New Idea for Conga Format

Hey, heres a new idea for a conga line format.

First, theres a person on top, we'll use me and say i started it.

1.srkishy

Then the next person signs up under them,

1.srkishy
2. 2nd

Then the third signs up under the first again.

1. srkishy
2. 2nd
3. 3rd

Now, however, the 4th signs up under the second.

1. srkishy
2. 2nd
4. 4th
3. 3rd.

Then it goes back up.

1. srkishy
2. 2nd
4. 4th
11. 11th
15. 15th
6. 6th
9. 9th
13. 13th
3. 3rd
7. 7th
10. 10th
14. 14th
5. 5th.
16. 16th
8. 8th
12. 12th

Its kind of hard to understand. But basically, it continues like that so that more people get credit at the same time instead of one person getting all the credit. I think it would work. But maybe not, I do't know, i'm just bored.

or maybe you could try to invent the conga circle?

no, wait.... we already did!

[quotee7c74cd834="l0th"]or maybe you could try to invent the conga circle?

no, wait.... we already did![/quotee7c74cd834]in all honesty, conga circles are no better than congas. They have to deal with the same math that defeats all unique user type systems.

Sure more people get SOME referrals but that just spreads them out. Instead of some at the top completing you have a bunch who have a couple referrals and then are stuck. Sure as more come and join more will get some referrals but the odds get worse with each new signup. Sure those that join earlier will get higher "weight" but it is still no better than a conga...just a new "marketing scheme" to get people to join.

In the end you end up with a huge pool of people who all might have a couple referrals and then all have to wait for the "lottery" to get lucky enough to get more referrals. The bigger the "circle" gets the less chance of getting a referral.

It was a nice idea but it doesn't beat the math. And the spam of the owner of this new "conga circle" and all the minions who are part of it is pretty annoying. Sure it is always implied and always hidden but they are always trying to push it and that shows just how bad it needs new people. JUST LIKE EVERY CONGA OUT THERE.

The only way to beat the odds are to get in early, and if you can do that it would be better to get in early on a real conga line and get all your referrals fast instead of playing the referral lottery.

Sorry to be a bummer 10th, but conga circles are not the answer to the problem and in the end no better than conga lines, and maybe worse when it comes to getting people completed. It is nice to see someone trying to innovate on the process though since we all really need that to keep the things going.

If you want a couple links to conga lines that have a good amount (but not too many) members you can pm me. no hidden messages or implying. Just pm me and I will give you a list of the few that I have seen to work for some people, though as ALL congas (whether lines or circles) they do slow down and eventually die if new people don't continue to sign up.

lol lol lol

[quotea7a6a1cbfa]If you want a couple links to conga lines that have a good amount (but not too many) members you can pm me. no hidden messages or implying. Just pm me and I will give you a list of the few that I have seen to work for some people, though as ALL congas (whether lines or circles) they do slow down and eventually die if new people don't continue to sign up.[/quotea7a6a1cbfa]

I was soooooooo waiting that part. I thought it would never come lol

So, you're just telling us congas lines or circles are no good, that the circles might be a little bette but that the bottom line is that you'll always have to sort of cheat some people who will never get referrals by joining.

[ba7a6a1cbfa]THEN[/ba7a6a1cbfa] you invite people to join conga lines (are you going to tell them which one you're in? maybe you won't if you're in all of them).

And please, don't make it look like you're the only one speaking with "no hidden messages" here I've never said anywhere that joining a conga circle or a conga line would guarantee anyone to get referrals, and I've always said these congas, lines or circles, are doomed to slow down.

What I also said, and I'll repeat here, is that conga circles give to everyone a chance to get referrals as soon as they are on the circle and conga lines simply can't do that. Conga lines will slow down more easily, because, yes, they're 'marketed' differently either you'll lie to people or they'll turn away because the line is too long/slow and they don't stand [ba7a6a1cbfa]the slightest chance[/ba7a6a1cbfa] to get a referral before several months. Which brings me to the last point yes, the circles will slow down eventually, just like the deals themselves will come to an end because the world is running out of referrals. If you don't like that kind of pass, just remain out this free deals worlds.

But it doesn't seem like you hate this kind of math you will still recommend a few short conga lines, and yes, people will see them move, just because they joined them.

But I think one should pose as the champion of honesty when, really, all you do is say 'look those congas necessarily exploit people dumbness, let's exploit it together by being the smart ones at the top of a line"

That's exactly the kind of honesty that prompted us to create the circles...

