Forum Business: A different take.

Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
Can't argue with you on that one. However, do you really think the forum drums up all that much business for the 9:30 Club? I would think it's the bands that are drumming up the business. Or the advertising in the Post or City Paper. Surely many, many more people read the advertisements than bother to read/post on the internet board?

what about all of the posts that everyone complains about every time there's a presale, or a big pop show? where are those people looking for information? seems to me that they are coming right here.

when i'm looking for information about a band, or a show, or a venue, the first thing i do is check their webpage. do i take the time to join their fora and post? not usually. but i do go and look around. the url of this site is in all of our ads and mailings, and bands link to our site from theirs constantly. this place (the site as a whole) has become a major source of information.

i don't have any statistics for this site's traffic, but a usenet newsgroup i used to frequent averaged about 50,000 lurkers to maybe 100 regular posters. i don't think our numbers are that high, but it shows that there are usually way more people reading than posting. if even a small fraction of the people that read the site leave with a bad taste in their mouth, it's too many for me.

Congratulations, you officially sound like your dad. :p

Originally posted by thatguy:

As far as the "abuse of newbies"…that's the way it goes in our society.

this ain't your society. this is the club's webpage. if one guest in my house is rude to another, i'm going to ask them to leave. same rules apply here. [/QB]

Since many here know others here in real life, it *does* flow as real life. You really torque someone here you may well see them at a show and maybe get bitchslapped.

A band I'm very familiar with (playing the 930 in a couple weeks) SHUT DOWN their forum because of constant negative energy. They felt it would affect potential sales from new listeners/browsers who visited the site for information of their new album.

thatguy and 930 could shut this forum down in very short notice. I suggest you play by the rules so we don't lose a good thing.

Originally posted by thatguy:

Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
I still don't see why we must equate this or any internet chatboard with real life.

because it is real life. there are real people on the other end of each of those names. you are communicating with people. as such, you should use the same judgement you would use in a face to face conversation.

Perhaps you folks who have been on this and every other internet board for the last 12 years have allowed the internet to take over your life, or let the internet bleed too much into your real life. Lighten up!!!

perhaps you folks that have not been around as long should learn from the experiences of those who have, and act like decent human beings when interacting with other human beings.

As far as the "abuse of newbies"…that's the way it goes in our society.

this ain't your society. this is the club's webpage. if one guest in my house is rude to another, i'm going to ask them to leave. same rules apply here.

Wins my vote for post of the month. Seriously, is it really so hard to act like a real person on the internet?

my suggestion would simply be that if someone becomes personally abusive, they get bounced

it's one thing to talk about why you don't like a band…it's another to put someone down for liking them…which is sort of like homophobes decrying gays

on the other hand, whatever you want to say about me or the club is fine…bring it on

Is this really that big of a deal? Thatguy simply reminded us to try and be a little nicer to newbies and we've got all these people (well mostly Rhett) saying "why should I?" like a bunch of freaking 12 year olds. Jeez.

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
on the other hand, whatever you want to say about me or the club is fine…bring it on

I think the question on all of our minds would have to be: is your mother fair game?

Oh God :roll:

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
Oh God :roll:

I'm just asking. If he says no, I won't go there.

I think often people tie themselves to some sort of music and group too closely, and people sometimes take "such and such group sucks" too personally. Or sometimes in our need to easily pidgeonhole people, we tie them to some group or some genre. Like people say I'm alt-country or something, when in reality maybe 25% or less of my music collection consists of alt-country.

Originally posted by Seth Hurwitz:
my suggestion would simply be that if someone becomes personally abusive, they get bounced

it's one thing to talk about why you don't like a band…it's another to put someone down for liking them…which is sort of like homophobes decrying gays

on the other hand, whatever you want to say about me or the club is fine…bring it on

Well that's the thing. It really does seem hard for people to act like a real person on the internet.

