by lakemen » Fri Oct 31, 2008 02:23 pm
Dear Members,
It truly feels good to see the success of AmPm-Marathon over the months. We have witnessed a considerable increase in the volume of posts of late, and this has led us to give you all an opportunity to enhance your quality and accuracy.
We have come up with an idea of selecting our winners through your votes from now on. This would give you a scope to monitor each others' posts and evaluate their worth in terms of both information and quality. Our panel of experts have decided to pick up the top five performers every month for your consideration.
We would expect each one of you to vote for the member-id that you believe to have participated effectively and promoted the cause of our forums through quality posting and knowledge-sharing. The winner for Oct'08 would be declared automatically once we achieve the polling results after 7 days.
I would certainly look forward to your kind cooperation towards the success of our contests.
Regards,
Lakemen
It truly feels good to see the success of AmPm-Marathon over the months. We have witnessed a considerable increase in the volume of posts of late, and this has led us to give you all an opportunity to enhance your quality and accuracy.
We have come up with an idea of selecting our winners through your votes from now on. This would give you a scope to monitor each others' posts and evaluate their worth in terms of both information and quality. Our panel of experts have decided to pick up the top five performers every month for your consideration.
We would expect each one of you to vote for the member-id that you believe to have participated effectively and promoted the cause of our forums through quality posting and knowledge-sharing. The winner for Oct'08 would be declared automatically once we achieve the polling results after 7 days.
I would certainly look forward to your kind cooperation towards the success of our contests.
Regards,
Lakemen
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 08:24 pm Post Subject:
Board only allows one vote per user name.
I would agree with Insurance Maze's views. Though I would not mind giving this a few months to see how it goes. Its a novel idea.
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 10:50 pm Post Subject:
Board only allows one vote per user name.
That's certainly good to know.
Is that necessarily a bad thing? I'm not so sure that chatter is bad. Everyone comes to message boards for one reason or another. I personally would hate to see a board that has no personality.
I couldn't agree more, we want personality, but here's the problem.
This is not just any community forum, it's an "insurance" forum. Normally, when someone poses a question here it's about insurance in some form - life, health, auto, etc.
For someone to come in and make a post like -"Well, I don't know much about auto insurance, but just hang in there and I'm sure soneone will be along in just a minute" - is a total waste of time and space. These posts do not present the "personality" we want to have.
We have this Pub and we can discuss anythihg from armadillos to zebras and no one cares.
There are many professional insurance agents and agency owners who participate in professional forums. These people could actually advertise their agency for free here. In order to attract these people, there must be a reason for them to come here, right?
When I see a thread that starts with an honest serious question, I do my best to give an informative answer. When I see a question that I know absolutely nothing about, I pass it by.
There's certainly nothing wrong with having some fun, heck, my hero is Shrek!
Trying to give someone some advise on whether they should purchase term or permanent life insurance would just seem to be the wrong place to make jokes and talk about chili.
The Pub was once entitled "Non-Insurance Talk", but someone chose to change that.
Though I would not mind giving this a few months to see how it goes. Its a novel idea.
It is a novel idea and I think Lakemen needs and will appreciate our input.
Maze
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:25 pm Post Subject:
Okay, I agree that the chatter has to end if it has nothing to do with the post.
I think that these new rules should have taken affect next month, new rules, new month. You should not be able to change the rules in the middle of the game, in fact this was at the very end. It is very clear that fireyone is the winner for this month. If her posts were not worth it, then they should have been deleted and points removed for before now at the end of the month.
I understand that you want a professional image here, however, this is a public forum, it does not state anywhere here that you have to be an industry expert to express your oppinion or share your personal experience. Personally, weather my oppinion counts here or not, I like to hear what other people have been through and how they handled their situation.
Thank god Lori has an attitude and the patience to explain to us dimwits who don't have insurance experience, she is honestly the only one that I have seen that works in the industry that will take the time to explain or break down a post to the industry illiterate to layman terms so that the normal everyday consumer understands it.
I think this voting thing will work, I agree we all should have input, but I think it should start next month. I do think that the everyday person who posts on this forum should have the same chance that the industry expert does. If it comes down to only the experts oppinions counting then it loses its value as a public forum and becomes a private party where only a few oppinions count.
Not everyone is going to be able to develop and maintain a blog, so I think that part of it should not be considered at all. The bloggers are making their dime through adsense and their reward should be the satisfaction of doing the blog and contributing it to the forum period.
We are all adults here, if we have a problem then lets just bring it to the table instead of pming and complaining about it. We can discuss issues in open forum, surely we are all capable of that much.
Okay, I am done for now. :?
Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:52 pm Post Subject:
goodnatured, I'll have to agree with you on this one.
fireyone is the clear winner for the month of October and we should not establish new guidelines on the last day of the month.
I can't change my vote, but in good faith , I think the prize should go to her.
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:00 am Post Subject:
This discussion is heathly and can only benefit all the members of the forum. It can bring to light the things we need to change, make us more productive members, and a stronger community all together. I personally look forward to learning and being a part of this community for a long time.
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:14 am Post Subject:
Thank you Maze for coming to the plate on this one, I hope lakeman will come on board and make this right also. It is just the right thing to do for this month.
