I know its highly unlikely of this change happening but I would like to see what others thoughts are on the topic and perhaps if enough people agree the appropriate changes can be made. I am proposing getting rid of the the US Update/Unlock forum and breaking it up by region. I.E.: US Northwest, US Southwest, US Midwest, US South Central, US Northeast, US Southeast. With about 20 posts per day on the US Unlock/Update forum its easy for unanswered requests to get lost or overlooked after a day or so. Also, If I live in New York…seeing that a very few number of editors have the rank of level 5 or higher who can edit US wide, seeing an unlock request for level 3 in Texas is rather worthless even if the editor is a level 3 in New York. Nothing can be done by the editor in New York unless he’s recently traveled to that part of Texas. The only downside I can think of is that having multiple forums might be confusing to some and “potentially” might level some requests unanswered if Level 5 or higher aren’t checking each regions forums, but I feel like an unanswered request at the top of the list is better than an unanswered request several pages in on the forum.
I think Alan has already posted a thread on reorganizing the forum topics hierarchy which touched on what you’re proposing as well. I’ll try and find it and post the link here (if I’m not beat to it).
I’m ambivalent regarding whether the unlock forums should be at the US or the regional level. However, I would urge those who need unlocks to also use the PM function here on the forums.
Personally, if an unlock request is only a few hours old, not in a area that I have driven recently, and/or the segment is locked by someone that I recognize as active and competent, say the regional coordinator, I’m much more likely to leave it for a bit on the assumption that there are others more qualified to address the request. I then may well forget to ever go back and see if anyone else addressed it. I also don’t usually address unlock requests where I don’t understand the request or can’t verify the reason given for the needed change. So for complicated interchanges, odd intersections, new construction, etc, it is likely advantageous to get the last editor involved in the request. If you don’t get a response to an update/unlock request, I would suggest sending a PM to the last editor. If you notice that a particular editor is addressing many of your unlock requests or other unlock requests in your editing area it’s likely worth copying the PM to that editor as well. If you bump your unlock request with a message that you PM’d x and y editors without response, I, for one, am more likely then to see what I can figure out.
As a CM, I check the unlock almost daily and look for all the area that I manage and because I have traveled all around the western states, so, I also check out all the other request for the western states. I even do this if they already have been processed, just to check on things.
If we are to require that the subject line has the location, I don’t see the need to break down the unlock forum to regions. I do skim through them for unanswered posts and sometimes topics that look like that need attention regardless as jemay said, to check on maybe something I could do better myself for example or get to speed on something that might have a fix for another edit area that is on my mind. At first I was thinking having into regions would be nice, but then when I thought about it some more, if it is in the subject line, it sort of circumvents the need to organize any further in my opinion. Even when I got behind on checking about 6 or so pages of unread posts, I was still able to zoom through it for areas in my region and then looked easily for those that were unanswered. Just my .02
While the unlock thread works great for simple fixes, when it comes to more complicated fixes that involve a series of edits to a much-travelled highway for example, it’s better to work directly with an L5+ editor in your state - or if one isn’t available, then the editor who put the locks there (you have to be L5 to set an L5 lock) - or if either is unavailable then your regional coordinator. It takes a little patience, communication, and organization, but it’s totally worth the investment to help build an editing reputation in what seems like an increasingly overcrowded community of editors - particularly in the urban areas of the country.