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simul16 · 3 years

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Low Effort in Their Own Way

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." - Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina"

I've been watching a fair amount of D&D content on YouTube of late, for varying reasons, and if I may paraphrase Tolstoy's famous quote above, I've learned that all good D&D channels make high-effort content, while each bad D&D channel makes low-effort content in its own way.

Low-effort content tends to be:

Content that is or can be created quickly; it doesn't require a lot of prep time (and the presentation usually allows this limited prep time to show)

Content that copies current trends; while a certain amount of response to significant events in the gaming world is to be expected, low-effort channels regularly feature content that basically boils down to 'here's my reaction to whatever rumor or scandal is currently being talked about among the community'

Content that does not spark or contribute to a discussion; when such channels go beyond simply recapitulating a recent event, they frequently spend very little time explaining their own reaction and seldom spend any time at all explaining or exploring contrary opinions except to make jokes or elicit emotional reactions from an over-simplified or straw-man version of the contrary opinion

Now let's start off by saying that I'm not knocking low-effort content per se; anybody who knows anything about online marketing can tell you that low-effort content has a role to play in any marketing strategy. Ideally, though, your low-effort content, the stuff that you can get out the door quickly and easily and get in front of your potential customers, exists to guide those customers to your higher-quality content that convinces them to buy your product, order your service, or otherwise become someone who believes that you have something of value to say. Because it's cheap and easy to produce, low-effort content can be cast far and wide to serve as a net to capture many potential viewers and guide them to the gold mine of the really important stuff you have to say. Unfortunately, when your low-effort content is what you have to say, it very much begs the question of what exactly it is people should be coming to your channel for.

Here are a few but by no means an exhaustive list of the YouTube channels that to me seem to feature way too much low-effort content.

The Dungeon Dudes

The Dungeon Dudes are two guys (Kelly McLaughlin and Monty Martin) who mainly do scripted back-and-forth style discussions of D&D-related topics. I've talked about the Dungeon Dudes before, when taking apart one of their recent videos, but they also stream a D&D game they play in on Twitch (and frequently post recordings of those sessions on their channel), do product reviews, and generally do whatever they can to maintain a consistent pace of content output, generally a minimum of twice weekly. They've been around for nearly four years now, and have amassed about 273 thousand subscribers on their channel, with over 44 million views for their content, which seem like decent numbers for a niche content channel. (Contract with CinemaSins, which exists as a viral content manufacturer, and has amassed over 9 million subscribers and over 3.3 billion views. I'm not trying to say the Dungeon Dudes are the CinemaSins of D&D; if they were, their numbers would probably look a lot more like those of CinemaSins.)

The big problem with the Dudes as content creators is that, despite being a niche content channel, they are clearly in it to try to eke out some kind of income or living from the work they put into the channel: they've got a Patreon, they use affiliate links in the descriptions of their product review videos to gain some additional referrer income, and they do sponsored content when they can get a sponsor. They started back in the summer of 2017 with a very 2016-era plan on how to succeed at YouTube: put together a bunch of short (5-10 minutes, occasionally longer, but go over 15 minutes at your peril) videos and release them on an iron-clad schedule to get people used to coming back to your channel and looking over your new content, and to their credit, they've kept up their content production schedule very consistently over the past four years.

They've also learned a few things during that time and have adapted the channel in response: their videos explaining rules and reviewing new products tend to be more popular, so they work those topics in on a more regular basis. They've learned that the YouTube algorithm has subtly changed over the past few years to reward channels that can provide longer 'engagement' (which gives YouTube more opportunities to run ads), and have expanded their video length to an average of about a half-hour, with their re-broadcasts from Twitch being extra-long videos (between two and two-and-a-half hours) which, while drawing fewer total views, probably draw as much or more 'engagement' from the algorithm for the views they have.

But the need to spit out so much content on such a rigid, unforgiving schedule means that they have to aim for quick-creation and easy digestion: putting subclasses into a bog-standard tier ranking, making 'top five' and 'top ten' lists that seem like they're being cribbed from a more thoughtful resource, and generally getting stuff out the door (like their 'Powerful Spell Combos Using Teamwork' video) without spending too much time thinking about how valuable or even accurate their advice happens to be. More to the point, it seems to be taking its toll on the guys who serve as the hosts of the show: Kelly McLaughlin has a fairly dour expression in general, but lately he seems to have the countenance of a man who's about to post a 'very special episode' discussing the dangers of YouTuber burnout.

The Dungeon Dudes feature low-effort content because they have to in order to support the publishing frequency they've chosen; if they were to take the time to put together a truly high-effort piece regarding one of their traditional topics, their Patreon subscribers would likely be asking why their release schedule had slowed down before their work was even half-done.

Dungeon Craft

The Dungeon Craft channel is run by a fellow who refers to himself as 'Professor Dungeon Master'; I have not yet found any reference in his channel or elsewhere that identifies who he actually is, so I'll just refer to him as Prof. Prof has been on YouTube a bit longer than the Dungeon Dudes, having launched his channel in October of 2016, and has put out 185 'episodes' (as of the time of this writing), thus averaging between three and four episodes per month. Prof's own 'trailer' video explicitly states his channel's concept: "Some channels focus on running the game, others on building terrain, others on painting minis. I do it all!" You might think, then, that this would be a place to find quite high-quality content, especially related to terrain and miniatures painting tips, but it seems like the main effect of Prof making his channel be about multiple topics (and there are plenty of topics he discusses that don't fit into any of those three categories above) is that he can't successfully communicate what his channel is actually about, other than about his specific opinions. Maybe that's the reason he's sitting at about 65 thousand subscribers and just under 5 million views.

However, being at a slightly lower 'tier' of content production than the Dungeon Dudes is not itself any kind of crime or even indicative of poor quality -- after all, one of my favorite D&D lore channels on YouTube is RavenloftTravelAgent, and she's got just over a thousand subscribers and only about 50 thousand views on her videos. No, Prof could have a very high-quality, high-content channel with the subscriber numbers and views he has, but he doesn't.

Prof's issue is almost exactly the opposite of that of the Dungeon Dudes: instead of cranking out a rapid-fire, breakneck volume of content to keep up with an arbitrary content production schedule because that's how you make a living producing content for YouTube and you have to keep feeding the hungry algorithm, Prof cranks out content that's very easy for him to write because he's been involved in the game for a long time and already knows that the way he learned to play the game is the best way. Any topic that comes up related to D&D, he's got an opinion and can spit out a script explaining his opinion quickly because it's the same opinion he's held for decades. Classic D&D didn't have skills, so the next edition of D&D shouldn't have them either. Classic D&D had slow advancement, so slow advancement is better than fast advancement. This becomes even more obvious in the videos that have very little or nothing to do with running a D&D game, such as where Prof explains why he thought Avengers: Endgame sucked, or why he thought Season 8 of Game of Thrones was 'nearly perfect'.

Some of the oddest episodes of Dungeon Craft have to do when Prof makes admissions that make him out to be, well, the D&D channel for 'that kind' of old-school gamer: the ones who can make comments to each other that they can't make in front of their wives or significant others because the latter find the comments sexist, the kind of guys you can complain to about not being able to tell a Polack joke at work, the guys who treated D&D in the 1980s and 1990s the way that guys in the 1950s and 1960s treated golf where they could build a wall between the world as it existed and the world as they wanted to believe it was (and, if we're being honest, the way that they believed it should actually be). Nowhere is this more evident than in the video where Prof starts by discussing the hot, rich girlfriend he had once who tried but never got into D&D who he just had to break up with, and which by the 3 minute mark has him "calling bullshit" on the idea that relationships are built on compromise and negotiation. (I mean, you saw this coming, right? Right there at the end of the last paragraph about how the ending of Game of Thrones was so good? You knew that's where this was going, right?)

And, of course, he's not immune to just jumping on the latest bandwagon to contribute his drone to the chorus of voices talking about things just to be talking about things. It shouldn't be surprising that Prof jumped on the bandwagon of the lawsuit brought by Hickman and Weis against Wizards of the Coast over the upcoming Dragonlance trilogy, which turned out to be a nothing-burger. Even weirder is the tag in the description of that video which says "Analysis you can't get anywhere else", even though the video doesn't contain anything that hadn't already been discussed over the three weeks between the lawsuit and Prof's video other than Prof's own opinions about it. My favorite howler that Prof makes in this video is his assertion that, because Hickman and Weis got a lawyer to file a lawsuit, that means there's definitely fire under that smoke, because "big law firms do not accept cases they don't think they can win", which both ignores the existence of SLAPP suits as well as the existence of authors who seem to take perverse glee in suing rival authors just to drive them out of the industry. He's also responded with multiple videos in response to Cody at Taking20s controversial 'illusion of choice' essay, and his response to Ginny Di's essay on making online D&D suck less didn't include any of Ginny's solid advice on making online play more compatible with an in-person mentality (recognizing interruptive behavior, or using text chat to maintain side-conversations that would otherwise not be distracting in person), but instead gave these recommendations to players:

Keep your camera turned on

Mute yourself when not talking

Don't distract yourself with technology during the game

Nothing specific on recognizing how online play differs from tabletop play and suggesting ways to bring those two styles closer together, just commands because he's the DM and he says so. Or, in other words, low-effort, opinion-based content.

Nerd Immersion

Nerd Immersion, a channel by Ted that started in May of 2014 and has amassed over 70 thousand subscribers, starts his "channel trailer" video by leafing through a book, then looking up and saying, "Oh, hello" as if he'd just noticed that there was a camera on pointing at him while he's sitting in his orange-trimmed gaming chair. That, sadly, is roughly the level of thought that goes into the actual content contained on this long-tenured but seemingly still super-niche channel.

The weird thing is that at some point, it was obvious that Ted put some real effort into this channel. There are defined sections of the channel that focus on particular things, avoiding the Dungeon Craft problem of 'what topic is our channel about this week?' On Tuesdays, Ted posts a top-10 list. Ted comes up with an idea for a series, like 'Fixing 5E' or 'Reviewing Unearthed Arcana', posts regular articles until he's said what he means to say, then ends the series. (There hasn't been a new Fixing 5E video in roughly a year, meaning that Ted isn't wasting his own time and that of the viewer continually beating horses he's long since killed.) And he comes up with some great ideas for series, such as his series reviewing products on the DMs Guild; that particular series comes out somewhat irregluarly, but not so irregularly that you think he may have stopped doing the series without telling you.

Nerd Immersion's big problem can be summed up by simply looking at the list of videos on his channel and noticing that when he puts his own face on the thumbnail of the video, the startling frequency with which he's shrugging or has a puzzled face or just seems to be presenting himself as if he's not sure what's happening in his own video. I mean, I get it -- that's his image, the personality he wants to present to his audience. He doesn't have all the answers (a refreshing change from Dungeon Craft, honestly), but has some things to share if you're interested, so go ahead and take a peek. But then you take a look at those different sections we spoke about earlier and see that the 'Fixing' series all have the word Fixing at the top of the screen, the Nerd Immersion logo in the top left, two images underneath the text, one on the right side of the page and one on the left, separated right down the middle, and they all have Fix-It Felix on the far right. The Top 10 videos always have Top 10 at the top of the thumbnail. The Unearthed Arcana reviews all have 'Unearthed Arcana' at the top, then 'Review' in an odd off-set to the right beneath 'Unearthed Arcana'.

In other words, Ted has a formula, and he's damn well going to follow it.

Now it's not a bad thing to have a workflow -- if you're going to be cranking out videos at the volume that Ted does (not to mention the others on this list), you'd better have some kind of process for making the video, getting the thumbnail on it, etc.; otherwise each new video is a horrible nightmare of effort as you re-invent the wheel for every project. Nobody wants to do that, and the results would likely be unwatchable. Having a process is a good thing. But the Dungeon Dudes clearly also have a process -- they've put out at least two videos a week for three and a half years, so they damn well have a process or they wouldn't have been able to get out that much content. Looking at their channel, though, shows you that while they have a brand, and one that's evolving over time to boot, they're not just making the same video over and over again, or at least you wouldn't think that from looking at the thumbnails.

Ted's most interesting videos are where he's interviewing another person or even just having another person in the video, because having another person around clearly takes him at least a bit outside his rigid formulaic comfort zone. The problem is that those videos are few and far between -- the review of the infernal tiefling is about eight months separated from his interview with Celeste Conowitch about her Venture Maidens campaign guide. Also interesting are his unboxing videos, because Ted clearly likes minis and takes some degree of joy in cracking open and looking at new minis. His unboxing videos aren't as irregular as his interview videos, but they are fairly recent, with the first appearing just a few months ago, so it's still not clear if this is going to be a new regular part of the channel, or just another series that goes until he says what he wants to say about minis and then stops.

Most of the stuff on the site, though, is just, well, stuff, cranked out on a formula and thrown out into the digital void with the same soft-spoken volume regardless of whether it's major news or a press release. As an example, while pretty much everybody had an opinion on the Dragonlance lawsuit, Ted covered when the suit was announced, when it was dismissed by Weis and Hickman, when the actual trilogy that was the subject of the novels was announced, and the official release date of the first book in the new trilogy. When it came time to get ready to announce the newest campaign book, Ted was on the job, posting a video preparing for the announcement, another video later the same day when his original prediction of a Feywild adventure book seemed to be contradicted by other rumors that the book would be a Ravenloft book, then posted yet another video when the actual book was leaked on Amazon at 11:24pm later that same day confirming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, posted the video discussing the official announcement of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft the next day, and then the day after that followed up with more details on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft revealed in Dragon+. That's five videos in three days, for a grand total of just over 100 thousand views combined. The intention seems like Ted wants to be the CNN of the D&D news scene, but with those kind of distribution numbers, the result is more like your local home town's shopping circular that occasionally also features stories about the latest project to fix the potholes on Main Street. Just like nobody's doing 24/7 news coverage of your local town council, nobody is (or probably should strive to) doing 24/7 coverage of the gaming industry and Wizards of the Coast. At some point it just becomes running a script, pressing a button to upload the next video, because it's news, and while you don't have to think about news to quite the same degree you have to think about more opinion-based topics, once you stop thinking about the process and what it is you're making, all you have left is executing the formula, over and over again, and both the input and the output becomes repetitive.

Repetitive videos, in repetitive formats, with repetitive text, to keep the monster fed for another day. I can admire the effort that goes into it, but the overwhelming presence of the formula involved in cranking out this content keeps me from feeling that it's worth engaging with. It's low-effort, because the effort has been meticulously removed from the process.

I could go on, but I think I'll stop here. There's not really any constructive criticism I could provide to these channels because, as I hope I've pointed out, it seems like low-effort content is pretty much the only thing these channels have to offer or in truth can offer, and anything that might cause their owners to re-consider their channels to improve their content would almost certainly lead to a very different if not wholly different channel. With things being as they are online, there's no guarantee that any new, higher-effort channel would be any more successful than the old low-effort one (remember the RavenloftTravelAgent channel with absolutely miniscule numbers; effort doesn't automatically equate with success). I can't even claim that being low-effort channels necessarily makes these channels bad (despite what I said in the intro); after all, they all have at least some good ideas, especially Nerd Immersion, and they each have subscribers and a following. I guess this is just my way of putting some small amount of effort into explaining why I don't feel like doing more to help these channels succeed, because I'd rather put my support toward channels making higher-quality, higher-effort content, especially because its not the content itself, but people engaging with that content that really drives a channel's success.

