What does it take to become an "Insider" ?

[allan wallace]

*runs away*

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[Anonymous]

I will have to morse code it Allan, they can’t translate

.– .- – -.-. …. / — ..- – / ..-. — .-. / …. .. .–. .–. — …

http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html

This message will fizzle a little bit, flap about and maybe let off a few very small (un-spectacular sparks) in around 5 seconds ( give or take )………..

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[trashman]

WOFH= watch out for flying hippos!!!!

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[trashman]

long time no read pete, good to see you.

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[Anonymous]

@ trashman

Now that’s a whole other story! Don’t get me started fella… I blame the cabbage

Nice to be back : I did drop by from time to time, see changes have been made and you are all well and healthy

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[Scattybird]

Hi Peter – good to see you back again. I’d missed your WOFH!

Allan – I obviously mis-read and mis-interpreted your posts! Haha – I have an excuse though!

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[Anonymous]

@ Scattybird

Nice to see both old and new faces : Not that Im calling you old I might add!

Viva La Forum

Pete aka <<<< That guy over there!

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[Robbo]

Insiders, or outsiders?…

Thanks a bunch for the good comments that agree with me about the distasteful word they might be using for new features here. I bet more people agree, they’re just busy, and haven’t had a chance to chime in on it. I don’t feel so overly sensitive now that a couple folks have shown that they feel the same reaction to that word. It’s hard to be critical of a organization/web site that has helped me out so much. I feel like I’ve got a responsibility to be real, and be honest with the people here. I’m doing my best to do my part at helping this place become the powerful positive force for good that it is. And it’s growing too. We’re just helping it grow in the right direction. That takes a team. There’s no “I” in team right?. But there is a “ME” lol. So I gotta let that selfish “me” part of my personality express it’s opinion, even if it is a bit self centered. It’s real at least.

Hi PETE!!.

Good to see ya back around dude.

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[allan wallace]

Ah, so that’s the question then, eh? That’s easy to answer, I’m an ‘outsider’! 😆 Wouldn’t know what it means to be an ‘insider’, and the thought of making others feel somehow excluded doesn’t sit well with me either. I’m old anyway, I turned forty bloody six last week! Ye Gods, 50 in 4 years time! It’ll be lawn bowls and knitting for me! I still haven’t even figured out what I want to be when I grow up yet! Gawd, there’s no hope! 😆

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Hi Robbo,

Thanks for letting us know what’s happening with you. There is nothing more frustrating that computers and technology. Thank God I have Jimi and Ava and my son and a few friends. Trying to master the computer stuff is so hard, which is why I’ve had Mac’s since 1984. And nothing but Macs. I just couldn’t remember all the commands on a PC.

Lots of good comments here. It’s interesting. We have been busy, crazy busy, which is why I haven’t had a chance to respond.

I understand how you feel as well about not being an insider. I too have been an outsider all of my life. In my career choices, hobbies, interests, projects that I created, friendships…

At one point, yes, I desperately wanted to be ‘normal’. You know,’ like everyone else.’

The more I learned about the truth of other people’s lives, how ‘normal people’ lived with ‘normal jobs’ and ‘regular interests’, the less I wanted to be like them.

A simple example of my ‘quirkiness’ is my hobby… model railroading. What kind of man plays with toy trains in his 50’s? Silly right?

I was always kind of embarrassed about my passion, and spending so much time on it. No one else understood the appeal or appreciated that it was a way of creating a work of art. I was an outsider.

Then, about 10 years ago, I joined a model railroad club. Suddenly I was surrounded by guys (and one girl) who ‘got it.’ They knew how much fun it was… the romance of train travel, the golden age of steam, the stark beauty of industrial design, the gorgeous panorama’s with bridges, mountains, rivers…

I was in my element.

I was no longer an ‘outsider.’

I was an ‘insider.’

It cost me five bucks a week to be part of the club. It was the best money I ever spent. I ended up building more models in the two years that I was a member than I had in a decade before. Because the club members appreciated what I had done because they knew what was involved. They were insiders too. They were from very different backgrounds. A wide range of interests and ages. But they formed a ‘support group’ in some ways. The discussion was elevated and more ‘sophisticated’ because everyone was interested in trains. When someone talked about a Geep-7, or Geep 20 with a short hood, everyone knew what they meant.

For the first time I felt like an insider.

Now we are trying to create a space for ADDers that offers the same safe refuge, where the discussion can be more sophisticated, elevated. It will include Webinars, a very advanced version of the Forums where you can connect one and one, form groups and invite other insiders to be part of it, or not, and more. We’ve been working on this for six months now, all while keeping everything else going.

It’s getting close to finished. And it will cost half of what it cost to be part of the model railroad club. And it will allow us to keep the TotallyADD site going, be able to continue to interview experts, produce videos, and hopefully keep expanding with more and more services.

The motivation for all of this has come from people who are currently members on the website who want more, who want somewhere exclusive, where they can connect with liked-minded folks and take it to another level, and have access to better, more sophisticated tools. There was one member who actually said he was leaving because he was frustrated by a number of issues. It struck a chord. When we did a survey asking if people would be interested in a more sophisticated way to connect, a very large number said yes.

