Give shares to moderators

Zaph0d

What if you reserved a proportion of the share owenrship of boards.ie for mods? It would be like the Employee Share Ownership Trust in Eircom. Let's say 15%. It would only be realisable if boards.ie was ever sold or floated or whatever.

This would be a way of giving mods a small sense of ownership of boards.ie. It could reward long term loyalty.

It's a fairly normal thing to do these days.

Beruthiel

LOL
If I owned boards, there's not a hope in hell of that happening

seamus

Erk.

I don't know the admins' position on this, but IMO this starts to lead down the path of Mods becoming "employees" of boards.ie, which brings in a whole legal headache, not to mention accounting for the admins.

On top of that, you will find moderators starting to push their weight around, using the "I'm an owner of boards.ie" excuse, even if they don't consciously acknowledge themselves doing it.

While I appreciate the spirit it was suggested in, I do think it could be more hassle than it's worth.

My 2c.

magpie

sense of ownership

They have that already. Or should that be pwnership?

Baz_

Oooh, thats a bad ass idea.

Fair enough if boards.ie was a profit making organisation, but as far as I know, it barely covers the costs incurred to run the site.

I'm not sure if the lads even carry out accounting and make returns, but that is essentialy the path down which this idea would lead them, and then you would also have all the muppets in the world looking for moderatorship, and there are enough as it is already.

Although very generous of you to offer the ownership of boards to others

Crash

I Want My Dividends!

Beruthiel

I'll div your end!

GoneShootin

Zaph0d wrote:

It's a fairly normal thing to do these days.

For free online forums? Examples!

Zaph0d

I wasn't suggesting that shares be reserved out of generosity or even a sense of fairness. This kind of scheme is widely accepted to pay for itself by increasing the motivation and loyalty of the participants, and as a result the overall value of the enterprise increases.

I don't see a slippery slope from promising an allocation of shares in the event of a sell off, to mods becoming employees.

If the day ever comes when boards.ie is sold off I think people like seamus and Beruthiel and Victor should have something to look forward to. It's a way of creating a common interest in the success of boards.ie between the mods and the admins.

Santa Claus

Beruthiel wrote:

I'll div your end!

That sounds like reward enough in itself !

Baz_

Zaph0d wrote:

If the day ever comes when boards.ie is sold off I think people like seamus and Beruthiel and Victor should have something to look forward to. It's a way of creating a common interest in the success of boards.ie between the mods and the admins.

Actually when put like that, it is a very good point, I don't think it should be discussed here however for the simple fact that if they did go and implement this you would get everyone queueing up to be a moderator.

If a big payoff did come boards.ie's way, it would be only fair that those who put an enormous amount of effort into it, in terms of keeping it going, should get some just desserts.

Praetorian

I have 2185 shares in Boards.ie and they're worth a fortune. I'll sell them for €1 each. Any takers?

GoneShootin

Praetorian wrote:

I have 2185 shares in Boards.ie and they're worth a fortune. I'll sell them for €1 each. Any takers?

Deal - if you take my 5,597 shares at only €0.50 per share!

Talliesin

Zaph0d wrote:

I wasn't suggesting that shares be reserved out of generosity or even a sense of fairness. This kind of scheme is widely accepted to pay for itself by increasing the motivation and loyalty of the participants, and as a result the overall value of the enterprise increases.

We have a sizable pool of people who have motivation, interest and loyalty.

The very fact that I said "we" in that above sentence and I'm not the only person who would do so shows that.

These people have that interest and loyalty to what boards is, without the need for rewards external to boards being what it is.

If they lose interest we can replace them and they can go off and do something else with their time.

If they are particularly busy they can take a break from modding duties without losing any share options.

They are motivated to help boards continue to be a great place, rather than a popular place. Quick-buck ideas don't have much value to moderators, because we don't get any of the bucks.

The question of what would happen if boards suddenly became very cash-rich is moot until it happens. If it did happen then my primary concern would be that the introduction of commercial concerns on the pressures affecting admin and moderator decisions shouldn't damage the community (this has happened before on sites, I recall a popular bulletin board site becoming a giant coke ad overnight and then promptly disappearing up its own arsehole during the dot-com years) rather than whether I was going to get a slice or not.

Lump

HA HA, I doubt that'd happen.

John

Rabies

Is Malcom Glazer a mod here?

Imposter

Rabies wrote:

Is Malcom Glazer a mod here?

He's trying to be but he can't get anyone to sell their shares.

Victor

Zaph0d wrote:

If the day ever comes when boards.ie is sold off I think people like seamus and Beruthiel and Victor should have something to look forward to.

You mean I'd get my life back?

I'm not sure if I'm in favour of your proposal. I already own a share in boards - as a member of the community. The difference between stockholder and stakeholder.

Victor

PS on the banal counting method of post count, I have 0.7% of boards already. Please don't dilute my holding!

GoneShootin

Victor wrote:

PS on the banal counting method of post count, I have 0.7% of boards already. Please don't dilute my holding!

