What do you think?

We'd love to hear your views on our sponsors, and on our decision to support–and be supported by–the organizations and businesses who we see as being in alignment with Zaadz's vision. So let us know what you think!

(And, if you have any recommendations on business that you'd like to share with the community, please let us know about them, too. :)

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Re: What do you think?

I personally love it! I'm not an entrepreneur myself  and generally hate ads but I like the conscious advertisements here. They also aren't flashy (those drive me batty!). The sponsor logos made me check out their webpages, share the webpages with friends, and donate.

Love it!!

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Re: What do you think?

Thank you for adding the sponsors. It is important for me to know who shares my vision, and you are making it easier. It is important for us to know who shares our vision, because that unity makes us stronger.

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Re: What do you think?

Maybe some of the newer and younger members of zaadz are not familiar with the sponsors currently in the side bar of each page now, but lots of us already know about them and/or have had interactions with them in some way.  I think it would be better to place the ads below the content on pages, and it would be ok to have a prominant link to the sponsors near the top of the web page.  I'd like it better if each sponsor had a short description and testimonials with them by MEMBERS of zaadz.  Otherwise they just look like corporations trying to be “cool”.

Think about how members who use assistive technology and those who have some disabilities view the pages.  There is too much distraction now!  Plain is good.  Look to some of the clean design features in other sites like flickr.com.  I left most of my 8 years' activity on care2.com because of all the clutter and the incessant “alerts” sent out by sponsors and waaay too many newsletters.  There were always “nags” that made me feel terrible that I could not spend time and money resources on so very many “good causes”.  Simple is good and less is more.  I hope the staff will consider carefully the direction to head in as growth may become even more a priority.

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Re: What do you think?

How about smaller in size, and at the BOTTOM of the pages, as Cobalt suggests? Right now, I just block them out by reducing the size of my screen because they sort of take over and compete with content. Thanks for asking!

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Re: What do you think?

I think putting them on the bottom would be a good idea too. To tell the truth, I never even paid attention to the sidebar before I read about it here. I just didn't even look at them in their current placement.

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Re: What do you think?

I think this is a great idea. Alignment is the key to successful relationships and i have no problem with advertising or messages as long as they are relevant to me. In fact i welcome it as i want to connect with organisations and people that i am aligned with. To celebrate i opened my account with Kiva today and now am involved with 11 people all living their dream. Thank you!

The next step for this is to individualise advertising so we would see just the sponsors or advertisers who were aligned with our own individual values. Just so you know we will be bringing this application, MyAdDNA, through VortexDNA soon as well as the ability to search for blogs and people based on their DNA, their purpose and values, called MyBlogDNA and MyDNA. It would be awesome to integrate this into Zaadz at some point.

It's so wonderful to see Zaadz embracing the quest for greater consciousness on who we are and our purpose and values that drive us every day. It truly is the next generation of social networking and i am sure it will develop even further in this direction. We can change the world by being the change ourselves and the power and energy we can create through Zaadz is limited only by our own beliefs.

I feel truly blessed to be here with you all.

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Re: What do you think?

I love the idea of the featured sponsors and have enjoyed learning about some of them.  However, I think it could be done in a more visually pleasing way.  Perhaps making the ads the same size as the “featured friend” ads?  With all the boxes and columns everywhere, looking at someone's profile is not a pretty thing :)  Too cluttered.

Love the idea, but please keep working at it!  Good luck!

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Re: What do you think?

Hey guys:

just a quick note to let you know we're paying attention and REALLY appreciating your feedback.

Please keep it coming!!

-bri

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Re: What do you think?

Honestly, the ads are TOO BIG.  I do like the idea, and am glad the conscious business side is popping off up here (I've often mentioned how I'm waiting to see more functional uses up on Zaadz beyond communal networking, and it's beginning to happen).  However, the profiles feel squeezed, the ads swallow the focus on the friends bar, and the threshold just tipped in favor of distraction vs. sacred space online.  I've been avoiding building a myspace account for this reason -too cluttered- but now the contrast between there and zaadz is beginning to blur, visually. 

What if the sponsors were smaller, taking less of a side-bar.  Or just as big, but along the bottom of the page?

best,
andy  

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Re: What do you think?

~

ok guys yes i totally agree myspace is much more appealing with one ad on top no matter
how stupid it is but i m not on zaadz to replace myspace or any other “social networking site
simply cuz i dont c zaadz as one… i c it far beyond that as my priority here is to network with
“filtered” people who r being a stand n contributing personally, locally and/or globally to
change the world n make it a different reality than it is right now…

so lets flip coins here for a sec…

if its ur ad that u have paid personally to be advertized on zaadz where n how would u like to
c it being placed (NOTE i cant stand the word advertizing but i havent invented another word
that would resonate with my vibration n to what i wonna share with the world about my
commitment on this planet… so in a mean while m using that old paradigm word ok…)

soooo

* my choice would be on my profile right below my foto n pods i administer or on top in the
   line above the bar of Newsletters, Quotes, Books, etc… 

* if they r at the bottom i know i would be first not to look for them n i do like them… they r like
   my friends… but even more when some of us start putting our designs there i would love
   to click n be taken to ur pages outside of zaadz so i can c what u r all up to… like friends
   right now that take me to ur zaadz profile this would be like an extension to ur outside
   world n what ur contribution is like phil's site ^.^  

* another option i m just thinking right now if they r made the exact same size as the current
   friends fotos (or close) n be placed as a 3rd bar as they r right now but in line with friends
   so it would be more pretty visually n less distracting yet appealing n seen enough to be
   clicked if interested… 

my 5c

^.^

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Re: What do you think?

Well when I first saw them, this was my initial reaction.

It's not that I don't think there should be advertising on Zaadz.  I just don't like the current setup.  That many ads plus their size make it seem cluttered.  There everywhere.  No matter where you go, there they are slowly drawing your eyes off to the left.  They take up so much space too.  Their size has them bigger than most objects on all the pages, that it makes me wonder what is more important, the features and options or the ads?  But most of all I don't like their location.  I think it would be better if they ran horizontal instead of vertical.  I was not fond of seeing everything scrunched together.  Especially when the ads end it stays that way all the way down, leaving everything pushed off to the left.  Wait!  Oh no!  Zaadz has lost it's center!

I know your still meditating on finding their true path, so here's my pocket change

* Less ads at one time
* Horizontal
* Smaller
* They don't need to be everywhere or in the same location everywhere
* If their is less per page it will be better to rotate threw them

Also, possible look into zaadzsters being able to delete them from their page once they have looked at them or something.

Anyways.  That's just what I was thinking.  I do love the sponsors though.  Great companies!

John

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Re: What do you think?

i'd like to hear from members who have disabilities, especially visual impairments.  I know for a fact that there is at least ONE member who uses assistive technology like JAWS and ZoomText.  Screen readers (used most often by those who are blind) read every word on the page, and every word that the visitor types.  The way zaadz looks now to us is read in a very confusing way by a screen reader.  It is very hard for those people to get to content as all the links in the top are read first and then all the links for the sponsors and finally any comments or content. 

Visitors who use DragonNaturally Speaking (for those with physical impairments and spinal cord injury folks) also have great difficulty with the layout.  I do think that the aims of zaadz are or should surely involve web accessibility.  After all, the web standards of 508 (see <a href=”http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/Overview.html”>how people with disabilities use the Web</a>).  This is a global standard and socially responsible companies will want to be aware that “You'll benefit by designing with respect to accessibility. People with disabilities represents 8% to 10% of the total population. It's easier to maintain a Web site that follows accessibility guidelines (and therefore Web standards). Your Web site traffic will increase, and a wider variety of browsers will have access to site content.” (from W3C, the web standards organization).

Looking at the way the content is structured at present, the whole site is becoming more inaccessible rather than moving positively.  I know this is TMI for some, but if zaadz aims to be an inspiration for a wide audience then surely the time and money spent on website development is a worthy goal.

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Re: What do you think?

What's weird is that on my laptop I can see the ads but when I'm home on my dad's computer the ads aren't there.  Weird.


Anyway, the ads were kinda large.  They didn't bother me too much, but I have been noticing that zaadz is putting more and more advertisements on their site.  At least they're good companies. 


I think that as long as there's no “punch the monkey” ads on zaadz, I'll be happy.


Kelly

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Re: What do you think?

Are those ads or my bookmarks? Ashoka, Kiva, Oxfam… I love it! :-)

It's perfect how Zaadz filters interesting sites for me. I'm always on the lookout for smart ways to do something for the world and this fits the bill perfectly. It's a win-win-win  for Zaadz, our userbase and the advertisers if you ask me.

The fact that they narrow the content column is IMHO a good thing since I always thought the Zaadz layout slightly too wide in terms of content anyway.

My only quibble is that the 2/5 ads are US centric. I'd love to have a voice in the US presidental elections next year and I'm all for making poverty history but alas… So a second vote for targeted ads.

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Re: What do you think?

~

PS. just to NOTE what i wrote above referes only to profile page… everywhere else like here
on pods, blogs, Mail, etc r perfect just the way they r n love them as big n on the side as is… 

so again its only the profile would be cool if its nicer visually as i alredy wrote in the previous post ^.^

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Re: What do you think?

~

OK i found the solution…  to have our profile similar like on the current zaadz page but we
have a choice to customize middle (left) part but on the right we have the Sponsored ads as
they r right now ^.^

~

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Re: What do you think?

I share many of the overall “concerns” and “complaints” mentioned thus far. 

Quality of the advertisers?  Not at all.  You guys get major rubs for quality of advertisers, it says as much about us/Zaadz as it does the advertisers.  Good job.

I'm not thrilled about the shove to the left, even if it has made for greater Real Estate for the good stuff, it just looks out of balance and/or cluttered.  And I also agree that the actual photos are too large.

I'd lean to more of a centering effect (or as one person said, put the ads toward the bottom of the page).  I think being set toward the bottom would have an additional effect, since the ads aren't right directly put in our faces, it creates curiosity or a willingness to scroll down the bottom to see what is there.  The current orientation feels like visual infringement, and makes me less fuzzy feeling.

The new intro/splash page?  It's visually pleasing and nice that there is more of “us”, my hope is that it will truly be democratized and the arguements that occur over the pods page don't come up for the splash page. 

“It's always the same couple of pods”

“The little start up pods don't seem to get much showing”

I can also envision “the featured Zaadzsters are always the same BIG members with over 1,000 friends”.

And no disrespect to the Integral folks, but I would hate it to appear to be that Zaadz was somehow a function of the Wilberites and Integralists, or for that matter, any large cohesive group that found a home here.

Again, it isn't about anything or anyone in particular, I guess it would be nice to see Zaadz, The Republic be a truly democratic representation of a “nation” we say we'd like to be. 

Know what I mean?

It's good conscientious work folks, cheers to the entire team, and thanks for offering a truly open forum to voice our likes and dislikes.

Thank you all!

–D.

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The Zaadz Pages.

I like the idea of a democratic vote.  Why not take the feedback from this forum, formulate three or four options and then send a mass e-mailing to the members as a multiple choice selection process.  The one chosen of the 4 that is most popular wins and of course the Zaadz team would only put options that would also support their advertising and financial requirements.  With that said, here are my views on the ads.

-If you're going to do ads, less is more.  Less clutter, more balance, smaller ads.

-I like the “idea of the future” having ads specific to my interests pop up in front of me if any ads at all.  In the meantime there is another option that comes to mind. (see below)

-I'd be willing to pay say $5 or $10 a month for a Zaadz subscription and to make up for any lost revenue, Zaadz could still have a sponsorship directory.  Companies would fit Zaadz values and pay to be placed in the directory.  Similar to the yellow pages, except they would be Zaadz pages  Companies could pay large dollars for the big intrusive ads only viewed in the directory and budding entrepreneurs could place smaller ads for those on a shoe string budget in the directory.  Of course there could be various ads specs and prices in between covering the entire gammit.  Because of the type of individuals attracted to Zaadz, I think there would be plenty of people voluntarily persuing the directory.  Personally I would have already looked for massage services, web design and hosting services, virtual assistant services, copywrite, lawyer services, coaches, and probably even more that I cannot think of at the moment. 

Also, as part of the Zaadz application process, if there were people in need, they could apply for a Zaadz scholarship which would enable them to waive the monthly subscription fee.  They could reapply on an annual basis or semi annual basis.

I believe this idea would enable us to keep our space sacred by removing ads from our personal space but also help us support the wonderful people and investors at Zaadz.

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Re: The Zaadz Pages.

PS- I haven't clicked on one banner ad yet.  While the services on the banner ads might be great and the people behind them awesome, they don't seem to support conscious capitalists or entrepreneurs.  They seem more public service.

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Re: What do you think?

Thanks you ALL for your kind thoughts and great suggestions. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you care enough to contribute; I love knowing that this community looks out for each other. So thank you.

I'll address a few of the major points.

The size of the ads, as you might guess, has to do with revenue , and we decided that widening the site to make room for them made more sense than trying to cram them in around the corners. Also, you'll notice that we've removed all the Google ads which were sprinkled about. in favor of these (to my mind more visually appealing!) image-based ads.

We've tried to make sure they're good company: you'll notice, that we ask for simple buttons, much like the profile pictures. The ads aren't flashy and are intended to integrate well with the rest. Just think of them as a few more generous benefactors who pay so that the rest of us can use the services for free. :)

And a few specific responses:

Wendy and Swat? Thank you, deeply. You've no idea how we appreciate your support. :)

cobalt? A deep bow for you to getting this discussion started. (An aside: Zaadz is continually evolving and we'll definitely take into consideration  your reminders about disable users. Thank you for that.) I'm curious about your feelings about corporations and how you'd feel if a larger business offered to back Zaadz, but for now I'll just harken back to your earlier recommendation of premium membership. We do plan on offering an ad-free version in the not-too-distant future, and we'll definitely keep you updated on when that happens. So be patient! We're trying. :)

Phil. Thank you, too, for your generosity. I wrote a little about the reasons for the size above, and hopefully people will eventually get used to the “clutter.” Most of us read magazines and newspaper without complaining of full-page spreads and ads between articles, and we've got far less space than that devoted to our sponsors. It's partially a matter of perspective.

Andy. Again, it comes down partially to a matter of revenue, and balancing the needs of the community with the ability of Zaadz to, well, simply exist. But thank you, again, for the tips. Once more, we did widen the site, so the only thing that's changed is the percentage of space… but I understand. It takes a little getting used to.

Princess: You're wonderful. Excellent suggestions, and thank you so much, as always, for your thoughtfulness.

Don John! Hahaha! Your post cracked me up. Now THAT is creative criticism. Though you wouldn't do that to a member of the site, would you? Think how poor Byron Katie feels! And Kiva isn't yucky. Really. They've definitely done more to change the world than I have. :) I love your idea of horizontal implementation, though. Hm. We'll think about that. And perhaps splashing them in different areas might help, too. As to deleting them… well, premium memberships are on their way.

Darshan: The placement is again, a revenue issue. Bottom space isn't exactly valuable. But thank you for, again, seconding the 'centering' option.

As to the new landing page… the featured Zaadzsters are randomized; as far as I know, as long as you have a photo on the site, you'll end up there. There may be some preference toward Ambassadors, but that's it. As to the pods and comments… we're currently pulling from the new 'hot' page, which merely identifies the posts and discussions that have gotten the most attention over the past day. We could certain change that to feature those that were most recently updated (clicking on the 'explore' link on the landing page currently gets you that), which would help showcase smaller or less active pods.

(And, um, the nation thing was an April Fool's joke. I think it's a good thing for everyone that incorporated companies can't be states. Otherwise we'd really have Wal-mart to worry about. ;)



And for everyone… well, I'll be quiet now, and see what else you have to say.

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Re: What do you think?

Yes, I noticed the ads.  I like them because they are in line with the aims of Zaadz, development of conscious capitalism.  I used to wonder, “Why is Zaadz not a .org?”  Now I see Zaadz as a .com.  To my way of thinking these ads are a step forward because they are evidence of an emerging network of conscious enterprises in the real marketplace.  And I deeply appreciate their presence.  I think these businesses can be a real blessing to us all, if they stay true to their highest aims, and it is a joy to be part of a network that supports them.  I had never heard of Kiva before, and I think they are super, and they will probably be using some of my money, as they say in Zaadzland, “sometime in the near future.” 

I don't mind the ads placement.  I appreciate the wider page.  It's all good.  I really think Cobalt has some important contributions here, and those would be my priority.  This is a wonderful opportunity to build in the integrity, to create inclusiveness, to live the love.  I wonder what changes will come about in relation to making changes that make it easier for all people to use the interface? 

Somebody suggested making the icons be the same size as our member icons, and that sparked a WEIRD IDEA for me (hang onto your hat, I'm thinking new paradigm here):  would it be a cool idea if the advertisers actually were memebers of Zaadz just like we are? 

When you live in a community and you go to the market, you get to chat with the green grocer, right? 

How this might work….hmm…. ok, I'm interested in Kiva, so I click on it.  I go to the profile page of Mary Jones, Kiva Representative.  On her profile is all the intro info that Kiva would want people to see right away if the link went directly to Kiva as it does now.  The belly button of the profile page would, of course, be a link to the actual Kiva site.  Also, there would be a real person to talk to, and this person would be sharing and growing with all us Zaadsters and blogging about her growth as an investment adminstrator and what she is learning about microloans and grassroots economic development and we can talk to her as a real person and a friend. 

Of course, Kiva wouldn't want to be an extra click back.  Any ad person worth their salt would tell you that's a bad deal.  But on the other hand, there would be this wonderful presence in a community that is ready to welcome them and really establish some ties.  Maybe community changes when the marketplace changes?

That's my Daily Weirdness Words, thank you for listening!  :)

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Re: What do you think?

That is a stunning idea, Martha.  It is right in line with the principles of The Cluetrain Manifesto, in terms of keeping in close touch with clients and one's customers.  See www.cluetrain.com

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Re: What do you think?

Martha writes:  “Somebody suggested making the icons be the same size as our member icons, and that sparked a WEIRD IDEA for me (hang onto your hat, I'm thinking new paradigm here):  would it be a cool idea if the advertisers actually were memebers of Zaadz just like we are?”

I'd just like to respectfully speak to this for a second…

This is something that I think we need to be careful of.  The idea of “sponsored members” which can easily lead to sponsored pods.  I've seen this happen in other social networking sites, my experience most notably with my time spent on Livejournal.  It got really ugly.  For one thing, if you have actual organizations as members (and not simply the people behind them) believe it or not this can carry a stigma. Many people don't want to carry a sponsor as a friend for the feeling of falsehood of this friendship.  I realize Martha, part of your suggestion is that individuals from the companies become Zaadz members, but that is already possible now, and without a dime spent.  Those individuals can promote the organizations that they belong to.  Thus we are able to select these people as friends based on the quality of who they are as people.

I guess my concern becomes more when we have sponsored pods or lets say a “sponsored individual” starts a pod.  It follows that these sponsors start exerting control over what is said in these pods.  Someone doesn't like a sponsor or a sponsor's product/organization, and there becomes a long thread where someone voices their displeasure over the product or organization. The sponsor then begins removing and/or preventing the dissent in the first place.

I'll give you two examples one real and one hypothetical: The real, Livejournal had a sponsored community for the Michel Gondry film The Science of Sleep.  Now one might say “who would have a problem with a nice little Indie film like that?”  Answer, a lot of people.  Not only did people dislike the fact that they felt they were being advertised to, but they couldn't come out and say “I think Michel Gondry's work sucks, and here's why.”  The advertiser exerted direct control over who was saying what, when and how.  It also ended up turning into a mutual appreciation society where you had individuals who were obviously plants stating their love for the movie. How could you tell they were plants? They were the only ones that had seen the movie because it hadn't been released.  Oddly enough, the advertisers had such a miserable experience, the community was shut down before the release of the film.  Folks who didn't like the overt manner that they were being advertised to started a campaign to boycott the film. 

My hypothetical speaks to the idea of “that couldn't happen here at Zaadz.”  Imagine for a second that Rhonda Byrne and the folks behind The Secret decide to become a sponsored friend or they sponsor a pod.  Are you starting to see where this is going?  I could see something like this happening simply because The Secret is really something that a lot of people have spoken with great affection and love and belief in, while others have called it “cat poop”.  Will people be able to voice their opinions openly in a Secret sponsored pod?  Great! Then why do advertisers want to spend dollars to have people sitting around saying that it is “cat poop”?  If they prevent that from being said, then we have a problem. 

I think we have a good example of how keeping things down to an individual level works here at Zaadz in folks like Oren Stambouli and Artist X.  Here are two folks who are supported because they are grassroots, the real deal.  If someone doesn't like something that they are doing, folks don't bother to come out and say “your project sucks”.  They simply don't voice an opinion.  Folks will respect the grassroots level of effort in play.  If they do like a project, people will join up and support the cause.

I guess what this boils down to is when you start having money spent to influence people's opinion, it starts coloring the opinion people have of you and your product, and your ability to share that opinion.  I'm certainly not saying this to poo-poo your idea, Martha, I'm speaking to things I have already seen and the lessons that can be learned from history.

Respectfully,

Darshan

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Re: What do you think?

Darshan,

as always, thanks for your excellent feedback! i can totally relate with you since i'm the one who called The Secret as ”cat poop.” but there's more to it than just the smelly phrase :)

now allow me to answer some of your concerns….

“I guess what this boils down to is when you start having money spent to influence people's opinion, it starts coloring the opinion people have of you and your product, and your ability to share that opinion.”

i understand that this could be a slippery slope. however, let me take a slightly different standpoint on this.

what's wrong with influencing people if your purpose and message is to promote a more conscious way of doing things? what's wrong with spending money on influencing people if this is done with utmost care and compassion? what's wrong with promoting your product or services if your intention is to make people's lives better?

politics is all about influencing people. the media is all about influencing people. society is all about influencing people. business is all about influencing people. we influence each other all the time. influencing is not a one-way street. in fact, people (customers, clients, consumers) have more power in influencing businesses than the other way around. how many times have we heard of stories of businesses bending to the whims of their customers? that's why as consumers, we have the individual and the collective power to transform business inside-out. and one way of doing this is to open the channels of communication. this is also one of the first steps in making capitalism more conscious.

what i'm trying to say is: we have to reset our thinking and ditch the idea that once people start spending money then their integrity is compromised. there maybe some truth to this, but i think this is an unfair way of treating people who do business across the board. i think a more constructive attitude towards this is:

“gee, they're spending money to hear from us, they care on what we think, they are doing their best to be transparent, they are opening up the channels of communication, maybe i'll return the favor and take this opportunity to give them a piece of my constructive criticism so they can improve their product/service even more.”

