Patrick
10-24-2006, 04:22 PM
The following was posted at www.downtownguyokc.blogspot.com (http://www.downtownguyokc.blogspot.com), and I thought I'd respond to it.
At www.okctalk.com (http://www.okctalk.com), there is a high level discussion going on about the board's future. People like Patrick and Keith have given a lot of time, passion and energy to the site, helping make it what it is today.
They're burning out. I understand completely. We start out doing the blogs, the chat boards as a hobby. And we're caught off guard when it becomes a success, when they generate a lot of attention. It happened with the last downtown blog. It's a heartbreaker to drop the hobby others enjoy so much. But you get bogged down, you no longer enjoy what you were once passionate about. I'm not hinting at anything here. I don't think www.okctalk.com (http://www.okctalk.com) is going away. And Doug doesn't need to worry about this site. But you won't find daily blogging here. Keith, Patrick, take a break. Don't let it get to where you hate the hobby. You've done a great job.
That's actually completely wrong. If anything, we're more fired up now about OKCTalk than we've ever been. Our main issue has been time constraints. I'm now in my 3rd year of medical school, and spending 80 hour work weeks at the hospital. Thus, I've simply had less time for my hobbies. That in no way means I'm burned out. And Keith now has a 2nd job at his church, so that cuts into the time he's able to spend here.
Also, as the site grows and more members join, we'll be spending more time on administrative tasks (helping Todd), and less on posts. Also, with an increase in the number of members and activity, we no longer have to risk our moderator status by making the controversial posts. It's a benefit to us, because it allows us to sit back and moderate without appearing too biased. We still post, but within our time limits, and on issues that interest us, instead of in the past, where we had to post on every issue to keep discussion brewing.
And there haven't been any talks about the future of OKCTalk. The only change we've really made is abandoning the contributor model and offering a free forum supported by advertising and the moderators themselves. That's all. We've been able to cut costs by reducing whistles and bells that weren't used on the site, going with a cheaper server, etc. Finding advertisers has been tough, but for the time being, some of the staff are pitching in to pay the bills.
And go easy on the folks at Oklahoma Metropolii (http://www.okmet.org) (successor to the OKC Urban Forums site). They're a nitche site focused on urbanism, you're a community site. Seems to me you can both exist just fine.
I have no problems with their site. We've never had a problem with their site. We only asked them to obey our TOS when they posted here.
Oh, and by the way, has anyone noticed how well things are going downtown? We'll have seven hotels before too long, lots of new housing... and yes, more fun things are coming.
Yup, it's all exciting. I think what's happened is a lot of us have gotten burned out on Randy Hogan and his Lower Bricktown fiasco, and started getting more interested in the other projects around downtown.
The Old Downtown Guy (http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697742) said...
IMO, OKCtalk and, to a lesser extent, OKmet have way too much going on to maintain their quality. There are way to many threads fired up by people running the show trying to get or keep things going. Posts from the moderators start to be one liners with not much thought behind them.
"Less is more."
Again, IMO, the primary reasons your blog was so well visited DTG is that the number of topics was small, of high quality, immediate interest and very focused. People posting didn't tend to drift off into never-never land.
Here is a perfect example of wasted effort, again, IMO, just MO, OK? On OKCtalk, Under the "Health and Fitness" banner you will find this exciting thread started by Patrick.
Fat & Happy or Skinny & Depressed
In my experience as a 3rd year medical student, on my psychiatry rotation I find it common that antidepressants cause weight gain. So, would you rather be happy and fat, or skinny and depressed?
Followed by Keith's response:
"I'd rather be happy and fat, although, I do still exercise to keep some of the weight off. I don't know anybody that would want to be skinny and depressed."
A couple of other people get into the act, but it stuck me as pretty much a non-starter. I could be wrong as well as opinionated, but I don't think I'm very off the mark here. I could go pull a dozen recent threads by other folks that are really lame, but what's the point?
Both these guys, and the other mods as well, try really hard, put a lot of good stuff out there and I'm not picking on any of them, but really . . . Fat and happy or skinny and depressed? Perhaps they just need to give it a rest as you suggest DTG. I have no idea how they keep up with what they do there. They need to get out more.
