Mothers + Wisdom + a few bits of news
Posted on May 5th, 2008
by 
Gaia Team
Gaia Team
It's Siona. :)
Last week, I was talking with the rest of the team about Mother's Day, brainstorming about what we might do on the site in honor of the upcoming weekend. Something to honor Gaia? A QaR about mothers? Perhaps a call for stories or pictures?
It was Jessica who reminded us of something we've all been aware of for a while. Our quotations library is embarrassingly out-of-balance: the majority of the quotations in it are by men. (And not only are there only two woman in the 'Popular Authors' section of the quotes page, one of them happens to be listed under a male pseudonym!)
So we thought that, this week, in honor of our mothers, we might all work to contribute some women's wisdom to the quotations library. If you'd like to help (and you would, wouldn't you?) just grab a few books by your favorite female authors and pop over to the 'Add a Quote' section. (If you need help, there are more detailed instructions here.)
Let's see whether we can get a little more equal represenetation by next week. :)
And while I'm here, a few bits of behind-the-scenes news...
Again, though, if you have a minute to spare this week, please do consider adding some women to our quotes database. There's so much wisdom out there, and so must to listen to... and, on that note, if you'd like to let us know what else you're doing for mother's day, by all means share!
Last week, I was talking with the rest of the team about Mother's Day, brainstorming about what we might do on the site in honor of the upcoming weekend. Something to honor Gaia? A QaR about mothers? Perhaps a call for stories or pictures?
It was Jessica who reminded us of something we've all been aware of for a while. Our quotations library is embarrassingly out-of-balance: the majority of the quotations in it are by men. (And not only are there only two woman in the 'Popular Authors' section of the quotes page, one of them happens to be listed under a male pseudonym!)
So we thought that, this week, in honor of our mothers, we might all work to contribute some women's wisdom to the quotations library. If you'd like to help (and you would, wouldn't you?) just grab a few books by your favorite female authors and pop over to the 'Add a Quote' section. (If you need help, there are more detailed instructions here.)
Let's see whether we can get a little more equal represenetation by next week. :)
And while I'm here, a few bits of behind-the-scenes news...
First off, I wanted to apologize, tremendously, for the site slowness over the past weekend. We're working on figuring out what caused the evening dips, and what we can do to make sure it doesn't happen again. Those occasional drags are really, really not good for my heart; I don't like thinking of anyone struggling to get on the site or wondering what the lags are about. So again, I apologize, and we are working on it.
Secondly, I've been speaking with Dave about our advertising on the site. We're losing a painful number of potential sponsors because we don't take rich media, and while there's no way we're going to re-implement those flashy little gifs on the right hand side, w'ere going to try a few top banners that move (for no longer than three seconds—then they go still). We're also planning on re-working the interior navigation (remember how Jackson did such a great job with the tabs up top? We think the interior could be simplified as well...) and there'll be some potential then to change the many square ads on the site to something less jarring. Also, for those of you who are truly bothered by the ads, we still do offer Plus, which allows you to turn them on and off at will.
And last but not least, we've got a site-wide event coming up in May! I posted a bit of news about this on my own blog, but for the rest of you, we'll be hosting a TeleGathering with Gay Hendricks and his wife, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks, on the topic of Authentic Relationships. We've got it scheduled for the evening of May 20th, and we'll let you know soon when and how to sign up. (Yes, it'll be free for all members of the site.) Obviously I'm giddy about this; imagine us all being on one line together. Ee.
Again, though, if you have a minute to spare this week, please do consider adding some women to our quotes database. There's so much wisdom out there, and so must to listen to... and, on that note, if you'd like to let us know what else you're doing for mother's day, by all means share!
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead
—Margaret Mead
Access: Public
community
May 2008
ads are revenue; you need to pay for servers and human bodies to run them.
Do what you need to do; yahoo shows that if you offer a great free service, people will tolerate a little annoyance.
blessings.
I'm with wanderer7.
and lately I get to see Ram Dass' smiling face ad when I come on.
We are blessed!
THANKS, as always, for all you do, Siona & team.
Hugs XOXO
Haha, I love seeing Ram Dass as well! I'm a little insane, and I like the ads. Actually, the only one that annoys me is the one for Gaia itself. Is anyone else sick of seeing yet another serenely beautiful woman practicing yoga? At least she's not blonde, but jeez, could we think of something slightly less cliche? I can't even pick up a yoga magazine anymore…
Anyway, you'll get blowback from the people who hate ads, but people will bitch about anything. (Note how I was bitching about something beautiful!) Seriously, the less they pay, the more demanding they are. I don't know why, but it's true. They're free to go to any other social networking site they wish to.
Liz
Siona, the ads are so nicely done, I actually like them, and use the links for convenience sake. Much better than doing the favourites search for me if I am in a hurry. Thanks for this information and agree about Jessica's idea on the female quote quota (LOL), definitely will add some, blessings, Moni
thanks for the invite, Siona. I shall be going on a binge !!! brainyquotes.com has oodles of women, as do most other quotes sites. Thanks to you all esp. Jessica for spotting that imbalance.
I have tried to “link author into our database” in books for a few women authors, and last I checked, which was some time ago, that function was not in working order. If it gets fixed, I will be adding some women there, too !!!!
