Dutch 874 Posted July 1, 2013 (edited) I just wanted to briefly discuss the sub division forums. We all know how strong, active, and great our general talk forum is. Full of activity and great quality post and threads. But the sub division forums are quite lacking in that regard. I've joined NBB's escapade and have been recruiting for almost two months now. I've gotten some really good recruits and I've equally lost some potentially good recruits as well. Recruits that were great posters on other boards but didn't stick around. And I think I know why... Generally, I get my recruits from team specific message boards. When they come to our board, I get my little discreet stalking on (shh ) typically just to see what's garnering their interest and what's appealing to them. The first place that majority of these recruits visit is their sub division forum. Naturally that makes sense. They are coming from team specific message boards so that's what they are use to; that's what they are most comfortable with. And that's one area that we are somewhat lacking activity in. Ofcourse it would never be as rich in activity as a team specific board would, but it could probably use a bit more love. I think if we showed those forums a bit more love, it would help with the recruiting process. I understand that we are lacking in some fan bases which can attribute to the lack of activity. But we have some great football minds here with knowledge all across the board with basically all of the teams. Whether it's simply commenting on news, or threads comparing one team to another, or a player(s) over other player(s), or if people decide to do State of the Franchise threads for their teams, every little bit helps. Any input can help builds towards discussion that can be appealing to new recruits. I've been trying to post threads that can open things up for discussion to help hold us up during the offseason, but majority has been in the General Talk thread; not enough focus on the sub division forums. NBB and I tried creating Division Winner threads to try and create some activity, but it seems a little more is needed. We have teams/fans that are under represented. You look at Thanatos, only Panther fan, Dmac, the lone Lion, Blots, the only Bill, Ngata the only Raven, and other fan bases that may not be as active or really don't have a clear representative. Me personally, I love talking to other NFL fans. I like seeing other fans perspective on things. Not to mention interacting with other fans creates a diverse, very healthy and fun atmosphere; especially between rivals. It would be great to get some of those guys I mentioned some fans for their teams. Like I said, I do enjoy fans from other fan bases, but at the same time it's nothing like having your own if you know what I mean. That's what I'm aiming to do. I understand it's the off season and everyone may not be as active but there are people who crave for football all year around and are active. This is the best time to try and get some recruiting done leading up to the regular season. Overall, this board is amazing. It's the best football forum that I've been apart of. So naturally, I'd like to help it in anyway that I can to keep it that way. Or in this case, strengthen it (mainly driven by my love for football). So if anyone is willing to lend a hand in regard to this post, dabbing input here and there across the sub division forums, it would be much appreciated. I'm not saying this is the sole reason, but it's an observation I made and I think it would help out with recruiting. ~dutch Edited July 2, 2013 by dutchff7 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NaTaS+ 958 Posted July 2, 2013 The enter/return button is on the right hand side of your keyboard. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted July 2, 2013 The enter/return button is on the right hand side of your keyboard. Lol. Hopefully that's better to look at. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NaTaS+ 958 Posted July 2, 2013 (edited) Lol. Hopefully that's better to look at. Much easier. Great idea. I've invited some to the forums from the Browns forums, they don't seem to stick around long. I've also invited some folks from Reddit. Edited July 2, 2013 by NaTaS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RANGA+ 1,210 Posted July 4, 2013 Yeah the hardest job we have here is retaining new members. I'll be honest with you, we really don't have any foolproof method of getting them to stick around more than a few days after they sign up. The best we can do is get the word out to as many people as we can. Once they've got a feel of the site, the good ones generally tend to come back more often than not. We will see lulls and spikes in activity depending on the time of the year. Usually things that we do to "increase activity" last a couple of weeks max, and its hard to tell how effective they really are in retaining newbies. And once those special events run their course, we are back to where we started. The most effective thing we can do, like you said, is to ensure that there is continual activity on the divisional boards. Almost every single news piece that breaks is posted on TGP within an hour or so, by a variety of members who all do an incredible job. But it's some of the more the team-specific stuff that we miss out on quite a bit, simply because we don't have the audience for it. On team boards, every single piece of information about the team will get posted, because they have an interested audience who will participate in the discussion of any topic relating to their team. But it doesn't happen here to that extent, as TGP is primarily a general discussion forum. So in a way, the dilemma of retaining new members becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe we need to focus more on the team-specific stuff. But does that mean we flood the divisional forums with a bunch of threads not many people will reply to, in the hope that it helps keep around a few more members? Furthermore, it brings up the problem of opening the gates too wide, so to speak. We have a tight-knit community here and everyone knows everybody else, and for the most part get along with each other. You don't get that on many other forums on the web. So in a way, this whole issue is a fine balancing act. More activity is always great, and new well-rounded members always bring a certain freshness to the site, but we have to be careful as we can't be everything to everyone. What TGP does, it does very well and if we keep an open mind and welcome the newbies happily, the good ones will stick around more often than not. Thanks for bringing this up. Like I said, this is a continual point of discussion for the administrative staff. We are always striving to do more to make TGP a better site, and its great seeing our members share that same passion. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted July 4, 2013 Much easier. Great idea. I've invited some to the forums from the Browns forums, they don't seem to stick around long. I've also invited some folks from Reddit. I went to the Browns official message board earlier this week. Honestly, it was saddest think I ever saw. It was so dead and inactive... I managed to find two Browns fans that seemed to be good posters. Hopefully whenever they log in they find their way over. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted July 4, 2013 Yeah the hardest job we have here is retaining new members. I'll be honest with you, we really don't have any foolproof method of getting them to stick around more than a few days after they sign up. The best we can do is get the word out to as many people as we can. Once they've got a feel of the site, the good ones generally tend to come back more often than not. We will see lulls and spikes in activity depending on the time of the year. Usually things that we do to "increase activity" last a couple of weeks max, and its hard to tell how effective they really are in retaining newbies. And once those special events run their course, we are back to where we started. The most effective thing we can do, like you said, is to ensure that there is continual activity on the divisional boards. Almost every single news piece that breaks is posted on TGP within an hour or so, by a variety of members who all do an incredible job. But it's some of the more the team-specific stuff that we miss out on quite a bit, simply because we don't have the audience for it. On team boards, every single piece of information about the team will get posted, because they have an interested audience who will participate in the discussion of any topic relating to their team. But it doesn't happen here to that extent, as TGP is primarily a general discussion forum. So in a way, the dilemma of retaining new members becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe we need to focus more on the team-specific stuff. But does that mean we flood the divisional forums with a bunch of threads not many people will reply to, in the hope that it helps keep around a few more members? Furthermore, it brings up the problem of opening the gates too wide, so to speak. We have a tight-knit community here and everyone knows everybody else, and for the most part get along with each other. You don't get that on many other forums on the web. So in a way, this whole issue is a fine balancing act. More activity is always great, and new well-rounded members always bring a certain freshness to the site, but we have to be careful as we can't be everything to everyone. What TGP does, it does very well and if we keep an open mind and welcome the newbies happily, the good ones will stick around more often than not. Thanks for bringing this up. Like I said, this is a continual point of discussion for the administrative staff. We are always striving to do more to make TGP a better site, and its great seeing our members share that same passion. I definitely agree. That's why I've been selectively recruiting. I made the mistake in the beginning publicly posting the information. Then an annoying homer (that I haven't seen in a bit luckily) found his way over here and I thought I was responsible for that so I stopped doing public recruiting. I'm very selective in who I've been recruiting for the past 45 days or so only sending PM's to people that seem to have a good knowledge of the game. People that have insightful post and that possibly can contribute to some healthy football discussion. But yeah, I definitely agree with you overall and definitely appreciate the feed back. You brought up some good points and I'll remember them moving forward. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thanatos 2,847 Posted July 4, 2013 I prefer quality over quantity to be honest. I'm just fine with being the only Panthers fan if the others are morons. Now, just because someone does what you say they do, that doesn't make them bad members or anything. Just the idea that we need more guys for the sole reason of having more people isn't one I'm on board with. Yeah that's probably elitest, so sue me. I'd rather have 50 guys that I can talk intelligently with than 200 where 3/4 of the posts I have to sift through because they're posting nonsense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badgers 380 Posted July 5, 2013 I bet a lot of the reason people you recruit don't stick around is cuz this is an all NFL board. Not team specific. Which means idiots can't wallow in their homer ways like they tend to do. They're forced (but in a nice way) to become more well rounded and learned football fans. I can't even set foot in Packers forums because they suck so bad. Think: If a ton of Panthers fans came here, they're gonna stick to their NFC S forum and expect their opinion to be shared by the rest of the forum. Well that's not the case at TGP because there's Saints, Falcons, and Bucs fans also. So naturally, some are gonna get irate that they have to chat with rival fans (even if its reasonable discussion). If you want to recruit potential posters try people you know in real life. Guys that you know in person and you know can hold reasonable discussions. That way there's less of a possibility for them to be unable to fit in here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch 874 Posted July 5, 2013 (edited) Yeah, there are a lot of head cases on team specific forums. That's why I've been selectively recruiting; sending PMs to people who've demonstrated a good knowledge of the game. I've had some success doing it that way. I've gotten some hits and misses, but the hits are very solid. I've been trying to get some of my friends on here, a Cowboys and a Redskins fan (), but they've been procrastinating. There are posters to be found (rescued) from team specific boards. They're gems amongst a pile of rocks and more difficult to find. I don't mind putting in the work though. Edited July 5, 2013 by dutchff7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites