I am still fairly new at this hobby (2 months only) so please forgive me if my ideas are naive, stupid, or discussed. The OP about best restaurants in LA got me thinking. It seems we have quite a few foodies here. I would enjoy a meal at any one of those restaurants that were recommended. I thought it may be nice if some of us could get to get together for a lunch/dinner and trade some "war stories". I have also read some posts complaining about the accuracy of age, look, performance, etc. on TER. I started to wonder if there's anything that we could do to improve the rating system. Since there's Wine Advocates and Wine and Wine Spectator that rate wines, we could do the same for our hobby if some of us are interested. Instead of trading "war stories", the meal could be turned into a pleasant meeting for like minded hobbyists to discuss reviews. They could nominate the best writer to become the reviewer. Others could provide the input for him to write the review for the LA community. If each review is verified by 2 hobbyist before it's written then it should be more accurate. Will there be enough people who would be willing to participate? Will there be enough people willing to read those reviews? What do you think?

Personally, inflated reviews and inaccurate age don't bother me that much. At worst, I can just leave from the appointment. Normally, it just mean I overpay a little for the service. The upside is the provider usually knows she's overpaid and puts in extra effort to please me so the experience is usually quite enjoyable. I just like to see TER becomes a better tool for us, hobbyists and providers alike. With the inaccuracy of rating, it's more difficult for the truly outstanding providers to stand out.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I hope you will take the time to post what you think.

There are occasional meet and greets which you may want to consider, but they involve providers, so that may not be what you are looking for.  A lot of guys want to keep a low profile, so getting us in a room together might be pretty hard to do, especially if there's no chance of getting laid.  I've been at this for years and have never met a fellow hobbyist and never want to.  I don't even want to see a guy leaving an incall.  But some guys might be more open to socializing.

As for the rating and review system;  don't  waste another drop of energy trying to change things.  Stay in the game for a few years and you'll understand why.

Nevertheless, hope you get as much pleasure out of hobbying as I have.  You'll be surprised how much your perspective on the hobby will change over the years.

PM me - just moved to west coast area, not exactly in LA but close enough to make this happen...

That's in reference to me and other clients.  I get into email correspondence and the occasional phone call, but that's about it.  I don't really wanna meet other guys in person and talk about stories with other providers.

All of that can be done over email and/or a phone call.

Just my two cents.  That's one reason I would personally never attend a meet/greet, either.

Thanks, that sounds like good advice. Actually, I share your preference to keep it low profile. I just thought if there's so many people unhappy with the current system then maybe they would like to do something about it.

I value my anonymity also, but I thought maybe someone who's not happy with the rating system might want to do something about it. It seems I was wrong. I guess the current system is good enough for the vast majority of LA hobbyists (including me for the time being).

Unfortunately, the rating system is often a self-serving vehicle for people with their own agendas.  You will learn whose reviews to trust.  There are some honest guys on here who make solid contributions.  Then there are those who gum up the system with 9's and 10's for girls who are 6's and 7's.

Make some solid connections through back channels and you will find what you are looking for.