Post #183455 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Wed, Aug 31, 2005 4:56 PM

First of all, I'm extremely encouraged by reading the participation in this topic. It seems we have just as many passionate new members as we have passionate old members. I suspected as much. The new members I meet at various tiki events and online are just as much fun, just as sincerely into tiki, and just as genuinely nice as the folks I met when I joined four years ago. To me, it seems that Tiki Central is healthy and thriving.

That said, I definitely agree with Hanford and many other members that I've talked to, that Tiki Central has been feeling watered-down over the years. Not in the Events category by any means! I never would have guessed 3 or 4 years ago that I would have a dilemma over which local tiki event to attend each weekend!

But in the posts themselves, I feel we've been straying away from the focus that brought us here. Is that good or bad? There are cogent arguments to both sides.

When Hanford created "Beyond Tiki" and especially "Bilge" it was because the main categories were becoming cluttered with off-topic posts. He opened these new categories as relief-valves and what do you know, they worked! The main tiki-related categories became focused again and the off-topic posts accumulated in Bilge & Beyond, where people could read or ignore them as they chose.

But I don't think Hanford anticipated that "Bilge" and (to a lesser extent) "Beyond" would become thriving, growing "side-shows" or 24-hour-a-day open mike night comedy clubs with a draw all their own. If the motto "Read them or Ignore them as you choose" was really the only issue here, than I'd say keep these topics open and free as usual - no harm done.

But I think the problem is a little more complex. I think you can make an argument that some (not all) of what goes on in "Bilge and Beyond" detracts and dilutes energy from the main topics. I've found it much easier at the end of a working day to gossip or joke or share a link in Bilge than to put together a nicely-researched tiki-history post or some photos from my postcard collection that would benefit and edify the membership at large. I used to thrive on putting together those informative posts, now I find it's easier to be a Bilge couch-potato or a Bilge comedian.

On the other hand, I've found many of the topics in Bilge and Beyond to be extremely valuable and thought-provoking. These forums are friendlier, more personal, and less-intimidating to new members than the main topics. They help foster our sense of community and help new members get their feet wet. And frankly, laughing is healthy and I thank God I have so many witty friends to keep me in stitches.

So Hanford has a dilemma. A poor analogy might be the College Administrator who wants to bring the focus back to learning and excellence and away from the frat-parties and drunkeness which have begun to detract from learning. Will these changes work? I'm skeptical that they will.

I think that "bilge will find a way" and that more off-topic or tangentially-on-topic posts will find their way back into the Main forums. This will of course require more policing by the moderators. Or, more members will become Grand Members (it's cheap after all), and the Bilge and Beyond topics will continue to grow and thrive behind closed doors instead of open ones. As I said, half of what goes on in "Beyond" and (to a lesser extent) "Bilge" has great value. Just how to make sure it doesn't take over and become the main focus of Tiki Central?

Hopefully the fact that Hanford has made these changes will serve as a wake-up-call to our membership to steer things back on track where they've legitimately gotten off-track. I think the only real way we're going to get our new membership to participate constructively in a Tiki-themed website is to have the established membership lead by example. As soon as we put effort into making the main categories more interesting than the sideshows, then focus will naturally shift and "Bilge" will trim down to a healthy weight again. I know some people don't agree with me and see nothing wrong with Bilge and Beyond just the way they are right now. I respect your opinions and agree with many of your arguments.

I do know that Hanford has always had the interests of the members first and foremost in his decisions and has never been interested in making this and "elitist" or "excluding" club. Compared to other forums I've particpated in, this is a fantastic one. Hanford and the moderators do a fine job.

Although I've got misgivings, I think I agree most with Hanford when he says, "but there's nothing like actually trying something instead of talking about it." Let's try this change out. If it doesn't work, we try something else. I like the suggestion to make Bilge & Beyond "readable" to everybody but only postable by Grand Members. Other than that, I have no major problems with the decision.

Sabu