StripperWeb v3.0 and Results of the 2008 Community Survey
Nearly 7 years ago we started something different by raising a little pink flag on the internet and calling it StripperWeb. Since that time the community has grown into the world’s largest dancer resource and community – dedicated to the supporting exotic dancers and helping them improve their lives.
Over the years, the strength and cohesion of our community has been tested by a wide variety of outsiders: trolls, white knights, trash-talkers, drama queens, hackers, preachers, 14-year-old nerds, and a whole host of other challengers. As of late however, the tension has been building internally. It will be our greatest test to see if we will band together and heal as a community.
To help evaluate the needs and wants of the community, last month, the admin team published the StripperWeb 2008 Community Survey. I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time to do survey. It has been eye opening to hear from you and read each of your comments. This entire process has been so beneficial that I plan to hold a survey annually. Together, we can ensure StripperWeb continues to be a positive environment for all of you - offering support and advice for exotic dancers for years to come.
Below is a brief summary of changes coming to StripperWeb and the direction we will be taking moving forward - both technically and socially. A much more detailed report on the survey and results can be read at:
http://www.stripperweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116613
The top 3 identified concerns were:
Keeping SW a resource for exotic dancers and increasing industry focus.
Repairing clubs and reviews.
Resolving tension and drama between members.
StripperWeb has begun to look more like a social networking site instead of an industry focused community. It is great that so many people feel comfortable in our community – but it is more important to remember that our primary goal is to provide support for exotic dancers. This does not mean that we have to fully exclude non-industry posters and content, but that most of our content should reflect and be focused towards our goal.
In the near future, we will be adding an official SW blog, additional dancer-only and industry-only forums, fixing club reviews, breathing new life into our article section - which will be wiki-based, and adding a new industry directory. I see all of these official areas as being our "main stage". Aside from our main stage, we will allow for off-topic, more social based content, including member ran forums/groups, member blogs, enhanced profiles, etc.
The type of software StripperWeb runs was designed and mostly developed around 2001-2003. Online tools and technology have greatly improved in the past 5+ years and we have a lot of catching up to do. Additionally, the clubs and reviews system is in need of a serious overhaul. To close this gap, the admin team will be holding a fundraiser to generate the funds needed to hire a development team to rebuild the system. Details will be coming. The survey showed that many of you are interested in participating - thank you so much! We will have a way for you to contribute shortly.
Lastly, many of you asked for relief from the drama that has been building. We are working on this as well, but also understand that we will need your support. As suggested by many of you, drawing better defined boundaries of who is allowed to post where, is one of the first steps we will take. It is not only our technology that has become dated - but so have our rules. The types of problem we run into have changed. We need a set of rules that better fit these new issues. New rules will be released site-wide and the SW team will be slightly more strict in enforcing them - as per the survey results. Please read the rules carefully when they are released and support the mods in their application of them.
To read each of your comments and to hear from so many of you directly was fantastic. A majority of you took time to send a positive note or to say how much SW has meant to you. I truly appreciate that. Our aim in making these proposed changes are part of the resolve to give StripperWeb new life by returning it to its primary purpose - support for exotic dancers. Together we can ensure a long life for the exotic dancer community and continue to have a positive effect in the lives of dancers.
The survey also sought your feedback on various ways to help the site establish a financial base to cover costs and improve features like Clubs and Reviews. We will soon be running our fundraiser. The fundraiser’s goal is to generate enough income to implement many of the changes highlighted in the survey report. Once these features have been repaired and the site updated, we will be working on establishing long-term financial security for the site via site/pride products, upgraded memberships, and advertising space. These three methods were the top supported means according to the survey.
Again, the full survey results can be read at
http://www.stripperweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116613.
If your point was not addressed here, please read the full report - it has much more details and dealt with more issues. I recommend it for everyone as it is fascinating picture of all of us - however it is a looooooong read.
Take care,Pryce
