Making a commitment; critical mass

The basic requirement of any successful forum is a core of regular posters with distinct personalities. That much is obvious, but what's the minimum number needed?

When Brown and I ran Studio B last year it was something we scratched our heads over. We concluded that a great mass of members is not required; maybe as few as seven or eight regular and knowledgeable posters for a decent film section, for instance. However, as we soon found out, problems arise when members sit back and read but don't respond. (That is the way of most things, of course; the majority of people prefer to consume rather than contribute.) So, how many regular posters does this place need to become viable?

I should say straight out that I don't think I've anything positive to say about any film 'franchise' (Bond, Trek, Star Wars, or Batman) or nuMI6, which is what this forum is majoring on at the moment: if that's its future, then I'll move on. That said, I'll happily contribute to more serious film and literature sections if they are organised. I suggest making one individual - maybe Tux or Brown? - responsible for such a sub-forum. Also, as I observed earlier, for it to be worthwhile, we will need seven or eight others to make a commitment to getting this place off the ground.

I couldn't agree more. But part of the problem with Studio B, was having an abundance of categories for 'the great directors' and 'great film composers', but most of them remaining empty. Users felt overwhelmed by choice in other words. That's one extreme.

Now, I don't have a problem with this site containing it's own subsidiary MI6 for those who are more Bond-focused. However, there needs to be more division of the 'non-Bond' categories, in order for those to bud. Discussion of the arts (film, literature, classical music, pop, jazz, visual arts), sports, politics, religion and spirituality, news and current events, the sciences etc...

You don't want to go overboard with that, but that's the sort of thing this board needs. It needs to be shaped through division.

Sharky wrote:

I couldn't agree more. But part of the problem with Studio B, was having an abundance of categories for 'the great directors' and 'great film composers', but most of them remaining empty. Users felt overwhelmed by choice in other words. That's one extreme.

This.

Especially for people who aren't into that. That is why you need to strike a balance and do remember that this is a Bond forum to begin with.

If we can continue to get the best MI6 members to sign up, this place should be a great community. It already seems like it's doing really well considering it's an infant compared to MI6.

Fae wrote:

Sharky wrote:

I couldn't agree more. But part of the problem with Studio B, was having an abundance of categories for 'the great directors' and 'great film composers', but most of them remaining empty. Users felt overwhelmed by choice in other words. That's one extreme.

This.

Especially for people who aren't into that. That is why you need to strike a balance and do remember that this is a Bond forum to begin with.

We all met on a Bond forum, Fae.... and yes, the Bonds are in the banner. But I think the key word in the title is "beyond".

I really love the fact that this group of Bond fans are also fans of other films,.. ones that are far better than the Bond films. Discussions between Tux and Colly about films have been amazing. I love reading about music and we've got some true music lovers here. Art and literature is an obvious addition to the forum.

Yes, I'll want to discuss Seanery's thighs on occasion and Fiona's assets too... but I'm thrilled to see that this forum wants to go beyond that.

I see your point Ambler, and agree that any forum in order to prosper needs a good handful of intelligent members to drive it along and keep it relevant.

Commitment will be vital here, hence I would really appreciate some concrete input from anybody here in regard to improving the forums.

For example, if anybody has a better idea for how the categories could be laid out, don't hesitate to put those ideas forward. Also, if there's any categories you'd like to see added or taking precedence here, again please put the ideas forward on here so that I can hopefully put some good ideas into effect.

Please feel free to post examples as well. If you have a certain vision of how a certain section (or indeed the entire front page) should be set out, then please let us know in enough detail so that I can implement the change if it's an unquestionably good and beneficial change to make.

I'd love to have some really knowledgable film experts to moderate the film sections, but I'd also like every single member in here to feel equal and part of running this site together, as this was partially the foundation this forum was built on - a place for people unhappy with the administration at other sites to be able to come over here and know they'll be treated as equals, as well as being among friends and members they can trust. With that in mind, I'd really like to reach a point very quickly where every member here can have some responsibility in the Moderation process, with suitable members given responsibility over certain sections of the site - if anybody has a certain area of expertise which they feel would be put to good use in a Moderator capacity, please let us know.

