I KNOW THIS IS RISKY, BUT I'M GONNA DO IT ANYWAY.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Let me start out with a disclaimer. I am not trying to creat any turmoil. In fact, just the opposite. I think that many of us would like a site map and to know who decides how the site is structured.

 

Since the latest change to the structure of tbd, I am somewhat confused as to how we are organized.

 

The tabs have been reorganized and are now, I think, much more user friendly. The tabs seem pretty self explanatory. However, the next level down starts to get a little confusing to me.

 

The first tab on the Right is labeled FAQ/Help. However there does not seem to be a FAQ area under the tab. There is a members help area that has some questions and some answers but they seem somewhat out dated.  Then there are the names of four moderators. When you click on the moderators names it takes you to their page. I think. The information there ranges from; very informative to nothing. I thought that I had read somewhere that there are 5 moderators. Is that incorrect?

When I go to the Welcoming Lounge. I find that it is a group and it susposedly has moderators. There are 4 names there. Is this still a valid list?

 

Robin seems to not want to be involved in any of the administrative stuff and that is very understandable to me.

 

I like to be exposed to minimum authority. But, unfortunately we are dealing with humans and humans seem to need at least a minimum of structure in anything they undertake.

 

So should we have a "TOWNHALL" type meeting?

 

Should the current moderators ask for additional moderators to volunteer? 

 

Does Robin want to be involved?

 

Where do we go from here? And what path do we take? Who is active in the groups that we never see in Forum, The Welcome Lounge, or Q & A?

[Stir Young]

Well, I've never paid much attention to organization of TBD 1 or 2, although TBD 1 seemed more like a dictatorship. I enjoy 2 much more because it seems more self governing.......I don't care for there being much overt authority.

If I get out of line here, I expect someone, either administrator or regular contributor, will PM me.

Meanwhile, I'll keep posting the way I currently post......with a sometimes too veiled sense of humor that would be better understood verbally.

[Chez moi]

Robbie, these are good, valid questions. A lot of them, but folks can address those that interest them. It would be good for those of us who participate here to invest some thought in our site. I like the idea that it belongs to the users and that we have a responsibility for it rather than complaining about some vague nonexistent 'they'. I've said it before, TBD is us.

I don't know that we've ever had a real FAQ. It would be a good thing, I think, to help orient newcomers. Maybe we could all mention points that we find important to the Mods.

I think that we have lost a Mod or two in the recent hoo-hah. I have no idea how many we need or what sort of workload they have, or whether they feel in need of reinforcement. Maybe they can weigh in and speak to us on this. Perhaps in the FAQ we can include a little bio of each Mod, then their page address will serve for communication as needed.

Yes, Welcome Lounge and Q&A are pretty generalized groups that have their own administrator(s). They have been placed up on the header to make it easier for everyone to find them, especially newcomers who may not know about them when they arrive. They are meant to be a way for all members to find cameraderie right away when they sign in, even if they haven't found a special interest group to hang out in yet. I think there are folks in the groups who never visit these places. Maybe we need to invite them in, make them feel at home. I know we have a lot of members who are inactive, too; many have come here who never knew the original site. Perhaps they came, saw, and found nothing interesting, but never removed their profiles, just as many formerly active members seem to have done.

I can understand Robin not wanting to be much involved in admin., since this was conceived just as a life raft after TBD 1 and it is not really her baby in the same way, even though it has her name on it. It would be nice to see more of her, though I suppose her RL has taken over. Why not invite her to come and comment?

One thing I think is weak is our public image. Since we no longer say specifically anywhere that we are aimed at 'over forties', have we lost our image or direction? Is there anything else that defines us?

Okay, what do the rest of you think? Let's talk.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Chez, Thanks for the early response. I started this because it seemed to me that if those of us who have been around a long time aren't fully aware of what is going on, we can't have much hope of having newcomers stick around. Especially "40+ers like me who are used to having instructions to read. So, at this time, unless someone has a specific question for me, I'm going to attempt to lay back for a while and see what develops.

You know of course that that is wishful thinking on my part.

I would like to see the current moderators show up, introduce themselves and let us know something about how they view the site.

[stillgoing]

I don't see a risk in discussing the site, Robbie.

Easy solution to a FAQ is put up a page for the moderators which is not their personal pages. I think it should just contain site related stuff. It could also be an FAQ and a Welcome for that matter. The moderators could share the login so any of them could update\maintain it. It would also be a common way to contact them, so if you want to report something or other there's just one place to do it.

I like odd numbers of people running stuff. That way there are no tie votes. Or keep it an even number and let Robin arbitrate if she wants to take on that no win role. Actually I don't know how much or little Robin is around or if she's one of those who's active within certain groups but avoids the more public areas.

