Greetings Travel Fans,
I hope you're well at this somewhat difficult time for Travel in the Time of Covid-19.
We're still getting new members on an almost daily basis, since the recent database overhaul, but unfortunately many are little more than 'link-placing, spam accounts'.
Sure a 'real person' takes the effort to push the submit button and maybe copy and paste some basic description from their often hastily put together 'business' website.
However, they are not creating valuable member profile pages in the truest sense of the word, nor give the impression that they intend to be an active member of our travel and tourism association for any length of time.
Half of them don't even bother to confirm their e-mail; if the e-mail was even a valid one in the first place.
This is a problem many 'member websites' encounter and some handle the situation better than others.
Sadly, a lot of valuable time is spent deleting content that has no place on Meta-Travel, if we allow a free-for-all membership.
So we need to strike the right balance between offering a basic Meta-Travel membership for free, while keeping the 'fake accounts' and unwanted spam at bay.
Perhaps we should rethink the whole Meta-Travel Tourism Association membership process; including looking at actions allowed and how often the actions may be performed.
We hope to achieve this through Membership Levels and deleting inactive member accounts.
We need to provide what's best for our travel and tourism associates while giving a good user experience for Meta-Travel visitors.
Let's start from the beginning.
Meta-Travel Tourism Association
To get the most out of a Meta-Travel Membership it pays to know what it is you want to achieve within the Meta-Travel Tourism Association.
Standard Member - Create a member profile for free and join a regional group.
avatar upload: 2 in 720 hours (30 days).
forum public post: 3 in 24 hours.
photos add: 3 in 168 hours (7 days).
place add place: 1 in 168 hours.
place add review: 3 in 168 hours.
place photos add: 1 in 168 hours.
send friend requests: 3 in 168 hours.
send messages: 3 in 168 hours.
timeline post comment: 1 in 24 hours.
Promotion Level - Members with a completed profile, including personal profile picture (not logo), a nice cover image, and who are already active in a group may receive a 'Promotion' level for greater community benefits.
avatar upload: 2 in 672 hours (28 days).
connection allow social links.
forum public post: 4 in 24 hours.
photos add: 3 in 144 hours (6 days).
place add place : 1 in 144 hours.
place add review: 3 in 144 hours.
place photos add: 1 in 144 hours.
send friend requests: 3 in 144 hours.
send messages: 3 in 144 hours.
timeline post comment: 2 in 24 hours.
vote: 4 in 24 hours.
Active Member ($18 for 90 days):
Take a look around, see if you like the place and start to visit us more often.
Active (verified) members can add comments, rate content and earn community points.
avatar upload: 2 in 624 hours (26 days).
blog post add: 1 in 168 hours (7 days).
comments post: 5 in 24 hours.
comments vote: 3 in 24 hours.
connection allow social links.
events add: 1 in 120 hours (5 days).
events broadcast message: 1 in 120 hours.
forum public post: 6 in 24 hours.
photos add: 3 in 120 hours.
place add place: 1 in 120 hours.
place add review: 3 in 120 hours.
place photos add: 1 in 120 hours.
send friend requests: 3 in 120 hours.
send greetings: 1 in 120 hours.
send messages: 3 in 120 hours.
timeline post comment: 3 in 24 hours.
timeline repost: 1 in 24 hours.
vote: 5 in 24 hours.
Affiliate Member ($24 for 180 days):
Settle in, kick your shoes off and make yourself feel at home.
Affiliate Members can claim a listing, exchange Community Points for Meta-Travel Credits and enter private forums.
Travel Critics savour life in hotels and restaurants; the proof is in the pudding.
avatar upload: 2 in 576 hours (24 days).
blog post add: 1 in 120 hours (5 days).
comments pos: 9 in 24 hours.
comments vote: 5 in 24 hours.
connection allow social links.
events add: 1 in 96 hours (4 days).
events broadcast message: 1 in 96 hours.
forum public post: 9 in 24 hours.
groups add group: 1.
groups broadcast message: 1 in 480 hours (20 days).
lodging broadcast message:1 in 96 hours.
photos add: 3 in 96 hours.
place add place: 1 in 96 hours.
place add review: 3 in 96 hours.
place photos add: 1 in 96 hours.
send friend requests: 3 in 96 hours.
send greetings: 1 in 96 hours.
send messages: 3 in 96 hours.
timeline post comment: 4 in 24 hours.
timeline repost: 2 in 24 hours.
vote: 6 in 24 hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lodging Listing $24 - Affiliate Member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Add a lodging listing for your property to receive enquiries direct from your page and become a Meta-Travel Affiliate Member in the process.
