TexasCHLforum.com

any interest in "Pay it Forward - III" ?


http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... it+forward

I think there would be a lot of interest. I know I have a number of things that would be useful to someone but I can't use them personally due to various reasons.

I have at least one holster that I don't use just because it doesn't fit my needs...

The notion has worked well in the past: it can be fun, and is another way to connect with other Forum members.

The cautionary note: in order for it to work well, it requires someone to take complete ownership of the process and to be scrupulous about keeping the lists and activities updated. Purely voluntary, but it's independent of regular Forum moderation. In other words, we just need to be clear that the Forum doesn't run the offers, claims, or "order" fulfillment; the volunteer and self-policing members do.

Among CHL/LTC holders, honesty is seldom an issue. But the process owner needs to be prepared to deal with the rare--if ever--event of someone listing an item but it never being received by the claimant, an incorrect item shipped, someone withdrawing a listed item, etc. Just sayin'.

The first iteration of "Pay It Forward," started by gigag04, was very active: 28 pages in the Topic from March 2011 to October 2011. In the second, begun in October 2011, there were only three pages of activity and it dwindled feebly after less than three months; ghostrider was the most active and valiantly tried to keep it going. The Forum has a lot more members now than it did then, which should mean more potential activity...but could also potentially mean more cooperation disagreements.

That said, if ghostrider or someone else wants to own a new version of "Pay It Forward," I'm in and will have at least one or two things to offer.

I'd be open for doing this - it sounds like a lot of fun to me.

did people have some issues with the previous ones?

It sounds like Skiprr is just saying that the organizer/coordinator of the thread needs to be cognizant of the possibilities, given that there are more people here now, and that you're introducing a greater probability for outliers any time you increase the sample size.

remanifest wrote:It sounds like Skiprr is just saying that the organizer/coordinator of the thread needs to be cognizant of the possibilities, given that there are more people here now, and that you're introducing a greater probability for outliers any time you increase the sample size.

Exactly what remanifest said. In about 10% of the word-count I used.

With over 18,600 Forum members now--and to think, when launched, Charles thought he might get around 200--to say our community has grown is an understatement.

I don't recall any specific request/receive disagreements from 2011-2012 other than the rapid dwindling of interest in--and awareness of--the items posted. Like the Market section as a whole, the Forum doesn't control or have responsibility for the transactions. Unlike the Market section, Pay It Forward isn't made up of discrete, individual listings by members: it's a big aggregate where some might offer an item without claiming one, or claim one and offer two. Or, aghast, claim two and offer one.

When gigag04 first started it, he tried to keep a running list of items offered and by whom. He would add new ones offered and remove claimed ones so that folks could see, at a glance, what was on the table. Took some time and effort, but I honestly think that's the only way it can be effective.

I'll bet a lot of us have stuff sitting in drawers that we don't use, and that we'd be happy to pass along to someone else for a different item we'd like to have instead. I'll put up a holster and a set of custom 1911 grips right from the get-go.

But with over 18,000 members, it can't work as a free-for-all. No one will have a clue what is going on, about what items have been offered or claimed.

That was my pitch about ownership. The Forum moderators can't run it, but a volunteer can. If you're volunteering to do so, I support you.

Perhaps a Google Sheet could be used too... open offers & a sent/received section with forum member names, dates, and statuses. It might be a little easier to maintain than forum posts, depending upon interest level.

Perhaps a Google Sheet could be used too... open offers & a sent/received section with forum member names, dates, and statuses. It might be a little easier to maintain than forum posts, depending upon interest level.

while I realize anything posted here is likely scanned/analyzed/archived, I'm not sure I want to voluntarily provide them with additional data.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... y/2155759/

ghostrider wrote:

Perhaps a Google Sheet could be used too... open offers & a sent/received section with forum member names, dates, and statuses. It might be a little easier to maintain than forum posts, depending upon interest level.

while I realize anything posted here is likely scanned/analyzed/archived, I'm not sure I want to voluntarily provide them with additional data.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... y/2155759/

I understand the concern, but if you're worried about your security, you should stop using the internet completely. Every communication you ever make in any capacity by electronic means is indexed. This is the world we live in - sad, but true. You can protect against it by using multiple layers of obfuscation, but that's about it.

remanifest wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

Perhaps a Google Sheet could be used too... open offers & a sent/received section with forum member names, dates, and statuses. It might be a little easier to maintain than forum posts, depending upon interest level.

while I realize anything posted here is likely scanned/analyzed/archived, I'm not sure I want to voluntarily provide them with additional data.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... y/2155759/

I understand the concern, but if you're worried about your security, you should stop using the internet completely. Every communication you ever make in any capacity by electronic means is indexed. This is the world we live in - sad, but true. You can protect against it by using multiple layers of obfuscation, but that's about it.

You mean my tinfoil hat is not sufficient

Soccerdad1995 wrote:

remanifest wrote:

ghostrider wrote:

Perhaps a Google Sheet could be used too... open offers & a sent/received section with forum member names, dates, and statuses. It might be a little easier to maintain than forum posts, depending upon interest level.

while I realize anything posted here is likely scanned/analyzed/archived, I'm not sure I want to voluntarily provide them with additional data.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/colu ... y/2155759/

I understand the concern, but if you're worried about your security, you should stop using the internet completely. Every communication you ever make in any capacity by electronic means is indexed. This is the world we live in - sad, but true. You can protect against it by using multiple layers of obfuscation, but that's about it.

You mean my tinfoil hat is not sufficient

No, but it is extremely stylish.

Skiprr wrote:
When gigag04 first started it, he tried to keep a running list of items offered and by whom. He would add new ones offered and remove claimed ones so that folks could see, at a glance, what was on the table. Took some time and effort, but I honestly think that's the only way it can be effective.

That way sounds great but sounds [potentially] pretty labor intensive for the designated admin... it's not difficult to peruse the latest 2 or 3 pages of a thread to see if anything you might like is still available. Another forum I frequent has a similar thread and it sort of manages itself. once in a while someone posts that they didn't receive something and that usually jogs the memory of the one who forgot to send. I posted some things on there and just asked the requestor to PM me since I didn't check the thread. Works pretty well, w/o the extra manpower.

Don't take this as "poo-pooing" the idea- your way sounds super deluxe... but I'd hate to table the idea because there wasn't a dedicated manager. (since it can work on it's own)