Suggestion for Newmar Owner's Forum

[MBnKen]

Respectfully submitting a suggestion to better the Newmar Owners Forum:

IRV2's Newmar Owner's Forum gets great input on the technical aspects and maintenance of our rigs. This is why I read the forum and occasionally try to add some tips to help others. I am wondering if there are other forum readers and occasional posters like me that prefer to focus on the technical aspect and could do without the rest.

Would it be possible to have a split under the Newmar Owners link to have a Technical Section and another for the Buddy Chat or whatever would be the right title? It would be great for those of us who want to learn or share the technical aspects without the threads or hijacks that lead to the lifestyle discussions.

[MBnKen]

Respectfully submitting a suggestion to better the Newmar Owners Forum:

IRV2's Newmar Owner's Forum gets great input on the technical aspects and maintenance of our rigs. This is why I read the forum and occasionally try to add some tips to help others. I am wondering if there are other forum readers and occasional posters like me that prefer to focus on the technical aspect and could do without the rest.

Would it be possible to have a split under the Newmar Owners link to have a Technical Section and another for the Buddy Chat or whatever would be the right title? It would be great for those of us who want to learn or share the technical aspects without the threads or hijacks that lead to the lifestyle discussions.

[rebelsbeach]

Ken, your suggestion is an interesting one and it's something I've been thinking about for some time...

Even I am guilty of thread hijacking from time to time and I know it sometimes gets out of hand...

When the manufacturer forums were first introduced, they were meant to be BRAND SPECIFIC and NOT contain any of the "lifestyle" issues or whatever one would call them...
Over time I've tried to get our moderators to either "move" or at the very least "shortcut" a post out of the manufacturer forums and into the appropriate forum, whether it's "Just Conversation" or "MH-General" or wherever it belongs...
The issue that complicates this is driven by the very success of the manufacturer forum and that is the fact that many members of the specific brand forums feel more "comfortable" with posting their issues and lifestyle stuff in their own respective forums..... In reality, this wasn't supposed to happen but it's what it is...

I can talk to Bill first of the week and we'll bounce some of this around and come up with something, not sure exactly what our software would allow us to do, maybe we could separate the Newmar area into sub-categories such as with the NKK....

Hang in there a day or so and I'll get with Bill and figure something out....

[Aridon]

I've assisted with some rather large internet forums in the past (Vault Network at IGN) and the one thing to consider is traffic should the owners forum get separated. The internet is a funny place, I browse the other IRV forums from time to time but most of my time is spent here for sure. There is a certainly community that sets up in forums like this and posters become used to each other. We would see the same thing on gaming community forums where the forum culture actually ran pretty deep.

Rather interesting IMO. Regardless just wanted to point out our thread count traffic isn't so abundant and if another Newmar forum were added it might actually be detrimental.

IMO, I'd just allow a few OT posts here with the provision that Politics, religion and her be avoided. It might actually improve the posting #'s for the forum and generate more traffic here.


Just my pennies worth.

[rebelsbeach]

I am very aware of the danger of further diluting the manufacturer forums and will take your advice to heart...

There's certainly no easy answer....

[Baby Bear]

I'm older and old people don't like change!
Besides, the way it is now I see a little of everything here. If I go elsewhere I'd propably get lost.

[Nathan Focht]

Bob,

I have the Newmar forum bookmarked and go straight here to read. I never read the general area. My concern would be that if you split them, you will lose the social glue that makes the forum work. $0.02

[MonacoMama]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Hang in there a day or so and I'll get with Bill and figure something out.... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Bob...I know you haven't asked for my own "Monaco Owners opinion" ..BUT it is this little bit of "social glue" or "Buddy Chat" that gives "iRV2" that special connection that keeps me here. I DO read some of the technical stuff...but as my Monaco people know...I am also a LOT of that social glue at Monaco...and I will proudly carry that "glue stick" BUT if things are separated..then I feel you will lose that "comraderie" that iRV2 has now in each forum.

OK..just my dollar's worth...



