It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

[Stephen]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

On this basis then can you justify the 8 or 9 posts that 'cloud' your 'Gizmo' thread that are related to food, totally nothing to do with the main thread that you started about remote controlers.

At least the comments here about prizewinners have a serious point to them.

ekkl, with respect my thread you refer to is somewhat different. There is no issue to be debated, and the food comments were no more than a bit of fun, and stemmed from a comment from Dennis who asked what else it would do The thread is back on track and has created some useful info.

I think the point I made is perfectly valid and the issue about competition prizes is different to what the OP intended

[ekkl]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

Hi Stephen. One of the things I really like about this forum is the banter as found on your gizmo thread, it does make me smile and adds a nice 'feel' to the forum, I wasn't having a go that it shouldn't be there

I just think the points raised by Dennis and myself are quite important.

[Ian]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

Hello all!

I'm sorry I didn't respond to the latest posts more quickly. On reflection, this particular idea wasn't really a goer from the start, so - sadly - it is null and void.

We need better, more sustainable, ways to maintain consistently high quality discussions on the forum.

Ian

[Guest]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

It is obvious that the 'powers that be' are completely ignoring the points raised by myself and 'Ekkl' about the 'hangers on' who only register in the hope of winning a 'free gift' in the occasional draws and who contribute nothing whatsoever to the site. Come on, at least give us a comment on your views, or don't the views of your loyal members matter. !!

[Stephen]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

It is obvious that the 'powers that be' are completely ignoring the points raised by myself and 'Ekkl' about the 'hangers on' who only register in the hope of winning a 'free gift' in the occasional draws and who contribute nothing whatsoever to the site. Come on, at least give us a comment on your views, or don't the views of your loyal members matter. !!

I thought Ian had already made a comment about this. Lets look at the facts. The forums have one long running fortnightly competition, run by the members and as a reward for winning and running the next a memory card is offered. Then there has been one occasion where the conditions for entering the monthly prize draw on the main site has been that people should sign up for the forums. It seems unreasonable to expect anyone to fulfill other criteria such as a minimum number of posts to be eligible. So as most who entered were new people who signed up in order to be in with a chance, its not surprising that one of them won.

Now all the other competitions and prize draws have been run from the main site and all people had to do was give an email address and not become members of the forum.

Now I'm sure no one needs me to tell them why this technique is used. As Patrick was at pains to point out in another thread its all about numbers. To survive, the site has to have sponsors and get as many hits as possible in order to satisfy the sponsors. The prize draws generate a bank of email addresses to which people are sent monthly newsletters therefore potentially, getting more site hits and more people clicking through on the adds. So most of the competitions/prize draws are a means to an end, but have no direct link to the forums.

It seems to me that what is going to generate more people to take part in the forums is if there is more quality discussion. Now Dennis, this very morning there has been a discussion started by rogleale about light and specifically Chiaroscuro. Are you going to contribute?

[grangie]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

Well said Ekkl - your evidence backs up what I was trying to imply. These people have no real interest in the main purpose of this site which is to promote discussion, assistance and interaction with other like minded individuals with a real interest in Digital Photography. The site should not simply be about getting large numbers registered,particularly if they have no genuine interest. One has only to look at the number of views to this thread and only a few contributions to wonder if the title words "And we'll reward it" was the main attraction.

Sorry Dennis but I think you are making a big assumption here. I have been a member since January 07. I have made very few posts, but I do follow the discussion forums and enjoy looking at (and learning from) the various images which are posted here. The level of discussion in the forums, in the main, is interesting and enlightening, but I seldom post to them because I feel other members often share the same viewpoint, so there's no point repeating them. (remember the Yorkshireman's motto "see all, hear all say nowt!" For me the competitions are a minor issue. The one which matters is the monthly members comp which has had some fantastic entries this year. If the prize draw element helps to keep the site alive by bringing extra internet hits, and therefore income then I have no problem with that - its the way of the world. Running a website is an expensive business with server space to purchase plus the amounts of time the webmaster has to spend in setting the site up, upgrading and maintaining etc. DP now is a free site, again becoming a rareity - there are many sites now which are becoming subscription based. Such sites offer a range of members only services and competitions, but they have to be paid for by an annual subscription. If open to all competitions help to finance the site and secure its continued success then I have no problem with that. Just my opinion but felt I needed to respond to your comment

"One has only to look at the number of views to this thread and only a few contributions to wonder if the title words "And we'll reward it" was the main attraction"

In my case it wasn't.

