This isn’t really a blog posting so don’t get too excited...it’s more of a stream of conscious thing (my excuse for not reading it over for grammar, punctuation, spelling or self indulgence)...Kerouac would have used toilet paper...I’m going with bits.

I’ve had such an incredible response to my dGeek moderator/administrator plea (and for that I owe you all a big, wet, sloppy kiss...yes, even you!) that I started thinking...I know, be afraid!

Firstly, I should confess that I had NO idea that moderators were such an issue for people.  Some people want moderators who use the forum on a regular basis - others think that a non-forum user would have a better perspective.  The most disturbing trend that I’ve seen came from a suprising number of people who once loved the dGeek forums but have left because of the way they have evolved thanks to my moderator free approach.  I really don’t like the idea of telling people what they can or can’t talk about on a forum that I’ve established, but with spam being such an issue I’ve now had to rethink that.  Anyway, a suprising number of people felt that the dGeek forums changed and lost their way.  They have left them, hoping to return.  They feel that my cries for moderating help may be just what they’ve been waiting for.  I hope that they are correct!

As an aside...the administrator position (which is the job I want!) is almost inconsequential to most, despite the dGodlike power they would wield.  How bizzare is that!?  Sorry, I just found that interesting.

I’ve been reading...I lie...listening to the audiobook of Jeff Howe’s Crowdsourcing (others worth a "read" despite being a bit "self help" and self serving are The E-Myth Revisited and The 4-Hour Work Week) on my iPhone...did I mention that I have a new 3G iphone that I love AND a blackberry that I loved first?  I must have...I do love them both!  I digress...crowdsourcing reminded me of what happened with A Dog’s Breakfast.  You took an interest, you made posters, you promoted the film, you posted on other websites, you got me in trouble on digg.com...oh the fun we had!  So I started to consider how we could do this with dGeek?  This is not a rhetorical question, add your comments below...or even better...I’ll start a topic in the forum!

What if we give everyone who wants a moderator position, a forum to moderate?  That way they can run things the way they want and see if people respond to it.  The more people they attract the more popular the forum and the more dGeeks we bring into the fold.  I don’t think that something like this should be too difficult (always means I’m about to kill a lot of time on something!) I’ll just ask who wants a forum and let them at it!

I then went even further and wondered if we could even have different “sites” within dGeek that people could use to pursue and promote their own dGeek?  Just brainstorming here, but I like the idea of everyone getting a say, everyone having an active part in the process...does this make me a hippy?

Alright...too tired to continue...too tired to continue in public anyway...and too embarrassed by my lack of spelling and coherence!

Think about it and post about it! I want to hear everything and anything you’ve got.   We really do have something here at dGeek.com, we just need to figure out what it is, what we want it to be and what we're going to do with it...getting there will be nothing but fun!

Cheers,

D!

Comments (25)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by Andrew, July 30, 2009

You've got a few good ideas there David. The seperate forums one in particular. Not quite sure if it would work but worth a try, if you wish. As long as it doesn't make too much work for you, we understand that you have to work to support the family, so as long as it doesn't make too much work to disturb that. (and we want you to work to see you on tv, so we all win).

P.s. my post keeps vanishing when I refresh the page, so if this ends posted multple times, I apologise.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

dGeek
written by Cheryl Gunter, July 30, 2009

I like the website. You don't have to change it for me. I am still getting lost in the forums...but that's okay I am not a geek, nerd but like them all.

David, I love how you worry about this. It shows me that you care...not about the site...but about your fans. A big *hug* the bear kind. See you on twitter. Don't change your avatar.

Moderator would be fine...okay... Best always, Cheryl

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Admin
written by Angie A, July 30, 2009

Hi, I work as an administrator and so I know that the job title is a pseudonym for dogsbody. Maybe folks are not as happy to apply for this role because they feel a bit intimidated by what might be involved. Could you maybe add a list (even numbers of course) of just what you would want your administrator to do. Just an idea. Angie from England UK

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Very interesting
written by trish (whovian), July 30, 2009

I think you won't know what will work until you try.

