Journal

Don't Just Sit There

    You're passionate about something. 
     
    I know you are.
     
    If you weren't, you wouldn't be here on Delphi, discussing things with your friends, neighbors, friendly strangers and worthy adversaries. At the very least, you're interested. Engaged. Mildly curious.
     
    So, I'm going to challenge all of you passionate, engaged, curious people to do something in the coming month. I'm going to challenge you to start 5 new threads in your favorite forums. You know what folks there talk about - help out as a conversation starter.
     
    Then start a new thread in two of your "recently visited" forums. Who knows what new and interesting people you'll meet?
     
    The next part of the challenge is to start a new thread in a forum that isn't even on your My Forums list. Use the related forums drop downs and forum promos to find new places. Subscribe to the forum or the discussion, and even if it's not in your Favorites or Recently Visited, you'll still be able to see when someone replies to you via your Subscriptions.
     
    And now, the biggest challenge of all. Now that you've engaged with all these people, and met all these new friends... think about what you're really, really interested in. What you're passionate about. 
     
    Do a search. Is there a forum that addresses your interest? Yes? Great! Join the conversations and see what you can contribute to the forum. Start even more new threads, and be sure to read & contribute to the ones others have started. Join the staff if you're eventually asked.
     
    Wait... you say there's no forum that covers that one thing you really like talking about, reading about? Well, what are you waiting for? Start one! Then tell us about it, and we'll do what we can to help you get it going.

    Forums don't have to be big, they don't have to be wildly popular, they don't even have to be indexed, or public (though it's much more fun when they are). Do you know what forums have to be? Just one thing - fun. 

    Host of many forums and still having fun,
    Cstar
     
     

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      Community Manager Appreciation Day

        Thank you
        I'm going to let you in on a little secret. But first...
         
        Delphi is joining other communities this year in celebrating Community Manager Appreciation Day. It's a great idea, isn't it?
          
        Community Manager Appreciation Day is an event created in 2010 to recognize and thank those that manage online communities. This year, the event falls on Monday, January 23. We encourage all members to take a moment Monday to thank hosts and others who manage their favorite forum(s).
         
        It doesn't take much. Just post a message to those you want to thank, letting them know you appreciate what they do. Without them, we'd have no forums to visit.
         
        To learn more about Community Manager Appreciation Day click here.
        I hope you'll take a few minutes to thank your forum owners, assistants, editors, chat moderators, and forum greeters in all your favorite forums. They're the people that make your forums special places, full of friendship, friendly debate, and hopping conversations.
         
        Several signature makers have taken up the challenge, and are creating signatures for you to wear to thank your forum's staffs. Check out the threads in Member Services and in Delphi Plus for links to their sig creations. 
         
        What's my secret?
         
        The Zone Gazette, the Delphi member newspaper that was published between 2001 - 2008 had the same idea, and celebrated Delphi Staff Appreciation Day for several years! (2003 - 2006) Created in 2010? Ha! Johnny-come-latelys!
         
        Here are some of the images that sig creators on Delphi made for The Zone Gazette events. 
         
        Image 1
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        Image 7
         
        No matter who really invented Staff/Community Manager Appreciation Day, I hope you'll all remember that Delphi would not be the same, nor would we still be here after nearly 30 years, without you. 
         

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          10 Ways That Delphi Forums Is Better...

            ... than Google+, Facebook & Twitter

            1. Everyone on Google+, Facebook & Twitter clamors for true threaded conversations. Duh. Delphi's got em. This is a big deal? Sheesh. Word this morning is that Google+ cuts off comments at 500 messages. Heck, on Delphi, at 500 messages sometimes the thread is just getting going! We know of some threads that are more than 10,000 messages long. Delphites -Delphinians? - sure do love to talk. (We can't all agree on how to pronounce "Delphi", how could we possibly agree on what to call ourselves?)

            2. Searchable messages and archives. Duh again. Delphi's got it, going back to "the beginning of time." Or at least back to when Rupert Murdock finished messing with us, back in 1995! Whew. Glad we got rid of him before he got caught with his hand up the politician's... er, backs.

            3. Privacy - Yeah, you heard that right, Privacy. We believe in it. We preach it. We practice it. We encourage it. We even provide private forums and chats. Shhhhh... We don't give out your information to anyone. Heck, we don't even care if you give us any information about yourself.

            4. Pseudonymity - Cstar who? Look - if you want to use your real name, fine. If you want to use a pseudonym, fine - even some of our staff use pseudonyms. If you want to change your name as often as you change your underwear, well, in that case, you're probably crazy, but whatever turns you on. It's your behavior that counts on Delphi, not what name you choose to go by. Hey, guess what? We even let you change your nickname every 5 minutes if you want to. Just ask Kidmagnet about that one.

            5. We survived Rupert Murdoch. BTDT! Long before MySpace or News of the World, he owned us; we completely baffled him, and he almost ruined us, but in the end, we prevailed. We win. ;P

            6. For all you control freaks out there, there's nothing like owning your own forum. Nothing like it. Your rules, your game, your friends, your way.

            7. Community: we haz it. Real communities, where people talk to each other, debate with each other, sometimes even fight with each other, but the people here know each other as well as people do in any small town. They meet in person, vacation together, get married to each other... Trust me on this one - comment sections on blogs and newspapers are not communities. Google+ is not a community. Facebook is not a community. Twitter might be, but it's big, big city, where it's tough to get your little voice heard. You @ Delphi = Big fish little pond, little fish in little pond... whichever you prefer.

            8. The "oh, I wish we could concentrate conversations around single topics" refrain is the current FTG complaint. Another "duh!" moment for Delphites. They're called discussion threads and folders, and forums. If you want to talk about fishnet nail polish techniques, everyone who wants to talk about the same thing has a place to go! Legwear for men? Yep. Vampire fantasies? Yep. Hepatitis support buddies? Yep. Astronomy? Yep. You can even run promotions and advertise.... oh wait, I think that's #9 on my list.

            9. Promos. Delphi forums have promotions. They're your promos for your forums and discussions, not ads from someone who's trying to make money off of you (though we have those too, for free members. Gotta pay the bills, you know.) That's right, you can promote your forum on our system. We love your promos! We'll even help you out, and promote your forum on our main page, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace to help you reach more people. Name any other of the big'uns that will do that for you? Heh. You can't, because they don't.

            10. You tell me. What do you like best about Delphi Forums over the FTG triumvirate? 
            (If you dont' answer, I'm gonna go with our 7,500 character post limit. Take that, Twitter, with your puny 140...)

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