This post is in reaction to this one by @personz, which was (not my words) inspired by a post of mine. I suggest you read @personz post first.
I'm thinking about something like real guilds in the old sense of the word, say, as an example, a photography guild (how did I come up with that one?).
Like-minded photographers who appreciate each others work could make an invitation-only community, and invite new members (and kick out members) by unanimous vote. Infighting stays within the guild and doesn't disturb everyone. Membership would be voluntary, of course, and more than one guild covering the same subjects or interests could exist.
Members can make each other's rewards more smooth and predictable by sharing all rewards they get for their individual posts, without having to give up posting as an individual. This also helps oddball photographers who don't regularly get whale love, but are appreciated for their work by the community. The total income of such a guild would still depend on the quality of the individual postings as determined by the whole of Steemit voting.
Good photographers who are new on Steemit could be actively searched for and invited (real, old-school guilds would have called them apprentices 8-), taken under the wings of the guild, and they will start getting some rewards immediately because of the reward sharing, making it more likely they will stay on Steemit, and also making the current type of guilds less necessary.
A spokesperson for the guild could be chosen to communicate with the (financial, engineering, etc.) powers that be on Steemit and the rest of the outside world.
The guild as a whole could start selling their best photos (preferably for Steem) for use on websites in the real world, adding to the guild's income and possibly hike up the price of Steem.
This is not a functional spec yet, but it's a start. I would like to see the Steemit interface's enabling such cooperative groups (beyond mere communities) to get an alternative to the current underlying economic model without having to change the underlying economic model. It would give people the opportunity to cooperate rather than compete, or even build small companies, and have more fun.
Thanks for reading. Comments very welcome.
I'm not in the habit of naming names for the sake of getting someone's attention, but I would greatly appreciate @stellabelle's view on this.