Hi,
Grand Zero is just talking my words. We need fresh blood [may God make me see MarsDawn at yahoo once] and its time to get work started, so potential MARSupials don't just drop by --
What I feel by watching the figures of MarsDawn is that there is a cascade of about a tenth. Hundred lurker will give ten active Marsupials and ten Marsupials maybe one potential writer, as there is also help of urgent need. I think, to get a stabile board with good discussions and resistant to a usual fluctuation we need about a twenty active MARSupials. So if one, two or three of the main leaders are at vacation the board itself wouldn't even realize. In my opinion these hundred-fifty or two-hundred lurkers are easy in reach. The main question to me is, are there any barriers we have built up or are still building up..
Mars is a big theme at the moment and there are a lot of new potential MARSupials out there at the web and MarsDawn is a great place.
At the very beginning we had a long discussion how we will exclude potential newbies and ended up to classify potential members in up to five different categories. Who will get access to which part of the board or will be allowed to transmit to the probes and so on.
It would be great, if we also would have as a long discussion about how we can invite and include new members, as the board is dying just by a natural fluctuation.
Let's have a look for barriers.
SkyKing mentioned:
>1. The site is too hard for newbies.
>2. The bbs are too slow.
>3. The site is too confusing at first glance
>4. We *are* getting new visitors, but they don't often post
>5. We need a brief introduction to newbies.
Sure, there is a long way from the first contact to the first posting. remember at Eon4 there had been constant lurkers, who showed up after months the first time. Maybe my cascade of a tenth moves further on, that there are ten different people contacting until one becomes a constant lurker and so on.
My main word is still "yahoo". Next to that, it's exactly what Skyking is saying. The introduction of the board has been good for ex-earthcommies as they knew, what it is about. But if you enter the board just with critical eyes, there is no real introduction, what this place is really about, except you start to read long histories, long summaries and archieves.
What we need is a good first page following the MarsDawn logo, where you get the information following the classical rule, that an information unit has to be transported to within two seconds. Otherwise you have failed. Concerning the target group this information has to be in closed question, just asking for "yes" or "no", meaning I need that or I don't need that. If an addressed person of the target group meets three "no's" in a row, you have failed. --
Okay, I think it's not so complicated to condense the soul of MarsDawn to the main three to five characteristics. However, we should have a brainstorming about that to help the crew by providing some input and to brief the gang. Believe me, a brainstorming is of great fun too and will feed the crew with a lot of good ideas.
I think we are a team. And we MARSupials are MarsDawn too. And that is not Amcy,
Next we need an attractive page solely for a quick overview. For sure more focused to potential newbies than I've done up to now. I gonna try on that. But please give me feedbacks. I like critics and I know to handle the positively.
And then we need to lead new lurkers joyful, so they can find to the current status by just exploring the story themselves in a way, we has done too.
Okay. I've done a little work concerning the link "A Map of Mars Landing Site" at the summary page. It isn't fully focused to newbies but I think with some change especially at the front page it can be adapted for exactly this reason. Please have a look to it, either by walking over there or by using the link down o this post. Though this work isn't finished yet, and has just reached its core intention, I promised to show up this week and I think its a good time to do so as well. Anyway, your critics are highly appreciated.
However, this is only a single brick even when finished and it doesn't build up anything by its own, so let's stay together and let us set up tasks and let us split up the work, so a great site doesn't die just in lethargy ...
m.f.g.
Xanthos
PS: gonna hasve to leave ...