I have to add a few things.

[quotea495883c94]And the spam of the owner of this new "conga circle" and all the minions who are part of it is pretty annoying.[/quotea495883c94]

Thanks. I'm sure they'll appreciate that. You come out of nowhere, with no credential, you've got 3 posts, you've never helped anyone on this forum and you come here to be rude with people who've been around for a long time and have done a lot more than spreading the word about a new concept. There's no mystery that there's a few people who are on the same lines/circles and talk about it here because they find it to have been a worthwhile experience for them. I didn't promise them anything, they're just enthusiastic about it.

As for me, check my last posts here, and you'll see that most of them are dedicated to helping people who won't join us because they're already signed-up (even maybe in one of these conga lines you seem to have interest in). I don't need any referral for any deal, I'm done, and I just feel like I should help all the people who have helped me. That's why we've invented the conga circle and that's why we're trying to spread the word about the concept. We don't need to spam anyone, people can just use google.

That's also the reason why we think circles stand a better chance than lines lines slow down because people turn away from them, and they turn away from them, not because they've decided to give up on a free deal altogether, but because they've found a solution that's more interesting for them, most probably another conga line. Now, there are conga circles, and we think they're more interesting than lines, if only because as [I already forgot his name] put it, they're easier to market and more people will be interested to join them. And on top of it all, the reason why we think people won't turn away from our circles once they've found them is because [ba495883c94]there are no other circles around[/ba495883c94], ours are the only ones so far. Sure they can still choose to sign-up on their own if they want to, we're not forcing anyone, but I don't think it's a good idea.

I was just replying because you try to make it seem like "conga circles" are a complete answer to getting your referrals. You make it sound like everyone that joins will get all the referrals they need. You are sure to leave out that the more people that join the more it becomes like a huge lottery where your chances of getting the next referrals get worse and worse with each new join. But since you rigged the system YOU and YOUR STAFF don't have to worry because you just said you already got all your stuff. So how much "wieght" are you giving your own links?! So really you are still just taking advantage by making sure you and your friends get their referrals while giving people the imagined feeling that everyone gets all their referrals. If you were truly interested in making it a fair system you would start by giving yoursleves the same chance at getting referrals as everyone else. Do you happen to mention that part to your members?


I never said that conga circles won't get almost everyone that joins one or two referrals. I said the the odds of people actually finishing (besides the rigged admin accounts) are just as bad and really probably worse that conga lines. Now instead of the top people completing everyone gets a couple referrals and then is stuck thinking that they only way they can get more is to refer more people to the circle not realizing that at the same time they are making their chances at completing ever worse.

In conga lines you know where you stand. You know that when your turn is up you will get the referral. You know of course that the lines slow down as people who can sign up already have and you know as more people come you WILL move up the line and eventually get your referrals. You don't have to "buy your lottery ticket" and hope that you keep getting lucky and get your link posted each time. Sure it might be better odds to get your first one or two but then the rest will take vegas like odds.

I said I would give a list of the ones I have seen work for people...not list that I am on or not. Of course I may be on one or more of them because I SEE THEM WORK AND THAT IS WHY I JOINED THEM. Of course that might come off as me trying to recruit people to join so I can move up but that is not it. Sure that would be nice but not the real reason. There are so many people here that don't understand the concept and then when they post I am sure they get a ton of PM spam from people saying that they know of a "great" conga. And if not then you have people like you and your members to post about it in most of their post trying to get people to PM them. And since the rules here state there are no links to congas they are just barely sneaking by the rules...though the rules include PM's too ;).

Sure you try to help people as many here do. You don't know me and don't know if I have had another account here in the past and my post count has nothing to do with being able to post about the truth of the conga circle thing.

Every post that you have included a clip about the conga circles you try to make it sound like they are the answer to getting everyone their referrals. But in all reality they are the answer to get you and your admins complete and spreading out the rest of the referrals to everyone else, who are then stuck and have to finish the rest of the referrals on their own. And you can't say that you have not asked your members to spam...or that you don't appreciate them doing it. There is always one that follows your post, or that you follow their post saying "yes its true, they are wonderful".


So my post was just for you to stop and state the truth about the circles and them not being the answer. To admit that they are NOT better than lines when it comes to getting people completes. That you and your members who you have let go free with spam take every opportunity to spam your site here. You and your members are the worst about spam here and because you just barely scape by the public rules you don't get banned. I am sure if someone post the PM's you and your members send you would be banned in a second since conga links are not allowed there either ;).