MM

[Spikester]

Bob, although I am really new to this forum I do agree somewhat with "Monaco Momma". IMO the occasional high jacking of a thread, or the personnel interaction between friends, and especially all the banter that goes on between the 3, lets see is it Amigos, Stooges, or ????, is kind of refreshing. It is very easy to skip over those portions of the threads that may get off topic at times, if you are so inclined to do so. Sometimes all of the technical heeba-habba can get pretty boring. Sometimes little bamboo umbrellas are a good thing.

Spike

[JavaJelly]

While I can see the original poster's point of view, I have to agree w/most of the replies especially MonacoMama. Most of the consumers of this site prefer the mix of technical and social.

I guess I am as guilty as anyone at friendly banter, hijacking and poor attempts at humor. That notwithstanding, as a consumer of this site, the personalities that come across in the writing and hijacking are important to the enjoyment of the site.

I also think that these exchanges are kept mostly in topics that aren't too technical, such as Bob's famous journey from Essex to LADB. Following Bob and the participants journeys has helped make me passionate about my coach and RVing in general. I also have made many friends.

Second point is that when there is a true technical question, this forum has the best and most dedicated participants. They truly try to dig out the right answer and painstakingly try to explain the concepts to us up and coming techies. Their patience is astounding. Sometimes I feel like we get so deep and technical that it makes for boring reading.

Third, there are so many repeated questions and it seems that the same people will answer the same questions over and over again. Always w/a helpful attitude. Mixing in a bit of humor or social bantering is fun and eases the repetitiveness.

Fourth, there is comfort in knowing that others have had similar trials and tribulations while learning about their RV and RVing in general. Part of that is how we react, knowing we can laugh at ourselves and taking some ribbing.

I think if it is split-up then overall participation and therefore effectiveness of this site would drop. One way to stay straight technical is to use the search function which I find to be really helpful.

If a new structure is made, I would of course continue to participate and follow the guidelines. Perhaps it would be better. I just wanted to express how much I enjoy the current mix.

[rebelsbeach]

The thing that makes this forum great is it's members..... I don't ever want to change that.

Here are my thoughts....

While the original intent of the manufacturer forums was in fact to allow the exchange of brand specific questions and answers, these owner forums have in fact evolved into much more than that. Evidenced by my original Essex thread and the subsequent success of the "Bob's LADB" thread which I didn't even start, it is ever so obvious to me the members enjoy having their own little "area" to congregate in, which we're happy to provide.

I do cringe when I read posts like Nathan's where he says he's NEVER been anywhere other than Newmar.... MAN, you're missing some GREAT stuff!
There are regional forums where iRV2 folks plan get togethers, there are technical forums, there are towing and toad forums.... TAKE A LOOK!!

It is fact folks like Nathan that I worry about.... if we don't continue to link posts outside of the manufacturer forums, we will become the best website of the manufacturer forums and nothing else....

Here's where the issue gets a little cloudy.
Taking a look at the current front page of the Newmar Forum there are seventeen "non featured" topics.... these are the ones not in bold.
Several of these topics ask questions which, if linked OUTSIDE of Newmar would get the member a more prompt response.
For instance, the ULSD in Fort Myers question.... while in fact there's a Newmar dealer there, the fact remains there are a LOT of RV'ers in Florida that could answer that question.

The original question involved "lifestyle posts" in the technical "question and answer" topics....
Let's try and not hijack these question and answer topics in order that we allow those folks with a question the ability to get their answer without having to read through pages of posts... If we keep the lifestyle stuff to the other topics, the question and answer topic will be easier to read.... This will benefit everyone.

Running a forum this size is never an exact (or an easy) evolution and from time to time these issues come up....
I hope that we can all work together and continue to help one another in the spirit of why these forums exist....

Our Mission: "Efficiently support the thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experiences among RV enthusiasts"


Thank each and every one of you for your support....

Respectfully,

Bob Gregory

[MBnKen]

Great suggestion Bob.
Thanks

[Larry3570]

I can see both sides pretty clearly. My .02 is: I like that many technical topics are currently put in 'Part 1&2 "Quick Tips", "Easy Mods"'. Could our Moderators perhaps transfer more tech topics/tech threads into there, or a similar repository, so tech-info-searchers could better access them? (Sorry guys, I'm not trying to make more work for you...it just happened.)

["007"]

Any time I see something of interest or repeated questions I will add. If you add something to one of them the thread will show up in general posts but will be part of the list in Quick Tips.