Re: Consultant's Revenge
This site sounds like it will take all of your time doing moderation. One of my friends started a similar site but with mechanics. Also you might run into problems with profitableness, because the best advertising/sponsoring could come from someone who might have people on your site who hate them. On Jan 31, 2008, at 3:05 PM, Joseph Smuzynski wrote: After dealing with a few too many disreputable companies, I'm just about ready to build a new site that is sort of a cross between f*ckedcompany.comand ChexSystems. The idea is to have a site where consultants of all types can come and anonymously post their negative experiences with various companies, large or small. The hope is that with proper marketing, it will become the first place a consultant comes to check out a company before doing work for them. If a company ends up with a negative listing, the way they get the listing removed is to make good with the consultant, then the consultant can mark the case closed. Naturally, if they have multiple bad entries, they would have to make good with everybody. The site would not allow inflammatory types of comments about a company; only facts. Each entry would be reviewed and approved before being posted. There would have to be supporting data too... for example, let's say a company refused to pay your last invoice. You would need to provide a copy of your last invoice and a work log to document it. All listings would have to include proof that you actually worked for the company... e.g. copies of pay stubs, a copy of the contract, etc. Otherwise the site could be used for extortion and would lose it's advantage because it wouldn't be taken seriously. So, the point is to help show companies that they have to treat consultants well... pay their people what they're owed, treat them kindly, etc. Otherwise these companies may find themselves unable to get people to work for them anymore. I don't see this being a lawsuit magnet either. Each posting would have to be factual, not emotional. No slanderous or libelous remarks. Just facts. It would boil down to the consultant's word against the company. No names of people would be mentioned, so you couldn't call people out by name. You could go as far as to say your supervisor was a micro-manager but you couldn't say, my supervisor, Bill Smith, was a micro-manager and was always giving me a hard time. Sure, the easier way is to just post about 'em here on cf-jobs-talk, but then you're likely to end up with a bad rap since a lot of job posters read this list too, no doubt looking for anybody who might be willing to speak out. I haven't really decided what to call the site either. I'm not even sure yet if I'll do it; I'm curious to hear what others think of the idea. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3588 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
It sounds like a lawsuit trap to me. The only way to keep it factual is if you moderate posts and control what people say. Once you do that, then you are no longer protected under safe harbor provisions. All that said, even if you're in the right in terms of free speech, that won't protect you from getting sued. All that said, I'm surprised something like this doesn't already exist. Joseph Smuzynski wrote: After dealing with a few too many disreputable companies, I'm just about ready to build a new site that is sort of a cross between f*ckedcompany.comand ChexSystems. The idea is to have a site where consultants of all types can come and anonymously post their negative experiences with various companies, large or small. The hope is that with proper marketing, it will become the first place a consultant comes to check out a company before doing work for them. If a company ends up with a negative listing, the way they get the listing removed is to make good with the consultant, then the consultant can mark the case closed. Naturally, if they have multiple bad entries, they would have to make good with everybody. The site would not allow inflammatory types of comments about a company; only facts. Each entry would be reviewed and approved before being posted. There would have to be supporting data too... for example, let's say a company refused to pay your last invoice. You would need to provide a copy of your last invoice and a work log to document it. All listings would have to include proof that you actually worked for the company... e.g. copies of pay stubs, a copy of the contract, etc. Otherwise the site could be used for extortion and would lose it's advantage because it wouldn't be taken seriously. So, the point is to help show companies that they have to treat consultants well... pay their people what they're owed, treat them kindly, etc. Otherwise these companies may find themselves unable to get people to work for them anymore. I don't see this being a lawsuit magnet either. Each posting would have to be factual, not emotional. No slanderous or libelous remarks. Just facts. It would boil down to the consultant's word against the company. No names of people would be mentioned, so you couldn't call people out by name. You could go as far as to say your supervisor was a micro-manager but you couldn't say, my supervisor, Bill Smith, was a micro-manager and was always giving me a hard time. Sure, the easier way is to just post about 'em here on cf-jobs-talk, but then you're likely to end up with a bad rap since a lot of job posters read this list too, no doubt looking for anybody who might be willing to speak out. I haven't really decided what to call the site either. I'm not even sure yet if I'll do it; I'm curious to hear what others think of the idea. Joe -- Jeffry Houser, Technical Entrepreneur, Software Developer, Author, Recording Engineer AIM: Reboog711 | Phone: 1-203-379-0773 -- My Company: http://www.dot-com-it.com My Podcast: http://www.theflexshow.com My Blog: http://www.jeffryhouser.com ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3590 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
