Whaddya want?

[squarepusher]

So, I figure since there are so many new people here, i'd do another call for added functionality for Brewerfan.net?

 

What would you like to see on the site that we currently don't offer? Keep in mind that we really can't change anything with regards to the chat room and fan foum, as those are hosted by ezBoard and I have no access to the code behind it. Other than that, the sky's the limit. Fire away!

[pogokat]

i want brewerfan to get a press pass..

[squarepusher]

They won't give us a press pass. Because they don't want you to know the truth!

 

Either that, or we don't meet MLB guidelines.

[xisxisxis]

Either that, or we don't meet MLB guidelines.

 

What are the guidelines? I just love finding loopholes.

[squarepusher]

Major League Baseball Position Paper

Priority Seating in Press Boxes

 

Major League Baseball encourages clubs to use the following guidelines in prioritizing press box availability for all exhibition and regular season games during the 2003 season. These guidelines are similar to those used by Major League Baseball for special events.

 

Home and visiting PR Staffs, the Official Scorer, and two side-by-side MLB play-by-play scorers (BIS & BAM) should be allotted adequate space.

 

Space should be allotted in the following priority. Clubs should assign media to appropriate seats, according to individual press box accommodations, using the following priorities:

 

1. Wire Services

2. Home Traveling Dailies

3. Visiting Traveling Dailies

4. Home Only Newspapers

5. National Baseball Publications

6. MLB Regular Season Credentialed Online Services

7. Periodicals

8. Foreign Writers

9. Other Online Services (see MLB Online Policy below)

10. Others

 

NOTE: It is the policy of Major League Baseball to recognize an online service that meets all the following criteria:

 

1. Is part of a national news gathering agency

2. Reaches a broad audience

3. Produces original content

4. Has an established record of developing original content

5. Employs full-time journalists

 

Individual clubs should be guided by this policy when credentialing online services.

 

Space availability should be the determining factor in assigning working media space, in conjunction with the priority list above.

 

Press Boxes are the domain of the individual clubs for regular season games. MLB requires admittance to all bearers of BBWAA active membership cards and MLB issued credentials.

[brewerjamie15]

Maybe a link that gives access to the newspapers of N.L. teams so we can easily find what -they- say about playing the Crew.??

[batman]

Maybe a link that gives access to the newspapers of N.L. teams so we can easily find what -they- say about playing the Crew.??

 

I started doing this last year as part of the DB series previews. I hope to be more diligent about it in 2005... I also include links to other teams' quality blogs and discussion boards.

 

~Bill

[xisxisxis]

Wow, that was quick!

 

 

1. Is part of a national news gathering agency

 

Sign up people in every major media market as Brewerfan.net correspondents. Might take some time, but it is doable. Check.

 

 

2. Reaches a broad audience

 

The internet by definition. Check.

 

 

3. Produces original content

 

Already there! Check.

 

 

4. Has an established record of developing original content

 

Vague definition makes this one a bit of a problem, but Brewerfan was established in 2001 and original content has always been a part of the site so I think you qualify. Check.

 

 

5. Employs full-time journalists

 

Full-time is a little vague since I can't imagine Drew Olson or Hardricourt can be called Full-time given there absolute lack of content (original or any). Won't Bill quit his other job? If he won't cooperate this is about the only sticking point. You need an independantly wealthy Brewerfan who's willing to take the Full-Time Journalist job for no pay..... Students might qualify if they don't have another job. Full-time Journalist could just be anyone without another source of income. Are we sure Bill doesn't want to give up his job? This is the stickler.....let me think a bit on this one.

[DHonks]

actually, what do you want? What I mean is that some time in the last year I made a contribution to the brewerfan.net warchest. But the convenient link which told me where the site was with regard to its budget is nowhere to be found. Perhaps I'm lazy, but I think I made that contribution because I saw we were behind budget and I felt I needed to show some gratitude. Without that link, I may not have felt compelled to contribute.

I appreciate that we aren't fed a constant stream of requests for money, but I also realize I tend to forget about contributing unless it's very obvious.

 

And one thing I'd like to see is some creative catchy titles for some contributors...Geno, Xis, Scoop, clancy, SoCal, RoCo, endaround, pogo, igor, and the other regulars. Of course, as of now they are reserved for brewerfan.net employees, and it could infringe on their status.

