Some rule changes....

[Maya]

A few important highlights:

MINI BARNS ARE GONE.
Anyone who currently owns a minibarn will be upgraded to full barn status when I update the site.
Additionally, from now on members can open a full stable after ONE MONTH'S active membership. It is not necessary to have a mini barn first.

REGARDING CREATES.
Upon joining, members get 5 creates.
Upon opening a stable, 5 more creates.
After a full year's active membership, 5 more creates.
And, of course, the Active Member Incentive will always allow you to earn more aside from these freebies.

BUSINESS ALLOWANCE.
Businesses will NO LONGER be receiving monthly allowances or startup funds. Associations, however, will continue to be funded.

OPINIONS?

What is everyone thinking of the trainer certification program so far? I don't have the time right now to really work on it... but if you guys like it, I'll keep it around. There will eventually be a stable management certification that will be madatory, but that probably won't happen until next year.
What about removing the rule that states horses must be in training with a certified trainer in order to compete in high level classes? Maybe replace it with 'Trainers must be certified to offer public training services'?

Also, have a look at the new rules page:
bits.mayakenedy.com/space%20layout/rules.php

Is there anything I've missed? Anything you think should be removed and/or taken out of the rules and moved to the FAQ? Any typos/stupid mistakes?

Let me know! Plus any other ideas/suggestions!

[Maya]

Another idea:
What about some sort of bursary for members who are opening a stable? Like, to help offset the cost of purchasing facilities and such.

[Nicole]

i think the bursarys a great idea! It'd help with the poor people who'll be stressing to make ends meet, lol.

Typos: On the "News" section, under "news and updates" you put 8/28/07, but I'm pretty sure it's 9/28/07, lol. I think that's the only typo!

And I do like the cetification program, but I think it's very time consuming, and I'm kind of split on the trainer thing... maybe we should keep the rule of having a horse be in with a certified trainer, but make it easier to become a certified trainer so that they have a better chance of becoming one. Like for instance... take out questions so the test isn't so long? I'm not sure though Anyways, BITS 4.0 looks great! ;D

[Maya]

lol. Yeah, it's definitelySeptember, not August. >.<

I just don't want the tests to be too easy... because then there would be no point in having them at all... you know? I mean, right now, everyone who's taken the one test that's available so far has passed with good marks. No one has failed or come close to failing, so it's not affecting people's chances

My line of thinking is that having that rule could be pretty restrictive to newer members... it's basically saying that if you're not 'rich' enough to afford training, you can't show in stakes races (or grand prix, or CCI levels, or whatever), and that's a bit unfair. I'm trying to think of ways to make BITS more attractive to new members Our numbers are dwindling a little bit =/

[Maya]

Oh, and I also need you guys to let me know if any establishments are no longer active.
BITS Polo?
BITS Stock Racing?

[dana]

I agree that the way the certificatin is now, it could possibly be restricting to new members. I like the idea of changing the rule so that you need to be certified in order to offer training services, though.

[candj]

I agree with the training rule and that it would be easier. I also think it will be easier for new members to build a stable after 1 month, b/c they still have to purchase facilitities so thats a realistic part by having to watch your money lol. Love the new layout too!

[Shelly]

polo is still active, as you know

For the trainers certificates, what if you did like an eassy? Like, they have to explain everything about a certain event in like 2 paragraphs or something? Then you can (or have a few people) eval it. Like, if it explains the sport good and has information on training or something like that, they get the certificate. Make sure they list their resources so you can check to make sure they didnt just copy-paste, you know?

Also, i dont know if this is suppose to happen of if its just stupid internet explorer, but is this suppose to happen? i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa58/ShellyDominik/delete-1.png

See where it goes to blue once the original box of green runs out? if that makes since or not.

[Nicole]

Now that I see what you guys have said, I agree with you all, it would make it much easier/fun for the newbies

[Maya]

Yes, that's just stupid IE. That's why at the bottom it says 'best viewed in FireFox or Opera"
It should work properly in IE& because I think they've fixed that bug, but for some reason it doesn't work in IE6. I'll eventually see if I can fix it lol.

[Elise]

I like the Training rule thing, and I like Shelly's idea of an essay, although it could be kind of easy just to copy and paste. With the way the tests are set up right now, you really have to search out the answers if you don't know them. I started mine a while ago and never finished, but it was so fun (but time consuming yes) to find the answers and learn something.

I think the sources thing could be an excellent way of catching most cheaters, but I also think that it's easy to just copy+paste and then just change phrasing. Plus there are so many ways of training the discaplines, it might be hard to judge their methods. Or for example, if I was taking a dressage eval thing, I would probably go on personal experience from my trainer and lessons and from the clinics I have been to. It would be hard to say whether that info is right or wrong, or say someone took methods from a book, it would be hard to tell if they just stole it from there. Ya kmow?

I hate to be all negative on this because I really like the idea, I just think it might be too easy to do but too hard to judge at the same time.

[Gwen]

I prefer the tests to the essay. The essay would just be subjective IMO. I love the bursary idea.

[Maya]

Yeah, I think it would be really hard to judge an essay properly... It is a good idea, I just don't think it's feasible for us at this point, mainly because it would take too long to judge, ya know? With the test, I just go down the thing, and most of the questions are one or two word answers so I can see right away if it's right or wrong. With an essay, I'd have to look up stuff I wasn't sure about or had never heard of, and it would take forever especially with disciplines I wasn't familiar with, etc. ...Anyway, I'm rambling. lol. Keep the ideas coming!

I think I will officially change the rule requiring horses to be in training to compete at high levels, since everyone seems to be basically agreed on that point, yes?

[Gwen]

Yeah, I think it was a well-meant idea, but it can have bad effects on the economy. The conservative in me says to let it go.