I totally agree with what Andrew wrote: We want you to be able to work so we can see you on tv again! Also I'd love for you to finish your next movie script.

What I'm guessing is that the biggest draw to dgeek originally was that you had a movie to promote and you were on here more than you are now. From many people that I've talked to who have left, they mostly miss your blogging and being able to promote something you're doing.

As for the Admin job, I think Angie's right that people might be intimidated by what might be involved. So some clarification would be good.

I guess that's all I've got right now.

Hope your neck and shoulder feel better! That sounds painful. Who knew auditions could be so dangerous?

Trish

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Blackberry Vs iPhone
written by Little_McKay, July 30, 2009

I'm a bit of an iPod hater, so I guess iPhones come into that circle or hate.

However, I did love my blackberry pearly (8110). I had to update my phone (the scroller was just too dodgy to risk continuing with) but I think the only downfall with the blackberry for me was lack of wlan. I don't buy the expensive phone packages and so I don't get internet through my cell but a wlan feature would have been the icing on the cake with my blackberry, especially the amount of time I spend in McDonalds trying to enjoy an hour long break with nowt but a gameless phone and a coffee to sip at! lol

Kinda unrelated to geek talk - but my brother's phone broke and he's borrowing my old blackberry until he gets a new one or fixes his current phone. I still had all my old ringtones on it and he's set his text tone to that god awful dance song "All 4 you" from A Dog's Breakfast. I swear every TEXT (not phone call) the whole song just about plays before he'll shut it up! It's at times like this where I know my brother loves me *sarcasm dripping*.

Would love to hear a comparison between the Blackberry and iPhone from someone who admits to loving both (that's quite rare). What features of the Blackberry win over iPhone and vice versa?

I recently got an Ipaq H2200 and I've never seen anything like it! I got it because I could use a wifi card and go online during breaks but now I'm writing treatments on the bus; I'm compiling playlists so I can use it as a mp3 player; I'm playing solitaire or tetris...when I really should be editing that scene....uhhh...anyway!! This thing costs like £15/20 and it's brilliant. If you know anything about computers too you can do rom upgrades, get a proper video player that plays most file extensions, get youtube and twitter applications and so much more. Also I know my calender and notes are safe as I dock it when I'm home and it syncs up with comp. So if my ipaq fails - all my info is on the comp. If my comp fails - all my info is on the ipaq. If both fail - well I'm having a bad day!

Strangely enough I had the E-Myth Revisited recommended to me not long ago. Maybe I shoud check it out. I hope it's relevant to just HOW small our film company is, though. I mean we're pretty tiny, relatively unknown and without a penny so we'll see!

Anyways - for all the other stuff, I'll maybe try and put some ideas together with some others and enter them in that forum.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

PEARL - not pearly
written by Little_McKay, July 30, 2009

Whoops! Just made my Blackberry all girly. It's supposed to be Blackberry Pearl and not *puts one hand on hip and camps the other* "pearly".

• 
• +0
• 
• 

*sigh*
written by rklight4, July 30, 2009

How are you so awesome?

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by Alyssa, July 30, 2009

I think having multiple moderators is a great idea. It spreads the work out among all the mods and it bring a bunch of people together to discuss ides for the forum. Multiple Moderators (hurray alliteration) can brainstorm together and bring all their different ideas to the table. I already belong to a forum that is big on scifi and reciprocal advertising of forums. I just woke up so I can't think of anything else smart to say. Mutiple moderators = thumbs up.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Mandi, July 30, 2009

First I'd like to say that I love reading your latenight ramblings. I don't know why, but those ones always seem so much more .. Personal I guess.

You've got alot of great ideas there. I like the idea of everyone taking one (or maybe more?) forum to moderate. But I think the sections need to be divided up a bit better. I mean, there's two categories that are just dedicated to ONE forum each. I try to avoid this on my site because it just takes up space that isn't really needed.

