Badges, Badges, Badges

[EDC83]

@jugatmos and I were chatting about Badges… As they’re popular on the forum, and each time you earn one it’s an achievement. Only some Badges could do with more. WPD for instance, how about adding to the badge each time a member takes part, so for first time just says WPD, then if done the following year or for second time add the number 2 to the badge. There could be special badges for 10 years of successive WPD. Maybe get some members to design different badges, have a coemption, to which I’d be glad to offer a prize…

Well? What do you think?

Ed

[paulo]

I’m not sure if you mean forum badges as the forum has badges too, although those are primarily about activity on the forum.

But as for Postcrossing profile badges, the badge for the World Postcard Day already exists as you know. We will soon announce on the blog how it will work for this year, but in short, those who participate on that day (by sending a postcard) in more than 1 year will get a number on the badge for the number of participations. Keep an eye on the blog for more details.

[EDC83]

Hi yes, sorry. I meant Postcrossing Badges. @jugatmos mentioned the Ambassador one and also should there be a separate one for the Little Mail Carriers? It’d be nice to expand the badges a member can get as well as have different designed ones as well. I’m sure members would love to get involved…

All the best and thank you.

Ed

[jugatmos]

Hey bud @EDC83 , glad you mentioned this. I have been in touch with a number of LMC Hosts and pretty much thinking the same thing for years.

Hello @paulo , any thoughts on this after bringing up the initial idea 2 years ago?

[paulo]

Still on the list! But I’m afraid there are (many) other things on the queue. So, no promises on when/if we’ll get to it as there’s some even older ideas, as well as others that are more pressing, that we need to prioritize.

[jugatmos]

I have noticed the contributions of Ambassador’s Badge recipients can’t be viewed on mobile devices but only with desktop upon hovering.

Is this a glitch @paulo? For your reference.

[jugatmos]

Hello @meiadeleite, @paulo and the Postcrossing Team!

Postcrossing is a wonderful community that brings people together from all over the world to share their love of postcards. One of its most unique and special features is the Little Mail Carriers (or LMC), our very own ‘mini-ambassadors’ with a mission to travel to different countries, meet members, explore postal histories, and experience multifaceted cultures. The LMC have become synonymous with the Postcrossing brand since 2010.

Always at service! LMC in Makati City, Manila, Philippines; March 2021

Essential to the success of LMC articles are chosen members as hosts, who take on a significant undertaking that requires great planning, dedication, time, effort, and resources. LMC hosts go above and beyond, from the logistical matters of sending and receiving, storyboarding and scheduling “tours,” and even enduring the hardships of lockdown restrictions—a process that can take from weeks to more than a year to complete—just to get that great story published on the Postcrossing Blog.

Though Postcrossing acknowledges selected members with extraordinary contribution through an Ambassador’s badge and Supporter’s badge for members that sponsors the project through donations (both created in 2008); and our fellow members’ participation in the World Postcard Day with a WPD badge (created in 2020), no badges have ever been made specifically for LMC Hosts’ contributions.

Conceptualized in April 2021, the Postcrossing team discussed the LMC Host badge idea in detail in October 2021 and decided to implement it. However, the badge was unexpectedly shelved due to time constraints and a growing to-do list. There may be changes in priorities or pressing issues currently or in the past, but we believe it is time to make this badge a reality.

We urge the Postcrossing team to consider our proposal in creating the LMC Host badge. We believe that this badge would be a valuable addition to the Postcrossing brand. It would also serve to inspire other members to get involved and to support the Postcrossing community in new and innovative ways and would help to ensure the continued success of this beloved tradition.

To know that one’s contributions mattered and are remembered gives a sense of purpose. If we take the time and this opportunity to acknowledge the over forty five* (45) LMC Hosts in the past 14 years (listed below), we can all look back with gratification knowing that we did the right thing.

We deeply appreciate your kind attention and utmost consideration. Thank you very much and happy World Post Day!

List of all previous hosts

@hanako (Hana)
LMC in Tokyo, 21 Aug 2023

@Speicher3 (Claas) and @Reisegern (Christine)
LMC at Museumsdruckerei Hoya, 3 Sep 2023

@beesknees (Cathy)
LMC visit NASA, 7 Jul 2023

@DuaneThePhilatelist (Duane)
LMC at the Pony Express Museum, 20 Jan 2022

@jugatmos (Jom)
LMC in the Philippines Part 1 (13 Apr 2021) and Part 2 (13 May 2021)

@rousita (Rose)
LMC at the Palacio Postal, Mexico, 13 Mar 2021

@ChaelaMonstah (Michaela)
LMC on a cruise to Bermuda, 22 Jun 2020

Dario Martinez, with @Hanley, et al.
LMC visit Dominican Republic, 7 Nov 2019

@Terry5 (Terry)
LMC at the National Postmark Museum, 19 Dec 2018

@Tranchile (Denise)
LMC in Guernsey, 9 Sep 2018

@PeaceFox (Barrie)
LMC at the RPSL, 26 Apr 2018

@MarttaD (Martta), @piparminttu (Minna), et al.
LMC in Åland Islands, 23 Mar 2017

@karinoswald (Karin)
LMC in Uppsala, Sweden, 29 Sep 2016

@MihneaR (Mihnea), @Nazareanu (George), @eumihai2003 (Eugen), et al.
First PC train meetup in Romania - 12 Mar 2016 (Special Event)

@FlyingGiraffe (Sophie)
LMC in Leicestershire, UK Part 1 (16 Nov 2015) and Part 2 (18 Nov 2015)

