Forum update meeting

[Augustus]

Hopefully everyone will have read the latest email I sent out.

If not go and check your messages and get back to us here with any questions.


P.

[RED]

As Mottors said before,

Hopefully everyone will have read the latest email I sent out.

If not go and check your messages and get back to us here with any questions.

I would just like to add to this if any one has any good ideas as to the best way to go about this please feel free to post it. It is not the intentions of either Mottors or the modorators to ask people to divulge their identity, nor is it ever going to be that HO have any sort of control over this board, but security is a problem.
So get posting on your ideas to help us.

Red

[mendipmagpie]

Agree with you Motters
Its good to have input from h/o. The posts on SAM were particularly helpful at the time, and its good to have 2 way coms with individuals instead of a rushed telecon. Sure there will be more ideas before you meet.
MM

[*Star*man*]

Just how much is this issue of security? It sounds like some spin from HQ to slow this forum down and dis-credit . I would'nt put it past them!

Perhaps Motters (mottors!) or the moderators should vet all new forum applications. This to ensure the people are actually advisors etc, and not 'joe bloggs ' blinds!

One things for certain , if a member wants to remain 'hidden' behind an alias , then this must be OK . I am not standing for hillarys knowing my identity! Its NON of THIER Business!

Hillary's input may well be welcome - but at the moment they DO NOT LISTEN to us!

sorry to sound slightly Negative!

[Augustus]

That's ok sounding negative.

I think that it might well be a sticking point when it comes to everyones id.

It would be ok from my point of view if we could work out some kind of member validation ourselves.

Do you feel that would be ok ?

P.

[greenpesto]

I still haven't received your email that you promised us all yet Motters!

I enjoy the anonymity as it gives me the freedom to express myself in a way that I couldn't if everyone knew who I was!!!

( With the exception of the Moderators of course! )

If this site was to be linked closer to Hillarys then I would probably sign up with a separate account but would want to keep this one to 'vent' my frustrations!!!

To give up my identity following some of my previous comments would be suicide considering the management we have now!!!

[RED]

greenpesto said:

I still haven't received your email that you promised us all yet Motters!

I enjoy the anonymity as it gives me the freedom to express myself in a way that I couldn't if everyone new who I was!!!

( With the exception of the Moderators of course! )

If this site was to be linked closer to Hillarys then I would probably sign up with a separate account but would want to keep this one to 'vent' my frustrations!!!

To give up my identity following some of my previous comments would be suicide considering the management we have now!!!

Hi Greenpesto, Here is a copy of the e mail.

Hi all,

I'm sending this message out to all the members so please aim your replies to the forum and not direct back to this address.


We are quickly approaching a full year of having this forum online and so far I have been very happy with what it has done.

The point of this email is to point out a few things and also make sure everyone knows of a couple of developements behind the scenes.


It had always been my vision that we had some kind of communication online as I felt that this job wasn't really a very social one.

The forum idea was born out of my using of another message board setup by another advisor. Hoepfully I've taken it the next step and people can see that.

Once it became popular, it was more important to look at who was using it and who those people were. The last thing we would want is the competition or even customers as members.

However, I had always encouraged people from HQ to use the forum as it allowed us to voice our opinions.

Some will remember late last year we did start to get somewhere with this and people from HQ began to input their ideas/thoughts and feelings into the mix.

Things started to look very bright for the future !!!

However, I think HQ had more of a problem with the security issue then maybe I should have, so for now they are reluctant to use it.


Next month I and a few of the moderators will be having an imformal meeting at HQ to discuss how we can tighten things up so that they can again become involved.

This will help all of us as it improves communication even further.
HQ will also be able to use the forum to gain insights and feedback direct from the field without the usual red tape.


While the meeting is mainly to discuss how we can integrate greater input from HQ, it will not become run by them.

It will always be our forum.

Last week I also setup a 'staff room; for the moderators so it can be easier for me to communicate to the other mods without having to PM each one everytime I wanted there opinion.

Every forum has one area for this purpose and it's better to keep it behind closed doors in case somebody steps over the mark and we have to discuss how to deal with them.

So, in a nutshell -

we are working on improving the forum to include some input from HQ

and we have a private area in case your naughty !


I'm sure there might be plenty to talk about once you read this, so I'll put in another thread marked ' forum update meeting' in announcements


Have a good day everyone

P.

--
Red

[greenpesto]

Thanks Red!

I agree we should have more input from Hillarys staff.

They should feel safe in the knowledge that their comments are not taken as an 'affront' by the company!

Staff are more than welcome here!!!

I had always thought that following on from my initial idea for the forum suggestion was of having a 'Bettaware'/'Kleenezee' type Company web-site so that we could place orders, chase DOR's, manufacturing & order spares etc.
This would have had it's own on-line chat rooms so we could all interact with each other & the H/O staff!

In some ways I would have expected it to supersede this site!

But following on from the recent 'memo's' from H/O & the appalling way they have come back at us with the PLI & mis-measure fines etc. I would say that this is far from becoming a reality!!!

So as far as this site is concerned ... I'm happy with what we've got.

But, if it is a requirement to confirm our status with Hillarys as current Advisors then fine.

Please however, let us keep our anonymity should we so choose to do!!!

[RED]

greenpesto said:

Thanks Red!

I agree we should have more input from Hillarys staff.

They should feel safe in the knowledge that their comments are not taken as an 'affront' by the company!

Staff are more than welcome here!!!