I'll post the rest of my ideas in the topic

Love and hugs!

PS. I see you managed to get the Captcha going on the comments, nice work

Mandi

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Dgeek
written by geb, July 30, 2009

I agree with Trish, what attracted me to the site originally was to hear about A dog's breakfast and other projects you were working on. I really enjoyed your blogging, getting pictures, etc... and when I was on the site I would visit the forum. Now with Twitter I don't even bother with the site anymore. However, as fun as Twitter can be, the blogging was more detailed and really fun. I understand that you are busy and maintaining the site is time consuming so the moderator is a good idea. It would take some of the pressure from you and still give you a chance to interact with your fans. I hope you find the right solution for you and all the members of the site and I agree with everyone that we want to see you on your next project either TV or movie so you can take care of your family.

Take care

Geb

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Trying Again
written by KimberlyFDR, July 30, 2009

I posted this morning, but it never showed up I've already posted an extensive list in the forum, but I wanted to specifically talk about one item here--

What if we give everyone who wants a moderator position, a forum to moderate? That way they can run things the way they want and see if people respond to it.

While I'm all for "anyone that wants to can" it will likely cause a logistical nightmare that I don't think you want. Let's say one forum has a moderator that was very, very strict (Appearances for example) while another forum has a moderator that is very, very laid back (Creativity/Writing for example). You run the risk of scaring away contributors to the Appearances forum because of the moderating level while you would have an abundance of conversation in the Creativity forum because there's little to no moderation. Also, when members run into problems, it wouldn't be easy to figure out who to contact.

Ideally, you'd probably want one or two overall moderators/admins who deal with everything. That way, everyone knows who to contact with a problem, there's always someone available, and the moderation would be the same throughout the site rather than fluctuating wildly.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

Me, too
written by Kath, July 30, 2009

I just wrote an epic (but completely on-topic) post about my thoughts, but the post never showed up. I'm going to try and write it out again later in Word so I won't lose it again. Not. Happy.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Glad to have you back!
written by Lisa Randerson, July 30, 2009

Hey!
To be honest I am guilty of having trailed off due to some of the post subjects and also the few updates from our master! In my defence I still chat with my bestest squirrels via email and on facebook so I'm not completely out of the fold. It would be really good to see a bit of organisation back on the site... I may even be tempted to start posting again. Love the blue by the way
Liz
xxx

• 
• +0
• 
• 

Last try w/ this comment...
written by Valerie, July 30, 2009

I've read Tim Ferriss - he's got some great concepts about arbitraging your time. I think your brainstorm is the right direction to go. Crowdsourcing dGeek would presumably bring you and your work greater exposure (and brand recognition if you ever wanted to take dGeek even further) and would bring your fans and forum participants a greater sense of community and buy-in/ownership.

The down-side is always going to be a certain loss of control (i.e. you'll need to be okay with an initial uptick in weirdness/poor-taste on your forums) and a bit of chaos -- but only at first. Once the best, most trafficked areas float to the top I think you'll start to see good results.

I know you are a supporter of Doctors Without Borders. Think about what nearly all non-profits are doing online right now just to survive. Direct Mail is in massive decline and membership trends are down across the board -- as is traditional charitable giving in this economy. They are moving towards crowdsourcing. They are modularizing their websites and moving forward with major peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and allowing supporter-controlled website environments. It's working well for many non-profs. I think applying some of those strategies to dGeek would create a lot of interest and infuse dGeek with a lot of great creative energy.

I'm a professional full-time web platform architect. I work primarily in the Drupal platform, but have also worked with Joomla. If you do decide to move forward with crowdsourcing dGeek, I would love to help on the back-end. This is a sandbox I would enjoy playing in.

(Dear me: attempting to place this comment and failing over and over and expecting a different result is OCD-nutterific. Stop now.)