For those who are not interested in paying for a premium service, the TotallyADD.com website will be here, as it has been, with five hours of free videos, hundreds of Forum conversations and tens of thousands of members.

Which, as we know, has been very helpful for a lot of people, and will continue to be as long as we can keep it going.

For those who want to take it to the next level, there will be the more advanced, or ‘premium’ service.

Hope this helps you to reframe what we are doing in a more powerful way. And clarifies why we chose it.

Best,

Always,

Rick

P.S., Every adult with ADHD/ADD we talked to, and almost every ADHD expert we interviewed for our first program actually hated the title ‘ADD & Loving It?!’ when they first heard it.

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[Tiddler]

Just to clarify – is the term ‘insiders’ going to be used?

I am excited about the new part of the site. But I already feel like an insider here and want the rest of the site to still feel that way – we’re part of something great here. If the new part is going to be referred to as an ‘insiders’ area, that completely changes how I feel about it. To the point where I wouldn’t want to be here any more.

Extra is one thing. ‘insiders’ is them and us. That’s not for me. I appreciate that people didn’t like ‘ADD and loving it’ but ‘ADD and loving it’ doesn’t imply ‘yet again you’re not part of the in crowd’, which ‘insiders’ does.

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[Rick Green – Founder of TotallyADD]

Hi Tiddler,

Thanks for explaining how it makes you feel.

Hmm. I’m sorry that the name is triggering this for people. I thought it was something cool and exciting. Part of me actually likes the idea that for a minimal fee you can jump into an exclusive area and be an insider. And the only reason you wouldn’t is… Well, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to be an insider. Cause as I say, we’ve been outsiders.

But I don’t want to lose great people because of a name. I can see how it might make people feel left out.

The main problem is that when we went through the list of 300 names I came up with, the only one that jumped at us all was ‘Insider.’ So we have paid for the printing of thousands of coupons for people who pledge to PBS during the run of our new program, “ADD & Mastering It?!” And the coupons are for two months free membership to the Insider area… So this is going to get messy when they come looking… Hmm.

But hey, perhaps something can be done. I’ll ask the web folks.

In the meantime, can someone come up with a better name that everyone likes? Anyone?

Rick

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[Scattybird]

Hi Rick,

Thanks for coming in and explaining. What you’ve done here is fabulous and you have made a huge difference to a lot of people with your vision and energy in keeping this site running and progressing. It’s great and the last thing any of us wants is to be critical of you, or of your ambition for the site. What you have here is great.

We also know that you need funds to keep it going and to develop it further. I fully support your vision and understand the need for some dosh. This site is streets ahead of all the other ADHD sites that I have seen so far.

So I ‘get’ the CONCEPT of ‘insiders’ and I ‘get’ the NEED for it. However, we are already signed up members of the club – we’re members of TotallyADD. We are already in that club of like minded people – right now. I feel part of a community of people all of whom have similar quirks and issues as me. For the first time, I have found kindred spirits.

I am happy to pay a contribution for access to webinars etc. and to help support the site. BUT I am with the others and dislike the term ‘insider’.

I think your wish to bring us into the fold of insiders is a kind and honest one, but the terminology is wrong. You need to be careful how you promote this – for example, in your post above you say:

“Now we are trying to create a space for ADDers that offers the same safe refuge, where the discussion can be more sophisticated, elevated.”

Err – the discussion is as good as the contributors. So even here offence can be taken even though none was meant. Sorry Rick – I just want to highlight that if someone is feeling sensitive and picks up on something then it’s hard to put out the flames once they take hold.

Rick – in short – you have my support in making an ‘extras’ bit of the site which we have to pay for – as long as the videos and forum remain available for free. It’s daft to think we can have something as good as this for free. That is not in question at all (at least not for me). But I do question the term and urge you to listen to peoples’ comments about the name.

Regarding the coupons – I can see how that could be an issue. I am sure that these people could be directed to an insiders logo and then onto the real deal whatever that will be called. Think of the great publicity you could have – a site that listens and makes changes. That’s what friends do – so what better advert for any newbies.

Thanks.

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[Scattybird]

PS – how about everyone chipping in here?

If you like the term ‘insiders’ then give it some support.

Assuming we agree that we need extra stuff that generates money in order to keep up the standards on the main site…..then what should it be called?

Insiders – or something else? If something else then what? Pete’s got some suggestions above.

My contribution is ADDitions or ADDitional. Think they’re original – if stolen then sorry!

Go guys go…..

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[allan wallace]

Hmm, dunno, I’ve only been here for 5 minutes, and I don’t feel entitled to have much of a say about it anyway. I’d be happy to pay a small amount each month as a contribution to the upkeep of the site as it wouldn’t be fair to expect one fellow to bear the brunt alone…the term ‘insider’ is a bit smug all the same, and not a status that I’ve ever sought, or had conferred upon me!

Names, eh? The Ivory Tower? The Senate? Clipboard Junction? 😆 Meh, I dunno, ‘The Bunker’? ‘ADD-ON’? ‘The Lounge’? Crap suggestions, but all that’s there at the moment… 😆

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