My Future Resort (Recap)

Instead of a conclusion, I'll post an end-of-the-bulk-of-it recap. Remember that I'll probably add posts in the future with other ideas, or improved ideas. So far though, these are some of the general concepts that I've presented.

• Part 1: Intro
• Resorts evolve, and disruptive ideas help speed up the process.
• Social frameworks can be more important than physical frameworks, despite the fact that they are often ignored.
  
• Part 2: Land
• Castle-type structures are best in urban areas.
• A big chunk of land is best in a rural area, with hill-tops being better than valleys because of wind and insects. (Natural predators and bat houses can help control the insect population.)
• The idea of a floating resort could catch on.
  
• Part 3: Sustainability
• Go green for profit -- green investments can save money in the long-run.
• Bring utility bills as close as you can to zero. Many examples are listed. Less money going to bills means more profit and more improvements.
  
• Part 4: Diversification
• There's no good answer for how to diversify, except...
  
• Diversify through a crowdsourced evolutionary model.
• Do iterative development.
• Specialize in something, preferably an event.
• Consider different markets if possible and target those you want.
• Compete with the daily lives of people.
  
• Listen to people, since they offer a creative spark.
  
• Part 5: Economics of Crowdsourcing
• Crowdsourcing works when implemented correctly.
• Offer the choice of working for a discount.
• Implement the crowdsourced evolutionary model for improvements.
• People can donate towards an improvement themselves, or organize fundraisers.
• This new model would mean less work for the owner, more younger/poorer guests with everyone being happy, optimal improvements, more meals and fun events, quicker maintenance, and a better sense of community.
  
• Part 6: Resource Sharing
• The lack of privacy can drive away people.
• Offer a privacy resource to bring them in, without compromising the family-friendly atmosphere. Tents and RV's aren't that private.
  
• Sometimes other scarce resources can be optimized to get more profit or to better utilize the resource.
  
• Part 7: Community Involvement
• Your venue cannot be an introvert.
• Give money to the community and be an active part of it.

There you have it -- my collection of ideas that will eventually work their way into venues of the future. As far as I've found, this is the most condensed collection of ideas on what nudist venues need to do in order to succeed. This series was 1.5 years in the making, and 6 months in writing. It's also probably my highlight of the year, so hopefully you didn't skip through it.

Addendum 1: This month I read an article in Nude & Natural Magazine (27.3) on the OLT. (Yeah, I'm still catching up with back-issues... this is from Spring 2008.) The second paragraph starts with "Colorado's Orient Land Trust (OLT) is so far ahead of the naked pack..." Mark Storey is correct, and I seem to be on the right track as well. OLT is making use of quite a few ideas that I've presented here: They have a big chunk of land, keep lots of bats, are completely off-the-grid because of the hot springs, have huge diversification, offer work for volunteers, and are an active part of the community. I've never been there, but I would absolutely love to check them out. Just like the best resorts, they stay booked pretty solid (with a prioritized queue). This is proof that they are doing something right!

Addendum 2: This adds to the ideas of my Economics of Crowdsourcing post. I didn't have a word for it at the time, when I talked about having people pitch in small amounts to buy something for the venue. The word is Crowdfunding, which is so new that it's not officially in the wikipedia yet [UPDATE: It's been added since 2009]. It's been around, however, in publications like TIME Magazine, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal. It's been used to fund movies, fund bands, fund t-shirts, and may just save the journalism business. It's an idea that's catching on, so it must be working.

Addendum 3: My girlfriend is a sale-hunter. When she points out a 50% off sale or a buy 1 get 1 free sale, I just shrug it off. The stores probably have a 100% markup, at least, so they aren't losing any money. A typical shopper will buy the sale item, and maybe a few other things, and the store either breaks even or makes money. If we apply this idea to a naturist resort, the resort loses profit because people only show up for the sale price and don't buy anything extra. If a resort advertises 50% off the first night's stay, many would go for the night and wait for the next sale. This gets business, but doesn't always get profits.

My suggestion was to allow people to work for a cheaper stay. This has the same amount of profit as normal by reducing the cost of maintenance and passing that savings directly to the guest. Since writing about that idea, I've found some middle ground that would do the same thing but also encourage people to visit again in the future.

Some good friends of mine pointed me to a different kind of sale: Menards Rebates. In most of their weekly ad's, they list items that are "free after rebate" (FAR). There isn't any trickery like with Black Friday, where they only stock a few of the items and sell out instantly. Menards keeps these items stocked for the duration of the sale. The only limitations with the sales are: You must also spend $10 to enable the rebates for FAR items. You get the rebates in up to 6 weeks and only as in-store credit. Lastly, there are limits on the number of items that you can buy. On a good week, you can get $25 in true FAR sales. This is the ONLY sale that I've seen where the store can lose money. Here's an example, assuming a 100% price markup, and without diving into too much math:

• $10 cash + $25 for FAR stuff, I get $35 in stuff, Menards pays $17.50.
• Rebated $10+$15 for more FAR stuff, I get $25 in stuff, Menards pays $12.50.
• Rebated $10+$5 for more FAR stuff, I get $15 in stuff, Menards pays $7.50.
• Rebated $5, I get $5 in stuff, Menards pays $2.50.
• Totals: I paid $10 out of pocket and got $80 in stuff, and Menards had to pay $40.

