The future of Bond & Beyond

In response to suggestions by Ambler and Gravity,. I've decided that we to ask our selves a few questions.

- What is the kind of Bond fan we want to draw to this site? Disillusioned ex-fans, Bond novices, veterans that are content with the series, kids etc.

- Should the "Bond" and "Beyond" sections receive equal attention, or do want to focus on one to the neglect of the other?

- If SKYFALL doesn't bring in new users, how else (apart from Facebook) can we expand our membership?

- What do you think about the News, Sport & Current Affairs section being hidden from public view - or at least certain threads in it?

- How we can create a more positive atmosphere, similar to say this time last year?

Those are just a few off the top of my head, so you're free to come up with your own.

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- What is the kind of Bond fan we want to draw to this site? Disillusioned ex-fans, Bond novices, veterans that are content with the series, kids etc.

All the above I say. I'd hate this site to be exclusive to a certain demographic. Right now it seems to lean towards the disillusioned ex-fans to an extent, I'm sure that's not intentional. I'd hate for our site to look like this:

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- Should the "Bond" and "Beyond" sections receive equal attention, or do want to focus on one to the neglect of the other?

Both should be given equal attention but it is hard to do that for the Bond section given how many MI6/CB.n vets we have here who've already talked about Bond for years and years. Then there's little to talk about SKYFALL given how that story is being kept under wraps. I say when the new film finally comes out there will certainly be an increase in activity for the Bond section.

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- If SKYFALL doesn't bring in new users, how else (apart from Facebook) can we expand our membership?

There is that blog that's been brought up by some members, I'd like to see that launched.

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- What do you think about the News, Sport & Current Affairs section being hidden from public view - or at least certain threads in it?

Not really sure what to do with that. It's always been heated but the only time it's ever stooped so low was when j7wild would make insensitive comments.

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- How we can create a more positive atmosphere, similar to say this time last year?

Keep things civil, nothing more or less. Let's be adults.

I'm honestly lost. I've an idea idea where BAB is going, and it's not good. I think a start would be for someone to PM many of the inactive members, and somehow get them to post. I've tried to do this enough times already, with no luck. They log in, take a look, and stay silent.

Would getting some original creative content in here on some spot adjacent to the forums themselves be out of order? I'm thinking of essays and/or artwork (not necessarily news, that is covered to death elsewhere) that would in turn trigger off threads in relevant sub-forums to discuss them, sort of like many other Bond and non-Bond sites have. I don't write freebies, but with some unused content that I haven't been able to repurpose, I could probably give you guys a few tidbits about QUANTUM, and the same for SKYFALL in December. If I get a dry spell with the mags, I might even complete the full CR essay I've been messing with since mid-2007. And there are certainly other people in our realm who can write and/or do artwork.

If the content is of sufficient interest, other sites would be linking here to cite the essay or imagery, and that would presumably bring new blood (whether it would be the right kind of blood or not, I'm not equipped to say.)

trevanian wrote:

Would getting some original creative content in here on some spot adjacent to the forums themselves be out of order?

Nope. In fact, I've PM'd Laz and he seems to be on board with it. With some planning, I think it could be great.

Largo's Shark wrote:

- What is the kind of Bond fan we want to draw to this site? Disillusioned ex-fans, Bond novices, veterans that are content with the series, kids etc.

A bit of everything hopefully except maybe the "kidz" (although being just 18-years-old myself that probably includes me).

Largo's Shark wrote:

- Should the "Bond" and "Beyond" sections receive equal attention, or do want to focus on one to the neglect of the other?

I personally pay far more attention to the 'Bond' side of the forums although I feel that both are important to 'Bond and Beyond' and help to strengthen it as a whole.

Largo's Shark wrote:

- If SKYFALL doesn't bring in new users, how else (apart from Facebook) can we expand our membership?

Although I myself am not a user of it, maybe Twitter?

Largo's Shark wrote:

- What do you think about the News, Sport & Current Affairs section being hidden from public view - or at least certain threads in it?

I do not see how this would make much difference at all.

Largo's Shark wrote:

- How we can create a more positive atmosphere, similar to say this time last year?

:scratch:

The Facebook page isn't doing shit for us.

I think Wade, trevanian, and others have the right idea. We'd need to make a sister site, featuring news, editorials, event reviews, etc. to bring in some new members. If Mi6 or CBn didn't have their main sites, then their forums dry, too.

Creating a respectable webpage takes time and money, though. We wouldn't want to be operating from some Wordpress or FreeWebs blog.

I'm not sure how we'll get there.

I hope that this site doesn't die off soon, I know that I am hardly the most active of posters but the few regular posting members which we do have seem to be dropping like flies.

Which ones?

Well, going on breaks I mean. But there just seems to have been a lower than average amount of posting anyway during these past few weeks, this is especially notable seeing as SF is only around three weeks away.

I'm not sure there's that much we do about it.

Posting levels seem normal to me. But unless we get an influx of quality posters, posting volume will never be all that heavy here.