So please keep the ideas coming, don't be afraid to step forward if you have a big idea or a sublime vision for this place. Our prime directive is to make this forum by the people for the people.

Sharky wrote:

I couldn't agree more. But part of the problem with Studio B, was having an abundance of categories for 'the great directors' and 'great film composers', but most of them remaining empty. Users felt overwhelmed by choice in other words. That's one extreme.

Yeah, looking back, I don't think any "Masters of Cinema" sections would be worth going back to.

Ambler's comments are spot on, though. With this site, perhaps we should break up films into a few categories. For example, Hollywood Franchises, Away From Hollywood, Foreign, or something similar to these. Or, we could always do genre-based forums.

I think we've got a great foundation here, and now all we have to do is expand. I'm willing to help out the administrator organize sections of the forums if necessary.

I agree about the general forums being expanded, that was one of the things that really kept me around the old MI6, which they seemed to show contempt for those sections, even to the point of having your posts not be counted there.

Let's truly make this Bond and Beyond.

Mr. Brown wrote:

I think we've got a great foundation here, and now all we have to do is expand. I'm willing to help out the administrator organize sections of the forums if necessary.

Great. Thanks, Mr Brown. We need everybody to discuss how they'd like the sections organised, so that we can reach a compromise with it which everyone will be comfortable with. As I mentioned earlier, concrete ideas. Something I can look at, approve of, then implement.

M wrote:

I'd love to have some really knowledgable film experts to moderate the film sections, but I'd also like every single member in here to feel equal and part of running this site together, as this was partially the foundation this forum was built on - a place for people unhappy with the administration at other sites to be able to come over here and know they'll be treated as equals

Yep. Equals at least to the extent where you're not having to put up with being told you're wrong, simply because the person telling you so is a Mod and you're not, no matter how valid your argument.

M wrote:

I'd really like to reach a point very quickly where every member here can have some responsibility in the Moderation process, with suitable members given responsibility over certain sections of the site

That would be really good in making everyone feel involved and equal, and there's definitely plenty of people here with passion/expertise in certain areas, such as Shark for the film score stuff, Hilly, Fae & Moore for the fan projects, Brown & Ambler for the film auteur stuff, Fields for the Bond film stuff & game things, and IIRC Tux wanted something set up for TV. Actually, I could go on forever here, as there should be something for everyone here, given the amount of great members. Maybe we could start up a list or something, have people nominate themselves for Mod duties over a particular section of the site? It would result in people keeping threads they're passionate about under control, easy to use and mess-free.

I got the idea that mods on this site are simply members who have the permission to clean and organize the forums.

This is great, too, as no one's telling anyone what to do. If a serious conflict were to ever come up, then these people could be around to moderate that, as well. It's nice knowing that no one's going to have something held above their heads and that there won't be any walking on eggshells.

Honestly, that was one of the worst aspects of other forums that I posted on -- the fear that having an adult discussion could lead to a warning or suspension.


With that out there, start shining my shoes, folks... or I'll have you banned.

I like that so far people have still used ** in naughty words. I was never a fan of the filter but I don't want the language to deteriorate either. So filtering ourselves is good. And if one doesn't do it, I don't see them getting banned, just having that post edited by a mod. Ya know?

I'm concerned about this as well. We currently have 39 registered users. That's simply people who are registered. I'd say we should have at least about 50 members who regularly post. And we need a variety of people with a variety of interests. Right now we've got a lot of activity in response to the Great MI6 Clusterfuck™, but we'll need sustained interest, and fast.

And it can't be fueled by a "f*** MI6" tone. We need to accept what has happened and try to move on in the spirit that we had before the Great MI6 Clusterfuck™. I think we need to be positive and take things in stride.

We need to rearrange things. I've suggested a few things.

-We need to move the Deli down to the General Discussion section and leave the top for just introductions and inquiries. That area should be kept clean and welcoming.

-The General Discussion Section shuld include the following boards, in the follwing order, top to bottom...

• General Discussion. Like the General Discussion board on the oldMI6, with the Deli being our Martini Lounge. All the "refugee" stuff should go there.
  
• News & Current Affairs. To yell at eachother about politics and religion.
  
• The Stainless Steel Delicatessen Pictures of tits, and so forth.
  
• Films (Non-Bond) Pictures of tits, and film stuff.
  