What about the flip-side of that coin ... A site for employers to review their contracted hire. Why not build both into the site with the ability to tag them together and to facilitate conflict resolution? This could be quite the lucritive venture if done properly. On 1/31/08, Joseph Smuzynski [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: After dealing with a few too many disreputable companies, I'm just about ready to build a new site that is sort of a cross between f*ckedcompany.comand ChexSystems. The idea is to have a site where consultants of all types can come and anonymously post their negative experiences with various companies, large or small. The hope is that with proper marketing, it will become the first place a consultant comes to check out a company before doing work for them. If a company ends up with a negative listing, the way they get the listing removed is to make good with the consultant, then the consultant can mark the case closed. Naturally, if they have multiple bad entries, they would have to make good with everybody. The site would not allow inflammatory types of comments about a company; only facts. Each entry would be reviewed and approved before being posted. There would have to be supporting data too... for example, let's say a company refused to pay your last invoice. You would need to provide a copy of your last invoice and a work log to document it. All listings would have to include proof that you actually worked for the company... e.g. copies of pay stubs, a copy of the contract, etc. Otherwise the site could be used for extortion and would lose it's advantage because it wouldn't be taken seriously. So, the point is to help show companies that they have to treat consultants well... pay their people what they're owed, treat them kindly, etc. Otherwise these companies may find themselves unable to get people to work for them anymore. I don't see this being a lawsuit magnet either. Each posting would have to be factual, not emotional. No slanderous or libelous remarks. Just facts. It would boil down to the consultant's word against the company. No names of people would be mentioned, so you couldn't call people out by name. You could go as far as to say your supervisor was a micro-manager but you couldn't say, my supervisor, Bill Smith, was a micro-manager and was always giving me a hard time. Sure, the easier way is to just post about 'em here on cf-jobs-talk, but then you're likely to end up with a bad rap since a lot of job posters read this list too, no doubt looking for anybody who might be willing to speak out. I haven't really decided what to call the site either. I'm not even sure yet if I'll do it; I'm curious to hear what others think of the idea. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3591 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
*cough* liability *cough* Seeing as how it is anonymous, companies would come after the site owner for anything they feel is untruthful (you know, the beyond the shadow of a doubt type thing). Be careful trying to recreate a judicial court. On Jan 31, 2008 5:05 PM, Joseph Smuzynski [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: After dealing with a few too many disreputable companies, I'm just about ready to build a new site that is sort of a cross between f*ckedcompany.comand ChexSystems. The idea is to have a site where consultants of all types can come and anonymously post their negative experiences with various companies, large or small. The hope is that with proper marketing, it will become the first place a consultant comes to check out a company before doing work for them. If a company ends up with a negative listing, the way they get the listing removed is to make good with the consultant, then the consultant can mark the case closed. Naturally, if they have multiple bad entries, they would have to make good with everybody. The site would not allow inflammatory types of comments about a company; only facts. Each entry would be reviewed and approved before being posted. There would have to be supporting data too... for example, let's say a company refused to pay your last invoice. You would need to provide a copy of your last invoice and a work log to document it. All listings would have to include proof that you actually worked for the company... e.g. copies of pay stubs, a copy of the contract, etc. Otherwise the site could be used for extortion and would lose it's advantage because it wouldn't be taken seriously. So, the point is to help show companies that they have to treat consultants well... pay their people what they're owed, treat them kindly, etc. Otherwise these companies may find themselves unable to get people to work for them anymore. I don't see this being a lawsuit magnet either. Each posting would have to be factual, not emotional. No slanderous or libelous remarks. Just facts. It would boil down to the consultant's word against the company. No names of people would be mentioned, so you couldn't call people out by name. You could go as far as to say your supervisor was a micro-manager but you couldn't say, my supervisor, Bill Smith, was a micro-manager and was always giving me a hard time. Sure, the easier way is to just post about 'em here on cf-jobs-talk, but then you're likely to end up with a bad rap since a lot of job posters read this list too, no doubt looking for anybody who might be willing to speak out. I haven't really decided what to call the site either. I'm not even sure yet if I'll do it; I'm curious to hear what others think of the idea. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3589 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
Trevor: That's an interesting idea. I'll admit the idea crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it, because of the name-mentioning necessity. Since many consultants are individuals, or their business name is their name, it would end up being finger-pointing. If we could come up with a way to make it workable, it's a really good idea. With regard to liability... after more thought, I wonder if freestyle comments (even if edited) should even be allowed. If the poster simply chooses from one or more checkboxes to describe the situation, it should help keep things more manageable. Like another said, I'm surprised nobody has done this yet either. Heck, if there's anybody out there who likes the idea as much as I do and wants to help, email me off-list and let's talk. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3593 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
Checkbox criteria would definitely make it much better. On Jan 31, 2008, at 3:42 PM, Joseph Smuzynski wrote: Trevor: That's an interesting idea. I'll admit the idea crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it, because of the name-mentioning necessity. Since many consultants are individuals, or their business name is their name, it would end up being finger-pointing. If we could come up with a way to make it workable, it's a really good idea. With regard to liability... after more thought, I wonder if freestyle comments (even if edited) should even be allowed. If the poster simply chooses from one or more checkboxes to describe the situation, it should help keep things more manageable. Like another said, I'm surprised nobody has done this yet either. Heck, if there's anybody out there who likes the idea as much as I do and wants to help, email me off-list and let's talk. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3594 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
Sometimes it's best just to learn from your bad experiences and just move on. Spending too much time stewing (in public) can be very counter-productive. -Cameron Joseph Smuzynski wrote: After dealing with a few too many disreputable companies, I'm just about ready to build a new site that is sort of a cross between f*ckedcompany.comand ChexSystems. ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3592 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
Some of the issues I have encountered in the past is temp tech jobs recruiting for other contractors an the other subcontractor being the worst link in the chain. I started working on a project once with about 50 people and most contractors rapidly dropped off because of harsh treatment with the other company in the middle. On Jan 31, 2008, at 3:42 PM, Joseph Smuzynski wrote: Trevor: That's an interesting idea. I'll admit the idea crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it, because of the name-mentioning necessity. Since many consultants are individuals, or their business name is their name, it would end up being finger-pointing. If we could come up with a way to make it workable, it's a really good idea. With regard to liability... after more thought, I wonder if freestyle comments (even if edited) should even be allowed. If the poster simply chooses from one or more checkboxes to describe the situation, it should help keep things more manageable. Like another said, I'm surprised nobody has done this yet either. Heck, if there's anybody out there who likes the idea as much as I do and wants to help, email me off-list and let's talk. Joe ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3595 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
Re: Consultant's Revenge
What about the flip-side of that coin ... A site for employers to review their contracted hire. Why not build both into the site with the ability to tag them together and to facilitate conflict resolution? This could be quite the lucritive venture if done properly. The way I understand it, some variation of theme is already built into rentacoder.com for example... There are a couple of problems with that, one being that it's just for projects contracted through rentacoder and the other being that rentacoder is like a lot of sites / software a great example of now not to design ergonomic software that people can actually use. ymmv -- s. isaac dealey ^ new epoch isn't it time for a change? ph: 503.236.3691 http://onTap.riaforge.org/blog ~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:3596 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Jobs-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.11
