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Opening the forum up for more discussion

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:29 pm
by Get Lynned
The forum has been somewhat slow in general discussion for probably a couple years now, even though nothing has really changed in who uses the board to post and the fact many folks read the board but seldom, if at all, post.

Whether you've been coaching for years and have posted on the Ohio quizbowl board countless times, are completely new to the game and came across us somehow, or are somewhere in between – don't be a stranger, and post! If its your first time, say a couple things about yourself. Who are you? What do you do (are you a coach, player, ???). What school do you have the affiliation with?

There is a place on this forum for open discussion and exchange of ideas, although that doesn't mean ideas can't be criticized and engaged as such. Even though it's essentially players, coaches, and third parties (such as alumni of the game) that use this board, the posting community is diverse when it comes to different parts of the state, different experiences, and the difference of opinions. If someone disagrees with you, 95% of the time its not in any way, shape, or form personal, and lets remember that.

I, myself, love using the Ohio board and love discussion. It took me a while to realize though that I more/less take the board for granted and easily thought “well we're just the only ones interested in posting.” when that's not necessarily the case.

I'm also not sure if people are reading the 'national board' over @ hsquizbowl.org or are exposing themselves to resources/blogs/etc about quizbowl that aren't this one, and then read this one. I am however going to give the very strong and bold warning that the general crowd that posts on there largely is well-intentioned, but the majority can get very snide, condescending, and in general act like butts (don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of doing so a couple years ago on that board but I have since cooled it down a notch.) Don't take them as representative of who we in the Ohio community are. Unlike the 'national board', most people who post on the Ohio board here work in education, so they understand that the forum is an extension of 'the real world', thus you can't call people “idiots” or write passive-aggressive barbs that you can't support and own up to. And even those who don't work in education, such as Alex Connor and Steven Wellstead, are professional people and overall genuinely nice guys.


With all that said, I think I can speak for everyone when I say “sign up, join in!”. And welcome! (edit: whoops, missed a comma)

Re: Opening the forum up for more discussion

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 10:36 am
by BobKilner
Tom Moore is sweet... discuss.

Re: Opening the forum up for more discussion

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 9:54 pm
by BobKilner
Kidding aside. Tom is right. The old forum, before the crash of createphpbb.com was fantastic in terms of people posting discussions in addition to tournament announcements and things like that. I know that a lot of the people that posted regularly on there are either not involved anymore or more on the outside looking in, but it would be nice to see some new blood post on here. I agree with Tom that the people that post regularly are pretty supportive and try to be helpful to new coaches, new players or just new posters.

Re: Opening the forum up for more discussion

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:27 pm
by Bluejay
Thomas Moore wrote:
I'm also not sure if people are reading the 'national board' over @ hsquizbowl.org or are exposing themselves to resources/blogs/etc about quizbowl that aren't this one, and then read this one. I am however going to give the very strong and bold warning that the general crowd that posts on there largely is well-intentioned, but the majority can get very snide, condescending, and in general act like butts (don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of doing so a couple years ago on that board but I have since cooled it down a notch.) Don't take them as representative of who we in the Ohio community are. Unlike the 'national board', most people who post on the Ohio board here work in education, so they understand that the forum is an extension of 'the real world', thus you can't call people “idiots” or write passive-aggressive barbs that you can't support and own up to. And even those who don't work in education, such as Alex Connor and Steven Wellstead, are professional people and overall genuinely nice guys.



Hey, poking in because this caught my attention. I think the hsquizbowl.org forums have gotten better over the past few years in terms of civility and in-jokiness in discussion threads; there are still occasional cases of people not posting in the most optimal way, but I don't think it's a bad idea to post there at all these days if you want some general advice.

That being said, this forum should and totally can be used more. I don't really post anymore because I no longer live in Ohio and thus it doesn't make sense for Ohio to be the focus of my quizbowl efforts, it's also harder for me to follow Ohio quizbowl for that reason, and at this point I'm not a familiar name to a lot of people, but I'm always happy to give advice if anyone wants it. Bob's right that there was a lot of fun discussion in the older days, especially when I was still in high school myself, so I'd like to see more activity too!