INVENTORY OPEN TO COMMENT

How can we structure a tread that might attract some new folks that may only be lurking presently? It has seemed to me that new folks are very slow to enter into the existing active threads. As a community organizer for a national organization I was trained to be aware of the absolute need of new members. Existing on what is was thought to be slow but sure death of an organization.

Are the new members entering weekly going to other areas and threads? Are they being welcomed by areas? Are we missing them and if so why?

Do you have any opinions or ideas that may apply to these basic facts? What if anything being observed could possibly cause new folks to shy away?

how about a sticky Welcome newcomers thread... introduce yourself kind of thing

If I see some from our area sign up I always send them a d-mail with links to the MA forum and the NE forum. What else can you do? some people just like to lurk.

doc, good thoughts.
onewish, we have two threads of introductions crammed with people and still have this small number who then continue to participate.
I don't know what makes people decide to un-lurk. I had a social need and this fit my needs, then once I got to 'know' some people it became a daily thing.
When a new topic comes up, I try not to let it get swallowed up with no response at all. Then again, if five regulars chime in on a new topic quickly there seems no need for a hesitant newbie to pipe up.
Offering free stuff is usually good for getting hands raised. But free stuff from this group would mean one of us willing to pack and send something. Maybe a group secret swap of some kind? I once did a rooting jar swap. Holly, remember that? So each person had a one item obligation but you had some group conversation going along.

doc--Thank you for caring.........That is SOOO special!

Before I joined DG, I was on GW for maybe a year and a half--or two. That is where I learned the most about growing Brugmansias--as there were some "experts" there (this is 9-10 years ago).
My "guiding Guru" was Shirley Mohr in Iowa ("bruggie"). She taught me so much about Brugs....and "TNgreenthumb"....the Brug-growing expert. I still follow his advice and have now shared it with you all in the MA Forum. Same for Daturas.....Ric Rac Cactus---Pregnant Onion--Climbing Onion----Red Epis--etc....

I don't remember how I learned about DG--but I was a lurker for a while--and what I saw turned me off somewhat.
Not knowing anyone--it seemed just like so much aimless chit-chat. Cliques! That still exists to some degree.....
I think the MA is one of the friendliest Forums.....maybe because we have met each other through Swaps????

SO? What did I not like?
--The newsletter---It seemed all it listed was how many people joined, how many plants were added to the PF's. etc.... Boring! I know a lot has changed since 9 years ago....but it is still full of DG self-promoting stuff.

--The aimless posting by people who just have to post "nothings"--Like "Wow"! -- "great Flower!"---"You go, Girl!",
etc....I was looking for more structure, discussion and advice. The "need" to post one-liners still is in my least
liked category to this day! I see that there is a new Post on one of my watched Threads! I get all excited! THEN--it is someone just saying "WOW!".....It kills me! Over and over and over--the same people saying the same things.....that mean nothing, at least to me. You may notice that I do not follow the "herd"--when I post, I usually have something to say, explain, or tell about whatever is relevant to the Post's topic. Just my way!

--Luckily--on the MA-- we have no back-stabbers and animosity. I have seen some of the "wars" on other Posts...
Mamma Mia!!!! The Brugmansia Thread is a good example. Not now--but in years past--OH, the contention going on there!!!! Dave had to ban the mention of "ABADS" ever again! Forever!!!! Still in effect! Not sure with the new owners---as I just mentioned it.......aaaaggh!

--OK! On to more positive things.....
--I believe "newbies" feel overwhelmed by the familiarity between existing posters--and they have NO idea how to
"jump in". Like---"What could I possibly post to interest anyone???" I am a new gardener!
IF they are of the "social types"--they have NO problem. Not all people are....However--eventually--when they are
welcomed with open arms by generous souls--they start fitting in. By now--I cannot imagine my life w/o DG!

Sally. WHAT happened to the "Welcome to the MA--Introduce yourself" Post????? That seemed so nice--but it also faded in the sunset. Less and less people posted.....was it that our "support" of all these newbies was no longer
there? I know that, in the beginning, every new person introducing themselves was met with "welcomes" from many people....THEN--as time went on--fewer and fewer posted a "welcome"----so it died! Maybe we need to resurect this Thread????

Re the "Secret Swap"-----
I don't know if any of you were aware, or participated, in the "Secret Pal" gift exchange that "Sharron" (KY) started on the "Best and Worst" Thread on General Discussion????....
It was truly a lot of fun.
It went for about a year and a half--and then Sharon did not want to spend all this time being the "Moderator" and "Organizer"of it. I can't blame her.
Basically--We all signed up to participate in this. She drew the names of all the people that had expressed a desire to participate in this and the draw decided who was to get matched up with whom--and she D-mailed the people to announce their secret Pals. Neither the giver--or the taker knew who was their secret "Pal".....OH! The suspense! SO titillating!!!!

