[Cheese] Any interest in a Cheesemaking BBS?

[jabbott@abbotts.org]

I run a forum for people who heat their houses with corn.  You can take a look at it at http://forum.iburncorn.com  if you want to see what a forum could be like.  At least it would kind of give you an idea of what this guy is proposing.  The nice thing about it is it is easy to go into it and search for past messages.  It is easy for people to tell about what they are doing.  Pictures are a plus.  We have a guy right now talking to the list about the dryness and quantity of mold on his cheese.  Wouldn't it be nice to see a picture?  I feel like Jack, you have a lot of really great information and knowlege it would be wonderful to get into one spot where it is easy to find.

The list serv format is hard for new people to use and understand.  I think Landon is correct you could atract some new users, get some additional opinions, and I know I would learn lots by having a forum format.

Domain names are cheap to purchase.  ~$30 a year, maybe less at some of the discount registration places.

As far as following the money trail, well, that would be a pretty short trail.  Pay per click advertising is a great way to make coffee money, but not much more.  I am sure he could cover his $30/year but I wouldn't bet on much more.  People just don't click on the ads the way the did years ago.  In a few years, if it really takes off, he might get some sponsership money.  ...not exactly something you retire on either...

I started my corn burner's forum because I had just bought a burner, the instruction manual totally sucked, and there wasn't a whole lot of information on the net about how to run the darned thing.  I started to write down some of my experiences, as I sat down in the basement watching this heater plug up and have all sorts of other troubles.  I started the forum because I seem to have no skill with fire, but great skills with computers.  I figured if I contributed what I could to the community, I could lurk and listen to all the people who knew more than I did about heating with corn.  It has worked out great for me.  And, I have about 3000 members who visit my forum and ask questions, answer questions, and generally chat about the topic they love.

--ja

On Thu, 3 Jan 2008, Jack Schmidling wrote:
> Landon Morgan wrote:
> 
> > A bulletin board system is a format for discussion that allows the topics,
> > pictures and conversations to be viewed as their own medium in a "forum
> > setting"......
> 
> What is a forum setting?
> 
> >rather than as a series of unique, topical email communiques sent
> > to subscribing participants.
> 
> Seems like what a forum is all about.  I still do not understand what it 
> is you are after that isn't covered in this format.
> 
>   >It wouldn't serve to "spread the community
> > thinner" but rather would serve to start a forum and community with a base
> > of knowledgeable people- the people of this mailing list- that could
> > eventually grow larger.
> 
> How could it not spread us thinner?  What you describe is exactly what 
> we do here.
> 
> > Fact is, hamstringing the community to a mailing list isn't exactly
> > conducive to growth.
> 
> How's that hamstringing work?  And quality of information is far more 
> important than growth unless you are interested in selling advertising.
> 
> >Cheesemaking is a narrow enough field of interest that
> > it's probably best to remain reasonably progressive as a community rather
> > than lodged in old formats with wildly inferior functionality.
> 
> Psychobabble.
> 
> > I envision a BBS system where cheesemakers from all over the world can come
> > together to post pictures and share knowledge with each other.
> 
> That's what we do here.
> 
> > As far as ads, maybe there would be, but I can assure you, this isn't a
> > venture for profit and almost certainly wouldn't ever be lucrative.....
> 
> I am having a hard time coming up with another reason why someone would 
> purchase a domain name such as talkcheese.com and then enter an existing 
> list and suggest we all move to your totally modern and updated forum. 
> Nor do I understand why anyone would move to be exposed to advertising.
> 
> When nothing makes sense,.... follow the money trail.
> 
> js
> 
> 

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