So how is it that they even stay in business? The secret is that people aren't perfect enough to execute that example. It's easy to hit the $12 or so mark for the non-FAR items during each visit. I've been trying to profit from these Menards sales for a few months now, but the $30 bird feeder and $40 table probably put Menards in the lead.

What's the lesson? With a gift certificate in hand, most people (including myself) will go there just to use it up, and probably spend some extra in the process. The FAR items aren't free until a future trip, and a future trip will likely include more FAR items. The rebates are strong temptation to keep people coming back.

This same concept can be applied to my credit-for-work idea. Instead of giving guests cash back at the end of their stay for any work they've done, give them the same amount in a gift certificate. Their next stay will be the one with the discount. It may also be of benefit to give half cash-back and half gift certificate to encourage them to start the cycle, similar to the other non-FAR sale items at Menards.

My Future Resort (p7) - Community Involvement

Fundraising is driven by desire – fire departments, girl scouts, victims, etc. all want to do something specific and need money in order to do it. Fire departments have fundraiser breakfast and supper events to get better equipment and to maintain what they have. Girl scouts sell cookies to go on trips and do things. Victims are often the subject of a fundraiser to help cover large medical bills. Each group wants something, puts forth a little bit of investment and time, and earns a lot of money in return.

Attendees are often happy with the good food and are happy to know that their money is going to a worthy cause. For all of the community fundraisers I've been the money-taker for, I've noticed that people are quite generous. It's common that people will round-up to the nearest $20 or $50 increment, and spend a lot on raffle tickets, simply because they know it's going to a good cause. An observation I've made is that people are often willing to use a coupon to save a dollar on groceries, and are often willing to give a dollar to charity. Both of these actions make them happy, even though they break even. The same people that are willing to work for a cheaper stay at your venue may also be willing to attend and spend money at the fundraisers, so don't count them out.

Most nudist venues already have one of the best resources available for fundraising -- people with time. Full-time residents are often lounging around and enjoying the sunshine while doing a whole lot of nothing. Currently, they have little desire to raise funds for anything, since all they need is enough money to pay for the cost of living. In part 5 (Economics of Crowdsourcing), I suggested a way to encourage people to raise funds for future improvements. They have the time, and now they have the desire, so fundraising will take off.

After a while, fundraising becomes an easy task and people get used to the idea. The venue has bake sales, craft sales, raffles, auctions, and a whole bunch of creative fundraisers with all proceeds going toward venue improvements. It's time to change the rules, because trouble can arise if we keep on this path. We need to invest in preventing future trouble.

What future trouble am I talking about? Being closed down. There are a several reasons why nudist venues can be forced to close, but most of them involve the community. Nudist venues can't be introverts. They need to integrate and be a positive member of the community, in such a way that the community knows about it.

It's a good move to start taxing your internal fundraisers. For example, 10% of any fundraiser profits should go into a community charity account. For people-power, consider a rent discount for those who put on clothes and do community service. This is fair, since they are giving up a day of nudity and aren't using the venue's facilities.

Once you have these resources, find an optimal way to contribute to the community. Buy steps or bricks with your name on them for community gardens or projects. Donate money or food to the local food pantry. (If this is at a church, they shouldn't condemn your venue if you're donating to the same cause as them.) Volunteer for adopt-a-trail or adopt-a-highway programs, especially if there is a sign indicating who is maintaining them. Sponsor community events, since they usually offer space for an advertisement. The community will view you as an active supporter, and the community will appreciate that. In return, there is less chance that the community will go against your venue in the future. The more you can do, the better off everyone will be.

Another recommendation, since your venue now houses full-time fundraising professionals, is to help out or provide community fundraisers. Here's an example: Everyone in town knows Alice, and Alice has fallen ill recently and can't afford the medical bills. Some people at your venue also know Alice and want to help out. Instead of having a nudist fundraiser at the venue, rent the community center and host a clothed fundraising event there. People will attend to support Alice, and the side-benefit will be meeting a bunch of the local nudists (clothed). They will reach the conclusion that we nudists are normal, fun, social people who are just as caring as the rest of the community. It'll give them the informal opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the nudist lifestyle. Once people understand they may eventually consider participating, or at least be OK with the choice of others to do so.

Simple ideas like this can go a long way in promoting naturism.

NEXT

Liz Book's Latest Protest

The battle for top-freedom is still going strong in Daytona. Here's the latest story from Liz:

---

To all My Friends and Supporters of Topfreedom for Women,

My protest on the beach went exceptionally well yesterday. Channel 6 Orlando was there to interview me. I was topless the whole time. A few other topfree women joined me, but refrained from getting on camera. The whole time that they were shooting the interview, the beach patrol units were driving up and down right behind me! It was just so great! It was as if they were saying, "Yes, it is ok for her to be topless on our beach." Even if they knew that I was protected by the Constitution at that time.