I had always thought that following on from my initial idea for the forum suggestion was of having a 'Bettaware'/'Kleenezee' type Company web-site that we could place orders, chase DOR's & manufacturing, order spares etc.
This would have had it's own on-line chat rooms so we could all interact with each other & the H/O staff!

In some ways I would have expected it to supersede this site!

But following on from the recent 'memo's' from H/O & the appalling way they have come back at us with the PLI & mis-measure fines etc. I would say that this is far from becoming a reality!!!

So as far as this site is concerned ... I'm happy with what we've got.

But, if it is a requirement to confirm our status with Hillarys as current Advisors then fine.

Please however, let us keep our anonymity should we so choose to do!!!

Hi
anonymity is not the issue within the site. That will never be a criteria for posting. If people feel more at ease remaining unknown then that will be their right to do so.
I myself have never been hidden and have said many a thing on here. Some positive and many negative, (depends how I feel at the end of the day) ;D.
I do not regret any of them and would say them to any FSM or whoever because I have always believed that constructive criticism can help in the long term. Mind you,some things I write are said tongue in cheek so to speak and unless you know me personally they can be taken the wrong way.
The main aim of what we are trying to achieve is to only allow Hillary's personnel on here. Whether adviser or head office so as to allow two way communication. Head office are worried that some names on here are not Hillary's at all. We do know that this may well be the case.Whilst this threat remains, then open two way communication can not be achieved.
This is why we are asking for more ideas as to how we can police this. It will be the moderators that police it not Hillary's and this is why if you look at all the mods ids you will find our agency name and sometimes phone numbers, so that you know we are who we say we are. We decided to be open about who we are as we were asked by Mottors to moderate and decided it the best way forward, but it will remain a personal choice.

Red

[*Star*man*]

Why not email individual members ( especially those that do not post ) and ask some security questions for them to reply to . ie a question that only a Hillarys knowlegable person could answer.

Or simply request that they post on the forum with in a set timescale or you delete them!

These measures , coupled with tighter new applications would easily do the trick!

admin said:

That's ok sounding negative.

I think that it might well be a sticking point when it comes to everyones id.

It would be ok from my point of view if we could work out some kind of member validation ourselves.

Do you feel that would be ok ?

P.

[inkjet]

I was invited to join this Forum by email.

I received three separate emails.

At te time I was shocked, in fact I thought how has someone got my personal details and know I am an Hillarys Agent.


Anyway although annoyed I joined. As like Motters said it is lonley out there, Also not easy to build relationship with other local agents when they are taking food of your plate.

Thats how I felt anyway.


It appears someone had assisted you in finding all Hillary's agents. I was recruited through this route.


Occasionally I have lost log on details its not an easy site to remember.

I would say its hard to find through search engines.

Admin must know who has joined through other routes.

Motters knows my name we have emailed.


So Hillary's want it to be a closed Forum

So they can Give their PR spin.

Or are you saying Give the opportunity for call centre staff, manufacturing and Diary staff to tell us of their problems.

_________________________________________________
Reply by Joy - First member on the site!

Hillarys sent me an email that had about 200 advisors email addresses attached to it (by mistake, I'm sure!) I took this opportunity to pass on the web site address to them all. So it was ME!! And all I had was advisor numbers - no names. The rest of those on here are word of mouth ......


Joy Hodge Advisor Redhill 111-565 01789-555936

[kakalanka]

I too was invited to join this Forum by email, which could only have come from Hillarys? Perhaps Motters or anyone else could explain this.

I would always wish my id to remain private because, as I've seen in the past, despite good intentions, there are often unwelcome repurcussions to open and honest criticisms. There is also a vast difference in attitude towards an Advisor of many years standing selling 20k+ per month and one who is newer, learning the business still and selling a lot less and who feels more fragile as a result.

I welcome the contact that this Forum allows but, as in any meeting place, some people are more vociferous and outspoken than others. This does not mean that the low profile members do not have strong views.

Some means of identifying members as (current) Hillarys Advisors or staff is a must but I'm not technically skilled enough to make a suggestion.

I cannot see why Hillarys departmental staff members cannot make a response to simple, uncontroversial requests for information.....SAM issues, for example, etc. Actually thats not true............there is a reason maybe...... and that is that Hillarys do not wish to give any formal recognition to this site.

Perhaps I'm being overly cynical here but recent and current events tend to back this up.

Kakalanka

______________________________________

Reply by Joy - First member on the site


See reply below..

I sent out those first emails, but did not do it anonymously. I put in the email that I was Advisor Redhill, and nothing to do with HO. Maybe there are lots of advisors that thought like you, and therefore didn't join the site.

[RED]

I too was invited the same way.
As far as I know, your details were never given by HO.
It was pure detective work by the founder members that contacted you.
This was done by taking the e mail address from internal messages sent to you by your fsm. If you notice they did a batch e mail and all other recipients were on the sent to list in the properties part of the e mail.
This is how you were contacted originally. Then it was just word of mouth from there.
I also have to point out that not even the moderators know who you are unless you want us to. We have no access to any other information about yourselves than you do. We only see what is on your id page.
Hope this answers your question's

[kakalanka]

Suggestion....................

We've all got Hillarys ID numbers and names........add the usual Mothers Maiden Name-type question. This could be used at Login, and possibly police the use of the site by non-Hillarys personnel. Co-operation would be needed from Hillarys though.

Would that work?

Sorry.............just thinking out loud.

Kakalanka

[kakalanka]

Thanks Red,

That explains it and makes complete sense.

Kakalanka