Rob_Davis
[I moved this from the "I owe some people a drink" topic since it really starts a new train of thought.]
How about a "sponsor" system for newbies? Like, if a current member who is an established and experienced chaser were to know a promising newbie who has already done the book work and seems to be well on track for going active in the coming season, could that member vouch for the newbie, allowing him to join the board?
Seems like this system would offer several real benefits to the community, among them:
1. It takes a burden off of administration to spend a lot of time checking new applicants out.
2. It establishes a somewhat concrete entrance criteria.
3. It allows a limited, yet quality flow of new life into the community.
4. It gives current members a personal stake in the quality and success of the forum.
Today's newbie is tomorrow's veteran. I would expect Nick to understand that better than most. By allowing veteran members to identify potential new blood and Elmer them into the community, we can positively affect the future of the community.
For a parallel analogy of what we are dealing with here, one need look no farther than Ham radio. Ham radio was (and arguably still is) dying. With the advent of the computer age, radio communications has become passe and unable to pique the interest of the current generation. Certainly not enough for them to do all the studying and learning necessary to legally join the community. Consequently, it was quite literally dying. Ham radio was at the very same crossroads as us a few years back.
How Ham handled that dilemma is the interesting part of the story. They responded by drastically dropping the membership requirements for the community. Did it breathe new life into the hobby? Absolutely. But did it breathe new quality into the hobby? Absolutely not.
I believe that illustrates that Tim is absolutely on the right track by strengthening the entrance criteria for the community. That is the best way available to improve quality. But it also illustrates that you have to look forward and anticipate where the next generation is going to come from to avoid stagnation. I believe that a sponsorship system for new members would address both of those dilemmas effectively.
Comment?
In the spirit of offering constructive suggestions and solutions rather than focusing solely on problems, allow me to throw this out for consideration:Stormtrack has reasserted its role for active storm chasers, but I've noticed that the status of non-chasers is not very clear. We are not going to dip a strainer into the userlist to weed out non-chasers based on credentials. That will be done on new applications (and to what extent is still in debate).
How about a "sponsor" system for newbies? Like, if a current member who is an established and experienced chaser were to know a promising newbie who has already done the book work and seems to be well on track for going active in the coming season, could that member vouch for the newbie, allowing him to join the board?
Seems like this system would offer several real benefits to the community, among them:
1. It takes a burden off of administration to spend a lot of time checking new applicants out.
2. It establishes a somewhat concrete entrance criteria.
3. It allows a limited, yet quality flow of new life into the community.
4. It gives current members a personal stake in the quality and success of the forum.
Today's newbie is tomorrow's veteran. I would expect Nick to understand that better than most. By allowing veteran members to identify potential new blood and Elmer them into the community, we can positively affect the future of the community.
For a parallel analogy of what we are dealing with here, one need look no farther than Ham radio. Ham radio was (and arguably still is) dying. With the advent of the computer age, radio communications has become passe and unable to pique the interest of the current generation. Certainly not enough for them to do all the studying and learning necessary to legally join the community. Consequently, it was quite literally dying. Ham radio was at the very same crossroads as us a few years back.
How Ham handled that dilemma is the interesting part of the story. They responded by drastically dropping the membership requirements for the community. Did it breathe new life into the hobby? Absolutely. But did it breathe new quality into the hobby? Absolutely not.
I believe that illustrates that Tim is absolutely on the right track by strengthening the entrance criteria for the community. That is the best way available to improve quality. But it also illustrates that you have to look forward and anticipate where the next generation is going to come from to avoid stagnation. I believe that a sponsorship system for new members would address both of those dilemmas effectively.
Comment?