For those of you who don’t yet know me, my name is Lauren and I’m FixYa.com’s new community manager. I’m going to be working to make FixYa the best place it possibly can be, kicking out the riffraff, and fostering more interaction among our great group of Experts. I’ve been hanging out in the Expert Lounge the last couple of days, familiarizing myself with the issues that are most troublesome to you guys. I’m seeing the same general categories of complaints over and over again:

• The number of “BS Experts” on the site.
• The difficulty in understanding how FixYa deals with payments and refunds.
• The confusing Expert ranking system.
• The seemingly arbitrary “best solution” designation.

Eliminating the “BS Experts” is at the top of my list. We have already banned a few and I have a list of many more that will be receiving warnings. The other issues are going to take us a little longer to deal with. FixYa is a growing company that doesn’t have the manpower to immediately implement change, but we want you to know that your issues aren’t falling upon deaf ears. In the meantime, I think that it will help both you and us if I make our policies a little bit clearer.

Generally I’d be insulted if someone told me I was getting wider, but FixYa really has increased its width to make way for new features, contests and promotional opportunities. We’ve sharpened our corners and our minds to further highlight our talented experts. Let us know what you think below.

As always, thanks for your support and for being a part of this great community. If you’ve got questions or would like to suggest a featured expert, email lauren[at]fixya.com.

FixYa has some pretty outstanding experts. One such expert, Ekse, is a 20-year-old information technology student with 3692 FixYa solutions logged in his name. We were lucky enough to get an interview:

Q: Tell us about yourself:
A: I live in Finland, Turku. It’s a beautiful city. (see above picture) I have a background in computer repair and resale. I have had an interest in electronics and computers for a long time now. My father works in cars and back when I was very young I was “helping” my father in fixing his cars, I learned many lessons back then. So my strong interest in electronics and computers started and I have been taking things apart and putting them back together ever since. Right now I make my living from computers and customer service, while continuing my studies.

My dad would think it was hilarious if someone told him he was living a green lifestyle. He’s the guy who’d come to the dinner table in a mechanic smock covered in grease and steer the conversation towards sports and muscle cars. Still, he’s been rebuilding motorcycles, rewiring the kitchen, dredging yards, and slapping up drywall for over 45 years. While I’d never tell him, I know my dad is an accidental environmentalist because, just like our community of folks who fix, repair and mod their belongings, he’s keeping broken products out of landfills.

As a kid I remember passing my father wrenches and soldering tools as he lay in coveralls beneath his fixer-upper car of the month. He’d rebuilt an old Mustang convertible, a Thunderbird, and a black 1959 El Camino. The year I turned 16-years-old, he had enough foresight to find me the slowest 1986 Chevette hatchback to ever grace the road – it was like driving a gigantic hamster-powered potato.

That being said, the great thing about having a hideous car is that you are not afraid to attempt to resuscitate it. There’s the old saying, “Give a man a fish; you’ve fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.”