2Vettes, which she has helped my wife and I and introduced us to other members of her club (SW Florida Corvette Club), which we recently joined. We also met Electra, and she also helped us by introducing us to her club (Corvettes of Naples), which we also joined.

So, I took a chance on an upstart forum to try to get us involved with Corvette people in SW Florida, and I could not be happier with the results. But in addition, I did not realize that I was also going to find a bunch of people that I also enjoy just BSing with on the site. And this I have you, Rich, to thank and I don't need any recognition for participating on our forum.

It is also not surprising to me that you have found an apparently high turn over of the first 100 members. I would be willing to bet, that you will find the same sort of turn over in the second hundred, and third hundred as well. I have always believed in the 20/80 rule, and it really does apply to most things we do. 20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work. And this will apply regardless of when people joined the site.

I guess this was a long winded way of saying, I don't think you need to go to the extra work to place icons above or below our avatars. If you feel you really need to acknowledge the people that helped you keep this forum going in the early stages, then I personally like Linda's idea of just listing the date they joined our forum. This way, you can see who the older people are and by doing this for everyone, we also can see how long any member has been involved with the site. I think this would not upset anyone.

As far as recognizing the quality of the posters, the site is already taking care of that through the recognition points. Please do not take on anything that will require more effort. The site is fine the way it is. Just my opinion.

Rich

PS: Sorry for lack of involvement the last couple weeks, it has been difficult traveling back and forth to move, and staying active on any of my forums.

What do you all think

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I think, you're thinking too much:yesnod:

Momma needs to expand her "to do" list:rofl1:

Shadow said:

I think, you're thinking too much:yesnod:

Momma needs to expand her "to do" list:rofl1:

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Don't give her any ideas........ I've still got those pictures to hang for her that she got in Cedar Key......

But i HAVE to think this stuff through. It's too easy to make mistakes that will unwittingly chase members away. I realize I will never be able to please everyone, but there will come junctures in the development of this site where even doing NOTHING at all will cause it's own problems.

Rich,

I like the idea of just adding the membership number. That number is what it is. There is no favoritism or slighting someone. The member since date and number of posts shows who is involved and that's what I looked for when I first came on board. If I wanted to know who to go to for an answer, I generally looked for that active member.

I also like the idea of simply different colored 1 liners for acknowledgement. It is less clutter, thus a cleaner more professional appearance. Too mant badges can be almost as distacting as my flasing avatar that I once had. :hehehe:

This all came about because we as a group want to help support this site with monetary donations. PLEASE don’t lose focus on that. You have a special indicator for a SPONSOR. Now just add a SUPPORTING MEMBER line and figure out how much and let’s get it done!

SteveK said:

Rich,

I like the idea of just adding the membership number. That number is what it is. There is no favoritism or slighting someone. The member since date and number of posts shows who is involved and that's what I looked for when I first came on board. If I wanted to know who to go to for an answer, I generally looked for that active member.

I also like the idea of simply different colored 1 liners for acknowledgement. It is less clutter, thus a cleaner more professional appearance. Too mant badges can be almost as distacting as my flasing avatar that I once had. :hehehe:

This all came about because we as a group want to help support this site with monetary donations. PLEASE don’t lose focus on that. You have a special indicator for a SPONSOR. Now just add a SUPPORTING MEMBER line and figure out how much and let’s get it done!

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Amen!

One liner with member number in a "special color maybe (1st 100) then move on...K.I.S.S.:thumbsup: