Thork

Membership
« on: April 14, 2015, 02:22:58 PM »
The 'merger' seems as far away as ever.

Can membership be put back on the table? I received the following tweet today.

Van Evan Fuller ‏@vanfuller55  · Apr 12 
@FlatEarthOrg Hello! I've been trying to obtain membership for weeks, but I can't find anyone who can help.


I think a certificate and a card are required. A "card carrying member of the flat earth society" is a popular expression after all.

I'm sure we could find a similar company to café press to send out our membership packs. Thoughts?


Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2015, 02:30:49 PM »
Plenty of sites let you make cards. http://www.plasticcardfactory.com/membership_cards.php


Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2015, 03:13:25 PM »
Apparently that user has been asking Daniel for membership. ::)

Van Evan Fuller ‏@vanfuller55  · 26m26 minutes ago 
@FlatEarthOrg Thanks. According to the website, it's $12 for a nifty card and membership certificate, but nobody there responds to me!


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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2015, 06:10:02 PM »
Yes, we can do that.

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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2015, 07:59:02 PM »
Is there a site like zazzle where we can allow members to order their own cards?

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2015, 08:38:25 PM »
Is there a site like zazzle where we can allow members to order their own cards?
Well if there isn't, you just found yourself a new business opportunity.

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Offline xasop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2015, 11:22:47 PM »
Can membership be put back on the table?

I'm sure it can. Why don't you do some research, come up with a plan, and then ask us for thoughts, instead of expecting us to do all the work?
when you try to mock anyone while also running the flat earth society. Lol

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2015, 11:38:42 PM »
Can membership be put back on the table?

I'm sure it can. Why don't you do some research, come up with a plan, and then ask us for thoughts, instead of expecting us to do all the work?
I'd first just like to know we can do this. Last time we tried it got vetoed.

It is very easy for you to say "do some work, do some work" but unlike you, anything I do can easily be ignored and put in the bin. You and pizzaplanet are masters of this forum and are increasingly throwing your weight around. All dissension is met with sarcastic comments, suggestions you don't like ridiculed, criticisms are roundly suppressed and your yapping dog pizaaplanet is always on hand to provide you with an echo and a reacharound. I can't set about executing a plan without you and pizaaplanet saying yes to it, and that's not worth anything without community pressure to ensure you do it.

If we can do memberships and it will be taken seriously and we put a community approved plan in place, I will endeavour to action parts of it. In the mean time can you f-off out of the thread so we can get some opinions?
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 11:40:27 PM by Dr David Thork »

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Offline xasop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2015, 12:01:34 AM »
I'd first just like to know we can do this. Last time we tried it got vetoed.

No, it didn't. You just said "hey guys let's do membership" and then abandoned the thread without doing anything about it:

http://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=1710.0

This thread seems awfully familiar, now that I re-read that one.

I can't set about executing a plan without you and pizaaplanet saying yes to it

That's where you're wrong. This isn't a dictatorship like the old site; we don't want to get in the way of people making contributions to the society just because they don't have our endorsement. Look at the Reddit page, for example; that was set up without our knowledge, is run completely independently of us, and we still link it from the homepage (after we later found out about it).

On the other hand, we can't give our endorsement to a plan that doesn't exist. If you want me to say I support this idea in principle, then sure, it sounds great. But until I see an actual plan, I'm going to assume you're blowing more hot air.

If we can do memberships and it will be taken seriously and we put a community approved plan in place, I will endeavour to action parts of it. In the mean time can you f-off out of the thread so we can get some opinions?

I'm not sure what you want opinions on that isn't just a restatement of what you said in this thread's previous incarnation (linked above).
when you try to mock anyone while also running the flat earth society. Lol

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2015, 12:20:14 AM »
That thread you linked was dated 22 June 2014.

As you well know, you killed that thread and others like it with your talk of reunification that culminated 3 weeks later in the following thread set up by you
http://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=1722.0
And that was because Wilmore showed up a week before that moaning about the wiki page being edited.

Once that occurred, obviously all talk of membership certificates etc ceased as we had no idea what Daniel would have control over. Tom had done some good work to that point looking at certificates, the T-shirt thing died and it took another 6 months to sort, I'm now saying we should sort this too. you seem to have a great memory for what I say but a very poor one for the plans you tried to push through.

And this site is like the old site in as much if you or pizaaplanet are required to change something and you don't want to ... it ends there. So its important not to rush off and do things and expect you to implement them.

So again, lets see what other people think membership should be ... free?, includes a pack of things you pay for?, what might go into such a pack?, anonymous?, public listing?, wording of certificates?, etc before I rush off having made these decisions on behalf of everyone only to get told it aint happening cos people object.



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Offline xasop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2015, 10:57:44 AM »
That thread you linked was dated 22 June 2014.

As you well know, you killed that thread and others like it with your talk of reunification that culminated 3 weeks later in the following thread set up by you
http://forum.tfes.org/index.php?topic=1722.0
And that was because Wilmore showed up a week before that moaning about the wiki page being edited.

Once that occurred, obviously all talk of membership certificates etc ceased as we had no idea what Daniel would have control over. Tom had done some good work to that point looking at certificates, the T-shirt thing died and it took another 6 months to sort, I'm now saying we should sort this too. you seem to have a great memory for what I say but a very poor one for the plans you tried to push through.

In the interest of keeping this thread on topic, I'd ask you not to throw around unfounded accusations. It was your choice not to work towards improving this site back in July, something which might have influenced the forum's members (remember, we put this to a vote; I wasn't "pushing" anything) towards your point of view by demonstrating that we are capable of functioning independently as a society, rather than just as a forum. We did nothing to stop you.

Rather than acting like we're blocking your every contribution, why not try actually making a contribution and seeing if it gets blocked?

And this site is like the old site in as much if you or pizaaplanet are required to change something and you don't want to ... it ends there. So its important not to rush off and do things and expect you to implement them.

No, please stop presenting your blatantly false opinion as fact. Both myself and pizaaplanet have made it clear that we are here to serve the community, not to make decisions for them. That's why every major decision (bar one that I can recall) affecting this site has been put to a vote, and we would do the same in the absence of broad agreement here.

In order to vote on something, though, you first need a proposal to consider. It doesn't take all that much time to put together a brief plan, and if the community doesn't like it, we (meaning the community, not "myself and pizaaplanet") are much more likely to amend than veto it. If you're worried about your time being wasted, would it be of any comfort to know that I have spent my own time on several things we ended up not using, or getting rid of later?

So again, lets see what other people think membership should be ... free?, includes a pack of things you pay for?, what might go into such a pack?, anonymous?, public listing?, wording of certificates?, etc before I rush off having made these decisions on behalf of everyone only to get told it aint happening cos people object.

We've already seen what other people think last June. I have no idea why you think starting again from scratch is going to produce different results. There's only so long you can talk about the same issue over and over before you need to just do something about it.
when you try to mock anyone while also running the flat earth society. Lol

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Offline Pete Svarrior

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Re: Membership
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2015, 04:40:26 PM »
Is any progress being made on this?
Read the FAQ before asking your question - chances are we already addressed it.
Follow the Flat Earth Society on Twitter and Facebook!

If we are not speculating then we must assume

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2015, 05:55:57 PM »
Yeah, lets get on with it.

So people need to vote on format. Answer yes or no for each.

1) Are we going to offer membership/fellowship?
2) Is membership free? If yes, then extra goodies won't be sent.
3) Do we want a downloadable certificate form (.pdf) for people who sign up? If yes, we'll have to agree on text which took ages last time.
4) Will we keep a public register? It will of course look very bare at first if we do.
5) Are there any privileges of membership? Access to a members forum for example?

Assuming we get a reasonable number of responses and its positive, we can make a thread for each thing that needs to get done (eg design the certificate).

Jason

Re: Membership
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2015, 06:22:18 PM »
I'm certainly in favor of official membership. And I believe that any member should be willing to sacrifice a small amount of money to achieve this.

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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2015, 06:43:16 PM »
I say that membership should cost some small amount of money, and a member will receive:

- 1 Official Membership Card
- 1 Printed letter officiating them into the society
- 1 Certificate of Membership
- 1 Cardboard Certificate Holder
- Access to the Zetetic Council Forums with voting privileges
- Name will go onto a public roster. But no anonymous option. Flat Earthers should not be ashamed of who they are.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2015, 06:45:17 PM by Tom Bishop »

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #15 on: April 24, 2015, 06:44:36 PM »
Will you be putting your real name on the register, Tom?

Rama Set

Re: Membership
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2015, 06:51:54 PM »
I dont think you should require people to make their name public.  People may want to remain anonymous for reasons other than shame.

Thork

Re: Membership
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2015, 06:56:16 PM »
I think we can agree on that one quite quick. It is a deterrent. If we do membership, then we want lots of members. I fell like this about cost as well. I'd like to see a zero cost membership with downloadable certificate, and then you can buy an optional pack of goodies from the shop if you like. My 2 cents.

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Offline juner

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Re: Membership
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2015, 08:02:02 PM »

I think we can agree on that one quite quick. It is a deterrent. If we do membership, then we want lots of members. I fell like this about cost as well. I'd like to see a zero cost membership with downloadable certificate, and then you can buy an optional pack of goodies from the shop if you like. My 2 cents.

I agree with Thonk in this instance.

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Offline Tom Bishop

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Re: Membership
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2015, 08:56:01 PM »
We can do a zero cost membership with an option to get the physical products mailed for a fee. I dont see any problem with that.

For the public roster, users should at least have to make their user name public. I don't like the long list of 'Anonymous' members on the other site. Can we compromise on public user names?