DCP GoldStar Ratings

[bawker]

Will the members of the panel be known by all? Like will there be a distinction on their profile signifying Group: Goldstar Panel Member or something?

The reason I ask is that if folks see that a Panel Member is posting in a particular thread (even one that has not yet been "starred"), they might clean up their act a little, so to speak, thinking that the thread is under review by the Panel. This may spread the effect of this program beyon just those threads that become "recommended reading."

Or is there a reason that you want the panel members to remain anonymous??? Maybe because it might create nervousness and hesitancy to disagree with certain members posts -- or to avoid the ever present possibility of bribery and/or intimidation of Panel Members ^0^

Yes, GoldStar panelists will be known to everyone...not to make this as another "internet badge" or to promote some sort of caste system here, but to show that the panel is from a wide variety of experiences, age levels and interest levels.

There will be a "GoldStar Panelist" designation for those selected...it will exist as another user group in DCP...the "sort by" function already has a place for it if you check it out.

Your point about "paying it forward" re: respecting others in other "non star" posts is a good one...that would be a great side effect from all this, but its not a "teachers pet" or "I a panelist, hear me roar" kind of thing, either. Anyone who abuses it like that is missing the point of what we're going for here. :)

[year1buick]

*serious mode on* On the whole, it's not a bad idea (at least, the sentiment isn't) but I can't help but think it might have a surpressing effect on the forums. I'll admit, I've never been a slave to "the topic"-- I like it, sometimes, when threads take a left turn, so long as it doesn't go too far (nebulous distinction, I know...) Couldn't this also open the door for some of the more serious-minded mod's to squash light-hearted threads by simply tagging them with a single star? (And thus bring on the stricter monitoring) Granted, that might not always be a bad thing--some threads simply don't need the jokes and whatnot. But I'd hate to kill this entirely. *serious mode off* Are there going to be box criteria?

[Officer_Jenny]

Playing in the backyard runnin through the trees

Momma's in the kitchen with the Mac and Cheese.

*bump*

[bawker]

*serious mode on* On the whole, it's not a bad idea (at least, the sentiment isn't) but I can't help but think it might have a surpressing effect on the forums. I'll admit, I've never been a slave to "the topic"-- I like it, sometimes, when threads take a left turn, so long as it doesn't go too far (nebulous distinction, I know...) Couldn't this also open the door for some of the more serious-minded mod's to squash light-hearted threads by simply tagging them with a single star? (And thus bring on the stricter monitoring) Granted, that might not always be a bad thing--some threads simply don't need the jokes and whatnot. But I'd hate to kill this entirely. *serious mode off* Are there going to be box criteria?

Well, this won't be "Masterpiece Thread Theater", necessarily.

We all know no thread can always be totally on topic...no thread needs to be serious all the time...it would suck the fun right out of this place.

The concept, in general, though...is to prevent anyone from taking a topic so far off the rails that it gets closed. The hope is to keep "star" threads open, so they can returned to at later times by members, updated as things change, and evolve over a season, a show concept, a rule change, and so on.

Moderators will not be able to rate threads...this will all be user driven by the GS Panelists. I (personally) would feel awkward if we let the moderators choose the "best" content of a forum environment that the users, themselves, create on a daily basis.

So, don't worry about mods hammering a topic with any rating...the moderator job is to move the conversation along, fluidly and within the confines of the thread.

Re: box criteria....There isn't really going to be a "box 5" aspect to this...it's more about each GS panelist rating things as it relates to their interests and the drum corps activity at large.

ex: Someone who is heavily involved with II/III may rate a thread called "II/III Championship Locations" a five due to relevance...a DCA-centric member may give it a one.

The amount of viewpoints we have for this... and the individual critical thinking skills of the panelist... will determine where we go. :)

Again, thanks for all the questions and feedback from everyone, it's all awesome to get. :)

[Guizeppe]

I give this thread/idea 5 gold stars. And bawker gets the "bumper of the year" award.

Seriously though, I think it is an interesting idea. I would consider putting my name in the panalist hat, but I tend to lurk in just the DCI forums...not very diversified.

So, mr. bawker, is there anything from preventing panalists from making every thread star worthy? I'm just thinking that 1 and 2 star threads would be passed over by many of the readers, threads that are worth a look at the orginal post, but not too much after that.

