Community Exchange NewsCommunity Exchange News is the Newsletter of the Cape Town group of the SANE Community Exchange System
| Community Exchange News |
| No.14, 14 August 2004 |
Community Exchange News is the Newsletter of the Cape Town group of the SANE Community Exchange System |
Contents:
The Talent Exchange - where your wealth is your talent
How to 'make it' on the Talent Exchange
There are currently 636 members in the Cape Town Talent Exchange but of that number only 54.56% have traded. This means that 45.44% have never traded at all! How is that almost half of this group's members have never engaged in a single trade in a trading system that is meant to facilitate trade by eliminating the need for that limited edition stuff, Rands and cents?
On the other hand, how is it that some members are doing extraordinarily well and are virtually living off the Talent Exchange? What is their secret?
So many people join the Talent Exchange with their one or two offerings and expect a deluge of work that will bring in an endless supply of Talents. When that doesn't happen they forget about the Talent Exchange and move on. It doesn't work like that. To benefit from the Talent Exchange you have to make some effort. Here are some tips on how to 'make it' on the Talent Exchange:
Administration: Local Area Co-ordinators
The following is the current list of CTTE Local Area Co-ordinators. If you have a problem accessing your account, don't have regular access to a computer or just hate the internet, then contact your nearest co-ordinator who will help you interface with the Talent Exchange. Co-ordinators will provide you with everything you need to participate, as well as enter your trades for you. We hope to 'recruit' co-ordinators in the sub-areas not listed below. If you would like to assist please write to the Administrator at the address a the bottom of this Newsletter.
Table removed |
CTTE Group statistics: July 2004
Although July saw a lower number of trades than the previous month, the amount traded during the month was the highest ever, even higher than previous months where there were trading events. The average value of each trade has rocketed, indicating that members are using the system for more serious trading now.
The fluctuations in the number of trades per month and in the average value of trades are deceptive. For many months while we had the donation system in place, the number of trades figure was inflated by as much as 40%, as the donations were counted in addition to the actual trades. This also accounted for a drop in the average value per trade, because each trade where a donation was made was an average of the actual amount of the trade and ten per cent of the amount. Another factor causing the fluctuations was the market days. In the months when there were markets the number of trades shot up due to the many small trades that get made at such events.
At the end of July 2004:
Trader Statistics:
Totals Total members: 614 Total traders: 342 % of members who have traded: 55.7 % of members who have not traded: 44.3 Sellers Total sellers: 189 Seller/buyer ratio: 0.59 % of members who have sold: 30.78 % of traders who have sold: 55.26 # of sellers who have bought 169 # of sellers who have not bought: 20 Buyers Total buyers: 322 Buyer/seller ratio: 1.7 % of members who have bought: 52.44 % of traders who have bought: 94.15 # of buyers who have sold: 169 # of buyers who have not sold: 153 Trading Statistics Total # of sales: 3246 Total # of purchases: 3246 Total income: 351259.92 Total expenditure: 351259.92 Income/expenditure less levies: 344773.32 Overall balance: 0.00 Talentry Statistics (from 15 May) Total revenue: 6486.60 Transferred to Admin: 4111.04 # of levy payments: 534 Current Talentry balance: 2375.56
Members:
Individuals: 526 Families: 13 Companies: 36 Organisations: 27 Virtuals: 9 Public: 2 Administrators: 1 Total: 614
Sales 2003/2004:
Month-Year Trades Talents Average Levy Total February 2003 3 295.00 98.33 0.00 295.00 March 2003 8 394.00 49.25 0.00 689.00 April 2003 9 1768.00 196.44 0.00 2457.00 May 2003 21 2802.02 133.43 0.00 5259.02 June 2003 80 6091.82 76.15 0.00 11350.84 July 2003 113 10493.65 92.86 0.00 21844.49 August 2003 194 19949.01 102.83 0.00 41793.50 September 2003 263 26404.88 100.40 0.00 68198.38 October 2003 179 35284.47 197.12 0.00 103482.85 November 2003 151 18504.75 122.55 0.00 121987.60 December 2003 91 10601.50 116.50 0.00 132589.10 January 2004 316 26223.62 82.99 0.00 158812.72 February 2004 269 27392.60 101.83 0.00 186205.32 March 2004 634 37249.23 58.75 0.00 223454.55 April 2004 204 15041.29 73.73 0.00 238495.84 May 2004 464 39131.89 84.34 1443.84 277627.73 June 2004 149 27544.90 184.87 2203.60 305172.63 July 2004 98 39600.69 404.09 2839.16 344773.32 Total: 3246 T344773.32
T106.21
T6486.60
Including levy: T351259.92 T108.21
There have been a number of significant modifications and additions to the site during the past month:
Members Page
Instead of one long listing of members on the Members Page, it is now possible to select a particular member or view members by various pre-defined categories. This change was made because the member list was getting so long that it took ages to load.
