I largely agree with Al's well thought out comments. Or was that the
aliens doing the thinking? I sense something odd happening... *grin*
I also agree that the slipperorchid forum site is one of the best I've
seen. So far. We shall see what happens over time, but there seems to
be a good base of regulars keeping things in order. And a heck of a lot
of pictures.
Here are some of my thoughts...
A crucial part of any rating system is notification of the vendors when
they have received comments, and the ability of the vendor to submit a
response to a comment. And vice versa. That would encourage vendor
participation, at least minimally. And, as I understand it, what
largely doomed the OGRES site was some vendors not wanting to
participate. Make it relatively easy for vendors to opt out. Although
as a customer I might like to _know_ that a vendor has opted out.
I'd also like to suggest a small group of moderators who can keep an eye
on things, and delete obviously abusive or inflammatory posts (by either
customer or vendor...). These things are _not_ best done by committee,
moderators should be selected who can be trusted to act decisively,
quickly, correctly, and with absolute power. And perhaps anonymously
(to the public, anyway), I don't really care. Difficult decisions, or
complex ones, can be decided by committee, but it is usually very easy
to spot abuse, and speed is important to preserve reputations.
There is no lack of bulletin board/forum software out there, and I
suggest that a new site uses this technology. This would allow
interactivity. I'd particularly like to see pictures enabled. If a
customer says a plant is too small for the price, I'd like to see a
picture of the plant. Similarly, I'd like to see a picture of a plant
that a customer raves about, too. Obviously not everybody will take
pictures, and not everybody would want to, but I think it would be a
good feature.
Rob
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.
--
Rob's Rules:
http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit