JJJimmy's Paying it forward thread, anyone got an idea how to Improve upon it???

[steri]

So I was thinking of JJJimmy's Paying it Forward thread that has something like 170+ posts in it. It's an awesome thread and a great idea, but I got to thinking; Is there any way we could somehow set up either a thread or a page that seperates people by general location and what they have to offer? For example, I can always offer softies for free (Pulsating Pink Xenia, Anthelia, GSP, and mushrooms). BY always I mean pretty much always.

Problem is that I live way out in Tim Buck Two (actually Cary), so people in Chicago usually don't want to drive out to Cary to pick somethng up, and I don't know how many people in the Crystal Lake or Cary area know that I have stuff I can give away unless they sift through like 5-6 pages of that thread.

I wonder, if people wanted to use the Pay it Forward Thread if there was any way to enhance it?

We could have regions: North Suburbs (like Lake county), Northwest Burbs (like McHenry county and/or Schaumburg area), West Burbs (Kane/Dupage County) and south burbs (Will). We would also divide out Chicago into four regions, North, South, East, and West Side.

Under each region that the Pay if Forward person lives in, they could put there screen name and what they have to offer for free.

If this could be done in a spreadsheet type of format, and could be updated, I think Pay it Forward could be used a lot more as people would have easy access to see who is in their area and has what to offer.

Thoughts? Anyone want to create a spreadsheet? Anyone have other ideas to enhance Jimmmy's awesome thread?

I have always wondered if anyone in my area had anything to offer, but I don't want to sift through all those posts, if I could look at a spreadsheet, I would know in seconds if there is anyone around me I could PM.

I'd be curious to hear what you guys think.

 

[LedZep fan2]

I agree, I live up near Gurnee and no one wants to make the long drive.

 

[cet98]

may I suggest you both move closer to Chicago????

just kidding :lol:

I think that is a great idea but it maybe a difficult task...
I may be wrong, but it seems to me that most reefers on CMAS are relatively close to the Chicagoland area...

Are there any local clubs closer to each of you that you can post a PIF thread on?...

 

[LedZep fan2]

Well its not that I don't mind making a drive to everyone!

 

[broke1]

Noone wants to make the drive down to where some have referred to as "where God left his sandals."



I think it's a good idea to try to arrange this by regions, it's a whole lot easier to trade with people local to you or drive if something further away seems interesting.

 

[Compguy]

What about that webpage that was being used, is that still going, couldn't the location be added to whats being provided.

 

[madadi]

i like the idea of having a pay it forward, trading thread where we can exchange some highend corals

 

[flapjack1439]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15115989#post15115989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by madadi
i like the idea of having a pay it forward, trading thread where we can exchange some highend corals

X 2

 

[Bluespot22]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15113636#post15113636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LedZep fan2
I agree, I live up near Gurnee and no one wants to make the long drive.

Same here.

 

[steri]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15113995#post15113995 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cet98

Are there any local clubs closer to each of you that you can post a PIF thread on?...

I am in a suburb of Chicago, but traffic makes a trip to Chicago a long one. The CMAS forum is the one closest to me, just like it is the closest one for people that live in Aurora or Joliet or Gurnee or whatever.

I love the PIF idea, my only point is that if it was regionalized it could be more widely used. No one from Joliet or Aurora are going to want to make the hike up to Cary, and why would they if someone in Aurora or Joliet had something to give, but the person just did not know it.

 

[bues0022]

Another positive of a spreadsheet or map idea is of you happen to be going to an area for something else, you can double-up and snag some coral too. I'm out in Round Lake, but once in awhile find myself in closer where more people are. Yes, most people are closer on, but there's quite a few of us out here in the sticks. Good idea! I also don't check that thread because of how long it is.

 

[steri]

So..........anyone interested in starting a spreadshet?

I'll tell you what, so long as a Mod will back it and stick up near JJJimmy's thread, I'll start one, but I am not going through 185 posts to see who has what and where they live, and I am not going to do it without it being stuck, so I can watch it go into threadblivion in a couple of days.

First, let's see if a Mod would back this idea.

2) If so, and if you are in support of this idea of creating a spreadsheet, PM me with your location region and what you would have to add to the Pay it Forward spreadsheet. I would need permission to edit the spreadsheet regularly, so that would also need to be cleared with the Mods.

If I do this, please remember, I am only doing this with the spirit of Pay it Forward in mind. As a result, I would only want Pm's with something that they know they can regularly GIVE away. This would not be a spreadsheet created for those that want to sell corals or anything along that line. If you recieve a coral from the spreadsheet and it grows, I would only ask that you strongly consider adding yourself to the Pay it Forward spreadsheet or Jjjimmy's page, to give others the same oppertunity that you were able to have. This would not be mandatory, but I would just ask that you consider it.

Any thoughts or feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[renisel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15115791#post15115791 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Compguy
What about that webpage that was being used, is that still going, couldn't the location be added to whats being provided.

I set up the website for it, but didn't receive any PM's for updates to what was available/had been exchanged after the first week or two. I assume that's at least in part because the info on the site got lost amidst all the other posts. The hosting plan just expired, so the site shouldn't be available now--but if people actually want to use it, I don't mind bringing the site back online.

 

[steri]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15121256#post15121256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by renisel
I set up the website for it, but didn't receive any PM's for updates to what was available/had been exchanged after the first week or two. I assume that's at least in part because the info on the site got lost amidst all the other posts. The hosting plan just expired, so the site shouldn't be available now--but if people actually want to use it, I don't mind bringing the site back online.

I don't think I know what it is you are refering to, but it sounds like it could work. I would use it if we had a way of knowing regionally where people were at.

 

[renisel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15121719#post15121719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steri
I don't think I know what it is you are refering to, but it sounds like it could work. I would use it if we had a way of knowing regionally where people were at.

It didn't have locations, but that would be pretty simple to add. Alternatively, someone could just make a map on Google Maps with markers for the towns/ZIPs where frags are available, and list the screen names and their frags for each . The site I had kept track of who had given what to whom so that you could track the progress/lineage of frags that had been given away, and also to try to kind of reward those who were being especially generous and curtail efforts to take advantage of others' generosity.

 

[mcliffy2]

Ahren's (renisel) site is a great starting point. In an ideal world, people would be able to upload available frags to the website directly, but setting this up takes a lot of time.

I also think that a weekly update posting in this forum with the latest offerings would help the concept gain popularity.

 

[ChicagoReefOne]

Ditto on this being a really great idea that could help keep PIF active and concise.

Link to the renisel site? I spent some time looking around the saltwater101 site is closed. . .

 

[renisel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15141107#post15141107 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChicagoReefOne
Ditto on this being a really great idea that could help keep PIF active and concise.

Link to the renisel site? I spent some time looking around the saltwater101 site is closed. . .

The site is down because nobody was using it and I let the registration expire. I still have copies of all the files, so I could put it back up if there seemed to be sufficient demand to justify it. If anybody has some ideas for features that would make it more useful, or make them more likely to use it, I'd be interested to hear them.

 

[ChicagoReefOne]

I don't know how it was run or what the functionality of it was, but perhaps could it be modified to work on a free blog site like WordPress?

 

[renisel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15141785#post15141785 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChicagoReefOne
I don't know how it was run or what the functionality of it was, but perhaps could it be modified to work on a free blog site like WordPress?

The site listed users by their RC names, and provided a table of what frags were available, from whom, and included pictures when available. You could click on a user's name to see how many frags they had given away and how many they had received. You could also click on a frag name to see who had given it to whom, and who was currently offering it. The way it was set up, people had to PM me to inform me of exchanges, new frags available, etc. so that I could update the database. I did this rather than allowing people to log in and update it themselves partly because that would be more complicated and I didn't feel like doing the additional coding, and partly because allowing others to edit the DB opens the door to abuse (which is pretty much inevitable if the site is up long enough and there aren't thorough safeguards--which require even more programming).

The hosting plan isn't terribly expensive (I've certainly thrown away larger sums of money on this hobby in the past), so I'm thinking I'll just renew it and give it one more chance. I'll also set up a dedicated email address for it so that my PM box won't fill up, add ZIP codes for all of the fraggers, and make a Google map that shows what's available where. Since it will cost me some money, I'm thinking about putting some ads on the site (probably for companies that are also RC sponsors so that there are no conflicts of interest). I wouldn't expect the proceeds to be too great, but if they exceed the cost of the hosting plan, I could use the extra money to buy nice frags that would be given to people who have been active in the program (I'm thinking through some kind of raffle in which each user's chance of winning is weighted by the number of frags he/she has given away).