Hello Everyone
Let me first fore warn you that this is a long post but I would really want folks on this awesome site to read this through.
I would also like to clarify that all the ideas and comments below in this post is all my doing. The board and or any other member does not have anything to do with it - yet.
Here we go!
I have been home sick for the past 2 - 3 days and this gave me an opportunity to analyze a few things about our forums. I also spend quite a few hours pondering on how to get our reefers more involved with the site and get more participation from everyone.
As some of you might know I took this issue up last year when I started the monthly contests to stir things a bit and get more involvement from everyone to make the reefing experience more enjoyable. I think it is time when we all as a reefing club should take some steps to take it to the next level.
I would like to propose two additional contests along with the POTM. One ROTM (Reefer of the month) and one ROTY (Reefer of the year).
Ah! Do I see some eyebrows go up already? Please read this through and I may have the answers to most of your questions already.
How do we do it?
To choose the right person each month for the ROTM award is not an easy task. However to make it as simple as possible here is what I came up with.
Every reefer on the forum will be awarded reward points in different areas. The reefer who collects the most points will be adjudged the ROTM.
What do I get if I win ROTM?
I think the person who wins the ROTM should get a gift card just like POTM but I cannot speak for the $$ amount. If we decide to go through with this maybe the board members can decide the $$ amount.
Along with the GC, the winner will also get a ROTM winner logo displayed under his screen name for a rolling 1 year. However if you win once you will not be considered for winning for next 1 year.
How does one get the points?
The point system will be broken down as follows :-
a). If you win the POTM award you get 5 points for the next month. Which means if you won Jan 2013 POTM, you will get 5 points for Feb 2013.
Everyone who submits a photo to run in the POTM also gets 2 points. If you win you only get 5 points and not 7.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> The Jan 2013 POTM had only 3 posts and a total of 16 people voted. That is really sad given that we have so many active members on this site. If we combine the POTM with ROTM there is a better incentive and we should get more participation.
b). The person who has the most meaningful posts related to the hobby in the given month, will get 5 points. Now these posts cannot be "LOL", "LMAO","My dog did not poop" or "My cat ate my lunch". They MUST be related to the hobby. So the number of posts will not count. How helpful and meaningful the posts are will matter.
At what time of the day the posts were made will also be taken into consideration. The reefers who are more active during 10 PM - 12 AM will earn an extra 2 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> The more posts means more participation and good discussions. I chose the time from 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM for a reason.
I have observed that on most weekdays the site is almost dead after 9 PM if not sooner. Now that does not mean that people are sleeping.
There are at least 30 plus members always online but just browsing. No, this time is not for everyone. However there are quite a few night owls on this forum and I am one of them. Instead of silently flipping between different reefing sites and the apex settings, maybe these guys (including myself) will actually get some discussion going?
c). Keeping your tale of the tank thread updated with current information/pics and some personal experience that helps the fellow reefers will also earn you 5 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> Every tank is different. With the experience of others we all learn. So why not have everyone share once a month at least what they found out that they did not know last month? I have always said that you learn something new each day in this hobby. This is on similar path as my "What did we learn in past year" thread. Also three words - participation, participation and yes, participation.
d). The reefers with the most helpful/popular thread in the months will also earn 5 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> Another reason for a reefer to post to get the logo and points under his belt.
How will this help the club?
I think this will generate more participation from everyone. I know POTM is an incentive but it is always a matter of pride to win something like ROTM and you get $$ and the logo. I believe everyone will try to get work for it. Each reefer will have to do his part to get closer to the award.
How do we choose the ROTM?
This is not going to be an easy task. So I am proposing that we create a new committee called the "Awards Committee" - hereby referred to as AC. I would like to volunteer myself to be a part of this committee and run the awards. Please note that by doing so I am giving up the right to be chosen for either ROTM or ROTY award. This is not about me. The idea is to make this forums more spicy and enjoyable. We will need one or two more volunteers for this committee as some point down the road. I think I can also help with the website changes needed for this as well as designing the ROTM logo.
All decisions will be taken by the AC and will be final. In the sprit of open disclosure, we should post the winner and two runner-ups each month. We should NOT post points but just the names. This way each reefer can check the posts in past month of the three candidates and see what they need to do to move ahead. I would also like to see different runner-ups each month so we know that more people are active.
Who is eligible to be considered for ROTM?
I am not sure if POTM is open to all members. However ROTM should be open to paid and non-paid members. However if you are a non-paid member the you start the month with negative 5 points. You must be a member before the start of the month to avoid a 5 point deduction. This will be another incentive for non-members to become paid members.
What about ROTY?
I think we can turn this one to be a popularity contest. We take the winners of the "calendar year" and let the members vote the ROTY. What he will get is again a question for the board.
Before I close please let me clarify a few things again :-
1. This is not something that has been discussed with the board so it may or may not happen. Board will have a final say, I am just a thinking reefer.
2. This is NOT a Tank of the month (TOTM) contest. I gave it a thought and it will be tough to pull through at this time. Lets take one step at a time.
3. I came up with all this in last 24 hours or so and so I have not consulted with anyone. It is news to board members as it is to you.
4. The rules posted above are NOT final. They are just a draft that I came up with in last 24 hours. If we decide to do this I am sure there will be official rule sticky on it. Obviously these will be modified as/if needed.
5. I did not put a $$ amount for the winner in this post and I sincerely request that no one does that either. Let's leave it to the board to decide because I am not even sure if we can do a monetary award.
Please let me know your thoughts on this. I would like to hear from members/non-members and board members alike. If the board thinks that I am out of line with something please feel free to delete this post.
Let's keep this thread as clean as possible and lets hear some opinions and thanks for reading this through.
