First off, I would like to state that I love the idea of this networking club. Its a great way for people within the community to learn, share, and get to know one another.  

However, I have some minor gripes with how it is being used.  I see that some people have about 1000+ friends while club leaders and key members to have around 300-400.  It appears that people are just adding a randomly, and I am not sure if that was the point of the group.  Should members try and become friends with every member to skyrocket themselves to the top of the leader boards and move up in rank?

@annfurnival

Thank you for your support.  I, like most people, want to learn how to build a better online presence and share information.  There is plenty of value within this site and club that I feel can be utilized for much good.  Networking is a great for everyone. I just want people to organically grow within the community, and not force anything.

@Juleswebb

That is a magnificent point Jules! The proof and evidence is out there and plain to see.  We should not be awed by the status or number of friends, but rather the contribution they bring. 

 @deairby Point 1 – I agreePoint 2 – U crack me up! maybe we can go on a double date:)

@juleswebb Ah, Miss Jules, my favorite techy hero! So glad when I see you pop up here. Makes me feel safer. Wish I had you here to rescue my computer right now.

About Point 1, me agree three.

About Point 2, can we triple? Yall will have to fix me up or just let me play tagalong fifth wheel, tee hee. 

  @annfurnivall @nelsonta Nelson, my computer has been totally crashing for two weeks now, and am lucky right now that this reply to your post is getting through, hopefully. Dea can tell you what a horrible disaster this has been for me, and I disappeared from the LeaderBoard for a couple days because of that. So I promise I’ll come back and explain exactly what my personal goals are, how I try to contribute to the Networking Clubs, and what Iusually schedule time for to try to do for new members when I can.

Having been here since Christmas, and having the notorious eagle eye that I do, it’s apparent to me that people have a variety of legimate goals for contributing to the Clubs, even those goals which include trying to get on the LeaderBoard, and most who do really are contributing. I could give you a list of about the 100 most frequent contributors without looking at any computer data counter. And might I add, Dea and Jules are definitely two of them and you’ll see their helpful information and/or questions often in these forums.

But, Jules, because the points section only shows activity for a set amount of activity, showing nothing else beyond a certain number of them, looking at individual point lists now reveals little useful information. Previously, that was important. Not so now, since Mike Stelzner made sure that the LeaderBoard reflected only the most involved contributors for the last 30 days on a rolling basis. That way, people can’t just rack up points and sit back and do nothing. It also gives new members a better chance to appear on the board, not like it was when I joined.

I think Dea can tell you that when I don’t think something is fair, I do NOT stay silent about it. So all in all, given the limitations of any system, I’d say the system is finally pretty fair and balanced. Mike wants contributors and helpers here, not people who focus strictly on any points. He’s made that very sternly clear. And many have been kicked off and banned from these Clubs for not playing by his rules. By the same token, I can honestly say there WILL come a time when we ALL do something without thinking… and WHAM… you’ll get a big RED message warning you that if you do that again, you are outta here! So trust me when I say, Mike really is on top of things here. He doesn’t tolerate people who game the system. He is, however, very fair and just, even standing behind those he KNOWS have no ill intent when others believe they do. I, for one, can tell you I now agree on pretty much all of his decisions regarding those instances. And those involved have proved themselves honorable and are still here doing there thing.

After a while here, you’ll see what I mean. Forgive me for now, as I must run more computer saving programs before I sleep. Promise I’ll be back…

@deairby And Miss Dea, what can I say, our fearless leader and Master club moderator? How about… I just love you and would follow you anywhere! Especially to Chili’s! You see, friends, I met Dea in the Clubs, but as it turns out, she lives about an hour away from me, so we met for lunch at Chili’s. That’s exactly why I started the Regional Forums, so others could network with those who live close to them. I am very thankful for all the expertise, help, support, business associations, and friendships I’ve made in these Clubs.

There is most certainly incredible value here to be shared. I hope yall make the best of it for your business and personal goals, too. We are ALL up against the Big Buggaboo Google everyday no matter what business we are in. Personally, I’ve found the Clubs to be a very good replica and model for dealing with Google’s buggaboos. Once I realized that, I set one of my goals to develop good social media habits here. Obviously, it’s been working for me. And all it boils down to, really, is just making a habit of things that work. Nothing sinister, just the good repetitive habits. That’s all.

Did I say I only had a minute to share? Woopsy! Gotta go save my computer again…

Robin Carlisle

@atlantarobin  

I had forgotten about the update so the LeaderBoard show only the most involved contributors for the last 30 days on a rolling basis. That’s a very good point.

Hiya everybody, I’m a newbie here so I don’t really understand what the issue is here and as I often state (check my posts) I am mostly here to learn (of course I’ll help if I can) and as such would wish to leave any ‘leaderboard’ to the people who ‘know’ stuff . (my dad always said that being clever isn’t knowing things but knowing somebody who knows)

I saw the ‘friends request’ as being merely the same situation as when I’ve been to conferences where, on entering, I would offer the hand of friendship to those already there and if I noticed anyone who had entered after me I would offer it to them too. (I would suggest that new people on here might be reassured by the offer of friendship) 

I have never been ‘one of those’ who checked someones credentials before befriending them.

I feel quite humbled that so many of you have checked out my profiles etc before accepting my friendship requests (I’ve updated my bio on here to add more info ) and thank you again.

