Ok.Feedback and suggestions it is then!

[97forever]

1.I love this place first off.It beats the heck out of other internet activities in my book.Certainly a good way to exercise the old brain cells.

2.Ok,you computer geeks/wizards...I am a carpenter and have little idea of what is required to 'run' a place like this.Not real sure of the goal of a forum such as this one is other than just the free and fun exchange of ideas.At any rate,I am EXCLUSIVE to THIS forum...not one of those board hoppers that jumps from forum to forum.If a goal of a forum is to keep folks interested in the particular forum board of question....this one keeps my interest and succeeds with me personally.(At least exclusive to the subject matter,I mean.I.E:I am on other NON-racing forums,but only this one for racing.)

3.It helps,IMO,to have a fairly visible presence from the "forum running guy".I admit,when I first came on board here I was not used to having a 'mod' be as involved as Paul was.Kinda thought it would stifle the free opinion process.Turns out I was wrong.Having a 'sheriff' was a positive thing in the long term it seems.Kept the peace a bit more.(Well,even if our particular 'sheriff' DID add a little controversy from time to time! )

4.The one thing I like the most about this forum is how 'reliable' the membership is.By that I mean I jump on in the afternoons and see the same comfortable 'ol posters!Some are more frequent than others,but you start feeling almost like you 'know' these folks.THAT to me should be a goal of a forum board.As sentimental and corny as it sounds....it gives this place a 'family feel.'So guys and galsONT just drop outta sight without at least saying goodbye,ok?Us regulars start to worry.(Hope you read this HS.)

5.But on the other hand,of a fairly large registered membership only a relative few post with any regularity.Maybe thats good or maybe it's bad but still it would add a little interest to have a little more participation from the 90% of the membership who never say anything.(Not at all trying to sound offensive,but damn,someone out there lurking has GOT to agree with me! :lol: )

6.And we used to have a chat room on here.That was a lot of fun and helped everyone get to feel more like the other posters were 'live' people.Really added a bit to the interesting discussions/arguements we sometimes have on here.Now possibly this is next to impossible due to bandwidth consideration or financial limitations or something.Frankly,I don't know.Just throwing ideas around.

7.Some sort of tribute to all the #97 cars from Red Farmer thru Chad and Kurt would sure be nice!It would look beautiful across the top of the board for instance.Who knows,maybe some of our 90% of 'silent' members are closet Kurt Busch fans!WE could be as plentiful as #24 this and #8 that!Think on that,man.KURT_RULES,ELF- EARS FOREVER,RUBBERHEAD97,etc.Man I would love to see those names! :lol: :lol:

8.Keep the smilies if you can.We all love 'em.
9.Keep the quote feature too.Bowtie loves it.

10.Keep up the good work Sam and Fury and all the old timers like TRL and Nascarwoman.And a tip of my old Greg Biffle CTS champ hat to Paul one final time!!

 

[Highboy90]

Originally posted by 97forever@Jun 24 2003, 04:42 PM
6. And we used to have a chat room on here.That was a lot of fun and helped everyone get to feel more like the other posters were 'live' people.Really added a bit to the interesting discussions/arguements we sometimes have on here.Now possibly this is next to impossible due to bandwidth consideration or financial limitations or something.Frankly,I don't know.Just throwing ideas around.

Actually, a chat room can be had which will use very little bandwidth (simple page load) and is free. It also can be set up with a password so only members use it while helping to keep the riff-raff out. This works great as long as members keep the password to themselve.

Using a free chat room provided by parachat.com which is fairly reliable along with "GateKeeper" will do the trick.

 

[Ward Burton]

I love the quote feature and all the smilies. We all use those quite a bit. I like how when you come to the forums, you know that there will be many posts to catch up on, and converse about. The reason why I stick around here mostly I would say Is because everyone here is just about nice...everyone respects each other, even If they have different favorite drivers. Like the Robby Gordon and Dale Jr. fans...I dont like either driver, but I still act intelligently with their fans and I can have good conversations even with a BODINE fan!!! ( If we had any! :lol: )

 

[DeeDee]

You were doing so well 97forever...than you got to #7! Maybe if it was for Smoke... Seriously, I think you made some great points. I don't think I ever went in the chatroom but that would be interesting. And you do really get to know people on here. It's a good place to spend some free time.
Thanks Sam and Fury for keeping us up and running.

 

[Highboy90]

Originally posted by 97forever@Jun 24 2003, 04:42 PM
3. It helps, IMO, to have a fairly visible presence from the "forum running guy". I admit, when I first came on board here I was not used to having a 'mod' be as involved as Paul was. Kinda thought it would stifle the free opinion process. Turns out I was wrong. Having a 'sheriff' was a positive thing in the long term it seems. Kept the peace a bit more. (Well, even if our particular 'sheriff' DID add a little controversy from time to time!)

Some people do not like "moderation" but I find it necessary in many cases on most forums. Especially where heated debates are bound to happen from time to time.

You need to have members who help steer the forums in a positive direction. Moderators who help members while at the same time contribute to the community, keeping things fresh, moving forward, growing. Members who respect the privilege to participate in forum discussions while at the same time understanding what lines are not to be crossed and what is considered acceptable behavior. I know, not an easy task.

 

[97forever]

Well put Highboy.I really enjoy a good heated debate....but within the bounds of good tastes.And I would think from an 'outside'(Forum knowledge) point of view that the mix of the members would be critical to the overall success.

I think either my very first or second post on THIS forum was asking about the role of the moderator.I really,really had a lot of reservations about that aspect.I could just see a 'Gordhardt' fan kicking me off after the first week or so.I realized a 'moderator' was needed after the old TR forum...just didn't know how the balance would work out.Even ask Paul in chat once if he considered himself more of a race fan....or more of a moderator.Turns out he was a pretty good mix of both,which as you pointed out,was probably not an easy job.

Anyway I am now a pretty big fan of the moderated forum,as long as it is balanced with free expression within tasteful boundaries.