I've met and chatted with perhaps 10-15 board members past and present. And more often than not, they

a. acted quite different from the image they portray online.
b. looked nothing like you would have imagined them to look like.

Online, people are playing characters. Often, their online personality doesn't match who they are offline. And why would they? Online, you can be anyone or anything you want to be. And isn't it a bit weird sharing your real self with complete strangers?

And just as often, people feel the need to turn other online people into simple caracatures (sorry, I'm too lazy to look up the spelling)rather than the complex human beings that they really are. It's easy to take a handful of things that someone says, and in your mind develop this whole character around your chosen statements. You're not basing it on the person, more likely you're basing it on your own prejudices.

Originally posted by j_lee:

Wins my vote for post of the month. Seriously, is it really so hard to act like a real person on the internet? [/QB]

This 'forum business' shit is getting old really fast, and I most heartedly apologise if my last comment offended anyone. ;)

Just think of this stupid message board as a tv channel, and if you don't like what's on telly, then switch to another channel, or tunr it off.
That seems to be a more sensible alternative than censoring the 'elitist pricks' and whatever other catogeries members were grouped into.

I've been a member for quite a while and it's members seem to be a lot less offensive towards each other now than it was in the past. I miss the days markie, rhett, celeste, lulu, ggw, eddie and myself really let each other have it.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
I miss the days markie, rhett, celeste, lulu, ggw, eddie and myself really let each other have it.

Sounds like quite the orgy you guys had going in the past. Glad I wasn't around to witness it.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:

I've been a member for quite a while and it's members seem to be a lot less offensive towards each other now than it was in the past. I miss the days markie, rhett, celeste, lulu, ggw, eddie and myself really let each other have it.

Ahh the good old days!

But mostly we were having a good fight about something. Not just calling each other names.

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
I miss the days markie, rhett, celeste, lulu, ggw, eddie and myself really let each other have it.

Sounds like quite the orgy you guys had going in the past. Glad I wasn't around to witness it.

Especially when it was Lulu and Celeste!!!!! :eek:

Rob would have creamed in his pants.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:
I miss the days markie, rhett, celeste, lulu, ggw, eddie and myself really let each other have it.

Sounds like quite the orgy you guys had going in the past. Glad I wasn't around to witness it.

Especially when it was Lulu and Celeste!!!!! :eek:

Again, I don't think anyone has a problem with people who are comfortable with the back and forth that goes on between seasoned board members. Most of you can dish it out just as much as you can take it.

We're just asking that when someone starts a thread to see who else is coming to the Hanson show that there isn't that pack mentality of we must defend our board against the senseless pop fans. As I said before, let them come in and look around. They will either see that this place isn't for them and fade away in time or they'll find that this place is interesting and fun at times and join in the maddness. It's just not cool when a newbie comes here because they can't wait to see Good Charlotte and the first ten responses are "you suck and your music taste sucks and your favorite band is a bunch of losers…" I am 100% positive that if I went through all your music collections that I would find something in there of more then questionable taste. So when some 15 year old girl wanders in here looking for someone to share in her excitment try to remember what you or your parents were listening to at that age and how your tastes have grown and changed over the years.

Here's a novel idea. When I meet people who's taste in music is questionable (at least to me), I try to expose them to something new they might like. It's a slow process that typically requires me to start with something that won't scare them away too fast. Then slowly over time they're listening to some of the music that they never would have found on their own. I'm sure many of you have had experiences just like that.

Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
I've met and chatted with perhaps 10-15 board members past and present. And more often than not, they

a. acted quite different from the image they portray online.
b. looked nothing like you would have imagined them to look like.

OK, which one was it.

Originally posted by econo:

Originally posted by Xavier Bush, Power Forward:
I've met and chatted with perhaps 10-15 board members past and present. And more often than not, they

a. acted quite different from the image they portray online.
b. looked nothing like you would have imagined them to look like.

OK, which one was it.

I can show you what a special part of me looks like…here's a pic of my pussy.