What to do about the forums? What changes need to be made?

Another idea...I don't think anyone said this...if so...sorry for my poor reading comprehension skills....

Why not let reading and posting remain free...but charge a yearly fee to start a topic in the Exchange section. A yearly fee makes sense because charging per listing would be a paperwork nightmare. So...$0 if you just want to read and post...but some fee $10-$20? yearly for topic starting privileges in the Individuals For Sale area...and perhaps a tad more for dealers. This way, membership would not fall off, keeping track of the money would be easy, could be implemented by passwording the topic starting in only a few forums...what about it?
 
How about a hit counter on the page of every post.

It would be nice to see how many people read a post but didn't necessarily reply.

I know they are not a true count but a simple one would give us an idea.
 
Spark, This place seems to be running smoothly and for that..."Thanks!"
A mandatory fee would lose a lot of people. Did you see how fast free sites were posted when photopoint went to a pay site?
Us hardcore readers/posters would gladly pay,but do you want a place for us only. Or do you want to continue to support the knife community as a whole, from newbies to knife knuts.
A small town newspaper has a banner on the front page of every edition that proclaims
"Home of John Doe!"
Once a month you could do the same for supporting members. This is defintely my internet home.

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~~TOM~~
 
Hey, everyone who likes the idea of a donation please do a couple things:

Look up to the top right hand of your screen. You see that little "STORE" link? Click on it and go buy yourself a knife. Am I saying buy only from 1SKS? No. There is a host of dealers in here with great bargains, as well as the For Sale forum, which is brimming with good deals. However, 1SKS has a huge selection, excellent prices, and good customer service.

I look at it this way. I have saved a huge pile of cash buying knives on this forum. A bargain from Mike Payne here, a trade with a forum member there, a heavy score on a user in the F/S section there.... you get the picture. When I go to 1SKS to buy a knife, (subsequently helping keep BFC keep the door open) I know that it is money well spent, and money that will be paid back to me in spades.

They have more than knives too ya know. Just this past Christmas I had to buy gifts for the inlaws. These people HATE knives. But they are avid golfers, as well as gadget freaks. So I get on the phone to Spark, and I end up getting them matching Swiss Army Golf Tools and Photon micro-lights. They were totally ecstatic with these things, and they probably would never have guessed that I got them from a huge knife store.

Also, scroll down to the bottom of the screen. There is a link there to purchase BFC hats and knife bags. We spend a pile of bread on blades around here, a knife bag is a necessity nowadays. Grab one up. Also, if you ever been to a knife show and wore a BFC cap, you know that it is easy for a fellow member to recognize you and just walk up and say "Hey, howz it goin', I'm Velitrius". A very useful and stylish item.

Just some food for thought folks. Oh, by the way Spark, I say if it aint broke don't fix it.

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Sometimes I catch myself assuming that everybody knows their way around a pocket knife. Then I remember what the first three letters of "assume" are.
- James K. Mattis
 
I still like Darrel Ralphs idea for a Knifemakers tools and Supplies forum,placed near shop talk,where people could ask tool related questions,or sell tools&supplies=individuals only.

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MIKE
 
ok, fee idea:

you can view the forums for free, and you can make up to say, 30 posts, BUT, you can only start threads and make more than 30 posts if you pay a fee. That would let people lurk till they realize it's worth it, and still let a vast amount of people discover knives through the forums, as so many of us have. Just an idea...



------------------
William Callahan

"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without
hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd
never expect it."
-Jack Handey

I'm one of those wierdos who likes Zytel.
 
A couple more quick thoughts. Any type of revenue generating system that is required to perform any function at BFC, will not be received well. History has proven this. For example, making it mandatory to pay a small "membership" fee in order to have the right to sell on the For Sale forum is a non-starter and will piss people off.

Likewise, I'm afraid that a system which allows one to "purchase" special member status will inevitably leave a bad taste in the mouths of those members who can't afford such a luxury. A sponsorship, on the other hand, would buy you absolutely nothing (other than your name on a page), and would be totally unobtrusive and invisible except to those who choose to click on a "sponsors" link.

