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invisible spotlight?

Does anyone who's not in the spotlight ever look at the spotlight?

I'm not in the spotlight (though I have been before), and I hardly ever see what's going on there.

I think we should step-up the pressure of being in those groups. Here are some ideas:
1. post weekly weigh-ins on the PT home page
2. post before and after pictures for EVERYONE
3. take before/after measurements
4. maybe have fewer spotlight members at one time so there's more attention for each person (just 4 people maybe?)

Any other suggestions?

I just think the spotlight groups would be more effective if it really felt like a spotlight was shining on these people and not a flashlight.


Thu. Jun 8, 5:48pm

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I have never been in the spotlight either, however, mandating certain criteria beyond posting daily could be too much pressure.

we are all here to help one another and I would hate to see a spotlight member get bombarded by a 1,000 messages about what he or she is doing wrong. They offered to be in the spotlight, let them make the mandates in their own minds.......not ours.

Thursday, June 08, 2006, 8:27 PM

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I think a small focused spotlight would be great. I was in a spotlight group thinking it was going to be a big deal, but 1/2 my group flaked and there were only a few comments from people outside the group. I like all of your suggestions, here's a couple more.

* it would be good if we could nominate people from our groups who are active posters making progress, that way it would kind of be a reward and a responsibility as well as a motivator. (of course, they'd have to agree to be in the spotlight)
*7 spotlighters, each one gets the weigh in & measurements on the home page the same day each week. (it's Tuesday, I'm going to log in and see how Julie is doing...)
*All 7 have a link from the home page all week long so you can check in and follow along in the logs.

The spotlight is a great idea but the way it's set up it's a little tough to get involved in addition to logging and being an active group member...especially now that there are public logs as well.

Thursday, June 08, 2006, 10:16 PM

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That's a good point previous poster - now that there are public logs, I find myself going to that page more often because I know those people have just posted something new. Sometimes I go to the spotlight and no one has posted anything yet that day! So I think the OP is right, it would be nice if there were a greater distinction between the spotlight and the public logs. (Besides the separate page to view them on.)

Maybe it would be helpful to have a completely different User Interface for the spotlight page. Cut down the number of participants by half, maybe, and put them all on the same page so it would be easy to glance at all the spot-lighters at one time. Maybe we could just see their NOTES section on the main spotlight page, and then if we wanted to click further we could see the workout and meals sections.

It would also be interesting to have people on different diets in the spotlight, such as weight watchers, south beach diet, body for life, etc.

Friday, June 09, 2006, 7:34 AM

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I think being in the spotlight (a voluntary group) SHOULD be a lot of pressure. If you aren't open to 1000 comments from the PT community, don't offer to be in the group. If you only want to count on the pressure you put on yourself, why belong to PEERtrainer at all?

I think the 7-member idea is EXCELLENT! One member per day of the week - yes!! And nominating people for the group is good, too!

I'm not saying we need to bully these people into getting in shape! I think it should be the biggest opportunity to lend support and cheer them on. Would you rather run 26 miles by yourself on a treadmill in your basement or on the streets of Boston with tons of other people, being cheered on by the world??

Friday, June 09, 2006, 8:00 AM

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potential spotlight

I probably would make a great spotlight person- I post daily.. have seen progress in the last year of 30+lbs lost. I don't really follow any certain diet- just try and not over indulge too much and make good choices.
Though I am already in 5 groups and have a hard time continually checking their logs continually through the day when it ends up they may only post once a day or every 3 days or longer. Too, I use my log as a sort of daily log of how my day goes and the life of a mom and toddler- some of the info I might put in there is for the benefit of friends I have made in the groups and I am not keen on sharing that much info with that many people.
Is there a way to just share the logs from the start of the spotlight and not backtrack.. so during the spotlight I could maybe refrain more and know that part of my life I could keep private? just a question. I do know that it is all relative anyhow... ppl in my groups could just be posing as normal average woman and really be psychos waiting for the right moment.. anyhow... answers?

Friday, June 09, 2006, 11:20 AM

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Unless you're giving out very personal information (name, address, social security number, etc.), I wouldn't worry about it. Besides, I can't imagine anyone being so bored that they're going to go back through months of someone's personal logs trying to find "dirt" on them.

Friday, June 09, 2006, 1:13 PM

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I completely agree with cutting the spotlight members down to seven. I was in the spotlight recently and it was so difficult keeping up with 16 people and maintaining any type of regularity and voice on the discussion board. Rather than different "diets," per se, the members might have differing goals so that the members of the larger PEERtrainer community can more readily identify with one or two and follow their logs.

AND YES there should be pressure on the Spotlight group. They're volunteering for it. Being part of the Spotlight should be an incentive to work, train or regulate oneself to greater degree. Doesn't mean they can't fail or misstep, they're human. In addition to being under greater scrutiny, by virtue of being in the Spotlight group, they also have a PEERtrainer-wide support network.

I would hope that the logs are personal, as all of ours might be. In reading the logs is where I relate to others and understand the success and struggles of other posters. Understanding our and their humanity is key to succeeding!

However, I do think pictures should be optional. Measurements, BF% and weight at the start and end would be good, since making it public may work as more incentive to demonstrate change or improvement.

In addition, a brief introduction article at the start of the Spotlight posted on the homepage would be a good way to get to know the participants. Perhaps each participant could write a brief bio covering the who, what, why, where, when and how and should be submitted as part of the selection for the Spotlight, which in turn could be edited by the PEERtrainer staff and posted. At the end, in like manner, a wrap-up article could also be posted on the homepage. In this way, the larger PEERtrainer community may learn where the Spotlight members were, where they intend to go and how, and if they got there.

Friday, June 09, 2006, 2:02 PM

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Why are we all posting here? Why wouldn't we post there? I'm also posting here. But if we had all posted there, they would have felt the pressure. But here we are, sitting here talking about posting. Kind of funny.

Friday, June 09, 2006, 5:03 PM

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Good Point!

Go to the SPOTLIGHT and post.

Friday, June 09, 2006, 7:34 PM

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