In the Tesla Club

Many people from Element14 staff did personally reach out to me when the points hit 100k

Excellent ...

I didn't think they would ignore you ....

you're an inspiration especially because you always "keep it real".

Thanks

Great feedback and ideas everyone! We're discussing them. Keep the conversation coming. Thanks.

Jane

Cool I've finaly joined the "darkSide" ....expecting a stroke of Tesla Lightning to finish me off any moment!

Would be nice to do some more in depth H/W reviews. It would be interesting to see how much influence a good review has to a real life purchase, also how much if any does a review on a prticular site direct people to buy from that site in this case E14 of course... I suspect this information isn't really available except as a wild directed guess.

I kind of look at the points some one has but really more likely what they have done for the comunity. Lots of points answering your own questions seems pointless and just jams the site up with trash. Helping others is worthy and deserves help in response. If I see a person doing loads of different content I'm more engendered to them rather than just the points.

The badges like "expert" and less so "helpful" (since recent changes gives out more), indicate how others "feel" I may be doing. But I can honestly say some are more deserved than others. And without asking sometimes, they can be hard to earn. Maybe another badge can be given for the desired behaviors. I noticed a blogger badge given out to some folks. How did they get/earn them?

Clem

The blogger badge is assigned manually, just to inform members that something was written by a commissioned blogger. Much like we have the element14 employee badge.

We're always looking for new badge ideas, as they're invariably popular, so do share any thoughts on that front, too.

A badge for an exceptional review (or similar wording) would be worthy.

There have been some exceptional blogs/reviews that merit extra acknowledgement.

This could also be manual.

Thanks

Mark

Curious on why it would be advantageous to Element14 to limit any road tests or similar to an "Elite" level instead of the current process of allowing all to enter and then the Element14 staff appropriately deciding based on criteria.

I assume that one of the elements considered would be current standing of a member when the road tests are being judged so a level 8 member applying will automatically have a higher rating for a road test compared to a level 2.  If an idea offered by a level 2 member is so incredible that Element 14 decides it warrants the opportunity above a level 8 member, why should that idea never be allowed it's chance to even be voiced?

I love reading all of the great ideas submitted by all levels and member participation is key to keeping new blood coming in.  From what I have seen from the higher level members I would think the only reason they might not get a road test would be because they felt they were too busy, some seriously knowledgeable people here have put in the time and it is great.  I really like how repeatedly I have seen high level members offer to assist anyone when they are in the various stages of processing ideas.

As a newer member I really enjoy the badges Element 14 comes up with.  The points happen as they happen, because quite honestly, how can I realistically try to "compete" against members that have years on me within this site?  ;-)  Seriously though, I really like the badges and when you have tied in neat things like the Chinese New Year I think it has greatly increased conversation and idea sharing!

If I'm not mistaken the suggestion was only for 'high value' Road Tests and certainly doesn't apply to all.

You are right, but if you have a look at some of the Design Challenges the dropout rate amongst newer members (or just joined for that challenge/test) was high.

For road Tests the results aren't a lot better, and in some cases unless the person has access to some complimentary equipment, it is difficult to do a decent test.

In your case you are relatively new in the time scale, but have obviously gained points due to contributions to the community.

Your content and the badges earned show that you would easily slot into any 'limited entry' class.

how can I realistically try to "compete" against members that have years on me within this site?

Not sure that years on the site has a lot to do with it.

We've had some reasonably experienced members also fail to deliver for varying reasons, so it's not just a new member issue, but the stats would show the truth.

I had the opportunity to talk with Christian last year and he spoke about some of the challenges and the entries.

There were some really good entries from novices but experience showed that they would not be able to achieve what they propose, so sometimes the asperation is greater than the capability.

The ability to present the information also plays a large part in the decision ... a couple of lines "I did it" with a blurry picture is not going to inspire many.

It is also much easier if you have a track record, so rather than he is level x, I think past content is a deciding factor.

Mark