Bedard's Zone Debate # 2: Donating to the Zone

[shelby]

BillsZone runs on user donations, and the importance of donations cannot be overlooked. Special features are given to donors as a way to thank them for their support.

The debate question posed to the candidates is this:


As Zone President, what specific things would you do to encourage more posters to donate to the site?
What specific things would you do to improve the No TOS Zone so that people enjoy it more?
Would you make any changes to the features now offered to donors?You may confer with your staff before replying to these questions. Please be as specific as possible in your responses.

Once you have responded to the debate question, your opponents will each have the opportunity to post a rebuttal in this thread. You may then respond to each rebuttal in turn. Please note that only one rebuttal by your opponents, and only one response per rebuttal by you, will be allowed.

The debate will be closed at 5:30 am EST on Wednesday, March 26.

Non-candidates, please do not post in this thread!


Thank you for your participation, and may the best Zoner win!
shelby
Supervisior of Zone Elections

[The King]

As it stands right now I think the Twilight Zoners are probably the heaviest in terms of active donors. The reason being there is a direct benefit to them, a zone where they can rant and rave and in some cases still be private. There is no question that the main forum carries the Zone, but where is the direct benefit to those who just want to talk Bills football? I propose we develop a Bills forum in the No Tos specifically for Bills football talk, we promote it as such a place where you can talk about Bills Football Uncensored! The Bills forum is a giant resource and there is a lot more room for growth of donors there. I think anytime a news story breaks on WGR it would be worth while to note that donors have access to the online feed via Zone Radio, I’d be willing to be a lot of posters don’t know we have that option.
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I personally have been brainstorming different ideas and games to bring to the No Tos. Oddly enough the ability to curse doesn’t really help in the development of new games. However thanks to the inspiration of YardRat, I will debut inside the Zoners Studio this Friday along with our second installment of the Zone Gossip Game.
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I have thought quite a while as to how to make donating more worth while. I personally donate because my day would be lost without this place. The Zone is my home away from home. But how about implementing some kind of Zoner Rewards program where referrals to new posters can earn you points which can then in time can get you a little taste of the No Tos? This would help expand growth to the Zone plus give posters a little playtime in the donor forums hoping they get hooked. It’s a win-win situation. Finally, I think its important to make sure people know how important their donations are, this place is not cheap to run. And it really does run off the generosity of the zoners and the hard work of the Admin/Mod team.

[L.A. Playa]

Wouldnt having a No-Tos section dedicated to just uncensored Bills talk that this would actually encourage more personal attacks and drive others away from the No-Tos?

[The King]

Wouldnt having a No-Tos section dedicated to just uncensored Bills talk that this would actually encourage more personal attacks and drive others away from the No-Tos?The initial thought wasn't to allow personal attacks... it was to allow someone to say " I cant believe we lost that ******* game, and **** Dick Jauron" etc...

You bring up an interesting point though, Im not sure if taking that kind of behavior and placing it in No Tos is a good thing, however it would clean up our main boards, which would be. Thats why there is a team in place to take ideas like this and bounce them around. No every idea will come to fruition.

[Gunzlingr]

I don't have any issue with any of the points in Mr. Bedard's answer.