Maybe change your sig to say something like "conga circles not better but different" ;)

And after all that, I am not actually trying to bash you. I have been annoyed by all the spam that you and the members have done and gotten away with but that is besides the point. I personally don't like the way you try to make people believe something that is not true just to benifit you and your members. Other than that, I thought you ran pretty decent conga 'lines'.

[quote2c02268ef4]YOU and YOUR STAFF don't have to worry because you just said you already got all your stuff[/quote2c02268ef4]

First of all, I'm not even the founder of these lines. The story is a bit complex and no one is interested in this, but I'm just not. Then, I don't have a 'staff'. There are two other admins who were very active members, whom I asked if they wanted to help more. The 4th admin is the programmer who invented and made the circles. I have no problem admitting I already got a lot of stuff. Just check the time I've spent on this, I think I sort of deserve it. So far, other admins have received one, a $275 check, one a 20gb iPod, one nothing yet.

To make it even clearer

[quote2c02268ef4]As of today (Nov. 18 ) , since Oct. 22, we've helped

li 13 people all their referrals for mp3players4free
li 3 for pvps4free
li 2 for dvrs4free
li 8 for cameras4free
li 11 for freephotoipods.com
li 8 for prizecube

I just counted, that's about $15,000 of stuff for free in less than a month (and I don't even count bonus gifts and gifts from deals that we're not sure are legit yet).[/quote2c02268ef4]

Again I've no problem recognizing I'm one of these people on each of these lines. And again, I don't think that any of our members would have a problem with this. There are people on this very forum, who are not admin on ours and who got stuff thanks to these lines. I won't ask them to reply in this thread, but I'm sure they'll recognize themselves.

[quote2c02268ef4]So how much "wieght" are you giving your own links?[/quote2c02268ef4]

we don't have to give any special weight to our own links since we start the circle with them. Normally we should only add to the circle people who's offer has been completed, but we had such a huge success that we had to verify people regardless of offer completions just to keep the thing running. For instance, on the first day we launched the circle for ds4free, we had to verify very quickly quite a few people to keep the thing running. By the end of the day 10 people had all the referrals they needed and most of them were users we had never seen before (thanks randomness!).

Again, I should add that even if I wanted to weight my link heavily in my favor, I'm sure I could start a poll on the board and ask our members if they find it abnormal, and I'm pretty sure they would agree to let me do such a thing. People want to help us, they want to give us money (and they actually donated $60 almost overnight so that we could keep the site up), and the great majority of them feel like the admins should be rewarded for all the work they put in these lines and circles. Go have a look there, and you'll see how responsive we are, and how much time we spend on this 24/7 (literally, just check the time and dates).

But even then, admins didn't need to give a special weight to their links. The popularity of our congas was enough to ensure that we would get our referrals, if not immediately, at least very quickly.

So yes, all the admins are done and you might wonder why we keep running the thing. I would gladly explain this, but it doesn't seem to me you're the kind of person who can imagine that we feel we should help people who've helped us...

[quote2c02268ef4]you and your friends[/quote2c02268ef4]

Yes. I'm happy to say that they were total strangers and that they're becoming friends, and I'm certainly not talking about the admins only. We have a very active and cosy lounge and that's something I'm very prouf of because basically, you would think people are only there to get free stuff and don't care much about the rest.

[quote2c02268ef4]while giving people the imagined feeling that everyone gets all their referrals[/quote2c02268ef4]

First of all, a feeling is always imagined, but that's not relevant, it's just for your culture. Then, to the point, I never gave that feeling. My 'marketing' if you want to call it that, has always been based on the fact that people who just joined a circle still stand a chance to get referrals. I've always made it clear that their chance was inferior to that of people who had been on the circle for longer, and I always made it clear that we couldn't guarantee everyone would get all their referrals, if only because there's a necessary part of randomness in our system and you could always imagine that someone could be on the circle for 10 years and never get a click.

And let me add something I've also said many times. People should get their feet back on earth if you get only one referral from a conga you're already better off than if you'd joined a free deal on your own. You have no idea how much people who have joined already and have like 4 completed referrals would pay to get on our circle to get a chance (not even the certitude, just a chance) to get that one referral they miss. But we can't allow that.

