An open letter to the pogotribe

[Joey]

Dear pogotribe,
     I've been with you since the very beggining.(Okay I wasn't active until the beggining of January but that's beside the point) I've stood with you. I've watched you change looks, even change forums. I myself have gone through changes, and being on this forum has instilled me to do so much in the world. I've played games with you. I've debated with you. I've joined triads with you (shoutout to Asher and Erik!!!). I've participated in projects with you. And that's what I'm here to talk about.

I've watched projects being run and participated in many. I've seen projects suceed, and projects more commonly fail. And I'm sick of it. I personally have been in one or two successful projects, and many failed ones. I could probably count the total number of finished projects on my hands. That hasn't changed in the 8 months this tribe has existed. And I haven't seen anyone doing anything about it.(I have seen the manifesto and am very excited to see it.) The problem is that people join and commit, then really don't have time. Then people slowly lose interest. People have been complaining and shouting that they don't like it, but they aret doing anything about it. That's why I want to start a motivaion group.

Someone that wants the tribe to do good in the world, and feels like we can, should be apart of this. You don't need to contact me, or anything. Simply put the words "Pogotribe motivator" in you sig or underneath your avatar. Then you need to go around and find projects that have failed. Post in the thread and contact the leader. You're only goal is to get the project to succeed. 

There are two options. Either this will work and people will get behind it, or people will shove it off and it will fall on the forum. Then I will lose hope in the tribes motivation. It's now or never.

Sincerly,
Joey-pogotribe motivator       

[zAkAtAk]

If you are going to indent your paragraphs either indent them all or none of them.


But yeah, people just don't have time for stuff like this. They join the forum cuz they think it sounds cool. If you've looked at our demographic thread, most of the people that are on our forum are between the ages of 16 and 20. People at that age have school/college and don't really have time to really get active here. Only those with nothing better to do stay.

16 year olds get bored easily.

[Joey]

1)omg zak just posted a 100 percent non troll thread. Praise the lord.

2)I agree that people have other commitments, but I have High school and I still manage to get in at least a half hour a day. And it's summer, I have nothing to do. If you try, you can always make time.

[ItsCarterYo]

Now do i have to start a motivational group for this project? HA!!!

I really wish you the best of luck. Because this was my triad's (UKT) project. It was even chosen as one of Dan's top 3. buuuut it failed. so good luck.

I would like to participate but i gotta finish the pogoawards first. Me and rob have been working together the past week to try to render it. But it just WONT!!!! Its been finished for a while. just wont render. but it will be up one way or another.

[Speckley]

I made a post about this, too! Yay!

Jul 9, 2010 16:50:45 GMT -5 Speckley said:

Jul 9, 2010 7:41:40 GMT -5 zAkAtAk said:

Up until the past few months I had tried to actually do something about it.

Enlighten me. What do we do here, besides get to know each other and share internet links?

Sorry to say, but the chances of an online forum changing that in about 1 year's time hasn't done anything is pretty low. If the Moon actually had thoughtful ideas that were actually implemented then that would probably make me want to positively contribute more. As of now, nothing is going on, so I'm making my own fun.

I want to address this, specifically, because you're not the only one who has had these sentiments. (You're just one of the only ones who chooses to troll instead of trying to do something about it.)
More often than not, people will just complain about the fact that "nothing's happening", and then do nothing about it.

For the past few months, several people have tried to start some great projects. If it's not a project that "builds our community/culture", then it usually goes like this:

OP: Hey, I want to do this awesome project! Who wants to help?
Volunteer 1: Ooh! I do!
Volunteer 2: Me, too!
Volunteer 3: I'll help, too!
OP: That's great! Let's get started. Here's what we need to do, etc.
Volunteer 1 has left the project.
Volunteer 3 has left the project.
Volunterr 2: Are we still doing this? It'd be a shame to let this project go to waste.
OP: I still want to do it, but I don't want to do all the work by myself.
Volunteer 2: Yeah, me, neither.

End scene.

In order to start doing stuff that actually has an impact on the world, we need to move past this and work together to get, well, the work done. And I realize that not everyone has the time to commit to every project. If you realize this: don't volunteer for a project. Or otherwise, make/take the time to do it. Manage your time so that you can still work on the project.

And don't just sit back and assume that someone else will take care of things, that someone else will do the work for you. Be proactive in the projects section, be proactive in the projects you volunteer for. Volunteering is not the same as showing support for a project. Unfortunately, that's what seems to happen with every worthwhile project we've had on The Moon: lots of support, only a few volunteers.*

*To anyone reading this who has participated in the projects that I've tried to organize: yes, I realize that I've been guilty of the same thing, of complaining, but not doing anything about it. Sorry if I'm being a hypocrite.

