Senior member requirements

So you Britt comment consistently...c'mon be honest!

The actual topic of this thread:

"So! I didn't think this would happen so quickly, but it seems to have been suggested by mods and implemented by Janis within, like, 48 hours. New record. We'd meant to make the announcement first, and THEN have it implemented. But anyway:

"The number of praised comments required for senior membership has now been raised to 10 or more."

The majority of the people we polled were in favor of raising the minimum. Most people actually requested a higher number, but we thought it would be prudent to start with 10, see how that works out, with the option to raise or lower it from there if we need to. I'm not sure if this means that 10 or more praised comments is now the ONLY way to get senior membership, or if you can still get it from 100 poems or something else. I'll check on that and update as I find out.

Unfortunately, this is kind of a universally-applied change. We haven't thought of any way to exempt older, returned members who may have had more praised comments before they left.

Kinda excited to see if this makes a difference."

-Sibs

Please control your tempers and contribute your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions. Thank you.

EDIT: If you would like to contribute anything privately or anonymously, please PM a moderator.

Is it your consisten comment Briit?

Britt ( F P C D ) at 2011-12-28

What a creepy, dark poem you have here! So awesome what you are doing with the prompts, that is incredible! I love the rhyme here and felt the flow was awesome.. SO eerie!

Karla, it's not about that..it's about them praising the people they want. They want a lock on who can nominate and who can judge...

Another example of your consistent comments my dear Britt

Britt ( F P C D ) at 2011-12-30

"by rusty swing
and childlessness,"

I feel like something is missing here. Maybe be "a" rusty swing, or by rusty swingS? I read this a few times and it just wasn't reading right to me.

I love the use of 'soundtracking' - that was a really clever idea to add here

I love your poems for their descriptive nature. You literally set a scene and make the reader feel like they are truly there, seeing and experiencing everything you've seen or imagined. I love that. Love the idea of onion brown rather than the odd tan/brown color it is. Gave it the perfect scene.

Love the way you added 'secular', I thought it worked perfectly and just rolled off my tongue. :) Well done, as usual!

Thanks Jane.

Just a reminder that all criticisms about the move are fine, but please outline why you consider the move to be just/unjust, and if possible offer suggestions for a better or more refined version of the idea.

Ilove, I love, I love...I feel...very consistent Britt!If you were my student I would give you a low mark.

Um, yes those are comments I have made. Your point?

So now my comments aren't good enough Lmaooo who cares?!?! You would mark me low. Karla really. I don't care. This is going ridiculously off topic and I don't understand your point. You don't like me, I got it!

Okay, I think the thread needs to cool it's jets and get back on topic. NOT target members. this is borderline harrassment.

Hmmm... I'm new and I try to write constructive comments. My english is not the best but most of the times I try to give my own interpretation of what I thought the poem was about, how it made me feel or affected me, or what I thought the poet was trying to aim.

I am one of those who think that 30 praises should count to be a senior member and I even think that 50 are ok.

Ridiculous is when you claim to write consistent comments my dear.Why do I assume I don't like you? I don't even know you. I like you poems. You are not in question.

Karla, this has nothing to do with Britt or her comments. Let's discuss the real issue here, not your personal feelings toward another member.

Rob, I never look at who left the comment or who praised it. I simply read the comment and approve it if it's good. Saves me from being biased.
I don't care who gets to be a judge or a nominator. Everyone should have a fair shot at it. What I care about is setting some standard that applies to everyone.

Consistent as in I write comments all the time. Not the same type of comment. Sometimes I comment from my phone and its not as easy to write a lengthy comment. Sometimes I don't have much to say. Sometimes I like to say what I did like, what I didn't like. Again... I don't understand the correlation here.

I remember when I was a ten year old and my dad took me hunting for the first time. I saw a huge bird flying above and said "look daddy, there's an eagle in the sky." He looked at me and said "good spot son, it takes a good eye to tell the difference between an eagle and a vulture from a distance."
I think what you guys did stinks to high heaven..in your heart of hearts..you know you are wrong!

It's too late here. Good nite. Sweet dreams.

Nope, in my heart of hearts I feel good about the decision. I don't feel good that you guys are taking it so personally. It's a nice story though, your dad sounds like a cool guy.

And Britt, Sibs and Silvershoes don't need a lawyer. They can defend themselves.

Britt comments consistently, as in "quite often." Which is definitely true... not all comments are praiseworthy, but she writes enough comments that a good number of them will be.

In any case, Larry's a lawyer, so we can always call on him! : )

"I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but eventually it came back to me."

Oh, puns.

Let us be honest here for a sec: you are wrong. Favoritism exists here and it is clear. Some clubs are in the dark whereas others are on the spotlight all the time. I have seen the same poets won the contests all the time. Anyway, good nite.You won't listen to what I am saying.I am just a snoopy latina in a world which doesnt belong to me. Good nite..

As I said earlier, I will delete tomorrow for good. Now, you have one less person willing to speak his mind. I think the least you can do is thank me for going...

UHM... WHERE IS THE SPOTLIGHT THAT I DON'T SEE ?..

the people who are in the "spotlight"
are those who aren't afraid to speak, and actually
if it wasn't for those people taking it and actually caring
and actually bothering to bring issues forward and to make themselves known..

this site wouldn't have nearly as much good poets as it does okay..

what are we suppose to do?
sit back relax and say

"hey newbies, take over"

uhm. no.

