Hey everybody, and welcome to our eleventh Reviewers Spotlight featuring Research and Selective Sensualist!!!
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Research has been with us since September of 2010, and has stood out as a reliable reviewer with awesome backgrounds in his video reviews. He doesn't put out lots of reviews, but the reviews he does have out are thoroughly ... researched.
"How I found Eden – During my college days I worked at a brick and mortar Adult store in San Jose. It was nothing special, just a small little shop run by a Vietnamese couple on the edge of town. It was an exceedingly boring job punctuated by moments of madness that left me wondering just what the heck I was doing here anyway. While the work was typical retail work, it gave me the opportunity to learn a great deal about the products I sold. Eventually the store and I parted ways but not before I filled my head with a tremendous amount of Adult industry product knowledge. I finished school, got a real job, and minded my own business until one day when poking around online I saw an advertisement for a store I hadn’t heard of before. Naturally I investigated and found Eden. After a cursory glance I nearly left before I spotted the reviews section. Online product reviews are a major part of my current job so I took a look and was amazed. Here was an entire system of reviews, by and for the community, open to all. I knew right away that I had found a place for my knowledge, and that I must be part of this. It wasn’t till later that I even found out about the free toy system.
My hardest review – This may be cliché by now but my hardest review was my first one. I’ve always lived by the idea of “Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.” This is great quality control but it makes it very difficult for me to try new things because unless I know that it is the very best possible thing I can produce, I will not post it. I wrote and discarded several reviews before I decided one met my personal standards and it did pretty well all things considered. I wish I could say it became easier after that but as I’ve spent time here reading reviews and posting on the forums and speaking to you individually I’ve developed a tremendous respect for the people who participate in this community and I feel I owe it to both myself and all of you to do my very best. It’s more important to me now than ever to write good and useful reviews.
The video review program – Imagine my surprise when I came to Eden, signed up as a reviewer, and found out there was a video review program after spending years in the video production industry. I couldn’t believe it, here I could suddenly combine two of my favorite things: Adult toys and making videos. I had written several reviews by this point so I went back and began adding videos to existing reviews to get the hang of it. After that, I began writing reviews just so I could make a new video for them and eventually ended up in Carrie Ann’s special Video Review Program. I love it, video production is my thing and I would love to help any of you with your video troubles."
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Selective Sensualist is a name you should recognize from our Eden Gives Back program. She's participated in both of the holiday projects we've done, adopting a family each Christmas we've had the program in place so far. She's more active in the forums than she is in the review program, but she's still touched the lives of everybody she's interacted with.
"The best advice another reviewer ever gave me:
It’s impossible to determine which advice was the best out of everything I’ve learned from other reviewers. I have been a thorn in many reviewers’ sides as I pumped them for advice in choosing my next toy amongst a plethora of enticing possibilities. My persistence in asking questions and obsession with reading hundreds of reviews before I became a reviewer myself netted me a treasure trove of knowledge about toys — knowledge I could have never amassed without the tireless patience of many, many reviewers!
My most challenging review I've written and why:
The most challenging review I’ve written so far was my review on the FunFactory Cobra Libre. There were two reasons why this was such a difficult review for me. First, my husband eventually came to hate this toy since he could never climax with it, but I was personally very impressed with it. Second, I lacked the male equipment required to test the product in the manner in which it was designed to perform (though my husband did have a brilliant idea that enabled me to test it).
What got me to stay:
Imagine your vision slowly adjusting from the glare of the outside light to reveal a room full of people after wandering into a room you’d assumed was empty! That’s how I felt when I discovered the forum and realized that there was actually a community of people here. I had been so single-mindedly focused on toys that I didn’t realize there was a group of people here observing as I stumbled my way around the site. It may have been the toys that lured me here, but it was the community of friends who got me to stay.
Advice for people just starting out:
I haven’t forgotten the excitement of being new to the adult toy scene, nor have I forgotten how much I appreciated the shared knowledge from those who have been on the scene long enough to become fabled fixtures!
My advice to those who are just starting out is to first read as many reviews as possible on the products that interest you and to always feel free to ask the reviewers questions. You can glean a wealth of information this way. Use this information to help you become a smarter and more informed customer who is increasingly capable of choosing toys with design characteristics that are effective for you. Ask yourself what it is about each toy that you find pleasurable that makes it effective for you. Ask yourself what it is about each toy that you do not enjoy that makes it ineffective for you. There is a natural variation in anatomical structure and physiology, so pay even closer attention to what makes your body unique in responding to pleasure. Narrowing down this type of information will not only be useful to you as a customer in enhancing your own personal pleasure, but it will be also be useful to you as a new reviewer. Don’t forget that your ultimate goal as a reviewer is to help other people to also become smarter and more informed customers. Your reader’s goal is the exact same goal as yours: to find a toy that works for him or her. Never be afraid to share what your opinions and experiences are, but try to elaborate on WHY you have that opinion and what factors impacted your personal experience so that the reader can relate your experience to their own personal experiences.
Most of all, my advice to you is to relax and just soak in the wonder of experiencing new things—and to hold on to that enthusiasm and allow it to grow like wildfire to help motivate others to increase the pleasure in their lives, too!"
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Please join me in welcoming research and Selective Sensualist to the Spotlight, and make sure that you're here on Thursday, January 5th at 8pm EST to ask them both some questions, give them some lovin', and maybe even learn something for yourself while you're at it!
