board77

I second Leoba's first sentence:P Give me until next weekend when I'll be home and online more often.

I do want to say though that I'm about how much everyone is contributing.

Rodia , you're anyway!

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Awww, shucks.

Although it's a good idea (sorry ), I gotta say that I think the writing a statement thing is... kinda cheesy.

For the last 2 years I took english, I had a teacher that was incredibly into class bonding (-ing. Not -age. Can't trust all of youse to read properly ) and when we got back from school breaks etc we had to do things like... pick a word that describes our break, and then explain or write a paragraph explaining it in fun poetic detail. That may be the main reason I didn't take it as an Alevel.

Imagine my woe when I got her for a form tutor for the next two years . Every time she gets out a pack of paper so we can do some fun descriptive writing about some issure, I feel like twisting it into a rope and hanging myself.

Of course, that could just be me! But I'm sure there are also other people out there who really wouldn't want to have to explain their reasons for coming onto a board they don't know.

Wouldn't something like, slipping a random question into the... openy detaily thing about the board (I forget the technical term ) be easier? And then once the person joins the board, a PM could be sent out welcoming them and asking for the answer to the question. And if they have no idea what you're talking about you can say "Please go back and read the openy-detaily-thing "... because then at least you'd know they have read it, and if they fuck about they can't blame it on ignorance of what the board is about.

...Again, just me.

And I also think January is waaaayyyy too long away. If we're gonna be inviting whoever, by that time there would be people half of us have never heard of in our lives, so isn't it kind of the same thing?? Except with slightly less guarantee that they're not a troll. But then, if they are... you kick them out.

Why do we need to decide now when to open?

We'll just do it when we feel ready.

Though, like Mummpizz, I like the closed nature - we'd have to get rid of the addresses-thread and stuff like that, too, when we open to the public.

Mummpizz wrote:

, and the board being shut away, it'll be impossible for newbies to guess it.

I think the idea was that the board would be open to read by then, so people getting interested to join after reading could do so - if they are serious enough about it to manage a tiny hurdle.

Ethel, thanks for the explanation - but please don't apologize for your contributions all the time when people contradict you - your views aren't taken as the last word on a question (sorry ), but they are valid points and if someone disagrees they have to say so, otherwise when views are summed up in the end it'll look like everybody agreed because they didn't disagree.

Yeah. Jan 06 is way too long. There is an air of us and them as it is. I'd be happy with, say, Midsummers Day

Thanks for opening this forum, admins! Good idea.

I have to get back to work right now, but I'll try to visit again this evening and summarize some of the topics and choices within the topics from this thread. I think we shold have separate threads for each topic and start dealing with the governance issues concretely and right away.

The little mess with Squiddy has put me on edge a bit. We need a more structured discussion so that we can reach concrete conclusions. I'm all for letting Ethel be our facilitator if she continues to be willing.

Jn

Jnyusa wrote:

I think we shold have separate threads for each topic and start dealing with the governance issues concretely and right away.

I agree completely about the separate threads. That's precisely why I made this forum because I saw those types of threads being scattered elsewhere. Better to keep them together.

I do agree that we need to hammer out the issues of how votes count (as in abtaining) and what exactly a majority is immediately.

People, I’ve been going through the business threads collecting comments that people have made about governance. I’ve tried to isolate broad topics where we need to make a decision, and to formulate questions within each topic based on alternatives that have been suggested.

I’d like to start a thread for each broad topic, but I can’t do them all at once (RL) so I’m going to list the topics here, and just start one thread today “Modding: Decision Thread”

I think it would be a good idea to have discussion of the alternatives, and then perhaps put up a vote for each decision item within the topic so that people can vote anonymously ... in other words, discussion and then secret ballot. When the vote is taken, so that a decision has been made, we can delete the voting threads and collect the various decisions in one place. That collection would then become our constitution ... or whatever we choose to call it.

These are the broad topics as I perceive them. Please feel free to add to the list.

1. When to open board: it seems to me that this is the last decision that we will make because it depends on our being comfortable with the governance decisions we’ve made in other threads.

2. Admins: Decision Thread. This thread is already up and discussion is taking place. At some point we will have narrowed our options to a few decisions and will be ready to vote.

3. Mods: Decision Thread. I’m going to post this directly, and you can see what I have in mind for the process.

4. Registration Process: Decision Thread

5. Invitation Process: Decision Thread. This thread is also up already and the voting process is being discussed. We should be looking to hold a vote on how invitations will be conducted in the immediate future.

5. What to call our document and how it relates to the TOS usually employed by MB’s

Jn

Thanks for pulling all this together Jny and kicking some collective butts. It's very much appreciated.

Yeah, I said I'd be back this weekend, and it's monday.



jny, you're a gem!

Jnyusa wrote:

1. When to open board: it seems to me that this is the last decision that we will make because it depends on our being comfortable with the governance decisions we’ve made in other threads.

Totally agree. We will feel when we are ready to open up. However, having a sort of deadline (November 2005, or whenever) might help us work towards that end with a bit more structure.

