Popping by to give some thanks, thoughts, and whatnot...
Thank you to Josh for stepping in and keeping the forum alive. I was somewhat interested in committing to the renewal/taking it over, but the cost of it made me reluctant to pull the trigger. I'm definitely interested in putting some $$$ (maybe there can be a Patreon/GoFundMe or even a PayPal that willing individuals can put donations toward the cost taken on to keep this bad boy alive) together for the cause. I'm kind of, well, not certain what really the role is that the forum serves today- I'm led to believe that at worst it serves as a simple window for new coaches/teams to glimpse through into structure of Ohio quizbowl as an activity (one of the first hits or so one finds in a Google search), and at best it is a link to tournament announcements with some discussion sprinkled in every 5-6 months. That doesn't mean the forum has no purpose. Rather, over time it has been a good site with decreasing activity with a resulting decrease in content and what-can-be-offered. That's not a bad thing! But it can also be changed. I'm just not entirely sure what the code to be cracked is, to break through the seemingly impregnable barrier of "talk quizbowl on 'the board', community members." I expressed some thoughts on this on Facebook a couple weeks ago:
I wrote:I think the forum (as a concept) has more/less become antiquated when it comes to the messaging and communication aspect. Established peoples (coaches, TD’s, etc) don’t really “need it” since there’s very little of anything for them to ask about or express (and if they express, it’ll be in the company of their peers or through social media.) That’s truly not a *bad* thing– it’s just the advances of interactions over the past 10-15 years. Young people (e.g. high schoolers/college students) have been typically forum-averse, not the least of reasons being the idea that messaging is again best done through social media as a matter of convenience and speed. The third angle is the “new to the circuit” crowd: they sort of miss out on the forum’s purpose, but even that void is basically fulfilled with again social media outlets (ever heard of Quizbowl Twitter? ‘It’s A Thing’) and in-person interactions fostered through said social media.
I think the board can be revived, so to speak. Part of the dilemma I'm led to think is, at some point, there becomes fewer and fewer things to talk about related to Quiz Bowl at length that can be constructive and interesting. And then there's fewer things for forum people to become impassioned toward 15-20 minutes time of reading, crafting and responding. I don't necessarily think we're at that point, rather we (as a forum base) probably reached an impasse on quizbowl discussion after, well, whenever the last time anything was discussed on here. But that can change. I have ideas for two threads that I'll start on tonight ("Best of the Decade", "Decade in Review") and an idea for a thread more Central Ohio related. Maybe that can get the ball rolling...