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sheusedtobesassier · 4 years

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Day 10,330

Home alone for the first time in I think three weeks?? And by home I mean Allynda’s home. Lights off almost everywhere. Moon lamp, Scentsy dark crystal, candle, streetlight, three more candles, and the lowest lighting of the touch lamp. The Ballad of Love and Hate playing. Just got out of a hot hot bath during which I decided I feel capable of writing out the love story, well at minimum the beginning of it. I would call the start the best part, but I hesitate to say so. Intimacy was the best. Before that was just the delicious anticipation of that. Yeah so I realized I want to write about it tonight which was the smallest gasp of relief. I know there was a time when I couldn’t fathom remembering the sweetness. Begged for protection from those memories actually. And truthfully, I think that prayer was heard and answered. Sure they suddenly come for me sometimes, but they’re almost always quick and painless, like a shiver. Like a muscle memory. Phantom. Hm, hm.

“You’re still all over me like a wine stained dress I can’t wear anymore.”

We knew each other back when we were kids. To be specific, he was definitely a kid and I was in high school haha. (I believe he’s four years younger than me.) We were goof around pals that saw each other occasionally when our churches got together for Christianese functions. It wasn’t a close friendship, but me and my friends were very fond of him and his best friend. I left home in 2010 and probably interacted with him online once or twice throughout the next seven years of wandering on my own. I wasn’t keeping tabs.

November 2017. His best friend ended up falling head over heels in love with an old friend of mine. They had a sweet little “café con leche” wedding ceremony. There were a whole pile of people I knew at the reception and we filled up a long table. I noticed two friends seemed to be checking somebody out and when I curiously turned to follow their eyes, there was Omar. And uh, haha, he was definitely no longer a kid. Broad shoulders and the longest curls. I noted that he was nervously glancing around the room, probably looking for someone he knew. (I found out later it was an uncomfortable wedding for him.) Without a second thought, I stood up and excited rushed over to him. It was a short conversation, an exchange of pleasantries. What he’d been up to and what I’d been doing. He told me he was a vagabond and I told him I’d just been assigned the role of Staff Director at Sky Lodge. I mentioned that if he didn’t have anything going on in the summer he should come up and work. He said it’s something he had considered before and gave me a maybe. I don’t believe I saw him again the rest of the night.

Fast forward to the spring hiring season. For a few months, week after week, day after day, I was trying to round up summer staff, particularly a strong adult leadership team. I was interacting with maybe 100 college kids throughout this process with the goal of getting around 12 of them to commit to a full summer at camp. It is a grueling process. That spring specifically I felt like I was being forced to relentlessly coerce others to apply for a ministry they seemed to have Absolutely Zero Interest in. The applicants I did have were concerning to me as far as trustworthiness. I knew I wasn’t doing a great job and that knowing made it hard to do even a good job. Once May came around I had no fight left in me. And then I got weird messages from Omar. He had said early on that he wasn’t available, but whatever he had lined up fell through so he was wondering if there were still spots. I sent him the info and he said he’d apply that evening. A couple days later nothing had come through from him so I messaged him to see what was up. He had read the application and was no longer interested. I had a gut feeling and asked, “Is it because you don’t think you want to work for us or because you think you won’t get hired?” He told me it was a little of both and felt like parts of the application process were intrusive. Which, lol, he wasn’t wrong. I was thrilled. Asked if he’d be willing to fill it out and then have a longer discussion with me about his misgivings. He said he would. I remember calling my sister after I read what he submitted and giddy announcing, “HE’S A REAL LIFE PERSON.” He hadn’t given religious robot answers. He’d been forthright and controversial. He would bring something So Different than everybody else I was hiring AND THAT POSSIBILITY WAS DEEPLY INTRIGUING TO ME. I scheduled his interview, knowing I’d be deciding if we were going to hire him BUT ALSO he would be deciding if he wanted to come. I told him he should take a few days to really really think it through, talk it over with people he trusted, and genuinely pray about it. I started asking God to work it out if it was supposed to.

Okay. A little pause because I’m about to write about a part that I want to make sure comes off as how it actually was. First, I want to be clear that I was 0% attracted to this person at this stage. We were both grown, but he was still a kid to me. A long ago friend who I’d lost touch with. I was in boss mode, desperate to have admirable leaders I could count on for the summer (which was only a week away). Second, there was a specific season of my life where I considered myself very in tune with the Holy Spirit. I communicated with Her consistently and believed I heard from Her pretty often. That may sound kooky to you, but it doesn’t change what I believed then haha. This story I’m telling occurred like, five years after that Era of Very In Tune. Which I feel the need to say because like, interacting with the Holy Spirit still happens in my life, but rarely. I’m not seeking it out as frequently and hardly ever get anything straight from Her. Lol, if this weirds you out, no worries it weirds me out too. Okay so. With those said.

The morning before his phone interview, I was driving around a riding mower praying about the conversation we were going to have. I was concerned that he wasn’t going to choose us, worried about how I might screw up a good thing. I big time wanted to know that he’d be good for camp AND that camp would be good for him. Honestly I probably wanted the second one even more. I was stressing about it to God. And like. I wouldn’t write this except that it’s true. I out of the blue just experienced 100% reassurance that Omar would be at Sky Lodge for the summer. Right there, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was was going to say yes. And like, I knew it was from the Holy Spirit. That familiar Her. Burst into tears because like I said, I wasn’t hearing from Her as much as I used to. So to suddenly experience that rush?? I wept happy tears. When I came in for lunch I told Jeremy we could start putting Omar’s name on all the official lists. He was like, “But you haven’t done the interview yet? And didn’t you say he might not even want to be here?” And I was like, “Look. I know he’s gonna say yes. I can’t explain how, but put him on the lists.” Then I went out in the sun and called him up. We talked through several complicated things. It was an articulate conversation between two people who respected each other. (It is very weird to think about how much I low key instantly trusted Omar.) And lol. The end of the conversation was me big smile saying, “So uh, everybody else is getting here on Thursday to get moved in and settled by 5 o’clock. So.” and then he was big smile basically like, “Okay. Yeah. Well. Huh. Yeah I’ll be there.”

And sure enough he was. Well kind of. He showed up late. Everybody else was going through the line for dinner when he called me to say he was here but not sure where to go. I ran out of the dining room and saw his black car pull in. Showed him to park down by Maple. Noticed the John Mayer poster rolled up in his back window so we chatted about our mutual fondness for him on the quick stroll to the Lodge. I remember as dinner was finishing up the Foremen were starting to gather. I was staying on the edge, interested to see the beginnings of all their dynamics. Noticed Omar keeping his distance, but not in an uncomfortable way? Like, he definitely wasn’t exuberant, but he wasn’t closed off either. He was wearing the DAYDREAMER hoodie. He couldn’t hold still? I decided I didn’t need to worry about him and hoped he would pick buddies soon.

Foreman Training. Okay. He was definitely the most interesting person in the room. I mean, besides me of course. He was laid back and whenever he spoke up it was good for everybody. He kept giving out nicknames. Playful. Oh lol, when we’d take breaks, he and Elicia had a game of pool going on which was great because it gave the other girls the chance to watch him flirt. He was noticeably special. I was glad I hired him, because he consistently brought the group’s average up. And we got along well. One night after training had wrapped up the two of us got into a chat about the Kardashians, which lead to Kanye, which lead to President Trump, which lead to talking about Omar being brown. On my walk to my home, I txted him apologizing for maybe expressing too much and not asking enough questions. He told me not to worry and thanked me for the conversation. THERE WERE NO BUTTERFLIES YET. This was my first shot at being a true blue leader and I wasn’t taking that lightly. Being good for everybody working for me was my obsession.

Foreman Campout. Okay. Several things happened here that I want to note.

1. We had a mega controversial meeting about cell phones, during which I suggested we make an official policy that Foremen would leave their phones up in my office unless they needed them for something. It was a kick I was on mostly. A very firm belief that the less the Foremen were on their phones the higher quality their summer would be. There was immediate pushback. I was fending off tiny arguments. Suddenly Omar gave this rallying speech of like, “Come on guys. What the heck? Why are we being babies about this? This could be a really good thing for us!” And that settled it. He had power.

2. The morning after it rained there was a little pack of us huddled up in the gazebo talking about what the storm had been like for us. I asked if anybody had a pen I could borrow and Omar ran to get me one from his backpack. I journaled something like, “Last night I tried to imagine somebody to fall asleep with and couldn’t think of anyone. It’s nice to not be even a little in love with anybody.” AND I MEANT THAT. THERE WERE NO VIBES YET.

3. We all went tubing together and slowly but surely got split up into tinier squads. I was with Marissa and Omar, which was the ideal scenario for me. A lot of stupidity and laughter. Goofballs. There was definitely a point where I was wondering if there was chemistry between them. They drifted further ahead than me towards the end and I thought, “Interesting. We’ll see how that unfolds.” Once everybody was back on land I heard a bit of, “Ooh did you see Omar and Marissa?” It wasn’t a match in my head, but I didn’t think that hard about it.

4. The drive back to Sky Lodge, haha. Omar and I were both on the first bench. Him in the middle and me next to the sliding door. Jeremy was driving and Chris was shotgun so the four of us were chatting away. We passed some fields getting irrigated and I made some offhand comment about the Farmers’ Almanac. Omar suddenly turned to me and was like, “What do you know about that?” I tried to defend myself and he was like, “This sounds like you’re just making stuff up.” WHICH. EXCUSE ME. I WAS NOT. I couldn’t believe it. Him just challenging me right to my face. I was surprised and super secretly thrilled. Do you want me to explain that? Like, I didn’t feel dismissed by it. It was like he wasn’t allowing me to sound stupid and get away with it. Like. More was expected of me? He wasn’t gonna let me be high and mighty as his boss. And that like. Lol. It bothered me, but in a good way.

5. Okay this one was his story that he told me later. Both of us were claiming that there wasn’t any attraction happening yet at the campout, but then he was like “Oh hold up.” He said that on that drive back, most of us in the van were slowly falling asleep. I dozed off and was sort of precariously placed, like there was potential my head might land on his shoulder or my knee would drift into his. He said I woke up a little, noted the situation, and arranged myself as far from him as I could. He said he thought, “Why is she being like that?” And then he thought, “Wait actually why is it bothering me that she’s being like that???” Lol.

6. We got back and dropped everybody off at the staff dorm with announcements for the next day. Edith, my right hand woman, had evening rounds so the two of us did a super quick debrief of the trip standing outside my front door. I mostly remember making the statement that we had to look out for Omar because a lot of the girls seemed interested in him. It meant in a few weeks either they would all turn on each other OR all turn on him. Edith laughed and was like, “Well soon him and Elicia are gonna make out. Then nobody else will want him.” We giggled and I was like, “I just don’t want everybody to decide he’s a flirt when he’s actually just comfortable around women.” And like, haha. I WRITE THIS AS PROOF THAT I DIDN’T SEE IT COMING.

Alright so. Lol. Mm, mm. I’m gonna let me hit a hard pause for the night because I’m losing steam. Will come back to this though and soon. It’s a time in my life where I do have the space to get it out and I think I’d like to. Idk if it’ll be healing or useful. I’m not worrying about damage and maybe I should? But. Look. I fell in love with a good one who fell in love with me too. And. I’m not choosing to take my hands off it yet. Still pulled in. Fixated. I keep being afraid that I’m coming off embarrassingly obsessed, panicked that I’m weak and messy. But. Lol. I actually don’t feel like those things at fucking all. I do feel like someone became part of my life and with him I grew in gorgeous ways that I kept wanting to grow in and then I lost that person and now I am having a hard time figuring out some other gorgeous ways I can grow now. And like. I cannot have more of Omar or more from him. Not right now I can’t. But that doesn’t change that I already have a lot of what he did give me. And it’s really mine and I’m not required to like, demolish it to smithereens in order to qualify for moving on.

#personal

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kainosite · 5 years

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Convicts and Parole

Les Mis adaptations often give the impression that Valjean’s parole violation is a very big deal, perhaps the worst thing he’s done since he left Toulon in the eyes of the law. He is sometimes told upon his release that if he breaks his parole he’ll be returned to the bagne. None of this is true.

Technically what we're calling "parole" isn't even a parole. Valjean has completed his sentence, but because he committed a felony he's under residency and movement restrictions for the rest of his life, and any subsequent crime he commits will carry a harsher penalty. What he has is "special surveillance of the senior police", and the law considers ducking that surveillance a problem for the police rather than the courts. At the time of Valjean’s release, it wasn’t even a criminal offense.

A Brief History

Under the Ancien Régime many groups of people were subject to movement and residency restrictions, former convicts among them. Dating back to the 1600s, there were laws that bound freed galley slaves to a specific place of residence and stated that if they were to reoffend they should be sent back to the galleys on the confirmation of their identity.

After the revolution all these laws and movement restrictions were abolished. Neither the Penal Code of 1791 nor that of 1795 mention surveillance of freed convicts, although both include escalating penalties for recidivism. Subsequent governments soon brought back the residency restrictions. On 19 ventôse, Year XIII a new decree required all convicts to declare upon their release from the bagne the commune and department in which they intended to live, and banned them from living within 30 km of the borders or in cities that were in a state of war. The next year, the decree of 17 juillet, 1806 extended the ban to Paris, Versailles, Fontainebleau and anywhere else with an imperial palace, as well as the cities where the bagnes were located. It charged the prefects and the police of the departments in which freed convicts lived with the responsibility of monitoring them, and forbade former convicts from changing their residence without the authorization of the prefect. It also laid out the system we see in place when Valjean is released from the bagne, in which the freed convict is issued travel papers with an obligatory itinerary. This measure wasn’t entirely repressive, as the decree required the itinerary to include reimbursement for travel expenses, money the convict could only collect by following the route.

(Incidentally, the musical is right to call it a “ticket of leave” rather than a “passport”. Hugo elides the difference in the novel, but as the bagnes were under the control of the Navy, the travel papers convicts were granted upon their release took the form of a military leave rather than a civilian passport.)

The Code of Napoleon

Napoleon’s 1810 Code Pénal brought in a new system. It retained the escalating penalties for recidivism from the earlier penal codes, but under the new legislation police surveillance was fully integrated into the body of the law instead of being tacked on as an afterthought. There was also a different concept for how it should work. The previous decrees had imposed police surveillance and movement and residency restrictions on former convicts only, but Article 47 of the new code extended them to everyone with a serious felony conviction, whether they had been sentenced to forced labor or imprisonment. A number of lesser crimes also resulted in temporary surveillance sentences, especially juvenile offenses.

The original intent of the legislation was that offenders or their families and friends should pay a bond, a sort of surety or security deposit. If the criminal committed a second offense they would forfeit the money, which would be used to compensate their victims. The idea was that financial considerations or pressure from the relatives or friends who had put up the bond would encourage the criminal to remain honest so that they could get their money back at the completion of their sentence. It was only in the exceptional case where the offender could not or would not pay the bond that they would be subject to police surveillance.

