Possibility of making an "open forum" for non - Grady White topics of conversation?

glacierbaze

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Who would determine who is one of "us"? New owners join here all the time, I can't remember the process, are they vetted, or do they just create an account? Either way, as an anti-social prick to begin with, I'm still a no.
 

DennisG01

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Just to be clear, I do like the idea because I've seen how it works on another, well-mannered, forum that I frequent... and it works very well. But I'm not purposefully trying to change anyone's mind - just pointing out that it CAN work - but that all depends on us. WE are the ones that make it work.

As far who "determines" one of us... well, realistically, no one is going to join this forum if they're not a Grady owner (other than the occasional spammer that already does it). Plus, we, as a group, can pretty easily weed out someone that is not keeping to a general rule of decorum.

And, again, if this "would" become a thing, we all can still choose to participate in the forum or not. If it's not for you, just don't click! :)

Again, my only purpose was to clear things up in case some thought it was an open forum that would be open to "anyone" off the street - it would not - it would still be Grady owners.
 
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Tug

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So - just to clear things up, if I'm understanding Mustang's question correctly (and the way I envisioned it), this "open" forum would not be open to just anyone. It's for "us" to have an area to ask non-Grady-specific questions, but get answers from those that we have learned to trust over the years. Just making sure everyone understands the "intent"
Agree, myself I am surprised at the no's. The general section is just that, it is not a battle ground section.

But I just bought an Arima so I wont be here a lot but I will be on here keeping tabs on the boats and so on. I'm not ruling out a Great Grady in the future.
BTW, the gent I bought the Arima from is buying a Grady:)
 

reelserious

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Just to be clear, I do like the idea because I've seen how it works on another, well-mannered, forum that I frequent... and it works very well. But I'm not purposefully trying to change anyone's mind - just pointing out that it CAN work - but that all depends on us. WE are the ones that make it work.

As far who "determines" one of us... well, realistically, no one is going to join this forum if they're not a Grady owner (other than the occasional spammer that already does it). Plus, we, as a group, can pretty easily weed out someone that is not keeping to a general rule of decorum.

And, again, if this "would" become a thing, we all can still choose to participate in the forum or not. If it's not for you, just don't click! :)

Again, my only purpose was to clear things up in case some thought it was an open forum that would be open to "anyone" off the street - it would not - it would still be Grady owners.
Thanks for the “clarification”. Keep the posts Grady specific and if people need to chat about the weather or their grandmother’s gallstones, why not p.m. your Grady friend and chat that way or get your off-topic friends to join THT with you or better yet, start your own Grady Owner’s Forum for those who feel the need to talk about their grand mother’s gallstones and see how many people join. Nothing against the OP, but things have been running well here long before the OP joined the forum. Why screw with what is already a great , informative and helpful site, especially for all the new Grady owner’s on here now. That would be my “clarification”. Having said that. Good luck to whoever has final say…if there is a “decision” to be made. It could change the face of this forum permanantly.
 

DennisG01

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Thanks for the “clarification”. Keep the posts Grady specific and if people need to chat about the weather or their grandmother’s gallstones, why not p.m. your Grady friend and chat that way or get your off-topic friends to join THT with you or better yet, start your own Grady Owner’s Forum for those who feel the need to talk about their grand mother’s gallstones and see how many people join. Nothing against the OP, but things have been running well here long before the OP joined the forum. Why screw with what is already a great , informative and helpful site, especially for all the new Grady owner’s on here now. That would be my “clarification”. Having said that. Good luck to whoever has final say…if there is a “decision” to be made. It could change the face of this forum permanantly.
I'm not directing this response at "you", per se, but with the way you wrote this, it comes across as sarcastic and a bit insulting by using words like "you" and quoting my use of the word clarification. As I noted above, I've been on other forums where an open-style forum proves very beneficial to many people. My example above was about wifi. We all come from different walks of life and have expertise in varying areas. Asking a question about a wifi recommendation can be very helpful to someone like me that doesn't have any expertise in this subject. I would certainly trust the opinions of other members here much more readily than someone on some other "electronics" forum that I know nothing about.

That's the nice thing about this forum - there's a bunch of nice people on here that can help each other in more ways than just boats. Heck, doing so would probably build even MORE camaraderie here.

But here's the thing... if someone doesn't like an "open" forum, just don't go in there. What if it is of benefit to someone else? Should someone that doesn't like this kind of forum make a decision for someone else? Shouldn't people be allowed to make their own decisions? This isn't China, is it? Those that want to use an open forum could chose to do it and those that don't want to can chose not to.

