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Thread: Average number of CFC Discussion Board members who visit per day in recent times?

  1. #1
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    Default Average number of CFC Discussion Board members who visit per day in recent times?

    I've looked at the Community list (of registered members of this CFC Discussion Board) just now, and I reckon that so far 14 members have visited (for sure or very likely) on this day, 2 members are likely to have, IMO (their latest visiting day is not shown, but given as N/A) and 2 members visited last for sure as of yesterday.

    This in total seems like an okay turnout of members visiting this CFC Discussion Board for in mid-summer, to me. I wish more would post something here, even if of sometimes sub-par interest to some viewers at least, at times. I tried posting in gobs of threads long ago, and hardly any posts or feedback came along soon after, so I gave it a long rest. I've recently made another hopeful attempt to kick start poster activity on this Board; with chesstalk possibly beginning to fade in interest due to recurring virus infection alone, maybe people will slowly migrate here.

    I wonder what the average number of members visiting this CFC Discussion Board is for a given day in recent times, i.e. within a 24-hour period? It naturally could be much higher, than the average, when a Voting Members' meeting is taking place (or recently finished).
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 07-16-2018 at 10:30 PM. Reason: Grammar
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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    It doesn't take much to get to critical mass... perhaps as little as 10 people posting regularly, assuming what they post is of interest to others.

    When we started the board we had a rule for the Executive not to post on Chesstalk, only here. Of course it was different back then; CMA was a competitor to the CFC Store, which at the time supplied a huge percentage of the CFC's annual income.

    I liked your recent thread showing the games, and it's given me an idea or two for other threads to start that people can post on.
    Christopher Mallon
    FIDE Arbiter

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon View Post
    It doesn't take much to get to critical mass... perhaps as little as 10 people posting regularly, assuming what they post is of interest to others.

    When we started the board we had a rule for the Executive not to post on Chesstalk, only here. Of course it was different back then; CMA was a competitor to the CFC Store, which at the time supplied a huge percentage of the CFC's annual income.

    I liked your recent thread showing the games, and it's given me an idea or two for other threads to start that people can post on.
    When we started the board we had a rule for the Executive not to post on Chesstalk, only here. Of course it was different back then; CMA was a competitor to the CFC Store, which at the time supplied a huge percentage of the CFC's annual income.

    I liked your recent thread showing the games, and it's given me an idea or two for other threads to start that people can post on.[/QUOTE]

    Chris, sorry...I don't understand your line of thought...please explain:

    1st - Chesstalk.com belonged to Chess'n Math/Strategy Games until recently. All this stuff about viruses was cleared up when the new owner (Henry Lam) took over a few months ago. As of June 7, 2018 Henry has full control of the site and by the way...I think he is doing a great job! I am happy to have turned this (my baby) over to such a competent fellow!

    I think ChessTalk should be supported as a place for discussion about Canadian Chess issues...what is your position on this?

    2nd - We (Chess'n Math/Strategy Games) paid and continue to pay the CFC $5,000 a year for the rights to advertise on the CFC site and we are the exclusive supplier of chess books and equipment. This contract expires in November 2018...would you like us to terminate this contract at that time?

    3rd - Why do you see ChessTalk as the enemy? In my opinion, Chesstalk, with all its flaws,...provides a service to the Canadian chess community. Your perception is more than welcome!

    4th - For the record, I created ChessTalk separate from Chess'n Math (although Chess'n Math paid the bills) for a good reason. It allowed folks from everywhere to post whatever they wanted. On the CMA site, we do not permit folks to post stuff that is not have a CMA relevance. I thought this was missing from the Canadian Chess Scene at the time...and I continue to believe that today...so yes I am proud of my baby and I am extremely pleased that it continues to live after 18 years...and I thank Henry Lam for taking over!

    Thank you for taking the time to respond!

    Larry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Bevand View Post
    Chris, sorry...I don't understand your line of thought...please explain:

    1st - Chesstalk.com belonged to Chess'n Math/Strategy Games until recently. All this stuff about viruses was cleared up when the new owner (Henry Lam) took over a few months ago. As of June 7, 2018 Henry has full control of the site and by the way...I think he is doing a great job! I am happy to have turned this (my baby) over to such a competent fellow!

    I think ChessTalk should be supported as a place for discussion about Canadian Chess issues...what is your position on this?