Please feel free to tell me if I’m too outgoing but please don’t tell me what my motivations are, feel free to ask, as you can see I’m quite an open book.

i still dont get why  even  being on the leader  board is  important, i hope im not missing  somenthing…..can i  still see  everybodys   posts even tho im  not  friending   them?……anywAY .im  wanting to  be here  for  the  networking  reasons……i love to hear  real  world  examples…

.what i   hope i  can  bring to  this place is  feedback and  opinion    from    businesses outside the  social media guru world…maybe im like your  future  customers, out here in the  brick and mortar   world,   , business owners who  use  or need to use  social media better… …and im  heavily involved in  social media as a huge tool  for my  store so i know a lot   of  whats  working for us……..  just  saying , if  businesses like me are in  your target   customer field, ask away  and i  will try and  give  you  the  view  from  here……we are all out there to   serve our customers and make money i  assume…. 

i did  take it that this place was for  small businesses like me    who  use ,love and  depend on  social media   as  well as   businesses  who  sell advice on  social media… i got  here thru  being a fan  on grandma marys   facebook page….

…

I don’t mean to sound snarky, but this seems to be much ado about nothing.

I have been involved for 2 months and have found this to me a great place to learn and to help…when I have something relevant to add. I pop in and out when I have a chance and try to respond to any comments made in reply to mine.

This is no different than any other type of forum, or networking group. You will have people trying to “game” the system for their own personal benefit, and you will have quality people using it intelligently and respectfully. My suggestion would be to ignore the “gamers” and stick with the quality people. After a couple of weeks it became clear to me which was which.

Bottom line: SME Clubs will be as good as what you put into it. My experience so far is this is a great place to hang out and get better at what I do.

Thanks for listening and for putting up with my brief “rant”.

I too have at times taken notice of and been curious about those who are accumulating friends but apparently not interested in accumulating knowledge or genuine connections.  
There’s a wealth of information and ideas here; so much so that one could easily lose track of hours in the process. It’s fabulous! (And my brain almost hurts because of it. )
(@abigailgorton, it’s not really much consolation as I’m just a little drop in others’ leader board bucket, but I actually just canceled two of my early “friend” connections after peeking at their post history and seeing no real activity. That’s not what “leadership” looks like to me.
And with that … Back to the learning boards I go!

I have gained a lot by the posts and although It may take a while to read many of them at a time, I intend to contribute as much as I am possible. I have added many people right away, mostly to get as much information out of this, and even though my knowledge is minimal, compared to some here, we can all find something to add, in order to make it useful.

Thanks to everyone for the great input!

georgi

@ MsSilvr - Nicely put Georgi — different folks will act differently as their business projects and goals are set; met or not met. Learning, sharing and asking is social media along with bunching up with folks of like mind. No real mystery.

@Rich Brooks — It’s all fun, one way or the other. “Gamification” is a  good word to plug into all social media sites. Some will; some won’t; some will just participate and have fun. It’s all a game, right? Heh. 

Funny, I don’t even notice the ‘leader board” as I am focused on meaningful posts. Now I see it is on the right side bar! Yes, some people feel the need to friend everybody, but just as in life you don’t have 1000 friends, it is the same here. Friend is just a social media term not the dictionary meaning

I’ve made connections with business people here that I wouldn’t have had an opportunity to connect with elsewhere. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to make the connections. I also enjoy reading answers to questions that other people ask. Often someone has already asked a question I have, and I can find the answers or suggestions here. It’s been a wonderful learning experience for me. Yes, I am networking.

SME clubs has become my #2 social media network of choice. I am meeting great friends, discussing things we are passionate about, getting leads, meeting friends, and learning a ton of info that blogs alone could never teach. I am guilty of collecting friends. The leader board is important to me. I hope I have contributed and not just posted for the sake of points. I really hope my thread contributions have been worth the 10 or 20 points. I totally get why there is the friend acquisition incentive for the SME team, and so it will not go away any time soon. You can all reserve the right to accept the friendship or not.   

@atlantarobin is that all you have to say?  

@abigailgorton I respect that you admit that you are “doing it too” Well so am I because I agree there is just too much a coincidence between the numbers. My vote is to remove the points given for colllecting friends and friends will have more real value. I think the points on friends cheapens the experience and forces us all to “game” if the board is a goal. And for me, it is. Why? because a front page appearance on one of the greatest and most popular Social media sites is no chump change. How much would it cost for me to get there with an ad? 

@phil_lauterjung It is entirely legit to play by the rules and still be a power contributor. 

@rich-brooks family time?! Rich, where are your priorities? 

@jordanrunsit excellent observation ” These clubs instead should be thought of as a think-tank for ideas ”
FYI: correct me if i am wrong, but it appears that you get 5 points weather your request is accepted or if you accept a request. So in the words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” and be SME friends? 

@jasonwiserNot sure whether it was this thread that prompted it, but I think that in the last week the leaderboard has gone back to being based on the last 30 days of contributions…err…points, but it is still sequenced on the total points. My evidence is that there was an individual who was hovering around the 12,000 points mark, but without so much as a single post in the last month, all from ‘friends’. He suddenly disappeared, and got ‘replaced’ by a person with a lower total points count. So now we are now down to just one person on the leaderboard who seems to be there for ‘friends-only’ in the last 30 days. Better than it was a couple weeks ago when there were 3 or 4 such people.

I’m glad you are willing to say it; For those of us who work as technology consultants, it is indeed kudos to be up there on the leaderboard. I have REALLY ENJOYED these clubs from Day 1. Similar to how I feel about my IRL, BNI networking group – yes it is good for my business but it is also an absolute pleasure to belong and I have learned more than I have given.

i like to pop in, show the world that i’m really only “computer funny” then bounce… but i have learned a few things in my short time here so i make it a point to at least stop by once a day