Asked by ATW subscribers. Answered by the Wonk on February 27, 2003

A.

In the recent survey I sent out, everyone really likes the material I've produced for ATW, but everyone also has the same complaint, "Why aren't my questions being answered more quickly?" This feedback comes in spite of the fact that since ATW opened on Jan 8, I've posted answers to 50 questions. It's clear that I'm not going to be able to keep you guys happy all by myself.

Another interesting piece of feedback was that people would be willing to pay a premium for answers that they got more quickly. Towards that end, I suggest that we move ATW to the following model:

• I put into place a much more full-featured web forum for ATW questions and answers
• Anyone can ask a question, just like today
• If the asker would like to set a monetary value on an answer to a question, they can do so with a credit card that would be charged immediately, e.g. $50, and they can set a deadline for an answer to the question, e.g. 48 hours
• Anyone can answer a question, whether it's got a monetary value associated with it or not
• The asker chooses the best answer to their question, awarding the answerer the money (less a small percentage that would be kept to run the ATW forum)
• In no one answers the question to the asker's satisfaction by the deadline, the money is credited to their credit card (less any credit card fees)
• All questions and answers are available to all ATW subscribers

I think that this new model encourages the sense of community that ATW currently lacks as well as encouraging a high signal-to-noise ratio (can't get paid if you don't post good content) and helps folks get quality answers to their important questions quickly. Also, since it's my forum, I'd be there to put up answers just like anyone else.

Questions I'd Love Feedback On

What do you think about this new model? Would you like the ability to assign a monetary value to questions that need a more prompt answer? Would you be interested in answering questions?