Crowns at Speaker's Corner

plipplop wrote:

Maybe. I don't think these forums are ever a good way of getting things changed - there's too much procrastination, flippancy and / or childish arguing. Most people (including decision makers) tend to switch off and think "they're off again."

(See previous posts.)

You could possibly be right. But if they (the decision makers) were to make the occasional appearance, and perhaps even take on board what members were saying and suggesting every now and again, then maybe the forums could be more useful.

dididave wrote:

fizzywizzy wrote:

dididave wrote:

fizzywizzy wrote:

I have sent three e-mails to Dooyoo saying I wish to share the travel guide role and that I have someone who wants to share it with me.

I have not heard a word in response!

I don't appear in the guide forum any more because general participation was so sporadic there was no point.

Noyt quite sore what you are trying to say. That not enough Guides were contributing?

In the old forum, there would be no posts for days. Or nothing constructive being discussed. i got tired of it

Going back how long, there be loads of posts now although granted, the same group of say...six or seven people do the majority of posting!

Going back ages. But I don't really want to go back there. I do my guiding work as required and i don't have enough time to participate in the forum as well. I don't consider it very productive

A quick look has identified about twenty posts on the guide forum asking why nothing has been done about guide appointments. In addition this weekend there was one review which pretty much was an advert for the role and encouraged applicants and my own review mentioned the vacancies. Like everyone else I have no idea why they cannot put an advert on the site yet can find the time to congratulate people for leaving comments which was just laughable when you see some of the names listed.

The main response is that those who have been approached said no thanks either due to time restrictions or the fact that guides get loads of abuse and they could do without the hassle. In fact only this weekend someone used both of these excuses to me when I mentioned the vacancies to them.

The second reason for the delay may be because Jared is at the end of his contract so things will be changing.

A motors review was crowned the other week before I even got to read it so someone must be nominating reviews or Dooyoo are reading them, however personally I will hold back on reviews in the sports category until they appoint someone and if no appointment is made soon I will be working on said former guide over a pint or three in a couple of weeks time. See that is how devoted I am, risking my liver to fill guide appointments.

Constantly I read comments and reviews that say that some members could not give a rats arse about crowns as they can write four reviews in the time it takes to write one long one and get more money so it is no surprise that crown awards are down as people don't bother to nominate, having said that some members have seen an increase and at least they seem to get spread around a bit more these days.

Certainly it has made some members change the way they write for the better as they need to secure crowns to maintain earnings, following a reducton in the value of reads.

atticusuk wrote:

The second reason for the delay may be because Jared is at the end of his contract so things will be changing.

Now there's an interesting wee tit bit of news I wasn't aware of. That could possibly explain a lot if there's a new person being trained in who may well have their own ideas about the direction of the site.

The impression I got was that Elise woud assume some of the responsibiity but I may be wrong.

Also the impression I got was that future direction of site decisions have always been made at levels above the likes of Seb and Jared who seem to deal with day to day management of the site.

atticusuk wrote:

however personally I will hold back on reviews in the sports category until they appoint someone and if no appointment is made soon I will be working on said former guide over a pint or three in a couple of weeks time. See that is how devoted I am, risking my liver to fill guide appointments.

Same as. Sports is one of my favourite Categories, but with no Guide in place it's practically impossible to get a review Crowned, as reviews in the Category traditionally seem to get less reads (and therefore less chance of a Crown nomination) than in other Categories. I've also left messages for the "former Guide" you are talking about urging them to take the appointment. As for your liver; enough said. (Heh, heh)

atticusuk wrote:

Constantly I read comments and reviews that say that some members could not give a rats arse about crowns as they can write four reviews in the time it takes to write one long one and get more money so it is no surprise that crown awards are down as people don't bother to nominate, having said that some members have seen an increase and at least they seem to get spread around a bit more these days.

Getting spread around more is probably down to the fact that there are simply more reviews being posted now. Personally my own "Crown count" is way down, but that's understandable considering the reviews I'm writing these days are more in line with what dooyoo seem to want these days. (Short and sweet)

atticusuk wrote:

Certainly it has made some members change the way they write for the better as they need to secure crowns to maintain earnings, following a reducton in the value of reads.

Don't agree, at least for myself. My earnings are WAY up since the new payment system was introduced, and a Crown these days is simply an added (and mostly unexpected) bonus on top of the miles earned for simply writing the review.

atticusuk wrote:

The impression I got was that Elise woud assume some of the responsibiity but I may be wrong.