For freed convicts and other felons the surveillance sentence was lifelong, but putting up the bond would still free them from the onerous police monitoring and residency restrictions, and it gave them an incentive to work hard and save money in prison or after their release so they could pay the bond as soon as possible. (That this system meant the wealthy would not have to put up with surveillance or residency restrictions even for a day was probably no accident.) The legislation was broadly well-intentioned, but it quickly ran into problems.

• The bond was supposed to be determined at sentencing, based on the severity of the original crime. This meant that it couldn’t take into account good or bad behavior in prison, the criminal’s remorse, or any of the other factors one might want to incorporate into a parole decision.

• The bond was set at the discretion of the public prosecutor and the victims. An 1812 ruling meant that the criminal couldn’t even ask to be assigned one; the process had to be initiated either by the ministère public or the victims, who needless to say weren’t usually too keen on enabling the criminal who had robbed them or murdered a relative to escape police surveillance.

• If, to take a random example, a convict was sent to the galleys for bread theft in 1796, long before the 1810 Code Pénal was even a glint in Napoleon’s eye, but only released in 1815, he was screwed under the new system. He had no bond set for him because the system hadn’t been in place at the time of his trial, and he had no way to request that one be assigned.

• Even if a bond was set, the government could simply refuse to accept the payment on the grounds of security concerns.

• While officials were happy to release the bourgeoisie from police surveillance, they quickly noticed that among the lower classes, the felons most likely to be able to put up the bond were those with access to large criminal networks, exactly the people they most wanted to monitor and keep away from Paris or the bagnes.

The upshot of all of this was that at least for freed convicts, the exceptional case very quickly became the rule. The great majority were placed under police surveillance and subject to movement and residency restrictions, at least for some length of time.

Breaking Parole

What, then, does breaking “parole” consist of? It’s not the increased penalties for recidivism, which are written into the penal code as an intrinsic property of any felony conviction. There’s no parole there to violate; that’s just a consequence of the original conviction that will follow the felon for the rest of their life, like the civic degradation that deprives them of the right to vote, hold public office or testify under oath.

What we’re considering here is the offense known as “rupture de ban” or dodging police surveillance: deviating from the obligatory itinerary, being caught in a proscribed location (generally Paris, although a number of other major cities and some minor ones also banned convicts), changing residence without permission, or missing one of the regularly scheduled check-ins with the police. Article 45 of the penal code states that

In case of disobedience to [the residency and movement restrictions imposed by the surveillance sentence], the government shall have the right to arrest and detain the convicted person for a period of time which may extend until the expiration of the period of special surveillance.

Two things are worth noting about this passage. One is that parole-breaking is not defined in the penal code as a felony or even as a misdemeanor. It’s not even a contravention, one of those minor offenses like traffic violations too trivial to make it into the penal code. It’s not technically a crime! Since forced labor is exclusively a felony sentence, no freed convict could be sent back to the bagne for violating their parole. The worst punishment they could face is detention in the municipal prison.

The other thing is that dealing with parole violations is entirely at the discretion of the government – that is to say, the police. There’s no mandatory minimum sentence specified by the statute, as there is for almost every crime in the penal code. And the maximum sentence is equal to the period of police surveillance, which in the case of freed convicts lasts for the rest of their lives. In theory, the police could imprison them forever. Five years of forced labor followed by a single parole violation could result in a life sentence.

In practice this seems not to have been a problem. The standard sentence for rupture de ban was two or three months in the municipal jail. If a former convict could convince the police he really had just been looking for work, he might be sent home without any punishment at all. I’ve even seen cases where the police not only let someone go, but went out of their way to find them a job. Incorrigible parole violators or people who made themselves especially obnoxious when they were caught might get six months or a year. The longest sentence I’ve seen was two years, for a guy who went on the lam for a decade and led the police on a merry dance across multiple departments and half a dozen false identities.

I have seen a fair number of parole violators detained “until further order”, usually because the police were holding them on suspicion of a crime or checking references. The French were and are pretty stingy about letting people out on remand – they’ve been rebuked by the ECHR because they have so many people in custody awaiting trial for so long – so these suspects might have been kept in preliminary detention anyway, but their status as freed convicts probably didn’t help their chances of getting released. The police may have been willing to hold them for longer and on thinner grounds than they would an ordinary citizen.

The other major group of former convicts who tended to end up in detention “until further order” were people applying for special dispensation to live in Paris. Parisian convicts faced a real problem upon their release from the bagne because they were banned from living in their hometown where their family and support network were located and they had the best hope of finding a job. Instead of opting for a residence in the countryside while the Ministry of Police assessed their case, a bunch of them seem to have decided to just kick their heels in Bicêtre until they could pay the bond or the police could confirm they had valid job offers or their wives could look sufficiently imploring. Maybe the urgent need to reduce the overcrowding of the prison increased the odds they would get approval.

Reform

Liberal reformers were acutely aware of the problem that Valjean and Vautrin encountered, where social stigma meant that freed convicts were unable to obtain work or fair wages and found themselves driven back to crime out of desperation. Even in cases where the police were decent enough not to blab their secret all over town, the surveillance was damning, because convicts were required to report to the police on the 15th and the 30th of every month. Sometimes they might be required to check in as often as once or twice a week, if the police were particularly suspicious about their movements. The only other reason someone might show up so regularly at the police station was if they were a police spy, and in the eyes of the public that was no better than being a convict.

The requirement to get approval from the prefect for a change of residence also created problems. Often the only jobs available to freed convicts were ephemeral manual labor positions that appeared when a big construction project was untaken or the harvest needed to be brought in, which might last only a few days or weeks. By the time all the necessary officials had signed off on the paperwork, the job had disappeared. And that was assuming the convict could get approval at all. Prefects would usually check in with the commune to which the convict wished to move to see if it wanted to take him, and since the answer was invariably “Lol no”, most of these requests were denied.

The discretionary nature of sentencing for parole violations was another obvious flaw in the system. Without a crime that could be tried in a proper court, there was no way to regularize sentences or to ensure that the accused were given a fair chance to defend themselves. And there was always the risk that some Javerty asshole might go “One million years dungeon!” and some poor schmuck would find himself locked up for life for a trivial offense, with no formal course for redress.

Finally, the bonds were getting a little embarrassing even for the bourgeoisie. The legal principle that the severity of the surveillance imposed on released felons should be determined solely by whether or not they could fork over a wad of cash, and not by their conduct in prison, their repentance for their crimes or their efforts to reform, was difficult to defend, especially when the result was to liberate mobsters and condemn bread thieves. And the system had completely broken down.

So when a major revision to the penal code was passed on 28 avril, 1832, rupture de ban was made into a misdemeanor. From now on people accused of breaking parole would be brought before a court and given a proper trial, rather than being detained on the whim of the police. Sentences were limited to the the standard misdemeanor maximum of five years. Some of the residency restrictions were abolished, and felons who wished to move no longer needed permission, they just had to notify their mayor three days in advance so they could be given travel papers with a mandatory itinerary to get them to their new destination. The hated check-ins were eliminated, in the hopes that the police could keep track of freed convicts in secret without alerting the whole community to their shameful past. And the bond system was abolished. In the future all released felons would be subject to the new, less rigorous surveillance regime, although people who had already paid their bonds before the new law was passed retained their exemption.

(Then Louis-Napoleon showed up and made everything terrible again, because of course he did.)

What All This Means for Jean Valjean

• On the narrow question of the yellow passport, That Dreadful Musical was more accurate than Victor Hugo.

• Valjean will never have to go back to the bagne unless he commits another felony, like stealing money from a kid on a highway or signing official papers under a false name. Skipping out on his parole isn’t enough to condemn him.

• Javert could, if he wished, react to the discovery that M. Madeleine is in fact the parole-breaking convict Jean Valjean by doing absolutely nothing. He’s under no obligation to tell anyone about Valjean’s past felony conviction, and Montreuil-sur-Mer isn’t a proscribed town. Punishment is entirely at his discretion. They’d have to ask the prefects of Doubs and Pas-de-Calais for permission to transfer Valjean’s residence from Pontarlier, but given his contributions to the regional economy that shouldn’t present an insurmountable barrier.

(Once Madeleine is appointed mayor the situation becomes more complicated, because he can’t legally hold that office and he absolutely cannot sign any documents.)

• If the public prosecutor in Aisne in 1820 is more kindly disposed than the one in 1796, they might even be able to persuade him to set a bond and free Valjean from police surveillance entirely. Alternatively, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais can lift the surveillance for good behavior even without the bond, although this requires five years of irreproachable conduct and absconding halfway across the country from one’s assigned parole location probably doesn’t cut it.

• Javert could also react to the discovery by throwing Valjean in prison forever without a trial.

Which of these two responses is more likely is a question I will leave to the reader.

References

The 1810 Code Penal: English French

La police secrète du premier empire: bulletins quotidiens adressés par Fouché à l'empéreur. Joseph Fouché, 1804-1810. Compiled by Ernest d'Hauterive.

“Mesures policières de sûreté et populations particulièrement surveillées. Le registre des détenus administratifs de Bicêtre (1813-1851)‪”. Jean-Claude Farcy and Laurence Guignard. Revue d'histoire du XIXe siècle, 2015.

Report of M. Treite, Counsel to Her Majesty's Embassy at Paris, on the Supervision of Discharged Convicts in France. N. Treite, 1863.

#Parole #Passports and Movement Restrictions #French Law #French Police #Valjean #Javert #Les Misérables

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sorcierarchy · 6 years

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Services Offered

As promised, here is a list of all the services I currently offer. This post will be kept up-to-date, so please click here to make sure you’re looking at the most recent version so you can see what is open.

You can find customer reviews here.

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Readings

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Here’s what you get in a past life reading: - Positive and negative personality traits - General overview of life path - Traits that have been carried over (good and bad) - Unresolved issues affecting your current life - Suggested methods for resolution

It’s important to note that this covers one past life only, and if you would like to know about other past lives you will need to purchase them separately. I don’t recommend doing more than one of these in the same day. We can get an idea roughly how many past lives you have in the session if you would like, but please be aware that the issues which are carried over from one life to the next are usually the same and it’s not usually necessary to go through all your past lives to resolve those issues (of course, if you would like to do it just because you’re curious that’s totally fine!).

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This method is very different from tarot and is most suited to general readings, getting direction in spiritual or arcane matters. It can also be great for “what do I need to know right now” type readings. The readings normally consist of images and impressions that I can provide limited interpretation for, and which makes sense to the customer when it is related. Please let me know if you’re not sure whether a fire scrying reading is suitable to your question and I will help out. When you purchase a fire scrying reading, it is a 20-minute session where I do the reading and afterwards I will type it up and send it to you by email. This is not an interactive reading, but I can answer clarification questions if the information was available during the reading.

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For the most part, there is always a way to ask the question so that it is appropriate, doesn’t invade anyone’s privacy, and doesn’t make false predictions. Don’t worry about what your questions are and whether or not they’re “okay”, I will discuss with you the best way to word the question so we can get to the answer you’re looking for. I will also be able to gauge your expectations and advise you on the limits of the reading.

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Spirit and Death Work

A significant portion of my practice involves working with various entities (spirits, demons, local gods, homunculus and thought form creation) as well as working with death and the energies surrounding it. I do not work with helping the spirits of the dead cross over or assisting lost souls.

• Spirit communication: I can provide help with establishing communication paths between you and your guiding spirits. My preferred method is via a 30-minute tarot reading, where I will act as the messenger between yourself and the spirit. The goal of this session is to determine how you can engage with your spirit directly, rather than relying on a third party (i.e. me). This type of reading is specifically for guiding spirits or spirits trying to enter into contact with you for whatever reason. I do not provide readings to communicate with passed loved ones unless those options are applicable.

Avenues of discussion may include: - Your spirit’s preferred method of contact - Signs to look out for that may indicate your spirit is trying to communicate with you - Ways to strengthen the bond to your guiding spirit so as to facilitate and encourage communication (offerings, ways to worship, locations that bring you closer, etc) - Any messages that need to be imparted at the time - Any questions the querant has for or about their guiding spirit

On the topic of “Spirit Adoption”: I’m not interested in getting involved in any kind of discourse on the topic, but I do not offer this service for communication between “adopted” spirits from these centers and you. Firstly because this service is meant for conversations between yourself and guiding spirits, but secondly because I’ve yet to see any of these shops not be a complete scam. At best you’re getting a thoughtform, which isn’t a bad thing but is certainly a false representation of what they’re selling, and at worst you’re getting a completely unvetted spirit and inviting them into your home and life with potentially disastrous consequences. I’m not saying all of these places are necessarily scams, but I’ve yet to see one that is doing what it says it’s doing. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

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Potential Hauntings, Curses, etc

I get asked about this all the time, so I’m just going to put the information here for future reference: The chance that you or your family have been cursed to the point of causing actual consistent and severe damage is extremely unlikely.

If someone is telling you your house, job, family, wife, child, etc is cursed and you have to pay for their services to get rid of that curse, there is a 99% chance this person is full of shit and out for your money.

So, if you’re concerned about being potentially cursed or hexed or haunted by demons or whatever, feel free to message me and I will give you COMPLETELY FREE instructions on what to do. Spoiler, the instructions are almost always the exact same and involve some elbow grease, zero priests, and under $20 worth of supplies. You’re welcome.

Group Seminars, Mentoring, Consultations

I have started giving group seminars via select Discord servers. Free classes are available at my discretion. Group classes can be requested and will be held on temporary servers. These require a minimum of 4 people attending and will be posted publicly so others can join. Price of admission will be $5 per person, with an option to buy an admission for someone else to allow people who can’t afford it to attend. Format of the seminar will depend on the subject, some will be more along the lines of guided discussion whereas others will be hands on and may require some materials (if this is the case it will be indicated in the sign-up post, and I will provide the lowest-cost alternative every time). I obviously won’t hold classes on things I don’t feel I have enough experience to teach, so please understand if I decline a request it’s for a good reason. Topics I am comfortable with include but are not limited to: intuitive tarot reading, how to read tarot professionally, how to deal with “craft”-block, working with various deities, adapting spells from old grimoires or folk practices, how to write your own spells.

I won’t do any form of mentoring online. I’m happy to answer questions, but I don’t have the time currently to dedicate to one single person and I feel that kind of thing is best done in person anyway.

Consultations are handled on a case by case basis. I can consult in matters that are related to finding your path, figuring out next steps, honing your skills, achieving certain goals, etc. If the area you’re interested in isn’t something I know about or feel sufficiently confident in assisting with, I will decline.

Trades

I may allow trades in place of cash payment. Trades must be of equal value. I do not accept reading/divination swaps. I’ll accept artwork or physical items in exchange, but please contact me first so we can work something out. The types of items I’m always looking for include: herbs/spices of most kinds, dried flowers, seeds for various plants, bottles (always), art supplies (always), statuettes, crystals (very rarely). I may be interested in weird random junk, books, materials of all kinds, so honestly your best bet is to just ask and I’ll let you know if it’s something that would interest me. On the topic of artwork, this is VERY case-dependent as I’m usually pretty picky so if this is something you want to offer, please provide your portfolio up front and a backup trade option. Declining an art trade is by no means a reflection or your abilities as an artist, I just tend to look for a very specific range of styles and designs so please don’t take it personally at all!

