对于任何服务，都会面临“Free-Riding”的问题。尤其是像我们这种，老师可以提供免费试听课程的服务。
（Free-riding的意思就是一直申请免费试听课程，而没有付费申请的计划。）
Cafetalk有几种方法来阻止这种连续试听课程的行为。我们可以用更多方法来应付此类行为，但是我们又不能为学生试听课程制造太多的麻烦。毕竟，试听可以更容易让学生在初期能够开始使用Cafetalk。
也就是说，我们确实知道大部分学生都会尽量利用Cafetalk系统的优点。而另一方面，我们也想为您提供解决此类问题的方法。
1. 为您的试听课程设定一个较低的价格，而不是设定为免费。
在Cafetalk新站中，您可以设定试听课程的费用为免费。但是您不用必须设定为免费。
请您登录后点击菜单中的“课程管理”，修改课程的详细信息。
2. 查看学生简介中提示
您能在学生简介页面中看到该学生进行了多少次试听课程，和所有课程的总数。
如果试听课程与所有课程的比率过高，那就暗示着该学生是free-rider，您就有任何理由拒绝该学生的预约申请。
3. 查看学生已经购买过的点数
实际上我们还没有这种功能，但是一位老师曾经建议我们提供这种功能，他说此功能也许是一种非常有效的方法来判断学生是不是free-rider。
我们特别小心不透漏太多学生的信息，以免对学生造成太多的麻烦。但是，如果有更多的老师要求提供此功能的话，我们也会考虑的。
如果您有任何疑问，请随时联系我们。
谢谢！
Cafetalk 办公室
2010年7月26日月曜日
2010年7月21日水曜日
2010年7月15日木曜日
Fee calculation will be based on a progressive scale starting August 2010
As you know, Cafetalk's fee (formally referred to as the Matching Fee) has been 40% of the lesson price since its inception five years ago. We know many of you would like to see that reduced. And although we can not give everyone a flat reduction (for these reasons) we thought it was about time our more active tutors were rewarded with better rates.
It may not be very obvious but one of our core principles here at Cafetalk is to make our platform profitable for tutors. We know that's the only way we can hope to keep the quality of tutors as high as they are now. Eventually, we would like Cafetalk to be able to support both the casual tutor and the hard-core professional educator alike. And to do that, we realize that a change in the fee structure would certainly be a step in the right direction. And so starting August we plan to introduce two new tutor classes (or ratings, if you will) with decreased fees depending on how many lessons you complete per month. The new ratings are:
Cafetalk fees will be reduced to 30% and a "Top Ranking" icon will be displayed on your profile.
Qualification criteria:
Once you attain this rating you will keep it for at least two months (unless you violate the Tutor Terms or get a barrage of bad feedback).
Cafetalk fees will be reduced to 25% and a "Premium" icon will be displayed on your profile.
Qualification criteria:
Every tutor will automatically be checked at the end of each month to see whether she/he has qualified for these decreased fees. Calculations will be based on the number of lessons completed between the first and last days of the month in GMT. Incidentally, we plan to run automatic calculations around 0:00 on the first day of each moth. Students will not be able to request new lessons for the five minutes or so while these calculations are being done. If the necessary criteria have been met the new fees will come into effect immediately after the calculations are completed.
*1 If you think you've been given a bad rating unfairly we will review it and possibly have the rating deleted. But please understand that our honest disclosure of feedback and ratings is exactly why Cafetalk has gained so much trust from our students so we will not change ratings lightly.
The new rates will come into effect on August 1, 2010 based on lessons made in July.
Hopefully this should come as good news for a small percentage of you who already qualify for the new rates. (We know at least two or three who qualify for the Premium status, for example)
As for those who don't have enough lessons to qualify for the new rates yet, we know it's not necessarily your fault but more because we don't have the absolute student numbers to support that many lessons. Nevertheless, the prospect of reduced rates should be something to look forward to.
As always, we welcome any feedback. But please note that we have thought long and hard about these new rates and their criteria, so we aren't likely to change them. We will however, try our very best to address any questions or concerns.
Thanks again to all of you. We're ultimately targeting to increase our student a hundredfold so hopefully we'll be directing more students your way!
Cafetalk Team
It may not be very obvious but one of our core principles here at Cafetalk is to make our platform profitable for tutors. We know that's the only way we can hope to keep the quality of tutors as high as they are now. Eventually, we would like Cafetalk to be able to support both the casual tutor and the hard-core professional educator alike. And to do that, we realize that a change in the fee structure would certainly be a step in the right direction. And so starting August we plan to introduce two new tutor classes (or ratings, if you will) with decreased fees depending on how many lessons you complete per month. The new ratings are:
Top Ranking Tutors
Cafetalk fees will be reduced to 30% and a "Top Ranking" icon will be displayed on your profile.
