Hi Chris,

How about you check out members' credentials via the certification with the awarding bodies with which they qualified, and THEN eat cake, drink tea, go on a world tour, meet lots of people and so on? The awarding bodies surely must hold details of those who have been certified as reaching a particular level of expertise. You might ask members to submit original certificates which, of course, you will return asap, perhaps using a recorded delivery service to ensure the safe passage of the said documents. What do you think?

You could go further and, in addition, ask practitioners to provide references from clients, that you then follow up........It's time consuming and perhaps, an HR or admin job, and whilst your convincers are convincing for you, those of others might be different. Valid information, regarding practitioners would be provided, assuming that the awarding bodies themselves are indeed bona fide. Let me know what you think.

Laura Pavlou-Mudie wrote:

How about you check out members' credentials via the certification with the awarding bodies with which they qualified...You could go further and, in addition, ask practitioners to provide references from clients...

I once tracked a Usenet troll named Patrick Galvin down to his home address and telephone number in the phone book. To me, he had been "verified". He was still a troll.

Same with an anonymous -- or so he thought -- Usenet troll calling himself "Night Crawler". I got his real name, the college he attended, even found out what he did for money. Verified, but still a troll.

I have had several pleasant "private message" conversations with some person who claims to be called "Chris Morris". This "Chris Morris" says he (or she; I don't know for certain) is the SysOp here. For all I know, the avatar image "he" is using might have come from a Google Image search on "guys who look like they are called 'Chris' OR 'Morris'."

Let's all realize that "verified member" only means "Chris has some was of believing that this person is whom they say they are." To my way of thinking, verification is only a useful piece of information if the poster in question is acting like a troll or a sock-puppet.

Let's also realize that Chris, assuming he is not some elaborate Eliza-bot, is a volunteer here.

I always thoight that I might be a hologram.......Don't know anything about Chris and so am unaware of his status, voluntary or otherwise. I'm a teacher and used to some students (usually a minority) who stretch the truth with their qualifications and, now most institutions, includiing employers, require orignal documents to verify that people are qualified appropriately, in my experience. Sad that it's got to this. Not sure whther the 'troll' word is a bit insulting to the troll. Trolls have feelings, too and deserve to be treated with respect, as do all life forms.

Laura Pavlou-Mudie wrote:

I always thoight that I might be a hologram.......Don't know anything about Chris and so am unaware of his status, voluntary or otherwise. I'm a teacher and used to some students (usually a minority) who stretch the truth with their qualifications and, now most institutions, includiing employers, require orignal documents to verify that people are qualified appropriately, in my experience. Sad that it's got to this. Not sure whther the 'troll' word is a bit insulting to the troll. Trolls have feelings, too and deserve to be treated with respect, as do all life forms.

One doesn't need to have any particular certificate to be a member here, and I'm going to mindread Chris and say he'd never want it to be that way. So there are people here who literally just heard about NLP ten minutes before they joined, and others who are master teachers of change, regardless of certification or lack thereof.

Verification just says at least one of the site admins has met the member in person. This may decrease the likelihood that the member is posting under an assumed name. Posting under one's own name and displaying one's own photo may in turn decrease the likelihood that one will engage in trollish forum behavior. As a bonus, faces and names allow forum members to feel a more personal connection, which may lead to more mutual respect. We're very big on mutual respect around here.

I like trolls - if I had a bridge and needed to keep excess goats off it, I'd install one immediately. Since I'd only pay him in the goats he caught, he'd be highly motivated. I used to live in Fremont, a neighborhood in Seattle. We had a couple of bridges, but only one troll.

Don't you just hate flying trolls- and look this ones fully armed with a laser cannon belly button all ready to zap some poor goat..

Laura Pavlou-Mudie wrote:

I'm a teacher and used to some students (usually a minority) who stretch the truth with their qualifications and, now most institutions, includiing employers, require orignal documents to verify that people are qualified appropriately

Aside from the commitment of resources needed to do something like that, it would disqualify from participation anyone who has yet to attend a training. Some of the best threads are started by people who "don't know what [they're] doing".

It would also require Chris to discriminate among certifying bodies, and I'm sure he'd prefer to avoid that barrel of snakes.

Verifiation isn't what it's made out to be, why some can be unverified, I don't know how, but I managed to do it I've even put my best photoshoped cartoon image of me on a train in my profile, maybe that's what did it, as cartoon like as it is, no one could be that handsome

BMcKenna wrote:

Verification just says at least one of the site admins has met the member in person.

Is this true, Bridget?

Phil

Ooops, it seems I opened a can of verification worms! Still, I have to take responsibility for proposing an couple of options . However provocativ, by doing so I found out more than I would have done had I not proferred an idea or two at all. So thanks for all of the feedback and good on y'all for having some lively debate about an issue. Maybe, there are some interesting 'trolls' to face up to in my psyche.........Mmmmm.......

Laura Pavlou-Mudie wrote:

...Maybe, there are some interesting 'trolls' to face up to in my psyche.........Mmmmm.......

They quite like goats. Give them a couple of goats each and they'll quiet right down, I promise you.

Phil: Would I lie to you?

I'll never be verified....

BMcKenna wrote:

They quite like goats. Give them a couple of goats each and they'll quiet right down, I promise you.

Phil: Would I lie to you?

Bridget, I'd love to know what that song is! The hyperlink doesn't work, for some reason.

hmmm...

Peace,

Phil

p.s. here's a song for you, Bridge!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tft8jGnWqLs&feature=related"]Hand In My Pocket[/ame]

Try it now, Phil!

Hi everyone,

There are basically two ways you can become a verified member. One is if you've physically met one of the community mentors and they vouch for you. That would normally happen if you've been to one of our free evening events, for example, or one of our summer picnics.

You'll also most likely get verified automatically if you've bought something (like a CD) from me, using a credit card registered in your name.

There will be other ways in the future but that's how it is for now.

Chris

Thanks, Bridget! hmm...

Thank you, Chris, for the clarification. Of course, "Phil" could indeed be an assumed identity! After all, he is one Strange Bird...

Peace&Love!!!

Phil

Can I get verirfied if I emailed a guy, who knows a guy, who bought a sandwich for a guy who dated a girl, the brother of whom had a class in college with a guy who knows a verified member?

russianbear wrote:

I'll never be verified....

It doesn't matter a jot whether you have been verified or not, it's the quality of your posts that count.

John

Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have "S" in it?

Jay Budzynski wrote:

Don't you just hate flying trolls- and look this ones fully armed with a laser cannon belly button all ready to zap some poor goat..

I'm jealous. I can't even get sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.

Go to Walmart buy a laser and some super-glue go to your nearest shark infested waters, apply glue to base laser and while a shark is busy chasing some unsuspected swimmer glue laser to its head. then run. (note) its known that running on water has only been done in special circumstances under the guidance of a deity- well the rules of physics change when your being chased by a shark with a laser on its head enjoy.

chris_morris wrote:

You'll also most likely get verified automatically if you've bought something (like a CD) from me, using a credit card registered in your name.

Well... there ya go. Problem solved. Add an item to your store: verification. Charge a pound or three for it, payable by credit card.