    2nd - We (Chess'n Math/Strategy Games) paid and continue to pay the CFC $5,000 a year for the rights to advertise on the CFC site and we are the exclusive supplier of chess books and equipment. This contract expires in November 2018...would you like us to terminate this contract at that time?

    3rd - Why do you see ChessTalk as the enemy? In my opinion, Chesstalk, with all its flaws,...provides a service to the Canadian chess community. Your perception is more than welcome!

    4th - For the record, I created ChessTalk separate from Chess'n Math (although Chess'n Math paid the bills) for a good reason. It allowed folks from everywhere to post whatever they wanted. On the CMA site, we do not permit folks to post stuff that is not have a CMA relevance. I thought this was missing from the Canadian Chess Scene at the time...and I continue to believe that today...so yes I am proud of my baby and I am extremely pleased that it continues to live after 18 years...and I thank Henry Lam for taking over!

    Thank you for taking the time to respond!

    Larry
    1. I never mentioned viruses? This forum has been hacked twice as well, though as far as I know we caught both in time before any viruses were installed. Sadly, they don't even get hacked by actual hackers, they just run scripts which attack various web software repeatedly until they break into one.
    2. I was speaking of a time long ago when the CFC and CMA were competitors in the books and equipment business, and to some degree in ratings as well, which was when this board (well, a previous version of it) was started. I'm not sure why my opinion or lack thereof should matter regarding the CFC/CMA contract.
    3. I'm not (and have never) called for the elimination of Chesstalk. I would like it a lot more if they'd do what many forums do and have an "off-topic lounge."
    4. We still have different ideas about moderation. Yes I agree, it's nice for there to be "hangouts" online for chess players.

    I think ChessTalk should be supported as a place for discussion about Canadian Chess issues...what is your position on this?
    It doesn't seem to need support. I read it daily as I find it a useful source of information. The moderation still needs a bit of work as there are a couple people who like to hijack threads. For example the thread titled 2018 FIDE Elections has turned almost completely into the same-old 2014 election discussion. Surely those could be in their own thread.

    But again... why does my position matter? Other than admin-ing this board and every other year or so being on the National Appeals Committee I have no official standing with the CFC, OCA or any other chess governance.
    Christopher Mallon
    FIDE Arbiter

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    It's possible the CFC Discussion Board needs, if not also deserves, some sort of support as a place for such discussion.
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon View Post
    It doesn't take much to get to critical mass... perhaps as little as 10 people posting regularly, assuming what they post is of interest to others.

    When we started the board we had a rule for the Executive not to post on Chesstalk, only here. Of course it was different back then; CMA was a competitor to the CFC Store, which at the time supplied a huge percentage of the CFC's annual income.

    I liked your recent thread showing the games, and it's given me an idea or two for other threads to start that people can post on.
    Long ago, Fred started altogether 39 threads on this Discussion Board dedicated to International Chess News (not counting his 11 blog entries on that topic, too); I don't think many replies were made at all, but the threads were viewed a considerable number of times, typically. I imagine it was hard to keep up the pace, and eventually such threads and blog posts were suspended, to this day. A noble effort, and I am sad to say that at the peak time of this, I felt he was overdoing things a little. In hindsight, it was preferable to having a Discussion Board where, like the first few pages currently, it seems to me that 40 threads on a single page of this Forum typically might at best range for a period of about 4 months worth of them, if they were all in order chronologically. That is, according to the date of each thread's first post. A real snail's pace compared to that of chesstalk, as I remember its pace.
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 07-17-2018 at 10:42 PM. Reason: Grammar
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon View Post
    3. I'm not (and have never) called for the elimination of Chesstalk. I would like it a lot more if they'd do what many forums do and have an "off-topic lounge."
    I talked to Vlad (on chesstalk) long ago, and he let me know he was not normally (/ever!?) in favour of having topics other than chess-related ones discussed on this CFC Discussion Board, in case you've never discussed that with him. I brought up that OzChess (the Australian chess board) has more than one off-topic 'lounge' (i.e. forum), each dedicated to specific groups of non-chess-related topics (that is, after Vlad suggested this CFC board doesn't need Climate Change or Trump threads of the sort on chesstalk, which I thought was a bit of a strawman argument perhaps), and Vlad wrote nothing further for me on the whole subject at that point. Fwiw, Hugh once noted that he thought the opinions of chess players, as a group, on non-chess topics were of interest to him, at least.