Qualification criteria:
- Must complete 20 to 39 lessons per month
- Must not have negative ratings for the past three months (or since registration) *1
- Must be in good standing with Cafetalk and compliant to our Tutor Terms.
Once you attain this rating you will keep it for at least two months (unless you violate the Tutor Terms or get a barrage of bad feedback).
Premium Tutors
Cafetalk fees will be reduced to 25% and a "Premium" icon will be displayed on your profile.
Qualification criteria:
- Must complete 40 or more lessons per month
- Must not have negative ratings for the past three months (or since registration) *1
- Must be in good standing with Cafetalk and compliant to our Tutor Terms.
Once you attain this rating you will keep it for at least three months (unless you violate the Tutor Terms or get a barrage of bad feedback).
Every tutor will automatically be checked at the end of each month to see whether she/he has qualified for these decreased fees. Calculations will be based on the number of lessons completed between the first and last days of the month in GMT. Incidentally, we plan to run automatic calculations around 0:00 on the first day of each moth. Students will not be able to request new lessons for the five minutes or so while these calculations are being done. If the necessary criteria have been met the new fees will come into effect immediately after the calculations are completed.
*1 If you think you've been given a bad rating unfairly we will review it and possibly have the rating deleted. But please understand that our honest disclosure of feedback and ratings is exactly why Cafetalk has gained so much trust from our students so we will not change ratings lightly.
The new rates will come into effect on August 1, 2010 based on lessons made in July.
Hopefully this should come as good news for a small percentage of you who already qualify for the new rates. (We know at least two or three who qualify for the Premium status, for example)
As for those who don't have enough lessons to qualify for the new rates yet, we know it's not necessarily your fault but more because we don't have the absolute student numbers to support that many lessons. Nevertheless, the prospect of reduced rates should be something to look forward to.
As always, we welcome any feedback. But please note that we have thought long and hard about these new rates and their criteria, so we aren't likely to change them. We will however, try our very best to address any questions or concerns.
Thanks again to all of you. We're ultimately targeting to increase our student a hundredfold so hopefully we'll be directing more students your way!
Cafetalk Team
我们收取的费用比例为什么是40%？
有些老师问过我们，为什么我们收取的费用比例是40%，我们能否将此比例降低一些呢。
我们正在考虑一个新的基于实际成绩的，更加有效的费用比例。同时，我们也想让您先知道，费用收取的含义，因为一些老师觉得这个比例有点高。
我们现在也理解老师的看法。几个Cafetalk的开发员工，也用Cafetalk私下提供课程。他们也觉得降低这个收费比例之后的话：
a) 当必要的时候，给他们更多的机会为学生提供折扣。
b) 激发他们去预约更多的课程。
是的，我们完全同意。我们也知道更低的费用收取比例将会吸引更多的不习惯使用Cafetalk系统的老师。
我们觉得我们确实理解老师对费用收取比例的要求。然而，我们也觉得由于如下原因，40%也是很公平的。
我们投入了很多人力物力来维护本系统，吸引学生到我们的网站。
对于数量比较多的点数的购买，我们提供最多10%的优惠。（尽管我们在将来可能停止此优惠）
信用卡支付服务提供商会收取5%左右的费用。
我们花费很多费用，用于广告，优惠促销，赠送等。
我们需要维护支撑本系统来为学生和老师持续提供此服务。
我们会尽量降低成本来为维护我们的专有服务器，还要为我们的员工支付薪水。为什么用“支撑”这个词呢？我们希望您能知道，我们还没有为我们的创始成员支付酬金（这是真的），我们也还没有自己的办公室（这就是为什么您觉得我们工作起来像游牧民族，在咖啡厅与咖啡厅之间徘徊，寻找有无线网络的连接）。我们不是以我们现在的情形为荣，但是我们觉得至少有一点点的成功，因为至少没有人觉得我们收取了很多的利益。
但是我们没有抱怨。我们仍然喜欢我们所做的事情。我们发起了一个梦想，就是提供给用户和服务提供者一个平台。我们每天都觉得我们距离这个目标越来越近了（谢谢大家所做的所有工作）。我们想让您知道的是，我们会真诚的对待您。还有，我们想创造出优秀的服务，当然，我们需要所有能得到的支持。
总之，我们会尽全力让 Cafetalk 效力于我们的老师，我们会坚持以此为我们的最高目标。正像我们开始提到的，我们正在计划提供更有效的收费比例，来使得它能更好的展现您的价值，但是希望我们的努力不会就此停住！如果您有任何建议，请不要犹豫告诉我们。
Cafetalk 办公室