Gifts were limited to $5-or so and when mailed to the secret recipient--one did not put on the return address. If the PO had a problem with this--the sender just put the recipient's address in the "TO" and the "sender's" space....
Whenever someone received a gift--they would post pictures of it and OOOH and AHHHH. The suspense was killing us all!
When that particular "Secret Swap" period was over---Sharon would reveal who had whom as their Secret Swap Pal through D-mails.. Then the real "Thank You's" got posted!

Yes! it cost a bit of $$--but it was SO much fun!
Maybe we could model something after this "format"???? Do we need to ask Sharon????

doc--maybe you could organize willing participants to send "welcome" packages of seeds/cuttings to any newbie.
You could throw all the willing "participant's" names in a bucket and pull a name for each new mamber.
Then D-mail that person saying---"You are IT !!!!! Send whatever you can share to._______(name)".

Just my 2 cents! Gita

Since it
is a regional forum, more comment or info on regional aspects is appropriate. Such as photo tours (thanks jen) of local gardens, the regional event s thread (thanks jill) is very suitable, though there is no need for people to comment when they have used it,it should be a good resource for Mid At lurkers.

The Welcome threads are back there somewhere. The risk of personal welcomes to everyone who posts there is to sidetrack the whole thing into yet another small group discussion. Maybe we could have tried to start a thread for each one who came out of the woodwork.

I don't know what you can do to overcome the hesitation for a lurker to join into a chatty familiar group, except to say We WELCOME NEWBIES and hope they believe it. Having no job, (then) being home with kids mostly, this was and still is a great way for me to socialize from the comfort and convenience of my house.

Yes Sally the rooting jar swap was fun and easy to do. Our discussions have been lagging a bit since last summer. Some of the regular posters aren't posting as much do to personal changes in their lives and we don't seem to be getting many new posters. I was over in the Shade Garden Forum and noticed a poster that lives in Pa that I have never seen post here on the MA Forum and I have noticed that before in other forums. Maybe they just move to areas that talk about their particular interest other than general topics. I think we have interesting topics here. The events thread is a really good one, propagation/seed starting, pictures of our gardens, veggie growing even garden art. We have a lot of discussions that would appeal to a variety of interests. We have a lot of good resources like Doc, Critter, Gita and others that are just a wealth of information. So I think we have a lot of good and interesting discussions. I see that we have a lot of viewers on the threads but not a lot of different posters. I know that the NE Forum has a lot of talking going on Ric visits there, too. But I don't know how much activity the other regional forums get.

I have been giving this subject some thought, but nothing is like that eureka moment.
So I went back and read the "Introduction" to our MA forum and it does seem a but of a narrow area they are describing, Would I fit in this group just based on location, probably not. Maybe we don't get as many visitors or lurkers as we think. Just a thought.

Intro Quoted " A hearty welcome to those who garden along the Atlantic Seaboard of the U.S. From the Delmarva Peninsula to the Big Apple, the Mid-Atlantic region is packed with U.S. history, gardens, and of course, gardeners."

While researching for information on a specific subject I ventured onto another Garden Site where an idiot would bracket my quote and inform me what I really intended to say. It was continuous until I blew my cork, told the person where her opinion would fit nicely and ask to be removed from the site. A second combatant individual was a perfect example of big chip on shoulder always being right while picking apart anyone who placed a different opinion than his. He also liked to run his six roses over top of anyone else's one rose post to make an example.

The associates I know on DG are helpful to the extent that a forum might change subjects instantly to respond to most any stated interest or need. Most are regulars so to speak being friendly sorts from all over the Mid Atlantic and Northeast.

Nothing is perfect and neither is DG. Think tanks forums are an inventory which sometimes can lead to a better more enjoyable situation if the members keep talking and bringing forth opinions.

When I asked admin to "sticky" the events thread, I added a quick "welcome" paragraph at the top http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7344348. That was sort of a stop-gap measure, as I've been thinking that we need a "welcome" thread with links to additional resources and threads of interest (like the "introduce yourself' threads)... but I have some time constraints at present and didn't think I could get that underway. I'm hoping somebody might take it on... we could have two sticky threads, maybe, the welcome/resources thread and the events thread (events could also be relegated to a link, but I think it might be easier to find at the top of the forum)... and we could certainly cut loose the "Dave got it started" sticky thread.

