Ad more ratings to the Blue Board reviews (D) Thread poster: Ruben Berrozpe (X)
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Ruben Berrozpe (X) 
English to Spanish
Hi, I've been browsing the blue board lately and I find it one of the greatest features of the site, really useful for us freelancers. Though, I'd like to share with you a few thoughts about our contributions.
I've found that most of us rate the agencies almost exclusively on a basis of prompt payment and the nature of relationship (from very friendly to terrible!). Though, I think other matters should be considered and highlighted in the comments. Specially those concerning rates. ... See more Hi, I've been browsing the blue board lately and I find it one of the greatest features of the site, really useful for us freelancers. Though, I'd like to share with you a few thoughts about our contributions.
I've found that most of us rate the agencies almost exclusively on a basis of prompt payment and the nature of relationship (from very friendly to terrible!). Though, I think other matters should be considered and highlighted in the comments. Specially those concerning rates. Is the agency paying good rates - and most important, does the agency work with the translator's rates or their own? In brief, is the agency's code of conduct concerning payment in line with the industry or is it suspiciously low?
The best example of this is an agency holding a few '5' reviews, based on friendly manners and fast payment. Then there came a '1' review from a person who acknowledged both, but complained about the very low rates (which, he added, is an usual policy in the country where the agency's based - that's good info too!). I found this review much more useful than the rest, and even if the '1' might be somewhat exaggerate, I think it was bold and honest.
Any ideas?
PS: For the site developers - is it possible to display a field in the blue board where the date of the last change (including reviews) to the agency's data is shown? That would help us intensive users of the blue board to identify recently added companies, as well as fresh reviews from other contributors. Thank you!
[Edited at 2003-07-11 16:46]
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2005-02-03 16:36] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Good ideas for Blue Board posting | Jul 11, 2003 |
Ruben Berrozpe wrote:
PS: For the site developers - is it possible to display a flied in the blue board where the date of the last change (including reviews) to the agency\'s data is shown? That would help us intensive users of the blue board to identify recently added companies, as well as fresh reviews from other contributors. Thank you!
Great suggestions, Ruben. I agree wholeheartedly.
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You're right, Ruben, I imagine it also depends on how and what for you use the BB.
Because I had seen this kind of comment "pay on time, nice to work with, but very low rates" and I had thought that if the person had agreed on the rates she shouldn't comment on them. If they were too low for him/her he/she shouldn't have taken the job. That's what I thought first.
Now that I see your comment I think, well, if I was looking for an agency to send my resume, I'd also appre... See more You're right, Ruben, I imagine it also depends on how and what for you use the BB.
Because I had seen this kind of comment "pay on time, nice to work with, but very low rates" and I had thought that if the person had agreed on the rates she shouldn't comment on them. If they were too low for him/her he/she shouldn't have taken the job. That's what I thought first.
Now that I see your comment I think, well, if I was looking for an agency to send my resume, I'd also appreciate to have this kind of information, without forgetting that "low" or "high" or "good" or "bad" don't mean the same for everybody.
Thanks ▲ Collapse
| | | | RWSTranslati (X)
Germany
Local time: 08:02
German to English
+ ...
| No rates in blue board | Jul 11, 2003 |
Hello,
this isn't a good idea, because this will cause problems with agencies. If a agency pays a high price, their clients will tell him to pay a lower price.
Hans
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Egmont
Spain
Local time: 08:02
Afrikaans to Spanish
+ ...
| LOW RATES... | Jul 11, 2003 |
DSC wrote:
Hello,
this isn't a good idea, because this will cause problems with agencies. If a agency pays a high price, their clients will tell him to pay a lower price.
Hans ...as usual in Spain... This is censored by the agency itself as 'average rates'...
| | | | Ruben Berrozpe (X)
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER
[/quote]...as usual in Spain... This is censored by the agency itself as 'average rates'...[/quote]
My point is just this. It's just a handy example, but since Spain is an average European country, you should expect on average similar rates than other average European countries. I this is not so, we as freelancers should at least be informed and share it so others may know. This is what alkvw did and I totally support it.
