bellemorda

Re-evaluate and/or re-work your mission statement

Seriously. Scrutinize this. Then come up with concrete ways you are meeting that mission, in *effective* and proactive ways. And remember please, its quality, not quantity that achieves this result. Examine how it suits contemporary gaming culture for women, how it supports that. Pick it apart -- are there sections that sound wonderful but are impossible to execute in practice by site administration? Maybe it needs a reworking, either to reflect your changing goals, the changing culture of women in gaming, or the industry standard. Companies do this all the time as a respectible practice that they are keeping pace with the industry. Believe us, we will respect you the morning after. We will. Promise.

Re-assess the goals of your site

If you are going to provide news articles that people want to visit your site to read, they have to be well reported on, well written and concise. This is going to require more than somebody writing a one sentence blurb and posting a link -- take it from me, we can do that in the forum just as easily, and have -- often before the information is posted in the News Forum. If you want gaming news to be a part of this site, you need to find somebody who can write your gaming news for you. Otherwise, your intent to provide gaming news is pointless when we can get this information more informatively from another site. If this is not possible, you need to rethink the time and effort you are putting into gaming news you post on the site.

First rule of retail: if you are going to offer a storefront, it needs to sell things that people want.

Hype your scholarships, your contests and those offered by the industry. Consider become a clearinghouse of relevant information directing users to the kinds of things they want to do (win games, participate in surveys, download free games, find indie games, etc.).

Job sites that offer specifically tailored searches for tech positions are as common as LJ memes. If you're going to feature jobs, you have to make people want to look at that section, especially if you are putting a lot of time and effort into it, otherwise its really not worth your effort.

Unless you are featuring hard to find, little known or indie games, the games playing section is not in any way unique from the hundreds of other sites where these can be found.

If you are going to have editorial content that informs, edifies or supports your site's goals, it needs to be more frequent, more varied by author and more contemporaneous. You do not have to hire anybody to do this, as there are many qualified writers (many of them exist in your membership base) who could provide this service gratis.

Re-structure your content

You need more content, more relevant content, more contemporary content, more insightful and inspiring and interesting content. You need more user-created content. In a sandbox genre gaming world, why can we not create the WomenGamers world we all want to live in?
Here is a good sampling of what you could use to even make you industry standard among gaming sites:

• podcast created by members
  
• reviewing or featuring podcasts
  
• more relevant and frequent interviews
  
• more editorials with greater breadth of opinion
  
• more game reviews with a womengamer's perspective
  
• more tech discussion
  
• more personal PoV participation events (question of the day, polls, chat sessions or talkshoe live events)
  
• more access to game related news across the internet
  
• access to game demos, trailers and video content
  

Really, really re-evaluate the structure of the Forums. Stop avoiding the issue of allowing/disallowing user-created icons and sig lines -- its just plain petty and lame at this point not to institute them into your new shiny and polished site. You can have new clothes but we can't? Throw the users a freaking bone. Give them expression. And if you're worried about content therein? Make it user-monitored: allow any user to report what they would consider inappropriate but wield a dual-edged sword in this matter -- the petitioner will be respectively scrutinized as well. Surely you realize with the nature of our membership we are well able to manage this self-sufficiently.

Suggestions for growing and keeping membership valuation

Institute a membership representation organization of possibly three members (one long-time, one short-time, one Euro member possibly, or some combination): even credit unions have committees meant to represent the majority members and their interests. Don't give me crap about hurting anybody's feelings through a nomination or election process -- we live in democratic societies. Terms could be short. This group could be a sounding board for concerns, help evaluate and implement content changes, make suggestions for improvements, and generally help to find ways to make the site more exciting, accessible and productive. It saves you having to hear all the complaints, and it prevents you from looking callous when you are unable to respond to every one of those complaints personally.

Consider going beyond the appreciable but dated concept of the forum interview. We need podcast interviews. We need podcasts period. User-created podcasts. User created video. Anything MORE than purely text based information. 

Consider implementing a tiered membership system that will aid you in monitoring posted content, personalized icons and sig lines, images posted in threads, etc.. Its done in guilds with access to resources. Additionally, a code of conduct in writing that you can rely on in situations where behavior is called into question could save you a lot of hassle. This is without question a gaping hole in this site for which a code of conduct could pre-emptively prevent enormous amounts of administration by the staff and moderators to be poured into.

Yes, you have your representation here and there on the internet and in person at gaming events. Why not have WomenGamer's affiliates in cities across the country and the world who would be willing to tout the site, their participation, and generally be your walking PR committee + billboard (read: free t-shirts and give-aways) at ANY kind of gaming event or con. On an individual level, like members, given the blessing to wear your gear and talk about your site to anybody they meet at events they attend. I mean, we all go to those, don't we? We all shop in game stores, right? What does this cost you? Really, not much for the amount of exposure and word of mouth that could be generated. We are your best, free advocacy.

Suggestions for increasing membership participation and loyalty

Contests are good (i.e., user icon design contest, sig line contest, new t-shirt design contest, site motto contest, even goofy stuff like a site mascot contest, WomenGamers Game of the Month/Year, random drawings, wtf ever)

Scheduled gaming sessions or user participation - mini tourneys for halo, COD4, TeamFortress, what have you. make your prizes free t-shirts, messenger bags or non-cash compensation (this is another thing your committee could organize for you)

Allow users to write some of the editorials, reviews or news features. Here's the bonus -- it costs you nothing, yet earns you everything. Your readership doubles in that whoever writes for you will likely get their family/friends/contacts reading the content as well.

Schedule a Q&A podcast or chat session with somebody the membership would really like to talk with -- game developer, gaming icon, somebody notable in the industry who'd be willing to participate in an open-chat forum. Allow participants outside the womengamers membership to sit in on this and listen. Require a code of conduct be signed for participation by members, and suspend users who don't abide by it.

Feature game-related merchandise reviews, content and access -- itsy.com has hundreds of artists making things like dice earrings, geekbaby accoutrements, gamergirl clothing, fimo jewelry based on game characters, art, etc. 

Bottom line

If your lives are really too busy or detracting from prioritizing what this site needs, please consider all of us willing to help/assist/implement this. Let us help to make this site a place we want to be active participates in. Rely on our skills. Don't shy from implementing change that has the possibility to veer from your perception of a user-owned, monitored and moderated site: this site has the bones, the history, the caring members and the excellent administrative staff to continue reflecting values we all share.


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Now having posted all this, I'm challenging any other participant on this site to do the following: if you have something to say regarding any of the foregoing, feel free but don't come bitching about crap if you don't have a suggestion for a solution. And not a selfish, personalized one or two things that would make *you* feel better, but things that are actually cost-effective, feasible, manageable and site-supportive. There's nothing productive at this point in venting for venting's sake -- step up and say what you've gotta say in a constructive way or you are more than welcomed to gtfo.