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:02 pm Post Subject:
I think that these new rules should have taken affect next month, new rules, new month. You should not be able to change the rules in the middle of the game, in fact this was at the very end
I'm in 110% agreement with this....goodnatured, I'll have to agree with you on this one. fireyone is the clear winner for the month of October and we should not establish new guidelines on the last day of the month.
and with this...in fact if lakemen doesn't change it and I would win, I will insist that it be given to her...you just don't/shouldn't do this on the last day of the month.Also, it worries me that if we aren't careful we will turn this into a septic boring, get the pencil out of my eye forum. I see nothing wrong with a little play on words, joke, humor that is in the post ALONG with staying on topic...nor do I see any real issue with another poster's empathy telling a distressed OP that another with more knowledge will be along shortly...you all know there are dead forums everywhere someone posts and no body answers ever...this (IMO) gives the OP some information that 'really and truly someone will answer you soon'...if you want to take the money from that poster, ok then do it. although I find that petty..
Frankly I think that the 'non ins pros' generally add about as much to this forum as us 'experts' them asking a question in a thread about something they don't understand (usually because we are talking over peoples heads that don't do this everyday for a living)...I think that more times than not they are echoing the same question that most comsumers would have...and then that question is answered for what a ga-zillion people maybe? :wink:
I just think we need to be careful not to get up on our "holier than thou" just because I know more about a topic than you do...after all is this not a place for the masses to come to learn and understand more about this business?...look at the post volumn, what's number one, two three? it ain't in the agents discussion, it's people that have QUESTIONS not answers.
I totally agree with the chatter, and by chatter I DON'T mean, that while talking about a thread that is about life ins or life ins beneficarys, it wanders to wills...still relevant, still good information...what 'i' mean by chatter is in the middle of a thread totally losing any recognition of the OP...ie 'so, what's for supper'...
Sorry Maze I disagree with the blog thing...I know that's your baby and that's great...I have no time and don't think anyone should be penalized for that...If I spent time on a blog I wouldn't have the time to spend here.
I totally agree that "most" problems can be handled by group discussion, you have an issue post it in the pub, draw in your fellow posters...this site doesn't not belong to any of us...we are all EQUAL community members and should respect each other accordingly.
Alright I'm done for now...
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 12:23 pm Post Subject:
Excellent points Lori,
I only have one more things to say and I will be done unless something new comes up, LOL. The more I thought about this the more I thought how wrong I was. WE are part of the insurance industry, we are the Consumers of the industry. This is a product that we purchase, so as that consumer, I am happy to come here and learn. I changed a lot of things with my car insurance last year through discussion on this board. Learned a lot about the policy and what I should have to be covered.
With that being said, I hope we can all take note from this discussion that all of us have some changes to make and in a group setting you must be flexible and willing to give in sometimes. I hope as a public forum we can be a little more tolerant of each other, continue to respect each other and in the future be more willing to discuss things in the open, come up with a reasonable solution to send to lakeman for approval.
Okay, I am out of here for a while.
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 01:35 pm Post Subject:
I certainly agree with most of what's been said, with one exception.
A thread was started about the "chatter" thing and now it has been moved over to this thread. This is probably the best example of my concerns about this forum. I know we're in the Pub.
I'm not speaking for InsTeacher because he is perfectly qualified to speak for himself, but I think his beef was that too many "non-insurance" people are trying to give insurance advice that someone might use and be very sorry later.
If you tell someone that a primary beneficary of a life insurance policy must have an interest in the insured's life (a risk of monetary loss), that's totally wrong. Sounds right, but wrong.
nor do I see any real issue with another poster's empathy telling a distressed OP that another with more knowledge will be along shortly
Sorry Lori, but I just don't get that one.
I just think we need to be careful not to get up on our "holier than thou" just because I know more about a topic than you do...after all is this not a place for the masses to come to learn and understand more about this business?...
I don't think anyone has this type of attitude and if that was directed especially toward me, you couldn't be more wrong. In over a year, I may have posted two or three times on a topic relating to "insurance claims".
I am not a claims person, don't know a lot about them and have no desire to learn. If I can add something constructive to the topic, I just flat stay away from it.
Sorry Maze I disagree with the blog thing...I know that's your baby and that's great...I have no time and don't think anyone should be penalized for that...If I spent time on a blog I wouldn't have the time to spend here.
I have never blogged in my life until I created the first one here. I manage a multi-line insurance agency, design web sites, personally maintain five different web sites, am a freelance writer on the web and have eight grandchildren. I'm certainly not tooting my own horn, but even that's not all a bad thing. I am a firm believer in the statement 'We do those things that we sincerely want to do."
I have also just formed a non-profit organization whose purpose is to spread public awareness of domestic violence in this country.
I live a very active life and there is never a time when I say "I'm bored".
I totally agree that "most" problems can be handled by group discussion, you have an issue post it in the pub, draw in your fellow posters...this site doesn't not belong to any of us...we are all EQUAL community members and should respect each other accordingly.
No argement from me on this one. This is probably the best discussion we have ever had as long as I have been a member. The first thing we did was to all agree that this community had its problems and that is the only way any problem can be corrected - recognize a problem.
I respect every here, I just don't always agree with them. I don't want to own this forum, because I really wouldn't know what to do with it if I did.
I, like all the rest, don't get paid, but when I volunteer to become a part of anything, it is my passion to make it better, whatever it is.
I just haven't decided in my own mind if it is proper for the entire world to see us airing out our dirty laundry. :roll:
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 01:38 pm Post Subject:
Sorry, I wasn't logged in. Hate it when that happens.
Maze
PS - Lori, can you fix the typos? I'm in a vehicle. Thanks.
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