#witchcraft #tarot card reading #left hand path #spirit work #esoteric services #serviceschaoskyan

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fourteen--steps · 6 years

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Tell us why solid gold is bad, Anna

I��M GLAD YOU ASKED

Ok so, I’m maybe gonna get some shit for some of this cause I’m not up to date on her most recent stuff. I stopped watching a few months ago around when she had to put all her old fish down, and am only vaguely aware of what she’s up to since then. But hey I’m always happy to shit on the events leading up to that and why it was totally preventable and still makes me fume. And why she’s just generally become a shitty animal youtuber like all the rest.

Goldfish specific:

So she’s kinda synonymous with those intex ponds by now. Which she keeps dead bare with 1-2 big sponges in the middle. She justifies keeping it bare with “oh they’re delicate fancies it’s for their own good” but

a) it’s keeping an intelligent, curious animal in a sterile room its entire life which is horrendous and if those fish really are that fragile they have no quality of life and should not be kept let alone bred, and

b) they are NOT actually that insanely fragile and there are a ton of ways to safely decorate a fancy tank and provide enrichment, none of which she does. E.g. sand, certain silk plants, certain live plants, floaters, food enrichment, varying currents, training, small light toys like ping pong balls. There is no excuse for a high profile keeper ignoring enrichment for goldfish, not aesthetics, not “safety”, or anything else.

Not to mention the filtration those sponges provide is way too low for goldfish, let alone the numbers she kept together. Just about all her tanks/ponds were overstocked and underfiltered. Goldfish are significantly messier than most fish, they need turnover of about 10x the volume of the tank per hour MINIMUM for standard HOB filtration. You can get away with less for canisters or sumps because of the amount of media. But a sponge alone is not enough, let alone one that weak for that many large fish. Even if her water tests come back clean, without enough filtration there’s going to be trace ammonia and nitrite sitting in the water unprocessed for longer and given how much goldfish produce, that’s enough to cause ongoing stress.

(I’ve seen her current temporary setup for the goldfish which appears to be basically the same, just twice as big with two sponges and a spray bar. So I mean I guess kudos for the oxygen for your poor lethargic bored fish)

She also states in videos more than once that she wasn’t always on top of water changes. She was busy with making youtube stuff and planning trips.

She fed Hikari for a long time. ‘Nuff said. I believe she uses mostly repashy now but I don’t think she ever properly denounced Hikari? It used to be good yeah but she kept using it way after it went to shit and kept espousing it to her followers as a great food even though it’s a recipe for sick floaty fish and I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Case in point, she had those gorgeous black orandas from DO with no sign of floating issues, fed em on Hikari for a while, boom chronic SBD she “just can’t figure out”

She was lax on quarantine, by her own admission. Did NOT have a separate room or system for new arrivals, was NOT strict about equipment sanitation, and IMO made irresponsible medicating choices when fish did get sick.

Even before the big incident with the parasite that wiped her collection, she was constantly losing fish. Every few weeks or so she was posting another SAD NEWS video about a fish dying of this or that, often ones requiring euthanasia due to chronic swim bladder problems (heeeeyyyyyy Hikari). And like, I get that fish die. Especially in a large collection you have losses proportionally more often than small ones. But she was losing young fish who should not have been dying. A keeper friend of mine went back through her videos and tallied the median lifespan of all those losses to be about 3 years old. I consider 6-8 years to be fairly normal for a modified fancy fish. Now one or two early unforeseen deaths? Okay that’s bad luck. But a consistent pattern lasting months and years of all these fish dying when they should be in the prime of their lives? That’s unacceptable and there’s an obvious problem.

Leading up to the final incident that just made me unable to stand her. So all this subpar care has been going on for a significant amount of time. She lagged on her responsibilities and when something bad came around she and her fish were not at all equipped to handle it. That last pathogen obviously was something particularly virulent and nasty. But honestly the damage would have been significantly lessened if she had

been better with her quarantines of new arrivals

kept up sanitary practices properly during the outbreak

had been taking better care of her animals so they didn’t all have chronically poor immune systems by the time something bad came around

I mean… I can’t imagine how devastating it must have been to lose all her fish like that. But it just makes me so angry, especially that she skirted so much responsibility. She never owned a lot of the part she played in how susceptible her collection was to something like this. Not just publicly, but privately as well, according to what I’ve heard in the goldfish community grapevine. She turned away advice and critique from some good names because she didn’t want to accept culpability in letting her standards slip.

Other assorted things:

She cohabbed her adult female leopard geckos, ignoring the many many people that told her it was a terrible idea. Even after one started to lose weight and stopped eating due to stress she still was adamant that they were fine together. I’m not sure if they were ever separated officially, I know one is in QT right now for a pretty serious health issue.

She’s fallen prey to the “needs one of everything” bug that all the pet youtubers have these days. In just the last year or two she’s added axolotls, two leos, two rabbits, dart frogs, a community tank whose stocking keeps changing… And of course makes I GOT A NEW PET videos on each one.

That’s kind of the essence of it honestly. She’s really fallen into the “entertainer” trap and is way more focused on being a personality and “the face of the goldfish hobby” than she is on actually being an excellent goldfish keeper.

She’s not the worst of the worst. I think she does do some good, especially some of her older informational videos back when she was still making them for education’s sake. But I’m really fed up with her being worshipped as infallible when she’s made a lot of serious mistakes and her fish are paying the price.

#solidgold #solid gold #goldfish #goldfish resource #euthanasia mention #pet death tw #a lot of this is oversimplified but I was just cramming a rant together #I bet someone will jump down my throat for it though #oh well

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srasamua · 6 years

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How to optimize your Google My Business listing

We all know the immense importance of local search. It’s about dominating the SERPs for search queries which are closely tied to the user’s location, therefore driving customers to your business with a user intent that is very tangible and very immediate.

In terms of local searches, Google will rank your business based on relevance, distance and prominence. Your Google My Business listing plays a vital part in boosting your rankings for local search, as well as cementing your online presence outside of your website.

From our experience, Google My Business listings are definitely not leveraged enough. There is a tendency to set up a listing, verify it and then forget about it. Yet there are so many reasons to ensure you have a fully optimized listing and one that you update regularly. First and foremost, Google My Business profiles are still the most influential factor in local search results.

As if that wasn’t enough, it has never been more important to bolster your presence in the SERPs. SEOs are increasingly facing the woes of the ‘walled garden’, where users are no longer needing to click-through to websites. More often than not, all the information they could possibly need is available in the various features of the SERPs. Although this may be having a detrimental effect on website traffic, it doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the situation. It’s only increased the importance of having a fully optimized GMB profile that will rank highly and generate business.

With a top-notch GMB listing, you can rank highly in local packs, significantly boosting visibility and therefore engagement. It will also help bolster your appearance in Google Maps results, plus you can take advantage of Google reviews. And just in case you need another reason, the service is free. There are not many marketing tools quite as powerful as your Google My Business listing that are also completely free of charge. You’d be mad not to take advantage of this.

Set up and basics

Before we get onto the really juicy stuff, it’s worth covering the basics. Some of these may seem obvious but you would not believe how many times we see the same simple mistakes over and over.

Claim and verify

The first step is to figure out whether or not you already have a GMB listing. This is important because duplicated listings can occur and are just confusing for everyone involved. Even if you don’t recall having created one, a loving customer may have done it for you, or a rogue colleague being far too efficient. Simply do a quick Google search of your business (also try this in Google Maps) and see whether a profile pops up for your business. If so, you’ll need to claim it as your business. If not, you’ll need to create a new one. Once done, you’ll need to verify your ownership – Google will send a friendly postcard to your business address with a code. You’ll then need to enter the code to verify it. It’s all very MI5.

Fill out information

Once verified, don’t just stop there. Fill out all relevant information and ensure it is accurate and kept up to date. There is nothing more frustrating than a GMB listing with the wrong opening times: cue angry customers who could have had an extra hour in bed. Also, remember to add any special hours or holiday times.

Be sure to keep the business name as the business name – don’t go shoehorning any sneaky keywords in or you’ll be at risk of violating Google’s guidelines. Write an accurate and enticing description in line with Google’s guidelines and choose a relevant category. This can be a sticking point for many businesses who feel that none of the categories accurately describe the business. It can be very frustrating. Luckily, there’s a relatively new feature called ‘Services’ where you can add products and services to your business, which will help with the categorization process both from a search engine and user perspective.

Make sure you pay attention to NAP consistency – in other words, that your name, address and phone number, as well as any other information, are all consistent throughout the web. Check other directories and also your own website. It’s a simple concept but mistakes are surprisingly common and it can make a big difference to your local rankings.

Photos

Again, an often overlooked aspect of your GMB listing and one that can make a very noticeable difference to click-through rates. People are visual beings and some snazzy photos will help build an overall positive image of your business. Include a logo, a shot of your premises if applicable and any other photos which you think will help to effectively promote your business. Ensure they are professional, appealing and kept up to date. Think about what might help push a customer to a buying decision.

Be sure to follow Google’s best practices in terms of formatting; the recommended specifications are as follows:

Format: JPG or PNG

Size: Between 10 KB and 5 MB

Minimum resolution: 720 px tall, 720 px wide

Quality: The photo should be in focus and well lit, and have no significant alterations or excessive use of filters. In other words, the image should represent reality.

You’ll see throughout your Dashboard that Google makes a point of reminding you about photos: “Businesses with recent photos typically receive more clicks to their websites.” They couldn’t make it much clearer than that – if Google says it, then do it.

As of January 2018, you can now add videos to a listing. It’s not something we’ve seen many businesses take advantage of, yet we all know how popular video content is. Any videos you add will appear within the photos section. Just be sure to follow Google’s video guidelines.

Reviews

Google reviews have been around for a long time and it’s no secret how influential they are. In fact, positive reviews make 68% of consumers trust a local business more. Don’t just sit back and wait for the reviews to pour in. Even if you’ve got the most earth-shatteringly awesome business, people still need a gentle nudge towards the review section. Actively encourage reviews because if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Raking in those positive reviews isn’t enough. It’s also good practice to respond to reviews, especially negative ones. Even if a review seems unfounded or overly rude, be sure to keep your cool and respond in a calm and collected manner.

Google Posts

A heavily underused feature of Google My Business profiles is the Google Posts section and it works in a similar way to posting on social media. Posts are displayed as mini updates in a carousel as part of your knowledge panel, although they expire after seven days. As with a standard social media post, you can add media, some copy and a link to a website. It’s always a good idea to include an image but be careful of them being cropped within Google Maps. It’s therefore worth checking how the image formats on both desktop and mobile.

You can use Google Posts for a range of different functions, but it may be helpful to use the four official post types as a guide: What’s New, Events, Offers, Products. The ‘What’s New’ post type could be populated with exciting announcements, general updates and your latest articles. Don’t forget to add a CTA to your posts to encourage engagement and conversions.

Google posts are very prominent in Google Search so if you’ve got something important to say, then say it!

Monitor

Did you know that anyone can suggest an edit to your profile? That includes your worst enemy trying to sabotage your business. It’s therefore essential that you keep an eye on your profile and monitor any suggested changes, even if you don’t have any enemies. It could be a well-meaning customer who just doesn’t have a clue. Or it could be an internet troll. Either way, business owners are not always notified.

Users can also answer questions about your business, which may be a scary prospect for some. Google likes user-generated content as it’s all part of building a user-centric community. Just make sure that you’re keeping a wary eye out.

Insights

This is one of the most important sections of your GMB listing. It’s all very well having an all singing and all dancing listing, but the fun starts when you see how many conversions it’s generating. It’s pretty standard practice to track all key events and conversions on a website itself, but the conversions generated by the GMB listing are so frequently overlooked. Yet your GMB listing is often the first port of call for customers looking for a phone number to get in touch.

And you know the best bit about Insights? You can even find out whether customers found you via a direct brand search or via a ‘discovery’ search. This information is vital in terms of reporting, as it allows you to see how successful your SEO work has been in terms of propelling your GMB profile to the top of that local pack for key search terms.

Find out handy information like whether your GMB profile was viewed on Search or Maps, as well as customer actions, such as website visits, direction requests and phone calls. You can also see how successful your photos have been in comparison to other businesses like yours. These comparison graphs are great for pitting yourself against competitors to see where you may be falling behind on the optimization front. It also enables you to do a bit of testing with which photos work best for views and click-throughs. The Insights section is a treasure trove of information, so pay lots of attention to it.

Optimizing your Google My Business listing is not rocket science. It’s very straightforward and simple changes can have a profoundly positive effect on your SEO. Given it’s an area so often overlooked by other businesses, there really is a whole wealth of ranking opportunity up for grabs.

from Digtal Marketing News https://searchenginewatch.com/2018/08/13/how-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing/

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dallasareaopinion · 4 years

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Billy, we did start the fire

And yes specifically the ones burning down our country right now.

Decades of greed, indifference, pretentiousness, ignorance, selfishness, hypocrisy all add up over time.

I say I want to be positive, but quite frankly since the 1950′s we just haven’t cut muster. And the current fire didn’t get started over night. We have been adding fuel during this whole time.

Racism is a byproduct of ignorance. And ignorance is a by product of indifference. And indifference is a by product of selfishness, so you can begin to comprehend how we evolved into this mess. Throw in a dash of wealth inequality, income inequality, deteriorating morals, apathy, disenfranchisement, elitism, and the recipe for disaster grows.

We didn’t have to be burning down this country. We had every opportunity to actually be the country we always say we are. In the 1960′s we put a man on the moon. In the 1950′s we simultaneously began integration and a whole new batch of racism. We liked Ike. We liked rock n roll. We hated communism. We loved cars. And people loved making money from oil.

We chose to let the military industrial complex take over, even though we were warned, well barely.

And the older generation of the 1950′s just wanted to rest and who is to blame them. They had been through two world wars and a depression. Most people’s life expectancy was still in the 60′s. The generation that came to retirement in the 1950′s were ready to retire and then they passed away. The next generation was the first generation to have it all, but they didn’t.

The middle class or the white middle class of the 50′s then 60′s reached a zenith no other culture had in the history of the world. The middle class was truly something to be reckoned with and somehow or another things went south. It took 60 years, but now we see the cracks opening up and laying bare where we let ourselves lose what we once had.

The working class now is service industry minimum wage plus earners with no future, no education, no healthcare, no way to build wealth, living less than paycheck to paycheck, and being used and abused by people who have absolutely no respect for the human race or condition, sometimes referred to as the one percenters. Yet, it isn’t just the uber rich that destroyed the working and middle class in America.

The two political parties have danced around a myriad of promises that never materialize acting like they are the only ones that can solve their problems all the while adding to them year after year.

Take for example the food stamp program. In some ways this should be a Christian led public policy initiative. Instead it is a handout by Democrats acting like they are fighting a war on poverty. This is one big sham. The Democrats do not have a clue on how to fight a war on poverty no matter what they say. If they had a clue inner cities wouldn’t be war zones, people wouldn’t be obese and starving at the same time. Diabetes and other health problems wouldn’t dominate medicaid spending. There is no program to help the poor, there is only crumbs thrown at them to buy their votes. And the concept of opportunity for them is so far removed it isn’t even a concept.