To be completely honest, I'm surprised at a response like this that is so closed minded and not open to trying something new that could benefit members. Worst case... if the open forum gets out of hand, just close it down. Case closed. But again, based on my experience on another forum and knowing how well mannered and well-intended people are on this forum, I can't imagine that happening.

All that said, the owner of this forum (and/or moderators) WOULD have the right to approve/veto it since they own/run it. I would only hope that they would have an open mind about it.
 
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HTHM

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I'm not a Grady owner...yet. I've joined this forum to learn more about my possible purchase. I like the fact that this forum is specific to the topic on hand.
There are a few off topic posts, and that is fine, I would hate to see this place muddied up with political nonsense.
I was guilty of that offense a few weeks back, and was pleasantly surprised on how well it was dealt with.
 

reelserious

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I'm not directing this response at "you", per se, but with the way you wrote this, it comes across as sarcastic and a bit insulting by using words like "you" and quoting my use of the word clarification. As I noted above, I've been on other forums where an open-style forum proves very beneficial to many people. My example above was about wifi. We all come from different walks of life and have expertise in varying areas. Asking a question about a wifi recommendation can be very helpful to someone like me that doesn't have any expertise in this subject. I would certainly trust the opinions of other members here much more readily than someone on some other "electronics" forum that I know nothing about.

That's the nice thing about this forum - there's a bunch of nice people on here that can help each other in more ways than just boats. Heck, doing so would probably build even MORE camaraderie here.

But here's the thing... if someone doesn't like an "open" forum, just don't go in there. What if it is of benefit to someone else? Should someone that doesn't like this kind of forum make a decision for someone else? Shouldn't people be allowed to make their own decisions? This isn't China, is it? Those that want to use an open forum could chose to do it and those that don't want to can chose not to.

To be completely honest, I'm surprised at a response like this that is so closed minded and not open to trying something new that could benefit members. Worst case... if the open forum gets out of hand, just close it down. Case closed. But again, based on my experience on another forum and knowing how well mannered and well-intended people are on this forum, I can't imagine that happening.

All that said, the owner of this forum (and/or moderators) WOULD have the right to approve/veto it since they own/run it. I would only hope that they would have an open mind about it.
Thanks for your thoughtful insight and good luck with trying to un-ring the bell.
 

DennisG01

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I'm not a Grady owner...yet. I've joined this forum to learn more about my possible purchase. I like the fact that this forum is specific to the topic on hand.
There are a few off topic posts, and that is fine, I would hate to see this place muddied up with political nonsense.
I was guilty of that offense a few weeks back, and was pleasantly surprised on how well it was dealt with.
I agree - political topics often get heated because of personal beliefs. The way some converse (see the juvenile response above :) ) on forums makes it even more difficult, sometimes. But that can easily be a "not allowed" topic. This open forum can be as simple as being used for civil conversations and "help needed" where the trusted members of this site, I'm sure, would be happy to lend some guidance.

Honestly. I never would have thought that a question as simple as wondering about a friendly forum where people could ask for help would be met with such blinded responses..
 

DennisG01

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I'll bow out of this conversation. I was hoping there would have be an open, and respectful discussion about the merits of separate sub-forum. I'm not knocking anyone in particular, but I can see where this is going (unfortunately).
 
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Mustang65fbk

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So - just to clear things up, if I'm understanding Mustang's question correctly (and the way I envisioned it), this "open" forum would not be open to just anyone. It's for "us" to have an area to ask non-Grady-specific questions, but get answers from those that we have learned to trust over the years. Just making sure everyone understands the "intent"
Correct. Like the Vintage-Mustang.com forum that I'm a part of has an "Open Forum" for members only to ask questions about non vintage mustang related items. For example, one member's hot water heater/tank went belly up and was asking the site members if he should get another hot water heater or go with tankless? But it also doesn't have to be just questions and answers, like when the movie Ford V Ferrari came out, I started a new thread and posted a link on there so that people could watch the trailer and know when it came out. Obviously with the "vintage mustang crowd" you tend to have older guys that aren't so much about social media and a lot of them had no idea that the movie was about to come out in a few months. I enjoy this forum because there's a good deal of people on here that I have similar interests with and that can have civil conversations, even when disagreeing with others. It's not really like Facebook where it's mostly people I went to high school with 20 years ago and that I have nothing in common with or who I really don't even necessarily care to talk to anymore.
 

Mustang65fbk

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Just to be clear, I do like the idea because I've seen how it works on another, well-mannered, forum that I frequent... and it works very well. But I'm not purposefully trying to change anyone's mind - just pointing out that it CAN work - but that all depends on us. WE are the ones that make it work.

