pauljmcnulty
Active member
I hope at least one person spots the 944-relevant title there. A small prize for the first correct answer! [
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Can I quote from the "farewell" thread, sorry Nick for pinching your comment but I think it was very well written.
Whilst I think it's rare that we have bust-ups (or should that be busts-up? [8|]) here, it's always a shame when two forum stalwarts get personal. Even worse when people, who've contributed a lot, up and leave.
With a review underway into the Club's IT, including plans for a new website and, probably, more integrated forums, and the Worker's Conference in a couple of weeks, perhaps now is a good time to ask for ideas and views as to how the 944 area, and the forum in general, moves forward and improves?
My thoughts, speaking personally and not as admin, are:
We have a mature forum here, that's different in "tone" to something like PH. Whilst that's all good, I think we run a risk of ending up as a bunch of old fogies in ever-dwindling numbers if we don't welcome new owners. They might be younger, they might post from phones where fat fingers make spelling and grammar mistakes, but that doesn't mean that 944 buyers are becoming "chavs". Should we keep enforcing the tighter rules on posts, or let people get away with the silly mis-spelt swear words, for instance? It might sound petty, but if people want a polite forum then that's what we have to give them.
We have some very knowledgeable people here. The day someone is patronised because they aren't as clever, don't know as much about 944s, or couldn't change a fuse if their life depended on it (that's me, BTW [&o]), I think we should all go home. But, when someone actually knows something they also shouldn't be criticised. Challenged and questioned, perhaps, but respect people for sharing their knowledge.
Traders are a big problem with our current rules. We have an absolute "no ads" rule, but we can't expect specialists to advise when every post has to be moderated to avoid any commercial aspects. Plenty of people are being allowed some degree of flexibility here, but what would this forum be without Type 911, Elliot, Jon Mitchel, any number of others. Should we be creating some sort of "trader" forum status to encourage more specialists on?
Club members and guests [&o]. This will come up whenever I raise forum issues at a Club conference, as there is almost a 50/50 split between people wanting a Club-only forum, and those like me who know it would be the death of the Club's online presence, and would change the Club's whole future for the worse. How do you "guests" view the Club, the forum, and what you get here for free? Should we open it to advertising, so everyone effectively pays for it, or is it just an expectation that we provide you a free forum? I think it adds value to Club members to have it open to non-members, and have worked to keep the "for sale" forum open to all for that reason, but I'd welcome your comments.
Lastly, and perhaps this might raise hackles (which isn't the intention), why have this forum and the Tipec 944 area become almost carbon-copies? If you view the first page of both, the chances are it's the same people posting the same questions. We used to have a great releationship when Sean was active with his 944, and every PH thread, for example, was replied to with mentions of both Tipec and PCGB. That's changed recently, and you might have seen my constant reminders that there are two forums, both free to everyone, where the Tipec guy always "forgets" to mention us. What do you guys want the two forums to offer? Should they be different, should they be more closely linked by us working together, or should we be creating something totally different here so there is a choice?
So. Over to you. Your comments would be very useful, please feel free to email me if you'd rather, 944@porscheclubgb.com, but I think we have a very supportive Board at the moment and now would be a good time to plan for the future. We have a great community, it's a shame when we have bad feelings flying around, but we need to be constantly moving on if we are to stay relevant IMO. []
]Can I quote from the "farewell" thread, sorry Nick for pinching your comment but I think it was very well written.
Whilst I think it's rare that we have bust-ups (or should that be busts-up? [8|]) here, it's always a shame when two forum stalwarts get personal. Even worse when people, who've contributed a lot, up and leave.
With a review underway into the Club's IT, including plans for a new website and, probably, more integrated forums, and the Worker's Conference in a couple of weeks, perhaps now is a good time to ask for ideas and views as to how the 944 area, and the forum in general, moves forward and improves?
My thoughts, speaking personally and not as admin, are:
We have a mature forum here, that's different in "tone" to something like PH. Whilst that's all good, I think we run a risk of ending up as a bunch of old fogies in ever-dwindling numbers if we don't welcome new owners. They might be younger, they might post from phones where fat fingers make spelling and grammar mistakes, but that doesn't mean that 944 buyers are becoming "chavs". Should we keep enforcing the tighter rules on posts, or let people get away with the silly mis-spelt swear words, for instance? It might sound petty, but if people want a polite forum then that's what we have to give them.
We have some very knowledgeable people here. The day someone is patronised because they aren't as clever, don't know as much about 944s, or couldn't change a fuse if their life depended on it (that's me, BTW [&o]), I think we should all go home. But, when someone actually knows something they also shouldn't be criticised. Challenged and questioned, perhaps, but respect people for sharing their knowledge.
Traders are a big problem with our current rules. We have an absolute "no ads" rule, but we can't expect specialists to advise when every post has to be moderated to avoid any commercial aspects. Plenty of people are being allowed some degree of flexibility here, but what would this forum be without Type 911, Elliot, Jon Mitchel, any number of others. Should we be creating some sort of "trader" forum status to encourage more specialists on?
Club members and guests [&o]. This will come up whenever I raise forum issues at a Club conference, as there is almost a 50/50 split between people wanting a Club-only forum, and those like me who know it would be the death of the Club's online presence, and would change the Club's whole future for the worse. How do you "guests" view the Club, the forum, and what you get here for free? Should we open it to advertising, so everyone effectively pays for it, or is it just an expectation that we provide you a free forum? I think it adds value to Club members to have it open to non-members, and have worked to keep the "for sale" forum open to all for that reason, but I'd welcome your comments.
Lastly, and perhaps this might raise hackles (which isn't the intention), why have this forum and the Tipec 944 area become almost carbon-copies? If you view the first page of both, the chances are it's the same people posting the same questions. We used to have a great releationship when Sean was active with his 944, and every PH thread, for example, was replied to with mentions of both Tipec and PCGB. That's changed recently, and you might have seen my constant reminders that there are two forums, both free to everyone, where the Tipec guy always "forgets" to mention us. What do you guys want the two forums to offer? Should they be different, should they be more closely linked by us working together, or should we be creating something totally different here so there is a choice?
So. Over to you. Your comments would be very useful, please feel free to email me if you'd rather, 944@porscheclubgb.com, but I think we have a very supportive Board at the moment and now would be a good time to plan for the future. We have a great community, it's a shame when we have bad feelings flying around, but we need to be constantly moving on if we are to stay relevant IMO. [
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