With regard to welcoming people with additional posts on the "roll call" thread.. those threads were *specifically* set up to be 1 post per person, so that it would be easy to go to the thread and read everybody's introduction info. When we start chatting, we fill the thread up with information that's less useful down the road, and then we have to start another introduction thread.. If you look at the most recent one http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/865911/, you'll see that I started it off by copying/pasting the introductions (and not all the chat) from the previous thread.

I know our first reaction (mine too) when somebody posts is to want to respond to what they've said... maybe instead of doing that on the thread, somebody could start a "welcome, gardenerX!" thread and post a link to it... then everybody could go to the "welcome!" thread with their responses, and the "welcome!" thread might catch a few additional eyes also.

We talked about "stickying" the "roll call" (introductions) thread, but all the chat that collects on it was, I think, one of the main arguments against it... If we want to resurrect the roll call thread, we could certainly post a link to it on whatever "welcome!" sticky we might put at the top of the forum.

I think one thing that would help a lot in getting and keeping discussion going would get rid of the bad habit here of meandering threads with hundreds of posts instead of starting a new thread for a new topic. Anyone who wanders in here is going to look at the thread titles and see very little of what's really going on. And if they do want to keep up, they have to slog through pages-long threads to get to the current discussion.

For a while, I was checking the new members list and d-mailing the people in our region, inviting them to this forum. Many told me they didn't know this forum was here until I told them.

I think a pile of stickies at the top of a forum also stifles activity. Many people don't scroll past the first page and when they glance at the first page, they see a slew of threads with no activity since the last time they were here.

I agree about not having too many stickies at the top.. right now, we've got 2, and that seems OK.. if we add a "welcome!" sticky, it'll replace the outdated "Dave got it started!" one.

Some threads get chatty, and that's fine. But yes, when a new topic comes up (like when we're discussing rabbits and somebody interjects a pruning question), it's much better to start a new thread. Unfortunately, that sort of organization really has to be a group effort... no matter how carefully I suggest that somebody might start a new thread for this new topic so they'll get more & better answers for the (off topic) question they just raised, I get calls of "thread police!" and "spoilsport!"

Suggesting that someone start a new thread instead of hijacking the current one isn't being a spoilsport. Good grief.

DG is a very lightly moderated board. At many others, the job of keeping threads on topic is done by the moderators. Here, I think it's assumed we're capable of doing that ourselves. But if someone objects to a reminder to stay with the topic at hand, maybe we're not.

You're always going to have a little bit of wandering off topic and that's fine for one or two posts. But it's not when threads go on and on and on, meandering from this topic to that one and then back to the original and then on to a third and a fourth.

Besides, it makes it almost impossible to find a discussion that you are interested in when there's no thread header giving a clue where to find it, especially now that there's no search function for the forums.

If you might be interested in joining, say, what lilacs do well in our area, you certainly can't do that if it's buried in posts 240-256 and 312-321 of a thread about tulips.

Boy is that sticky ever outdated. The links in it don't even work any more. LOL

I hope you mean there are nonworking links in the "Dave" sticky and not in the "events" thread... I haven't gone through and tested links in my thread for a while, probably about time to update it again and eliminate past events, LOL.

BTW, according to the thread about "search" on the DG forum, the new search feature should go "live" sometime today. That will help, but it will help more if we can start new threads when new topics come up. :-)

I meant in the sticky.

In all the years I've been a member here, I've had little to no luck with the search functions. So unless this new one is dazzlingly better than any we've had in the past, I'm not holding my breath.

Usually, you'll have better luck searching in Google for something here than searching here for something here. But, like I said, these long, rambling threads don't help. Even if you do manage to find the right thread, who wants to slog through a few hundred posts for the info you're seeking?

To get back on topic ;>) the point I'm trying to make is if you make this board more user friendly, more people will participate. And essentially what makes a board friendly are the same things that make any other publication easy to read and use.

Would you read a newspaper that dumped all the news below the fold and started a story on health care reform, switched to the coal mining accident after few paragraphs, tossed in some really boring paragraphs on the stock market then switched to the latest on Sandra Bullock's marriage? And if you were looking for the Sandra Bullock scuttlebutt, you'd have given up by about the third paragraph. Actually, according to studies, most people won't read beyond the first paragraph if it doesn't capture their interest. Multiply that by 250 posts and see how many newbies made it that far.

More good discussion.
As an experiment, partly, I just started a thread asking about a local; (Annapolis MD) nursery. So far no response. I wondered if asking more local questions would get some people out of the fringe. The idea of the regional forum would be (seems to me) local advice due to local conditions. We do very few plant specific threads when you think about it.

I noticed that Sally.