Gaia: God Pod or Life, the Universe and Everything - Bulletin Board - Gaia Ambassador?

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:43:24 GMT

That is very gracious of you to recognise there is one besides yourself.

G'day Mikey, you have to be gentle when addressing Mike, he's very sensitive. Bruises easily...

-An eccentric village idiot.

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://mbsu.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:27:29 GMT

And so..... you are perfect?

mikeS

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:21:18 GMT

Um, hi Mikey! :) Glad to have you drop by!

Hugs,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://MikeyDineen.gaia.com — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:05:57 GMT

Mike S, in one of your posts you say "nobody's perfect" , this is debatable......
the other Mike

Re: Clarification-

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:18:06 GMT

Thank you for writing this, Christopher. I would very much appreciate your continued involvement as a member, especially while I am away.

Love,

Nicole

Clarification-

http://jeepdog.gaia.com — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:54:38 GMT

It seems that there has been confusion as to intent.

You see, my disgruntlement has nothing to do with how the pod relates to me, rather, as to how I seem to relate to this pod.

I stepped down as a mod, and remained silent on this pod not out of "punishment." Do you not see it is not about "punishment?" I am not so fickle as to embark upon scorched-earth revenge. It is not about individuals, but how I view myself in relation to this pod.

It is about that confrontation. That's the problem. I do not endeavor to be confrontational. I do not try to "debate."

Yet, I come across as "knee-jerk" and "shot-from-the-hip," neither of which I believe is helpful to the health of this pod. Indeed, I am direct, but as far as forums go, I do not intend to "shoot from the hip" without premeditation. I certainly do not intend to be confrontational. I give my perspective, sure, and sometimes do not qualify that perspective, but lay out it there nonetheless. Yet, if someone disagrees with that perspective, I could really care a less. I may push the point if I believe something is being "missed" by either party, but I really do not care to "win" over anyone to my version of perspective.

My current perspective is that I am disruptive, since I am perceived in part or in whole as "confrontational," "knee-jerk," and "shoot from the hip." Again, I do not think these attributes are nested with the pod's intent and purpose.

Again, nothing about "punishment," just a perspective regarding my role as a mod, and a member of the pod.

Certainly no drama is intended. I am far removed from that mentality.

~

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://mbsu.gaia.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:05:45 GMT

Christopher,

It seems I made an error based on your comment. This happens from time to time in this online typed format (and, of course, nobody's perfect).

However, I see no reason to indict the entire pod, "if that is the prevailing, un-checked sense of this community (discussion), I humbly bow out." since I feel that is an unfair indictment on the group and thus, the cultivator who started the group and continues to do a commendable job of maintaining the group as well.

If you wish to exit, then do so as a result of my comment and leave it at that. If you wish to call me on a error, then fine, I can take it and i will admit to mistakes when I make when them (and I have in the past).

We're all adults here, no need for drama, bro...

Peace Angel,
mike S

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:09:16 GMT

Dear Christopher,

I was sad to learn how upsetting this was to you, and sad that you no longer feel it is appropriate to be a mod here. I have always deeply appreciated your contribution here, as I have shared both publicly and privately, and your going away from here will be a big loss to the pod.

I do indeed remember your skepticism of the change to Gaia, and am aware that you are at a wary truce. .

Lately, I have been unsure how to respond as a mod to statemements such as the one Mike made. I feared that I was tending to moderate too much between people (I remember on another occasion, it seemed that both you and Mike thought I was being over-anxious about moderating your interaction).

So, I chose to stay silent and see if it would work out.

I guess I made the wrong choice.

Mea maxima culpa

With grief,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://jeepdog.gaia.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:57:20 GMT

MikeS- I seem to have touched a nerve since you misinterpret a question for a "judgment" (notice the question mark?). However, I have become accustomed to your knee-jerk reponses so its easy to see how you may have missed the question mark.

I am quite disappointed that my remarks came across as a personal endeavor directed at you, especially with my choice of the word "judgement."

Review of my statement, with some explanation for those perusing this pod who may have been lead to an alternate interpretation having read Mike's reply -

Perhaps we should reserve judgement of "could the Gaia community forum be simply an arm of the Gaia advertising department?" until we see such evidence - or evidence that this community is inextricably connected to contributing to the "millions" of which you reference, I would think the point is moot.

Those who know me well, and certainly a true friend, would readily recall that at this time last year, I was quite vocal about being skeptical in regards to zaadz being subsumed by Gaiam. I thought a manifestation of what I thought to be a questionable arrangement was manifested in the Terms of Use. In the present, I am much of the opinion that Ben (marmalade) has outlined: I am one of those at a wary truce.

