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From	Message
king_0_nothing 30-May-14, 22:13	How do you reward/acknowledge your players? Acknowledging a job well done is great for morale, what are some ways you reward your players?
mikemate 30-May-14, 23:55	JJ, you have great ideas on this subject so lay it out.   I gave up on the "Player of the Month" a long time ago because I witnessed players holding onto lost games waiting for the end of the month. This "stockpiling losses" leads to the inevitable high "90 day rating" which makes future pairings difficult for that individual.
shamash 31-May-14, 02:10	Our Captain analyzes our games, posts his annotations quarterly, and based on his insight or the recommendations of team members, posts brilliancy games by members of our team.
chesstigger 01-Jun-14, 16:51	To All I have games posted on our " Wall of Fame " I choose a high rated , medium & lower rated player , as no one knows who I will chose or what game I will pick , there's no holding on to games .... only games that have shown real inspiration or where a player has played a really tough game are the ones that get picked , this seems to work well ...... I post the final position & game link , that way our players can go thru the game & learn , of course I have several other things we do also ....
king_0_nothing 01-Jun-14, 19:57	I used to do the "Player of the Month" thing... I did it purely statistical, I would copy the team standings (sorted by team score) into a document on the first and last of the month and calculate differences, whoever had the highest +/- for each month was awarded the spot. I liked it because it was fair for everyone, or so I thought... there was a fundamental flaw to this method and I tossed it out faster than a worm-ridden bag of rice! There was no recognition on the team for some time. Mid-late last year I started doing big matches, anything with 5 or more players got its own thread in the team forum. Any player who came out ahead against their opponent (2-0 or 1-0-1) was listed in another thread called "Special Recognition." I started thinking that I could do this for every match, all year long. January 1st, the race for the Golden Fleur Award began. It works out quite well, because the captain receives a message whenever a team match completes... I keep a note pad by the computer and whenever I get a message that a team match has completed, I note any player who wins both games against their opponent (2-0) and the date they did it. That player is awarded 1 point for the month, and 1 point for the year. I mentioned that I note the date. This is because when I do my periodic updates in the standings thread I make sure that I source every game. This is essential!!! I can't tell you how many times a player has messaged me telling me that I missed his game. Sourcing the link to the match allows you to direct your player to 1. the thread title, 2. the date you posted his/her match, 3. which link in the list of sources is his. The one flaw is that the player doesn't get his points until the entire match completes. So someone who wins both games in a week might have to wait 6 months to get credit if his partner in the match is a slow mover. I made this rule very clear in the beginning, and sometimes players ask why they weren't credited yet and I have to direct them to this bit of fine print. This all sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't. I probably commit less than 2 hours of my time on this site per month to this endeavor. I synchronized our official start dates and end dates to Gameknot time, so my time stamped messages concerning team match completion reflect the proper dates and times, no need to figure out the difference between the time zones every single time a match completes. All that is listed above is available to everyone to use if they so desire. What is below is mine   Instead of giving credit to players on a January, February, March etc.. basis, I used the representative birth stones for each month as a symbol that will last for years. I design an award for each player, if they win more than one month they are awarded more gems. This will continue for as long as they're on the team. You can see in my profile that I was able to nab a Diamond Award (April), I tied my teammate Diplock for the honor. Here are some examples: A basic completed games award, can not be customized until a player wins a gem: i1364.photobucket.com The Emerald Award (May), awarded today: i1364.photobucket.com The player then receives his name on the award, the gem he or she was awarded, and the flag for the country they represent. The award is adjusted as a player racks up achievements, Glacerda just went from 300 games completed to 500, he was awarded the following design: i1364.photobucket.com He has a Garnet and an Amethyst because he won the award in both January and February. This has been a lot of fun within the team. One final note; I don't deduct points for a 0-2 loss. I don't care for my players holding off their losses until the end of the month and then being bombarded with a ton of losses when the new month begins. The reward for the entire team has included an increased workload from a lot of players who didn't play many games previously. They understand that the more games they play, the better the chance they have of winning an award. We have a few bridesmaids on the team; folks who finished second a few times and haven't quite won the award. This is what works for us
chesstigger 01-Jun-14, 20:12	King I like your idea too ...... I play on another site where you can give any player a goodie , but it also has special awards ... trophy's , ribbons and so forth .... what's nice is you don't need to design anything , all you do is click on what you want to give , then click on who you want to give it too ..... I have given & received several awards , I just finished my first simultaneous set of games .... playing 10 boards ... was very interesting ...
king_0_nothing 01-Jun-14, 20:22	I wish this site had that, too. I've been a part of other sites that had something similar, not chess sites, though. I do like to design logos, it's a hobby of mine. It's not much different than playing in MS Paint when I was a kid, except now I can link it to something tangible. I'm always itching to open my design studio program
chesstigger 01-Jun-14, 20:29	King So what's stopping you ..... " the saddest words of man or pen , are the words ...it might have been " what about an online studio ..... there are sites that can help design a web page , but you could design your own .... or maybe talk to our techie .... adammbomm .... he designs web pages , if your interested , I'll give you an interdiction ....   I would love to see this site have that .... their are so many players I would love to give an award to , and not just on my team ..... I have played and made friends with quite a few players on other teams ...
king_0_nothing 01-Jun-14, 21:07	Not for graphic design, I'm quite content and successful at my current career, thanks though!   I do have an idea that may give me an opportunity to take you up on your offer in the future. As for a trophy case for each profile on gameknot... I could probably design a couple of prototypes and pitch it to the administrators... I don't hold out much hope though, we all saw how the very public pitch to restore team messaging went in the old Club Captain. :/
chesstigger 02-Jun-14, 07:37	king forget trying to get GK to do anything ..... I tried to contact them a couple of times ... and you know the Ladylinda story ..... so don't waste your time , all they want is your money ....