Peace
Sunny
Let me first fore warn you that this is a long post but I would really want folks on this awesome site to read this through.
I would also like to clarify that all the ideas and comments below in this post is all my doing. The board and or any other member does not have anything to do with it - yet.
Here we go!
I have been home sick for the past 2 - 3 days and this gave me an opportunity to analyze a few things about our forums. I also spend quite a few hours pondering on how to get our reefers more involved with the site and get more participation from everyone.
As some of you might know I took this issue up last year when I started the monthly contests to stir things a bit and get more involvement from everyone to make the reefing experience more enjoyable. I think it is time when we all as a reefing club should take some steps to take it to the next level.
I would like to propose two additional contests along with the POTM. One ROTM (Reefer of the month) and one ROTY (Reefer of the year).
Ah! Do I see some eyebrows go up already? Please read this through and I may have the answers to most of your questions already.
How do we do it?
To choose the right person each month for the ROTM award is not an easy task. However to make it as simple as possible here is what I came up with.
Every reefer on the forum will be awarded reward points in different areas. The reefer who collects the most points will be adjudged the ROTM.
What do I get if I win ROTM?
I think the person who wins the ROTM should get a gift card just like POTM but I cannot speak for the $$ amount. If we decide to go through with this maybe the board members can decide the $$ amount.
Along with the GC, the winner will also get a ROTM winner logo displayed under his screen name for a rolling 1 year. However if you win once you will not be considered for winning for next 1 year.
How does one get the points?
The point system will be broken down as follows :-
a). If you win the POTM award you get 5 points for the next month. Which means if you won Jan 2013 POTM, you will get 5 points for Feb 2013.
Everyone who submits a photo to run in the POTM also gets 2 points. If you win you only get 5 points and not 7.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> The Jan 2013 POTM had only 3 posts and a total of 16 people voted. That is really sad given that we have so many active members on this site. If we combine the POTM with ROTM there is a better incentive and we should get more participation.
b). The person who has the most meaningful posts related to the hobby in the given month, will get 5 points. Now these posts cannot be "LOL", "LMAO","My dog did not poop" or "My cat ate my lunch". They MUST be related to the hobby. So the number of posts will not count. How helpful and meaningful the posts are will matter.
At what time of the day the posts were made will also be taken into consideration. The reefers who are more active during 10 PM - 12 AM will earn an extra 2 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> The more posts means more participation and good discussions. I chose the time from 10:00 PM - 12:00 AM for a reason.
I have observed that on most weekdays the site is almost dead after 9 PM if not sooner. Now that does not mean that people are sleeping
. There are at least 30 plus members always online but just browsing. No, this time is not for everyone. However there are quite a few night owls on this forum and I am one of them. Instead of silently flipping between different reefing sites and the apex settings, maybe these guys (including myself) will actually get some discussion going?
c). Keeping your tale of the tank thread updated with current information/pics and some personal experience that helps the fellow reefers will also earn you 5 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> Every tank is different. With the experience of others we all learn. So why not have everyone share once a month at least what they found out that they did not know last month? I have always said that you learn something new each day in this hobby. This is on similar path as my "What did we learn in past year" thread. Also three words - participation, participation and yes, participation.
d). The reefers with the most helpful/popular thread in the months will also earn 5 points.
Why I want to do it this way? ==> Another reason for a reefer to post to get the logo and points under his belt.
How will this help the club?
I think this will generate more participation from everyone. I know POTM is an incentive but it is always a matter of pride to win something like ROTM and you get $$ and the logo. I believe everyone will try to get work for it. Each reefer will have to do his part to get closer to the award.
How do we choose the ROTM?
This is not going to be an easy task. So I am proposing that we create a new committee called the "Awards Committee" - hereby referred to as AC. I would like to volunteer myself to be a part of this committee and run the awards. Please note that by doing so I am giving up the right to be chosen for either ROTM or ROTY award. This is not about me. The idea is to make this forums more spicy and enjoyable. We will need one or two more volunteers for this committee as some point down the road. I think I can also help with the website changes needed for this as well as designing the ROTM logo.
All decisions will be taken by the AC and will be final. In the sprit of open disclosure, we should post the winner and two runner-ups each month. We should NOT post points but just the names. This way each reefer can check the posts in past month of the three candidates and see what they need to do to move ahead. I would also like to see different runner-ups each month so we know that more people are active.
Who is eligible to be considered for ROTM?
I am not sure if POTM is open to all members. However ROTM should be open to paid and non-paid members. However if you are a non-paid member the you start the month with negative 5 points. You must be a member before the start of the month to avoid a 5 point deduction. This will be another incentive for non-members to become paid members.
What about ROTY?
I think we can turn this one to be a popularity contest
. We take the winners of the "calendar year" and let the members vote the ROTY. What he will get is again a question for the board. Before I close please let me clarify a few things again :-
1. This is not something that has been discussed with the board so it may or may not happen. Board will have a final say, I am just a thinking reefer.
2. This is NOT a Tank of the month (TOTM) contest. I gave it a thought and it will be tough to pull through at this time. Lets take one step at a time.
3. I came up with all this in last 24 hours or so and so I have not consulted with anyone. It is news to board members as it is to you.
4. The rules posted above are NOT final. They are just a draft that I came up with in last 24 hours. If we decide to do this I am sure there will be official rule sticky on it. Obviously these will be modified as/if needed.
5. I did not put a $$ amount for the winner in this post and I sincerely request that no one does that either. Let's leave it to the board to decide because I am not even sure if we can do a monetary award.
Please let me know your thoughts on this. I would like to hear from members/non-members and board members alike. If the board thinks that I am out of line with something please feel free to delete this post.
Let's keep this thread as clean as possible and lets hear some opinions and thanks for reading this through.
Peace
Sunny