I am on board. *thumbs up*

[Breepop]

Positive letters ftw. ^_^ Well, almost. That middle part was pretty negative, BUT IT CAME FULL CIRCLE.

I like this, though. If there were just a few really, really enthusiastic people with a lot of time, things would get done.

But time is a huge issue for a lot of people. People aren't willing to commit to something that might be awesome... it has to be awesome before they get on board. It's understandable, but unfortunate. We'll still get there without all these people, it will just be a heck of a lot slower.

I don't have time for projects, personally. Sometimes I wish I did. Maybe I will one day.

[Yokailo]

So, your idea is to bump old threads to try to revive old ideas?
Really good ideas succeed. Failed projects either didn't attract enough people or just didn't have a proper layout ready. Bumping those would be useless.

I'd rather you first try contacting the leader, and then if they respond, bump the thread if necessary o.o

[frazzledog]

I'm totally on board! Actually, before you brought this up, I was planning on doing something along the lines of this with Pogocast! (which, in of itself, is a revived project!)

And I don't buy that people just don't have time. I work a full time job, and I'm still very active here (I looked at my post count over this weekend and I was surprised to see how much it had risen in the 2 months I've been here). Now, as you can tell, my hours are very weird when I'm on here But I'm active when I can be!

/me makes a mental note to record her pogoband piece tonight

[Speckley]

Jul 12, 2010 3:24:28 GMT -5 Yokailo said:

So, your idea is to bump old threads to try to revive old ideas?
Really good ideas succeed. Failed projects either didn't attract enough people or just didn't have a proper layout ready. Bumping those would be useless.

I'd rather you first try contacting the leader, and then if they respond, bump the thread if necessary o.o

You never know, though. It's possible that newer members may latch onto the old projects enough to want to make them succeed.
Even if the original poster (or organizer, for that matter) is no longer around or interested, the previously-failed project can still find success.

Edit: But it's still a good idea to contact the leader. Even if they're not interested in renewing the project, they might be able to give you some insight on what they wanted the project to be. (Beyond what was already posted in the project thread.)

[penguinpalsrkewl]

Jul 12, 2010 3:16:29 GMT -5 Breepop said:

I don't have time for projects, personally. Sometimes I wish I did. Maybe I will one day.

Pretty much.

Also: I really wanna know: How do the nerdfighters do it? How does the HP Alliance do it? They all started out JUST LIKE us... and look at them now. They are doing real great things for the real great world. How did they get to be so successful like that? Now correct me if I'm wrong though... but I've always been given the impression that.. well.. yeah. That they've been pretty successful with their projects. They've always had very committed people running the projects.

Just sayin.

[speakmouthwords]

The key issue here is time. People claim they don't have the time to get stuff done, but they are lying. The very fact they are on the internet proves they are an internet person and internet people fritter their time away on useless things like flash games and watching Shane Dawson.

What we need is man hours. There are two ways to increase man hours, increase the size of the workforce or increase the time each worker works. The latter can be realised by people re-evaluating the time they have for various things, and the former can be realised by invoking the much-ignored pogotribe value: Grow Out.

We've been concentrating on growing strong for far too long. The community here is close to as good as I ever foresee it getting in terms of friendliness. That's fine and dandy, but it causes stagnation. We've been getting a lot of shirt newbies here recently, but if you throw enough shirts at the wall some of them will stick. Especially if they're nylon because they get all static electrical. Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that we've got a nice core of people here, but if we just try to reach out a little more, we could get a real taskforce situation on our hands.

[penguinpalsrkewl]

Reaching out. That's what I've been forgetting.

With the whole THIS IS NOT DAN BROWN FANCLUB. It doesn't appeal to new members or it confuses them greatly or it frustrates them or something, because they were *kinda* directed here because of him. Most of them anyways. So... we kinda need to reach out to the newbies. Make them feel welcome and all. Who here remembers the welcoming comittee... waaaaay back... in... the first? second? third pogotok? We need to reach out to new members, and not just say THIS IS NOT A DAN BROWN FANCLUB on the first post they make here.

Just sayin.

[locanmures]

Jul 15, 2010 11:35:54 GMT -5 penguinpalsrkewl said:

Reaching out. That's what I've been forgetting.