And thanks for all the news. I enjoy seeing the ads on the few occasions when I close my browser and have to log in again, and then I enter the blissful peace and quiet of Gaia Plus. Ahhhhhhhh. The best of both worlds. I can THINK so much better without the ads. It made an amazing difference.
However, I have said before and say again, do whatever you gotta do to bring in the bucks that will enable this site to keep going. I have so much invested here now. I am dreadfully ATTACHED, oh dear !!!!!!!
Hugs to all the Team,
OM Bastet
Me too! I like the ads! Remember, there are many of us here from other sites and bee leave me our ads are not annoying in the least! So they're square. Square is good. I can do square!
I can even handle a bit of moving and wiggling as long as they don't end up flashing skin, blood, or scary images! I would love to see the polar bear boxing with another polar bear, (I'm seeing the ad for Nature Travel with the Nature People right now) or the seal wiggling it's whiskers!
Yep, keep us financially secure, Siona. We like fiscal responsibility!
amber Smilemaker
;o i pointed it the disparity between male and female quotes when i first joined zaadz, noticed it way back then and got a cheery message back saying that there are some women quotes too. so i am glad to see you being proactive about them and I will see if i can send in a few good female quotes. we are launching our first Play and healing Spring Festival this Saturday in our town so it may not be in time for Mother's Day. Thanks for the effort in honor of mothers.
Do you know what all of you do to my heart? Thank you thank you thank you… I can't tell you how touched I am by your understanding. Thank you.
wanderer7 and ladybear: Deep bows to you both. :)
Liz: I'll put in a pitch for more models with shaved heads…
Moni and OM: I love the contrast of your perspectives on the ads. Thank you.
Mary: I think I do remember your initial observation. Apologies for taking so long to get to it. :)
And don't worry; we can always change things; if the rich ads don't work we'll sort something else out. I have complete faith in the fact that we'll be able to carry each other through all this, no? It's just that ongoing process or practice of living together. It's all good.
i echo Siona's gratitude! it's good to hear that our sponsors are welcome in our community :)
personally, i like the ads too. i'm not just saying that because i work here. i do discover a lot of cool stuff whenever i follow the link to those ads.
as for the quotes, please do add quotes from women. even add quotes from your moms ;) we like to see more quotes from women!
and Liz, as to your concern with yoga models, i agree. it's good to break away from stereotypes from time to time. but would you really prefer to see the inappropriate yoga guy? :)
happy Mother's day to all moms out there!
~C
ads, what ads? - they must blend in well, cause if i am not looking for them, i don't see them :)
Oh, PLEASE. Annoying ads? Only if we as individuals allow it to affect us as such!
Whatever is required to compensate (probably not enough) with revenue for this wonderful place is certainly not an annoyance. If ads take away the lags of weekend last, then bring more of them on.
Bless the Gaia team for caring, as we here in this space are blessed by the caring.
(besides, Patagonia is one of my favorite clothing items, and their occasional appearance reminds me to check out what they have that is new…)
And after all [continuing about ads] what if one of us one day not only starts a business, but actually is willing to pay to advertise here? Wouldn't we like our Gaia friends to know of it/support it as we are supporting….ah well, that's not what I want to do right now..hypothesize!
I'd like to add to OM's voice…have been trying to add quotes through the author's page, and not been able to; have let Mathew know thru the support pod, and he said he's noted it. MEanwhile, I'll do my best to keep adding quotes from book I”ve read/am reading…hey, Carolyn Myss anyone?
Meenakshi, that's yet another bug. I was referring to the “This author is not yet linked to our author database. Would you like to add this author?” Well, yes, I would thanks, and thanks for the invite. …… but – I showed up, and no party… :( The feature didn't work the few times I tried it ages ago. If I called attention to it, that was ages ago, too. In a land far far away….. Oh, wrong blog…..
Must be because I am about to say something to Jeepdog, the silliness vibe is aroused…..
“…only if we allow it to affect us as such.” I want to reiterate for clarity that my negative response to the ads is neurological, not moral or even aesthetic. It's an eye-brain-concentration thing, and I cannot disallow it, though perhaps I might be trainable…..
I agree with your attitude, the Team gotta do what the Team gotta do, to keep this place viable. I have said and I reiterate that if the Gaia+ revenue from me does not balance out what my one purchase a year from an ad would bring, I would go back to the ad bit. But actually I peruse the ads every time I log in, so I can still make that purchase, so as I said, I have the best of both worlds. Cake and eat it too, etc.
Cheers to all,
OM Bastet
Do something for the children…
That is how you honor a mother…
ohmsmom, I'm glad the ads aren't intrusive, we try to strike a good balance between letting people know about our good sponsors and maintaining your zen-like Gaia experience :)
Meenakshi, I totally agree with you. I know I'd want to advertise my business to the good community here at Gaia. Many, if not most, of our advertisers are members and part of Gaia. Actually, I'm really proud of the companies we've been able to work with.
OM, I am so happy you can have your cake and eat it too. (Is it a chocolaty cake? mmmm :) I mean…WooHoo Plus!!! That's what I do actually! If I don't look at the ads often enough I feel like I'm missing out.
Bluewater, that's beautiful. Wow. It's so true…I'm going to remember that!