I ventured out onto Main Street and the A1A crossing about 11:30. It was the first time I had taken this protest walk since 2004, when Daytona brought in Homeland Security to shut the protest down. Yesterday, there were no signs of law enforcement at all. I was thrilled, but still a little nervous. A few blocks up the street, I said, "Oh, what the heck!" and my top came off. I even stopped in front of one of my favorite supporter's establishments to wave and let them know that I was ok. You should have seen their faces! Little did I know, that the police had been arresting topfree women like gang busters in town for the whole nine days of the event. As that damned bridge came into site, I was overwhelmed with such a great feeling of accomplishment that tears came to my eyes. I was going to make it over that bridge this time. I just knew it. I took pictures the whole way over it. I even stopped at the guard tower for about ten minutes. It wasn't quite high noon. That was when I had proposed to make my speech. So I waited. Topless. The elderly gentleman who was working the bridge just loved having me there. What a turn about. There was a topless woman waving at the boats from the bridge. Instead of the other way around. As I made my way down the bridge to my little protest park on the other side, I could hear American Woman playing loud and clear from the sound system I had rented for the protest. My friends and supporters were waving me on from there. It was so wonderful. I cried. I call her "The Bridge to Freedom" now.

It wasn't until a few hours later, that I was sucker punched by Daytona's law enforcement. Again!

There was a lovely young woman who had come topfree onto the protest site. We took some pictures next to my protest signs. We had our backs to the road when a police officer on a bike pulled right onto the site, on the grass in front of us. Thank God, she managed to get her top up before he approached us. He looked at me and demanded, "You need to pull that f***ing thing up right now!" I looked back at him and said, "You need to call your Sargent right now." He again demanded, "You need to pull that f***ing thing up right now!" and pointed at my black velvet tube top that was around my waist. I again repeated, "You need to call your Sargent. You're making a big mistake!" It was at that point that he said, "Turn around and put your hands behind your back. You are under arrest." He had one cuff on me, when I turned to my friend and said, "Get this camera and start taking pictures, Now, please!"

What this young tough officer had to say, as we waited for his superior officer to come, turned my stomach. He said that he had no idea that we were in a legal protest. They had said nothing at the briefing that morning about it. This is not unusual, as Larry Walters pointed out so poignantly in my previous cases. The city of Daytona Beach has no respect for our civil or equal rights. They do not typically train their officers in this.

This officer told me that he couldn't believe that we were doing this, the protest, while he and the other officers were arresting hundreds of women on Main Street. He told me that they had arrested so may women on Saturday, March 7th, that they had to call in the "Cattle Cars" to haul them away. He referred to American women as cattle. I wanted to throw up, I was so upset by that. He did not handcuff the other woman, but she was obviously terrified, as he told her she had to remain there until he got his orders on what to do with us. After about 20 minutes, a Lieutenant showed up. He told the officer to "cut us loose".Then he grabbed him by the elbow and lead him away from us.

The rest of the day was fantastic. I did notice that they had hidden a police car behind some bushes nearby. But I wasn't afraid of them anymore.

I notified Mark Tietig,the lawyer who is handling my 14th Amendment lawsuit against the city and Larry Walters, the lawyer who handled all of my First Amendment winning cases. I told them what has occurred at the protest. I sent them the pictures to prove it. Mark is going to lodge a suit against them and Larry Walters has graciously agreed to add his name to it.

My God, enough is enough! They have recently built a huge multi million dollar police fortress in Daytona. If they think to pay the bill for that, at the expense of American women's lives and breasts, they had better think again! My friend, Jeddy Tranquil from New York, was in town for the Bikeweek event. On Thursday night, he witnessed a woman being arrested for daring to bare her breasts. He said that the police woman literally beat the crap out of this poor woman. The crowd was almost ready to riot. When my friend stepped up and said, "Don't you think that you have gone far enough?" The police woman threatened him with arrest, too. Just when I thought that maybe they were starting to slack off on this type of arrest, and violent behavior aimed at women, they have come back with a vengeance!

Not on my shift! They have stepped way too far over the line in their zealousness to dominate and intimidate women. I am so glad that Mark Tietig has decided to pick this one up. I am so glad that Larry Walters has let us know that he has our back on this one, too. My heroes to the rescue!

I had almost decided to make this the last of my protests. With the conquering of that bridge, the beach, and Main Street, I thought there might not be a need for more. Plus I have my 14th Amendment Lawsuit against the city to back it all up. Now, I am of a different mind. The look of fear in the Lieutenant's eyes said it all. They do not want to mess with this woman! I need to find a sponsor. Someone of good heart who can help me to promote and orchestrate these protests. I will beef them up, if I can find the help. Instead of doing them twice a year, I will do them more frequently. And possibly, in more anti-topfree locations around the country. The news the other night said that Daytona was trying to present a more family friendly atmosphere. Yeah right, with a serial killer on the loose and strong arm robbery being prevalent the year round, that's not going to happen! Every single one of their events is aimed at an adult crowd. Not my protests, though, it seems. There were so many families who brought there children yesterday that I was amazed. I even got pictures of some of them.