• Television Pictures of tits, and TV stuff.
  
• Music (Non-Bond) Audio of tits, and music stuff.

We can't hope to be as big as MI6 was, or as big as MI6book maybe will be. And we shouldn't hope to be or want to be. We should be an alternative for people on sites like MI6book and CBn. We shouldn't spend too much time lamenting what we've lost, and we should move forward in much more comfortable suuroundings than MI6book.

Sound stuff Tux though I'm intrigued about 'audio of tits'.

Great post, Tux. Agree on everything. Let's move on. I see this as being a great start to a forum of established friends who know how to discuss our passions. I love your descriptions of the sections and will say that if you do get audio of tits, that may be the thing that gets Daniel to join.

He's not interested at the moment. He's not interested in discussing or seeing a discussion of MI6 so I'm not going to invite him until this forum moves forward... and gets some audio of tits.

Quote :

Sound stuff Tux though I'm intrigued about 'audio of tits'.

It's an audiobook that consists of multiple descriptions of female breasts. Some of the world's top models participated in it. There's as sequel in the works about asses.

General Discussion could even include news, politics, etc., I think.

I like that layout, though, Tux. Here's my idea for a layout for the entire site:

WELCOME TO BOND & BEYOND
- New Member? Introduce yourself here.
- Inquiries

LATEST BOND NEWS
- Bond 23 News
- James Bond News
- Screenings/Event Updates

THE WORLD OF JAMES BOND
- Bond 23 and Beyond
- The James Bond Films DN - QOS
- Actors & Actresses
- Directors & Crew
- Literary 007
- Music Discussion
- Merchandise, Subforums: DVDS/BluRay, Collectibles, Video Games
- Artwork and Photography

FAN ZONE
- Fan Art
- Fan Audio & Video
- Fan Fiction
- Fan Reviews
- Polls & Surveys

GENERAL DISCUSSION
- General Discussion/News & Current Affairs
- Stainless Steel Delicatessen
- Non-Bond Films, Subforums: Hollywood Franchises, Away From Hollywood, or Genre Subforums (Drama, Horror, Hollywood Franchises, etc.)
- TV Discussion, Subforums: Dramas, Comedy, Documentary, Reality TV
- Music Discussion, Subforums based on genres

Tubes wrote:

Quote :

Sound stuff Tux though I'm intrigued about 'audio of tits'.

It's an audiobook that consists of multiple descriptions of female breasts. Some of the world's top models participated in it. There's as sequel in the works about asses.

Well, if it's not audio OF tits, I'm not sure I can sell that. They've got to be big enough to make a noise for some to be interested.

Brown, good work. I think that's a good layout. Just the right number of boards, and in the right order.

We just need M. Wish I had admin powers.

I think we need subforums for sports, general arts, sciences and literature.

I like Brown's layout, though I love Tux's descriptions.

Is everyone in agreement over Brown's layout? Because, unless anyone has any further suggestions, we can cite this layout as the one we'd like to have. Then M can hopefully sort it ASAP.

Sharky wrote:

I think we need subforums for sports, general arts, sciences and literature.

Perhaps we could have an Arts & Literature forum. Then, Sports and Sciences can be subforums of General Discussion?

Just an idea.

I just noticed the subforum idea in the film board. Hmmmmm. Maybe.

Maybe a general film board for all films, and a subforum for franchises.

The Multiplex.

That way, we won't all go in seperate directions right when we're trying to kick off a new forum, and the big SH***Y movies won't crowd the board as they did on old MI6.

I wonder if they crowd the board on MI6book. I can't tell because I can't discern seperate boards or sections.

I like the layout and agree with Sharky that we need a few other topics added.

Plus, Tux had great descriptions and it was a great way to consistently define this forum. Plus, I'm a girl and likely the oldest girl here for now... so if I say the references to tits stay, they stay!

I don't think too many subforums are a good idea right now.

My General Discussion would look like...

-General Discussion
-News & Current Events
-The Stainless Steel Delicatessen
-Film (Non-Bond)
-----The Multiplex
-Television
-Music (Non-Bond)

The TV section on MI6 was never crowded at all. We only need one here IMHO.


Splitting up the Film board any further would stiffle discussion I think.