So far this years Iron Noder quest has been off to a pretty good start and I’d like to thank everyone that has contributed in the form of write ups, votes and comments. Let’s keep up the good work.

Looking beyond that though, anyone who has been here for any length of time is probably a bit discouraged at the number of votes their contributions have been receiving. For me, there’s not a lot of incentive to pour my heart and soul into a write up that’s going to attract maybe twenty votes. The same goes for factual write ups where I might spend hours doing research on a particular person or topic only to receive a mediocre (at best) reception.

So, what do we do to try and reverse that pattern or at least reward those authors who consistently contribute quality write ups regardless of the current voting patterns?

Let’s take a look at what our friend Webster 1913 has to say about the word “incentive”:

In*cen"tive (?), a. [L. incentivus, from incinere to strike up or set the tune; pref. in- + canere to sing. See Enchant, Chant.]

1.

Inciting; encouraging or moving; rousing to action; stimulative.

Competency is the most incentive to industry. Dr. H. More.

Hmm, that got me to thinking. When I think of the world of business, obviously the number one incentive is money. Since we here at E2 are not in the habit of financially rewarding those who contribute, that’s clearly not an option. (Unless there’s someone who is philanthropic and is feeling generous.). Most large corporations also offer such rewards as “Employee of the Month or “Employee of the Quarter" awards to recognize an individual’s contributions to the workplace. They usually come with some form of gift certificate or a preferred parking space and a trophy of some sort. Again, not really attainable in the world we live in here at E2.

When I look to the world of sports, I see most of them pass out some kind of Most Valuable Player award that recognizes an individuals performance amongst their peers for any given season and that’s what got me thinking.

When I look at Everything's Best Users one thing jumps out at me. The individuals who are on there are mostly long time users with a large body of work to fall back on. To use another sports analogy, to me, it’s more like a “Noder Hall of Fame” since many of the names up there are either fled or have “retired” for reasons of their own.

So, what I propose is something to reward our users on a more short term basis. Maybe a “Most Valuable Noder” award can be given to an author for their accomplishments over a certain time period or a “Noder of the Month” award given to a user for their quality contributions for any given month. I’m pretty sure that most of us like to see our name up in lights when we do something good and maybe this idea will accomplish that. It might also inspire some of our more recent users to either increase their share of votes or contribute on a more frequent basis.

I’m still working out how to calculate the winners. Maybe a combination of the write up reputation and the number of chings it has received is the way to go. I’m open for any and all suggestions.

As far as rewards go, there’s always GP/XP to throw around but maybe if an author wins the MVP or “Noder of the Month” they could be bumped up a couple levels.

I’m also suggesting a page similar to the Everything's Best Users one to keep a historical record of the winners.

One last thing, I’m not at all advocating doing away with Everything's Best Users page. As it clearly states there , “Shake these people's manipulatory appendages. They deserve it.” Since many of them are still here it would be insane to disregard their accomplishments and for the many of who have left for whatever reason, it’s still nice to see their names every once in awhile. After all, most of them were here when the site was still in its infancy and, depending on your opinion, helped make it what is is today.

Please feel free to message me with any comments (other than "stick it up your ass, borgo") or suggestions you might have and I'll add them to this write up. We all want to see this site continue to thrive and maybe this idea along with Jay’s recent renovations will help accomplish that.

As always, thanks for listening.

Comments

borgette says: "Stick it up your ass, borgo"