Travel Writing group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Rating Reports

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mortimer Premium account Joined: Jun 04 Points: 15075 Posts: 528 Posted: 2004-11-13 23:14:00    Hi GLOBO's James (Bootlegga) gave some information about report rating to carl (ski2die) this gave me the idea to create a similar thread for report rating as for picture rating in the Travel photography forum. So please If you would all please help to try to find a good rating scheme for reports to. Here is what James came up with: Basically, the way I rate reports is like this; * Not worth reading ** Good info but no pictures *** Good info and a couple of pics **** Highly detailed info and many pics ***** Amazing effort -- every section is filled out with info and there are many pics What is your opinion? Martin --- Today is the first day of the rest of your life, enjoy it! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mortimer   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2004-11-16 08:54:00    Hi everyone, This is tough one. Mainly because some reports that I read on Globo are fantastic & loaded with info but do not contain pictures. I know a picture brings a story to life but some reports still deserve a high rating due to their detail & writing style. If I read a report that I think yep, that's where I want to go I rate it higher than I would a report that was boring to read but still contained load's of pictures. I think it is a subjective issue & comes back to personal choice of the reader. Cheers, Kerrie --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   rangutan Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 34752 Posts: 1044 Posted: 2004-11-17 21:47:00    Disagree with the above rating system! An excellent report does not need pictures, the text should mainly do the job. A recent example: http://www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/Chichen+Itza-1420.html There are a lot of other reports where the text/descriptions were more than enough without pictures. Must a ***** report have pictures? --- Rudolf "Rangutan" Graspointner Reply    Reply with quote    Contact rangutan   bear495 Joined: May 03 Points: 8634 Posts: 177 Posted: 2004-11-17 23:55:00    Yes, I believe that pictures are needed for a score of five stars. That is why Fred Barnard mentioned his famous quotation, "One picture is worth a thousand words." There have been too many times that someone describes a place as being the "most beautiful place" that they have ever seen and other such accolades. Unless we have been to the same location and could find a way to agree with the statement, there is no way that we could compare the statement in our own minds. Not many of us are professional novelists, so we do not receive a complete picture in our minds from the majority of the reports mentioned. I read the report about Chichen Itza that Rudi mentions. Since I have traveled to the same location on six previous trips, I was quite interested to read what was to be stated. Sadly, the mention of the observatory and the castle were woefully inadequate without the vibrance of clear photos. Chichen Itza is a powerful location, on the same energy level as Macchu Pichu in Peru. Without the pictures we only receive half of the story. I agree with Kerri that there is some choice due to interest in the topic, but I like Martin's rating system... plus or minus a star for excellence in description or poorness of the story. I often take one star off of my rating of a report when a "native" English speaker has such atrocious grammar and spelling as to make the report less than adequate. That is a double-edged sword, since I do not do the same for those whose native language is not English. Russ --- "Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." Alexander Solzhenitsyn Reply    Reply with quote    Contact bear495   picasso Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 10057 Posts: 79 Posted: 2004-11-18 00:47:00    I definatly agree ,that rating a report is a personal issue for the reader ,but adding images to the report in my opinion gives a lot more visual information for the perspective traveler to the specific region .Our reports, work out for the travelers as a little guides ,there for with images ,all this guides are looks to me more complete ,more appealing with more detailed information . Myself ,I would not imagine and visualize the beauty of certain areas ,I like to visit in the future, without accompanied images .There fore I always rate a star less, if the reports not accompanied with some images, even though they are briliantly written. Boris --- BORIS Reply    Reply with quote    Contact picasso   mortimer Premium account Joined: Jun 04 Points: 15075 Posts: 528 Posted: 2004-11-18 09:41:00    Hi GLOBO's I also think that pictures can make a report perfect. But they should be in context with the text. I put in a few in my new york report just to give it a nicer appearance but without them being in context with the text, I didn't get a higher rating therefore. http://www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/New+York-1339.html I thought this was a good story to tell and tried to make it sound interesting but the rating isn't very high, anyway.... Boris the proposed rating system is not my invention this is what Bootlegga sugested... Russ, I agree that spelling and grammar mistakes for native speaking people are quite toilsome, but on the other hand there are a lot of people that never propperly learned their own language. (Isn't George W one of them? ;-) ) If people would follow the suggested report creating scheme I posted to the FAQ section: http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-creating-reports-hints-and-tips_34_1284_0000.html Spelling and Grammar mistakes would decrease a lot. Just some thoughts... Martin --- Today is the first day of the rest of your life, enjoy it! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mortimer   bear495 Joined: May 03 Points: 8634 Posts: 177 Posted: 2004-11-18 22:17:00    A person who does not properly learn his/her own language shows a lack of respect for themselves, as well as their origin. Further, the person who cannot write properly in his/her native language reflects poorly upon the organization that they represent. We frequently discuss opportunities for advertisers who might wish to use the space of this site. This helps to offset expenses. However, others jusdge all of us by the ignorance of those individuals improperly writing reports. That is why I believe that we should use one's language skills as a part of the rating (at least for those writing in their native language). Boris, I could not agree with you more regarding the inclusion of pictures. I believe that our imagination is limited by our experiences. Therefore, pictures are needed to help us transcend those experiences. Imagine a person living in Denver, Colorado who is reading a travel report about the Himalayas. His/Her thoughts would be limited to their experiences in the Rocky Mountains. Although the Rockies are beautiful in their own right, they do not compare to the grandeur of the peaks in the Himalayas. In the story about Chichen Itza that Rudi mentions, we see an interesting history lesson, but we have no idea of where to begin imagining the buildings that are mentioned. Here are four pictures that I have put on the site that might help one to envision Chichen Itza. These include El Caracol, El Castillo (from afar and walking down the steps from the upper platform), and another building. http://www.globosapiens.net/bear495/picture-chichen-itza-3853.html http://www.globosapiens.net/bear495/picture-chichen-itza-3852.html http://www.globosapiens.net/bear495/picture-chichen-itza-3854.html http://www.globosapiens.net/bear495/picture-el-castillo-4609.html Photos such as these would have helped in the report. As I stated previously, Martin's original rating scheme (plus or minus one star for originality, creativity, or general interest) seems to be the most effective way to rate these reports. Russ [ This Message was edited by: bear495 on 2004-11-18 22:18 ] --- "Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." Alexander Solzhenitsyn Reply    Reply with quote    Contact bear495   picasso Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 10057 Posts: 79 Posted: 2004-11-18 23:42:00    Dear Friends I absolutely agree with Russ ,that the correct spelling in writing our reports is a must ,especially for people ,who use English as their native tongue .I see this as a total shame not only for such members ,but also for the language it self. Many of us should use a spelling and grammar check , before posting their reports. For me personally is very difficult to write reports ,but I’m trying my best, as I can;using spell and grammar checks and finding synonyms to the specific words. And I think everyone ,should do the same;-it is not hard to check your spelling before posting out reports, beside every member should be proud of himself ,because after posting ,your reports ,your feelings and expressions , could be read and rated by people from around the world. Boris --- BORIS Reply    Reply with quote    Contact picasso   rangutan Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 34752 Posts: 1044 Posted: 2004-11-19 09:33:00    Yes... we all agree that pictures and correct grammar/spelling enhance a report! What is in question here: 1) is the above rating system a good BASIS? 2) MUST an excellent, good or even average report have pictures? I see that after 11 ratings that www.globosapiens.net/travel-information/Chichen+Itza-1420.html still has **** and agree with the rating of those members, or atleast ***stars. The above rating system would have only allowed it * or **, not motivating us members to write but to take pictures only. I have twelve similar exotic countries still to report on, for which I have no pictures. My english is not the best, so expecting a simple * from you guys, will not bother writing them at this stage :-( --- Rudolf "Rangutan" Graspointner Reply    Reply with quote    Contact rangutan   bear495 Joined: May 03 Points: 8634 Posts: 177 Posted: 2004-11-19 15:02:00    Rudi, I agree with your assessment about the report on Chichen Itza as far as three stars (***). That would be in agreement with the rating system that Martin suggested (** plus one additional star for thoroughness). As for language skills, my thoughts on deleting one star was for those living in an English-speaking country and who listed English as their primary language. No one wants to hinder the contributions from those wishing to use the language skills that they have learned. You live in Germany and speak German. Your English, as you stated, is not as complete as that spoken (or written) by a person, for example, living in Great Britain. I would think that you would have the same feelings if someone from Germany were writing a report in the German language and who had more grammatical and spelling errors than those writing from other countries. Please do not take offense. I am only commenting upon my ideas concerning the suggested topic. Russ --- "Own only what you can carry with you; know language, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag." Alexander Solzhenitsyn Reply    Reply with quote    Contact bear495   Page: 1 2 3