Members can now be selected from a drop-down list, by account number, by searching on name or account number, and by sub-area. Ten pre-defined categories of members are now accessible at the click of a button. These are: all active members, co-ordinators, new today, new this week, individuals, families, companies, organisations, public and remote (virtual members).
The Member Listing Page is now more useful. Instead of just the full list of all active members, it is possible to select from a drop-down list any of the pre-defined categories listed above. It is also possible to do a search from the list and print out a printer-friendly version of the list (i.e. with no buttons and other clutter).
Member profiles
The Member Profile Page has been made more functional. Instead of simply displaying a selected member's contact details, it is now possible to perform ten actions on the member. These actions are: View offerings, View wants, View trading position, Enter transaction, Send trading slip, Send invoice, Send order, Send email. By performing these actions from a member's profile, there is no need to select the member from a drop-down list; the member will be automatically selected.
'My Record' Page
The 'My Record' page has also been made more functional by having a series of actions below the edit form. From your personal record you can now view/edit your offerings, view/edit your wants, view/edit your announcements, view your balance of account and view your statement of account. We are working on a page that will generate statistics about your trading.
'This Group' Page
While the 'This Group' page is still under construction, it is already possible to access a wealth of information about the group from the page. All the statistical tables shown above are available, showing the current position in real time. In addition it is possible to access the list of co-ordinators from the page and jump to the discussion forum.
Many members, especially new members, are reluctant to charge Talents-only when they have spent Rands. In other words, when they have spent Rands on a job they want to get those Rands back instead of charging the buyer the full price in Talents. While this is quite acceptable in the Talent Exchange, once you have engaged in a number of trades and begun to accept Talents as being as 'real' as Rands, the desire to charge Rands for Rands-spent fades. There really is no need to get your Rands back. Remember, you will be spending your Talents on things that you would normally be spending Rands on, so you DO get your Rands back but in an indirect way. By not bringing Rands into transactions we keep the system 'clean' and it helps other members to respect Talents and see them as real money. So, next time you want to charge Rands remember that our objective is to eliminate that polluted stuff and introduce a new money that embodies a new trading ethic!
Tip: How to change your email address
If your email address changes, or any other detail about yourself, don't email the Administrator and ask for it to be changed. The Talent Exchange is not a mailing list. It is a new way of trading so if members want to remain accessible to other traders they must manage their own accounts. To change your email address or any other detail about yourself, log into your account and click on the [My Record] button at the top. This will bring up an editable form with your personal details. Only you can see this page. Make any changes you wish and the press the [Update Record] button. From this same form you can access your personal offerings, wants and announcements, which can also be edited.
Tip: How to retrieve your password
As with changes to your personal details, don't email the Administrator if you have forgotten your password. You can retrieve your password if you know your account number. If you have forgotten both then you will have to contact the Administrator.
To retrieve your password go to www.ces.org.za and click on "Forgotten your password?" at the bottom right. This will bring up a form that requests your account number. Enter and submit your account number and your password will be emailed to the address for you in the database. If you are using a different email address to the one in the database then you will not get your password.
SANE CES Administration
Email: ctte[at]ces.org.za
Web: www.ces.org.za
The SANE Community Exchange System is an initiative of the South African New Economics Network