Well, some threads work, some don't. As mods, we try to keep discussion going. That's our job. Many threads come from suggestions from our members. Others come from our daily activities or encounters with others. For example, the thread on antidepressants and weight gain, actually came from my pscyhiatry rotation.
Sometimes it's hard to predict how successful a thread will be. Some of the threads that have delivered the most participation have been threads I spent the least amount of time preparing.
The original intent of the Health and Fitness Forum was for people to ask medical questions. That still occurs from time to time....I just answered someone's medical question a few weeks ago. But, it's dependent on user posts. Sometimes, when I see a controversial issue from my own medical experiences, I'll use it to start a thread here. Again, some threads work, some don't.
One way to lighten the load would be to cut way back on the number of forums.
We've discussed the number of forums we offer in the past. We've cut some here, and added others. Currently, every forum we have sees activity, at least on a weekly basis. Although our main focus is on city issues, we want OKCTalk to become more diverse in the areas of discussion it offers, and the types of people it attracts from this community. Our Religious forum, politics forums, and Nosebleed section are probably some of our most active forums right now.
http://www.dougloudenback.com/hornets/hornetavatar.jpg (http://www.blogger.com/profile/7728311)
Doug Dawg (http://www.blogger.com/profile/7728311) said... Well, there you are DTG & ODTG in the same place! So, perfect place for chiming in, me, YDTG (y=young)! :) Nothing could be finna'! Or, not! :) Wish there were smileys available here!
IMO, both boards are doing nicely. The more established OKCTalk has enough going for it to not be dependent on moderators to keep it going. The revamped (because of its being hacked) OKmet is actually off to a better start with its new software and revised format. Sure, people do get burned out but that's just the way it is. And, sure, sometimes posts/threads are meatless for some but aren't for others. That's cool ... to each, his/her own!
As for me, I'm wanting to do a blog post on the old days of the stockyards ... and I'll be bringing my notepad at 11:30 today to get the straight skivvy from you, ODTG! Hoo-ahh!
And I agree with Doug's post completely.
At www.okctalk.com (http://www.okctalk.com), there is a high level discussion going on about the board's future. People like Patrick and Keith have given a lot of time, passion and energy to the site, helping make it what it is today.
They're burning out. I understand completely. We start out doing the blogs, the chat boards as a hobby. And we're caught off guard when it becomes a success, when they generate a lot of attention. It happened with the last downtown blog. It's a heartbreaker to drop the hobby others enjoy so much. But you get bogged down, you no longer enjoy what you were once passionate about. I'm not hinting at anything here. I don't think www.okctalk.com (http://www.okctalk.com) is going away. And Doug doesn't need to worry about this site. But you won't find daily blogging here. Keith, Patrick, take a break. Don't let it get to where you hate the hobby. You've done a great job.
That's actually completely wrong. If anything, we're more fired up now about OKCTalk than we've ever been. Our main issue has been time constraints. I'm now in my 3rd year of medical school, and spending 80 hour work weeks at the hospital. Thus, I've simply had less time for my hobbies. That in no way means I'm burned out. And Keith now has a 2nd job at his church, so that cuts into the time he's able to spend here.
Also, as the site grows and more members join, we'll be spending more time on administrative tasks (helping Todd), and less on posts. Also, with an increase in the number of members and activity, we no longer have to risk our moderator status by making the controversial posts. It's a benefit to us, because it allows us to sit back and moderate without appearing too biased. We still post, but within our time limits, and on issues that interest us, instead of in the past, where we had to post on every issue to keep discussion brewing.
And there haven't been any talks about the future of OKCTalk. The only change we've really made is abandoning the contributor model and offering a free forum supported by advertising and the moderators themselves. That's all. We've been able to cut costs by reducing whistles and bells that weren't used on the site, going with a cheaper server, etc. Finding advertisers has been tough, but for the time being, some of the staff are pitching in to pay the bills.