I know my business. I am writing a satire I call "The Protester's Handguide" right now. As long as I follow the basic steps of protecting free speech in protest, they are helpless to do anything about it. Their town and this state will be topfree before you know it. I will do what I can to see it happen. Just watch me!

Taking the Beach and Main Street Topless For The American Women, Liz Book

My Future Resort (p6) - Resource Sharing

There are three important words to understand in this section: state, action, and resource.

A state is something like the state of being dressed, being undressed, laying on the floor, or sitting in a chair. It's how you are at that moment. The unifying theme of nudists and naturists is the state of being nude in a family-friendly way. Except for that one theme, we are all very different.

An action is something that you do. Actions are things like talking on the phone, playing volleyball, and sex. Both nudists and textiles do a variety of actions every day.

For those that missed my subtle disconnection above, I'll say it in bold: Nude is a state, sex is an action. They are about as related as laying on the floor (state) and talking on the phone (action). The state and the action really have nothing in common, although some people could be in that state and perform that action.

Lastly, a resource is something that people use for an action. This can include a volleyball, a tennis court, a lawn, a TV, a room, or anything else that gets used for an action.

As the title of this part implies, resources need to be shared. If there are four groups who wish to play volleyball, but only one net, they need to devise a way to share that net. Another example is a single tennis court, where some people want to play tennis and some want to play badminton. In a more serious example, the resource could be the front lawn and the opposing actions could be frisbee and sex. The problem with swingers is actually just the sex -- if they play frisbee they wouldn't offend anybody and the front lawn would remain family friendly.

Although resource sharing methods can be applied to any set of opposing actions, the biggest threat to the family-friendly atmosphere is sex. Most resorts completely ban it. Sound carries, especially from a tent or RV, and even some romantic time between a loving couple could be trouble. Sometimes even hugging or kissing could be trouble. Discouraging sex this much also discourages the often sexually active 18-30 (or so) year old's from longer stays, and certainly discourages swingers. Both of these groups have money, and might be willing to give you some. Swinger resorts allow it, and share the resources in a poor way that allows the sex to dominate. These resorts are NOT nudist or family friendly.

My solution is to treat sex a lot like prostitution and abortion. No, I don't mean completely trying to ban it like the US. It should be legalized and regulated for everyones benefit. Prostitutes in Germany, for example, are all registered and tested regularly to ensure they don't have STI's. This is good for the health of the industry, and the health of the general public. Brothels in Sydney are also very clean, as the research shows. In a brothel, they can be picky about their customers, require showers, require condoms, and monitor the customer's actions for the safety of the worker. Banning prostitution moves the workers to the dirty streets and into the hands of very questionable people. Similarly, banning abortions causes women to do some very destructive things to their bodies to achieve the same goal.

Sex is an action that conflicts with just about every other action and dominates any resource in a family friendly environment. Of course it should never be performed or even talked about in a family friendly environment, and that should be clear to everyone who enters the venue. The solution is to create a resource that people can use for private activities, and share it in such a way that their activities are guaranteed to be private. This way, anyone wishing to engage in a private activity has the method and safety to do so. If they engage in a private activity elsewhere, they should be banned.

The idea of having a private space goes beyond just wanting to have sex. Nudist resorts can be somewhat dense in population, and have the perception that people have nothing to hide. Being in a tent really doesn't give much privacy, and an RV isn't much better. Sometimes, couples or singles just want to "get away", relax, and have some time alone in a bigger place than their tent or RV.

Sharing can take many different forms. Here's my list of resource sharing methods...

Multiplexing (sharing with others):
This is for resources that are able to be shared among different groups. For example, the front lawn can be shared by a group playing horseshoes, a few people reading, and a few people doing yoga all at the same time. The space is shared among different people at the same time, where each has exclusive use of their small section of the resource. TV's can also be shared, assuming everyone wants to watch the same channel.

Preemptive Multitasking (interrupting):
Alice and Bob are dancing. Another man walks up, and says "May I?" The dance is interrupted, and the second man takes over dancing with Alice. Normally this method is a little pushy, but it's common when someone is using a resource for too long. At a much more rapid pace, this method could end up as fighting over the resource.

Cooperative Multitasking (form a line):
This one is unique among humans. When a bunch of us want to use a resource, we often form a line. It's commonly seen as being the most fair for everybody. People jumping into the middle of the line (interrupting) are often scorned. And nobody wants a fight.

Lamport's Bakery Algorithm:
This is a lot like cooperative multitasking, but with one difference. Instead of holding your spot in a line, you get a ticket on arrival. Tickets are called up in order. This ticket method is often used at the DMV, and sometimes used at busy restaurants via light-up coasters. The main advantage of this method is that you aren't required to physically hold a spot in line.

Lottery Scheduling:
Same as above, except that numbers aren't called in order. They are called at random, which makes the wait very short for some and very long for others. The best use for this is a resource that only one or a few people will be able to obtain, such as prizes for a raffle.