There aren't very many people I've been glad to see go - you're definitely one I think should stick around.

Before you go, Rob, do you think you could just outline why, exactly, you think raising the praised comment requirement from 3-9 to 10 is a poor or unfair idea? I know Karla doesn't like it because it temporarily effects her - do you have the same reason, or is it something different?

I don't think it is as simple as right and wrong, and it shows ignorance when people are not willing to consider all sides of a discussion not just their own. I understand it seems unfair to lose senior status once you've already had it, and if you can get a majority vote to raise the number of comments even higher so we all lose senior status and can show you we are not just saying this due to not being affected, I'd take it willingly. I think that everyone needs to listen to what everybody is saying, not just their side.

Rob, you are not my enemy and you are not my friend. You are a member on this site, and your opinion matters. If you leave, it won't. What you do is your choice.

If you have the time or care, I would also like an answer to Sib's question. Please elaborate on your thoughts and provide any suggestions you might have.

"what are we suppose to do?
sit back relax and say

"hey newbies, take over"

uhm. no."

Now, you remind me of my big sister!! I learned soo much from her..you go girl!!

Sybs, Jane..you could have had us all eating out of your hand if you had just been fair....having a main board vote is not the even close as sending a pm to all the members for a vote. Don't tell me that is not possible..I know better...

If it wasn't for the people who like karla said are in the spotlight, there would be no changes around here..

And remember,that even Britt,Jane,and Sybs were Newbies once

and if they've built themselves up to the "spotlight" on this site, so can anyone

but you have to add your two cents,
because you're not Christmas okay
no one is expecting you.
you have to come looking for whatever it is you want to find on this site.

Oh come on..I can't believe you even said "send a pm" to every member,

uhm, the moderators are human beings okay, not robots.. they have a life too. lord almighty pancrasia asusena halleluyah.

Robert, actually that is a really good idea. It would be awesome if Janis gave us the ability to send a mass PM to all members on PnQ! I will suggest it to him, and if the suggestion goes through, this idea will be used in the future! See, that's what I like. A constructive idea.

What do the other mods think?

I wonder how many responses we'd have to sift through, but I'd be wiling to give it a shot.

Hun, they can do that with one click..

There is no way to send a mass PM unless Janis does.something now to change that.. it'd be much easier that way if he could.

I see I'm late. I hope that gets added.

Rob, actually we can't, but now that you brought it up, I'm surprised nobody has thought of it before. Seems like a pretty basic function the moderators should have.

I know for a fact you can, at least, ask on the front page for a vote..
doesn't matter...this site has broken my heart too many times...goodnight!

Lol and he could too, just take a note out of those spammers book from awhile back, I swear they hit up every profile.

Aren't spammers robots or something? I thought they were programmed, not real people?

I feel like a dolt.

Not really sure...but I figure janis could take some kind of inspiration from them.

"Sybs, Jane..you could have had us all eating out of your hand if you had just been fair....having a main board vote is not the even close as sending a pm to all the members for a vote. Don't tell me that is not possible..I know better..."

There was, at one point, a newsletter or something that went out to the registration emails of all members. I'm about 90% sure that it hasn't worked in years, though. If there's another way, let us know! It would be handy for votes, among other things.

On the plus side, most of the people involved in the contest as judges, nominators, and (let's face it) winners are those who post in the forums a lot. So... we had discussions and votes in the most frequented forum, and left them up for about 4 days. Honestly, unless there really is a "PM everyone" system, that's pretty good.

As far as fairness and "deep in my heartness" goes... I was born to an Irish Catholic mother. There's nothing so powerful as Irish Catholic guilt combined with Mom guilt. I feel devastatingly guilty for things that I'm pretty sure I've never done, let alone things like unwashed dishes or unemptied garbage cans. If I felt bad about enacting this vote at all, if I felt even a smidgeon of the Mother hellfire warning, you can believe the Guilt-O-Rama meter would be blaring. It's pretty much impossible for it to be otherwise. My natural instinct is for me to assume that I'm guilty and that I should be apologizing for something. This is a little self-revealing, but hopefully it's some assurance that I really do not honestly think this is wildly unfair.

Still waiting for why you don't like the idea, though.

Karla, thank you for being passionate about your beliefs. Thank you for pitching a fit about what you see as injustice. I would rather have you scream at me than sulk in silence. I know you have a gift for analysis and that you do excellent comments, since I praised one of your comments on a poem of mine last year.

To those who think the mods have a hidden agenda or subliminal message, you should know that there is no longer "senior" status, as Janis has changed it to "nominator' status to reflect that there is NO privilege attached to it other than being able to nominate poems. The idea that some of us are accorded any status merely by being 'in' with the right people is not what the site is about. We want you here, we want to keep you as an active member.

If anyone decides to cut & run, that is your choice, but you miss out on the community & we miss out on you. As Tom Bodette says, we'll leave the light on for you.

Larry, you made my eyes water.

I've got the Irish Catholic Guilt paired with a natural tendency to tear up over the smallest things. Runs in the family. We call it the Fitzsimmons Weep.

I 100% support and agree with what Larry and Sibs have written.

I think I had that for a few years. Or maybe it was adolescence.... it's hard to tell sometimes ; )