Also the impression I got was that future direction of site decisions have always been made at levels above the likes of Seb and Jared who seem to deal with day to day management of the site.

Probably so. But I would imagine that the ever changing "dooyoo staff" are fairly autonomous when it comes to making decisions about the day to day running and mechanics of the site.

kenjohn wrote:

atticusuk wrote:

The impression I got was that Elise woud assume some of the responsibiity but I may be wrong.

Also the impression I got was that future direction of site decisions have always been made at levels above the likes of Seb and Jared who seem to deal with day to day management of the site.

Probably so. But I would imagine that the ever changing "dooyoo staff" are fairly autonomous when it comes to making decisions about the day to day running and mechanics of the site.

Well I know Elise seems to have a very similar view to Jared so hopefully there should be a nice changeover.

Hogsflesh is the new guide for Speakers Corner.

plipplop wrote:

Hogsflesh is the new guide for Speakers Corner.

Well done that man.

New Guides for Pets and Food and Drink

Good work from the guides getting new blood in. Well done!

Some action at last. By the way, Aaron, how do you know it was the Guides that were responsible for recruiting the new additions? Fair play to them if it was mind you. That's the way it always operated in my Guiding days.

I never said "recruiting". The days of guides "recruiting" are long since gone as most nowadays don't believe that it's part of a guides remit or that they personally feel it's "icky" to do so or both.

However, new guides are in place because of ongoing direct action by some guides (Claire's excellent Guides review is a prime example here) to highlight vacancies and I believe more are to come, as soon as Elise can finalise things.

Ciao's Favourite Member wrote:

I never said "recruiting". The days of guides "recruiting" are long since gone as most nowadays don't believe that it's part of a guides remit or that they personally feel it's "icky" to do so or both.

However, new guides are in place because of ongoing direct action by some guides (Claire's excellent Guides review is a prime example here) to highlight vacancies and I believe more are to come, as soon as Elise can finalise things.

Anyways, one good thing (at least from my point of view) is that we now need a new Guide in the Computers Category. Pity it wasn't in Software as well, then dooyoo might just get a lot more Guide applications from other members!

Thanks for pointing out Clare's review to me, BTW. I'm off to read it now.

Sorry if this is old news but it is not the case that Jared is at the end of his contract. He has actually left already. I just heard this.

This is a great start with three new guides. Things are looking up.

'recruiting' can take time, but dooyoo are almost there now!

kenjohn wrote:

atticusuk wrote:

Certainly it has made some members change the way they write for the better as they need to secure crowns to maintain earnings, following a reducton in the value of reads.

Don't agree, at least for myself. My earnings are WAY up since the new payment system was introduced, and a Crown these days is simply an added (and mostly unexpected) bonus on top of the miles earned for simply writing the review.

Nah but I can think of a couple who have suddenly started writing for crowns more so than before as only writing one review a day with a reduction in read value has made them change the way they write. I can see it in the way they structure the review and avoid off topic ramblings.

fizzywizzy wrote:

Sorry if this is old news but it is not the case that Jared is at the end of his contract. He has actually left already. I just heard this.

Yep his contract is at an end however he did say on the forum that he would be around for certain things on Dooyoo for a short while if he was needed.

atticusuk wrote:

Nah but I can think of a couple who have suddenly started writing for crowns more so than before as only writing one review a day with a reduction in read value has made them change the way they write. I can see it in the way they structure the review and avoid off topic ramblings.

I think I can think of ONE member you are probably referring to. Likes to moan a lot, right? And he hasn't even got the excuse of being a Grumpy Old Man/Veteran Reviewer like we have. (Heh, heh)

See with minds this sharp senility is a long way off, now where did I put my dentures?

Eh....Have to eat my words somewhat....I received a Crown this morning (granted not in SC, but let's not split hairs) within 20 minutes of posting it, and with only FIVE member reads at the time, none of who were Guides!
So the "dooyoo staff" must be reading and awarding at least SOME Crowns of their own bat. Ta muchly to the dooyoo staff!

kenjohn wrote:

Eh....Have to eat my words somewhat....I received a Crown this morning (granted not in SC, but let's not split hairs) within 20 minutes of posting it, and with only FIVE member reads at the time, none of who were Guides!
So the "dooyoo staff" must be reading and awarding at least SOME Crowns of their own bat. Ta muchly to the dooyoo staff!

See, now we will go bust!

plipplop wrote:

See, now we will go bust!

Nah...I might go bust though, eating all these words of mine