Well, that's my 18 cents (inflation, ya know) What say everyone else?

[Charg]

I understand where Robbie is coming from. Many of us came from the old TBD and there was a FAQ and a structure that made it comfortable to move about.
I'm not here as much due to seeming lack of that.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Stillgoing, The reason I say it is risky is that there obviously was some pretty emotional goings on during the last couple months and I don't want to stir up any thing that has been put to rest. We all know that even though most of us try to stay civil, that doesn't always occur.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Stillgoing I agree with your idea about the page for FAQ. I also think there should be a page, thread, post, whatever you call it for suggestions.That would insure that all the moderators saw it not just one who received a PM. I also agree that there should be an odd number of moderators. (Notice that I refrained from the obvious opening for a joke).

[Bull]

Thank You Robbie, Chez, Stir and Stillgoing speaking as a moderator, we really do try and listen, If we think the majority want something we will take a look and see how it might be implemented. However change for changes sake isn't always for the best. I'm sure the moderators will be paying close attention to this thread.

I will try to answer a couple of things that have been said as best I can.

There were five moderators one has left, as far as a tie among the moderators it has never been an issue as most problems are either a clear violation of the guidelines or not. Most problems are never seen by the general membership, as in scammers and spammers that are eliminated before they are ever seen. As for the rest like Stir said a PM will normally handle most problems. There really aren't as many problems as some may think

I would love to see a good suggestion as far as branding, perhaps it could be added after the logo, something like "where people over forty meet or congregate" but as with anything it would be nice to have a consensus.

I would also be happy to try and do something with the faq however there are limits within the ning frame work, I am not a css expert nor do I have the time to spend trying to go around the ning templates, that is why I hoped the groups under that tab would accomplish answering some of the questions. Some things can be done, some can't and still others shouldn't.

We don't see everything and do appreciate questions and comments, so please let us know and we will try and work with everyone.

Thank Y'all for your input.

[CWO3ROBBIE]

Bull, Thanks for responding. Here are some of my thoughts.
1. I don't remember the basis for how the moderators were chosen.
2. I'm pretty sure that you guys don't get paid for what you do. Which, if that assumption is correct means that we all owe you guys a debt of gratitude.
3. I would like to see the number of moderators increased back up to at least five. Four seems to me to be too small a number to fully vet any conflicts.
4. I would think that it might be a good idea to have a small committee of non moderators to pick new moderators.
5. I think that instead of PMing a moderator with a problem or sugestion there should be a public area where all suggestions, questions, complaints were posted and then the moderators could take whatever actions were required.
6. Lastly, I think someone should write a fairly small newsletter type post periodically so the members could read what was going on if interested.

[d's girl]

Thanks for this thread, Robbie. I feel activity on our site was waning already, and then took a significant hit w/ppl leaving after the announcements that changes would take place. So I think it's a great idea to try and create some adhesiveness among us & clear up any questions or issues that might hinder our individual &/or group participations.
I definitely like the idea of rebranding ourselves as an 'over 40' social network. And it would be great if we could get the word out to folks who don't know about us.

[Dazzling Zoomer Gal Diana]

Thank you Robbie.

As a moderator of The Welcome Lounge I check on it daily - scan all postings, and am always available for any questions, and occasionally I revise some and answer accordingly and most encouragingly. We do state what TBD is about in the welcome lounge - advising that it is geared for an over forties crowd. If you lot wish us to be more pronounced about this - Cat, JLeeS and I will be happy to work with your suggestions.

The badge (I'm a member of TBD) really needs to be changed in my opinion. It's embarrassing. The "Sorry no community/technical support except as . . . " that one sees as one joins and is a constant at the lower right hand side of the page is off putting, and now - no longer necessary. I certainly don't want to use a "sorry" badge on my other sites to promote this one. It says nothing about who we are other than we are "sorry". Not a word one wants to brand a site with. Most new members who join more than likely come from other Ning sites and know how things operate. If someone does not - we can and should beef up the help with Ning section. This requires someone with tech savvy in this regard.

It's been almost a year. Why can this badge not say something akin to "Welcome to the home of TBD members, where adults come to play and make friends" or some such catchy inviting ditty. That way members would feel encourage to place this badge on their other social networking and blog sites, thus increasing visibility.

[Chez moi]

Excellent point, Diana, and one which I hope can be solved. The badge is certainly one good place to feature our direction, and I am sure it must be flexible enough to carry our message. Anyone know? Maybe Robin is the one who can change it - if so, we need to decide what we want it to say. Do we need a new motto contest?