Prioritized Scheduling:
In a line, or in Lamport's algorithm, some people are deemed as a higher priority and can jump to the front of the queue. This is often seen at airports and nightclubs. Usually the priority is based on how much the person is willing to pay. Using this method can earn the resource-holder more money than having a fixed price on all tickets and calling them in order, and can encourage people to pay more for a shorter wait. If you already have a resource that people sign up and pay for, consider making it prioritized for additional profit.

Token Ring:
To best illustrate this method, imagine that the resource is locked. There is a list of users who may be interested in using the resource, and one of them has the key that unlocks it. They either use the resource, or they don’t. Afterwards, they pass the key to the next person on the list. At the end of the list, the last person passes the key to the first person and the whole cycle repeats again. There are two reasons why this method doesn’t work so well: First is that any person can keep the key for as long as they like, which could be abused. Second is that people will get tired of constantly passing the key around. There are ways to work management into this method, but then it ends up being a standard queue. This method works good at meetings, where each person has the chance (or encouragement) to speak when they are holding the token, and pass it to the next person when they are done.

Time-Slicing:
This is a widely used method that works well. The resource is divided up based on time, and is used for one purpose for each specified timeframe. An example can be a restaurant – the kitchen (resource) only cooks breakfast items from 6am to 10am, lunch items from 10am to 3pm, and supper items from 3pm to closing time. Some resorts use this method too. The White Cockatoo, for example, time-slices based on the month. They have six months of clothed use, five months of nude use, and one month of adult-only use. I think this is a great way to market to all three types of people, assuming that you'd like each type at your resort. Cap d'Agde does a bit of time-slicing as well -- the place transitions to an adults-only atmosphere at night. But, because of the mixed crowds and loosely enforced time-slicing, it has some issues in this case.

My resort will identify the resources that have sharing problems and apply different methods until the best one is found. One scarce resource that I've seen is VVRC's pool and chairs during the car show. The chairs are all taken (often by just a towel) before it's even warm out, and the pool turns into human soup. I'd turn the chairs into a time-sliced prioritized queue, where people can bid for chair-hours. The pool is already self-regulating -- those who can stand the closest proximity are the ones that get a slice of the resource. There isn't much I could do about that one.

A key feature at my resort would be privacy. Since I already decided on a sizable chunk of land on a hill in part 2 (Land), I could set up a trail that goes to a small clearing in the wilderness. A locked gate at the start of the trail could grant the keyholder access to the resource, and ensure they will not be disturbed. Photographers would like this for a safe place to take pictures. Newbies might like this as a safe place to get naked outside for the first time, without worrying about others watching. (This is how I started -- alone in a safe place outside.) Couples and groups would like this as a safe place to enjoy the outdoors in their own unique way. All they need to do is put in a bid for a block of time, and wait for their turn. Mosquito repelling tiki torches, a good backpack, and other items are available for rent just in case they are needed.

My resort would be open to anyone as long as they adhere to the family-friendly naturism rules everywhere except the private area. I would not advertise this feature in any sexual way, because people need to know that they are attending a family friendly resort. There is a time and a place for everything, and people should have the freedom to do what they want as long as the time and place is acceptable. With this framework in place, I'd likely see more younger-generation couples attending and would be able to get a small slice of the swinger market. All without giving up the precious family-friendly atmosphere.

NEXT PART

VVRC Mid-Winter Party

My girlfriend and I attended this year's VVRC Mid-Winter party, and thought it was great! Steve & Angie attended, along with many of the people we know from the Car Show (of course). I don't have the time to do a big writeup and review, so I'll just list some of the key items.

Stuff to do:

• The 37-person pool was a little bit cool, but warm enough to walk into without a huge shock. People didn't swim in it too often.
• The 7-person hot tub was a bit too hot for people, as they usually stated when they got in. My girlfriend and I sauna with some friends, so it was just fine for us. It was nice that there was often room available, since people got out quick.
  
• They had an official supper of lasagna, fettichini alfredo, breadsticks, a salad, and cake. Delicious!
  
• People were encouraged to bring munchies to share, which ended up being three tables full of goodies.
• There was a pretty good DJ, with lights and a small area for a dancefloor, set up in the pool area. It was a bit loud, but still good. A vast majority of the dancers were attractive women, and with a peak of about 12 on the dancefloor. Not many guys danced, but the most notable was a couple that could actually dance (ballroom-style) instead of just wiggling their butts. (Not that there's anything wrong with a dozen girls wiggling their butts...)
  
• We played cards with that couple for a while -- they and everyone else were quite friendly.
• Walking around, we found the arcade and had a naked game of Battletoads.
  

Things I learned:

• A lot of people seem to default to being an AANR member. I find this sad.
  
• There was a surprising number of age 20's and 30's couples there, and no kids at all. There was a healthy gender balance as well.
  
• Not many people knew about or frequent Mazo Beach. It's odd that there are two very separate groups between VVRC and Mazo Beach, even though both are minutes from Madison.
  
