[MrMagoo]

There's been more discussion in black of late regarding requests, over-requests, more DJ-ing, etc. So here's some personal observations & ideas, fueled by lack of sleep & coffee.

Avian, you mentioned in black last week that you could list the SAM/etc rules. Could you post them so we know what we're working with/against?

Over time, the 2 biggest complaints I've noticed are about repeated requests for the same track and/or artist, and lack of diversity. The latter seems to come from the more knowledgable folks. No slight there, some are more edoomakated, newbies both want to hear their favorites and learn the AM system, and others just want what they want. A distant 3rd complaint (guilty!) is that shows interfere with requests.

The days that seem to have more black box discussions, diversity, and overall fun & mayhem are to some extent Request Free Wed, shows with DJ interaction, and overwhelmingly Themin' Thursday. From this I read that 'stuff' that actively or passively encourages exploration & diverstity - that causes user to think - is what make the Moon go 'round. No big suprise, so how can we encourage more? How can we stimulate (legally!) the old timers/wizenheimers/jaded, whilst bringing the newcomers into the fold - aka programming them the AM way?

Passively the SAM rules could be made more strict: 48 hours between tracks, 24 hours between albums, 6 hours between artists, etc. But that's rather draconian & frustrating IMO. OTOH proactive solutions might entail another theme'd day, adding a group DJ'd show, forum postings on discussions/suggestions by the smart folk, etc. Any other ideas, have at it!

Now back to my regularly scheduled work...

PS: I think that a sticky forum thread of FAQ for newbies or even a permanant news item would go a long ways towards indoctr^H^H^H^H^H^Hinforming newcomers about the basics & the benefits.