[quote2c02268ef4]everyone gets a couple referrals and then is stuck thinking that they only way they can get more is to refer more people to the circle not realizing that at the same time they are making their chances at completing ever worse. [/quote2c02268ef4]

yeah, sure... or you could consider that everyone you bring to the circle will necessarily click your link. This is as unlikely as what you're describing here that someone would necessarily and only get less chance of getting a referral by sending more people to the circle.

On this point, I should add that we've always encouraged people to go and find referrals on their own. I mean, if that's what you're going to do anyway, I don't see why you shouldn't join a conga that will give you a chance to get a few more.

To make things clear, there are four categories of people on the congas

1) admins who put really [u2c02268ef4][b2c02268ef4]a lot[/b2c02268ef4][/u2c02268ef4] of time in the congas and they're likely to get all their referrals from the congas.

2) people who are not admins who will get all their referrals from the congas. Although you might consider these just lucky ones, you should come over and see how many we already have.

3) people who will get part of their referrals from the conga. I'm sorry to say something obvious, but that's still better than none.

4) people who won't get any referral from the conga and guess what? They are in the same position as 90% of the people who start these free offers, that is, people who never heard of congas or who heard about them too late.

the difference between the line and the circle is that with the circle we have no idea who 2) 3) and 4) will be.

Now, I can't make it clearer than that, and if anyone thinks this is an unfair scheme please say it and please sustain your argument.

[quote2c02268ef4]In conga lines you know where you stand[/quote2c02268ef4]

No. Most of them don't let you know that.

[quote2c02268ef4]You know that when your turn is up you will get the referral[/quote2c02268ef4]

No. It all depends when your turn comes, if it comes. It can even come, you get one referral and that's when the line dies or the admin decides to shut the whole thing down because he got what he wanted.

[quote2c02268ef4]you WILL move up the line and eventually get your referrals[/quote2c02268ef4]

No, this is simply not true and you know it because it's in complete contradiction with things you said before
[quote2c02268ef4]as ALL congas (whether lines or circles) they do slow down and eventually die if new people don't continue to sign up[/quote2c02268ef4]

Then, on to this (that's the part I prefer) lol

[quote2c02268ef4]Of course I may be on one or more of them because I SEE THEM WORK AND THAT IS WHY I JOINED THEM. Of course that might come off as me trying to recruit people to join so I can move up but that is not it.[/quote2c02268ef4]

lol No comment lol

Got it you just want to help roll

[quote2c02268ef4]There are so many people here that don't understand the concept and then when they post I am sure they get a ton of PM spam from people saying that they know of a "great" conga. And if not then you have people like you and your members to post about it in most of their post trying to get people to PM them.[/quote2c02268ef4]

You simply don't know what you're talking about. I've had like two PMs asking me about this in the course of the last week. My answer is no advertisement, although it may vary it's typically

[quote2c02268ef4]check it out for yourself http//www.whatever.com[/quote2c02268ef4]

About this
[quote2c02268ef4]You don't know me and don't know if I have had another account here in the past[/quote2c02268ef4]

touché! I didn't consider that possibility. So what's your Robin Hood username here?

[quote2c02268ef4]my post count has nothing to do with being able to post about the truth of the conga circle thing[/quote2c02268ef4]

all I said is that with the post count you have you shouldn't be rude to people who've been around for longer and dedicate the great majority of their posts to helping others here. Your ability to post about the truth of the conga doesn't need to be criticized.

[quote2c02268ef4]But in all reality they are the answer to get you and your admins complete and spreading out the rest of the referrals to everyone else, who are then stuck and have to finish the rest of the referrals on their own.[/quote2c02268ef4]

So you think that's why we changed from line to conga? So that we could get them stuck and make fun of them. Let me take an example. There's that new deal, pctech4free, 17 referrals for a free laptop. If I hadn't changed the lines into circles I would have that laptop now. But no, it wasn't worth it. I prefered to make a circle so that I could laugh at people being stuck in there. Sure...

For having done both, there's no doubt in my mind that if there's a system that benefits the admin it's the conga line, certainly not the circle. Again, the reason why we put up circles rather than lines is because it benefits more people (that's the spread you're talking about). It doesn't get everyone all the needed referrals, that's plain impossible, but it's the system that benefits the most people. Now, if you consider that even just one referral is not a benefit and that we're running some sort of free public service and we have a duty to give everyone on earth all the referrals they need, well... I don't know what to say then. Sure?

[quote2c02268ef4]And you can't say that you have not asked your members to spam...[/quote2c02268ef4]

Not only I can say it but I can give you links to several posts on our board where I ask people if they would like to help and advertise but with no spam and no breaking of any rules on forums. So yeah, I'm very comfortable saying it I've never asked our members to spam.