• Several people thought the Badger Naturists BBB was a better party.
• VVRC doesn't really have an "owner", they are more of a co-op. Cool!
• VVRC has 50 too many members to be for sale. (Not that I've been thinking about buying the place or anything...)
  

Things that were questionable:

• Two older women performing the YMCA. You may be thinking -- what's wrong with that? They were on their backs, head towards the DJ, doing it with their legs. Funny, yes, but still questionable.
• A different lady put edible gel on my girlfriend's nipples, with the expectation that I'd lick it off. (She did this to the card-playing couple as well.) We didn't -- it's a nudist party, not a swinger party. I sincerely hope that she got a talking to by someone. She was gone before I could say anything. It is important to point out that we were all naked together, but absolutely refused to act in any lewd manner.
  
• There was a group from Sun Ray Hills that kept wanting us to visit there. The women wore lingerie stuff, and they really seemed like a group of swingers. Sun Ray Hills is an AANR-only club, and they have nothing for younger tent-campers like us, which is why I don't plan to visit.
• It seems that a majority of nudists are shaved or well trimmed. I felt a little out-of-place in that respect.
  

All-in-all, I thought it was a fun party. Although I got the sense that a reasonable number of swingers were there, they were well-behaved with the exceptions I pointed out above. It was a pretty good venue and had a great turnout. We had fun!

Update: All Nudist posted more about the questionable stuff.

Missed News (3/2009)

The "Missed News" series is for all the random stuff I found interesting, but was missed by other popular bloggers. This month, Nudiarist has been doing a wonderful job of keeping up with the news, which leaves me with the table scraps.

• Naomi Wolf says "No more Disney-fied protests!" She encourages people to block traffic and cause (peaceful) disruption in order to have a successful protest. Lucky for naked people, we can slow traffic much easier.
  
• Two nurses pose nude for an advertisement, and get a Taiwan clinic in hot water.
• Riding a motorcycle in sleet? Stupid. Doing it without a license? Stupider. Doing it naked? Stupidest. Fleeing a cop several times while doing it? I've run out of words for this guy...
• Speaking of stupid, don't stand outside a catholic church naked. Nothing warms the soul quite like a taser.
• Some naked people might do dumb things, but crazy religious people are far worse.
• It's not just naked people and religious people, even environmentalists have their bad apples.
• It's not just the naked people, religious people, and environmentalists, even PETA has some bad apples.
  
• What better way to relieve some frustration at another website than google-bombing it with naked pictures. This blogger did: intro, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 times. Sadly though, it won't do anything since he earned a content warning in the process.
  
• I found this flowchart funny, because it shows that guys skip the clothing.
• The same blog also posted this clever evolution picture.
• Speaking of evolution, or more to the point natural selection, I've seen this "What's the Harm?" website mentioned in a few blogs.
• Although the porn captures the headline of this news story, the other points are just as interesting. Teens these days spend 1 hr 40 min each week looking at porn, 1 hr 35 min looking at weight loss sites, 2 hrs watching YouTube videos, and up to 9 hours on chat rooms and social sites.
  
• Another study was briefly covered (no pun intended) by Nudiarist, but I'm reposting it here anyway. The study finds that men see bikini-clad women more as objects than people. I'd be curious of the results of including some nude "real" women, not obese but not "perfect" either, into the mix. Would they be seen as people, or as objects? Also, how would a true nudist see the women? The same areas may light up with the bikini-clad women, with us thinking that we should help them remove that uncomfortable and silly-looking bikini.
• If you heard about those many gigs of leaked CRS reports, but don't want to download them in order to search them, here's a tip: Google "site:mirror.wikileaks.morphium.info search terms" Here's an example.
• When people divorce, their lifestyles are much harder on the environment. One senator is encouraging people to stay married to save the planet. We should also inform them that couples who spend time casually naked together often have deeper relationships. (I forget where I read this...)
  
• See what all the buzz is about at the Oscars.
• The Folsom Street Festival is always pushing the latest fashion trends.
• Now for some inside jokes related to carrots.
• Here's a handy guide to trends over the last three decades.
• As always, I have some Google-related privacy news. First is Google Latitude, which uses your cell phone to broadcast your location.
  
• Second is a combination that I knew would happen soon. Google StreetView now includes user-submitted pictures. Now it's easier than ever to see your house from every possible angle in high resolution.
  
• There are fun ways to protest Google too, like writing messages to them on basketball courts.
• Lastly, remember Polar Rose? Google is working on a copycat that links faces to email addresses.
  

My Future Resort (p5) - Economics of Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee, and outsourcing it to a crowd of people in the form of an open call. As an easy example, the Wikipedia's Crowdsourcing entry I just linked to is crowdsourced. Someone in a crowd made the move to write an entry on crowdsourcing, and various other people in the crowd over the years have added content to it. There was no employee to write the content, yet somehow the content is there and is just as good as what an employee could do. Crowdsourcing works, when implemented properly!