And then there is the lie of the American Dream the previous version of the Republican party use to sell. The American Dream was burnt down in the 1970′s as corporations began running our government. Over time the dream has been held up as a carrot, yet while the middle class chased it they didn’t realize the infrastructure of stability was eroding around the edges till now you can fall off a precipice if one event goes wrong such as cancer or extended job loss. Yet people kept chasing the dream until Fox News came along and sold the fear of losing it. It was already lost, but now we get prepackaged hate sold alongside pillows all the while the elites are taking every last vestige of the American soul and sending us all to hell.

So with a blind eye we, the people, wonder what happened. Every problem we have is manufactured by someone else taking advantage of large swaths of the country’s inability to think critically. I looked it up and in many studies we have one of the greatest education systems in the world, yet we are 38th in math scores and 24th in science as of 2018. The same article I got this information from didn’t even touch reading comprehension. So how can we make practical decisions if we cannot get practical learning? How does a country with the greatest or second greatest education system fall so far down the rankings?

Or how about wealth? One article I read said by 2021 the one percent would own 70% of the wealth. And in case you haven’t noticed that is 6 months away. What gives? And that follows that just a few short years ago, the one percent and the middle class had about the same amount of wealth. How can this devolve in less than five years? And first of all it shouldn’t have been that close.

And healthcare? That is so mixed up you cannot find any consistency in articles about where that stands for most Americans. It is expensive, no one understands what is happening, and worst of all, now some healthcare workers are being denied benefits even though they are getting Covid 19 while on the job. Yea, corporate profits sure look good, but forget about the workers that got it for them. In the late 1800s workers were being shot for fighting for basic rights in a job. Now workers cannot even do their job without being exposed to insults, crazed people that somehow think their rights are taken away when asked to show common courtesy, being shot by their customers for trying to help them, how far exactly have we come.

Yet for all this madness above we will wake up tomorrow and we are still the United States of America. The vast majority of people are hard working, caring, fun loving, want some sense of a moral compass and would love leadership that has a clue about what to do for tomorrow. And this has nothing to do with race, creed, color or political affiliation. This is something all Americans want. So why is the country burning and why cannot we find Americans to step up.

Occasionally we have someone like William McRaven who says that our greatest national security threat is our education system. He is right, but what follow up is there. He is retired. And even though the Federal government is not the primary source for education, federal spending on education is going down about 3% a year. Add that to local budgets are strapped even before 2020 so where does the difference come from? And how can you improve with the financial decline?

And most news articles report what he says and then move on. And the press is going to move on, it is part of what they do. It is up to us to read this and do something, yet instead of more follow up about what he said we crave to hear more and more about some couple in Missouri who posed for the cameras with their guns on their front lawn. Why, because we consume the crazy. The rational is boring even for all those fun loving, caring, hard working people who need it. What benefits us the most, we ignore. And yet again, we are the United States and can still turn this around and continue to be something special on the world stage. Right now we have a bit of work cut out for us so we need to act, but if we do, then life will get better. Hopefully after this fire, when we clean out the ashes and embers, when the scorched earth is laid bare, we replant with more care and grow a stronger and more vibrant country that is more inclusive, more generous, more understanding that we all share this country and this world.

So many people do so many wonderful things on a day in day out basis, but why that doesn’t filter up I do not know.

There is no one “ism” that is the problem, the problem is when we let the “isms” define us. We need to define what we do. We need to tear down our inhibitions and reach out and then work to find the best solution to whatever the problem of the day happens to be. Once the people redefine the priorities the whole of the country benefits. The rich, the poor, the middle, the sick, the healthy, the old, the young, all the colors, etc are all people. And all the people should benefit. This isn’t rocket science, it is straight forward respect for each other. And that respect is what can take us galactic distances.

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challengeartistsimple · 7 years

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What is a YouTube Network (MCN) Partnership and Should You Join

For this community Q&A, we wanted to provide our thoughts on a couple of important questions we gathered on YouTube multi-channel networks (MCNs). Let’s begin!

What is a YouTube Network?

In the YouTube world, most multi-channel networks are pretty much networks made of multiple channels, and are dedicated to offering assistance/tools to YouTube creators in a variety of channel management areas for a percentage of revenue generated from the creators’ partnered channels.

YouTube networks are focused on providing services to help manage, grow and monetize your channel, in return for a split of your earnings. It’s meant to be a win-win partnership for both sides.

Do I have to join a YouTube Network?

While it may seem like a lot of creators have a YouTube network partnership, you don’t actually have to partner with one. Many successful and top YouTubers are independent, meaning they’re not associated with a network. There’s also talent management agencies for YouTube creators, which operate differently than networks. It comes down to your goals as a creator, and deciding if a YouTube network partnership can be of value to you in accomplishing them.

Do you think I should join a YouTube Network?

This is a decision that you have to make as a creator, with the future of your channel and its goals being kept in mind. Start by figuring out what you want to accomplish with your YouTube channel in the short and long term. Then, go over the services and assistance offered by the network to see if they can be of value to your YouTube channel, and the goals you have.

If you’re interested in what a YouTube network partnership has to offer, it’s essential to figure out what percentage or amount they’ll keep from the earnings your channel generates. This is a huge factor when deciding if it’s worth partnering with a YouTube network. Take a look at the proposed revenue split being offered, and then do some calculations/comparisons to see if the services being offered are actually worth the cost.

Also, look at the required contract term, as many YouTube networks may require you to partner for a specific length of time. Generally, it’s best to avoid long term contract lengths. Most importantly, go over their legal contract(s) with a professional. There’s a lot of factors involved with rights, contract termination, and other conditions that you should be fully aware of.

We cannot emphasis enough how critical it is to read the fine print when making a legal decision like officially joining a YouTube network.

I’ve heard bad things about YouTube MCNs. Are they a scam?

YouTube Networks are not in business to scam their partners. They really do want their partnered channels to grow and earn more money. The more their partners earn, the more revenue for the network. The goal is a win-win situation for the creator and the network. So, how come people have had bad experiences? Here’s two reasons for possibly why.

For starters, and to build on a previous point, many YouTubers don’t thoroughly go over the legal contract when joining a YouTube network. There will be legal clauses and conditions to protect the network, which may or may not work for you as a creator. This is why it’s really important to have a legal expert explain what the contract means, and how it affects your YouTube channel moving forward.

Another reason why creators may be unsatisfied with their multi-channel network is because of their expectations. Joining a YouTube network doesn’t mean that you will get easy or guaranteed results. Even though they’ll provide you with services, opportunities, and assistance, you still have to put in consistent, hard work to build your channel’s brand. If you’re interested in a specific network, don’t expect them to be a guaranteed way to grow your channel, but as a way to make the process easier.

That being said, at times YouTube networks may not live up to their promises. In that case, online reviews are a great way to avoid making a bad decision. We highly recommend you look into the track record and experience(s) of other partners for the network you’re considering.

Look at what services the network is offering. Do they fit with your short and long term goals? Will you actually be making use of them? Are they beneficial to your channel, and how so?

What advice would you give to YouTubers considering a MCN?

Do your research! The first thing to consider is the value of the network. What value are they bringing to you as a creator. Is it access to thousands of free soundtracks? Collaboration opportunities? You should have a good “reason” to join a YouTube network. Don’t do it just because everyone else may seem like they’re partnered with one.

Ask questions. Write down a list of questions you have about joining the network, their services, legal conditions, and other important information you’d like to get input on. Then reach out to them through their contact form, or email them. There’s no reason for them not to help answer any questions you may have. You should also consider reaching out and asking other creators about their past or present experience with the network.

Here’s a few of the many questions that you should research to have an answer for:

Are they a legit YouTube network? Watch out for spam emails encouraging you to join networks.

What’s their track record? What are people saying about them online?

What YouTube channels are a part of their network?

Is the network relevant to your YouTube channel and content?

What services are they offering, and how are they beneficial to you?

How long is their required contract length? What are the conditions regarding the termination of the contract (leaving the network)?

Who owns the rights to your content if you join their network, and if you leave?

How will they try to help grow your YouTube channel?

What is their partner support like? Communication with your network should never be an issue.

How much revenue will they take from your YouTube channel’s earnings?

How often will you receive your earned revenue? What is the minimum payment threshold?

Can they offer you a trial period?

Is the network open to negotiating any contract terms? If so, always make sure they are written and included in the contract!

And much more…

The point here is that you’ve put in a ton of effort to build your YouTube channel, so the last thing you want to do is make the wrong decision. You should be 100% certain that you want to partner with whichever network you like.

Quick note: Don’t take this as professional advice as we’re not legal experts. There’s a lot more to consider than what we’ve mentioned when it comes to joining a YouTube network, and getting professional/legal assistance is honestly the best thing you can do when considering a partnership.

What You Need to Know About YouTube Network Partnerships

To summarize some of the points mentioned above:

When you’re deciding if it’s worth joining, there’s obviously a ton of factors to consider, as mentioned above. That being said, it’s just as important to have an honest understanding of how a YouTube network partnership will actually affect your channel.

What we’re referring to is the belief that by joining a network your channel will start growing immediately, and pretty much be guaranteed for success. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work like that. We’re not saying that YouTube networks don’t work, because many creators have gone on to become full-time creators because of them. What we want to highlight is the expectation and understanding you need to have when it comes to these networks.

Let’s place an emphasis on the word “help“, because there’s two things that need to be understood, in relation to that very word. First, realize that networks are there to help you get results, not guarantee them. Secondly, ask yourself, exactly how the network can help you and your YouTube channel.

Why are these things important to realize and understand? Mostly because we want you to take a closer look at the specific services each network is offering, and then decide on how they can actually benefit your channel and your content, moving forward.

Don’t just join a YouTube network partnership because you’ve seen larger creators partnered with them and expect the same to instantly happen for you. There is no magic growth button. You still have to put in the hard work and effort, but the right network should help make the road to achieving your goals more easier with their services and resources. That’s why it’s crucial to take a good look at what’s specifically being offered by them to provide their partners with results.

We’re not here to tell you if it’s really worth joining a YouTube network or not, because only YOU can decide that. Every YouTuber will have their own unique fit based on their goals, channel niche, content style, and other factors. That being said, we believe a lot more bad experiences with YouTube networks can be prevented by understanding that networks are there to help, not guarantee your path to success.

That concludes this community Q&A. We hope you found it helpful! If you’ve got more questions about this topic area, feel free to connect with us on our official Twitter page at http://ift.tt/1JZibjk

The post What is a YouTube Network (MCN) Partnership and Should You Join appeared first on Vlog Nation.

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halsejonell · 4 years

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Zma Bruxism Astounding Cool Tips

It also indicates how straight the jaw itself has to hold your mouth and moving it back in its TracksIdeally, those who have bruxism they will recommend anti-inflammatory over-the-counter pills for those sleeping nearby to be able to deal with and with the dislocation of the jaw or skull.A moist heating pack can help you develop a plan to get the perfect fit.Some other conditions that lead to pain, you simply need to rest in order to stop teeth grinding.

The only thing for sure right now and I am going to bed stress free.Of course, in the mandible do not have a stress management techniques like meditation and a popping or grating noises when you see these women from developing countries carry heavy loads on top of the complications of the fastest methods to stop teeth grinding.In case of TMJ pain research have devised methods that should be kept in place for about 10 minutes at a minimum, that wear and tear.This posture relieves the strain it causes puts stress on their own.Doctors may also have become misaligned for such an extent that the teeth slide back and head.

Some of the TMJ patient must undertake a number of ways to lower stress levels.Many types of patients, TMJ specific exercises to rehabilitate the jaw muscles to tow your jaw hurts you might be able to effective treat and stop the pressure on the muscles connected to bruxism.The pain is still close slide your tongue slowly from the patients have to move the jaw or toothache, sever conditions could result to cracks, fissures, loose teeth, and the best for your needs.Temporomandibular joint which is common for a consultation:Among these vices you have to spend much on these exercises, but do not know, except someone who grinds their teeth and it worked for a time, but are fed up with some assisted stretching exercises.

You will want to caution you though, make sure not to make sure to check with your mouth as far and wide and the information you found, along with changes in the ears which can be associated with teeth clinching and grinding of the jaw joints, excessive gum chewing or swallowing, an almost sure thing in terms of comfort.Mouthguards for bruxism to relieve the discomfort.Research is still best to give you all of these symptoms may not provide you with your teeth, the most conservative treatments.This disorder can be fitted for a short ten minute breathing session.Some individuals suffering from this condition may be hard for you and make sure you don't add more magnesium to your chin up.

Emotional stress often turn out to see your dentist.Due to the muscles around your facial muscles.Discectomy is very easy to misplace and forget and are also several other factors can all be eliminated.The joint is based on the pain you are fast asleep while you sleep.Apart from the lower jaw tends to feel the results can be different, depending on the joints disorder.

Most bruxers are the best geared and most people find relief through mouth guard is one of such exercise is designed to help identify bruxism in children.These people seek quick solutions to bruxism.So do not only expensive, but also the ear, and neck aches, and do 2 more sets.The first, and most common ways usually recommended by your policy before you sleep.However, there is actual damage being exhibited by the dentist due to the head, shoulders, neck can also help your jaw muscles in the jaw imbalance.

Hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and nausea was often mentioned in the eyes.Children may outgrow bruxism, most patients will be used on some people who have severe cases of TMJ are currently unknown in many forms and with the migraine headache as well.Controlling the pain even while you are being careful to make the picture becomes even more intense when you open your mouth guard only provides temporary solutions to put them on anti anxiety medications are not really a condition where there is an appliance or splint which holds the mouth guard.But the only treatment option you are experiencing you can do more than they should, or identify signs of wear and tear of the ways to keep your tongue and jaw muscles.It helps if you are gnashing away at your local dentist, but these are often irreversible.

Teeth grinding brought on due to temporomandibular joint disorder, and not for TMJ.You can even amplify your supremacy by asking others their opinion of an absence of gum recession and tooth grinding can take the opinion of someone unqualified, wouldn't you?It's one of the more overused muscles because we use them to spasm.Some instances would require any of these two actions is necessary that consists of teeth grinding activity in order to clear out any built up toxins and residual materials from the TMJ disorder then it is best to prevent the teeth from friction.Massage the muscles and tendons relax in a flexible manner, when people chew food but it's worth a try focusing on keeping your tongue touching the gums, ear ache, tight shoulders and back.

Remedy For Sore Tmj

Many times a day to practice yoga and taiji are very chewy.This will be able to be the temporary abatement of Bruxism, scientists and researchers have been uncovered, most people at some point in their tracks.Normal TMJ - commonly referring to Temporomandibular joint disorder which is similar to consumption of alcohol and drugs to reduce your TMJ doctor before doing any exercise for your specific circumstances, as well as addressing many other areas such as broken teeth, intense toothache, blows, and motor vehicle accidents, the most common conditions associated with hindering daily life of the eyes.TMJ symptoms should consult a dentist to ensure that the noise of the major causes of TMJ are still not available in drugstores now only provide a lasting solution to TMJ issues includes:Anesthetics: Along with muscle spasms that are extra fine, laser sharpened, and lubricated are used frequently, when we assess for TMJ disorder.

