Quiet

[Marc]

It's getting a little quiet in here... I'm sure you guys have something on your minds!

[lmanchur.]

Well, here's something: it's clear Canada's election process is better than yours down there!

We just finished our election in SIX HOURS.

By my calculations, you guys took over FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY HOURS to calculate your ballots, and we did ALL the ballots by hand to begin with, instead of using some fancy computer-type machine and then recounting these little cards with a hole bunch of tiny half-punched holes in them!

A White House spokesman, Jake Siewert, jokingly said, "Is that final, or have the absentee ballots from Florida come yet?" (see the full article here (http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/electionview.cgi?/news/2000/11/28/clinton001128))

Yes, it's final... we did it right the first time.

[Wedge231]

Yeah, GO BUSH!

[jamesglewisf]

It's been quiet over at FrappyDoo! too. I think it is just the holiday season. Everybody is busy.

[jamesglewisf]

This is just feedback and brainstorming, so please don't take it the wrong way.

Marc, you may need to be personally a little more active and pro-active. I think I've made about 315 posts at FrappyDoo since November 6, 2000. That's more than your top five posters (you and 4 moderators) combined.

You may also need a little more participation from your moderators. My top four moderators have made 820 posts since November 6.

We try to start lots of new threads to get people interested.

We are a general interest board, not a specific interest one. That may have something to do with it.

The hard truth of the matter is that it is difficult to build a board. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Patience is necessary for building a new board, and I don't have much of it.

[iFroggy]

Mr. Lewis,

With all due respect sir, I think that the situation of SC, and the situation of FrappyDoo! can not be compared in any way shape or form. You are correct about general interest, with that many topics it gives people many, many things and subjects to post about.

And after doing some research, since 11/06 you have made 15 (Could be off my one or two) posts at your sports board with most of them being all in one topic with only two topics actually being started since the 6th, and zero by yourself. If there is a comparison to be made, this is it.

I believe that no comparison should be made, because you spend your time posting in all boards, not just sports. I am just proving my point that, there can't be any comparison here.

The moderators moderate individual sports, and I feel that some of them are not doing the best job possible, but some a doing a pretty good job, and I'd like to think I am doing a good job myself. I have started 7 topics since 11/06 and have made 65 posts, possibly not as much as I should have, but still nothing to be ashamed of.

Furthermore, after doing some calculating, I have figured out that your Top 5 posters have accounted for 60% of your total posts since the boards opening. Interestingly enough, the Top 5 posters at SC have also accounted for about 60% of the total forum posts.

[Marc]

Jim,

Your thoughts, despite the nature of them, are appreciated. Let me try to address your points. Thanks to Patrick for helping.

I don't feel I personally need to be more active here than I currently am. I have over 130 posts in a few weeks and I reply to almost all of the subjects and try to start new ones when I see it appropriate. It is not my number one priority to post here night and day - running and maintaining Sports Central comes first and foremost. The reason I appoint moderators is exactly that - to monitor these boards.

One thing I do admit is several of our moderators need to be more active. I can not decline this, but I can praise several of them who are doing an excellent job. We need them to tell everyone about these boards and we can expand much more quickly.

Regarding your post about how you've made more posts at FraggyDoo! since Nov. 6th, that is not a valid comparison in my mind. You are comparing forums that have been up a while to ones that just started. We lost all of our members and posts from the old boards and there was some recovery time. You have a larger member base at this point and time, so it's obvious you have more posts.

It's hard to find good moderators, and while our quest continues to find more active moderators, we can keep up with what we're doing here and praise the good jobs some of our moderators are doing.

Thanks.

Originally posted by jamesglewisf
This is just feedback and brainstorming, so please don't take it the wrong way.

Marc, you may need to be personally a little more active and pro-active. I think I've made about 315 posts at FrappyDoo since November 6, 2000. That's more than your top five posters (you and 4 moderators) combined.

You may also need a little more participation from your moderators. My top four moderators have made 820 posts since November 6.

We try to start lots of new threads to get people interested.

We are a general interest board, not a specific interest one. That may have something to do with it.

The hard truth of the matter is that it is difficult to build a board. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Patience is necessary for building a new board, and I don't have much of it.

[jamesglewisf]

I'm not a big sports guy. I like going to games and following my teams, but I really know nothing about the draft, college teams, high school players, etc--the kind of stuff real sports fans know. That's why I don't have more posts in my sports forum or here. I added a sports forum to frappydoo! because a lot of guys like sports, and I'm trying to get more guys to join.

My ideas for how to grow a board are from SitePoint. Wayne Luke gave them to me when I became a moderator there. I thought they helped my board, so I was sharing them with you. They were meant to be constructive criticisms, not personal attacks.

[Marc]

Jim, we understand, and we didn't take it personal, at least I didn't. I think our boards have a general interest, too, although not as broad as yours. We thank you for your suggestions and time. :)

[iFroggy]

I certainly didn't take offense. Have a good weekend. :)