***
Research has been with us since September of 2010, and has stood out as a reliable reviewer with awesome backgrounds in his video reviews. He doesn't put out lots of reviews, but the reviews he does have out are thoroughly ... researched.
"How I found Eden – During my college days I worked at a brick and mortar Adult store in San Jose. It was nothing special, just a small little shop run by a Vietnamese couple on the edge of town. It was an exceedingly boring job punctuated by moments of madness that left me wondering just what the heck I was doing here anyway. While the work was typical retail work, it gave me the opportunity to learn a great deal about the products I sold. Eventually the store and I parted ways but not before I filled my head with a tremendous amount of Adult industry product knowledge. I finished school, got a real job, and minded my own business until one day when poking around online I saw an advertisement for a store I hadn’t heard of before. Naturally I investigated and found Eden. After a cursory glance I nearly left before I spotted the reviews section. Online product reviews are a major part of my current job so I took a look and was amazed. Here was an entire system of reviews, by and for the community, open to all. I knew right away that I had found a place for my knowledge, and that I must be part of this. It wasn’t till later that I even found out about the free toy system.
My hardest review – This may be cliché by now but my hardest review was my first one. I’ve always lived by the idea of “Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.” This is great quality control but it makes it very difficult for me to try new things because unless I know that it is the very best possible thing I can produce, I will not post it. I wrote and discarded several reviews before I decided one met my personal standards and it did pretty well all things considered. I wish I could say it became easier after that but as I’ve spent time here reading reviews and posting on the forums and speaking to you individually I’ve developed a tremendous respect for the people who participate in this community and I feel I owe it to both myself and all of you to do my very best. It’s more important to me now than ever to write good and useful reviews.
The video review program – Imagine my surprise when I came to Eden, signed up as a reviewer, and found out there was a video review program after spending years in the video production industry. I couldn’t believe it, here I could suddenly combine two of my favorite things: Adult toys and making videos. I had written several reviews by this point so I went back and began adding videos to existing reviews to get the hang of it. After that, I began writing reviews just so I could make a new video for them and eventually ended up in Carrie Ann’s special Video Review Program. I love it, video production is my thing and I would love to help any of you with your video troubles."
****
Selective Sensualist is a name you should recognize from our Eden Gives Back program. She's participated in both of the holiday projects we've done, adopting a family each Christmas we've had the program in place so far. She's more active in the forums than she is in the review program, but she's still touched the lives of everybody she's interacted with.
"The best advice another reviewer ever gave me:
It’s impossible to determine which advice was the best out of everything I’ve learned from other reviewers. I have been a thorn in many reviewers’ sides as I pumped them for advice in choosing my next toy amongst a plethora of enticing possibilities. My persistence in asking questions and obsession with reading hundreds of reviews before I became a reviewer myself netted me a treasure trove of knowledge about toys — knowledge I could have never amassed without the tireless patience of many, many reviewers!
My most challenging review I've written and why:
The most challenging review I’ve written so far was my review on the FunFactory Cobra Libre. There were two reasons why this was such a difficult review for me. First, my husband eventually came to hate this toy since he could never climax with it, but I was personally very impressed with it. Second, I lacked the male equipment required to test the product in the manner in which it was designed to perform (though my husband did have a brilliant idea that enabled me to test it).
What got me to stay:
Imagine your vision slowly adjusting from the glare of the outside light to reveal a room full of people after wandering into a room you’d assumed was empty! That’s how I felt when I discovered the forum and realized that there was actually a community of people here. I had been so single-mindedly focused on toys that I didn’t realize there was a group of people here observing as I stumbled my way around the site. It may have been the toys that lured me here, but it was the community of friends who got me to stay.
Advice for people just starting out:
I haven’t forgotten the excitement of being new to the adult toy scene, nor have I forgotten how much I appreciated the shared knowledge from those who have been on the scene long enough to become fabled fixtures!
My advice to those who are just starting out is to first read as many reviews as possible on the products that interest you and to always feel free to ask the reviewers questions. You can glean a wealth of information this way. Use this information to help you become a smarter and more informed customer who is increasingly capable of choosing toys with design characteristics that are effective for you. Ask yourself what it is about each toy that you find pleasurable that makes it effective for you. Ask yourself what it is about each toy that you do not enjoy that makes it ineffective for you. There is a natural variation in anatomical structure and physiology, so pay even closer attention to what makes your body unique in responding to pleasure. Narrowing down this type of information will not only be useful to you as a customer in enhancing your own personal pleasure, but it will be also be useful to you as a new reviewer. Don’t forget that your ultimate goal as a reviewer is to help other people to also become smarter and more informed customers. Your reader’s goal is the exact same goal as yours: to find a toy that works for him or her. Never be afraid to share what your opinions and experiences are, but try to elaborate on WHY you have that opinion and what factors impacted your personal experience so that the reader can relate your experience to their own personal experiences.
Most of all, my advice to you is to relax and just soak in the wonder of experiencing new things—and to hold on to that enthusiasm and allow it to grow like wildfire to help motivate others to increase the pleasure in their lives, too!"
***
Please join me in welcoming research and Selective Sensualist to the Spotlight, and make sure that you're here on Thursday, January 5th at 8pm EST to ask them both some questions, give them some lovin', and maybe even learn something for yourself while you're at it!
