Popping in!

Hi Everyone,

Rebecca, that's a very interesting question. I will add it to the list for the next update on the BeeLog. I was travelling recently so I haven't been able to spend the time I would have liked on this site. I'll skip around a few threads and see if there is anything I can answer that is unlikely to trigger discontent on the BeeLog!

Joe

Joe, I'm pretty sure you're still just feeling the inner need to move up from "larva" lol Glad to see you're still browsing around here every once in a while

Cool -- I know you've been busy lately so I haven't wanted to bug you unless I had to. If you need anything, let me know!

Welcome back Joe! I have a question... does John Butman still work there? I found a couple of his old blog posts (before my bzzagent time) found them very interesting.

tara wrote:Welcome back Joe! I have a question... does John Butman still work there? I found a couple of his old blog posts (before my bzzagent time) found them very interesting.

Nice! I just noticed I reached the post-larva stage of development. I am very proud (actually, I kinda am). Butman. He never actually "worked" here. He was paid to do a couple of blog projects (90days and Bento Box) and he co-authored Dave's first book "Grapevine." But he was never a BzzAgent employee. But he's one of my favorite people to ever be employed or semi-employeed by BzzAgent. He's really (really!) funny, in an almost British way. I laugh at my own jokes; other people laugh at Butman's jokes (though it takes a minute for them to sink in). That's the type of person he is. He also wears really dapper clothes.

BzzAgentJoeC wrote:Rebecca, that's a very interesting question. Joe

I am surely violating some rule of netiquette by quoting myself, but the interesting question I refer to was posted on the Rewards thread. Rebecca asked if the availablity of rewards will tie in some way to an agent's tier. I am going to put that question at the top of my must-answer list for next week.

I'd guess growing up with a name like Butt Man you'd have to become pretty funny to offset the teasing.

cushiebunny wrote:I'd guess growing up with a name like Butt Man you'd have to become pretty funny to offset the teasing.

PestBusters
Posted by John Butman under Process

I have come to the conclusion that an unknown but disturbingly large number of BzzAgents have some kind of Internet-related psychological or emotional disorder.

How else to explain the following behaviors:
Creating multiple BzzAgent accounts with different Agent names, all of which list the same shipping address.

Logging on to the BzzAgent site an average of 4.8 times per day over a 300-day period, with nothing to report.

Posting an aggrieved comment under one name on a freebie site and then quoting your alias on the BeeLog, as proof of BzzAgent’s allegedly unfair practices.

Calling into the Hive and bursting into fake tears about how you’re not getting enough campaigns.

To make matters worse, these people are some of the most vocal and visible members of the community, creating hubbub way out of proportion to their numbers.

But, you know what? The PestBusters are on to all you pests, ghosts, voyeurs, lunatics, and Internet addicts.

BzzAgent’s old strategy for dealing with problem Agents was to identify and neutralize them, without informing them the jig was up. The reasoning was that an outed pest was a noisy pest. There would be indignant ranting and railing up and down the Net.


LOL how many of us must be on the pest list. I sign in about a zillion times a day because if you don't you miss the invites and the rewards. Oh and I want rewards too. That was another post how most good agents have never redeemed their points (I forgot to paste it before I copied this one)

I'm confused wanting to be in campaigns and redeeming for rewards (like they say to lure agents in) makes us bad. I can't get behind its better not to tell them because we don't want them to make us look bad excuse. I think if they think your a pest you should be told and told why they think that.
_________________

That was one I found interesting but after that I came across this one with just made the first all that much more "interesting"

I (Almost) Do Wrong
Posted by John Butman under Process

While doing the research for the Regulation post, I got curious about the other product-related communities in the word-of-mouth industry. In particular, Tremor, the huge Procter & Gamble site for teens — a quarter of a million of them. For the past year or so, I’ve been aware of Tremor. But, not being a teen, (except in certain personal habits, which I’m not going to reveal, at least not right now), I had no experience of it. But I did have a vaguely negative impression of the site, based on what I had heard and because they were named in the letter from Commercial Alert to the FTC.

So, on Friday, I had an idea. I decided I would create a fake identity, get on the Tremor site, and join up as a 15-year old v. cool dude. Then I could get inside and see what the site was all about for myself. I figured that I could impersonate a 15-year old with some believability, with a little consultation from my son. I could learn, I could observe, I could score free stuff. But, mostly, I thought I would be better able to understand the differences between BzzAgent and other communities.

So, I now confess that, while sitting in the Hive, that bastion of transparency and agent disclosure, I set about committing my act of deception. In plain sight of dozens of BzzAgent employees — who were diligently working to keep the world safe for innocent, fully-disclosed, product-related word-of-mouth activities — I created an email subaccount, made up a phony name, logged on to Tremor, and answered every qualifying question with the most blatantly obvious responses, chuckling to myself at how absurdly easy it was to fool the system.