but i hear you, bro. this is a very delicate balancing act on the part of the people who are doing business (e.g. sponsors). we can generalize and paint worst case scenarios, but i think that it would boil down to how they would run their channels of communication (e.g. blogs, pods, forums). the more they are in tuned with the principles of building virtual communities, the more they'd be able to take advantage of constructive criticisms and continue to do good business.

on people's part however, they should expect to be “censored” if their feedback is simply “you suck,” because those kinds of feedback don't add value to ANY conversation. there are other avenues to vent one's frustration (e.g. on their personal blogs, etc.) and as long as they stay within the bounds of the terms of our community, then all is fair play :)

and speaking of influencing people, this reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from MLK:

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

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Re: What do you think?

I've been gone all day–today was our big Egg Hunt, and of course the Bunny Fan was hard at work.  It was very successful, and about 350 of the world's cutest little kids enjoyed hunting 4,825 plastic eggs and raiding 40 Easter baskets, but I'm digressing.

I was really glad to catch Darshan's and C4~Chaos' comments on my weird idea.  What happens usually is that I come out with one of my ideas and absolutely nobody says anything, and then somebody changes the subject.  And so I was scrolling down and found my entry, and the scroll bar looked like it was near the end, and I was thinking, “Rats!  What's wrong with me?”  and then I saw Darshan's comments!  Yay!

So about Darshan's comment.  Yes, I really do see that you raise an important point.  What stands out most for me is that, in framing the idea, I hadn't sufficiently considered the various levels of development of members in a large community.  Some people will be open to subtle differences in types of dialogue that they undertake, and some will, as Darshan points out, be more categorical in their thinking, and simply be offended by advertising. 

Thinking about the Michel Gondry (I love Gondry!) example for a minute, what comes up for me is:  Isn't it unethical to post “raves of fans” reviews when they really are movie insider's and staff writeups?  And I think we, at Zaadz, would be uncomfortable with this type of misrepresentation.  In the first place, this is not “reverence, compassion and respect,” which is the way we are asked to regard each other in the Terms of Use doc that C4 had mentioned. 

So, ok, it sounds like that now I've come around to where Darshan predicted the discussion would go, and it's my assertion that “this wouldn't happen on Zaadz.”  But I think Darshan is correct.  I think some version of the scenarios would happen anyway.  Because it's not a perfect world, and because “reverence, compassion and respect” are my active and honored ideals, but I'm just a human being, and I'm just not going to live up to them 24/7.  Sometimes things get screwed up.

Please consider these clarifications– It's about having a relationship with a human being who works for that company, and only through that person with the company itself.  What is valuable, constructive, and sacred about the conversation between the company representative and the customer?  How can that dialogue be created and maintained in such a way that the highest needs of both are supported and met, if possible? 

I'm going to say something here, and if this is the only quote people will remember about me after I die, then I'm just gonna have to live forever because it sounds so stupid, but I'm going to say it anyway:  paradigm shifts aren't easy.  (I think I just got a door prize for being the 777,777,777th person to have read Kuhn.)  My field is communication, and I deeply value dialogue–particularly civic dialogue, you know, the capacity for people of differing political groups to speak to each other respectfully and meaningfully.  And what's coming up for me here is that there is also a civic discourse of the marketplace that needs to be valued and understood.  Perhaps people feel intense distaste for advertising because that discourse has been perverted, misused and forgotten. 

My model for this idea was only that of the mother chatting with the greengrocer.  These are two people in the same community, using the same economic system with equality and mutual respect.  So, I guess after thinking about it and writing this, I will hang in there with my weird idea, keeping it out there, and as C4 wisely cautions, thinking it should be done very carefully.  And thanks, Darshan, for the dialogue and the wise council, because it's important to see both the road and the rocks!

