TDAR Awards

pgibbo

As with last year, keeping it simple. Things have gotten noticeably quiet around here so hopefully in the new year we can spark a bit of life in to the place. Any comments or suggestions are most welcome. From my own point of view, family life and a very busy job has kept me away from here a lot more than normal.

To the categories:

Poster of the year
Post of the year
Race of the year (AR)
Race of the year (Tri)
AR race report of the year
Tri race report of the year
Training log of the year
Boards performance of the year
Irish performance of the year
Thread of the year

If you feel any other categories should be added then let us know.

To vote simply pop myself, BTH or mossym a message with your vote for the categories you want to vote on. Voting closes Thursday 21st.

Feel free to discuss here.

P.

Kurt.Godel

Optimist of the year- pgibbo ;)

Fair play to you P, lets hope 2018 gets a bit of sparkle back in the place. Some strong posters have left and the place is a lot quieter without them unfortunately. But there's still a lot of quality advice given here so it should trundle on for a while yet!

peter kern

i guess somebody does have stats
i reckon over the last 2 years 30 % less traffic ?

Kurt.Godel

Just for the sake of discussion, some of my highlights of 2017:
Poster of the year: Peter Kern- he's usually on the money with good advice (usually!;)) and pretty helpful to everyone all round. The forum benefits a lot from his presence. Not afraid to call a spade a spade, or to call out something he doesn't agree with, and both are essential qualities for starting debate and fostering consideration.

Race of the year (Tri): Valentia Sprint. You had to be there (and only about 100 were so I doubt it'll go much further than a nomination!). The best weather of the year, an incredible course, easy laid back organisation that got all the essentials right, local support, fantastic views, and the best post-race swim imaginable.

Race of the year (AR): Neady- The Race Just a bundle of infectious energy, excitement, competition, and love for sport. I don't really follow AR, but always look forward to Neady's contributions.

Tri race report of the year:
Training log of the year:
Boards performance of the year:
Zico in Kona (and leading up to same). He chose to do something well, trained well, and did it well. Elemental, and plenty for everyone else to learn from (apt for a teacher). Master of his own fate indeed, and genuinely inspirational.

Thread of the year: A pi$$ poor year for good threads, I didn't think it could get worse than last year but the rot continues:D. Few threads lasted more than a page or two. A couple that did stand out-
National Series Olympic distance for €40 Huff and Puff made some very valid points and shone some light on good value, in a discipline often defined by money. Made me change my mind anyways.
Who needs a coach? A very good debate and excellent points made throughout, this thread was my favourite in the year, it got lots of responses and generated a fair amount of thought and debate.

Overall it's been a poor year for the forum- the quality of posting can be high and the audience is there, but there's not a lot of content. C'est la vie- I've nothing really to suggest for driving it forward- there's some really good posters and people here and they perhaps just need to engage more. Maybe we could organise a Boards target race with overnight party? I'd suggest Valentia Sprint (but then I would) but any suggestion will have alternatives or different targets. But besides that I'm all ears! Personally I've got a huge amount from this forum (swim coach for our fledgling Tri club, training programs, second-hand bikes, personal coaches, fundraisers, training tips, top rate swim advice, targets/friends before/after races, sat in an Oryx/Dory/RQ sandwich while drinking beers:D...) and would hate to see it end with a whimper. It's a pretty good place to check in a couple of times a day!:D

zico10

peter kern wrote: »

i guess somebody does have stats
i reckon over the last 2 years 30 % less traffic ?

2012 - 15,097 posts
2013 - 11,741 posts
2014 - 12,285 posts
2015 - 9,957 posts
2016 - 4,489 posts
2017 - 3,149 posts so far

I think this is a site wide trend and not something that is only happening on the tri forum. Jackyback pinpointed the problem early this year with this post in the running forum;

jackyback wrote: »

I think it's more a macro trend and people are consuming information differently to a few years ago with a move to other social media platforms.

This is very true, it's all hashtag this, hashtag that these days. Boards isn't very engaging or user friendly. Inserting a table is ridiculously cumbersome and as for uploading photos, :mad: The few regular posters that are here are of a certain demographic and I don't see anything here that is going to draw in a younger generation. There might be a few flurry of posts in the new year and things might seem like they're picking up for a few weeks, but in 12 months time, if anybody still cares, the same things will be said about how the forum is dying.

Kurt, it sounds wonderful having a designated race as a boards meet up and I think this might have worked a few years ago. But the sense of community here is long gone. Just look at how the planned cycle around Lough Derg went for an example of this. Sadly, I think this forum is going to end with a whimper and right now, I think we'd be better lumping our lot back in with the running forum. But ultimately I fear the whole website is going to end and all that's ever been posted here will be lost.

sconhome

Back in time for the awards!!

What did I miss?

pgibbo

Crazy day at work. I know you're all on the edge of your seats :rolleyes: Results coming shortly

pgibbo

Drum roll please........

Poster of the year: Peter Kern
Post of the year: Honeybadger
Race of the year (AR): The Race
Race of the year (Tri) Caroline Kearney
AR race report of the year: Neady "The Race"
Tri race report of the year: Zico "Kona 2017 - Race Report"
Training log of the year: Zico
Boards performance of the year: Zico in Kona
Irish performance of the year: Con Doherty 2nd in Malmo ETU Sprint Triathlon European Cup
Thread of the year: Who needs a coach

On behalf of BTH, mossym & myself we would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas. Enjoy the festivities folks. The very best of good health and luck to you all for 2018.

P.

Kurt.Godel

Well done boys and girls! Richly deserved, anyone got a spare ticket to Elton's tonight?!? Happy Xmas to all who post here, and all who lurk