I think its a great idea George! We unfortunately can't add it as a new forum heading until we do another site overhaul (i'll check with Richard for the plausability on that one!) but for now it could go in the Help/advice section as that seems to be where most people like to post about survey companies.

I guess if we asked people to volunteer to be our survey watchdogs, they can then nominate a survey site for people to comment on and state when they joined and first impressions, other watchdogs can then add on their experiences- what do you think?

We can add a new forum easy peasy however the forums in their current state are only half done... there's things i want to do like comment tracking and some nice usability things for us all which would work really well with something like this...

Kay it all sounds good to me and we all know when Richard puts his mind to something , he does a grand job.
So first of all how about numbers, how many people on this panel?
and any other details we should be looking at.
So come on you lot, lets have some names from you and lets get this baby of the ground. Lets get this site, the one that people want to be part of and members of. Let us have some guidelines and then we can roll.

How about me, George, perhaps I am over-qualified on this one?

LizzieAnn, you would be perfect to organise this one. We need someone to make sure that when a site is being looked at that all the "committee" are taking part in surveys with that site in order to give the feedback on the good and bad of the site. Then we need someone to make sure that all verdicts are posted at the same time so they can be compared properly. I do not have the time to do all this, but on reading posts of late, it is becoming more obvious that some sites are not that straight forward and need to be looked at properly . I am sure with help from the likes of Kay you and a good team of researchers could do wonders for the members of YSP. Give it a go girl and get it underway.

I like this idea, others doing the research into these survey companies for us , but doing it in house. Now surely that would benefit all of us members of Your Say Pays

I think it surely would! If we can get Richard to add the watchdog section to the forum and then we can compile a list of survey companies we want to look at.
We can then ask for volunteer researchers to sign up (if they haven't done already) and make notes about said panel.
To collect the volunteers i'm sure a lot of you regular forum goers might want to take part but we can look to invite other panellists who aren't on the forum.
To gauge a bit of interest i'll run a question in this months omnibus surveys so i've got an idea of who wants to be a watchdog- some people might not realise what we do on the forums so this is a perfect opportunity!

Well, I would be willing to volunteer as, like LizzieAnn, I am a member of at least 50 sites, some good, others bad.

I think this could be the beginning of something very good for this site. What you have said Kay is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind. I just wish I could get involved, but unfortunately commitments in the home are restricting me to very little sparetime.

I do work full-time so I do not have as much free time as I would like, and my work is very demanding. However, I am happy to do my best. I agree, and am very enthusiastic, it is a good idea. I am with over 100 panels already, so the problem is that I would not be able to sign up as a new member. May I suggest as a jumping-off point my list of 100 survey sites in the help and advice section? I think we could post them on a thread, say, five at a time, and then ask for volunteers to sign up to each one. This should, perhaps, be treated as a sort of "mystery shopping" assignment whereby there are certain criteria involved which must be taken into consideration for each and every site, such as -
1. ease of signing up process
2. ease of completing profiles (and do they pay you for this part, as some of them give extra points for completed profiles)
3. currency in which you have the option to be paid
4. payout threshold
5. frequency of survey invitations (which will vary for individual demographics)
6. how long it takes you to reach payout threshold (again, this will vary, but a good mixture of different demographics should be able to give us an average)
7. How fast the payout process is?
8. How professional the customer services section are - how quickly do questions get answered, do they honour points missed out, do they pay you if you started and then got screened out?
9. Are the surveys technically well thought out, or are there problems with certain browsers?
10. Would you recommend the panel to others on marks out of 10 as above? Each panel could be judged on the 10-point scale, if you wish, and the criteria would be as above.

What about this for starters then?

I think that is excellent for starters!

Hopefully Richard can add a new 'Watchdog' forum section this week and then if LizzieAnn doesn't mind posting up her list of companies to it we can then start asking for our volunteers to get signed up and start reporting their feedback. If people are already members on certain sites if will be great if they can recall their experiences too.

I've added a question to the August omnibus survey (going live Friday) asking if people would be interesed in this new forum section and would be willing to give some feedback about other sites. We can gauge a response and send out emails to those who are interested asking them to get on the forums.

How does all that sound George? Even if you don't have the time to be too involved its still been a great idea and a great team effort from everyone willing to give it a go!

I think this exercise just shows what a wonderful mixture of excellent panelists we have here on YSP and how powerful a team effort can be when we all put our minds to it, modesty aside!! I will add to the survey site list, and post it as soon as Richard can kindly add his Watchdog forum...poor Richard, he will be worn out!

I think this sounds an excellent idea. I mentioned in an other post that I don't think I have time to join any other sites but I could add my experiences of the other site I do belong to {valued opinions} if this is any use.

Kat, I think that we must have been separated at birth as that is the other site that I am also a member of. I am also willing to add any comments about this site if required.

Looks like you are all getting yourselves sorted out.
I am really looking forward to reading about the first findings our watchdog panel come up with.

Count me in. A brilliant idea Leo/George. Cats really are the top of the heap, but not good for curry.
Baggy

Richard and the Rob designers are on with a new Watchdog logo and a new forum section- i'm really excited to see it!

Can't wait ! and in the mean time I'm off to look at Lizzieann's 100 survey sites .OMG I've only got to 30 and thought I was doing quite well .Hopefully there's some there that I haven't tried before .

Currently im with around 40 survey sites signing into 14 everyday including this one im game =)

It just goes to show how important the forums are.I post a simple topic on Vivatic and now we are all working as one team for the betterment of all.This is getting quite exciting. I need to look at Lizzieann's 100 to see what new sites I can try out.

It is now 100+ and hoping to be posting it up as soon as the watchdog area is live. I am also hoping to finish my article and post that this week regarding customer services (another topic entirely)

I have reached 107 panels, now, and just completed editing the list. One thought does occur to me however and that is the fact that not all panels are available just to sign up to as some need referrals, and some like Pinecone are invitation only, so we will not necessarily be able to join then evaluate, in fact, some people may simply have to report as they are already members. What are your views on this?

Can't work out whether you are twilight or daybreak. You know, cup half full or half empty?? Please advise as it is key to your personality. Still prefer the original picture though.
Baggy

Baggy, I am a bit of both, I think.....I just saw it and loved the picture. Why do you say it is key to my personality....my family think I should be a little more anonymous online so my husband is currently looking out a special picture for me but will not tell me what it is....watch this space! And my cup is ALWAYS half full...but as I do not drink alcohol, that is a good thing!