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Re: What do you think?

i like the idea of the organizations having membership pages on zaadz as well actually. on myspace many commercial groups have their own commercial pages and i enjoy that being around. i like the idea of it interfacing with zaadz.

i personally would rather have even the same sponsor ads at the top of my page under the zaadz basic stuff. sorta like on the i-i pod and how they do it (integral institute). having it be a banner centered thing would be fine for me. i actually enjoy having the ads be more humane and less about big hummers and such.

i would personally be fine with ads for the new gm small cars around for example, if they rel

i love the idea of going through corporate profiles actually for conscious organizations. love the idea being able to do that on the site rather than leaving it and then having links to their stuff if i want to go. myspace has the different film pages and such. would love to see zaadz do the same thing for peaceful warrior, secret, etc… etc… yah, even the controversial ones or the ones which some of us would like and others not so much.

love that byron katie's new book is advertised here. not necessarily planning to read it, but love seeing it. i don't know that premium memberships should necessarily HAVE to have no ads unless people request it. at some point if i were paying to support zaadz then it would be nice to maybe be able to turn the ads on or off as desired, but i love seeing what is going on. what companies are supporting zaadz, and what service groups or even business groups exist around the various moves towards conscious capitalism and conscious consumerism. so to give them both ads and profile presences i have no issue with personally. if i were being flooded with ads in my in box that would be more of a bother to me, but if i can search them or there is a different tab for companies that i can wander their profile, i love that idea personally.

-d

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Re: What do you think?

Hi Siona

I do love the sponsors though.  Great companies!

Don't get me wrong.  My creative criticism was only directed at the location, not to the quality of the companies advertised.  I hope I didn't hurt their feelings.

Thanks for providing this forum. 

Much love!
John

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Featured Friend

Now that I've slept on it.  I liked the format of the Google ads.  (if we are going to have ads).  They were noticeable but less intrusive.  Also, they were more pleasing to the eye because they fell in line with Zaadz color scheme.  To me it is important to advertise conscious business so mocking the Google Ads with Zaadz's own advertisers might be an idea to consider. 

When I saw those ads on Zaadz, it was eye catching but it wasn't so demanding, I could glaze over it and then go back to what I was doing if un nterested without it still demanding my attention.  The newer ads continue to demand my attention even after I decide I am not interested.  If you need to do the big ads oriented to the color scheme of the sponsor, then  maybe simliar to a pop up, we should have the option of turning off these ads and have to re-do so either everytime we log on or move to a new page.  Of course 4 ads would be laboress but perhaps one ad per page that I had to go over and shut off wouldn't be so bad.  At least I'd be foreced to look at it to but not be foreced to continue looking at it to enjoy my Zaaz experience. 

Also, I notice this morning that the ads are at the bottom of the screen.  I agree from a marketing perspective that this is a bad idea.  It's the least valuable real estate, unless of course there is a popular reason to go down there but then that would eliminate the purpose of putting them down there in the first place.  I still like my directory idea with one Zaadz sponsor advertising the directory right on zaadz. This could be a rotating sponsor or if they paid enough the sponsor could stay on longer.  It coud be simliar to the Featured Friend ads we've had a the top of the Zaadz page for a long time (Flow, Sharm, etc.) except in this case it would say, “The Zaadz Pages (or whatever you name it)” followed with a short description of what the directory is, followed with “Sponsored by” and then the logo of the sponsor.

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Re: Featured Friend

Joshua? Love the “Ads by Zaadz” –instead of Google–idea. Brilliant. Keep your eyes out; you may see someting soon. ;) The sponsored pages or listings, too, are a great idea. The zPages are overdue for a rehaul, anyway, and I like the notion of including premium listings. Thank you!

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Re: What do you think?

I love WHO the sponsors are.

I hate (and, yes, that's a strong word :) the size and number.

From an advertising perspective, it lacks the simplicity and elegance of the original Zaadz layout and is way too overpowering. 

While I'm supposed to notice them (that's what they're paying Zaadz for), they completely distract and detract from the Zaadz experience overall.  I end up in visual overload - on every single page of my Zaadz experience.  Not fun.  :(

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Re: What