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by Carolann P, July 30, 2009

I disagree -- crowdsourcing will bring down the quality of the web site with too many ideas smashed into one little space. No offense, but fans are fickle and unreliable at best. Better to pay someone to fix this place up, at least with a new and professionally designed template. Also, I would like to see a photo gallery for the movie, and if you have a chance, some bios, profiles, or video clips for all of the actors in the movie would be nice.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Benjamin, July 30, 2009

Individually moderated forums are a good idea in theory - usually a category is assigned to a user (see http://www.jagecks.com/f/f.php for an example) and they keep that "section" clean which means you have about 4 moderators to cover the forum.

However, in my opinion global moderators and administrators are still necessary. They don't have to be professional, just experienced and above all else *trustworthy* - if you're putting powers in the hands of untrustworthy users it will usually end badly unless you have full and complete backups.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

...
written by Benjamin, July 30, 2009

We currently don't have moderators on all the sections due to some personal/IRL issues with the mods who were previously looking after said sections - currently I'm in charge of moderating every forum as a global mod, but particularly the ones without mods.

This is also part of why having *some* global mods is a good idea.

• 
• +1
• 
• 

Forum
written by Andrea, July 30, 2009

Hey DG,

I would love you to look at this for a forum (or I will if you want us to submit a forum for approval) I have been a huge follower of Wil Wheaton for a long time and the guy had an AWESOME forum, but due to work and family he was unable to keep it going and as you know the moderator type stuff is a kicker, anyway... some of us were so passionate about Wil's forum a group of us (not me) started a forum using the same free software from www.phpbb.com I must say Wil's and now this forum is the best i've been a member of so if you want to have a look, go to the forum (you'll have to register but its worth it!!) http://www.tehsoapbox.net
and have a look at the lay out etc. If you do have a little contest/brainstorm and people can submit a forum for you to look at I will do it but it may save you a heck of a lot of time. I know you and Wil keep up on Twitter... perhaps he can advise! hugs xx

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Wolfen Moondaughter, July 30, 2009

(Forgive me if this double-posts -- I'm getting a message that says I must be logged in to post a comment, but I *am* logged in ...)

For what it's worth, it's not you, it's me -- haven't been around simply because I've been a busy pup and also haven't had much to say! Keeping up via twitter has been more practical for me.

I think giving everyone their own forum sounds really nice on paper, but I have to wonder if it wouldn't just make things more complicated? Instead of watching individual threads that interest us in forums that we're well-familier with, we'd have to constantly checking entire forums just to make sure we aren't missing something. I barely find the time to come around as it is. And people whose forums weren't popular might feel ostracised. I'd hate to see the friendships people have made here be spoiled by politics.

Besides, the forum ideas you have already work well -- I think it would be better to stick with the forums you have and assign people to them. Let applicants list the forums they would like to moderate, in order from most wanted to least, and then do your best to match people to something they would like while also making sure everything is covered. (That's essentially how scheduling at Disney works. XD) You could even assign more than one mod to each forum, depending on people's schedules -- like give each person two or three days a week and in a specific time frame on those days, so each day has a day & a night shift. Basically, ifyou have three people who want the job, split what they want three ways, If you have twelves people who want it, split it twelve ways.

You don't have to do all that yourself -- maybe assign one "boss" moderator for the whole forum who oversees mini-bosses for each sub-forum, who in turn does the schedule for their sub-forum. Obviously the main forum would need the most help -- the entire movie/TV forum could probably be handles by one or two people, since there aren't many posts there.

As for having an outsider, while I appreciate that such a one would be free from biases, in my not-do-humble opinion "outside management" has caused a lot of problems at Disney and Borders, as they tend to change policies in unsuccessful ways and are not dedicated -- they often leave after a very short time. So while I can appreciate wanting an outside perspective and someone who would not play favourites, outsiders would not be clued in to the quirks of the fandom or our needs. Use one as an impartial judge maybe, but not as a policy-writer -- a support/advisor instead of a leader.