[quote2c02268ef4]or that you don't appreciate them doing it[/quote2c02268ef4]

no I don't. I hate it. As matter of fact, I remove them from the congas when they do so. lol Seriously dude, do you think everyone on this forum is retarded and that people need you to come here to shed a bright new light on obvious facts like this one?

[quote2c02268ef4]So my post was just for you to stop and state the truth about the circles and them not being the answer[/quote2c02268ef4]

But the answer to what? The mystery of life? Come back to earth man we're dealing with free offers on the internet and we think we found a system that can make it easier for people to complete these deals. Period. We're not trying to defeat the pyramid scheme, it's impossible. You're mainly the one who make it sound like we claim this. All I say, is that it's better than doing it on your own, and it's better than joining a conga line, because the line, as you say, only benefit the admins and a few lucky ones. Only our system offer people a chance to get a referral even if they don't join in the first 5 min after the conga has been released.

[quote2c02268ef4]To admit that they are NOT better than lines when it comes to getting people completes[/quote2c02268ef4]

the only thing I can admit is that circles are better than lines at completing people who are not admins.

[quote2c02268ef4]That you and your members who you have let go free with spam take every opportunity to spam your site here. You and your members are the worst about spam here and because you just barely scape by the public rules you don't get banned. I am sure if someone post the PM's you and your members send you would be banned in a second since conga links are not allowed there either[/quote2c02268ef4]

I've never received even a single warning from an admin here. People can post my PMs here, I've no problem with that. But they should be careful, they might get banned because, guess what, there are links to congas in there (oh! Saint Bobo, thanks for showing us the light again lol )

[quote2c02268ef4]Maybe change your sig to say something like "conga circles not better but different"[/quote2c02268ef4]

thanks for the advice. I'm happy we don't have you and your ideas on board or we wouldn't be where we are now, that is with a board of +300 members who help each other, and now begins to form a real community.

[quote2c02268ef4]And after all that, I am not actually trying to bash you. I have been annoyed by all the spam that you and the members have done and gotten away with but that is besides the point. I personally don't like the way you try to make people believe something that is not true just to benifit you and your members.[/quote2c02268ef4]

Are you sure that's what really annoys you? Wouldn't it be that Bobo is a little bitter that he's still stuck in a line that doesn't move and that he can't get out of, so he's decided to come here to spill his bitterness about all this and maybe, get a few people to give a little push to this rusty conga line that didn't get him anything yet? Well we're nice we feel for you.

[quote2c02268ef4]Other than that, I thought you ran pretty decent conga 'lines'.[/quote2c02268ef4]

Thanks for the compliment!

I'm sorry that I had to adopt this tone here, but there's one thing that makes me angry when I don't have anything else to prove or to gain in the 'free deals community' than trying to find a way to help others, and when I've spent so much time and even money (but let's forget about this) trying to do so, if someone comes around and start telling me that I have set up a team of weasels to go out there and find people to cheat, now, that really pisses me off (also I'm quitting smoking and just stopped the patches lol )

[quotef0035afb7d]You simply don't know what you're talking about. I've had like two PMs asking me about this in the course of the last week. My answer is no advertisement, although it may vary it's typically

Quote
check it out for yourself http//www.whatever.com
[/quotef0035afb7d]

It's actually a website. wink

[quote0927eaf25c]It's actually a website[/quote0927eaf25c]

lol. That's what I figured before posting, but thought it wouldn't do any harm.

Please admins and mods don't ban me, it's just a big confusion [b0927eaf25c]it's not free stuff, it's stuffed animals![/b0927eaf25c] lol

alright, pretty much everyone who's posted has their rightness. Conga lines do basically suck in the end, for the people on the bottom. Which is why basically for a conga you should get people you know and have them sign up under ya, then post in random places in the internet with people who ya don't know can get screwed instead of people who are gonna flame ya, right?

anyway, theres a new site thats pretty well organized that just started a conga for pretty much every site there is, literally 2 spots are still available on almost all of them. Since posting links and Pming them to people even if they ask is apparently spamming, you could either email me or me email you if you're interested, and by the way, i'm not on any of the congas there, just one for free gaming stuff..

so that's the conclusion of it?

we should just let people come here to invite a few lucky ones to go screw a whole bunch of strangers to get free stuff?

well, if that's idea here and if I must be called a spammer for having tried to spread the word about a system that share the wealth of referrals among strangers rather than keep it concentrated in the hands of a few, then I guess I'm off this forum.

