1.Classes, workshops and seminars – We have some experts so why not see if some are willing to share their expertise? This could be done via private groups or public groups, a series of articles, etc.
I reckon I'm not alone in enjoying learning and if I had the opportunity to learn about, say, British history from a British Newsviner I'd jump at that chance. Better still maybe someone can teach us about world history and that would tie in nicely with my goal to make Newsvine more international

2.More Vine Meets – I think this is already happening, with several being planned now post-Philly Vine meet, but it bears emphasis because Vinemeets are not just about getting together and getting drunk. Rather Vine Meets increase the community aspect of this site, especially for those attending said Vine meet. I think Vine Meets can also deter some flamefests because people will be less likely to flame someone who they met and, hopefully, liked.

3.A comment tracker that works 99 percent of the time instead of telling me one second I have 0 comments and the next telling me I have 37. Nuff said about that.

4.Some code of ethics for us as citizen journalists. This is probably the one most likely to get criticized by some. What do we need such a code for since we have a code of honor already? Because the COH covers how we act when posting and seeding but not on how we go about collecting information for articles. I suspect that the way I chase after an article, an interview, how much sourcing I use and how much I attribute will differ from how others here would do that. Does that make me better? Of course not. But I think it'd be good for those of us producing journalism for Newsvine to be on the same page.

I fleshed out these ideas more at Calvin's piece on professional and amateur journalism.

As I note there I suspect MSNBC, like most news organizations, has some kind of a code of ethics that covers its journalists. Now that we are – like it or not – part of MSNBC should we not do something to deter those here who may be shills, or who might decide to make up sources or report something based on a single unreliable source? Do we want a story to appear on MSNBC only to find out later that the author pulled a James Frey or Jayson Blair and made up half of the information presented as factual? I think it's better to be proactive rather than reactive in ensuring we have some journalism ethics here. Just because we don't like to think of ourselves as being part of the mainstream news media - whatever that means - and just because some consider us "class whores" doesn't mean we shouldn't have ethics guidelines like the MSM does.

5. Newsvine swag – hats, sweat-shirts, shot glasses (perfect for use during Newsvine drinking games). I want to give credit where credit is due so this idea is all Killfile's. Instead of having to choose between getting paid or donating money to charity how about if we could instead use some or all of that money to buy Newsvine products? This would also serve as a good way for Newsvine, and Newsviners, to promote the site.

6More integration of photographs. Although we have the potential to do a great deal with the photo feature I'd estimate that most of the time, with the exception of events like Vine Meets, most of the photos used with article are not taken by Newsviners. Well, why not? Surely I'm not the only one who likes to take photos.
One Internet community I belong to picks one or two days a year for what they call DayPix, as in everyone takes photos on the same day. The result is sort of like a Day In the Life of (insert name of user.) If there is interest I'll coordinate and publicize it. The idea, put simply, is we'd all take photos of our life on a previously selected date and then we can post the results in our own articles.

7. We do a lot of great things here but I, for one, would love to see more debates. It could be sort of like this back and forth about television programming.
I'd even volunteer to help set up debates.
These could run as two separate articles, e.g. pro and con, or as one big article.

Sample debate topics:
Is it "throwing away your vote" to vote for an independent candidate
Will we ever get back the liberties lost during the Bush administration?
Will athletes be risking their health if they participate in the Olympics in China?
Are network news anchors becoming irrelevant?
Are we born good or evil?
You know, the usual easy questions