Jasus, 20000 posts. That's, just, mindboggling....

seamus

Victor wrote:

PS on the banal counting method of post count, I have 0.7% of boards already. Please don't dilute my holding!

Together we can control just over 1%. We must rise up!

Beruthiel

how do I help with the percentage????

WhiteWashMan

it woudl appear that together, we culd have quite a sizeable holding in the business.

of course, ia ctually do have a stake in boards.ie, and my time is billable.

theres another .004 of a pint earned!

Zaph0d

Well I'm glad none of the admins have rejected this suggestion out of hand. I hope you'll give it serious consideration, despite Victor's noble protest that he'd prefer to be a stakeholder than a stockholder, as if the two were incompatible.

And of course there's no legal or accounting nightmare; a simple statement of intent in the event of a sell-off would suffice.

WhiteWashMan

no seriously, to have shares you actually need to be floated on the stock exchange. considering boards.ie itself as a going concern is worth little more than a few grand (the servers, if we actually have them in), the intellectual property belongs to all the posters (unless i signed up that said anything on these boards is automatically belongs to the admins - in which case, they are lible for everything we say), id say boards.ie is not likely to float anytime soon.

on the other hand, i can see ways of making boards.ie a business that would be very successful.

so, even if you did have stock, it would be worth less than the pints i get paid to mod this feckin thing!

oscarBravo

WhiteWashMan wrote:

no seriously, to have shares you actually need to be floated on the stock exchange.

Nope. I'm a 14% shareholder in a private limited company.

azezil

oscarBravo wrote:

Nope. I'm a 14% shareholder in a private limited company.

As am I, director and sole shareholder heh

WhiteWashMan

oscarBravo wrote:

Nope. I'm a 14% shareholder in a private limited company.

sorry, you are absolutely right. now, what was i thinking off?
hummm, brain not functioning anymore..

/brain implodes...

GoneShootin

azezil wrote:

sole shareholder heh

you are a fishmonger azezil ?

dahamsta

Victor wrote:

PS on the banal counting method of post count, I have 0.7% of boards already.

I have 0.4%, but I'm hiding them.

Is search disabled?

heh

sceptre

Ken Shabby wrote:

I have 0.4%, but I'm hiding them.

Oh I don't think it's ever been hidden that well

azezil

GoneShootin wrote:

you are a fishmonger azezil ?

No I just stink of your ma!

dahamsta

sceptre wrote:

Oh I don't think it's ever been hidden that well

Only because I couldn't be bothered my arse darling.

Victor

azezil wrote:

No I just stink of your ma!

[taunting voice] Az is straight! Az is straight! Az is straight! Az is straight!

nesf

Shares for mods? How exactly are they to be divided out? Do people with more forums to mod get more? Do people who moderate "bigger" forums get more? Do Smods or Cmods get more?

Before you even get into the nitty gritty of whether boards owes it's moderators cash for their efforts you have to look at how exactly you could give them cash.

If you create a hierarchy it would seriously effect people's attitudes. Money has a habit of doing that. If you had a hierarchy dependent on position or on time served then I can guarantee you there would be a lot of friction between groups.

Seriously, how could you even impliment such a thing in a way that wouldn't bring a new ball of strife and problems to this site? You'd need to be able to answer this before you could even think about whether it should be done.

Imho I cannot see any way of implimenting such an idea that would cause serious issues. And I don't see why it's necessary either. Mods sign on for free not for the promise of cash down the line. Introducing cash into the equation changes things a lot.

There might be a multitude of reasons why moderators on here do it but I don't think that people do it because they expect money in return. It's a hobby not a job after all. I plough a lot of time into my hobbies, but I don't expect to be paid for it. I do them because I want to. I'm sure others are the same

GoneShootin

@azezil and @Victor

harsh

Gordon

It would be harder than a blind lesbians nipples in a fish market to see this idea through to fruition methinks.

memphis

Shares/Dividends for Mods. ye gotta be taking the pi$$!!!

I'm a mod here, and am quite happy to be one, though looking for money for being one doesn't come into the equation. This to me is a past time and nothing more!!

DeVore

I thought of this 3 years ago. For about 5 seconds. The inherent problems are extraordinary from legal (employment laws) to benefit in kind, to motivational (he got more then me *huff* ) to the consideration that we are growing all the time (if at first we had given 1% per mod , not a significant amount, we'd now have given away over 300% of the company).

These shares which cost us SO much trouble, are worth nothing unless the company pays out a dividend. Imagine if we paid out 10k in divs, thats a LOT of money, more then we've ever had in total, it would be about 35 quid per mod..... wow.

The other way is if the company is sold, but its REALLY unlikely for a variety of reasons. If it did, I'm sure we'd see the mods right. Its just not going to happen

DeV.

mycroft

Gordon wrote:

It would be harder than a blind lesbians nipples in a fish market

Possibly the greatest metaphor in the history of mankind.

Baz_

mycroft wrote:

Possibly the greatest metaphor in the history of mankind.

Crikey!! For Shame!! I only just got that

I agree, greatest metaphor ever.

/me begins to repeat phrase mantra style...