The other points seem brilliant to me. I'm going over to the moderation thread, to add my 0.02€...

Thanks, guys. I decided to go ahead and show some initiative. If anything feels 'too soon' to discuss, just say 'too soon' and it can be shelved.

Jn

Jny, thanks for doing this. We do need to sort a lot of things out.

Sorry if my response in the Mods discussion thread is harsh, but it is something I am very concerned about.

But thanks for bringing it up, keep up the good work

Din, that's Ok. I said so in the other thread, too.

For decisions that affect how the board is run, I just think we need a structured discussion and finally a structured vote, so that the question is clear: "Should we create mods?" and you can vote: "no" and there won't be ambiguity about what you or anyone else wants.

The other topic that I haven't put on this list yet is: Can we change our minds? How do we change procedure if it's not working.

Jn

I’m throwing my hat in the ring. It’s a pretty hat. It has sequins and TWO feathers!

Hang on for your life it’s gonna be a long one! I wrote it in WORD! Oooooooo

I’ve poked around this place a bit. I have not been here long but I think I have a decent idea of it’s history and the hope of moving forward. I have read countless times that no one wants to go in the direction that would make this board a TORC2 that only holds interest with those who are unhappy with TORC. Steps are being taken to ensure that it doesn’t happen. Questions are being asked.

What is my experience on the matter besides the obvious? Let me tell you about my experience with TechnoFetish. TF started out pretty much as a whim on my part about 2 months or so ago. I am also getting somewhat bored with TORC and wanted another board to go to. So I built one. Some of the people here are members there.

For the first time it was an InvisionFree board because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it or what direction I wanted to go in. I suckered TORCers that I knew were interested in technology over there. They brought some friends. I tweaked as it went. Adding this or that and always looking for ways to get new members. I read a load on running forums from various websites. It quickly became apparent that I wanted to grow. I wanted TF to really be successful. I realized I would quickly outgrow the free service I was on so I moved to my own service and rebuilt the site in my own way. The people followed. After 2 weeks I have had 2026 unique site views and my board has 25 users. I have had a phone call from Smarter.com about the possibility of adding their comparison shopping to my review section in a partnership that may have been lucrative to me. During that call I was asked some tough questions. What is TechnoFetish? What is your focus? What do you want it to be? That was a week ago and I have thought and researched those questions after it was decided that my site was too young to add their content. I decided that I mostly wanted to focus on reviews and adjusted accordingly.

What is Board77? What does it focus on? What kind of board does it want to be? What kind of person is their member base? What kind of person do you hope to attract?

With all the talk of management this question has yet to be answered and I feel it is an important one. Different sites are managed differently depending on their content. Content is what should drive you. Content is the key.

Let me make up an answer. Let’s say it is decided that this place will focus on RP with some off-topic chat. What do RPers need? What challenges do they face? Should the forums be refocused according to the decided on focus? More RP forums and less chat?

1. What is the focus of this board?
2. Can this board grow on this free service in the direction we want?
3. What look and feel should this board have in order to be attractive?
4. How can the forums be refocused towards our new goal?
5. What changes need to be made to reach our goal?

All these questions should be answered before opening up the board or even inviting new members for the simple reason that making these changes will disrupt the board. I feel disrupting as few people as possible is probably a good idea. Also when you do open those doors you will be ready. You will know who you are. The content will be there for others to add to.

Content is the key.

So, er, tell me, Squid, you have an extra brain in each of those eight tentacles, right?

Wow. Thanks, Squiddy!

SOO much to chew on in that post of yours!

I don't even know where to start in answering it, so I'll leave that for those who have been here longer.

Squiddy, not bad for a n00bie. Not bad at all.

I know my view, but putting it into words will take some time.

Excellent questions, Squiddy!

We've talked about all of those issues here and there without reaching conclusions.

I don't think there needs to be one focus only, because the members here seem to be in camps of different interest. The content-oriented forums so far are RP, Book, and Movies.

My first reaction on coming here was that we should grow the RP first, but RPers tell me it takes a long time to grow RP. The threads require a lot of planning and the posts require a lot of effort!

We've got a host of M00bies here and coming. Perhaps we could charge them with the task of building the Movie forum.

I think that we lack a certain critical mass at this point ... for example, I know that TrueHobbit and Teremia are also Book Denizens on Torc, but it's hard to spend lots of time in that forum because it lacks momentum. Momentum will pick up when there are more members interested in that kind of discussion ... and more time to devote to that.

There is a sort of 'language arts' feel to these three forums - people who like to read, and to write, and to see word-based creation translated to the screen. And the other thing that is true of B77 is that the members who are here now did all meet one another through a mutual affection for Tolkien. I'm personally caught up in the governance issues right now because the board is already too big to be the brainchild of one person, and we want a democracy (more complicated to design than it looks!), but I do feel that something of the spirit of Tolkien is what drives this board, because we all seem to have the same set of expectation for our community - we want it to be fair and merciful and nurturing as well as entertaining.

Jn