The term was coined in 2006 by Wired magazine, and in it's short amount of time it's had some amazing results. There's a list of examples here and here, but probably the most amazing to me is Wikipedia's success at being the biggest and most up-to-date encyclopedia, well beyond it's textbook counterparts.

Bringing this idea to the nudist venue has already happened at Sandy Terraces and a few other places, but leaves a lot to be desired. The economics side of it is working -- instead of members giving Sandy Terraces extra money for them to hire a maintenance crew, members can keep the money but are tasked with doing the maintenance themselves. The problem is that being forced to work is what nobody wants. This was one older group's main complaint against VVRC, which is why they aren't members.

Remember that a majority of the laws that impede our freedoms are the type where a choice is made for us. We have the choice to wear our pants baggy, but when the choice was made for us by lawmakers, it was struck down as unconstitutional. Pro-Life or Pro-Choice? I prefer a choice, which gives each person to option go either way depending on their circumstances. Going Pro-Life under some conditions can kill both the baby and the mother. Would you prefer a clothing-optional beach, or having the lawmakers make the choice for us? In my opinion, it's better for lawmakers to regulate the choices instead of making the choice for everybody. What authority do they have to decide what's best for me, when they don't even know me? I should have the option to smoke if I want to. I don't, and I don't like smelling smoke, but smoking shouldn't be banned because of my opinion. The government is doing the right thing by increasing the tax (a lot) on cigarettes to cover the cost of increased healthcare related to the them, and letting people make the choice. Why hasn't that idea of choice been carried over to nudist venues?

Here's how I would do it.

Let's assume that Alice and Bob are poor college students who want to tent camp at VVRC for the weekend. (I'm using names from here.) Based on their rates, it would be $26 per day grounds fees and $11 per night to camp. Three nights and two days would be a total of $74, which they both think is a bit expensive for their budget, especially since they need to put on clothes and go to town for decent food. (Remember they have no fridge or kitchen in a tent, so food is limited.) So far, it's a bit discouraging for them. And people wonder why the college generation doesn't go to campgrounds like these...

At my resort, they would have more choices thanks to a crowdsourced approach. They would be charged the same, but would have the option of very specific discounts. I'd have a markerboard in the lobby with all the tasks that need to be done, with due dates if needed, dollar amounts, volunteer spaces, and verification spaces.

Every week, there is a task of "mowing the lawn" worth $10. Also, there are a bunch of rocks that made it to the bottom of the pool so Carol (another guest) added the task to clean them out. The owner deemed this to be worth $4. Alice decides that she can clean the pool, and Bob decides that he can mow the lawn, so they both write their name in. They spend an hour or two working, and this reduces their bill to $60. (Victor "verifies" their work to ensure it was done satisfactorily, and closes the task on the marker board.) Both agree that it was well worth it, and they saved the resort from hiring someone to do the task. Alice and Bob are willing to go to the resort for the weekend, because they know they can do some work and bring the cost down to their budget while enjoying a clothes-free mini vacation.

Many resorts instead offer a discount to the younger generation. Has it been working? I don't have the numbers, but I'm guessing that it hasn't. My approach is better in two ways. First is that it gets people more involved through radical transparency. At the resorts I've visited, I've always felt like an outsider and am unable to help out. Full-time members have a connection that keeps them loyal and involved, and that same connection could be made with newbies over a weekend. Second is a part of prospect theory, where people make more aggressive decisions when faced with a loss. This human attribute is obvious when nude beaches are at risk of being closed. We fight hard to keep them open, but nudge softly when trying to get a new one. Stores make use of this attribute when offering coupons. Resorts can make use of this by charging the full price initially, and giving credit when tasks are completed.

Let's expand the idea further. Some resorts also keep motels, which Alice and Bob might want to rent instead. Each room could contain a markerboard just like the one in the lobby. A task might exist for "prepare the room for the next guests" worth $20. Alice and Bob can choose if they want to clean up after themselves and get a $20 credit, or have the resort hire a housekeeper (or volunteer) to do the task for the same price. If Alice notices that the motel room needs an improvement, such as fixing the door seal or replacing the shower head, she can add the task to the marker board and have management assign a dollar amount to it. If she's quick, she could get the door seal fixed and earn the credit on her own bill. (A rule may need to be made about this though, so the same person cannot identify and fix an issue, because they may try to create the issue for a discount.)

We should evaluate what's going on here from the resort's perspective. Older people come in and pay the normal price to enjoy not having to do any work. Younger and middle-aged people, who are able to do the work and generally have smaller budgets, come in and volunteer for some work to enjoy a cheaper stay. As the resort owner, everything costs the same no matter who does the task (volunteer or hired hand). Overall, the crowd will promptly identify tasks and the tasks will get completed in a timely matter by those with the greatest desire for a discount. As resort owner, all you need to do is associate costs with the tasks and keep the process running smoothly. There is no need to collect everyones money, and track all the things that need fixing (or forget about them), then hire people to do tasks or do them yourself (if you remember, eventually). Remember, you (the owner) can always volunteer for tasks just like everyone else.

