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Web Panel Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't find the answer to your question below, please contact us:
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What does this project entail? |
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We are assembling profiles of celebrities and otherwise famous people. The profiles for each present a small photograph, a short summary of the personality, some interests or interesting facts, the person's date of birth and date of passing (if applicable), and some links to more exhaustive sources of information on the internet. |
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Where will this project take place? |
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The project will take place on the internet. This means participation isn't restricted to any single geographic location. This also means that all of the research will take place on the web, finding information about each personality from web-based sources. Finally, it also means that the research, as it is uncovered, can be entered directly into a web-based form - a simple web page. |
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Why are we doing this? |
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To date, there are various places on the web one can go to look up information, but much of the time it's too exhaustive and all someone wants is a picture or a brief profile to figure out who someone is. This a top secret project, so that's about all that we can say at this time. |
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How do I qualify to take part in this research? |
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Probably the most important trait of applicants that will be considered is interest. Given that famous people are interesting, that's pretty easy, but it's essential that you are curious enough to dig through information, find the important stuff, and put it together in a coherent meaningful format. The data entry web page will help out a lot, but an ability to follow instructions and get it correctly entered and do so efficiently will both help the quality and will help you to make better use of the time that you put into this. |
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What kind of Equipment do I need? |
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Since this is web based, the minimum equipment is a PC running WindowsXP or a Mac running OS X (preferably 10.3 or later). If your computer is slow or virus laden (Windows), the work will be slow and tedious. You'll want a fast internet connection as well. Finally, something that will help immensely is a large or second monitor. Be prepared to have several windows open simultaneously. |
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It was mentioned that I'll get paid - how much and based on what? |
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We are paying $1 for each base profile created. Based upon the quality of the profiles and how quickly they are being generated, we may adjust the price upwards, but we've done a certain number of profiles already, and on average, it takes 4 or 5 minutes each to create them. The web site where you enter the data is pretty smart and most of the profiles actually start off with a paragraph pulled off of the web and some with even a photo. We'll also be paying for some individuals to gather and clean up photographs, but we don't have a set price for this yet. Finally, we have to perform quality assurance, and we'll be paying an additional stipend for that contribution. Once our team is in place and we've seen what each individual can do with a few samples, we'll make any necessary adjustments and push on. We expect this project to be a supplemental source of income for participants and the cash remuneration is a benefit along side with a fun and exciting opportunity to get paid for an activity that most people consider entertaining.
Referring back to the last section on equipment and broadband requirements, if you have a slow internet connection, a pokey computer, or a tiny display, don't expect to be able to work very fast. Bottom line is a well equipped, fast, immersive participant will make good money on the side, whereas a distracted or disinterested individual working on a dial-up dinosaur won't find this a very profitable activity. |
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How and when do I get paid? |
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It will be very important for participants to track their work. After finishing a batch of profiles, you will submit your list. Once verified by quality control, you'll be paid by either check or PayPal, depending upon your preference. We issue checks only once a month, so you have to have your list of profiles submitted by the last day of the month to get paid in the next month. We process payments within the first two weeks and then you need to give allowance for mailing or processing times. PayPal is pretty fast and should be a consideration for those wanting to get paid quickly. |
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Is there a minimum amount of work required? |
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We're not paying by the hour, but you should expect to put in about 10 hours a week. Any less and this won't be very efficient for either party. That means about 100 profiles a week and while we're not going to complain if we only see 90 profiles from any one participant, we require a minimum of 100 profiles submitted before we will issue payment. |
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What about copyrights and content ownership? |
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Most of the sources on the web which we use are public domain. Once you've joined the project, any content that you've created for us will be ours and you'll release any and all rights you might have to editorial, writing, or other creative efforts that you've submitted to us or our client. The IPA (Intellectual Property Rights Agreement) that we require you to sign will clarify that this is a work-for-hire and that any and all ownership is transferred to the site owner (us and our client).
As for Copyright issues, we expect that as you gather information that you will refrain from submitting anything clearly marked as copyrighted (©). If there's a doubt, you can submit the text or photo and advise us of the concern separately. |
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Why do I need to sign and submit the NDA/IPA? |
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The NDA/IPA (Non-Disclosure/Intellectual Property Agreement) is important to establish clarity on:
- Confidentiality. We need our clients' secrecy and intellectual property protected.
- Ownership. Any content created, either through original writing or by compilation of existing materials upon submission is released by participants irrevocably.
- Relationship. The participants in this project are not employees, and no employee benefits are promised, neither expressed, nor implied.
The NDA/IPA is written in pretty simple terms without excessive legalese, but if you have questions, you should seek your own legal advice. We've used a similar contract for over a decade and it has been very instrumental in preventing any breach of accord and we've successfully avoided confusion between us, our client(s), and contractors by putting it in place. It is mandatory for participation in this project.
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Why do I need to sign and submit the IRS W-9 form? |
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The IRS requires that anyone working in the United States file a W-9 with their employer or anyone performing contract services provide a W-9 to their client. It is a legal requirement imposed upon us to collect these forms for the purpose of:
- Eligibility to Work. We do not employ or otherwise engage illegal or undocumented immigrants to perform services.
- Reporting. It is required by Federal Law and the IRS Code to report income or remuneration for employment, services, and goods paid to individuals, either through W-2 or 1099 statements each year. We need to have tax payer ID information before we can begin paying any stipend, fee, or wage for services performed.
- Verification. We must have a verifiable name, address, and tax payer ID number on file for each participant.
IMPORTANT: &nbps;We treat all information submitted to us with absolute care and confidentiality. Any personal information, including your E-mail address, will be used by Geotopia or our client only for purposes of this research project. Any taxpayer information will be used only for the purposes of lawful reporting to the IRS for tax purposes. Your information will not be passed to any other organizations or used for any other purposes.
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Are there any specific instructions for how to create and edit profiles? |
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Yes, we hope to later create an HTML version of the instructions, but there is currently a PDF version available for download:
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