[squarepusher]

[ actually, what do you want? What I mean is that some time in the last year I made a contribution to the brewerfan.net warchest. But the convenient link which told me where the site was with regard to its budget is nowhere to be found. Perhaps I'm lazy, but I think I made that contribution because I saw we were behind budget and I felt I needed to show some gratitude. Without that link, I may not have felt compelled to contribute. ]

 

I only put the community chest link out when the message boards are up for renewal, as that's the time it's really necessary to raise funds. The thing that's kind of bunk about the community chest is that you can only use it to pay for ezBoard, so I don't want to have it out the rest of the year so people are under the illusion that it's helping pay for the monthly costs of the site.

 

[ I appreciate that we aren't fed a constant stream of requests for money, but I also realize I tend to forget about contributing unless it's very obvious. ]

 

We may do fundraising at some point to raise capital for promotions and things, but Shannon's still formulating what he wants to do with the site, from a PR perspective.

 

The store's always open, if people want to buy Brewerfan.net gear. I have it set so each item makes $1 profit (which usually funnels back until the $5.95 per month cost for running the store.

 

I'm trying _very_ hard to make zero dollars profit from the site. Everyone's so generous here when things have been asked for them, that i'm actually afraid I would MAKE money off the site, and I don't want that to be the point of the site.

 

Basically, the site costs $50 a month to run (excluding the store and the message boards), so it'd be awesome if I were just able to re-coop that amount. Once we get official fundraising in place, i'd like to do some "public accounting" so everyone knows where every dollar goes.

 

[ And one thing I'd like to see is some creative catchy titles for some contributors...Geno, Xis, Scoop, clancy, SoCal, RoCo, endaround, pogo, igor, and the other regulars. Of course, as of now they are reserved for brewerfan.net employees, and it could infringe on their status. ]

 

Can they be picked by the staff, or will people pick their own? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I'd actually like to keep the titles standardized, but I can admit that there are some people who need to be recognized for their contributions to the site.

[DHonks]

Can they be picked by the staff, or will people pick their own? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif I'd actually like to keep the titles standardized, but I can admit that there are some people who need to be recognized for their contributions to the site.

 

people shouldn't be able to pick their own, or Clancy's would be Founder of Hart at 3rd.

Basically, I listed a few names of people who have earned my respect when I visit these boards (other than the staff of course). Actually, forgot Mothership and bjkrautk, too. I figured that some fun nickname or motto/slogan would be a way of letting all readers know that these individuals bring something unique to the site (although, being careful not to let everyone else think they contribute nothing).

 

edit: and thanks for the clarification on finances. I'll check out the shop soon. And that makes sense on the warchest. I was wondering why it disappeared.

[batman]

Some of the shirts Patrick made are awesome... definitely check them out if you're interested in some sweet Brewerfan.net swag.

 

EDIT: I said some, but I really meant all... just sounded better with "some" than "all". So buy a couple or five. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

~Bill

[dadofandrew]

To be honest, the best bet to have press credentials is to have Bill/Colby/Mass (or all of them share) write for a small paper or syndicate their work to a few small papers, perhaps a Sunday column during the season, monthly in the offseason. I've thought of this, but then realized it would involve deadlines and actual work.

[pogokat]

could colby get a press pass through his other writing endeavor???

 

who said the press pass has to be For brewerfan...can't the pass just be held by a regular???

 

i mean, michael and chris were able to get Huntsville press passes very easily a couple of years ago...now, i'm sure it would be much harder to get them in milwaukee...but it would be easier if someone would befriend, what say adam mccalvy??? or god forbid drew olsen?

[mothershipconnection]

Sign up people in every major media market as Brewerfan.net correspondents. Might take some time, but it is doable. Check.

We've got that down. I've got Dallas/Ft. Worth, there's several of you in L.A., Geno in Chicago, gregmag in Philadelphia, we've got a couple in the Twin Cities, EDR in Seattle, DHonks in AZ, Pogokat in Atlanta, brewmann in New York, Clancy in VA, and there's gotta be several I can't remember or am not aware of in other in markets. We have people in more cities than CNN.

[1992casey]

Here's my two cents... or two suggestions:

• A strikeout FAQ has been mentioned, sometimes in jest and sometimes seriously. I think it'd be cool to have a page supplementing the current stats glossary which would provide links to articles explaining stats and issues surrounding them.
   
  Terms like VORP, Equivalent Average, Win Shares, PECOTA, etc., etc. are often mentioned and it'd be cool to have a place to get some information about them. Additionally, information about the more controversial topics such as productive outs or 'do strikeouts matter' could be placed there. Of course, it could also include 3TO. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif
   
  I think the most expeditious way to set up such a page would be to rely mostly on outside links, with brief introductions (a paragraph or so) for each topic. In addition to outside links, links to existing articles already on this site could be included.
   