And, in the matter of a few moments, I had convinced Tremor that I was fifteen, had lots of friends, spent tons of time with them, loved new music and electronics and other stuff, and was always enthusiastically recommending stuff to people. “You’re in!” yelped the welcome screen. And a few seconds later I had my welcome email. “We’re pumped to have you as part of the Crew!,” it read. It was signed by Jaime, for the Tremor team.

The first part of my mission completed, I bookmarked the site, coped the welcome email, recorded my Tremor username and password (I’m not telling) and flipped over to 90 Days to write a post and invite the BzzAgent community to come with me on a journey inside Tremor. I kept chuckling as I wrote and zipped it off to Balter. “He’s gonna love this,” I thought. “Field research. Inside stuff on competitors.”

There was a longer Balter interval than usual. Finally, I got a note back from him — with comments also from BzzAgent PR chief, Joe Chernov. They didn’t like the idea, for lots of reasons:

1. We look petty and fearful

2. We look like we are picking fights under the guise of 90 Days

3. 90 Days is supposed to be about us, not other companies

4. If we are going to “out” anyone it should be stealth

5. This is an example of us being non-transparent

6. We NEED Tremor/Vocalpoint [P&G’s site for Moms] to be successful, as they help legitimize the industry. There’s room enough for both of us (for now).

I have to admit I was surprised. I wrote back:

1. there’s no fear in the post

2. i’m not picking a fight, just exposing a weakness. (of all such communities, no doubt)

3. talking about the competition is talking about you

4. i’m not outing anybody, just adding context

5. My signing up under a false name has nothing to do with your transparency.

6. The truth comes out.

Balter shot back: “No. dude - you’re saying we think Tremor is evil. You’re also showing that you’ve been deceptive - and this has nothing to do with BzzAgent, but with them. You want to write a piece about how we see Tremor, ok — but this is diff.”

I thought about this for a moment, then replied, “How do you see Tremor?

“I think they have a strong strategy,” Balter wrote, “run by very smart people. Even though people tend to consider us as similar businesses, Tremor has quite a different model — they are more the ‘hammer’ in the marketplace, while we are more surgical. Their mass media view has them utilizing as many individuals as possible to receive products and pass along their opinions - we choose the core group, best of breed, most appropriate (no, not ‘influentials’), and let them choose whether they take part.”

“We also focus heavily on individualized one-on-one communications — where volunteers can report their WOM activities for feedback from Com Dev. That’s a very different type or process from Tremor’s polling / survey system and open forums for dialogue.”

“Either way — we’re glad to have ‘em. P&G as a main competitor helps. Every Pepsi needs its Coke, right?”

So, I have not logged on again to Tremor. I’m deciding whether Balter is right and I should follow the up-and-up, transparency, no-fakery rules… or whether my undercover sleuthing is justified in the cause of education.

Seems an odd sort of post. Maybe I'm lame, i failed to find the humor instead I found it slightly (well more than slightly) annoying. Why bash a behavior and then do the exact same thing? Perhaps it was intended as funny, perhaps I am the only one thinking it sent a really bad message.

Tara, you and I are thinking alike today. I just posted on a BzzChat thread about Bzz kits on ebay.

I wish I remembered to copy the reward one on how most don't redeem and the rest of us that want to are the nasty P word. I don't have time now maybe after I get the kids to bed I'll have a chance to look. If they don't want us to expect rewards why promise them in the first place?

Welcome back Joe!

Some of the older posts are hare to read. The Beelog tends to get very negative. ButI try to remember that BzzAgent is trying to improve, at least as far as the rewards and tiers go. And I hope no one is holding my months/years ago posts against me.

I do think that the hive needs to address some of these issues, though. Maybe as we get more members, we can become a voice for the agents.

Nice to see you back, Joe...

Glad to know you are still hanging in with us...

I always look forward to your comments..
oh and congrats on the whole not a larva thing

I agree, its good to have you back and we sincerly hope that the little flak you catch for being here is offset by our honesty, love of bzzagent, and upmost desire to be helpful, not to mention our humour.

chelle wrote:...not to mention our humour.

Humour?! You're not turning into a Canadian are you???

I think she put that "u" in for my benefit.

I wanted to make sure that rebecca could understand at least half of what I wrote LOL


actually, I was reading this thread and JUST saw it. before I came and saw your posts! LOL

Rebecca is rubbing off on me. But thats okay. It fits right in, I couldnt spell CAT if you spotted me the C and teh T.