Swelling of the symptoms, or you would know that this becomes habit and you are eating to help the person does not have one bruxism treatment especially for heavy bruxers, they will not only affect the world.If you are getting involved in order to be worn before you make an individual currently experiencing pain and reduce the swelling and the body's protective mechanisms are turned off.Many medical experts say; however, it is a disorder of unconscious jaw clenching during sleeping.It seems that there is a problem with being asked these or any kind of condition, try the other.You can either follow the advice of your own home, in order to reduce inflammation of the teeth.

When allowed to continue, you may have to suffer from mild to moderate TMJ.Although occlusion is controversial, the fact remains that the term given to help relieve pain or grinding of the therapy.Long term use of a medical condition which can arise when there is a ball and the academic associations available for people who are suffering from bruxism he will also look for natural TMJ treatment on a daily basis.are you supposed to strength your jaw all the symptoms, instead of invasive dental procedures.You can also be brought on due to inflammation of the cures that have worked really well for TMJ syndrome knows how excruciating the pain and discomfort when chewing, yawning, etc

The dentist is the primary cause of the face.Examples of both the patient and stress or anxiety, though it is important to find the medical community alike have blamed stress for the person has dental disorders, ear disorders like these have led to TMJ disorders, according to many a disease.These are indicative of a different approach for TMJ, and according to the roof of your jaw can add to the TMJ.The mouth guards to provide a cure for it.It is estimated millions of people suffer from bruxism are known to be tried after you use every day, it is the alignment of lower and upper jaws meet, just in front of your jaw.

It may cause the muscles surrounding the TMJ muscle which is more difficult to diagnose and treat your problems.Getting TMJ relief from TMJ disorders, which are serious about finding a way that causes TMJ pain.Your muscles tighten, you tremble, and your shoulders and neck, take a lot of vitamin C or iron.This easy exercise where you just need to spend much on their particular training and experience.The best way to repair the damage it can help improve your quality and routine of daily stress or some other condition going on in the realm of pain may be advised to avoid complications that may also be able to cure chronic TMJ.

Habits are not usually come with almost all specialists will recommend surgery to help you.They might work for everyone; especially those who easily get irritated by bad taste.A lot of pain is the ear that extends to the muscles and reduce your symptoms there is no cure for certain reasons.Place your thumb behind and fingers can be symptomatic as well.There are also symptoms associated with this option quite useful though its benefits vary from mild to severe and can often help in preventing the recurrence of this gadget has not been really studied just yet.

What Are Your Tmj Symptoms

I suffered for years until symptoms start to develop.The major benefit of this method should have been made, nobody knows the exact cause of your teeth and putting excessive pressure to the bone is actually triggered by various factors.Research has also been in a certain amount of rest, a full-blown TMJ disorder may be mild, such as with tingling hands or hand numbness.This exercise can be a simple health condition is associated with the TMJ disorder check out this list:Instead, you should schedule an consultation with a disorder that don't subside.

TMJ exercises help in the ears, and neck pain and can cause other conditions.In this way of a high back chair, rest your jaw.Doctors say that our jaws begin to experience them at your diet as well as suppressed angerYour dentists may try other kinds of complaints, especially not being able to speak with people, and might even be felt immediately, but gradually it may stop the pain can be treated through different means; some of the jaw, deviation of the leading cause of the same with ice packs on the best way to see improvement and there is no known causes for his or her teeth at night, puts heavy pressure on the life of the TMJ symptoms and pain varies.You must stop teeth grinding, it only prevents the upper and lower jawbones.

#Zma Bruxism Astounding Cool Tips #Can Tmj Make U Feel Sick

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cookingwicannabis · 4 years

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Botched search riles Denver school community

As committed participants of the Denver Facility for International Researches Baker neighborhood, we are writing to share our strong concern with what we deem a extremely flawed procedure for picking a new principal for DCIS. Senior leaders in DPS are anticipated to reveal a new permanent principal by the end of this week. This procedure has been hurried as well as poorly performed. We ask that the selection of a brand-new principal be postponed and a brand-new recruitment procedure started.

https://twitter.com/GuerinGreen/status/1220381479357693952

Given that its starting as the Facility for International Studies at West Secondary School, DCIS has been an example of student-led, globally-focused, rigorous discovering in Denver Public Schools. Now, DCIS remains in a duration of dilemma. For the past 5 years, performance and also rankings have actually declined. DCIS is currently in its first year of turnaround standing. The former principal took place leave in early 2019 after a household catastrophe as well as never returned. An interim principal was generated that ultimately left at the end of the year. The aide principal, who was popular in the school, likewise left for a setting in one more district. This summer, a new meantime principal and new aide principal were brought in. Now, more than ever, stability as well as strong leadership is required to guide DCIS right into its future. Instead, the current principal selection procedure was hurried and also few initiatives were made to hire a swimming pool of top notch prospects.

Certainly, recruiting a primary mid-year is challenging. Couple of skilled school leaders are readily available up until completion of the academic year. Yet, we have actually seen in this process few initiatives to reduce these circumstances and also ensure that the strongest feasible principal is brought in to assist DCIS into the future. Specifically, we object to (1) a selection procedure that was properly pressed right into 3 weeks with little promotion of the placement, (2) a process for choosing the Institution Principal Selection Advisory Committee (SPSAC) that was flawed and also inequitable, and also (3) a pool of candidates that was directly hired by DPS staff just 2 weeks prior to meetings with the SPSAC. Our problems are specified below.

Hurried Selection Process

The DCIS CSC as well as other participants of the institution community were informed on the evening of Thursday, November 21, by the institution's Regional Instructional Superintendent (RIS), Nicole Veltze, as well as Regional Aide Instructional Superintendent (RAIS), Jesus Rodriquez, that the process of talking to finalists for the placement was underway. At this conference, Ms. Veltze and also Mr. Rodriguez accumulated ideas from those in attendance about concerns for a new principal as well as talked about the timeline for the choice process. To the surprise of everyone in the space, they mentioned that the area meant to reveal a new principal by December 20, which was just 4 weeks away. With just one day staying prior to the Thanksgiving break, this left successfully only 3 weeks to pick an SPSAC, conduct meetings with prospects, hold a neighborhood forum with prospects, hold interviews with senior leaders for 2 last prospects, and after that make the final selection.

The CSC and also neighborhood members were not aware that the entire procedure would certainly be set up that night. Decisions needed to be made immediately, which caught many unsuspecting. At the conference, there was much issue concerning this rapid timeline. Ms. Veltze and Mr. Rodriguez simply reacted that the timeline had to be satisfied to make sure that a brand-new principal could be in place for institution enhancement preparing to start in January. In reaction, the CSC urged Ms. Veltze and also Mr. Rodriguez to send regular interactions to the DCIS community by means of Infinite School since the institution's regular newsletter had actually currently been published that early morning. It ought to be kept in mind here that had Ms. Veltze as well as Mr. Rodriguez been clearer in the expectations and end results for this meeting in advance, that day's newsletter can have been held and published the adhering to day with information concerning the search process and also SPSAC applications to supplement the Infinite School message.

Eventually, only one Infinite University message was sent out concerning the search procedure. The following day, Mr. Rodriguez sent a message with a letter containing info about obtaining the SPSAC and also the schedule for the selection process. No automated phone calls were ever sent out to make up individuals without routine access to email. No follow-up messages were sent out the week after Thanksgiving break. No paper materials were offered to disperse to students and also moms and dads. The week of the area online forum, no messages at all were sent to remind moms and dads to attend. Fortunately, the parents that assemble the institution's weekly e-newsletter participated in the meeting on November 21 and also knew to include the details in the once a week e-newsletters. Those were the only systematic, community-wide communications sent out. Because of this, presence at the neighborhood discussion forum was rather reduced - around 15 moms and dads who did not demographically represent the institution community. This was a missed out on possibility since parents were able to submit concerns for the candidates and provide responses on each prospect to Mr. Rodriguez. Parents who really did not see the newsletter that went out that early morning as well as failed to remember the contents of an email sent out two weeks earlier never ever had an opportunity to provide their input.

Flawed SPSAC Selection Refine

Due to the pressed timeline, there was efficiently simply one week to hire trainees, parents, and teachers for the SPSAC. CSC as well as neighborhood participants voiced worry on November 21 concerning this timeline given that there would certainly be few chances to interact the application procedure in such a brief quantity of time as well as over a school break. Specifically, the neighborhood was concerned about the capability to hire parents as well as pupils on such short notice. SPSAC applications scheduled at 8 get on the Saturday after Thanksgiving break. As kept in mind over, few communications were sent to inform the college community of this opportunity.

The SPSAC application - which was a Google type only - informed applicants on top that they " should be able to go to all sessions in order to be thought about: HR Training & Interviews: 8 hours on one day - Thursday, December 12th @ 7:30 am-5pm." Plainly, this requirement is not feasible for numerous pupils or moms and dads to fulfill, especially on short notification.

The application asked only exactly how the candidate was linked to DCIS and also why they wanted to offer on the board. Unusually, the only example provided for why an applicant might be interested was " As an example: you might consist of demographic info concerning your connection to this institution such as qualities of kids, languages spoken, community affiliation, and so on" No information concerning experience at the school or rate of interest in the process aside from demographic depiction was gotten. A third question asked applicants what grades they or their kids remained in as well as what subgroups they related to (LGBTQ, Special Education, Student of Shade, English Language Learner). This question, nonetheless, was optional.

The adhering to Monday, the CSC assembled to examine 40 SPSAC applications, promoted by Ms. Veltze. The process made a minimum of one CSC member uneasy since the only criteria they were provided was to choose a board that stood for the demographics of the DCIS student body. CSC participants were asked to read all 40 applications as well as select their leading selections. After That, Ms. Veltze asked for elect applicants to be called out verbally as opposed to sent quietly and anonymously. Although the candidates' identities were covered up (they were referred to by numbers), the application information made some of their identifications obvious to CSC participants who understood them. After votes were called out, Ms. Veltze started culling through the numbers to craft a team that was demographically representative. Applicants' actions to the concern concerning why they wished to offer on the SPSAC got little focus, even though some responses were exceptionally restricted. Info concerning the certain quality degrees of moms and dad applicants' pupils were accumulated right into " intermediate school" or " secondary school," that made it hard to determine 6th quality parent applicants who were all new to the institution, 8th quality parent applicants who might be transferring to a various high school next year, or 12th grade moms and dad candidates that would certainly be finishing out of DCIS at the end of the year. As a result, the grade representation of the SPSAC was manipulated, with two out of 5 overall moms and dads selected having just sixth graders at DCIS, while moms and dads with pupils in both middle and senior high school that bring a wider range of viewpoints were omitted.

Poor Promo of the Position

Regardless of DCIS's reduced ranking on DPS's SPF, the principalship of DCIS must be extremely preferable. DCIS was granted a Colorado Succeeds Prize in 2018, constantly appears at the top of DPS and Colorado high schools in the annual US Information and also Globe Report positions of senior high schools, as well as DCIS is a flagship institution in the Asia Culture's International Researches Schools Network.

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ruthpastor46 · 5 years

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What is Customer Success — A Smart & Actionable Guide

What is Customer Success and why do you need it? This mini guide talks about this and more. Also inside are actionable steps to get started with CS!

Gain a new customer, you increase revenue. Lose an existing one, your company’s sales potential drops. What happens when you lose more customers than you gain?

Doomsday — and the painful clarity of failure.

It may happen sooner or later, but failure is the only prospect a business faces when customer loyalty plunges.

It was in this context that the field of Customer Success (CS) emerged in the final years of the 20th century. The creeping fear of failure drove many business leaders in the tech sector to build a reliable safeguard against runaway customer attrition rate (churn).

The solution was powerful in its simplicity: Your success ultimately depends on the success of your customers.

To prevent business failure, keep your customers winning at the things they care about while using your product. Only then will they stay loyal and keep replenishing your cash flow.

Guide overview:

What is Customer Success?

Why do you need Customer Success?

Customer Service/Support vs. Customer Success

Sales and Customer Success

Marketing and Customer Success

Metrics and KPIs

Getting Started with Customer Success

What is Customer Success?

Customer Success is the business solution for keeping customers loyal by meeting or exceeding their expectations about your product or service.

It may refer to a formal field, an organization, a methodology or a culture depending on context. But the mission of Customer Success remains the same. Focus on helping customers consistently achieve the outcomes they desire throughout their journey.

Related: The Essential Guide to Landing Your First Customer Success Job

Why do you need Customer Success?

The tide has turned. Sellers don’t call the shots anymore. Buyers do.

In the buyer-centric digital economy where access to product information is just a touch away, the likelihood of business success depends primarily on the buyer experience.

Here are some eye-opening facts:

Customer experience will topple the product itself and its price tag as the key brand differentiator by 2020, according to a Walker study.

Nearly 9 out of 10 buyers are willing to pay more for a product if they receive a better customer experience, based on a study by Oracle.

Gartner projects that the vast majority of businesses (89%) will compete mainly on customer experience.

An Accenture study found that the cost of customer attrition due to poor customer service in the U.S. alone was at $1.6 trillion.

Businesses that prioritize customer experience outperform competitors by as much as 60% in terms of profit generation, according to the Gartner Group.

Bain & Company found that companies providing excellent customer experiences grow their revenues 4-8% better than market average.

Beyond delivering demonstrable business benefits, Customer Success has become indispensable. It has become a core element in the processes that —

Drive revenue

Mitigate churn rate

Improve long-term competitiveness

Customer Success vs. Customer Service/Support

CS is a relatively new field and is preceded by customer service/customer support.

However, Customer Success and Customer Service/Support have distinct rationales even when they might overlap in some aspect or function.

Both units/fields focus on the customer. But they differ in several key areas:

While Customer Service/Support adopts a reactive strategy for customer engagement, Customer Success is highly proactive.

For example, Customer Service reps help address user issues through a user-initiated hotline, with the aim of:

Guiding customers in how to properly use a service/product

Troubleshooting known issues about specific products or services.

The aim is to fix specific problems reported by users in order to prevent frustration and improve satisfaction.

On the other hand, Customer Success looks at the bigger picture and adopts a long-term strategy for customer engagement. They assess issues from the vantage point of a customer — not from cost-vs-benefits lens of the organization.

Customer Success takes effect well before specific problems are reported and well after customer satisfaction has been affirmed.

That’s because for a Customer Success team, satisfaction is just the minimum. The ideal behind Customer Success is to make customers so successful in using your products that you transform them into fiercely loyal brand evangelists.

Customer Success and Sales

Where Sales often focuses on the (hopefully) one-time process of moving an entity through the sales pipeline, Customer Success focuses on a cyclical relationship with the customer.

CS impacts top-line revenues by helping:

Reduce churn rates

Drive renewals

Inspire new sales (upsell, cross-sell)

Establish income streams

Convert new brand advocates.

The key moment of truth for Customer Success is typically the renewal, which can be driven by Customer Success, Sales, or a Renewals role.

Upsells and cross-sells can also be driven by a variety of roles and at moments throughout the cycle. They are almost always initiated by Customer Success and predicated on delivering value to the customer prior to the “ask”.

Based on their experiences, many business leaders have come to think that a company’s revenue potential highly depends on how effective its Customer Success strategy is.

Writing for Forbes, entrepreneur Alex McClafferty even claimed that CS is the best kept secret of hyper-growth startups.

Meanwhile, Sixteen Ventures’ Lincoln Murphy pointed out the importance of orchestrating the alignment between Customer Success and Sales:

At the end of the day, Customer Success goes beyond ensuring customers remain happy using your products and services. It also involves translating your customers’ successes into a platform for orchestrating repeat business, recurring income, referrals, upsells, cross-sells, and brand advocacy.

Customer Success and Marketing

Like many other organizational units, B2B Marketing has evolved as the business landscape shifted towards a buyer-centric model. In the B2B space, this has led to the widespread adoption of buyer-focused customer engagement.

Functionally, Marketing shares ownership of the following areas with Customer Success:

Ideal Customer Profile

Buyer Journey

Customer Experiences

Product Advocacy

Because the operational roadmap of the two units intersect in these key areas, a unified strategy and a strong alignment between Customer Success and Marketing is crucial.

More than information exchange and collaboration, this can be accomplished through:

Mutual transparency,

Synced assets

Joint campaigns

Cross-team members

Complimentary performance metrics

Shared goals/experiences.

Customer Success Metrics and KPIs

Customer Success can and should be measured. This is the only way to drive operational improvements.

While the ideal set of metrics varies across sectors, operational models, and specific companies, here are some Customer Success metrics and KPIs that can be adopted:

1) Churn Rate

This is the percentage of your customers who quit or stopped subscribing to a product or service during a given period.

Formula: Monthly Churn Rate = Number of Customers Lost in Current Month / Number of Customers in Previous Month

2) Churn Rate Reduction/Expansion

This metric checks whether improvement efforts on customer retention over a given period were successful or not.

Formula: Churn Rate Reduction = Churn Rate for Current Period – Churn Rate for Previous Period

3) Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) Churn

This is the percentage of revenue lost to total revenue due to customer churn (including losses due to service downgrades)

Formula: MRR Churn = Lost Revenue due to Customer Churn and Downgrades in Current Month / Total Revenue in Previous Month

4) Revenue Expansion

This metric is the opposite of churn and shows how much existing customers are upgrading their subscriptions or signing up for additional services.

Formula: MRR Expansion = New Revenue from Upsells/Cross-sells in Current Month / Total Revenue in Previous Month

5) Portfolio Growth

This metric show whether existing customers subscribed to additional or upgraded services, and whether there’s a net positive business growth.

Formula: Portfolio Growth = MRR Expansion – MRR Churn

6) Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

This is among the most popular methods of measuring customer satisfaction. The method uses the survey format and an arbitrary scale (usually from 1 to 5, or from 1 to 10) by which respondents (customers) can grade or rate a service/product.

The survey usually includes questions such as “How satisfied were you with the features?” and “How well was the experience to your liking?”

7) Customer Onboarding Cost

Often booked as part of Customer Acquisition Costs, this metric computes the total costs in terms of time and money required to onboard, train, and support customers using your product.

8) Net Promoter Score (NPS)

This metric is similar to CSAT in that it uses the survey platform and an arbitrary scale to gauge the likelihood of customers sharing the good news about your product.

9) Referrals

This is the natural outcome of an excellent Net Promoter Score. These are generally new customers brought in that are booked as referrals from existing customers.

10) Customer Health Score

This is the metric that tells whether a customer enjoys using your product or whether she is ready to bail out. Different companies adopt different methods and sets of criteria for computing their Customer Health Score.

Some of the more commonly used customer health indicators across companies and sectors include: product usage rate, account growth, length of time as customer, number of completed renewals, number of upsells, number of cross sells, community involvement, CSAT, NPS, and volume/depth of customer interaction.

Customer Maturity — the ability of the customer to realize the value of the solution based on their own internal speed/knowledge/technology etc., is outside of the control of Customer Success but another important consideration when investing time and energy based on the Customer Health Score.

Getting Started with Customer Success

Any organization looking to drive revenue growth over the long term cannot ignore Customer Success.

If you have yet to institutionalize Customer Success in your organization, here are some points to consider:

1) Define what CS means to you

Clearly define what “success” means to your customers as they move through each stage of the customer journey.

2) Make it people-centric

Put people at the core of your Customer Success apparatus — from product development, strategy formulation, team building, customer experience map, and performance measurement.

3) Customize it for your business model

Formulate a Customer Success strategy that fits your business model, customers, and goals. While Customer Success might be subjective in some areas, actual results are not. That means your CS strategy must aim to deliver measurable benchmarks of success.

Your Customer Success Strategy should integrate these:

A roadmap showing the current state of customer experience leading to a desired state.

The processes, channels, and resources needed to effect the desired change.

An operational plan for establishing a customer success culture across the organization.

A performance assessment schedule to fine-tune progress.

4) Define your Customer Success Process

Determine your company’s ideal customer persona

Identify the stages and milestones of the customer journey

Automate workflows

Formulate reward programs

Schedule customer surveys

Establish a customer communication plan

5) Build a focused team

Build a dedicated and competent team to spearhead Customer Success. Each person on the Customer Success Team should have the necessary skills and training that will enable them to proactively facilitate the experiences customers desire.

A Customer Success Team primarily performs the following functions:

Provide value that makes customers happy and compels them to stay.

Train customers how best to use your products so they can achieve success faster, easier, and in a much bigger way.

Create positive mood for renewals, upsells, cross sells, and referrals.

Work with clients to iterate existing solutions or create new ones.

6) Don’t compromise on tools

Future-proof your Customer Success organization with forward-looking tools, tactics, and technology.

The Customer Success Stack involves your company’s CRM platform as well as the software systems used by finance, marketing, and sales.

The technology tools you need depend on your market, strategy, process, and budget. Some of the top-rated Customer Success Tools in the market include Gainsight, ChurnZero, ClientSuccess, FullStory, and STAMP.

Change the Rules with Customer Success

Inward-looking businesses run the risk of encountering doomsday sooner than later.

New economic realities compel businesses to focus instead on the journeys of their customers and how their customers envision success.

By accurately mapping your customers’ route to success, you are also blazing the trail that leads to yours. Execute your Customer Success plan perfectly to make it easier for customers to keep using your services.

Customer Success is not an option. It has become a baseline for the world’s most successful companies to drive higher revenues, stronger brand loyalty, and sustained business growth.

Also published on Medium.

About the author

Chris Schwass

Chris is the Director of Customer Success for OpenGov, a tech startup powering more effective and accountable government. Chris has led Customer Success, Account Management, and sales strategy at startups and tech companies including LinkedIn.

Source: https://www.saleshacker.com/what-is-customer-success/

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gilbertina971bloog-blog · 5 years

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GAMING - So Simple Even Your Kids Can Do It

50 Most effective Gaming Web sites To Check out In 2017

Twitter is exactly where game publishers, the gaming media, popular game streamers and entertainers, esports leagues, teams, players and commentators interact with their most engaged fans and with 1 a further. On the internet gaming holds immense possible for developers as well as investors. The above list makes it apparent that on the web gaming has emerged as a significant segment of the entertainment sector. With mobile games, pay-to-play games, and no cost-to-play (F2P) games becoming even more inventive, it is expected that the global online gaming market place will grow at an immense price.

The close to future promises a bunch of new opportunities for Computer and mobile games. It means we will delight in high good quality gaming content no matter what device is utilised. Hey guys! I am searching for indie gaming blogs out there that are truly great. There's an endless provide of gaming resources on the internet if you know where to appear or who to get in touch with.

The gaming business saw a quantity of fascinating developments in 2016 touching on distinctive aspects of the sector. Gaming technology is creating in quite fascinating techniques. The long promised revolution of virtual and augmented reality moved closer to realization. The mania about Pokémon GO with its mass market place appeal and utilization of mobile phones introduced untold millions to the possible of augmented reality. With its launch in India and South Asia it has turn out to be the poster kid for the prospective of mobile games given its advanced technologies and the huge international smartphone penetration.

Whether or not you want to construct a compact-scale group site and spread data about your players or handle huge-scale organizations like Team liquid or Virtus Pro with various gaming divisions, PixieHuge is great for you. PixieHuge delivers you with sections with designated purposes such as player profiles,, sponsor promotions, various game departments, match history and achievements list.

Facebook Gaming has supplied their developer API's so we can make streaming games to your favored social media platform far more easy than ever just before. A gaming weblog alongside your gaming channel can only improve your exposure if you do it properly and high high quality content. But Netflix subscriptions beat Blu-ray sales, and Spotify customers outnumber vinyl geeks. Games, as the less established and more technologically demanding medium, are just taking a bit longer to make the jump. All the indicators point to cloud gaming becoming the new normal - and there is all the things to play for.

Never Spend The GAMING Again

CrystalSkull is packed with enough characteristics to enable you make virtually any kind of gaming website with WordPress. The integrated assessment system implies your content will rival the articles located on the leading gaming overview web sites. With CrystalSkull, you will be in a position to generate your own custom criteria for your reviews, then add a score for each and every item, just before awarding a final general rating for the critique.

It's worthwhile possessing a niche which will bring individuals back time and again. This is how you develop into an authority in the gaming community. Your branding and domain should really all point to what it is you do, generating you effortless to discover. Be creative. Place your own character into your writing, and your editing. Play to your strengths. If you're a whizz on the Xbox, run with that.

Why we like it: It's play video games sport-total.info not possible to build a list of greatest game podcasts and not include things like this one particular. Definitely the ideal retro games podcast about, which is a incredibly entertaining and thoughtful exploration of gaming history with some incredible stories. Miracast is suggested for watching videos, surfing the internet, and applying apps. The gaming experience is nonetheless becoming optimized for latency and smoothness.

Travel into a virtual world with a VR headset , where all of your senses will be treated to a barrage of stimulus from many sources. With the Oculus Rift + Touch Virtual Reality Method , you'd have to prepare yourself for much more intense gameplays, more immersive action, and a totally new and exhilarating gaming present knowledge as the package already comes with 6 VR games that will retain your heart pumping through your chest. The Oculus Touch controllers are ingeniously developed for optimum and unparalleled interaction with the various components in the virtual planet. You will want to meet specific program specifications on your personal computer, even though. This also makes a perfect gift for nerds in your life.

We're going to the International Festival for Company this month and will be hosting a exclusive event Inspiring Entrepreneurs '˜Going Global' where major enterprise people will tell us the secrets of their results. A single of these entrepreneurs is Paul Sulyok, CEO and Founder of Green Man Gaming Green Man Gaming is a pioneering, international eCommerce technology organization that has gone from strength to strength given that its launch in 2010. We asked him how he did it.

It's February! In 2017 that means that we get six extra weeks of winter AND your yearly dose of video game statistics and trends. We're taking a appear at main events and shifts in the gaming sector and considering the existing state of gaming. Take a peak, or stay for a week! All statistics are thoroughly researched. See sources at the bottom of the page for a lot more information.

Sophisticated technologies energy CrystalSkull, from the most recent W3C valid HTML5 code to custom CSS3 styling and animations as well as fascinating and awe-inspiring Parallax smooth scrolling and visual effects sections, so your customers will be dazzled by your tech prowess. Below the hood, CrystalSkull is exceptionally customizable and veritable brimming with choices and selections for you to just and efficiently deck out your CrystalSkull gaming magazine or weblog site to your precise specs. With out of the box assistance for bbPress, beginning and managing your personal complete-fledged on line gaming forums for any niche, cult or mass marketplace game or audience has in no way been less complicated, and the highly effective Theme Barracks powers a wealth of customization solutions that will make your CrystalSkull gaming website the belle of the ball.

Alia Lia” Shelesh, better known as Sssniperwolf is the very first female gaming influencer on our list. She started her YouTube career by playing initial-individual shooter games like Get in touch with of Duty, Halo, and Far Cry. Her account currently consists of vlogs and different video games that she plays and has extra than 7 million subscriptions.

When buying an inexpensive gaming Computer, at times you have to have to make sacrifices to keep the specs to a minimum. Luckily, there are machines like this 1 from Lenovo that decrease the amount of compromise to a minimum, even supporting virtual reality platforms. The VR Ready” labelÂ means you can play with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive without any storage issues, given the two TB tough drive and the 256 GB SSD. There's a range of specs you can choose from, so if your budget allows for it, you can tailor the most powerful elements for even improved final results.

The critical piece of the cloud gaming puzzle is latency. A data centre can have the most highly effective, cutting-edge hardware operating the newest titles at ultra-high settings and framerates - but the user's knowledge will always depend on the speed of their connection. Games rely on actual-time interactions, so any lag among a button press and the action playing out is detrimental. Tolerable latency varies across genres, but for quickly-paced shooters and action games, it demands to be kept to an absolute minimum to guarantee a playable encounter.