As far who "determines" one of us... well, realistically, no one is going to join this forum if they're not a Grady owner (other than the occasional spammer that already does it). Plus, we, as a group, can pretty easily weed out someone that is not keeping to a general rule of decorum.

And, again, if this "would" become a thing, we all can still choose to participate in the forum or not. If it's not for you, just don't click! :)

Again, my only purpose was to clear things up in case some thought it was an open forum that would be open to "anyone" off the street - it would not - it would still be Grady owners.
I think these are excellent points in the fact that it would help the forum generate more traffic and more potential users, as most everyone on here is a Grady White owner or looking to possibly become a Grady White owner. With more sections of the forum it'll likely generate more posts, traffic and ultimately attract more users, which is what forums need to thrive. I'm also of the opinion with how difficult "life" is in general that people come on here to escape that reality and "blow off some steam" by focusing on other things than what they might be dealing with in life. For people like me that live in a place that has winter as a season and you only get a few months of boating usage out of the year, it's difficult to only talk about boating and fishing in months like January when it's the dead of winter. I guess I'm just one of those that when I'm working, I try to get other coworkers involved with crew lunches/meals/potlucks or even events outside of work. It helps make the time at work go by more quickly and easily as well as it tends to make people not think about a stressful job so much and have some camaraderie with their coworkers to make the workplace more pleasant. I figured with the people here being a great as they've been that they would be open to the idea of possibly branching out and talking about things other than just boats. I think it could definitely help attract new users and new users means more traffic and more donations to the site, which ultimately is what makes this all continue to work and operate.
 

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I'll bow out of this conversation. I was hoping there would have be an open, and respectful discussion about the merits of separate sub-forum. I'm not knocking anyone in particular, but I can see where this is going (unfortunately).
I will go you one better. After 15 years on this site, just listening to this sanctimonious crap is enough for me to call it a day with the site. Good luck. No hard feelings, but life is too short. I will close the door myself on the way out.
 

JJF

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How about this?

Add an open forum that is only open to those who subscribe for a fee. I might be a nice way to fund and support GG.

Just a thought.. :)
 

Clark.N

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Let's drop this thread, it is out of hand. I believe that most members have commented NO!
 
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DennisG01

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How about this?

Add an open forum that is only open to those who subscribe for a fee. I might be a nice way to fund and support GG.

Just a thought.. :)
I actually like that idea for the entire site. I'd certainly have no problems shelling out a few bucks for the helpful information the members on this site provide.
 

PT G

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Not to hi-jack this thread but it is getting attention - since I am new here I am still finding my way around. Question: is there some kind of liink around to email a member? TIA
 

DennisG01

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Not to hi-jack this thread but it is getting attention - since I am new here I am still finding my way around. Question: is there some kind of liink around to email a member? TIA
Sure. Click on their name... "start a conversation". That will initiate a private message that goes directly to them. Or, click the mail button up at the top of the page and manually type their screen name in.
 
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Mustang65fbk

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I guess my main thought was that it seems like we could add a few other sections and maybe condense or get rid of a few others that don't hardly get any traffic or posts? Obviously all forums are quite different from one another, and coming from the Arima Owners forum they had a few other sections like an "Open Forum" section where members could chat about non Arima boats topics like I mentioned above. They also had a section about "forum questions, rules, guidelines" and so forth where you could ask questions like this about the forum, offer tips to improve the forum and so forth. And then lastly, they had a section about "information straight from the factory." That section wasn't used very much but it could help to possibly have something like that as opposed to the one "Sticky Thread" for the "Great Grady FAQ" post, of which it seems like it's only 50/50 or so in regards to whether the old links/posts still work. It would be nice if those were updated or if there could be a separate section for it, as opposed to just one ongoing thread that started almost 14 years ago.

Lastly, I honestly think we could add some sections, like the ones mentioned above, and maybe get rid of a few others like some of the Grady White Clubs like maybe the "Lake Erie Grady White Club" that has 4 threads and 15 messages of which the most recent was in September of 2020, or just about a year and a half ago? The "Lone Star Grady White Club" also hasn't had any posts added to that particular section in just over a year as well as the "Cape Fear Grady Club" hasn't had any new posts since last June. I typically don't post or hardly even look in the "Grady White Clubs" sections because most of all the posts are posted in the "General Discussion" section and not in the individual clubs. As well as where I stated before that the "West Coast Grady White Club" has mostly just "General Discussion" questions anyway or are things that don't pertain to me as the west coast is over 1,400 miles long. Not trying to make any waves, just a few suggestions that I personally think would help improve the website, but it sounds mostly like a resounding "No" at this point so it's up to the moderators and admin. Thanks for listening to my advice and opinions.