The future of this forum

Beasty

We have been undertaking a review of a number of Sports forums and Bowling has been identified as one for potential closure.

Before doing so we wanted to give any viewers (as there are clearly no "regulars" currently contributing to the forum) the opportunity to comment.

I will try and deal with any questions in connection with this proposal, and r3nu4l can of course chip in as they see fit

In terms of where people should post in connection with Bowling going forward I would propose any discussion could take place in the General Sports forum unless anyone believes there is another forum that could cater for such discussion.

tariqbutt

All I can say is I disagree. Posts are few and far between but this is the only forum I subscribe to and read ever post in. There ARE regulars in the sense there are people who check this forum whenever there is a post. It's also proved to be very useful when there is a specific question on bowling in Ireland, or an event on. If this was moved to the main sports forum I would be unable to subscribe any more (as I dont want to read about non bowling posts) and I would lose touch with bowling news in Ireland even if it is few and far between.

Will be a shame if you do close it.

tariqbutt

Also in terms of regulars...I regularly reply to posts in this forum. I consider myself a regular.

Beasty

tariqbutt wrote: »

All I can say is I disagree. Posts are few and far between but this is the only forum I subscribe to and read ever post in. There ARE regulars in the sense there are people who check this forum whenever there is a post. It's also proved to be very useful when there is a specific question on bowling in Ireland, or an event on. If this was moved to the main sports forum I would be unable to subscribe any more (as I dont want to read about non blowling posts) and I would lose touch with bowling news in Ireland even if it is few and far between.

Will be a shame if you do close it.

You've not posted in this forum in 17 months. How about trying to generate some content? If I thought there was a sense of "community" here I would not be making the suggestion. The thread was started though to garner feedback on the suggestion. No decisions have been taken, but I think we need to see some evidence that posters do actually want to discuss the sport in it's own forum.

An alternative could be to combine with other similar subjects, although there are not many others that would not warrant their own forums (eg Darts, Snooker & Pool generate lots of discussion at certain times in the year). We could have a general "indoor sports" forum which could accommodate this and the likes of table tennis for example. I'm certainly happy to explore alternatives if anyone has any suggestions. The 4 threads I started a week or so in other forums have not had a single response, and the fact you have replied is a good start, but we really need some more interest generated within the forum.

Mr. Manager

Can't say I'm surprised but I'd be sad to see it go. Always wished this forum would take off again.

Beasty

r3n4l said he had some ideas to try and get it a bit more active, but that was a year or two ago. Ultimately though that's what it comes down to. He's not been around for a couple of months and there is no sign of life in the forum, and indeed there has not been for some time

If though someone thought there was a way in which we coudl breathe some new life into it, that woudl be great. Currently it's simply one of half a dozen or so forums I keep my eye on for spammers and the like

Anyway, if anyone had some suggestions, or even if we started seeing someone looking to discuss the topic (as opposed to the principle of whether it shoudl remain as a separate forum) that would be great. Alternatively we could end up with a General Sports forum, or one with wider appeal than this one, where posters may occasionally start a thread about any of the Sports I am currently reviewing

the groutch

while I agree that the forum itself has run it's course, there still needs to be at least a thread in another forum to discuss the sport every so often.

it would probably be fine (along with some of the other about to be closed forums) in the General Sports forum, if a mod was to declutter that of all the Ben Dunne Gym threads.

Mr. Manager

I think this forum is pretty dead but I'd still post the occasional time and get a response so it would be good to have the option to discuss it somewhere if and when the time arises.

Beasty

One option is to introduce subject tags in the General Sports forum - so the title will then highlight the sport (I presume there's a limit to the number of such tags within a forum, but I'm sure all the forums we currently bare reviewing could be accommodated)

Another question is what would we do with any "retired" forums?

One alternative that I've recently broached with the Admins is to have a single forum within Sports holding all these inactive forums. That may allow us to continue allowing posts as in practice we then only need a couple of mods in the "parent" forum who could keep an eye on them all

That would seem to deliver the best of both worlds

Thoughts?

tariqbutt

Beasty wrote: »

You've not posted in this forum in 17 months. How about trying to generate some content?

Im not interested in generating content for the sake of it. I like the fact that I subscribe to the forum and every so often there is a post. Whenever I get the email to tell me there is a new post, I know it must be relevant because people only post when they have something interesting to say. I think it would be bad if people started trying to "generate content" for the sake of it. Why not let it function as forum with irregular posts whenever there is genuine news within bowling?

Nekarsulm

A brand new green has been constructed at Cavan Leisure Centre. I don't know contact details IC a club, etc, but the staff at the Leisure Centre/Pool will be able to help.

Mr. Manager

Wait wait wait wait!!! Don't close the forum just yet...



...I need to post my new personal best in the personal best thread

Flibbles

Nekarsulm wrote: »

A brand new green has been constructed at Cavan Leisure Centre. I don't know contact details IC a club, etc, but the staff at the Leisure Centre/Pool will be able to help.

Wrong kinda bowling I'm afraid.

Nekarsulm

Flibbles wrote: »

Wrong kinda bowling I'm afraid.

Feck it, you're right.
You may close it down so.

stereomatic

The Hockey forum covers both Ice Hockey and Lawn Hockey so Why can't the Bowling forum cover the numerous types of bowling including

Ten Pin
Nine Pin
Lawn Bowling
Road Bowling
Boules

r3nu4l

Hi folks, I have indeed been away from this and most of my favourite forums for a very long time.

To address the last question first, i'm open to the forum being a place to discuss all types of bowls/bowling. In fact, I love carpet bowls, normally playing on the shorter mat, rather than the long mat. It would be great if that community of players used this place to find new members for their local clubs or other teams to have a game against etc.

Regarding ideas I had for the forum. At one point, I was going to pick various US PBA games from YouTube for people to comment on but we've never really had the consistent userbase to do so. I would have been talking to myself

It would be great too if the forum was a place for people to post about league days/times operating in the various centres around the country.

Ultimately, I think it would be a shame if this forum were to close but I won't oppose it. If we had a few more posters, posting semi-regularly, I'd be happy.

Mr. Manager

I've tried to post a bit in here over the last year or so. Seems though that the forum is destined for the bin which is a shame.

Beasty

I'm looking to move this forward, and have been discussing it with the other Admins

So here's what we are proposing:

1. We will proceed to close the Sports forums I earmarked last year. At the same time we are proposing to introduce tagging within the General Sports forum, so any threads relating to Bowling will be clearly marked as such.
2. We will add tags for sports that are already actively discussed in General Sports, such as the Olympics and Winter Olympics
3. If there are any active threads in the forums that are being closed we will transfer them to General Sports
4. There are one or two other sports that may benefit from tagging under "umbrella" titles (such as some of the Racquet sports) - equally they may attract more traffic if tagged within General Sports. I'll start discussions in some of those forums to gauge support for alternative options

If anyone who posts here has any further comments about these proposals I am happy to listen and discuss as appropriate.

Thanks

Beasty

OK, just to let you all know I'll be closing this forum to new posts over the weekend