  Something else that such a page could include is links to Statistical and Sabermetric forums around the web.
   
  A page like this could have a link to a thread in the Issues forum or to Brian's (or someone else's) e-mail address, so additions could be submitted and collected. This link could also be a way to collect 'requests' if someone is looking for information and is unable to find it.
   
  If there's enough interest, maybe there could be a separate Brewerfan.net Stats/Sabermetric forum. Otherwise, these topics could be discussed in existing forums as they are now.
  
• A very prominent message board FAQ containing posting guidelines and suggestions could be very helpful, especially to newbies. Right now, there's a sticky here on the Issues forum, but I'd have to guess that many readers never get to this forum.
   
  I'd suggest gleaning the best from the current sticky thread, along with some of the concepts in the Reminder -- Please Take It Well thread and placing it in a succinct, but inclusive document.
   
  This FAQ could be displayed as a locked sticky at the top of every forum or it could be displayed in a prominent link above the messages. It could invite input by placing a link to a thread in the Issues forum?either the existing FAQ or a new one.
   
  If major changes are made to a permanent FAQ, posters could be alerted by a sticky on every forum.

[1992casey]

Another thought:

 

In the future, when a legitimate request is made such as the one in the Reminder -- Please Take It Well thread, it may be a better reflection on the site as a whole to post the request, lock the thread, at the end of the message say, "A thread to discuss this topic is provided on the Issues forum", and end the message with a link to the thread.

 

Any ensuing pandemonium would become a little less prominent.

[BillScottCanRake]

Some boards have an FAQ forum that only the staff/admins can post in. They use it as an FAQ and a place to achive FAQ or excellent threads.

 

I wonder if something like that would be useful here.

 

And, lets not forget about this BF FAQ:

 

BF.net FAQ

[1992casey]

---

And, lets not forget about this BF FAQ:

 

BF.net FAQ

---

When this site was redesigned last fall, one of the things I forgot to mention was how happy I was to see the frames removed from that section. (If we had a cartwheel emoticon, I'd be tempted to insert it here!)

 

I think the stats suggestion could easily be incorporated the FAQ that Chris points out. However, because a message board FAQ would pertain to an entirely different part of the site and prominence would be beneficial, I'd separate it. Using a different name for a message board FAQ could avoid confusion.

 

Speaking of prominence, there are some nice features around here that seem to be a little bit hidden. Nothing jumps out at me right now, but I'll know the next time I look for one of them. I'll come back to this thread if I spot something.

[Sixtofan]

This is very minor but. . . .

At some point you may want to remove the phrase "cry with your fellow fan" from the forum icon. As I am certain that we all believe the Brewers renaissance is about to begin, it seems a bit negative. Like I said very minor, thank you for all of the great work on the site..

[RyDogg66]

5. Employs full-time journalists

 

Full-time is a little vague since I can't imagine Drew Olson or Hardricourt can be called Full-time given there absolute lack of content (original or any). Won't Bill quit his other job? If he won't cooperate this is about the only sticking point. You need an independantly wealthy Brewerfan who's willing to take the Full-Time Journalist job for no pay..... Students might qualify if they don't have another job. Full-time Journalist could just be anyone without another source of income. Are we sure Bill doesn't want to give up his job? This is the stickler.....let me think a bit on this one.

 

Can you say "intern"? BF.net can offer internships (by definition unpaid) to journalism majors to run around WI and get the dirt on all kinds of baseball. From Brewers, to T-Rats, to Colleges. Maybe even take a trip to Nashville.

[squarepusher]

[ Can you say "intern"? BF.net can offer internships (by definition unpaid) to journalism majors to run around WI and get the dirt on all kinds of baseball. From Brewers, to T-Rats, to Colleges. Maybe even take a trip to Nashville. ]

 

Would a college really go for that? I'm getting visions of Kramerica industries dancing in my head.

[nsimps]

Maybe someone should approach the Brewers front office about a limited press pass at Miller Park. I'm sure Attanasio would be willing to listen to the idea seeing how the site has credibility with Powell and Sutton. Maybe start with asking for a Batting Practice Press Pass for just a few key members of the Brewerfan.net staff. I don't see how anyone would want to turn down all the free publicity that Brewerfan.net can generate.

[squarepusher]

[ Maybe someone should approach the Brewers front office about a limited press pass at Miller Park. ]

 

The press pas issue is actually being pursued on a couple of different angles as we speak. This is something Shannon's working on, and we'll report back when we find out one way or another...

[brettac1]

Yeah, I could really use one as well.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Seriously though, good luck with that. It'd be great.