Tony

[Ian]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

It is obvious that the 'powers that be' are completely ignoring the points raised by myself and 'Ekkl' about the 'hangers on' who only register in the hope of winning a 'free gift' in the occasional draws and who contribute nothing whatsoever to the site. Come on, at least give us a comment on your views, or don't the views of your loyal members matter. !!

Hi Dennis, I think Stephen has covered everything I would have said. But i would like to emphasise that the prizes and hangers on issue was recognised weeks ago by me. And this is also one reason why I have retreated from the prizes for forum comments idea. But as has already been mentioned, the Salon is completely different - that was a thank from me, basically, to the guys on the forum who took the trouble to get the salon going and to support it from fortnight to fortnight. There is no chance at all of a hanger-on to win that prize.

What we need to get back to is good old fashioned discussion and looking at inspiring pictures. Hopefully you are in agreement?

Ian

[Ian]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

Sorry Dennis but I think you are making a big assumption here. I have been a member since January 07. I have made very few posts, but I do follow the discussion forums and enjoy looking at (and learning from) the various images which are posted here. The level of discussion in the forums, in the main, is interesting and enlightening, but I seldom post to them because I feel other members often share the same viewpoint, so there's no point repeating them. (remember the Yorkshireman's motto "see all, hear all say nowt!" For me the competitions are a minor issue. The one which matters is the monthly members comp which has had some fantastic entries this year. If the prize draw element helps to keep the site alive by bringing extra internet hits, and therefore income then I have no problem with that - its the way of the world. Running a website is an expensive business with server space to purchase plus the amounts of time the webmaster has to spend in setting the site up, upgrading and maintaining etc. DP now is a free site, again becoming a rareity - there are many sites now which are becoming subscription based. Such sites offer a range of members only services and competitions, but they have to be paid for by an annual subscription. If open to all competitions help to finance the site and secure its continued success then I have no problem with that. Just my opinion but felt I needed to respond to your comment

"One has only to look at the number of views to this thread and only a few contributions to wonder if the title words "And we'll reward it" was the main attraction"

In my case it wasn't.

Tony

Hi Tony,

I'm pleased you spoke up and shone a little light onto the world of the webmaster

You do seem to have a good understanding of our plight!

You also emphasise the often misunderstood fact that many forum fans don't feel the need to post. If you read a newspaper, you don't feel the need to make more news or write to the letters page, but you still value the paper. I'd like to see more so-called 'lurkers' joining in, but you can't force them. The best temptation is good, respectful and interesting debate.

Ian

[Patrick]

Re: It's good to talk - more! And we'll reward it

Hi Tony,

I'm pleased you spoke up and shone a little light onto the world of the webmaster

You do seem to have a good understanding of our plight!

You also emphasise the often misunderstood fact that many forum fans don't feel the need to post. If you read a newspaper, you don't feel the need to make more news or write to the letters page, but you still value the paper. I'd like to see more so-called 'lurkers' joining in, but you can't force them. The best temptation is good, respectful and interesting debate.

Ian

Hi Ian

Dennis has raised a point he obviously feels strongly about, where I can see where he is coming from in this particular I don't entirely agree with him.
What concerns me more is the lack of maintenance by that I don't mean the new this that or the other (I have written this before) but the visual maintenance, we now have a picture of the day over 8 weeks old that is 56 pictures in arrears, A great impression I'm sure to someone new to the site. For goodness sake if you can't do it forget it and remove it from the front page and perhaps use the space to announce all competition winners instead where they can be seen.

Now your plight as a web master is no different to any other service industry, your problems are not your customers (forum members in this case) I sell wedding dresses to the trade, there were for the last 12 months quotas from China, 95% of dresses are made there) my customers don't care about that, they simply want their dresses on time, the quota is for us as supplier to manage to ensure they are delivered on time, and should not be the customers problem.
Its up to you as Web master to ensure up to date info on site, that on the whole is done, deadline promises met, that on the whole is not.
I believe this is what concerns most of us and ultimately so will your advertisers be, who want to see a return on their investment.

Patrick