Can somebody suggest a good place to set up our "sister site" for use as a main news/articles page, because I'm 100% behind this idea and 100% ready to get started on it.

As far as new blood goes, our promotional push will commence in a fortnight before going full-scale on Oct 25th/26th, when a good handful of cinemas North and South will be flooded with promo cards and flyers advertising the site.

Jolly good show, Laz.

Lazenby. wrote:

As far as new blood goes, our promotional push will commence in a fortnight before going full-scale on Oct 25th/26th, when a good handful of cinemas North and South will be flooded with promo cards and flyers advertising the site.

Well, we smashed our "Most Users Ever Online" record on the evening of Skyfall's release, so the push seems to have been partially successful in that lots of people are at least bothering to look at the forums. We just need people to stop looking and start posting. I wish people would make the effort to do that. That said, it's still very early days as far as Skyfall's release goes, so there is still hope. I'm going to have more promo cards printed tomorrow while Skyfall is still pulling in the punters, and I'll distribute those on Tuesday.

To everyone who turned up here on Friday night (and indeed those who have turned up since then to keep the online numbers here strong), a very sincere thanks.

M

M wrote:

Lazenby. wrote:

As far as new blood goes, our promotional push will commence in a fortnight before going full-scale on Oct 25th/26th, when a good handful of cinemas North and South will be flooded with promo cards and flyers advertising the site.

Well, we smashed our "Most Users Ever Online" record on the evening of Skyfall's release, so the push seems to have been partially successful in that lots of people are at least bothering to look at the forums. We just need people to stop looking and start posting. I wish people would make the effort to do that. That said, it's still very early days as far as Skyfall's release goes, so there is still hope. I'm going to have more promo cards printed tomorrow while Skyfall is still pulling in the punters, and I'll distribute those on Tuesday.

To everyone who turned up here on Friday night (and indeed those who have turned up since then to keep the online numbers here strong), a very sincere thanks.

M

Every time I've been on here in the last fortnight we've had between 60-100 people online viewing the forums and, as you said, we broke our forum record on Skyfall's opening night and smashed the 200 barrier. How the f*ck do we convert those mere viewers into members? Because interested people are clearly here already, watching but not posting. True, Skyfall has brought in at least half a dozen new members, but we're depending a hell of a lot now on the US release, which is something you nor I can physically promote the forums through. Might it be worth imposing a partial lock again, with the promise of revealing something good to people if they actually take the time to register?

It's an idea, though you could get several of our American, Canadian and Australian posters to distribute advertising to cinema chains. i.e. send them a PDF to print out and photocopy.

Lazenby. wrote:

Might it be worth imposing a partial lock again, with the promise of revealing something good to people if they actually take the time to register?

The Financial Times has a clever system where the first article you click on is immediately available, but the next requires you to register in order to see it. No idea if that can be easily implemented here.

In the meantime you need to point out that not all of the current board is viewable without registering. Not sure that's still apparent.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Lazenby. wrote:

Might it be worth imposing a partial lock again, with the promise of revealing something good to people if they actually take the time to register?

The Financial Times has a clever system where the first article you click on is immediately available, but the next requires you to register in order to see it.

I've found that too, though my experience is usually with the websites of porn studios.

We just need a "Register Now!" page to appear, with a list of all of the great benefits of Bond & Beyond (i.e. improved life expectancy, free handjobs). Mrs. Sects might come in handy here.

Largo's Shark wrote:

We just need a "Register Now!" page to appear, with a list of all of the great benefits of Bond & Beyond (i.e. improved life expectancy, free handjobs). Mrs. Sects might come in handy here.

Bloody hell, Rave charges me £1.50 a go. Still, as the very wise Brendan Francis once said, “The big difference between sex for money and sex for free is that sex for money costs less.”

Erica Ambler wrote:

Bloody hell, Rave charges me £1.50 a go.

I bet she calls you Master Bates too....

Mrs Aural Sects wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Bloody hell, Rave charges me £1.50 a go.

I bet she calls you Master Bates too....

Be a good Doggy... If Rave were involved it wouldn't be masturbation. Not for long, anyway. Though I might be thinking about your backside.

Largo's Shark wrote:

... with a list of all of the great benefits of Bond & Beyond (i.e. improved life expectancy, free handjobs)...

A complimentary bag of hooch, brewed during my last stint in prison (while supplies last).

Lazenby. wrote:

How the f*ck do we convert those mere viewers into members?

What about a new toaster? I give away a toaster everytime I convert a young, impressionable.......sale. :suspect:

If we have a template that somebody has created I would be more than happy to print and distribute several hundred copies in the theater. Maybe put them in the seats of everyone who will be in the theater, or maybe put them under window wipers on windshields.

But I must ask, what is our goal numbers wise? What are the metrics? How will we know when we've "arrived" or are we tying to get as many members as MIDouche or CB-Hasbeen.?

M and Laz could throw something together, preferably with Mrs. Sects's input. Something enticing enough to make Atlantan Bond fans want to sign up instantly.