Hidden Gems Program Intent of the Program: This program is intended to spotlight groups that deserve the attention of our members. Groups do not have to be flawless to be selected as a Hidden Gem, but we feel that these groups do contain many positive elements that could make them successful and active if they had the membership to do so.
These groups might be either new or simply been overlooked. What is apparent in all these groups is the hard work and love that their managers have put into them. We strongly urge our members to take a look at these "Hidden Gems" and to join them and actively participate if the subject matter is of interest.
The Selection Process Eligibility Requirements: The manager(s) must be members in good standing of Community Feedback. The Group can not have more than 30 members at the time of determination of eligibility. The Group must be public and remain public during the time it's featured. The Group may be rated safe for all ages or mature. There must not be any adult content, and the Code of Conduct must be strictly adhered to. The management team of Community Feedback, MotM, and Hidden Gems committee members and their families are not eligible. The managers of Community Feedback reserve the right to remove any group featured. Selection of Candidates: The groups are selected from the promotions board of Community Feedback. Committee members check the promotions posted to do a preliminary determination to see if they meet the eligibility requirement posted above. If it appears that the group might possibly be eligible, one committee member will join in order to determine the number of members, and to check the members of management to insure that they are indeed members in good standing of Community Feedback. Not every manager needs to be a member, but if any of them have a poor past history, then the group will be declared ineligible. The committee member will unjoin after determining eligibility. The committee members do not require any special access to any group. If anyone joins your group claiming to be from the Hidden Gems committee and they require manager or assistant manager privileges, then you should ban that person and report them to MSN. Other than determining eligibility, the members of the committee do not need to join your group to review it. If you have any questions about any attempts to access your group, send an email to hidden_gems@hotmail.com We do not accept nominations, so do not try and email the above address or any of the committee members requesting to be added to the list. If you promote in Community Feedback, we will try to check every group for eligibility, and if eligible we will review it. The Committee: The members of the committee were selected by posting a notice in Community Feedback requesting volunteers. Every person volunteering until the time we had enough members was accepted as a committee member. We split the committee up into teams, with each team headed by a management representative of Community Feedback. Refer to the HG Volunteeers page for more information.
The Review: Each team is randomly assigned an eligible group. The members of the team each review the group and report their findings. When a minimum of 3 of the teams members have commented, the team decides on a consensus recommendation. After this is done, the general committee is invited to review the comments and recommendations, and each member can accept the teams findings or do their own independent evaluation. The committee as a whole then decides whether to name the group a Hidden Gem or not. The criterion by which a group is judged is flexible, depending upon the group being reviewed, and left up to each member's best judgment. We do have some broad criteria which we look for, but we prefer to leave the exact criteria vague so that groups do not tailor themselves in order to be selected as a hidden gem. The amount of work performed by management in constructing the group is certainly considered. We do not evaluate a group based on the subject matter, if the committee members are not interested in the group's topic, it does not count against them. The group should be inviting, easy to navigate, and likely to generate a substantial amount of activity when members join.
The Hidden Gems Feature Page We are still deciding upon the details of this page. Groups will be added to this page after the committee decides that a group should be a Hidden Gem. It is our intent that groups be featured on this page until they reach 60 members or for 3 months, whichever comes first. This condition may change due to space requirements, and removal from the list should not be taken negatively. The intent is to provide these groups with additional exposure, and placement on this page is not intended to be permanent.
The Hidden Gems Badge Groups selected to be featured will be allowed to display the Hidden Gems badge. No other group shall be allowed to do so. We request that you display this badge with an embedded link to the Hidden Gems feature page, but you are not required to do so. You may continue to display this badge even after you have been removed from the feature page.
If Your Group Does Not Want to be Featured Send an email (hidden_gems@hotmail.com) with your request to be removed after your group has been added to the Hidden Gems page, and we will remove your group from the page after verifying that your request actually came from the group's management.
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