Also, is there a minimum number of replies a thread must have? You obviously need discussion to "label" it good, bad or otherwise. Seems to me a great topic is only great if it stirs relevent/positive dialogue, and without such dialogue you don't really have a "thread".

oh yeah....BUMP

[bawker]

is there anything from preventing panalists from making every thread star worthy? I'm just thinking that 1 and 2 star threads would be passed over by many of the readers, threads that are worth a look at the orginal post, but not too much after that.

Also, is there a minimum number of replies a thread must have? You obviously need discussion to "label" it good, bad or otherwise. Seems to me a great topic is only great if it stirs relevent/positive dialogue, and without such dialogue you don't really have a "thread".

oh yeah....BUMP

Well, I suppose folks could go crazy, and rate every thread...but since you need 8 out of the 20 to rate a topic for it show up to the general DCP community as a "star thread", there should be enough counter balance to those with itchy trigger fingers.

The rating can be "fiuid", and change as the topic does...

ex: say if we had a 4 star thread on percussion arranging going, and suddenly it devolves into "this arranger is better than this arranger". Still awesome discussion if respectfully done, but not anything groundbreaking...so the panelists may drop the thread rating down to 3 stars.

Then, perhaps we get a staffer/member from a top rated line in on the conversation who explains the technique and system used. Great info for the prospective try-out, the member here who wants to know more, and the parents/boosters interested in their kids....so it floats back up to 4 stars.

As far as minimum number of posts...well, the multiple panelist POV should prevent anyone from promoting a thread with little discussion in it too much. I don't think we can get 8 votes on a topic that just sits there, or is to self-promoting of a point of view.

That's the key here: diversity of opinion....and hopefully, that will win the day with this idea.

[JustABandMom]

Great idea. This forum is a monster of activity. This will allow folks to be able to cut to the chase and get to the best of section, if they've only got a little time and don't want to wade through a lot of fluff to get to more substantial discussion, while the regular forum is still there if they've got more time for fun and games and regular stuff.

Glad to hear you don't want to suck all the fun out of the place. Hope you can find a way to deal with the fun banter even within the more serious discussions. THere's a lot of fun here to be had, and some of it comes to lighten up some discussions. I really like some of the wit on here - and some of it occurs in serious discussions and pokes fun at some corps for some of their well-known characteristics. The problems always start because people either don't recognize the humor or are particularly sensitive and too vulnerable right then to accept the humor. Hope you can find a way to diffuse and deal with that so we can still enjoy the witty reparte (accent aigu since I forgot how to change to my french keyboard.)

I like that we will have a way to keep some topics open for discussion all season. It's a shame when good topics slide off the map so quickly. Hopefully you can star some good fun topics too like lolcorps and maybe a regular Caption This that we can keep adding to, as well as things like Drum Corps 101 and Scoring 101 for their informative value.

Good job!

[bawker]

I like that we will have a way to keep some topics open for discussion all season. It's a shame when good topics slide off the map so quickly. Hopefully you can star some good fun topics too like lolcorps and maybe a regular Caption This that we can keep adding to, as well as things like Drum Corps 101 and Scoring 101 for their informative value.

Good job!

It's all up to the GoldStar panel users (not me, or any moderators /staff here) to decide what topics are good ones through the star rating...whether it be light-hearted like lolcorps, or. as you say, a creation of a series of "101" threads for newer users (a great idea, by the way!)

And, please...if you're interested, JustABandMom, especially as a new user to the site, apply to be a GS panelist. We can't do this without great input from all across the user base we have. :)

[supersop]

Not that this would make any difference now ... but it would be a great idea to go back in the archives over the past year and find the hottest threads and mark posts with stars there as well. There have been some excellent threads in forums other than the DCI section that had 25 pages of muddle with 5 pages of EXCELLENT substance. This would be particularly useful in threads regarding rules congress and rule proposals in both DCI and DCA.

It's always nice to go back and look at a thread after a year and see how things were affected, what content is still relevant etc.

[bawker]

Not that this would make any difference now ... but it would be a great idea to go back in the archives over the past year and find the hottest threads and mark posts with stars there as well. There have been some excellent threads in forums other than the DCI section that had 25 pages of muddle with 5 pages of EXCELLENT substance. This would be particularly useful in threads regarding rules congress and rule proposals in both DCI and DCA.

It's always nice to go back and look at a thread after a year and see how things were affected, what content is still relevant etc.

Very much agree. Perhaps some of the user panelists can go back and refer to older posts once we get started, and we can streamline them accordingly, "trimming the fat" as it were to go back to now.

If there's interest by panel members in such a thing, I'm sure we can figure out something. :)