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
To charge, or not to charge:

This is a pretty significant choice. Beyond the mere financial issues it fundamentally defines what this site is, and where it purports to go. If the Bladesforum is in effect a virtual club, then it would be entirely reasonable for its membership to fund the site. But, if the Bladeforums is primarilly a marketing tool for 1SKS, then it would be fundamentally unfair to ask our members to in effect assist 1SKS. In the later case the cost of the site would simply be part of the cost of sales for 1SKS.

I would expect that if we decide to have the members fund the site that the membership would reasonably assert an interest in setting the club's policy. Perhaps that is ultimately where we will end up. But, it is not a choice to be taken lightly.
 
BTW, if we ever decide to go with the club idea, I plan to run for "Grand Bastid"
smile.gif
 
Man...

You guys are like the kids who reminded the teacher about the homework assignment at the end of class!!!
wink.gif


Spark asks if we'd like any changes, and you guys are writing him checks left and right. Goes to show what a bunch of good people there are 'round here.

As far as financial support, buy from Spark's store! That is obviously his business, and this is a means to attract business while providing a very nice service to the knife community. If he needs to defray costs here I'd bet he'll ask how that can be done.

As far as changes, I don't know the best way to do it, but yes something to stop a "for sale" post from ending up at the end of page 3 in less than 24 hours.

Brandon


edited for 1 stupid "t". Can you find it???

[This message has been edited by Elvislives (edited 05-07-2001).]
 
Well, I had another idea - turn the forums into a nonprofit business. This would, of course, require separating the forums from 1sks, but it might actually work.

The advantages of this would be:
1) Monetary donations from companies and individuals are tax-free and can be written off by those individuals and companies
2) Many of the other taxes disappear.
3) Bladeforums.com could still hold its monthly contest - and those that donate get to take it as a tax write-off.
4) Bladeforums could hold auctions of donated knives to turn them into hard currency.
5) Spark would alleviate himself of some of the responsibility

Spark could make himself the executive director of the nonprofit organization, and pay himself a reasonable amount for his work from the donations. Bladeforums could still implement voluntary fees, as well as holding fundraising drives.

People and companies could sponsor a forum - if there were a forum they'd like to see, they could put the money up for it to be added to bladeforums. People traditionally are more willing to donate to nonprofits than businesses.

Of course, I'm sure 1sks gets a lot of business from the forums, and spark probably would like a return on his investment. It's just an idea. Another possible way would be to start a "friends of bladeforums.com" nonprofit which could take over some of the responsibilities of fundraising. I don't know the Florida laws on the subject, so maybe it's not plausible.

If the forum is going to charge fees, there should be a good return for those fees. Charging for the for-sale forums is not a good return, as unlike Ebay, there is no protection for either the buyer or seller. People who donate should get something for their donation - whether it’s a thing under their Username that says "Funding Member" or receiving a $20 tee shirt in return for their $200 donation.

Overall, I really like the forums. I hope Spark can find a way to make them even more successful.

-- Rob


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Me fail english? That's unpossible!
 
Some of us overseas guy have, errrm, issues with 1SKS which preclude our support, hence the donation thing is actually more attractive.
 
Its great as it is! However I would like to see a General maintenence forum!

Covering sharpening, rust protection and other specific issues, such as stripping and how to look after a knife in general. It would NOT be brand specific, but IMHO would bring together a bunch of questions that get asked all over this group.

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!
 
Hey General! Good idea!

On the idea of a Forum Fee, I wonder what the cost would be in time/dollars. If half the people left, you would still have to process 13 people a day 365 days a year. On the other hand at $20 per (gets out the calculator), that's $100,000.
smile.gif


Steve-O

"A billion here, a billion there...pretty soon you're talking about real money"
Everett Dirkson
 
Spark,

I regard this place as a home away from home. There is little that needs changing.

I do like the idea of the members giving a little back, voluntarily, with some kind of recognition of who is supporting the place.

Whatever it takes, let's keep it up!