And go easy on the folks at Oklahoma Metropolii (http://www.okmet.org) (successor to the OKC Urban Forums site). They're a nitche site focused on urbanism, you're a community site. Seems to me you can both exist just fine.
I have no problems with their site. We've never had a problem with their site. We only asked them to obey our TOS when they posted here.
Oh, and by the way, has anyone noticed how well things are going downtown? We'll have seven hotels before too long, lots of new housing... and yes, more fun things are coming.
Yup, it's all exciting. I think what's happened is a lot of us have gotten burned out on Randy Hogan and his Lower Bricktown fiasco, and started getting more interested in the other projects around downtown.
The Old Downtown Guy (http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697742) said...
IMO, OKCtalk and, to a lesser extent, OKmet have way too much going on to maintain their quality. There are way to many threads fired up by people running the show trying to get or keep things going. Posts from the moderators start to be one liners with not much thought behind them.
"Less is more."
Again, IMO, the primary reasons your blog was so well visited DTG is that the number of topics was small, of high quality, immediate interest and very focused. People posting didn't tend to drift off into never-never land.
Here is a perfect example of wasted effort, again, IMO, just MO, OK? On OKCtalk, Under the "Health and Fitness" banner you will find this exciting thread started by Patrick.
Fat & Happy or Skinny & Depressed
In my experience as a 3rd year medical student, on my psychiatry rotation I find it common that antidepressants cause weight gain. So, would you rather be happy and fat, or skinny and depressed?
Followed by Keith's response:
"I'd rather be happy and fat, although, I do still exercise to keep some of the weight off. I don't know anybody that would want to be skinny and depressed."
A couple of other people get into the act, but it stuck me as pretty much a non-starter. I could be wrong as well as opinionated, but I don't think I'm very off the mark here. I could go pull a dozen recent threads by other folks that are really lame, but what's the point?
Both these guys, and the other mods as well, try really hard, put a lot of good stuff out there and I'm not picking on any of them, but really . . . Fat and happy or skinny and depressed? Perhaps they just need to give it a rest as you suggest DTG. I have no idea how they keep up with what they do there. They need to get out more.
Well, some threads work, some don't. As mods, we try to keep discussion going. That's our job. Many threads come from suggestions from our members. Others come from our daily activities or encounters with others. For example, the thread on antidepressants and weight gain, actually came from my pscyhiatry rotation.
Sometimes it's hard to predict how successful a thread will be. Some of the threads that have delivered the most participation have been threads I spent the least amount of time preparing.
The original intent of the Health and Fitness Forum was for people to ask medical questions. That still occurs from time to time....I just answered someone's medical question a few weeks ago. But, it's dependent on user posts. Sometimes, when I see a controversial issue from my own medical experiences, I'll use it to start a thread here. Again, some threads work, some don't.
One way to lighten the load would be to cut way back on the number of forums.
We've discussed the number of forums we offer in the past. We've cut some here, and added others. Currently, every forum we have sees activity, at least on a weekly basis. Although our main focus is on city issues, we want OKCTalk to become more diverse in the areas of discussion it offers, and the types of people it attracts from this community. Our Religious forum, politics forums, and Nosebleed section are probably some of our most active forums right now.
http://www.dougloudenback.com/hornets/hornetavatar.jpg (http://www.blogger.com/profile/7728311)
Doug Dawg (http://www.blogger.com/profile/7728311) said... Well, there you are DTG & ODTG in the same place! So, perfect place for chiming in, me, YDTG (y=young)! :) Nothing could be finna'! Or, not! :) Wish there were smileys available here!
IMO, both boards are doing nicely. The more established OKCTalk has enough going for it to not be dependent on moderators to keep it going. The revamped (because of its being hacked) OKmet is actually off to a better start with its new software and revised format. Sure, people do get burned out but that's just the way it is. And, sure, sometimes posts/threads are meatless for some but aren't for others. That's cool ... to each, his/her own!
As for me, I'm wanting to do a blog post on the old days of the stockyards ... and I'll be bringing my notepad at 11:30 today to get the straight skivvy from you, ODTG! Hoo-ahh!
And I agree with Doug's post completely.