Forum promotion

I'm sure I'm not the only person here who thinks it's a pity that it's so quiet here (especially when the official forum isn't much livelier, to be honest!). I'd be the first to admit that I haven't had the time or the energy to effectively promote the forum to interested parties lately, so I'd be more than a little appreciative of anything any of you can do to help spread the word about this forum and perhaps help make it a little less prone to tumbleweed .

If you post elsewhere about the forum, or if you speak to people about it, let's hear your stories (even if the reaction to your well-intentioned enthusiasm was a giant "meh" - it'd be good to hear *why* people aren't interested in a forum like this one if they know it's there waiting to be used. I mean, we all know why the official forum isn't used as often as it might be, right? ). Likewise any bright ideas anyone might have about spreading the word a bit more creatively than "dahn the pub"!

It may be that forums have had their day - I've already commented on the Panic Room forum and the lack of activity there.

Do the powers-that-be know of this forum, or is it intentionally under their radar?

Kalyr wrote:

It may be that forums have had their day - I've already commented on the Panic Room forum and the lack of activity there.

Absolutely, although that's a little different, in that Panic Room actively engage with their fans via Facebook. Plenty of forums are still active; the problem here is that we haven't hit the critical mass of participation necessary to keep things busy. There's no reason that can't be achieved *if* enough people are interested - and since this place covers the activities of such a comparatively large number of bands and musicians, I'm sure there is a large enough group of people to make that happen (it's not like most of the musicians involved are actively engaging with their fans anywhere else). It's a question of ascertaining if enough people are interested and have enough to say.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, there is a tentative idea for a 'general purpose' prog forum, which *may* supersede this (and other) forums, but that's some way off yet, if indeed it ever happens. Since things are occurring in the interim, it seems daft to sit back and wait for such a forum to appear.

Kalyr wrote:

Do the powers-that-be know of this forum, or is it intentionally under their radar?

Well, Livvy was a member of the Breathing Space forum (as were the rest of Breathing Space, minus the Jennings), so will have received the mass email that went out informing everyone of the change. But no, I've not deliberately informed the 'Powers-That-Be' - mostly because I don't feel they'd be interested (after all, MA aren't particularly invested even in their own forum, over which they have full control, and have no presence on any social media either).

To be fair, Heather is active on Facebook, as are Morpheus Rising (Who IIRC requested a section on this forum)

Kalyr wrote:

To be fair, Heather is active on Facebook, as are Morpheus Rising (Who IIRC requested a section on this forum)

True - but then, like I say, there's probably even less chance of them being particularly interested in this place. I see this very much as 'by the fans, for the fans', and there is a certain amount of extra freedom in that, although of course I'd never turn any of the musicians concerned away if they wanted to join up!

I think that simply by posting something new you have helped to create a little bit of discussion, but forums do seem to be dying off, which could leave a big void if facebook goes the way of myspace.

HippyDave wrote:

I see this very much as 'by the fans, for the fans', and there is a certain amount of extra freedom in that

That's a good point - there are things I've said on this forum I'd have been reluctant to say on my own blog, due to that blog's higher profile.

Well, I posted a few messages on Facebook earlier to some of the offshoot band's pages and added a status update of my own... Please feel free to do the same and/or share one of the existing comments! Every little bit helps .