I think the blue board's a good place to spread the wor... See more [/quote]...as usual in Spain... This is censored by the agency itself as 'average rates'...[/quote]
My point is just this. It's just a handy example, but since Spain is an average European country, you should expect on average similar rates than other average European countries. I this is not so, we as freelancers should at least be informed and share it so others may know. This is what alkvw did and I totally support it.
I think the blue board's a good place to spread the word in such matters (after all, this is supposedly a place for translators and agencies, not final clients, right?). Auto-censorship's not a good practice, even if many of us might be in the place of the agency some day.
Saludos!
Ruben ▲ Collapse
| | | | Egmont
Spain
Local time: 08:02
Afrikaans to Spanish
+ ...
| SPAIN AS AN AVERAGE EUROPEAN COUNTRY | Jul 11, 2003 |
Ruben Berrozpe wrote:
...as usual in Spain... This is censored by the agency itself as 'average rates'...[/quote]
My point is just this. It's just a handy example, but since Spain is an average European country, you should expect on average similar rates than other average European countries. I this is not so, we as freelancers should at least be informed and share it so others may know. This is what alkvw did and I totally support it.
I think the blue board's a good place to spread the word in such matters (after all, this is supposedly a place for translators and agencies, not final clients, right?). Auto-censorship's not a good practice, even if many of us might be in the place of the agency some day.
Saludos!
Ruben[/quote]Spain is a Third World country for translators and interpreters...that is my experience after 35 years of work...next time I will look carefully for another country...or another planet...
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Eva Blanar
Hungary
Local time: 08:02
English to Hungarian
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| An incentive for more ratings? | Nov 7, 2003 |
The Blue Board is excellent, but the number of ratings is very small: what about granting a certain number of Browniz (say, 300) for ratings?
Eva
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Eva Blanar wrote: what about granting a certain number of Browniz (say, 300) for ratings? Eva
why not
Charlotte
| | | | gianfranco
Brazil
Local time: 03:02
Member (2001)
English to Italian
+ ...
| The reward is the information shared | Nov 8, 2003 |
Eva Blanar wrote:
The Blue Board is excellent, but the number of ratings is very small: what about granting a certain number of Browniz (say, 300) for ratings?
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The BlueBoard contains already many ratings but certainly we want to have many, many more.
Rewarding Browniz points could be considered but, honestly, I think the reward is already built-in in the system.
All information shared is beneficial to us, no one else than ourselves.
Everybody should contribute a rating for all the known agencies and benefit from all colleagues' ratings.
Gianfranco
[Edited at 2003-11-08 11:39]
| | | | Ruben Berrozpe (X)
English to Spanish
TOPIC STARTER | The meaning of BrowniZ | Nov 10, 2003 |
Gianfranco Manca wrote:
Rewarding Browniz points could be considered but, honestly, I think the reward is already built-in in the system.
All information shared is beneficial to us, no one else than ourselves.
[Edited at 2003-11-08 11:39]
Gianfranco,
I wholeheartedly agree with you when you talk about the built-in reward of contributions to the blue board.
However, I believe what Eva was trying to point out is: Posting BB reviews is a site building activity. It builds the site in the sense that it makes ProZ the first choice for translators looking for reviews of agencies, thus boosting site traffic and expanding the commmunity of translators who arrive at the site and don't leave.
Site building is the basis of Browniz. That's why I think some users of the site feel confused about the fact that some site building activities are awarded browniz and some others are not. That's my personal opinion, and even if many people will say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", I do believe the Blue Board might welcome this kind of twofold reward policy. At least, I believe that disregarding immediately this suggestion on the basis of its built-in reward (which, as I said before, I do not question) is not a good starting point for debate.
In any case, thanks for your great work Gianfranco (and rest of ModZ).
Best,
Rb
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