shamash 02-Jun-14, 07:59	a different opinion: Have always found GameKnot management responsive. have Not always gotten what I've asked for -- but have always felt I was listened to as an individual, always got a fair hearing, and a swift response. And if I didn't get what I requested -- I always got an explanation. Plus, a number of times I even received more goodies from GameKnot than I bargained for, or expected. As to the saga referred to, you don't blame the failure of a sale on the prospect -- but on the salesperson. The presentation was an impressive powerhouse of analysis, yes -- but the presentation was fatally flawed: it failed to make the point of how the change requested would convert to a higher percentage of premium accounts. And that is the metric that should have been focused on, in closing the sale to GameKnot.
chesstigger 02-Jun-14, 08:10	shamash That's interesting , Maybe we should have enlisted you to present that proposal ..... might have had a different outcome ..... the only 2 times I tried to contact GK .... I received nothing back ... so perhaps it was the way I asked or maybe the question made no sense to them .... but if King wants to contact & propose something to them .... Hey !! go for it .... you never know .....
mikemate 02-Jun-14, 08:32	I'm guessing I have contacted Gameknot around 40 times and they were very responsive except the two times I proposed changes to the advanced player search. I'm not sure they ever responded to either of those two proposals. Simple changes to that function would greatly enhance the team pairing process. I have been on Gameknot 4 1/2 years and there has been many improvements and upgrades during that time, most notably the tactics training, IMO. However, we all know how difficult messaging the team (entire team) has become. In regards to the failed(?) proposal to reinstate team messaging ladylinda did a remarkable effort and I believe she did state how this would improve Gameknot's bottom line. She stated how team play promotes premium membership.
chesstigger 02-Jun-14, 09:17	Mikemate that's my main beef , I work a lot with my team .... GK limits the PMs to 100 I think, so when I want to get a message to every player I can't ..... our team has 198 players , so I have to pick & choose as to who I pm .... makes communication very difficult .....
shamash 02-Jun-14, 09:25	that pitch No matter what the passion, what we had here was a failure to comprehend. In every negotiation there is a buyer and a seller, so you ask who is buying and who is selling. Figure that out, and you know who holds the power clues: 1) trace where value is created for this site, 2) leverage the role of content: content creates value, and 3) quantify the value to GK of captains who attract new members – and who promote the value for team members to convert free memberships into paid memberships: so as to create recurring revenue streams, and to build GameKnot's competitive brand value. That's how you close that sale.
chesstigger 02-Jun-14, 09:48	shamash Are you in sales ?? seems like you have a real head for this .....
shamash 02-Jun-14, 10:08	Donald, it's common sense 101 -- maybe 201: if a sale is not made, whether it is of an idea or a drill press, you don't blame the prospect. The responsibility is the salesperson's. Especially when it is the seller of the idea who initiated the contact.
chesstigger 02-Jun-14, 10:11	shamash Yes that's true ...... That's why most places that hire salespeople want closers ..... you can talk all day about how good a product is ..... but if they don't buy it ..... it's just a lot of hot air ....
king_0_nothing 02-Jun-14, 22:54	I'm over the team messaging. I've searched high and low for a better site for team play, and nothing even comes remotely close to the presentation Gameknot lays out there. From the feel of the site, to the individuality of each and every team, this site is head and shoulders above the rest. I would like to message my team if I need to, but I have another way to get through to my players... not all at once mind you, and that's where it is lacking. I send out yearly morale messages and make a note on the receiver's profile so I can be sure I got to them at least once. Other than that, I contact players as needed. It works for us, but we aren't anywhere close to 200 members   The forum is dead, I'm the only one who uses it. When someone contacts me about something covered in the forum, I direct them there and tell them to monitor the area for news and announcements. The thing about the petition is this: Gameknot has lots, and I mean lots of premium subscribers. I'm sure they see it a different way, they could lose 50% of their team captains and co-captains to other sites (they won't), new teams will be created, those captains won't realize a team messaging feature ever existed. The team forum is a flop, no one on my team is buying a membership to be able to use it... I used to believe that was why they took the team message feature away, but really it was mostly members who were already paying subscribers that were using it anyway. I tend to believe it could have been a side-effect of a change they made, and they had no desire to pay someone to fix it, or jump through the hoops to fix it themselves. Good did come from that petition... it did unite the teams on this site for a greater good. It didn't accomplish its end goal, but I don't think it was all in vain. I was in the hospital twice this year, once for a week, and once for a few days for surgery, but ended up staying off the site for 18 days. It would have been nice to let everyone know what was happening through one big message that they were guaranteed to receive. Other than that, we can live without it.
postalpeet 05-Jul-14, 21:39	I change the team avatar... ...to highlight a team member who has done something well. But then I like to play with graphics...and I like to finger-paint as well
denver49er1 12-Jul-14, 23:02	I am active Since taking over the Masters of the Game team, i have been extremely active in communicating with my team members. I give a weekly update and many read it. I always congratulate team members when they win matches that get us into 1st place or keep us there. We have 2 players of the month-1 for most wins and the other for best win % with a 6 game minimum. This rewards players on both ends of the spectrum. I always welcome new members to the team. I always post in my team forum milestones reached by our players and levels they achieve. I would agree that the team forums are not as active as I would like, but something is better then nothing. I do have many players who do not participate in the forums, however most say they read them. Good communication is the key to running a team in my opinion. Players need to feel appreciated.
baddeeds 07-Sep-14, 09:53	I acknowledge players by doing what was started since the beginning of time, when the team was called Balance. It's called honoroll, and you honor the top players of the month, by ranking and who has finished the most games, to make a long story short.

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