Owners can add a personal RSS feed and Social Network links to the lodging listing page and discuss any special offers with potential guests in their own dedicated forum.
Associate Member ($29 for 270 days):
Now you're talking; sharing your regular blog posts and travel photography.
Travel writers like to showcase their work and earn extra points for their Meta-Travel contributions.
It's all about crafting the written word; travel scribes live for the thrill of the quill.
avatar upload: 2 in 528 hours (22 days).
blog post add: 1 in 72 hours (3 days).
comments post: 13 in in 24 hours.
comments vote: 7 in 24 hours.
connection allow social links.
events add: 1 in 72 hours.
events broadcast message: 1 in 72 hours.
forum private post: 3 in 12 hours.
forum private read.
forum public post: 13 in 24 hours.
groups add group: 1 in 2,160 hours (90 days).
groups broadcast message: 1 in 336 hours (14 days).
lodging broadcast message: 1 in 72 hours.
photos add: 3 in 72 hours (3 days).
place add place: 1 in 72 hours (3 days).
place add review: 3 in 72 hours (3 days).
place photos add: 1 in 72 hours (3 days).
send friend requests: 3 in 72 hours (3 days).
send greetings: 1 in 72 hours (3 days).
send messages: 3 in 72 hours (3 days).
timeline post comment: 5 in 24 hours.
timeline repost: 3 in 24 hours.
vote: 7 in 24 hours.
Corporate Member: ($35 for 360 days):
Tour guides wax lyrical about the places to visit and things to do there.
This is the business end of the deal. Make the most of it and bring your company page to life.
avatar upload: 2 in 480 hours (20 days).
blog post add: 1 in 36 hours.
comments edit own: 1 in 24 hours.
comments post: 18 in 24 hours.
comments vote: 9 in 24 hours.
connection allow social links.
events add: 1 in 48 hours.
events broadcast message: 1 in 48 hours.
forum private post: 6 in 12 hours.
forum private read.
forum public post: 18 in 24 hours.
groups add group: 1 in 1,440 hours (60 days).
groups broadcast message: 1 in 240 hours (10 days).
listing broadcast message: 1 in 48 hours.
lodging broadcast message: 1 in 48 hours.
photos add: 3 in 48 hours (2 days).
place add place: 1 in 48 hours (2 days).
place add review: 3 in 48 hours (2 days).
place photos add: 1 in 48 hours (2 days).
send friend requests: 3 in 48 hours.
send greetings: 1 in 48 hours.
send messages: 3 in 48 hours.
timeline post comment: 6 in 24 hours.
timeline repost: 4 in 24 hours.
vote: 8 in 24 hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Business Listing $35 - Corporate Member
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Create a business listing for your company and become a Meta-Travel Corporate Member in the process.
Owners with a business listing on Meta-Travel can add events, embed videos, send out news to their registered fans, make announcements and encourage discussion in their own dedicated forum.
Elite Member ($210 for 420 days):
Fifty cents a day is a small price to pay for premium membership.
Ideal for Travel PRs and influencers who like to promote luxury hotels and tourist destinations.
Public relations is good for business and these folk know how to travel right.
avatar upload: 2 in 432 hours (18 days).
blog post add: 1 in 18 hours.
comments edit own: 3 in 24 hours.
comments post: 24 in 24 hours.
comments remove own: 1 in 24 hours.
comments vote: 11 in 24 hours.
connection allow social links.
events add: 1 in 24 hours.
events broadcast message: 1 in 24 hours.
forum private post: 9 in 12 hours.
forum private read.
forum public post: 24 in 24 hours.
groups add group: 1 in 720 hours (30 days).
groups broadcast message: 1 in 168 hours (7 days).
listing broadcast message: 1 in 24 hours.
lodging broadcast message: 1 in 24 hours.
photos add: 3 in 24 hours.
place add place: 1 in 24 hours.
place add review: 3 in 24 hours.
place photos add: 1 in 24 hours.
send friend requests: 3 in 24 hours.
send greetings: 1 in 24 hours.
send messages: 3 in 24 hours.
timeline post comment: 7 in 24 hours.
timeline repost: 5 in 24 hours.
vote: 10 in 24 hours.
This is our proposed Membership Levels outline as of 10th October, 2020.
The thinking behind the Elite Member ($210 for 420 days) is to allow one 'free' Lodging Listing per month. We could alter that to ($40 for 420 days) and keep with the pay-per-listing; or implement both variations.
I hope that we have created a worthwhile balance that is both transparent and fair.
We also hope to bring back the points and credit system to reward member contributions.
As always, your feedback is appreciated.