I remember reading sometime ago about
"The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award" that was
part of the American Rowan and Martin Show in Los Angeles
called "Laugh In." It was a satire and the award went to
those whose accomplishments were of a dubious nature.

We could have something similar here on OLO. Perhaps
The Middle-Finger Award? I'm sure that there could be a vast
list of candidates that we could all come up with. ;-)

cont'd ...

Humour and satire often helps take the "mickey" out of
certain situations and helps to diffuse things.
An award such as this may just work, if done
in fun with the realisation its not meant to be taken
seriously.

and so folks..thats how
the "now you..gone and dun it"..award was born

otherwise renowned..as the
"oops you stepped in-to/that one"..honors

or.."the you were..really really bored..wernt you'..award

Hi Graham,

IMHO it is not the medium that counts, it is the content and management.

I’m at a loss to understand why you throw into your own Forum, the issue of “how” your product is delivered and ignore the content, are you trying to do a Fairfax?

The content and management of OLO has been criticized by some regular OLO’ers, me included, and you respond with this mealy mouthed, distraction and compromise.

I personally don’t give a hoot “how” your product is delivered as long as it does not compromise balance, diversity, freedom of speech and the management of those who are only capable of responding with ideological rhetoric rather than considered, self developed and logical responses.

You are failing your own vehicle of OLO. Don’t fall into the trap of compromise vs popularity.

This was once a great site, now it is relegated, with your complicity, to a mediocre forum for those who “bait” their perceived opposition rather than offering the opportunity to generate genuine debate.

Product, market, channel, relevance, context, competitors and fit.

Get with the program or lose the consumer base you have created

spindoc,

How can the management you suggest be done economically?

Reading the forum rules and particularly the last paragraph in bold, the over-arching considerations are freedom of comment and low cost of administration (necessary to offer the site).

Even if voluntary administrators or moderators assist, there are always those who think that their opinion should prevail and will indulge in endless challenges. The site is available 24/365 and a delay on acceptance of comments has its faults.

>>How can the management you suggest be done economically?<<

By volunteers. The best forum I've ever participated in was run not-for-profit, without any advertising and maintained by volunteers. It worked because everyone involved wanted it to work for its own sake, not for the sake of lining their wallets.

>>there are always those who think that their opinion should prevail and will indulge in endless challenges.<<

Of course there will be people like that. This is the internet. It attracts all types including the endlessly combative. What makes you think that a single moderator is better equipped to handle to the gladiators than a team of moderators?

>>The site is available 24/365 and a delay on acceptance of comments has its faults.<<

The not-for-profit forum I referred to above was also available 24/365.25 and it had no delay on acceptance of comments: it was still better managed than this joint. It's basically just a question of manpower: with a team of moderators there was almost always one active on the forum during peak periods which meant that out-of-line behaviour was dealt with immediately. A single man just can't effectively police such a high traffic website even if he drinks a lot of coffee.

Cheers,

Tony