TinPan Alley
Neighborhood Guide HQ
A Minister's work is not that easy as you might
think. To be up and work in the city is usually a daily standard.
The Neighborhood Guide Program should give you as a citizen the
opportunity to raise the your voice and the voice of the
citizens, to help the community and get rewarded for this by
FortuneCity with extra megabytes aswell.
What is the Neighborhood
Guide program?
The NGP (Neighborhood Guide
Program) is a district program that allows residents with
limited time to help FC and their district. Volunteers
are assigned Tin Pan Alley District's streets to monitor
and surf. They eMail sites that do not meet guidelines,
and write the resident a nice eMail to change things...
then they check in a week to see if it happened, if not
then they eMail the URL to the head of the NG who will
double check that the sites do indeed need to be removed
(sometimes people think a gal in a bathing suit is
pornography) and then send the URL and why the removal to
the FC administration who will then remove them. Also
while surfing the assigned streets, the NG recommends
sites that they think should be considered for the Tin
Pan Alley District award and/or to be put as a featured
site in the district front page... these lists they send
to the minister who ramrods the award stuff. Finally they
sign the guest books of those they visit and say hi, glad
you're at FC, etc. please visit the message board at: http://www.fortunecity.com/registered/wwwboard/boards/tinpan/ or if no guest book available they
send an eMail instead.
Who are the guides?
You can be one of them. We
(FortuneCity and the Tin Pan Alley District's Ministers)
need your assistance in helping out. This is a volunteer
program run by the citizens who make their home here.
Click here for a current listing by street assignment.
Why is it needed or even
desirable?
Any community or society
composed of individuals must work together, otherwise the
words "community" and "society" are
hollow words with no meaning.
Fortune City is such a community of web minded
individuals, we work together to ensure the greatest
measure of freedom and a pleasant environment for the
greatest number of its inhabitants. Naturally, not every
person will agree with its administration. That is to be
expected in any organization, but again, the key words
here are the greatest number.
However, try not to think of the NG program as a
"Marilyn Manson" kind of crusader
program...rather the George Michael kind of friendly
mentor, ready to help out. There is much more to the NG
program than going around looking for non-compliant
sites. We want to look for the good places to visit out
there, mention them to the ministers so that they'll get
some deserved recognition, and perhaps submit them for
one of the FC awards.
The matter should be approached in a positive manner
rather than a negative one. And if one of the guides
happens upon a non-compliant site, well, first the web
master of that site must be politely notified of the
transgression. After all, he/she may not be aware of
his/her breaking the guidelines of the city. Then, after
notification and a period of time, if the web master
chooses to ignore the polite prod, his site will be
scrutinized by regular FC employees. No direct action is
taken by the guide at any time.
How does it work?
The team of Neighborhood Guides,
together with the ministers, will cruise through the
streets of Tin Pan Alley looking at each and every
residence which is occupied. Naturally this is an ongoing
task as new people move in and occasionally residents
move out as time goes along.
Each NG is assigned a block of streets by the ministers.
Each NG, according to his/her own personal schedule,
visits homes on his/her "beat", looking for
ones that ought to get some recognition or perhaps even
be recommended for the District Award. Also, if the NG
sees that the owner of the home is having coding problems
(such as broken links, missing graphics, etc.) then
he/she can notify them of the situation and perhaps even
offer some helpful advice as to how to enhance their page
or rectify the programming error(s). It's the neighborly
thing to do. You'd tell your next door neighbor if his
house was burning down, wouldn't you?
We would expect this "friendly" type of
attitude in each person who works with the ministers on
the NG program. In the event that the guide happens upon
a site which is at odds with the FC guidelines, he/she
would notify the web master via email with a copy to the
ministers of the rule which is in question and giving
them ample time to correct the matter or relocate to a
more suitable server (i.e. if someone wants to have a
hard-core porno page, it needs to reside on a server
which allows this type of site - FC does not).
We will follow up on the original eMail and visit the
site to verify that it, in fact, does not comply with the
guidelines. Now the clock begins to run. The web master
of the site in question has seven days to correct the
matter or to relocate. If in that time he/she does not
choose do so, I as minister will email them personally
again requesting that they bring their home within FC
guidelines and give them a day or two more.
Should compliance yet remain a problem after the extra
time, I will recommend the site's removal from the FC
server to the appropriate FC administrator. From there,
the matter is in official FC hands.
Who can suggest a site
for recognition?
Any resident of FC can. The NG
are the regular "patrolmen" on the beat, but
anyone who comes across a really good site can recommend
it to either his local NG or one of the ministers. I
would prefer that people do not recommend their own sites
simply because I know of the amount of mail this
generates. However, if you really want to submit your own
work then we'll look at it as time permits.
In the matter of a site where compliance with the
guidelines is a problem, you can notify either your local
NG or the ministers (who still have other tasks at hand
so please contact the NG's mostly). We will then take
whatever action is deemed appropriate.
Keep in mind that this entire program deals only with FC
sites. We won't visit a site located on another server.
How can I suggest a site?
You simply email either myself,
or your local Neighborhood Guide. The emails are all listed below. Naturally, we will need the
suggested home's web address. It would be nice to have
its title too, so we can be sure of being at the correct
location (mistakes do happen). Your email and home
address would also be appreciated if you choose to supply
them so that we may acknowledge your communication.
Again, remember, the NG program only deals with sites and
folks located on the Fortune City server. Others will not
be visited.
Can I join the NG
program?
Yes. The more people we have
working on this program, the better the district can be
covered. The only requirements of the position are that:
- You are a Fortune City
resident. Your site needs to be in Tin Pan Alley
and be 'District Theme related' or at least one
of your sites if you maintain more than one.
- You are willing to take
a little time each day or two to cruise your
assigned block.
- You are serious about
helping our residents and willing to make a
commitment to the community.
If this sounds interesting and worthwhile to you, click
here to apply. We will get back to you, usually
within a day or two.
Who are the points of
contact for the program?
- Your Neighborhood
Guides
(listed by street name)
- Your NGP Homepage Administrator:
- Your Ministers: