Ryan, You state that everyone else who runs a forum or mailing list is "power hungry", yet you want to consolidate everything under your control? =) Seriously, Ryan, you have stated multiple times that you don't like the email-based community concept, and that you prefer a web interface. That is perfectly fine; everyone has his/her preference. That's important to remember. You state, "Everyone would have to agree to shut down and launch a single new system." But why? I personally never read the various forums. (I actually RUN a huge forum for 1955-1961 MoPars... I have over 1,700 users... 57,000 posts... and I hardly ever read it. MY preference is email. I run BOTH a mailing list and a forum because some people prefer one, and some prefer the other. That will likely never change.) I must be really tired or something, because I actually agree with Marc - but he's right - 'build it, and they will come'. Saying that it can be done is one thing; implementing it is another. I have never heard anyone else with the opinion that there must be only one forum/list, and frankly, getting the support of "all forum owners and moderators" will likely not happen any more than having a consolidation of all DMC web sites under one domain name, or all local clubs under one national organization. But, by all means, you are welcome and encouraged to try. People have their 'hangouts', preferences, clubs, forums, and mailing lists, and they all like or dislike them for their own independent reasons. Insisting that everyone needs to come together because -you- don't like having to go to multiple places, ignores the needs and wants of everyone else. You state, "Everyone would have to agree to shut down and launch a single new system." Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your forum. Implement it FIRST, then ask for folks to make the move. Trying to get everyone to commit in advance to a unified forum that has not even been built yet is never going to happen. You stated that you weren't going to do it without everyone agreeing in advance to the change, but what have you shown those folks? Do you have a site yet? No, you said you didn't want to put the time into it if no one would come. Well, that's the same reason no one will agree to a move in advance. There are literally THOUSANDS of hours invested in the current forums, mailing lists, web sites, etc. No rational person would ever consider throwing away all of the work that has gone into these entities over the last 10 years simply because someone shows up and says, "your stuff isn't any good, mine will be better, so give yours up and you will see - but I won't even start mine until you give yours up.' You have to be reasonable, you have to have some experience in dealing with the technical, political, and personal, and you have to have a real site, not just an idea. Do your best, enlist the help of others, and go build the best D site the world has ever seen, and it very well might become 'the one'. However, you are going to have to invest an enormous amount of your own time FIRST before asking for commitments from others, and there will never be any guarantees. That's what the rest of us have faced when building our respective communities - you are going to have to do the same if you ever expect to be taken seriously. -Dave ________________________________ From: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ryan Wright Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 6:47 PM To: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [DMCForum] Number of DMC Forums. There is no consensus amongst the community and the other forum owners. To close this forum would do no good - it still serves a purpose. (Besides, it's not "my" forum to close - we've always said it belongs to the community - so the community would have to decide). I'd simply like to see a single, consolidated forum. Web based, so there can be multiple sections, including an off-topic section for discussions like those on this forum. Email features, so users can subscribe to entire forums and interact with threads much like they do here and on the DML. And moderated by a system that ensures power struggles and discrimination against individuals or specific points of view are minimized or eliminated. It could be done. I could make it happen. There are others in the community that could make it happen. But we would need the support of all forum owners & moderators, and a majority of the membership. Everyone would have to agree to shut down and launch a single new system. I think we're a small enough community that we could pull it off, but I think many people are too set in their ways (and/or too power hungry in wanting things their way, or wanting to suppress certain commentary) to go along with it. -Ryan On 7/11/06, Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:malevy_nj%40yahoo.com> > wrote: > > What makes the current forum alternatives not make you > give this one up "in a flash"? > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/HliolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DMCForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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