Dean
 
Thanks! I must admit a General maintenence forum would bring more focus and stop me having to look all over the place to remember who I have tried to help on this issue. I have seen questions on this topic appear in nearly every forum here. If we had one single forum for this I think it would help a lot, most seem to use the General forum for this and I don't think it is the right place. After all ask any knife user what he wants to do and looking after his investment/prized knife is at the top of the list! Also I have noticed a general lack of willingness of old timers to talk to FNG's who have questions about this. Now if I hear one more person say use the search I will scream. Lets all just stop posting then until a compleatly new subject can be raised! How dull would that be? Besides, with 10,000 PLUS members, how many missed a thread first or 100th time round? Who want's to add to the last discusion of the topic? If a person is asking daft questions all the time then yes the search feature aught to be pointed out, but I think we need a little more tolerence and pacience on this group. Heck, we need... Ah... I am sounding stupid again
frown.gif


Sorry, rant over

------------------
Wayne.
"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
Certified steel snob!

[This message has been edited by The General (edited 05-07-2001).]
 
On the "forum fee" topic, I feel that a fee would stifle the growth of the forum. While I would gladly pay it, I think that it wouldnt be a good thing. Maybe a few times a year you could encourage people to express their appreciation for the forums by giving some $, and from the contributors you could select a winner for the knife. (okay, I guess it's a raffle... but whatever). Perhaps there could also be an 'honor system' used on the knife exchange where, if you sell a knife, you agree to pay a fixed amount ($5 maybe) to BladeForums. I think that we are, for the most part, good and honest people who are more than happy to help support BladeForums...

--Matt
 
I would like to see even more forums, like Cold Steel, and Ka-Bar. That's about all I can think of, I hated to ask for that. We are truely spoiled here! One other thing how about sending me knives to test, then when done I get to keep them! Sorry couldn't resist! RKBA!
 
Besides sending us all pink tutu BFC uniforms:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jkmchai/BladeShow2000/Spark-PT2.jpg
(Thanks for the photo to James Mattis!!)

you could let us pitch in some of the money we have saved by being members of BFC. IF you need cash to keep this going, there are those whould support you....

Otherwise, it's just fine the way it is!!

Michael

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He who has smelt the smoke is never free again...
 
Not too sure how long this will run, so will post now. Would prefer to have read more posts before inserting my 2 cents worth.

I believe a lot of good thinking and ideas has been presented here. IMO, probably one of the most significant posts were made by not2sharp,callahwj,and LynnBob.

In terms of new services, I like very much the suggestion by Thomas J Eckman:
"One function that I'm sure more than I would like to have is to be able to save/export an entire thread to a local disk file. This would include pictures. "

For myself, I think allowing lurking is critical to the success of the forums. If a fee needs to be charged for a level of participation, or voluntary contributions with an icon recognition make the most sense to me.

While the relationship between BFC and 1SKS cannot be denied, I'd like to see a curtailment in the pointed suggestions about making purchases from 1SKS. Many of us come here with relationships already established with other dealers. I don't think we should be forced into a guilt trip because we wish to maintain that relationship. Also, some dealers are advertising on the forums, and I believe patronizing them is indeed a contribution to BFC/1SKS.

Please don't remove the archives in wholesale fashion. I think they could be thinned on a date basis -- like 2 years kept, then deleted. One of the biggest frustrations for newbies is either the "casual" assumption by posters, especially sellers that everybody knows exactly what every knife, custom or manufactured, looks like, and the specifications, or a complete lack of sympathy that interested "potential customers" may well have to expend a great deal of time finding pics/info about a particular knife. It took me over half an hour yesterday to find a picture of the Spydie Renegade, one of which was listed for sale. I particularly dislike the sale posts that indicate one can request photos by e-mail. Of course, if the seller doesn't know how to paste in pictures that's fine. But, the flavor of many ads seems like, "I'll put out some effort for serious customers, screw the rest of you."

The suggestion of a repository for knife pictures would also be a welcome addition for me.

Essentially, I like the forums exactly as they are. But, nothing can remain the same forever. I stronly hope that any changes made are done so in view of what has made BFC such a success, and are focused on continuing that environment, or improving it.




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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
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