Current Events Forum

This forum is for announcements about the site and the board, "how to" information, etc. Some topics will allow discussion, and some may have polls, but only moderators may post new topics.

Moderator: Groceteria

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Which option do you prefer? Read the post below for clarifications.

1. Leave things as they are, with a minimal, tightly-moderated current events forum.
18
69%
2. Delete the current events forum entirely.
1
4%
3. Move current events discussion to the old Boardhost board with more space and less moderation.
7
27%
 
Total votes: 26

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Groceteria
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Current Events Forum

Post by Groceteria »

Hi all.

As many of you know, the Current Events forum is sort of the unwanted stepchild of this message board.

I've discouraged posts about current events in the industry almost from the beginning. There is one very specific reason for this: the message board exists as a forum for the discussion of supermarket history. Period. Allowing unlimited dicussion of current events would, in my opinion, jeopardize the primary function of the board.

Why is this?

Frankly, most people in the world would rather discuss current supermarket operations than history. And that's fine. It's just not what this particular board is all about, and I'm afraid that the sheer volume of discussion about current issues would completely overwhelm the board if it were allowed without limits. The current events discussion would draw more traffic from new users who have no interest whatsoever in history, and the board would soon be overtaken by them.

The focus of my site is narrow by design, and the message board in particular is not aimed at those who are interested in supermarkets in general, but at those who are interested in supermarket history. I don't want to run a general-interest supermarket site, and I'm not going to do so, even though I am a follower of current trends myself.

Thus, I've allowed a very limited range of current events discussions in one specific forum, which has been very tightly moderated and has a very quick expiration time. I've done this in consideration of the people who are interested in both history and current operations. My assumption has always been that heavy-duty discussions of current issues and trends would be carried out in any number of other message boards available online.

Clearly, though, this is not the most satisfactory option. It's confusing, it's probably too tightly moderated, and it's just a generally half-baked approach. However, expanding the current events section of this particular board is not an option, for the reasons stated above.

So what to do? I have three options and I'm going to initiate a poll here.

Option 1 would be to leave things as they are, with a very minimal and tightly-moderated forum on current events, which will never be expanded.

Option 2 would be to remove the current events forum entirely and not permit discussion of current events at all unless there is a specific historical tie-in.

Option 3 would be for me to reactivate the old Boardhost forum, where the entire message board used to live, and open it up to relatively unmoderated discussions of current events and issues. Discussions of current events would no longer be permitted on the "main" board unless there were a specific historical tie-in. This would allow me to "segregate" the current events content and keep the main board focused on its primary purpose.

Let me know what you think. For now, I'll leave replies turned on as well.
Jeff
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Posts: 940
Joined: 21 Nov 2005 21:44

Post by Jeff »

I think that the forum should stay just heavily modded. I think that topics like a merger between chains (historical and non-historical), the return of a chain and other news-worthy events. These in itself are historical in nature, and even though the impact today may not be noticed, it could conceivably down the line.

- Jeff

PS - Feasibly you could move threads that could be of significant value later down the line to the historical forums and still "knock out" those threads that are non-worthy when the forum is pruned.
umtrr-author
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Posts: 61
Joined: 18 Sep 2007 18:19

Post by umtrr-author »

Kind of a strange way to have a first post here... I'm new to this board but not to the site. I have had a link to Groceteria on my site (irwinsjournal.com) for years now and I visit at least every month or so to see what's new. Thanks so much for your efforts and keep up the good work. This stuff is fascinating! I wish I had something material to add, but unfortunately I don't.

With that out of the way...

First, as a recovering moderator myself (different venues entirely), I must start out by saying that you should feel empowered to do what you want regardless of "popular opinion"-- as you note, there are other choices available for discussion. There's nothing wrong with the tone of a board reflecting the owner's vision for it. Whose else would it reflect? Those who don't agree-- there's the door.

Since you're kindly soliciting feedback, though, I agree that there is some limited subset of current events that reach back to the historical context of this board, and may in fact prove to be "historic" events when looked back upon from the perspective of time. So I'd suggest keeping a tightly managed board (subject to the Multiple Competing Priorities of the adminstrators!) and have voted that way.

Cheers,
George in Ellison Park, NY
mikeparkridge
Contributor
Posts: 43
Joined: 02 Dec 2005 19:13

Re: Current Events Forum

Post by mikeparkridge »

Here's what I wonder.

Why would anyone join this board to talk about current events knowing what this board is really about?

Also it amazes me how when it comes to the past, reguardless of what the subject is.

I've beena member of many message boards, including nostalgic sites, which are either rarely busy or in some cases they become a "current events page."

Why is this?


Anyway I'm glad this place is kept intact.
maynesG
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Posts: 322
Joined: 22 Aug 2007 17:03
Location: DELAWARE

Re: Current Events Forum

Post by maynesG »

Hi. It is extremly nice of you ask what we think. I hope that I haven!t pushed the envelope to far.
Thanks Gerry
GreenFalcon
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Re: Current Events Forum

Post by GreenFalcon »

For those with access to Usenet, there is alt.retail.grocery, which would be another good place to discuss current events, and would be good for those not comfortable with a moderator.
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