~The PC Times 4:25 pm est.
While this is meant to be a summary, rather than who got shot down the most, I'm finding it difficult to decide who's answers are the best. Boy, that Election Supervisor asks some tough debate questions! I guess it boils down to which (agreed upon) idea is the most important to the voter. I feel for you all, because if it's this tough for me to decide, and I'm not even voting, well...
The Billszone already has a C.E.O. or two, that deals with the finances of keeping the Billszone running. As the C.E.O. of a 'real life' company, Playa should know that. And everyone should know that a C.E.O. out ranks a President of a company..or in this case, a website. So while approaching the first debate question from a financial angle seemed like a good idea at first, it was halted rather quickly. L.A. Playa's other idea of a $1.00 trial membership was quickly shot down by some facts. "Current donations: $2.50/month, $25.00/year, $5/month, $50/year, $10/month, $100/year... aka 12 months for the price of 10! Playa's plan would actually decrease the current discount." explained BMN. L.A. Playa admitted that he wasn't aware of that. "Something I did not know, glad to see the Zone has this plan in effect already, thank you for pointing that out to me." said L.A. Playa.
Honestly, I wasn't aware of the $5.00 and $10.00 donations.
What was acceptable, and agreed upon by all candidates, is that they would like to continue showing appreciation to the donors. L.A. Playa's statement is accurate about bulk production companies cutting costs for these thank you gifts. "getting things made in bulk doesn’t cost much at all." he explained. On the gift topic, I would like to point out that our key chains are really nice! I'm not even sure they're still offered, but regardless of their price, they should only be given to first time donors. I was given a second one when I renewed my membership the following year.
One of the best things that I read from L.A. Playa's answers, was the suggestion of a 'weekly sticky' where you'll find as he put it, "if you are not a donor this is what you missed". Even if it isn't a debate or other things that he suggested, just taking an excerpt from something in the NO TOS forum, would draw curiosities, and perhaps donations.
Not only were some of his ideas shot down, but MBBedard's idea of a Bills forum within the NO TOS was shot down as well. As Bedard explained, "promote it as such a place where you can talk about Bills Football Uncensored!" but it didn't fly well with other candidates or zoners. A rival site tried that and the free 'team talk' forum went to hell. If there's nothing left in the free forum, it doesn't attract people, let alone donations. But like L.A. Playa, MBBedard did propose the following good idea; "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." said Bedard.
Once again, all of the candidates were in agreement that it's "important to make sure people know how important their donations are." Bedard concluded.
"I don't believe in exclusive content because it leaves out a majority of the members." said Gunzlingr. I say, too bad. Let them donate if they don't want to feel left out. "maybe preview articles, etc. a day or too before they are sent to the main forums." he continued.
While Bedard did not rebut this, L.A. Playa did. "How would previewing articles a day or two in advance actually make the No-Tos better?" he asked. That's not the first thing I thought of when I read that. I immediately asked myself why would I want this, when I could wait and read it for free? But Gunzlingr reasoning was, "It would just be an incentive for more traffic. More traffic=more activity and more activity would make the place better." I suppose it would generate some traffic. What I really thought went well for Gunzlingr, was the his idea to bring back the zone lottery. The prize? "give members a free ticket each month." I didn't see an argument with that suggestion.
Happy Voting, and good luck!
~The PC Times
