[AGA SC] Another perspective on the AGA "Forum" proposal

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 15:30:24 +0000
From: Bailin Shaw <bailin_shaw@hotmail.com>
To: erik@thekrib.com
Subject: RE: [AGA Member] Re:Re:Aquabotanic Aquascaping Contest--or Taking
    Notice of how things Ad up

Hi Erik,

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll outline a proposal to you at the bottom of 
this email about how we can manage something of this nature.
>
>James Hofteizer proposed this to us just after the convention.  His thesis
>seemed to be that with the AGA name on it, it could be "the" forum for
>aquatic plant discussion.  He had a friend who would give a discount on
>the cost for the first year of connectivity.  However, in discussion we
>were a little iffy on letting someone run something on the AGA name, who
>really wasn't even an AGA member until a month before the convention.
>Aside from that, he didn't really have good answers on who would moderate
>and run the thing aside from himself. We also didn't want to provide yet
>another competing forum with AB *and* our own e-mail lists.  And, of
>course, everyone on the board is fans of e-mail lists & doesn't use forums
>at all, so we don't really have an appropriate bias to approve this yet.
>
James' idea was a good one and one that's echoed by numerous members in the 
AGA.  This is based on the conversations I've had with various people on the 
internet and at the conventions.  The APD has lost its strength with more 
and more newbies posting and the drain of experience to Robert's board has 
been VERY evident.  I think that disturbs me more than anything.  The people 
who post on his board are well respected members of the AGA and their 
combined experience is invaluable to the AGA.  Seeing this move away from 
the organization and in support of someone's commercial entity is troubling. 
  You certainly have two schools of though on the message boards - one in 
favor of the email list and one in favor of the forums.  Maintenance of the 
email list is minimal in my eperience, but the moderation and maintenance of 
the forum takes a little more time.  As for competing forums, I think if the 
AGA members felt like there was a place for them to get together and discuss 
various aspects of the hobby, there wouldn't be an issue of competition.  
Each person gets what they want out of the forum.  Heck, I visit 4-5 in a 
day just to see what's going on and post when I feel like it.  Most of the 
time, I'm just a lurker and pick up information here and there to increase 
my knowledge base.  I think you'd see the same thing here.

>Funding... things are pretty rocky, though we are starting to balance
>things out at last with TAG, with a move to a new printer, so convention
>income should be usable for new projects like this.  I would think,
>though, that the money askpect is the last problem to worry about for
>setting up a forum.  Isn't it more a matter of of having the people to
>keep it running?  I mean, I could go grab an open source BBS program, slap
>it on the AGA site, and there we are!
>
That's where the main issues lies.  For the forum to be sucessful, you need 
someone to manage the site and moderators to keep track of what's posted.  
I'd be willing to bet that if you posted a "help wanted" email to find 
someone to manage the board, you'd get more than enough interest.  Also, I 
think you'd find there are many people who would welcome the opportunity to 
help this organization and act as moderators in the forum.  Again, it's not 
even about competing sites, but someone where members can feel like they're 
part of a community.  And it all comes down to that.  People who are members 
of the AGA don't feel like they gain much value from being members aside 
from the quarterly TAG and attendance at the convention.  On the other hand, 
Robert's forum allows them a place to gather and discuss everything about 
the hobby and it's friendly to both the beginners and experts.  Many 
beginner planted tank hobbyist feel like the AGA is too exclusive for them 
and don't join.  I encourage them whenever I can, but their arguments are 
pretty compelling sometimes.

>So let me ask you.. DFWAPC just started a forum a few months back to
>replace their e-mail list.  I didn't register (again, crochety old
>throwback me), but I am very curious how it's working out.  Are you guys
>getting more participation this way?
>
Our email list and forums have died down some.  We've had a recent surge in 
membership, but since our membership is so limited, participation is often 
very sparse.  Even our email list has slowed trememdously.  Part of this is 
the need for the leadership to push topics and another part is the fact our 
club is made up of numerous beginners who would rather lurk than 
participate.  I do my best to foster conversations, but it's hard sometimes. 
  I think with a larger audience, you're more like to be able to maintain a 
forum that's active and dynamic.

Anyways, food for though.  :-)

Bailin

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