Disqus - Latest Comments for QuirkeeJames

Re: cre8Buzz Re-Do: Ode to the cre8Buzz Departed,

QuirkeeJames — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:55:42 -0000

"Do the members of other social media sites lose their passion quickly and move on?"

Yes.

"Is it that cre8Buzz doesn’t offer enough to keep people over the long haul."

Yes, but you are working on that.

"Is it because of our size and lack of hundreds of thousands of users?"

Not necessarily hundreds of thousands but the more members in a community help it thrive - just look at the Moms on cre8Buzz.

"Why is it folk’s leave? "

I think one reason folks leave is because they are not seeing everything they need to keep them around, which makes working on those features quickly even more important.

Personally, I have a ton of stuff on my plate this Summer and when you throw both kids in the mix because school is out then it makes it that much harder to interact on many sites, not just cre8Buzz. I'm sure this is the case for a lot of folks who travel, spend time with their families, work on house projects, go camping, fishing, boating, grilling with their neighbors, etc.

Summertime has always been a stats killer for many sites.

Re: cre8Buzz Re-Do: User Feedback

QuirkeeJames — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:01:10 -0000

I think #4 in the first section of his thoughts is a great place to start. Giving something back to the people that make the community thrive. Contests for best content in various categories, promotion to literary agents, publishers, and magazines, etc.

If people can actually get something out of sharing good original content on cre8Buzz besides a "Neat. I just got the #1 ranking for best video this week," then they are more likely to stick around. I know that sounds kind of selfish in a way but with so many places for people to post their stuff these days you have to compete for their attention. We give away prizes from a few record labels and others all the time on Quirkee to give something back to our loyal readers. If you can get in touch with some publishing houses or magazine editors and see if they are interested in promoting a book giveaway contest or a free magazine subscription with cre8Buzz then that would take care of the cost of the prizes. The possibilities are endless, actually, because of the broad spectrum of members here. Gift cards from iTunes, restaurants, Visa, comedy clubs, book stores, sporting goods stores, Babies R Us, etc.

#3 in the second section of his thoughts about stickiness is extremely important for a site like cre8Buzz that thrives on having it's members spend more time there. At Quirkee.com we have a chat feature and a well functioning forum but they are not utilized very often. This is not as big of a deal for us since we are a magazine. If our members decide to use the social aspect of the site then the tools are there for them to do so. As our readership continues to grow this is something that we will probably focus on more but for now our focus is on providing original content (not syndicated articles) that you can't find anywhere else. Having that is key to bringing back readers every week.

I'm not a Ruby on Rails developer but I know on Joomla! I can set up a chat box and a forum in minutes and they are free. That would be a cheap and easy place to start the stickiness if it's possible to do so with Ruby.

Re: cre8Buzz Re-Do: User Feedback

QuirkeeJames — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:34:49 -0000

Yep. Right on.

The question now is, where to start?

Re: cre8Buzz Re-Do: Opportunities

QuirkeeJames — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:46:53 -0000

Regarding the comments about original content. This is in the cre8Buzz TOS (which I read a long time ago because I'm actually crazy enough to do it)

"You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the Content posted by you on or through the Cre8Buzz Services or otherwise have the right to grant the license set forth in this section, and (ii) the posting of your Content on or through the Cre8Buzz Services does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights or any other rights of any person. You agree to pay for all royalties, fees, and any other monies owing any person by reason of any Content posted by you to or through the Cre8Buzz Services."

Nothing against squiffy or any others that post unoriginal content, but if you don't have permission to post it then it should be taken off the site or not be allowed to be ranked. If this were just a friendly forum where people grab photos and stuff to discuss in a thread then it wouldn't be that big of a issue, but this is a "user generated content site" to showcase original content from the owners of the copyrights.

Posting other people's stuff (even if it does have a creative commons license or something) and gaining in the ranks is cheating the system. Anybody can do that.

Re: cre8Buzz Re-Do: First Things First

QuirkeeJames — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:00:05 -0000

Rally the ant troops and Git-R-Done!

As always, whatever I can do to help

Re: Playground Justice - Memories of Hazing and Freeze Tag

QuirkeeJames — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:11:25 -0000

I was that kid, the little skinny one that got picked on. Finally I had had enough, fought back, kicked one kid in the junk, and that was pretty much it for the bullying.

Re: Spotlight On Dads - Tony Chen

QuirkeeJames — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:58:24 -0000

savvydaddy rocks! I'm going to register. great interview again, guys!

Re: Premature Relief - Our Preemie Comes Home!

QuirkeeJames — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:13:06 -0000

Thank God this had a happy ending! Welcome Home Caitlin!

Re: Premature Patience - Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

QuirkeeJames — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:00:01 -0000

So glad to hear things are turning in the right direction. I can't believe it's been almost a month!

Re: Spotlight on Dads - Tom Bowns

QuirkeeJames — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:33:37 -0000

Great spotlight on Tom!

Re: Premature Doubt - Emotional Overload

QuirkeeJames — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:24:26 -0000

Praying for the best. Hope all is well.

Re: Cleaning Up the Toys - Friday Round-up

QuirkeeJames — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:20:24 -0000

Happy Birthday, Jeremy! Thanks again for the interview and I hope you have a chance for a birthday beer or two tonight!

Re: Premature Heartache - Darkness before Light

QuirkeeJames — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:49:15 -0000

Damn, Jeremy. You had my eyes all wet with this post. I was getting nervous reading it! Hope all is going well today.

Re: Bringing Out the Kid in You - Contest Winners!

QuirkeeJames — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:13:27 -0000

Congrats, Chuck! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

And to all the other winnders, too!

Re: Spotlight on Dads - Derek Semmler

QuirkeeJames — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:58:44 -0000

Great spotlight as always, guys! Derek, I'm off to check out your blogs. See you around!

Re: Premature Confidence - The Long Fall Down

QuirkeeJames — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:06:37 -0000

Ahhhh! These cliffhangers are nerve wracking! Hope all is going well with Caitlin.

Re: Our Ninth Anniversary - What a Wonderful World

QuirkeeJames — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:51:56 -0000

We got married on New Year's Eve 9 1/2 years ago. This last anniversary we had a little party at our house. For our 10th anniversary I think we are going to try and be somewhere tropical. :)

Happy 9th to both of you!

Re: Premature Birth - Not Quite the Joyful Experience

QuirkeeJames — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:33:02 -0000

Geebus, dude! Your cliffhangers are good!

Hope all is going well.

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:21:55 -0000

Yep! He wears it around sometimes when he's playing football in his Cowboys jersey.

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:19:15 -0000

Joe, you should probably take back that comment about my awesome chat box. Now that I have editor privileges on your site I could do some serious damage. :twisted:

About the only good thing that came from working at Friday's was my wife!

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:17:40 -0000

If it's not James then I motion for a name change!

Who's with me?

Re: Premature Labor - Dealing With the Unexpected

QuirkeeJames — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:05:39 -0000

Hope all is going well, Jeremy. Our prayers are going out to you and your family.

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:02:00 -0000

Thanks, Chuck! Keep the blogging going. More insight from working dads is needed!

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:00:46 -0000

Thanks, Ed! I'm glad to have crossed paths with you when I did. Your writing is fantastic! Keep it up!

Re: Spotlight On Dads - James Grayson

QuirkeeJames — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:48:37 -0000

Thanks, Whit! That means a lot from the first one in the Daddyshack. You set the bar, my friend.