Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Hi! Tessa Kinney-Johnson here. As the Co-Founder of SpotON3D I've felt a huge responsibility to get this right – the making of an alternative grid system for business, education, corporations, non-profits, families, kids and gamers alike. To make a grid that can be enjoyed by that wide of an audience without inhibiting their creativity or stepping on anyone's toes is a tall order in anyone’s book. I think we’ve gotten a good start, with our clear separation of content and land via our memberships and selling portal. My hope is that everyone appreciates what we’ve done and finds a reason to willingly work within the rules and framework to make it succeed.

Are we perfect? Far from it, but we do strive to solve our errors in the most perfect way possible, with honesty, integrity and honor. Some think those are strange words coming from a company like ours. Kinda old fashioned, but after all the Enrons of the past era I personally feel its time to get back to some of the basics, where the customer matters and service is the backbone of the business.

My staff and I will be using this blog as a means to talking about what makes us excited, what new ideas we’re thinking of, our failures and achievements, and the reasons behind our decisions. Its a running dialogue with you, our participants, and as such, we’d love to hear back from you.

Here are some rules to go about doing that.
1. NO FLAMING
2. FIND A REASON TO BE POSITIVE
3. NO CURSING
4. EXPRESS YOURSELF INTELLIGENTLY
5. NO ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR
6. HONOR OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT FOR YOURSELF
7. NO DENIGRATING ANOTHER PERSON, ESPECIALLY AS THE MAIN POINT OF YOUR COMMENTS
8. BE THOUGHTFUL AND COURTEOUS, AS IF YOU WERE FACING THAT PERSON IN THE REAL WORLD.

Responding to someone’s opinion with an angry outburst that doesn’t convey any meaningful dialogue or comments besides the, “I hate you and your an idiot!” type mentality won’t be tolerated. Either you have a valid point of view that you can express with intelligence and grace, or its simply not appropriate. Calling other’s names or berating someone for stating their opinion, because it clashes wildly with your own, isn’t productive. In my book blogs are supposed to be about expanding on ideals and goals to incorporate everyone’s opinion, or to at very least give them a voice to be heard.

Does that mean you’ll be censored for disagreeing? NO! But it does mean that your argument or disagreement must be more than a diatribe of ughly verbalization and grounded in a solid point of view based on FACTS – that’s right. Facts. Not heresay and supposeds, unless you clearly state you are guessing at something, or flagrant rants based on fiction. If you make claims on someone’s character that are false in nature just to make a point and have no foundation in reality, this will not bode well. At the very least your comments will be taken off, because legally speaking we can not be seen as approving of such comments. 

A good example of this would be disagreeing with someone who thinks all things should be free in virtual worlds.  You can state your reasons as to why you think that ideal is flawed, but you can not accuse them of being actively involved in content theft. If you sincerely question their actions in such a way, then you need to bring that matter up with the Mediation Panel. The blog is not the area to debate disputes of character. Otherwise, you are just choosing to spread unfounded rumors, something I think we all can agree is far too prevalent in social networks.

In summary, lets do more than complain and moan! Bring a solution to the table too! Share your ideas and help us grow. Be a productive force in your virtual community. FIND A REASON TO BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE. While its sometimes much easier to roll in the mire or cry woe is me, I would hope we, as a community, could take the high road and strive to do better.

















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