Every orchid and gardening board/forum has a section devoted to Orchid
Venders, where to find them, if they are good or not. Many of my customers
find me from comments made about my greenhouse in such places. What OGRES
lacked was a community of people who knew each other. That is a very valid
point. It is harder to scam people who know each other and the normal usage
patterns of the board/forum. Here, for instance, some of us long time users
just sort of know how the board/forum functions and who uses it and how and
what they know and don't know... and when something odd starts happening.
If OGRES, or whatever you decide to call it, can build a community of users
who help newbies, chat about orchid species, build up a how-to database,
show pictures, etc... then it's trustability goes up and it's abusabilty
goes down. This is what I would want if I was thinking of re-starting that
website. It's lack of community draws to it the very problems that caused
it's closure.
I can think of a dozen ways to get buyers/hobbyists involved, (check out how
this board is run for instance:
http://www.slipperorchidforum.com/forum/ It is probably the best run, put
together forum site I have ever seen. Even if I do prefer an
unmoderated/self moderated/wild-west kind of venue.)
But I really don't know how you would get vendors involved in such a place.
Giving them customer data in the same way you give the potential customer
vendor data is a good idea.
However, I tend not to participate in forums where I know my business is
being discussed. I do read them. Such places usually evolve a few vendor
regulars, but a huge group of them together would probably be a
nightmare....as any society show chair who has ever put together the vendor
area of a show/sale would tell you.
"K Barrett" wrote in message
...
I could be wrong, but I seem to recall one of the reasons why the original
OGRES went away was because they were threatened with defamation lawsuits.
No one needs that sort of threat, empty as it may be, in their lives,
IMHO.
So Robert, be aware! Tennis is more close to right than you may imagine.
This isn't 'rush to judgement', just the voices of people who have been
around this subject a lot longer than you have. If you choose to ignore
it,
then fine. Good luck with your endeavor. I hope it turns out different
than the previous 2 times this has been tried.
K Barrett
"Robert Bedard" wrote in message
...
These are exactly the issues that we are trying to deal with. It might
be that we find no viable solution; in that case, I do not intend to
resurrect it.
I find it amazing that people rush to judgement without even bothering
to ask the people involved what their intent is.
LIFE is full of "scammers, perpetual whiners, and people who are just
unrealistic", it is not just rating systems.
Wouldn't it be better to try and help solve the problems than "whine"
about them?
I personally believe there is value to a system like OGRES, even given
that there are some issues with people's ability to tell fact from
fiction. Factor that into the reviews, just like you do in the rest of
your life.
rob't
tennis maynard wrote:
On 15 Aug 2005 18:45:48 -0700, "L_B_F"
wrote:
So, pray tell, what makes it a bad idea? Do you have any well
thought
reasons or are you just slamming? Do you read resturant reviews?
Movie reviews? Those are OK, but not this?
lbf
Anonymity. Lack of reciprocity, reliability.
Definitions (what constitutes a 'bad' plant? What's
blooming size? What about the person who complains
about the plant, advertised as a 5" seedling, that
"it will take years to bloom, because it's 36" tall at
maturity", when the plant received (cost $5) was
actually LARGER than advertised, at 6"??? Yet all you
see is the complaint about the plant being 'too small
and years from blooming'[actual case history]?????
We've had all this before, my reasons are the same as
last time.
I dealt with vendors panned on OGRES who were great,
and unfortunately with some wildly praised who were
absolutely, frighteningly horrible.
... snip ...
OGRES or anything like it is just an invitation to
scammers, perpetual whiners, and people who are just
unrealistic.
It's an invitation to abuse and extortion. Bad idea
all around.