Serge, Mike.. are you worried about Brad?

[Hooper]

Is his recent move with JBM making you nervous?

Do you foresee making changes to try and counter him?

Or do you see yourselves joining forces to battle the larger board?

Just questions that have been running around in my mind.

please dont ban me for asking ;-)

[Mike AI]

Hoop I know Brad is very concerned that I am concerned.... he even asked me what was up with the "hatorade" beause I asked who chesire was and what she did.

Oprano has been around for a long time, we have a great base, great people here and great resources.

Oprano has never been about money for Serge and I, you know that.

Competition is good - so far JBM has not pulled anything from Oprano ( that I have noticed).

As I think Serge posted before, Brad and Chris have come to the party about 2 years too late. At least for the real $$.

When are you going to start you board Hoop?

[Hooper]

i didnt mean that thread in an agressive tone, i'm just curious how you're reacting to it because it's kind of interesting

I see boards as being like countries and we all know there is one really big country at any given time (as the history of the boards has shown, ynot, netpond, gfy) so i'm just curious whether you have decided to align yourself with anybody who might take down the enemy, or whether you are seeing things as "any new board is a competitor".

It seems to me that logically if i owned a board my goal would be to see the biggest one fall and that would be best achieved by aligning myself with everybody who is not that biggest board... then once the biggest board falls... let the battle begin.

i'm fascinated

i have my board but never had the time to put into it, i think we're going to launch it but focus on the nonadult community because there is less competition there. it's project # 463 on the todo list ;-)

[Mike AI]

Originally posted by Hooper@Feb 28 2004, 11:03 PM
i didnt mean that thread in an agressive tone, i'm just curious how you're reacting to it because it's kind of interesting

I see boards as being like countries and we all know there is one really big country at any given time (as the history of the boards has shown, ynot, netpond, gfy) so i'm just curious whether you have decided to align yourself with anybody who might take down the enemy, or whether you are seeing things as "any new board is a competitor".

It seems to me that logically if i owned a board my goal would be to see the biggest one fall and that would be best achieved by aligning myself with everybody who is not that biggest board... then once the biggest board falls... let the battle begin.

i'm fascinated

i have my board but never had the time to put into it, i think we're going to launch it but focus on the nonadult community because there is less competition there. it's project # 463 on the todo list ;-)

Those are good points Hoop. But remember this industry has a past of working together. It is something that has seperated us from most online business.

GFY has been huge for a long time, but I would make the arguement Oprano has been a better board over the past 2 years. Not only with the content, and regulars but also in revenue.

GFY is a jungle, and it appears it is not getting any better with the creme of their posters moving to PimpBoard and JBM....

Do you think Lensman is worried?

[Hooper]

what is pimpboard?
never heard of it.

i'd be worried if was lens, only because he refuses to make the changes necessary to keep gfy the #1.. is it ego?

often times this happens in industry, the people who start businesses are not capable enough to manage them. i'll be the first to admit that i falll into that category, im' very good at building and turning ideas into real deals.. but when it comes to long term management i need somebody who is a full time ceo to take over!

[Mike AI]

Originally posted by Hooper@Feb 28 2004, 11:17 PM
what is pimpboard?
never heard of it.

i'd be worried if was lens, only because he refuses to make the changes necessary to keep gfy the #1.. is it ego?

often times this happens in industry, the people who start businesses are not capable enough to manage them. i'll be the first to admit that i falll into that category, im' very good at building and turning ideas into real deals.. but when it comes to long term management i need somebody who is a full time ceo to take over!

Makes sense. GFY had lacked any real management for a long time.

What do you think about paying for posts? Be it with cash or rewards. What about paying for referals? As a sponsor do you think this cheapens the value of a board?

Is a boards value merely in the number of posts? Or is it quality?

What is the value of posts like, Whats your favorite color? Would you hit this? __________ is a asshat!, Britny is a slut, etc....

