OFFICIAL POLL: SEPARATE OFF-TOPIC FORUM?

[glauber]

Even though the poll results are pretty clear, I with they were more lopsided. It's a tough call.

It looks like you have a mandate now, Dale!

[Walden]

I was thinking last night that having a "socialization" board (or "pub," or whatever you choose to call it) might have the advantage of bringing in people who normally post only on, say, the flute or pipes forums...people who might not normally come to this board because they think of it as "the whistle board." I don't know how many people there are who post only on the specialty boards, but I do know that on the few occasions when I visit those other boards, I see unfamiliar names. Might be a way of fostering relations among a more diverse population.

Redwolf

Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think that IF a separate forum is made, it ought not be called an OT forum, but a General Forum. I'd just generally feel less comfortable telling people they HAVE to post this or that in another section.

Another matter that has been puzzling me is, if a separate forum were made, would all the old OT threads be transferred there? That would be a major undertaking, especially the ones not labeled "OT." Otherwise, would perennially resurrected threads, like "Cutie Pie" be forced to die?

[Walden]

Even though the poll results are pretty clear, I with they were more lopsided. It's a tough call.

It looks like you have a mandate now, Dale!

It's not as if there were protections against ballot-box stuffing.

[norseman]

Even though the poll results are pretty clear, I with they were more lopsided. It's a tough call.

It looks like you have a mandate now, Dale!

It's not as if there were protections against ballot-box stuffing.

Not sure what you mean here. I thought each registered user could only vote in a poll once. Is that not true?

[rich]

It's not as if there were protections against ballot-box stuffing.

There are, unless you come along and register a bunch of new accounts with unique but working email addresses. There hasn't been a rash of account creation in the last few days (we average about five a day, and it's been just below that lately).

But generally the safeguards are

• You can't vote without registering;
• You can only vote once per account;
• Accounts must have unique email addresses;
• Those email addresses must actually get mail to the person registering, so they can activate the account.

It's possible that someone's been setting up sock-puppet accounts over a long period of time to avoid being noticed, and they're using them all to vote now, but nothing indicates that in the record of who has voted (which is kept per-user in the database).

Cheers,
--Rich

[TonyHiggins]

Boy, I just spotted this thread this eve for the first time. I'd like to see the big board stay the way it is and see a separate 'strictly whistle' board in addition. I occasionally go on long-winded dissertations on whistle playing/learning, but sometimes, I've decided to not bother because I figured the effort would drift downstream too quickly to be worth my time. (You decide if that's good or bad.)

I'm thinking that there is potential for a whistle board to develop threads of importance related to playing. (They might develop if they stayed on page 1 long enough.) There are a number of experienced players who rarely post on whistle playing. Maybe that would change. Maybe, I'd get something out of it if it changed. There are topics that could be hashed out to the benefit of any interested that are not covered in books or tutorials. And if the 'faq' type questions newbies ask were readily accessible, that wouldn't be so bad.
Tony

[blackhawk]

Now if we could just count the votes of all those who have left C&F because of all the OT posting.

Good point. Somebody start a poll at G.C.

Actually most of the GC folks are the same folks still posting here. I meant those who have left the boards altogether. There's no way to count them, but I think the number would be significant, and it's a shame.

[Darwin]

I occasionally go on long-winded dissertations on whistle playing/learning, but sometimes, I've decided to not bother because I figured the effort would drift downstream too quickly to be worth my time.

C'mon Dale, let's do it. I need to see what Tony has to say.

After all, that's the kind of thing I pay those big C&F dues for, isn't it?

[Walden]

It's possible that someone's been setting up sock-puppet accounts over a long period of time to avoid being noticed, and they're using them all to vote now, but nothing indicates that in the record of who has voted (which is kept per-user in the database).

That's what I was suggesting, though I wasn't terribly serious.

[Walden]

Now if we could just count the votes of all those who have left C&F because of all the OT posting.

Good point. Somebody start a poll at G.C.

Actually most of the GC folks are the same folks still posting here. I meant those who have left the boards altogether. There's no way to count them, but I think the number would be significant, and it's a shame.

Okay. I can stop posting to OT threads, if it's driving people away.... oops... I should've not posted to this one.

