Thanks for the downgrade

So, I open my mailbox to find that I'd gotten a private message from eccie. I was very excited, because this was the first message I've gotten in over 9 months. Then I read the message. You were downgrading my account - even though you'd never told me it was upgraded in the first place.

So, is this how you keep friends?

I haven't been here in a while because my last two messages to moderators asking how to be verified and how to post a showcase/gallery went ignored. If you'd verified me... this was the first I'd heard of it.

(Maybe you should've told me...?)

Also, I'd be a lot more likely to hang around here more if it actually did anything for my business. In my 1yr+ I've been on eccie, I've only met ONE client. That's it. And that client first saw me on Eros, so I'm not sure if it counts exactly.

I don't necessarily hold that against you - I understand being a transgendered escort means that I'm working with a pool of clients that is literally 1/100th the size of a regular escort's... and that there's only a limited number of sites that will let TGirls even advertise, and even fewer sites in the world that even get me any business... and your site forces me to advertise with the "regular" girls, and then punishes me for "not being active enough"?

So... verify me, don't verify me... what am I supposed to say? Your board doesn't do much of anything for your transgendered members, and you'll just get pissed and downgrade my status again if I don't appear to be "community oriented" enough for your tastes in the future.

The only thing I do know is that it doesn't cost you anything to leave my status as it is and encourage me to be more of a part of eccie... but you'd rather give me a shitty downgrade and slap me instead. (As if that kind of behavior will make me want to be a part of your board more.)

Nice community you got here.

Jessica, I understand your frustration here. But, I want to assure you that the moderators and staff hold no ill will against you or your using this site for advertisement purposes. You are right that we do not have a separate part of the board just for ladies like yourself, however, we extend the same posting privilages to you that we do our other members of the site who are providers.

Having said that, it seems as if you are under the impression that your downgrade was done maliciously. To the contrary, it is an automated response due to your inactivity on the board. I would suggest that your not getting much business from this site may be due in part to your inactivity. You were downgraded because you did not make a single public posting of any kind on this board in the past 90 days.

I'm sorry for the inconvience this causes you, but you need to rech out to the moderators,give them the required info & get verified again. After that, to avoid this happening in the future, start posting! You can post one ad per week per region for up to 5 regions, and one weekend ad per week as well. You can also use the forums to allow board members in your area to get a sense of your wit & personality. For a service you don't have to pay out o pocket to use, I say that's not a bad bit of exposure. Plus, you can set up a showcase (a fairly easy process) where you can post info about yourself including rates & specials.

Hopefuly you get things squared away soon.

Thank you for your quick response, FireSerpent. (I think you're the only moderator who has ever answered me about anything.)

I never thought the downgrade was malicious; I just thought it was incredibly lame and stupid. Why would you ever downgrade anyone? Why would you send them a nasty email telling them? If you're looking to motivate people and keep them involved, this is probably the worst way to go about it. Sending them a friendly email asking them to stop back and be part of the family would be nice; sending a form email telling them that they've been downgraded and to take a hike is just kind of douchey.

I've never posted an ad - I posted a "hello post" when I first joined. I was never informed that I was verified, and my questions about how to submit a showcase or how to be verified went unanswered. The few posts I did make afterwards, never yielded anything.

I have ads up on approx. 15 escort sites. I am on every single site that will allow a TGirl to post. I even do a semi-regular column on GeishaDiaries. The only sites that actually get me any responses are Eros, BackPage, and p411. That's it. The economy has so destroyed my business, I was literally making 15x what I am now, just 4 years ago.

I asked two moderators how to set up a showcase and no one would tell me. (But I guess it doesn't matter, anyway... not verified anymore.) Your response also mentions about setting up a showcase - but notice, doesn't explain HOW. (Plus, I'm not sure what the value is of a showcase, anyway - being lumped in with literally hundreds of real girls, for me, is kind of pointless. In addition, the page numbers on your galleries don't work right, either, so anything beyond the first few pages is de-facto inaccessible.)

And while I understand your argument about this being a free service and everything; it's also just a Forum. And one you've adapted far beyond it's operating parameters... wouldn't a better places for showcases be an actual place for showcases, not just some forum thread? You can't really charge anyone for this (at least not without a conscience), and you really shouldn't be downgrading anyone.

When it comes to becoming a VP, you need to get a hold of the moderators in the area you're in the most. The instructions on how to become a VP are posted in every region under the provider ads section.

For Dallas it is here: http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=203902

For Seattle it is here: http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=204227

You will need to simply send them the information requested on those links to the email address listed as well as your handle on the site. Honestly, you can send it to any of the moderators on the site and it will work just fine... although we encourage you to reach out to mods in your own area.

If you feel more comfortable sending it to me, send me the info to FireSerpent@eccie.net and I will review and process your request.

Once you become a VP, I will send you a VP welcome letter which explains the posting guidelines for VPs and other necessary information. When you're in your inbox section, you'll see in the upper left hand corner of your screen an option which reads "edit showcase". If you click that, it is a fairly simple form which will will fill out for your showcase.

Since you've never made a showcase you may not be aware that showcases are not just broken down into page numbers, but they can also be viewed by region. When making your showcase, you can select which region(s) your showcase will be for. Most people select places they travel frequently to as well as their "home base". Once this is done, people can simply go to the region of choice and view all the providers who have showcases in that area.

I can not speak to the niceness or nastiness of an automated form email. However, since the process to become a VP is fairly straightforward & simple, I dare say that getting back on that horse should be fairly simple should you choose to do it. You hadn't posted anything at all since April of last year, and from the sound of your experience, I can't say that I blame you for not being very active. However, I think if you learn your way around the site, and start posting more often after you get your VP status set up, you'll find that your experience here is going to be far more enjoyable.

Jessica, all you have to do is log in here once every 90 days. Its an automatic security feature of the programming. If you think about that a bit, I'm sure it will make perfect sense why its set up that way.

Most people select places they travel frequently to as well as their "home base". Once this is done, people can simply go to the region of choice and view all the providers who have showcases in that area.