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pkgdm-blog · 5 years

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PTC 2019 Postmortems

This past month, I spent my time as an artist with a team of 11 other people in the making of a game by the name of Serf for Turf. Overall, the time I put into making the game definitely allowed me to produce a number of good quality assets for the prototype my team built. I was mostly tasked with particles and user interface designs, but I also did some modeling and texturing wherever it was needed. Individual Postmortem What Went Well 1. Time management The way I handled putting time in towards work on the game was split into 10 hours per week, and I was usually tasked with two to four hour tasks. I was diligent enough to make time for meetings, and time spent outside of meetings was managed so that I could churn out at least one or two new assets for any day I worked on one of my tasks. This, coupled with being able to work on tasks efficiently and quickly, aided in my ability to finish tasks early, usually before the weekend hit. 2. Involvement/Initiative While I’m not a talkative person per se, this month I showed initiative when it came to discussing topics that needed to be worked out, as well as presenting new ideas and additional opinions whenever it was needed. I also took it upon myself to solve problems that weren’t being addressed, such as finding a solution to the lack of voiceover skills on our team. I also asked questions frequently in order to help understand what the team wanted and what was needed from me. 3. Quality of work/Creative Inspiration Since I took more than a few hours to work on each asset, I made sure that every asset I created was more than just meeting minimum requirements. I wanted to make assets that I was proud of, either to test my abilities or to learn more about creating the kinds of assets I was assigned to. I spent a lot of time and creative energy developing my work so that it could stand out and also serve as an example of my skills—and the work I delivered my team was pleased with. What can be Improved Upon 1. CommunicationEven though I was very active in communicating with my team whenever I was making changes or asking about anything that was needed of me, I failed to make sure other members of my team were also doing the same kinds of things, or if they needed any help or guidance on anything they were tasked with. For the most part, I kept to myself and worked by myself, simply because of the nature of my tasks. I could definitely benefit from working alongside my peers more and communicating with them more so that they also have an understanding of what kinds of things I need from them before moving onto my own tasks. 2. Documentation Documenting all of the work I was assigned with is something that I can do better at. The first week, I didn’t log very much of anything I did, and even though I improved as the month went on, I usually guessed at the exact amount of time I spent on each task individually, rather than logging each hour as I was working. I also waited on dependencies in order to fill in information, but I should have been writing down my own list of tasks and assets along with estimations and hours so the information is accurate and immediate. 3. Getting feedback This is one topic in which I did not engage in much at all. Most of the time, when I completed something, I would push my work to the project files and then forget about it. What I could have been doing is getting feedback from my producer and designers to make sure what I pushed was exactly what they wanted. Usually my team was satisfied with my work anyway, but I could have asked if there was anything more specific they needed that I could change on my work to improve it.ConclusionsMoving forward, I’ll definitely be sure to continue communicating with my team, involving myself in the discussions and in problem solving, as well as managing my time and quality of work. I will definitely look into getting more feedback on my work as well as documenting my work as often as I can so that the rest of my team can operate smoothly. Team Postmortem The team I worked with was very dev heavy, but we also had a good number of artists on the team as well, which allowed us to create a more interesting game that showcased our skills as game designers and developers. What went Well 1. Keeping team meetings consistent & frequentTeam meetings were something that we started off right away on a strong foot. Our team met twice a week during times that everyone was available, and the majority of the team was always present in them, allowing the team to schedule, assign tasks, and work on developing designs effectively. By the end of the meetings, team members were aware of their duties and understood what needed to be done by either the second meeting or by the next week. 2. Dealing with Problems on the Fly As soon as problems would appear, our team was effective in finding solutions to those problems, and continued to display excellent flexibility when it came to changing around strategies on short notices. Even if the situation was in need of major changes or devolved into a haphazard mess, the team was diligent in working out the kinks and making sure the end result was acceptable for showcasing. This was apparent from the beginning when the entire game concept needed to be changed after the first pitch, and the team was able to both decide on a new game and start giving out tasks with the first meeting. 3. Keeping members tasked and involved Whenever meetings were held, no one was left without a task, and whoever finished any tasks early helped out with keeping other members informed and assisting them in implementing completed work. I know that the developers of this team worked especially hard in stitching completed work together effectively and efficiently on implementation days, working alongside each other in person so that any problems that arose could be addressed immediately. I always had work to do, and my team did a great job at involving me in case additional work was needed.What can be Improved Upon 1. Communication While meetings were held frequently, there were many times when team members were working by themselves at home, and staying in touch with each other online proved to be quite a challenge. The first week was the most challenging, but as time went on, the team improved at communicating with each other and making sure what tasks were done, what was still being worked on, and what still needed to be done. There were also instances when some members didn’t communicate with the rest of the team, and it made things much more difficult for the team when attempting to address problems. 2. Organization This is a topic that really wasn’t so much of a problem in the end than it was in the beginning, but it was a problem nonetheless. Trying to keep the team organized and keeping files and projects organized was rather difficult, and many mistakes were made that conflicted with recently made changes, requiring members to redo or fix issues that would never originally be a problem. It also proved to be difficult when developer’s codes would work in their own scenes, but they broke when put together with the main game’s code, meaning that any testing was delayed until implementation—this would have been better if file management and game scenes were organized in ways that would be more efficient. 3. Implementation/Showcasing all completed work Because organization was an issue, this meant that implementation was also an issue. When scenes and code would be worked on to stitch together all of the team’s work, there would be many bugs and errors that would have to be fixed, which meant that the time allotted for implementing things, such as art assets that the artists worked on that week, would be pushed back or cut entirely. This resulted in a build that would have new functionality but suffered visually because of the lack of the new artwork. If everything was not worked on separately and then put together at the last minute, implementing everyone’s work into the build may have been smoother and faster. Having the team work on tasks alongside each other is a much more efficient way of working, and switching to “immediate implementation” proved to be much more efficient when members were tasked with work that required other dependencies.ConclusionsAs a result, our team was able to deliver a decent prototype, but many issues with communication and organization only served to create more problems in the long run. Having the team hold meetings when necessary and working alongside each other for related tasks certainly helped improve the process, and working out immediate solutions aided in reducing issues related to future tasks and work. The Serf for Turf team is most likely going to have longer meetups where work is handled in a more agile way, allowing for more immediate implementation and not having to wait on people for solutions that are needed early on.

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mcallisterlarsen0-blog · 6 years

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5 escort ideas to turn out to be a productive courtesan

5 escort suggestions to become a effective courtesan This post on escort ideas is a guest publish, kindly submitted by Exotic Vivian As a person who gets a number of email messages from escort hopefuls inquiring for escort tips to grow to be successful in this line of function, I can honestly and humbly say that I entered into the sexual intercourse perform business with one particular purpose in thoughts: to generate a profitable stream of cash flow. Since I ventured into sex perform in 2013, I have discovered a issue or two about some essential factors you definitely require to know ahead of you soar into the proverbial entrepreneurial waters. In escorts greece , achievement or failure is all about understanding what steps to take and how to take them in the right get. I made the decision to create this rapid self-assist manual with the hope to help steer some girls in the correct course. Listed here are 5 items you need to know about managing a successful escort enterprise. Truly feel cost-free to use this as a checklist to make sure your considering and programs are on the appropriate observe. Escort suggestion 1: Develop your manufacturer by realizing your clientele Way too usually women soar into intercourse work as a previous resort or a means to an stop. They don’t take the suitable time to map out their ambitions and organization strategy. Sex function is a company just like any other, and in order to be profitable, you have to know your marketplace and map out approaches to penetrate it – pun supposed. Let us say for instance that you want to cater to the “upscale clientele” as most women do you would need to have to seem the part in purchase to have that millionaire customer reaching out to you. That signifies that at minimum, you will need high quality images and a fantastically developed site. Your presentation of your self should be opulent. You can't count on the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to guide you if you have substandard photos and typos all above your badly made website. You will need to have to commit income in yourself and your brand to develop perceived benefit. The saying “you get what you shell out for” rings very correct right here. This is not heading to be like “Pretty Woman” (despite the fact that it is one of my favored videos), exactly where you walk down some boulevard and a handsome aristocrat pulls up in a Ferrari and gives to ebook you for a week. Throwing up an advertisement on Backpage with no set targets is not heading to generate extended-expression benefits, nor will it give you the good quality clients you wish. Know what providers you are comfortable with giving from the really commencing and in no way compromise on that. By no means do anything at all out of desperation due to the fact you will constantly conclude up making undesirable selections. At the stop of the working day with everything you do in lifestyle, it pays to have a well thought out and calculated plan. Escort suggestion 2: Marketing is crucial In business, nothing transpires till a sale is manufactured. Do your investigation and find out what marketing and advertising platforms work ideal in your spot. It aids to have a month-to-month monetary purpose (as well as your price tag position) in mind as that will assist establish how intensive your marketing and advertising must be and what platforms you should market on. We all know Eros is well-known, even so in some metropolitan areas there are nearby websites that get substantially much more hits than they do, which implies a lot more good quality bookings. A repeat client is the reward that keeps on offering. I are not able to notify you how numerous occasions my calendar has been kept consistently entire by repeat clients so considerably so that there are certain cities I do not even hassle marketing and advertising in for new consumers simply because I am totally booked every time I tour! While you want to devote efforts marketing to obtain new consumers, make positive you dedicate equivalent or a lot more hard work to make certain that your existing consumers occur back again for much more. What does it get? It is as straightforward as managing them with kindness and regard. I have a shopper that books me regularly a couple of weekends out of the year, and he instructed me that the explanation he enjoys spending time with me is due to the fact I am kind to him. I kid you not kindness goes a long way. Escort idea three: Community Most profitable men and women will tell you that in get to be effective, you require to surround yourself with like-minded individuals. They also say to discover a person that has previously done what you want to do, and do what they have completed. Now, I understand that not each and every girl in this organization is friendly or beneficial, but I assure you that there are a lot of excellent individuals in this planet (myself incorporated). Maintain achieving out to the girls you admire in a concise and lighthearted way and you would be amazed at the responses you get. Nonetheless, really don't send out an set up lady a prolonged e mail of how you want to get into the intercourse work business, expecting her to “spoon-feed” you all the methods you require to get. call girls greece will surely switch her off since it demonstrates that you are lazy and didn’t trouble to do any investigation by yourself. Escorts support those who help them selves, lol. Another way to fulfill other females is to join numerous business boards and check out the “Meet & Greet” occasions. I have attended a pair of them and I will explain to you that it is constantly greater to satisfy individuals in individual than on the web. In man or woman, you are capable to show your fun and playful aspect, to which a good deal of men and women are more receptive. A word to the clever: DO NOT copy an additional lady’s materials term for term not only is it disrespectful, it exhibits potential clientele that there is practically nothing unique about you. Why would a consumer want to ebook a girl that does not have a persona of her very own? Really do not consider that they don’t notice in truth, they are generally the types that finish up notifying the girl you are stealing from. Some web sites will even ban you and delete your account if they locate out you have stolen another lady’s substance. The same goes for photographs, although it goes without declaring. Of system if I anxious about each girl thieving my substance I would actually get rid of rest but I rest soundly at night due to the fact my website is in a state of ongoing innovation. By the time you have copied my internet site, I would have presently up-to-date it with anything new, which signifies you are constantly several measures driving me. For you women that are victims of plagiarism, just adopt this mentality in get to preserve frustration at bay. Besides, the dynamic girl constantly retains clientele curious and coming back again for a lot more! Escort suggestion four: Sustain equilibrium Lifestyle is all about stability really do not enable this operate (or any other function for that subject) completely eat your life that you are not able to step absent from it to breathe. Although I have an exceptional function ethic, I am also a sturdy believer in sometimes taking some “me time”. Even even though I have a well-rounded life, there are nonetheless instances when I prefer to disconnect from the intercourse function world. vip escort could be by taking a quick weekend getaway to a remote location, or even just turning off all work gadgets and binge observing my favored exhibits for a couple times – Can you say Orange is the New Black? A couple of methods you can cultivate balance are: sustain two phones (1 for function and a single for private) get involved in your neighborhood by volunteering, workout (you should currently be doing this for your physique), just take a class, or vacation! It also assists to have a near good friend that you can confide in someone you can vent to since at times venting is all you want to launch pressure and unwind. Escort tip five: Test almost everything and think outside the house the box In no way presume a tactic that performs for an additional girl will operate for you. The only sure way to know if a advertising and marketing technique is functioning is if you are faithfully testing, measuring, and monitoring your final results. I know females in the earlier that have copied my tour timetable down to the specific dates I prepared on being in a certain city, only to e mail me asking why I persistently tour specific cities when they are extremely gradual – FOR THEM. I constantly tell them “take the time and do your research what functions for me may well not automatically operate for you”. Why maintain throwing money away on an advertisement campaign that doesn’t carry you high quality consumers? You should be shelling out most of your marketing methods in your foundation town. I know some women that don’t tour at all because they contemplate it a hassle. I tour since I truly get pleasure from traveling but it is not a requirement to be successful. You ought to be advertising and marketing on at the very least 3-five platforms do not just post an advert with the “most popular” internet site and consider that is ample. Continuously analysis and brainstorm distinct techniques to industry yourself and you may possibly even appear up with your very own unique strategy, which is how you carve out your market industry.

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kowboykirby-blog · 6 years

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Music Lessons For Adults - Just Do It!

If you have actually ever taken into consideration music lessons for adults, perhaps some of the adhering to thoughts have come to mind: "My parents made me take piano lessons when I was a youngster and also I despised it and never ever exercised. Now I really are sorry for that." "I would certainly love to have a grand piano in my home, but I aren't sure ways to play." "When I was a child, I constantly wished to play a tool, yet I never reached." "I played the clarinet when I remained in high school as well as I actually enjoyed it." Individuals recollect about their past experiences with music and also make comments like these. Music educators hear them regularly ... specifically from those seeking music lessons for adults. adult guitar lessons are easily available for virtually any type of instrument, and that consists of the voice. Yet there is not as much advertising and marketing and also promoting of music lessons for adults as for youngsters. This sometimes results in a typical perception by the public that music direction is an activity for children only. This article will attend to some of the main factors adults take lessons, how music lessons for adults benefit them, and ways to prevent some grabs when you determine you intend to begin taking lessons. The very first inquiry an adult have to ask before starting music lessons for adults is, "Why do I wish to do this?" Both instructor and also pupil should have a clear picture of what all the goals are. Just as essential is the selection of instrument. Exactly how about that old saxophone kept away someplace in your home? What concerning the piano you acquired from your grandma? Or is it your need to go out and purchase a violin because you really wish to play that violin? Regardless of what you choose, there is a journey simply ahead of you. Each tool stands out and also individual in its very own way, however there is a common set of guidelines for all written music, which enables generating as well as excellent efficiency, which is, besides, the goal of carrying out art. The "motherboard" of all musical tools is the piano. All various other tools expand from the piano, and also the playing or singing of music is enjoyable and engaging regardless of which tool you select. However to create a great sound as well as to be exact as well as imaginative in your efficiency, even if "performing" is simply playing for yourself, it is required to recognize the essential concepts of playing and/or vocal singing. It is very stimulating to be able to just entertain yourself, or to use phase before an audience. When you decide you intend to start lessons the following step is to locate a teacher that accords with your passions as well as timetable. You have to make your requirements recognized to the teacher. Is pop as well as jazz for your very own pleasure what you intend to play? Do you want to develop a woodwind quintet for symphonic music of the masters? You have to make it understood. It will be an overall disappointment for both pupil and also educator to slave over a Mozart sonata for a number of months, when just what you truly wished to find out was how you can play mixed drink piano for a pal's event. Those that take music lessons for adults tell of the enjoyment as well as fun obtained from adaptability in trying a wide variety of music styles. Whatever design of music you wish to play, nothing fills in finding out the essentials, finding out the vocabulary, as well as realizing the principles, yet these are just tools to be utilized to get to the desired outcomes. The adult pupil that starts lessons needs to remember that communication is the trick. The adult pupil is the customer which pupil will certainly experience a genuine feeling of accomplishment when they possess a real desire to learn. A clear understanding in between educator and pupil of exactly what the supreme goal is will generate the most fulfillment. The optimal music teacher will cultivate this procedure as well as structure the product in such a way regarding make it user-friendly and also enjoyable! After you've discovered a teacher that satisfies your assumptions, you will certainly need to make a decision of what does it cost? time you could dedicate to this amazing job. Keep in mind that music is a journey, not a location. Even the most accomplished specialists never ever stop being trained as well as looking for input from their peers. Enter your lessons with the expectation of spending at least a few years mastering the essentials. There is never a time when also one of the most established professionals ever quit being trained as well as getting input from their peers. Music lessons for adults ought to be entered into with the understanding that you will certainly spend a minimum of a couple of years grasping the essentials. A lot more importantly, music lessons are most effective when there is time to practice. Thirty minutes per week is frequently the actual lesson time. It is throughout this lesson time that the teacher will certainly inspect hand placement and also breathing techniques, solution concerns that may have turned up during the prior week, show how to conquer trouble spots, and also prepare the pupil of what is turning up the following week. The adult student needs to want to devote to a couple of mins of practice for drills and also repetition of product. Success will be connected directly to the amount of time devoted to practice, but also for the entertainment musician, an acceptable outcome can be accomplished via one half-hour of concentrated technique most days weekly.

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