我们正在考虑一个新的基于实际成绩的，更加有效的费用比例。同时，我们也想让您先知道，费用收取的含义，因为一些老师觉得这个比例有点高。
我们现在也理解老师的看法。几个Cafetalk的开发员工，也用Cafetalk私下提供课程。他们也觉得降低这个收费比例之后的话：
a) 当必要的时候，给他们更多的机会为学生提供折扣。
b) 激发他们去预约更多的课程。
是的，我们完全同意。我们也知道更低的费用收取比例将会吸引更多的不习惯使用Cafetalk系统的老师。
我们觉得我们确实理解老师对费用收取比例的要求。然而，我们也觉得由于如下原因，40%也是很公平的。
我们投入了很多人力物力来维护本系统，吸引学生到我们的网站。
对于数量比较多的点数的购买，我们提供最多10%的优惠。（尽管我们在将来可能停止此优惠）
信用卡支付服务提供商会收取5%左右的费用。
我们花费很多费用，用于广告，优惠促销，赠送等。
我们需要维护支撑本系统来为学生和老师持续提供此服务。
我们会尽量降低成本来为维护我们的专有服务器，还要为我们的员工支付薪水。为什么用“支撑”这个词呢？我们希望您能知道，我们还没有为我们的创始成员支付酬金（这是真的），我们也还没有自己的办公室（这就是为什么您觉得我们工作起来像游牧民族，在咖啡厅与咖啡厅之间徘徊，寻找有无线网络的连接）。我们不是以我们现在的情形为荣，但是我们觉得至少有一点点的成功，因为至少没有人觉得我们收取了很多的利益。
但是我们没有抱怨。我们仍然喜欢我们所做的事情。我们发起了一个梦想，就是提供给用户和服务提供者一个平台。我们每天都觉得我们距离这个目标越来越近了（谢谢大家所做的所有工作）。我们想让您知道的是，我们会真诚的对待您。还有，我们想创造出优秀的服务，当然，我们需要所有能得到的支持。
总之，我们会尽全力让 Cafetalk 效力于我们的老师，我们会坚持以此为我们的最高目标。正像我们开始提到的，我们正在计划提供更有效的收费比例，来使得它能更好的展现您的价值，但是希望我们的努力不会就此停住！如果您有任何建议，请不要犹豫告诉我们。
Cafetalk 办公室
2010年7月13日火曜日
2010年7月7日水曜日
如果您的学生在课程确定时间没有出现的话该怎么办？
如果您的学生在课程确定时间没有出现的话，您可以取消此课程预约。
进入预约一览页面，点击此预约。
当您点击取消时，您可以选择取消原因“学生在课程的确定时间没有出现”。
您也可以选择取消时扣除点数的比例0%，50%或者100%。
如果您选择此原因后，学生将不会给您写评价，但是您可以给该学生写评价。
谢谢
如果您有不明白的地方，请随时联系我们。
Cafetalk办公室
进入预约一览页面，点击此预约。
当您点击取消时，您可以选择取消原因“学生在课程的确定时间没有出现”。
您也可以选择取消时扣除点数的比例0%，50%或者100%。
如果您选择此原因后，学生将不会给您写评价，但是您可以给该学生写评价。
谢谢
如果您有不明白的地方，请随时联系我们。
Cafetalk办公室
2010年7月4日日曜日
Why you're still getting requests outside of your available times (and what we're doing about it)
Some of you may be wondering why some students manage to make requests outside of your available times. How did these requests possibly slip through! Are the guys at Cafetalk completely incompetent monkeys?
Well, monkeys we are, but there is some reasoning behind what we do - let me clarify how this works.
The first thing you should know is that the system does allow students to make requests outside of a tutor's declared available times. This is because students may be doing so based on a prior agreement with the tutor. (I certainly allow some of my students to make requests at strange hours in the morning because I value their patronage. But I don't want to openly advertise the fact to the entire world or I'd go insane pretty quickly)
So that's that, and we don't plan to disallow this any time soon.
What we have done however, is generate warnings so students will know that the times they have requested are outside of the tutor's available schedule.
And we also have something similar when a student tries to schedule a lesson with less than 24 hours notice.
These changes were implemented only a few days ago. Hopefully you won't be getting any more strange requests unless you're expecting them.
P.S. Thank you Dan for the suggestions that led us to put this in place.
2010年7月3日土曜日
Sending more Yahoo! users your way.
Hello all,
We just wanted to let you know of some of our efforts to spread the word on Cafetalk.com and ultimately get more students for you. The latest of such is our partnership with Yahoo! Japan. Users of Yahoo! can now register on Cafetalk using their Yahoo! ID. And for this, Yahoo! is generously promoting our site on their logout page for a limited time (something like a month). The results have been very positive so far. More students are definitely on the prowl looking for tutors and we hope to make the best of this stroke of good fortune.
Making a site grow is a long, uphill battle, but we're confident that we have the BEST tutors of any online teaching service, and we think it's only a matter of time before students catch on.
If you have any suggestions on how we can spread the word or direct traffic to worthy tutors please feel free to let us know.
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