    This CFC Discussion Board may have trouble generating fresh posted threads regularly enough partly because there are no non-chess-related topic lounge(s), or because all the [thread] posters in this forum dutifully stick just to chess-related topics. The only non-chess related thread I've noticed to date is one old anti-banks thread started by Bob G., written only partly in good humour (perhaps), and that managed to get Peter McKillop to make one of his infrequent posts here in reply. Other than a number of blog entries (mostly by me) this CFC Discussion Board is about as purely chess-related in its posted subjects as the driven snow. It may be hard to keep up more-or-less sustained interest in at least something or another posted here, with that philosophy. Chess has many sides, but there is only so much available here for periods of time that many viewers are interested in and/or understand.

    Other than that, the zero-tolerance for any sort of personal attacks on this CFC Board might drive away some viewers/(potential posters), but I don't think (or hope) that's a major cause of the low frequency of fresh threads/posts, say per month, here.
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 07-18-2018 at 01:46 AM. Reason: Adding sentence starting with Fwiw
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon View Post
    2. I was speaking of a time long ago when the CFC and CMA were competitors in the books and equipment business, and to some degree in ratings as well, which was when this board (well, a previous version of it) was started. I'm not sure why my opinion or lack thereof should matter regarding the CFC/CMA contract.
    The greater co-operation between the CFC and CMA, and between the CFC and FQE, are two notable improvements for Canadian chess that have occurred under Vlad's watch as CFC President.
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Pacey View Post
    I talked to Vlad (on chesstalk) long ago, and he let me know he was not normally (/ever!?) in favour of having topics other than chess-related ones discussed on this CFC Discussion Board, in case you've never discussed that with him.
    Well, I was referring to Chesstalk needing an off-topic lounge. Would it help here? I think you'd need more on-topic first lol.


    Fred's posts were probably best as a blog rather than forum posts.
    Christopher Mallon
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    Oddly enough I seem to have had far and away the most views of all my blog entries for one of my non-chess topic entries. That is, tops is 60,000+ views (over some small number of years) for my hypothetical political platform entry, which at face value seems at least to me to be not entirely colourful. The number might even be significantly higher than presently is shown, if the view counters used on this Board are somehow not always functioning properly.

    However, we're naturally more concerned here about the frequency of fresh threads and posts in this (chat) forum (though there is the example of that weird non-chess-related Kovalchuk thread on CT that you mentioned elsewhere, if you're just looking for ways to try to increase traffic on this Board, in terms of views alone).

    Since deliberately returning to post on this Board, I've put posts in 14 threads (some of which I started) in this forum, i.e. relatively recently. So far there's been replies in 9 of these threads, by other members. Maybe that's a pretty good rate for now, considering how slow things often seem here. Plus, even on CT in the past, threads or posts I initiated often seemed to go unreplied to, perhaps because I'm often not controversial enough, as one Ottawa VM opined to me. Either that, or I picked too many topics of low interest to the vast majority of CT members.

    Maybe there could be some long standard list about what sort of chess-related thread or post topics could be especially promising to be of interest on this forum, in terms of prompting members to reply. A lot of the 14 threads I posted in so far were ones that already existed, some rather old, which happened to suggest to me what I'd write about, simply because I knew something, or had a question or opinion. Other than when a VM meeting is coming, in progress, or recently over, stuff from VM meetings or discussions usually seems futile to write about much at all, rather like trying to raise the dead.

    Otherwise, I'd suggest studying this forum's existing threads that have at least a few replies to them, looking at the range of topics typically involved, and perhaps whether a significant number of non-VMs (or those otherwise not involved with the CFC) made posts in such threads (or even in the threads not replied to much at all). At the moment it seems, skimming through some pages of threads, the vast majority of posters in this forum do have some involvement with CFC governance or whatever, which may not be an altogether healthy state of affairs for this forum's frequency of fresh threads/posts, if it is to be increased anytime soon. [edit: a look at the Community list of members, with the low number of posts (normally 0) by the vast majority of non-CFC-related persons made makes this situation even more clear. Gotta have far more topics than usually organized chess politics/events-related ones for these folks to be stimulated to post about (if not start fresh threads regarding), this suggests to me.]
    Last edited by Kevin Pacey; 07-19-2018 at 02:31 AM. Reason: Adding last paragraph
    There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
    Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.

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