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any admin left around here, I anticipate complete chaos to take over soon and I don't wish to be around when it happens.

If there are people here who are interested in starting a new forum that actually share infos and tips about these deals and where spammers will be kept away (sort of what this place used to be), please answer here or send me a PM.

Before some Bobo starts screaming hysterically it will have links to conga lines in a dedicated section, everyone will be allowed to post link to conga lines there (but no referral links will be allowed).

hey, whether you realize it or not, you're gonna end up screwing some strangers somehow, it's impossible for everyone in a conga line or conga circle to get something free. Theres plenty of math to prove it, eventually the world runs out of people. So yes, people are gonna get screwed, thats how these sites make money and how we get free stuff.

the end.

waste of brain power.

srkishy, I agree that you will never complete everyone on a conga, whether line or circle, but you can screw them or not, it all depends on how you [bba79285492]presented[/bba79285492] your thing beforehand. It seems to me you didn't read that part of my message above

[quoteba79285492]To make things clear, there are four categories of people on the congas

1) admins who put really a lot of time in the congas and they're likely to get all their referrals from the congas.

2) people who are not admins who will get all their referrals from the congas. Although you might consider these just lucky ones, you should come over and see how many we already have.

3) people who will get part of their referrals from the conga. I'm sorry to say something obvious, but that's still better than none.

4) people who won't get any referral from the conga and guess what? They are in the same position as 90% of the people who start these free offers, that is, people who never heard of congas or who heard about them too late.

the difference between the line and the circle is that with the circle we have no idea who 2) 3) and 4) will be. [/quoteba79285492]

Now, that's a lot different from this

[quoteba79285492]Which is why basically for a conga you should get people you know and have them sign up under ya, then post in random places in the internet with people who ya don't know can get screwed instead of people who are gonna flame ya, right?[/quoteba79285492]

Following either approach won't lead to complete everyone, but yours is malicious in intent, mine is not. Or in other words, to repeat what I've said, yours is about using a conga to concentrate the wealth of referrals in a few hands of buddies, mine is about spreading that wealth to as many people as possible. You might even get more people completed but the "people who ya don't know" won't count among them.

I think it's actually even more vicious to come on board like this one to get the immediate referrals you need and attract them in your line by making them think that they'll be buddies of yours with whom you'll screw everyone joining afterwards. Some of these people who will follow you, might quite possibly get their needed referrals, but they shouldn't have any illusion about the fact that they too are for you "people who ya don't know" who "can get screwed". Difference is you'll just call them buddies.

Vicious? I don't believe I ever said we'd be buddies or anything, just that its possible to be less likely to be screwed. The conga circle idea is a good idea, but bad for people who want all their referals from it, again also unless you're in from the start. People might sign up expecting all their referals from it, but might get 1 or 2, which you might consider better than getting none at all, especially if you don't have friends. But thats all just a matter of opinion.

Either way, get on a conga line early = get some referals while people later most likely will get screwed.

getting on a conga circle = earlier has a much better chance of getting many referals while later your chance is small multiple referals.

It's hard to say which one to support, as no one wants to be greedy, but everyone wants their free stuff. I think its up to everyone else to decide.

the simple math of a referral based system goes like this assuming you've devised a perfect conga, the amount of people that receive their required referrals is 1/(# of referrals required). for most ipod sites this is 5 referrals, so ideally a conga would be running perfectly if 1/5th of the people in line had their required referrals. of course it's nearly impossible to run a conga perfectly on account of people trying to cheat, as well as people signing up improperly or the admin simply not having enough time to move the line fast enough to avoid unneeded sign ups. no matter what you do, this is the inherent pitfall of all referral based sites. this seems like a lose lose situation to me.

i have heard of the gearlive referral "trade" system, but wasn't willing to shell out the $7 to join. (after all, who wants to pay for something that you're trying to get for free?).

i see the idea behind a trade system as a possible way of getting around the pitfalls of a referral site. if you sign up for 5 different sites for items you don't intend to get referrals for under 5 different people, complete an offer for each, then the 5 people you signed up under would sign up under your account and each complete an offer and you get a free item.

this of course would be difficult to regulate for cheaters and people wont be happy with having to complete 5 different offers under different sites that they never intend to receive the item from. but if there's one item they really want it will work to get it and they could always try to get their referrals for the other sites on their own.