Does this type of thing work? In a broad sense, the backpacker community is already doing it. Young people (mostly non-US people) like to get out of school and travel the world for a year before settling down. They have the option to stay at a hostel, which is a minimalistic motel with no room service or housekeepers. Basically, they're paying for a bed in a room with other guests. If they can't afford a typical hostel, they'll find one that offers a free room. Fruit plantations in Australia are an example -- backpackers can stay for free and get free meals, and some profit, as long as they work in the fields picking fruit. Many resorts, some even nudist ones, offer a free stay to backpackers who are willing to work. [UPDATE, 2010: The linked nudist resort has slowly become more of a sex venue, but they still seek workers.] If you take a week-long vacation to another country as a tourist, you'll likely be dealing with backpackers in some form who are working to pay for their much longer (often up to a year) vacation.

The idea is spreading... More recently, a local jail started using the crowdsourcing concept. Inmates can get out earlier by doing cleanup work, which saves the jail from bringing in a worker for $30/hr.

Fancy resorts, like the Terra Cotta Inn, may not have success with task-based crowdsourcing. I doubt that a businessman would be happy to walk into a room and see "remove huge spider web from behind TV. $1" on the markerboard. Fancy resorts are expected to have housekeeping, and hide the internal activities of maintenance. Is it possible to find crowdsourcing success in places such as this? Perhaps, but only if I keep expanding the idea.

In a typical resort, the owner charges people enough to make profit and cover costs of maintenance and improvements. We've already short-circuited the cost of maintenance by crowdsourcing it, so people don't have to pay for maintenance costs if they do it themselves. Can we do something similar for improvements?

Alice thinks the resort needs an indoor hot tub for the winter months. Bob thinks it needs another volleyball court for the tournaments. Both have found one to purchase and have figured out how much it would cost. I write both ideas on a markerboard and place a bucket below each one. In order to buy them, the bucket (or related account) needs to meet the purchase price. The amount in each bucket is public. The buckets need to show progress or the idea will be removed and the money will be split among other active ones. This is an evolutionary approach to allow the popular ideas to continue, while performing natural selection on the bad ideas.

Any guests that pass through would see the idea for a winter hot tub. If they like it, they'll donate to that cause. The best ideas would get the money, and eventually be implemented. This is better than an owner taking all the money and implementing what they think would be best. People are more willing to donate money if they know exactly where that money is going -- at least I am.

If Carol doesn't have much money to donate, but wants to contribute to the winter hot tub idea, she has an alternative option -- a fundraiser! She can organize a fundraiser and drop the profits into the winter hot tub bucket.

Volunteer fire departments often have suppers or breakfasts to raise funds. The department buys all the food and works the event, and generally makes good profits from the event. A workplace that I know of has improved this form of fundraiser. They call for a volunteer to organize a lunch. The volunteer sets a date and figures out a lunch, then calls for other volunteers to donate the specific food items that are needed. Once it's all together, one of the volunteers cooks the lunch, and a few others take the money during that time. Employees pay for the lunch, which is about the same price but easier than going out, and all the profits are donated to charity. Volunteers organize this sort of lunch event at least 30 times per year, and end up with over $10,000 going to charity. It's a win-win situation for everyone, which is why it's still going strong.

Volunteer-driven meals are a great idea for a resort, but only work if people have the motive to organize them. Motive in this case is that the proceeds would go to the organizer's choice improvement idea. For a whole bunch of other fundraising ideas, Habitat for Humanity has 6 pages of them. [UPDATE: Link gone, but here's a search.] Some fun ideas could be sports tournaments, parties, craft/bake sales, auctions, and raffles. Get creative! If Alice and Bob knew that proceeds from this weekend's spaghetti supper was going towards that winter hot tub, they'd plan to go and might even volunteer to bring spaghetti sauce.

In conclusion, my resort will make use of the following ideas:

• Charge a normal rate, but give people the option to save money by working on tasks. Rich people will relax and enjoy the resort, poor people are willing to work and still enjoy the resort. Backpackers use this method and it works.
  
• People are able to add tasks for others to work on without having to deal with management. Management oversees the tasks by assigning dollar amounts, and can verify that tasks are completed correctly by volunteers. This basic process is commonly used in writing software.
• Lower the amount of maintenance in order to lower the number or complexity of the tasks that need to be done. A great reference for this is the book "Make your house do the housework" -- it's completely full of great ideas to minimize work!
  
• Maintenance costs remain the same, but the method can increase the number of low-budget (younger) guests and increase the quality of the resort. It's a form of "steal from the rich, give to the poor" which seems to work for Robin Hood.
  
• Improvement costs can be eliminated once a foundation is in place. Improvement ideas are generated by and funded by the public, and the best popular ideas would make it to implementation. This is standard brainstorming and crowdsourcing, and should work as long as people stay motivated by wanting stuff.
• With motivation to generate money, fundraisers would happen often and many would provide food, tournaments, or chances to win stuff in situations where it wouldn't normally be available. This would improve resort quality, keep things interesting, keep things active, and generate money for improvements. Fundraisers work very well in small communities, which is why they are so common.
  

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