With the whole THIS IS NOT DAN BROWN FANCLUB. It doesn't appeal to new members or it confuses them greatly or it frustrates them or something, because they were *kinda* directed here because of him. Most of them anyways. So... we kinda need to reach out to the newbies. Make them feel welcome and all. Who here remembers the welcoming comittee... waaaaay back... in... the first? second? third pogotok? We need to reach out to new members, and not just say THIS IS NOT A DAN BROWN FANCLUB on the first post they make here.

Just sayin.

As one of SPOTM's newest members, I would like to add my two cents.

First, while I stumbled upon this forum through Dan Brown's YouTube page, I didn't join because I thought this was his fanclub; I joined because I found the community and ideas appealing and wanted to be a part of it.

Second, reaching out to new members is KEY to building an active, engaging network. To be honest, it appears to me you are failing. I've had one response to my introductory thread (thanks, Chelsea). Personally, I don't need people to welcome me to a new forum I join before I feel like part of the community (I realize that comes with time), but many people do.

[penguinpalsrkewl]

Jul 15, 2010 12:17:43 GMT -5 locanmures said:

Jul 15, 2010 11:35:54 GMT -5 penguinpalsrkewl said:

Reaching out. That's what I've been forgetting.

With the whole THIS IS NOT DAN BROWN FANCLUB. It doesn't appeal to new members or it confuses them greatly or it frustrates them or something, because they were *kinda* directed here because of him. Most of them anyways. So... we kinda need to reach out to the newbies. Make them feel welcome and all. Who here remembers the welcoming comittee... waaaaay back... in... the first? second? third pogotok? We need to reach out to new members, and not just say THIS IS NOT A DAN BROWN FANCLUB on the first post they make here.

Just sayin.

As one of SPOTM's newest members, I would like to add my two cents.

First, while I stumbled upon this forum through Dan Brown's YouTube page, I didn't join because I thought this was his fanclub; I joined because I found the community and ideas appealing and wanted to be a part of it.

Second, reaching out to new members is KEY to building an active, engaging network. To be honest, it appears to me you are failing. I've had one response to my introductory thread (thanks, Chelsea). Personally, I don't need people to welcome me to a new forum I join before I feel like part of the community (I realize that comes with time), but many people do.

About that. People have forgotten about the welcoming comittee because it was such a long time ago (I admit I've forgotten too). But sometimes, though it's been a while, I do say welcome.

But yeah. If it's and important part of community building and that's why our tribe had a pretty strong start from the beginning, we shoudl work on the welcoming comittee again.

*who remembers that script for that video we wanted to make? Is it still on the wiki?*

[thecraftyninja]

Making time for actual "LETS DO IT!" projects can be pretty hard, especially with school etc. If most people on here are 13-16, isn't that when we're most busy? taking exams, 'revising', other stuff related to school...
Commitment is possible. It just takes alot. Everyday I can probably fit abut 3 hours to being on here? Summer hols are easier of course. I recon if we keep encouraging and encouraging eachother to stay commited, then anything is possible? Whadd'ya think...?

[thelighterdark]

It seems like an awesome idea and I'm really happy that you're "motivated to motivate," but it will bring up an issue

This was already mentioned by Yokailo. If there was a really good idea for a project that was run by a well-motivated member, it probably succeeded. If the project was either not a good idea or not run well, odds are, it failed. Now you wouldn't want to be brining up projects that are doomed for failure for a second try would ya? Yes, I do realize that not all, and more or less likely none, of the projects are doomed to fail, which is why your proposition has a lot of validity to it.

Of course there are a considerable number of factors that could go into the failure of any particular project here. Maybe there was some interference with a personal problem? Maybe school got in the way? Maybe things just never came together perfectly? These factors should definitely be taken into account when reviving old projects.

Before we take our helping hand out to the projects, you should definitely contact the leader of said project and ask him "What happened?" Get the facts of the failure before anything else.

If the project really seemed like a genuinely good idea and is something that the "Motivators" want to invest their time in, then ask the ex-project leader if it would be okay if you remade the project. Perhaps name the project "X (v2)" and give credit to the ex-project leader. This would give us [the motivators] a chance to fix things that weren't right with the project and wipe the bad slate clean!

Subject to change.

[mrelliotb]

Ohai.

I loved the idea so much I made a userbar for it. ;D

To add it to your own signature, just insert -- [center][IMG]http://imgur.com/W6B3D.png[/IMG][/center]
and voila!

I love finding & reviving old threads & projects.

[snow11]

I like it Alot! Im in!

[iloveoscar]

im not sure why you care so much. more power to ya lol

[Camoon]

Trying to keep a project going even when you've lost interest in it is torturous.

If you can figure a good way to motivate people, then fair enough, but I just hope you don't go down the route of trying to force people to carrying on with it.