[Brian Lee]

There's a chat room already set up. Been there for years. Use that for general discussion.

I'm with Loren in that the WHISTLE board should be more or less centered around the discussion of WHISTLES. If you want to chat about the other sundry things in life, there are plenty of chat rooms, political discussion boards, religious forums, vegan and cannibalistic sanctuaries, underwater basket weaving tutorials, and how to home breed gorilla clinics etc. etc. etc to visit all over the web..

I find something to appreciate and respect about all opinions, but there's no way I'm going to do anything to discourage OT posts to the forum in general. This is really only a discussion about whether OT posts and strictly whistle-related posts ought to be separated.

Even though the poll results are pretty clear, I with they were more lopsided. It's a tough call.

OK, I think I missed the point of what was being asked then Dale, and I appologize. I thought it was a generaly agreed upon sentiment that the OT posts were growing at a rate and to a point that the generally whistle related topic of this forum was lost. I don't think any and all OT's should cease and decist, but instead should think before they post how appropriate it is, relative to the identity of the forum. There is So much going on here that as I said before, I rarely peruse the page, and even more rarely will post to a thread. Perhaps I should fade away into the sunset as so many others have. Yeah, perhaps that's best.

[toughknot]

*This is sort of OT, too, but the only regret I have about the success of the board, and this is somewhat selfish, is that it has made it SO much harder to do newsletters, which I really have enjoyed doing. I think this is why I've dropped down to doing a newsletter every 4-6 weeks. (Some of you veterans will remember that I once did them just about weekly). Before the board got going, I got a ton of email with real news and opinion about whistles. Now, I get much less because people post to the forum. I do read the whistle forum daily--although I can't read everything. I could go through and pick out a lot of items from the board to include in the newsletter, but it really is rather hard to sort through ALL the stuff. It wouild be SO much easier for me to do if all the hard stuff on whistles was in one location. Many of you may be thinking...has the newsletter ever REALLY been about whistles? Well, it's always been sort of like a skeleton of real whistle information, around which was packed a lot of extraneous nonsense that I like to write and a lot of people evidently like to read. But, recently it's been harder for me to form that basic skeleton of whistle info.

Ok, let me stop now.


Dale

The newsletter has always been for me the highlight of C&F. It wasn't just the fact that this was a site about whistles that made me want to be a list member but Dale's humor and opinions as well as his knowledge of whistles.I rarely visited the forums for over a year and stuck mainly to the main page and newsletters as well as visiting the links. I did eventually get bit by the bug and posted way too much but decided to reign it in as I was frustrated by the amount of off topic posts and realized I was guilty as anyone.
I voted for an off topic forum and I'm sure within days it would be as active as any other forum here.It would be nice to go to a forum and not have to go through pages to find a few REALLY whistle related posts.I'd also like to see a market forum as it would make geting that WHOA fix so much easier.
I hope in the future Dale will find the time and desire to expand the newsletters.In the meantime I'll make Right Hand Pointing a regular stop.

[jkrazy52]

Just a thought or so from someone who hasn't been onboard long enough to remember the "good ole days" before the OT invasion ... I voted to separate the forums mainly because I rarely have the time to venture past the first page -- whatever it may contain, trash or treasure. It does take time to sort thru what may be interesting or not. And with the thread hi-jacking that happens, you can miss a lot of cool information if you go only by the original thread name. The search function seems basically useless if you have a broad-based question, unless you really want to read every thread posted ...

And if the 'faq' type questions newbies ask were readily accessible, that wouldn't be so bad.
Tony

Tony has a meritorious idea -- a sticky of FAQ's for newbies - or a "newbie questions here, please" sticky. It would clear up something several of the older members of the board seem to find objectionable, plus give newcomers a good place to start.

Comparisons between C&F and GC are ridiculous -- apples to oranges. However, I will say that I personally feel a little more welcome at GC than here, at times. Maybe GC is like a slow air, and the Chiff is more like an endless jig, played Mary Bergin speed.

My 2 cents ... anyone want their change?

~Judy

[amar]

often, even on-topic theads end off-topic. what would happen if that would happen on a strictly on-topic (whistle) forum? And, how could it be prevented (should it?)?

[jbarter]

Now, how does this electoral college thing work again?