Hence, truly, when I state "perhaps we should reserve judgement" of Gaia being purely a marketing scheme of Gaiam, it is exclusive (external) in the sense of "we" as opposed to "me" or specifically personal in reference to "you" (Mike).

There was nothing "knee-jerk" about my response. In fact, it was quite deliberate and posted with quite a bit of thought - reflection and introspection.

While my intention was not a personal attack on you as a vessel of communitcating concepts, I find it quite disturbing that you crossed that line with the "I am accustomed to your knee-jerk responses," and frankly appreciate it in the least.

That being said, if that is the prevailing, un-checked sense of this community (discussion), I humbly bow out, since obviously my presence is not in line with the spirit of this board.

~

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:32:37 GMT

Yes, that's right, depending on the day, it's somewhere in the top three most active pods. For example, today, if you look at http://pods.gaia.com/
you will see the top open groups - if you look here (and ignore the Think Tank which is always on top to draw people's attention) you see that in fact the most active group at the moment is the semi-private writing discussion group Diving Deeper.

Activity is in posts per day, though, not how many people are logged in.

Love,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://mrprophet.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:59:09 GMT

Missy,
That's one of the better things I've seen on GAIA in a while. Thank you.

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://mrprophet.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:54:40 GMT

Nicole, I recall reading something saying that this was one of the most active pods on GAIA. Is that true? and if it is, 80 people are not an awful lot. However, I do know that I get a lot of hits on my website so perhaps there are many who log onto GAIA, brouse the pod, perhaps make a comment or just look up people who they think are interesting without actually joining.

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://benjamindavidsteele.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:36:48 GMT

It says that there are 128,420 visits per day. That seems pretty high, but I bet that includes those people who visit multiple times. Unfortunately, that number isn't broken down into who those visitors are. Probably most of them aren't members, but if so I'd like to know what draws so many non-members to visit.

I followed some of the links at that site and found something interesting. The Wikipedia article about the Integral movement includes a link to this community. According to that, this community is listed as one of the top sites representing Integralism. That is good advertising. OTOH the entry for Gaiam mentions Zaadz but not Gaia and doesn't offer a link to this site. Someone on the team or in the Ambassadorship might want to remedy that situation.

Marmalade

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:20:26 GMT

That's an amazing source of info Larry.

Thank you, I'll have a good look, I'm interested to see how they get their stats.

One thing I'd add though, Gaiam have either got a REAL good friend at Google or they spend a lot of money there. Gaia is always near the top of searches these days relating to anything Gaia is about.

An eccentric Aussie (or village idiot)

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:34:45 GMT

Yay for lars! Thanks so much,\

Love,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://fastdarter.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:20:47 GMT

Here's what statbrain has to say about gaia.
Hugs to you Nicole and Missy.
Andrew we all love you. :-)

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:20:29 GMT

Good one, Missy!

Hugs,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://singerseeker.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:15:52 GMT

I'm guessing they do keep stats on these kinds of things, we could always ask Matthew and the dev team!

I think you are right, there will be some real challenges, and we will have to see how they are met....

Love,

Nicole

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:12:58 GMT

That is an excellent parable Missy... one to get the mind active...

Re: Gaia Ambassador?

http://benjamindavidsteele.gaia.com — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:48:15 GMT

Nicole - Do you know if they keep any statistics about the site? It would be interesting to know how many people visit the site that aren't members versus those that are. I'm also wondering how many members on average log in on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, and on a monthy basis. I'd like to know how it compares with communities of a similar focus and of a similar size.

I'd suspect that community shrunk after Gaiam bought it because it didn't seem everyone was on board with the change. If so, I wonder if the community has grown back to its original size or maybe even larger.

Gaia does have a challenge ahead. Social networking sites are popping up like mushrooms. Also, there are tons of other communities dedicated to spirituality and social change. OTOH being a part of a large corporation does potentially give Gaia some advantage.

The main issue that Gaia is confronted with is competing. Even though it has a different function than most social networking sites, it still competes with them. This thread is about Ambassadors which are the core loyal membership. The future of this community is partly in the hands of Ambassadors because the main thing Gaia has to offer is its somewhat unique environment.

However, the Ambassadors are helpless if Gaiam doesn't continually invest into the community. For right now, Gaiam has downsized the Gaia staff and so are unlikely to invest further in Gaia in the immediate future. Gaia lacks most of the nicer amenities of a larger site, but it has its close knit community which those here probably find more important.

Marmalade