[fred]

BBO continues to grow and we are expecting that we will be getting 1000s of new members within the next couple of months as the MSN Zone shuts down their free bridge site. BBO management is concerned that we do not have enough yellows to properly serve our membership (especially since some of our existing yellows have things going on in their lives right now that limit the time they have for BBO).

The purpose of this post is to announce that we are looking for new yellows. If you think you might be interested, please e-mail: newyellow@bridgebase.com

E-mails sent to that address will go to a 3-person committee of existing yellows. This committee will be responsible for deciding which applications will be accepted.

You should know that, historically, the vast majority of yellow applications are ultimately rejected so please don't be hurt if your application is turned down. The group of yellows we have now are a truly fine collection of people. Our goal with the current campaign is to maintain quality while streamlining the process of making new yellows. Still, I expect the committee to err on the side of caution - only outstanding candidates will be accepted.

Yellows on BBO have 2 primary tasks:

1) To help people who have trouble with the software
2) To help enforce the rules of our site

Most people find being a yellow to be a satisfying experience, but it is not always fun (especially in some cases of 2 above).

An ideal yellow candidate will have the following qualities (in no particular order):

1) The time/inclination to be logged in to BBO a lot
2) Good people skills
3) Good English skills
4) At least reasonable computer skills
5) Familiarity with the BBO software
6) A genuine desire to help other people and to make BBO a better place
7) Good "team players"
8) Have good (or at least neutral) personal relations with existing yellows and with me and Uday.
9) A long history of good behavior as a member of BBO

Being able to speak other languages (besides English) and living in a time zone that will allow you to be on BBO when there are few other yellows online are further pluses.

Yellows on BBO do not get paid, but in appreciation of their service we offer them various things for free (use of GIB, Bridge Master, etc). We frequently consult with them about policy issues, possible new software features, etc. In general we on the lookout for new ways to show the yellows how much we appreciate the service that they provide to BBO and its membership. I can't make any promises about this, but if we ever make a lot of money from BBO don't be surprised if we do something nice for the yellows (but please don't volunteer to be a yellow if this is what you are after!).

Thanks in advance to anyone who wants to help BBO by applying to be a new yellow.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com