The Komplett Board

DeVore

Hi there,
Just a quick note to explain whats going on with Komplett and Boards.ie.

Recently on the For Sale there was a good deal of discussion about Komplettt and their Irish pricing. This attracted the attentions of the Komplett internet rep who interacted with you lot and subsequently adjusted their prices as a result.

Add this to the UTV thread on IOFFL and theres a nice pattern emerging. "We shout, they listen, we stamp our collective feet and they change stuff for the better."

Now, we've always said (and continue to say) that commercial spam was unwelcome on Boards.ie. And so it is.

However, these types of interactions were positive and a lot was achieved by them.
Boards.ie members were ovewhelmingly in favour of giving the companies in question "a piece of their mind" (like anyone needs to ask you lot for your opinons!) and remarkably the companies were very grateful for being shown the "error" of their ways.

So, we've created a "commercial interaction" section under the Community area. This is an area for companies to interact with their users (or potential users) without spamming the rest of us out of it.
Its also got a benefit to us as it allows us direct feedback to these companies (who are likely to be companies who want to talk to us in the first place) and also there may be Boards.ie special offers. (Komplett have already said we'll get advance notice and special offers etc).

Since half of the agreement is with a commercial entity, we're charging them to directly support the continued existance of Boards.ie. Seems only fair

They will have a company representative on Boards but NOT a moderatorship, thats done by a neutral third party (we've decided that the Admins will directly moderate these forums, Vexorg will be Kompletts mod).

I have to say that dealing with Komplett in particular turned me from a skeptic into a supporter of this idea.
We were very clear about the rules and what they mean and they were very clear that that was exactly how they wanted it.

Getting one of these boards DOES NOT entitle the company rep to do anything that we wouldnt allow a regular user to do. They can post on other boards and topics etc but spam/unsolicted posts will be cut and *bad things* will happen. We dont need the cash that badly.

As I've said on the Admin board we are currently chewing over a charter for the future of Boards.ie as a whole. If we were a corporate entity they'd probably call it a "mission statement" of a "vision document" or something. Its just a plan though.

Anyway, as ever you can feedback on this on the admin forum.

DeVore and the Admins.

Dustaz

This sounds like a brilliant idea. Anyone who has seen first hand the efforts companies like UTV and Komplett make will welcome this idea i think.

The only issue is the financial end of things. Are these companies effectivly buying a board? Does it buy them anything else?

What about companies like Eircom? I have no hesitation in naming them as a company that doesnt seem in the least bit interested in making or keeping thier customers happy. Would they be offered the same courtesy, or must a company 'proove its worth' to have a board?

I doubt you guys would allow anything in the least bit dodgy, but i suppose the question must be asked

bubbles

I think this is a good time to say, because its at the start of a thread thats going to be viewed alot, that eircom are the biggest bunch of w@nkers ever. They would never go for something like that. Why? Well the simple answer is that they are f*uckwits stuck in the last century. I should know, I work for the kunts.

dahamsta

Great idea, I hope that it works out and we see a lot more of this type of thing. The only concern I have is that it being tucked away in a corner might see it wither and die. (Look at the PHP board -- who's bright idea was that? )

Stickies in a few of the boards might help, but I'm not so sure. Another idea would be to set up a general "commercial interaction" board - the UTV and irishbroadband.ie threads could be moved in there - and see how it goes. Course, if you're struck a deal with Komplett, they might not be agreeable.

Anyway, I know some of this has probably been covered before in the previous thread - I didn't see it until the other day - I'm just thinking out loud. And I'm not being negative by the way, I'm trying to think of ways to maximise this. It'd be great to build a whole section out of it.

adam /sheds a tear for bubbles

b20uvkft6m5xwg

Well said Bubbs

--
I like the idea...as sort of a direct business to consumer gateway.
Can only be good, imo. Most of the time Companies (ie.Bubbles employers) tell us what we want as oppossed to listening to what we want.

Hail the new dawn:)

sceptre

Originally posted by bubbles
I think this is a good time to say, because its at the start of a thread thats going to be viewed alot, that eircom are the biggest bunch of w@nkers ever. They would never go for something like that. Why? Well the simple answer is that they are f*uckwits stuck in the last century. I should know, I work for the kunts.

...checks statements for libel... passes them as "fine" on the basis of statements being true:D.

Just watch your back bubbles - wouldn't want to give them an excuse to send you down to your local (employment) exchange:(

DeVore

And also "Gross Verbal Abuse" which oddly enough, isnt actionable.

Anyway, back on topic

DeV.

sceptre

Just checked out their postings over on the DVD Forums and if their postings there are anything to go by this is a Very Good Thing (their reputation has held up fairly strongly there)

Plus money in the bank/server/whatever from a good trader

Shiminay

Excellent! Fair play to Komplett and boards.ie for this - benefits all round.

Hey Admins - you're starting to change the world!

amp

Hmm a Public/Private-like Partnership. Nice. I approve.

Keeks

I think this is a great idea...any company that actually listens to its comsumers needs will go a long way....just hope more companys do the same (one in particular )

LoBo

could you add commercial interaction to the community drop down menu please?

Vexorg

Lobo

could you add commercial interaction to the community drop down menu please?

its been in the community drop down menu for a couple of days now.....?

What browser are you using?


Vex.

LoBo

Using IE 5.0

It may be something to do with our (new) http proxy, as i'm having problems seeing a change I uploaded to web site too. Will look into it..

[edit: fixed it with ctrl+f5. I guess it hadn't ever refreshed the drowdown page because I leave my work pc on for many days on end]

TacT

I love it when nice things happen between customer's and prospective companies. Wp to boards and Komplett on what I hope shall be a prosperous venture and by the looks of it, it is

Thorbar

any other companies looking to pay for a board as komplett did?

DeVore

We are talking to a couple of companies, but Komplett were straight off the blocks and actually surprised me they were soon tuned in to what this does for them.

Per is employed solely to interact with clients online... how long until we see that as an accepted role: Internet Representative.


DeV.

Patman

Originally posted by DeVore
Per is employed solely to interact with clients online...

Just a quick comment to let all know that I am not spending the entire day communicating with customers online. It's just one of my many tasks. But I am happy to say that it's by far the most enjoyable task of the day!