Not a Gear Question But…

[EndoftheTrail]

this forum has the most traffic, and anyway, it’s hopefully a quick question.

I just noticed a red “M” next to almost all posters’ names. I assume “M” signifies “member”, but I thought only members can post anyway?!

[Ryan Faulkner]

I bet it makes the non members jealous and makes them want to join the site :)

[kevin davidson]

Ben, i think it’s like the red *A” they used to mark adulterers with. In this case, i think it means “mark” as in “easy” as in we are the people that Ryan can pimp his products to.

kidding, just kidding–don’t hit me!

[archeopteryx .]

The red M indicates a premium membership.

[kevin davidson]

Arch,–I thought I just said that, :-)

[Courtney Waal]

Looking at how much I’ve spent at BPL in the last month (thanks for the cheaper Vapr seconds! x0x0x) I’d believe that conspiracy theory.

[Richard Nelridge]

I agree with Ben, I thought that only Premium Members could post. So does that mean that some of the postings are from people that aren’t members, has the computer missed some of the members, or is it related to something else such as the number of postings, the amount purchased or membership renewal (I believe Ryan F is a new member)?

Rich

[Ryan Faulkner]

mabey the ones not marked are corporate memberships

[Anonymous]

You do not have to be a premium member to post.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Anon,
how do you post without a membership?

[First Last]

Anon is correct. While everyone needs to sign up for an account in order to post, premium membership is not required.

The “M” designation looks silly though.

[Ryan Jordan]

2painful: tell me what’s silly about it. Is it the concept that’s silly, or the look of the M? Feedback is welcome.

Another thing that’s in store for Premium Members is a loyalty program. We’re playing with algorithms based on your forum activity, reader reviews, online/print mag subscriptions and renewals, purchases, articles submitted for publication, and possibly a few other metrics. You’ll basically earn points, not unlike a frequent flyer program. Points will be redeemable at certain levels for credit towards gear in the shop, BPL gift certificates, free subscriptions you can use to invite others, etc.

The “M” in the forums is part of that designation.

So, in other forum software, you have classification levels like “rookie, junior, senior, etc.” based on the number of forum posts. We’re going to expand that concept to be something more meaningful, with real benefit (store credit, etc) beyond a designation by your name that says “Junior Member” etc.

This program is being developed, we hope to implement it shortly after the new year.

[Ryan Jordan]

Oh, and by the way, KD, I’ve been called a lot of things, but gear pimp has never been…

Oh. Wait.

Nevermind.

[Matt LP]

Frequent poster rewards….yeah, I like the sound of that. Begin to brainstorm new post ideas…:)

[Rick Dreher]

There was a thought early on to use a red “P” but it was too reminiscent of when my dog had bladder stones.

[Ryan Jordan]

That was FLUFF Dreher. Quit padding your loyalty account.

[Rick Dreher]

Okay boss, you can give my points to Fornshell. (Like he’ll need them.)

[Bill Fornshell]

Do we get extra credit for pictures with our posting? Links? etc??

[EndoftheTrail]

Great! Ryan is pimping and we’re all a bunch of gear whores doing tricks to get points!

(just being sarcastic…)

[Courtney Waal]

Ryan-

Would this be akin to Montbell’s point system for rewarding our super ho status with shiny new toys?

I’m curious how you’re databasing this info that you’re mining. I know you’ve mentioned in the past that BPL members are *ahem* on the spendy side of things. I could imagine that a system that would allow you to cross-check users’ buying history against what we’ve been saying in the forums and which articles we’ve been reading would be useful for predicting buying habits. I can just imagine the product alert emails and subsequent loss of bowel control for “Sparkly pink tarps now in stock!”.

[kevin davidson]

Do we get extra points if we make our photos small
or post links,instead?

signed,KD: unrepentent gear whore (but I have a heart of gold)

sparkly pink tarps? I want one! In Nano.

[EndoftheTrail]

.

[Mark]

See, I was thinking it was more of a Montana ‘branding’ thing so you can keep us herded to the new gear more easily. “Well, time to rustle up some of the cattle, I mean members, for the new 15oz eVent 2-person Alpine X-Mansion…”
-Mark

[paul johnson]

Dr. J,

i liked the M. noticed it before getting to this Thread. It was pretty obvious what it meant. However, your generous, tangible “enhancements” to its meaning are greatly appreciated. [don’t anyone worry. i won’t increase my posting just to get points – though i may split my longer ones up into several shorter ones!!! – just kidding]

It would be great if it were made retroactive back to the point when an individual became a member – purely for selfish reasons. Lately, I’ve been trying to reduce my Posting (both lengths and quantity; want to “play nice” with other Forum participants and not be a “Post hawg”) – sure would like credit for earlier ones. especially, if you can give it by the “word”!!!

oh…BTW…Dr. J, glad to see the red ‘M’ next to your name on your Posts!!

never thought of you as a ‘pimp’. now,…if you start to “hawk”, from your virtual “soap-box”, Prof. Willoughby’s Spring Tonic – good for whatever ails you (for Medicinal Purposes only, but also doubles as Stove Fuel in keeping with UL philosophy), then my opinion might change. no…even Dr. Jordan’s Spring Tonic won’t do – don’t even try it!!

******************************************
oh…one last question for Dr. J (what’s the half-life of reacted AqM? two #’s please, one if constantly exposed to sunlight, and the other either a nominal value, or if kept in the dark at summer daytime temps (so, let’s say mid-to-upper 80’s). actually, this is getting involved. to cover a broader range of condtions, can you post a link to a graph/plot of this info? my concern is that more than once people have talked about using water purified with AqM to disinfect (not merely irrigate) a wound. for how long after reacting and mixing with water, can this reasonably be done? remember, for disinfection, as you undoubtedly already well know, we’re really talking just about bacteria here. also, using too strong a dose would cause tissue damage in the wound. any comments on this too. many thanks.

[Richard Nelridge]

Paul,

I presume that previous posts, purchases, subscriptions, and renewals would be used. BPL has all the statistics and info on their server.

Rich

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