[Hooper]

i think paying for posts is ridiculous, its what kept netpond's threaded board from being taken seriously.. i actualy take a bit of offense when i get those 12 cent paypals that i really didnt ask for :-/

paying for referrals? that seems smart but only for a while.


prizes? i dont know that they are a good incentive unless you're trying to recruite the beer money crowd (or unless the prize giveaways are fixed *hint hint.. im available to receive oprano prizes*

i think there is some formula to determine the perfect board.... (colin? help?)

in that formula i believe # of posts, # of postERS, quality of posts, and # of lurkers are the four factors.

maybe the perfect board has 3 lurkers for every poster, ever poster posts three times a day, and 2/3 of all posts are meaningless "show me your tits" posts and 1/3 are intersting biz related serious posts?

so if you take gfy as an example, these multiple personalities actually DO help the board because 500 posts by one guy is not as valueable as 400 by one nick and 100 by another... but eventually the same people can only come up with so many interesting threads, so the quality begins falling and either you bring in new people who post a lot of interesting stuff, or people become the laughing stock of the industry.

if i had the motivation to start a board? i'd pay idiots to keep 60-70% of all posts meaningless, just for volume... after all.. nobody wants to go to a party until it's already in full swing

maybe it's the wine talking.

[Winetalk.com]

Hoop,
Brad has my support, Lensman doesn't.

Oprano's birth was accident, accident resulting in close to $2 mils in revenues NOBODY was planning on.

If the last ad dollar dies tomorrow,
I don't see how this affects Oprano,
same friends will be coming over.

I believe Brad has a GOOD chance to kick Lensman's fat ass and "jew boy" desrves it. If Brad doesn't put a final stake in GFY,
than GFY die from natural causes.

This is my take of things.

[Mike AI]

Serge, Hoop I agree with both of you.

[TeenGodFather]

Originally posted by Hooper@Feb 28 2004, 08:17 PM
what is pimpboard?
never heard of it.

Pimpboard is GFY without the surfers. So the userbase is pretty small, but it's all fun.

I like different boards. I currently write at 4 boards, each completely different.

[sextoyking]

Serge,

we all love oprano, and tough not to read this board 2-3 times per day, even if I am busy as a bee
-----------------------

I don't see how this affects Oprano,
same friends will be coming over

[Hell Puppy]

As someone who has no vested interest or ego ties to any of the boards, here's my 2 cents...

First off, GFY has such a huge number of eyeballs that the most likely person to kill it is.... Lensman. No move anyone from the outside can make will do anywhere near the level of damage that Lens can do to it himself by alienating the members. But if there's one thing we've learned about "internet time" and the speed at which things move online is there's no amount of market share is sufficient to make any online product invincible.

As for cash or other incentives for posting, it kills the quality of the threads....period. Contests, especially those that do not involve posting, are a lot of fun however. Things like Oprano Pickem are great.

[Carrie]

To me it's quality of posts.
But there are different levels in that, even.
Over here there are lots of intelligent discussions - not often about the business persay (although there are a lot of hidden double entendres) but just about life and the world in general. I love that.
It's a lot better than "show us your tits" and also better than the same discussion trying to take place with people who do nothing more than giggle and try to make raunchy jokes out of something they don't understand.
The business discussions that *do* take place here are more veteran oriented; if not in time spent in the biz then at least in understanding of the biz. (You don't have to explain to anyone how to build a free site or even how to manage 1k feeder sites going into a hub. The people here have probably done that and if they haven't, they certainly can understand it easily enough.)

There have been some good discussions over at JBM too, though - but not on the same level. These are more newbie or even midbie oriented discussions. Many of them started by Brad himself, gotta give him credit; he's putting in the work and it shows. But there's also the fun, lighthearted stuff too. Not purely idiotic shit like over at GFY, but folks just having fun.
Hell even some of the most ignorant-acting posters on GFY are acting like normal people and may even venture into being pleasant over on JBM.
It's a level of expectation that's been set, I think - don't act like you do on GFY, it won't be tolerated. You get a chance to participate, you can screw around and have fun... but leave the bullshit over there.

As for comparing JBM to Oprano, they're just too different. Apples and oranges. One caters to newbies/midbies, the other caters to veterans (not that I am one). I don't think there's any threat to either from the other.

There's definitely a threat to GFY, though. Most of the serious folk have already left GFY and only go back when they're truly bored or when they've been notified that something is going on they should see. The rest of the people have been BEGGING for someone to take the moderation seriously for a year and especially the past two months. Both of these groups have been looking for somewhere with kind-of the same flavor to it, but more mature - and looked over by moderators with brains.

Both JBM and Oprano have their place... GFY *had* its place and lost it. It's not a matter of IF GFY is going down, it's a matter of WHEN. It's already been beaten, but the amount of bullshit posters and surfers there will make it seem like it's still got a heartbeat for a good time to come.