@CDNLib
LMC in Calgary, Canada, 23 Feb 2015

@madvix (Vicki)
LMC in Stewart Island, New Zealand, 11 Jan 2015

@felipeduarte (Felipe)
LMC in Belém, Brazil, 11 Nov 2014

@ipuenktchen (Ingrid)
LMC in Tabriz, Iran, 5 Oct 2014

@Ghislaine (Ghislaine), @Sylor (Sylvie)
LMC in Brussels, Belgium, 22 Aug 2014

@juytters (Jo)
LMC in Binant, Belgium, 17 Aug 2014

@YanitaDC (Yanita)
Jakarta PC Meetup - 4 Jul 2014 (Special Event)

@indianfriendzone (Amit)
Mumbai Meetups - 10 May 2014 (Special Event)

@Norway_girl (Cathrine)
LMC in Ålesund, Norway, 1 Apr 2014

@lydacher (Cheryl)
LMC in Pocatello, Idaho, 7 Feb 2014

@Petitpilote
LMC fly to Boston and Washington, 10 Aug 2013
and LMC in Paris, France, 7 Aug 2013

@ned44440 (Nora)
LMC in Galway, Ireland, 30 Jun 2023

@Kelpie (Olga)
LMC in Novosibirsk, Russia, 20 Jun 2012

@cbayha (Christi)
LMC in Okinawa, Japan, 30 Jan 2012

@fitziane (Josianne)
LMC in Tianjin, China, 21 Oct 2011

@Smileyfflagge
LMC in Australia Part 2 (19 Aug 2011)

@mundoo (Vicki)
LMC in Australia Part 1 (7 Jul 2011)

@icitaiwan (Andrea)
LMC in Taiwan, Netherlands and Spain, 4 Mar 2011

@shui (Shui)
LMC in Tainan, Taiwan, 20 Nov 2010

@islander61 (Gina), @BahamianDirectioner (Olivia)
LMC in Nassau, Bahamas, 24 Jun 2010

@Zmrzlina (Bonnie-Jeanne)
LMC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 22 May 2010

@yvi-1
LMC in Cape Coral, Florida, 6 Apr 2010

@Jetske (Jetske)
LMC in the Netherlands, 23 Mar 2010

[Bille]

@Bille

You mentioned this suggestion in another topic and Paulo answered already to this.

So I think there is no need to open a new topic for this.
I would therefore like to move this post to the other one.
This keeps everything together and makes it easier to find.

I moved this post now to here, because it is better to have all together here.
And I have hidden the list so that users who don’t want to read it don’t have to scroll so much.

[EDC83]

Hi @Bille and hi @jugatmos I was replying in the new post but sadly it was closed and moved here…

Sorry @Bille but why? Just so to make it easier to find? I find it lost now in the back chat and having just read this it raises the question of why it’s not been done yet. Paulo did answer and also said that it would be done over two years ago now.

If I can get a silly WPD badge each time I send a postcard on World Postcard Day, then why can’t LMC host have the badge they so rightly deserve?

I don’t want to be rude, but seriously!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let’s get this done for Christmas! Thank you.

[Bille]

@paulo

as well as others that are more pressing, that we need to prioritize.

As Paulo had already written, it is on his to-do list and will be worked through according to importance.

Opening a new topic will not change anything.
Please just be patient.
There are probably many things at the moment that are more important for the whole community,

[paulo]

I’ve just deleted several posts of a discussion that was getting unpleasant.

I have little else to add to my last reply: a LMC host badge is on the list of things we want to do. Just as hundreds of other things — big and small, some of them other new badges too — that I wish we had the time and resources to have done already, some of them many years ago. But we still haven’t invented 48h days, and I suspect that wouldn’t be enough. Mind that much of the work we do is actually not visible, but is also what makes sure things run smoothly and safely for everyone.

It’s fine to make suggestions or requests – we welcome them. We also run a yearly census to collect feedback and try to better understand what the community needs and wants from the project.

But given our long list of things to do, we will always have to prioritize what to work on. Some things will get done faster than others and some might not get done at all. We know that will not always please everyone: if someone feels that way, please consider for a moment how frustrating it is also for us to have a long list of things we want to do/implement, and being limited, year after year (18 and counting), by what realistically can get done by a small team running a free service.

[Bookworm72]

@paulo thanks for all you do.

[Palluk]

Hi. The question on my mind is why likes from closed topics don’t count towards achievements? I had a situation where 2 topics were moved by the leader to the ‘everything else’ section.

Therefore, the fact that someone gave a like I understand that it does not count for me or him in obtaining a badge. Because apparently they only count on open topics - without padlocks. Was this solution introduced to make achievements more difficult or to prevent spam?

[meiadeleite]

I believe the thought behind it was that we wanted to primarily reward participation in longer, thoughtful conversations about postcards and mail — and less in games, private swaps, or chats about other random topics.

[Tinkatutu]

Get used to the constant closing and moving of topics in this forum. It’s like the moving staircases in Hogwarts! I find it super annoying . I know it is done in the name of tidiness and space saving. But I think it’s done a little too excessively in here, and also kills conversations. I was in the middle of replying to something this morning and it was closed and moved while I was replying, so I got an error when I tried to hit the reply button. It’s like a lottery when you try and reply to new topics…will it still be active by the time I finish typing? Won’t it? I couldn’t be bothered cutting and pasting or re-typing my reply elsewhere, and just threw it in the trash. There should be a badge for having the most closed and moved topics .