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- alert nerd. - [...] I am so wishing Nerd Nation was a reality already. See, this weekend, Jeff and I were staying in…
Nerd Nation
Aug 08
Nerd Nation
So Chris and I have been batting around this idea (or maybe I’ve just been batting him about the head with it) to do some kind of website chronicling nerd hotspots, tourist attractions, and retail experiences across the country. (Maybe across the continent? Chris IS from Canadialand, after all.)
Today it’s hard to get this notion out of my head. There are a few good places to find info on nerd stores in your area, most of them listed under the generic header of “comic shop,” and we all know how to get to the closest EB Games or GameStop.
But to actually offer useful info about these places in the form of a review–that intrigues me. I mean, who actually writes reviews of comic book stores? And yet, isn’t this one niche market that deserves some examination from its loyal customer base? We’ve all bitched a time or two about a really crappy store, I’m sure. Now you could actually go to a site and write a comment on that clerk who treated you like shit, or that dump that smelled like ass pit, or the place where their “new” comics all dated from 1974…in a BAD way.
Anyone who travels even a little bit might find it helpful. And if that’s just me, well then, so be it. I wasn’t asking YOU to read it, anyways.
Don’t forget to include the Isotope, best damn comics lounge in the world. Makes me wish I was still living in San Francisco.
I love it!
Oh, the Isotope would DEFINITELY make the list.
My thinking is that maybe a wiki is the best way to do it, but enabled with some kind of reader comments system. So the \”staff\” or \”correspondents\” or whatever get to write an initial review (dated, of course, and updated as frequently as possible) and then anyone can show up and offer their own take on it in a registered reader section.
basically, a geek Fodor\’s.
and that\’s just for stores. i have no idea how to incorporate stuff like geek landmarks (such as the cave used as the Batcave in the original Batman series) or just places with odd/cool geek stuff (that pizza joint in Chicago on Clybourn that has a Star Wars mural in their upstairs dining room for some reason). maybe that would be open wiki where people could submit their own suggestions?
I’m still pondering this and the best route to take. We basically need something scalable, where you could start by looking at North America, then zoom in to a specific locale for the particulars. I think wiki may not be a bad idea, as the top level could allow for a map and you just dive down to the area you want (or conversely, click on a catagory – comic shops, famous locations, etc.)
There’s a certain amount of cross-referencing that wiki does through sheer, group editting force. We’d have to definitely lock down a format before we went for it – it would fall to us to shepard anyone editting the entries.
The one thing Wiki doesn’t do, which would be nice, is ratings, limit reviewing entries, etc. There may be some other free system that would handle this just as well. More research is required. Suggestions welcome.
Is there a way to create this with a wordpress content input spine? wordpress allows for the creation of users with varying levels of “power,” so we could have editors, then correspondents, then just the average joe who shows up to leave a comment just like this one.
MMm, I like that idea. We could organize a title page, by state/city, whatever, and have users help edit sub-pages that list all the goodness in an area. This bears more research.
yeah, my honest thought is to make it as content-rich as possible, but down and dirty design wise. maybe a nice-looking opening page but just raw wiki-type guts. lots of pictures and words, but it don’t need to be too purty.
Well, the WP ability to add static, stand alone pages is one possible take – we might consider trying it anyhow, as it’s the path of least resistance, and if it blows up big, then we’ll look into a more dedicated system.
Step one – title page. I’m on it.