The really neat thing is that Brad's board didn't cause the downfall of GFY.
Lens, Amp, and the rest of the people "managing" that board caused the downfall of GFY.
Brad just gave the more serious members somewhere new to go and get away from the bullshit.

[Hell Puppy]

Quality of posts is important in that not only does that impact your posters, but it impacts your lurker count. That's important if the board is a business and you need those impressions.

However, what generates posts is bringing like minded individuals together who actually want to have conversations with one another.

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by Carrie@Feb 29 2004, 05:22 AM

Lens, Amp, and the rest of the people "managing" that board caused the downfall of GFY.
Brad just gave the more serious members somewhere new to go and get away from the bullshit.

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

[LeeNoga]

I do not think folks posting on a new board in town is gonna t ake posts away from existing boards. I can only speak for myself but I am sure I speak for many when I say this.

I am a big fan of Oprano for many reasons even when I get puree'd in the blender.....

This board is honest, the community was built because you want to be here not because your chasing some prizes which does bring in alot of noise and real stupid topics.

I am rather surprised that Brad would opt to bring in "noise" this early in the game when he has to be experiencing exponential growth on its own merits.

Prizes for longest threads to do not work, that was proven at PornoJunkies. These type of threads tend to be pic threads, word game threads etc....and no strong commentary thread can compete against these types of thread counts.

The community gets trained to non intellectual threads and when they do try to happen they get lost in the "noise".

Oprano has fantasically managed their threads and nothing gets lost but ya can have alot of fun in the non serious ones.

I do post on GFY and I enjoy that board.

I do post on JustBlowMe and I enjoy that board as well.

But if I add another board to my day I do not take posts away from the other boards I enjoy.

So I do not look at JBM as any threat to existing boards, its more work for me personally because I enjoy it and want to participate.

[GrimShawn]

what about pimpboard carrie?

There are a lot of former GFYer's there

A lot of other people as well. Good crowd

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by GrimShawn@Feb 29 2004, 09:00 AM


There are a lot of former GFYer's there

but of course,
and how can one miss it???
;-))))

http://www.pimpboard.com//showthread.php?s...=&threadid=2651

[Peaches]

Boards will "survive" even if people rarely post on them - witness Adultnetsurprise and Lee's board as examples.

I think Brad's board will do well and instead of taking posters from here, I suspect it will take posters from GFY instead. Many of whom would never survive the scrutiny here.

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by Peaches@Feb 29 2004, 09:16 AM
Boards will "survive" even if people rarely post on them - witness Adultnetsurprise and Lee's board as examples.

I think Brad's board will do well and instead of taking posters from here, I suspect it will take posters from GFY instead. Many of whom would never survive the scrutiny here.

Peaches, beleive me,
when we came to that crossroad of:
Lots of posters with no substance (more money for board owners)
vs.
Less posters with substance (Less money for Board Owners)
we have chosen the later.

I am old and the current Estate Tax Laws tell me that Uncle Sam will take a big chunk out of the money after I leave this planet
;_))

Why suffer imbeccils whille alive in exchange of something you don't need????

I can only take memories with me,
and memories of interesting discussions with interesting people is NON taxable and has bigger value for me
;-))))

[Sharpie]

I may post on one board, I may post on 4 boards. It is all a matter of what the discussions are. I do get tired of having to go through the "trash" posts - just to find something meaningful. It seems that I do come to Oparao first now days.

[BradShaw]

We are not trying to be GFY, we are not trying to be Oprano. We are JBM. A little of this, a little of that, a mix that may work.

[Billy]

Brad can I still tell you to blow me ??

[Winetalk.com]

Originally posted by BradShaw@Feb 29 2004, 12:54 PM
We are not trying to be GFY, we are not trying to be Oprano. We are JBM. A little of this, a little of that, a mix that may work.

if you don't get ahead of GFY in 6 months,
I'll be VERY surprised

[Almighty Colin]

I know a lot of people dislike the term "community" but Oprano does have it. There's an ingroup, an outgroup, subgroups, strong well-known personalities and a degree of predictability. There's a hardcore group here who have been in the business for more than 5 years. We've been to each other's birthdays, kid's birthdays, and weddings. We've dated each other. We've seen each other's failures and successes. We've been involved in each other's highest and lowest points in life and we've watched each other develop and mature in both business and personal matters.

[Mike AI]

Originally posted by Serge_Oprano+Feb 29 2004, 01:05 PM-->