Anyway, that's just how I see it. I may very well be in the minority. XD

~WolfenM

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Sandra, July 30, 2009

Hmmm... I don't envy you this decision. A lot of fans will jump in, wanting to be moderators just to get a little closer to you. Most of those are not going to understand the level of work required - or the fact that you have to be hard and fair occasionally. (Speaks from experiences of moderating through flame wars on old yahoo groups!). I'm not often on the forum so I won't be putting my hand up... but I do hope it all works out as I'd rather you were expending all your energy on your work so we can all see you on TV/film again soon!

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Fran, July 30, 2009

David you have lots of great ideas there. Does your head hurt now? I know mine does when I have all these ideas ping ponging (Man I miss Pong what a great game) inside my head. I have to admit I have not been around here lately. Had been busy awhile there Training hard for my next Karate Belt, Did I mention that I achieved my FIRST GREEN BELT on JUNE 6, 2009. I am a Green Belt now. I like the idea of everyone taking a bit of the site and monitoring it. Very cool idea. And to answer your question yes I am still giggling after seeing you at Polaris and my two older sister's are still too. We are still the "Triple Threat" as you called us.

Ooohhhh idea coming. Quick before I lose it. What about a section where we can post our own Writings and Poems and such. Lots of folks out there in Squirrel Land write very well. I am interested in reading what others write.

Well Karate Class awaits me.

Hugs

Fran AKA The Polaris Giggler

• 
• +0
• 
• 

A few thoughts
written by Astrumporta, July 31, 2009

It seems you're suggesting having forums separated by moderator rather than by subject area. A little competition can be a good thing, but it could also get ugly, with people "campaigning" behind the scenes to get others to come to their forum. Also I think there'd be similar threads in all the forums, eg for new interviews or roles. New visitors could be mighty confused. Most forums have a couple of "owners" who have global moderation privileges and set the basic tone of the place. Those would have to be people you know and trust to carry out your vision. They would select mods for each forum and collaborate to determine and enforce some guidelines. Moderators typically have a private place/email list where they can hash things out.

The thing I'd ask about crowdsourcing analogy is, what is the goal of this site? What are you trying to accomplish with it? To provide a fun place for your fans? To keep in touch with your squirrel marketing force in case you need to mobilize it again? The end goal doesn't seem as obvious as it is for Linux, wikipedia, or other crowdsourcing examples. You need a vision statment. Ha! I just let work bleed into fun!

I think it'd be great to admin dgeek. I'd much rather do that than be a mod and deal with carbon-based units. But I already admin 3 sites and have no life, so I didn't throw my hat in the ring.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Robb Clark, July 31, 2009

Between: Twitter and Facebook and Myspace and just general shenanigans via the InterWebs I'd imagine getting the word out about dgeek would be pretty simple. Links to it in Forum sigs etc...

If you were willing to pay for it and come with me to the tattoo parlor I'd be willing to get it tattoo'd to my forearm. In no bigger than 18 Times New Roman font though...unless you brought me lots of bacon.

But yeah, seriously, you come to Wizard World Chicago or something and I'll totally get it tattoo'd on my arm, big style...with like, color and such...

• 
• +0
• 
• 

...
written by Paloosa, July 31, 2009

I love the idea of having a lot of forums and the freedom you're giving folks to run them. But my biggest concern is that the site will go off into so many different directions that it could separate people as much as attract new people. I think it depends on how much you're willing to be involved on the site. How much interaction you'll either have an interest in doing or time for.

You're the captain of this site, and I'm afraid ultimately this approach could flounder without some hands on direction from you in some way.

• 
• +0
• 
• 

dGeek "New techie things I've discovered and old techie things I love"
written by feedingtimeatthezoo, August 04, 2009

Oh oh oh! A forum on the above please

• 
• +0
• 
•