Zaph0d

DeVore wrote:

The other way is if the company is sold, but its REALLY unlikely for a variety of reasons. If it did, I'm sure we'd see the mods right. Its just not going to happen

I know you're sincere when you type this but I think you realise the dangers of telling anyone "you'll see them right" on the proceeds of a startup. If it's really unlikely to happen then putting aside a share allocation (not issuing shares) for distribution to moderators in the future costs nothing and will never cost anything.

Debates about who gets what out of the pie can be deferred until the last day, but the overall allocation should be decided in advance, in the same way that you make deals on lotto tickets with your mate before you draw the winning numbers. The financial institutions that demutualised faced the question of how to divide the proceeds and it's the same question.

It's obviously something you need to decide with the other admins, seeing as they are equal shareholders.

CuLT

I'm lost for words.

(never stops me posting though ;P)

mycroft

Zaph0d wrote:

I know you're sincere when you type this but I think you realise the dangers of telling anyone "you'll see them right" on the proceeds of a startup. If it's really unlikely to happen then putting aside a share allocation (not issuing shares) for distribution to moderators in the future costs nothing and will never cost anything.

Debates about who gets what out of the pie can be deferred until the last day, but the overall allocation should be decided in advance, in the same way that you make deals on lotto tickets with your mate before you draw the winning numbers. The financial institutions that demutualised faced the question of how to divide the proceeds and it's the same question.

Your thread has bugged me immensely from the get go.

Firstly the fact that it is based on some absurd 1996 model than you can make money doing anything on the internet. Boards appears to be going along nicely, scraping by, handling issues, the idea of shares is that now, or at some point shares will be worth something more than they are now, which means the admins (or board of directors) now have a onus to the shareholders not just the beligerant whingers who infest this site.

Leaving aside the fact that boards is unlikely to ever make real money, actually, no,, lets not leave that aside thats the fundamental flaw in your moronic idea. Because it cripples your conecpt. if boards was run with ther overall goal of making a profit for the admins, the group of tech savvy intelligent people who run the site would look at the cost, effort impact and walked away allong time go. Ditto the mods, I'm long of the opinion that Modd'ing AH shouldn't be a volunteer service, it should be performed as part of a community service, the ideal that this is a goldmine for the admins (never mind the mods that you feel deserve a piece of the (deservely in" " ") action, displays your ignorance of the site.

Secondly hey lets make more work for the admins, instead of just keeping the site running, holding libel and financial responsibility for the site, lets give them the additional headache of figuring why the mod of snacks and cakes deserves more shares than the mod of wanderly wagon or mustard.

Finally why, Mods enjoy doing what they do often volunteering their services or being enlisted and doing their job because they like, the site has worked under this platform for ages, why change this because you've some absurd notion over boards potential earnings which frankly aren't so much as naive, but like dropping a tooth under your pillow and expecting bullion to bloom.

It's obviously something you need to decide with the other admins, seeing as they are equal shareholders.

Yeah but no. You've some warped criteria at work here man, in two threads in as many days you've been suggesting that mods should be voted out ala big brother, and now you think they need shares, voting rights and dividends. The cynic in me would suggest you've no interest in the overall welfare of this site because if you did you wouldnt be suggesting the both at the same time. Essentially suggesting they make moderation some random popularity contest while at the same making mods shareholders with voting and dividend rights, well you're frankly a dithering moron or a trouble maker of the highest order.

Shabadu

All he's looking for is a digital hug, imo.

Steveire

Shabadu wrote:

All he's looking for is a digital hug, imo.

Zaph0d's just this guy, you know...

*sorry*

Victor

Shabadu wrote:

All he's looking for is a digital hug, imo.

I know someone who might have one for sale.

RuggieBear

did somebody mention hugs.....

everybody loves a good hug!

Crash

I'm currently selling shares of my body. once a year, a dividend of my yearly bodily produce will be mailed out to shareholders, to do with as they wish.

John R

mycroft wrote:

Your thread has bugged me immensely from the get go.

Me too. It is a stunningly stupid idea in every possible way. To organise and run it would be a nightmare of wasted time and bad feelings all round. It would change the whole atmosphere of the place for the worse and there would be no going back.

It is a minor miracle that boards has grown to the size it is without turning into the ignorant crapfests most big general topic boards do. Introducing profit, greed and an ownership hierarchy is an excellent way of destroying in record time all that boards has become.

I am sure it would be possible for the admins to make a few quid out of boards at some stage but not without turning the place into something entireley different (a soulless commercial wasteland comes to mind) and not somewhere most of the regulars would stay in for too long.

The only substantial monetary value boards.ie would have to sell is access to it's ever-growing member base and the only way of realising that is to sell it to someone who wants to use those members to sell products or propaganda to. It is not something I want to happen to the place and I very much doubt many of the mods would want it either, small share of the payout or not.

RuggieBear wrote:

did somebody mention hugs.....

everybody loves a good hug!

I think in this instance your previous sig image would be more appropriate.

RuggieBear

John R wrote:

I think in this instance your previous sig image would be more appropriate.

what....this one?