Does BT need a new forum? (Page 3)

Have you seen the threads with the most replies recently?  Including this one?

Hi Ron,

Yes, the mentor groups may be one way to keep the experienced people involved. Proof is there, Fred's group is really enjoyed by several experienced people

The danger may be that their experience will only be of benefit to a handful of people : the mentor group members.

I still think you have to find a way to get the experienced people to post in the general forums.

Maybe you need some stick threads with the Commonly Asked Questions/Topics so we can avoid they be debated over and over as well as being easy to find or pointing newbies to. Maybe 1 thread on Tatoos, Road vs Tri bike differences, Number of calories required for a race...

Maybe you can bring back some banned members to specific mentor groups. I asked for this but was told it was 'work'

There are topics that have no business in tri-talk. A little more policing and moving them out would be appreciated. Maybe more people would get to know COJ, hang out there and Tri-talk would be more tri specific.

I agree with what you are saying, I just don't understand why. Training is the most important thing we do in this sport. Why isn't it the most popular to discuss ? Are people more interested in tatoos, equipment and bike pjorn than doing the hours ?

What's your take on it ?

I think I should correct myself a bit.  Training is the #1 topic.  It's just not the #1 thing that is "discussed" in depth.  There are dozens of threads every week about training.  A lot of them are repeat questions by newbies, and that's fine...that's how I learned and I think it's a good thing to allow the same questions to be asked over and over again.  This is great for newbies, but it doesn't really stimulate experienced posters to post the same thing over again...especially when many others are also willing to chime in as well with the same info.

You do end up having a few good threads on training.  My best example is Bryancd's IMSG Q&A...that was an awesome thread that had lots of great discussion.  Those are the threads that experienced (and newbies too) thrive off of.  Learning something new and bouncing ideas off each other.

Sadly though, the most "discussed" threads on BT these days seem to have nothing to do with training.  So what's in it for the experienced folks if all they are here to do is rehash the same old answers to the same old questions...and hotly debate off topic issues?

In a way Ron is right that we may have reached a saturation point where so much information about tris are available that there really isn't that much to discuss anymore.  Yet the mentor groups still have pretty good discussion.

What's the answer...I really have no idea.

Did the OP get banned yet?  

The forum set-up is fine, but I wouldn't object to changes, depending how they are implemented.  ST is a forum that needs some sub-divisions and some ego cooling.  What the triathlon community really needs is a forum between BT and ST.  

I really like the idea of expanding the mentor groups/forum/criteria. I know when I first stumbled across this site - it was out of Mentor Group cycle - so I had no opportunity to join until 8 months later...i would have loved to be able to get with a smaller focused group of people to pepper with the insane questions that were plaguing me. I also get a little sad when the mentor season is over. i know - you can keep up with a specific mentor group/people...but it's nice to have a place to go back to regardless of the time of year.

One of the things I like about BT is the friendly community nature of it - but much like my community at home, people drift in and out of my circle - and that's okay. That's what keeps things interesting. The people that really resonate with me, I find ways to keep in touch with...the ones that don't drift away and I'm okay with that too.

It is a great service to me that there is a place I can go and geek out on stuff so I don't drive my non-triathlon friends and my long suffering husband crazy. For that, and many many other things - I thank you.

I basically agree with what Fred said.

After reading replies here and reflecting on them, I do think that re-organization (not adding to the number of sub-forums -- indeed the net effect could be to reduce the number of su-forums) could be beneficial.  There are several sub-forums now, and it isn't clear (to me) that they represent the most effective way of breaking things down.  ('Effective' here meaning 'most conducive to fostering the best discussions.)  However, I also have come to agree, after reading through the thread, that the basic issue I'm trying to put out there would not really be addressed by a reorganization.

It's a difficult issue, but I think that something along the lines of your suggestions, Ron, could be beneficial.

No.

Mark

I thought there already was an "experienced" forum made up of the banned/self imposed banned folks?!

Michael---I understand what you were asking (and only checked this post because YOU started it and I knew where it was going just from the subject).  At a minimum I'd like to see a reorganization of topics/forums---I'm actually turned off by the fast people/AG podium types stay out posts...  I guess people don't value experience or the fact that many folks have come from someplace other then winning from day one... 

Oh well---guess maybe I need to look at a mentor group like Fred's---I know there are some good folks with great ideas (I may not agree with all their points but that's what makes it worthwhile-makes me think/question my own training/thinking) that just don't post on the "general" forums....

The thing I'd love to see (which is to say it's a daydream and probably not realistic) is the ability to post into a single forum but to tag the thread with one or more predefined tags.  For example, you might have "gear", "general", training", etc.  When you browsed the forum, you would see all threads no matter what tags are selected.  Users could, if they wished, filter the forum to show or hid specific tags.  Most people would end up seeing everything but, if you want to see only gear related posts, you can do so.  Many of the existing subforums could be collapsed into the main and tagged appropriately. 

That said, I also like the idea of making more use of the mentor forums.

Jason

Thanks Neal.  A lot of good stuff happens in the mentor groups, IMO.

I too have for the most part retreated to the Mentor Groups (I am in Fred's and actually lurk in Michael and Randy's) and the IMLP race group (another really good one). 

I knew about BT for a while I never visited, simply because of its name - I just figured it did not have much to offer someone that had been racing triathlons for over 20 years. I "discovered" this was not the case when I was doing an internet search about Lake Placid two years ago and was pointed to the IMLP race group which featured a whole host of knowledgeable folks (Including FredD, BryanCD, and KathyG) posting away about their training. I learned a lot, and jumped into Fred's mentor group the moment he opened it up. Initially I spent a good bit of time in the main forum as well, but quite frankly quickly got tired of the righteous indignation that internet anonymity seems to encourage. I can take a little crude language and good-humored incivility (the stuff folks seem to get banned for) but the outrage and self-righteous chest pounding that many posts devolve into is a little much. I do understand that kind of behavior is infinitely harder to moderate against.

But maybe that is how BT is suppose to work - it cannot be everything to everyone, but there is something for just about everyone. Just because I am not thrilled with the state of the main forum, it seems from this thread most folks like the way it is. That is cool with me - I just wish that there were different levels of moderation applied to the different groups.

It does stink that folks get timed out or even banned from the whole site for an infraction in the Main Forum. What often gets perceived as incivility in the main forum is easily recognized as just good natured ribbing (or maybe even just telling the unvarnished truth) in the Mentor and Race groups.

Interesting thread.  Kudos to Michael for asking the question in the spirit of discussing possible improvements to BT. 

I understand risk of a site degenerating into so many thin threads that it collapses.  OTOH I see Michael's viewpoint.   Many questions posted are not too clear on the background of the athlete posting. Competitive vs Beginner forums could give a useful frame of reference.  At times I've felt by posting advice when OP turned out to me much more experienced/talented than me.  Like offering simple suggestions to "How can I get faster on the bike?" when OP turns out to be a sub-hour 40k TT'er already. 

And you will enjoy, no matter what, a respectful, accepting, place to ask questions and get responses. 

That's what we do. 

I agree with Experior. As a somewhat experienced triathlete, most days I look at tri-talk forum and see little to even open unless I am in the mood to help give advice or read a goofy story. 

That said, I do think the iron distance forum is good for bouncing training advice around.  But...if you aren't doing the iron distance races, most people are never looking there and most advice is for long course anyways.

And to DanielG, there is a reason we a logged into BT, not ST.   There are many beginners that have been helped here have graduated from "beginner" status, but haven't quite reached "douche bag" status. 

I like the idea of a "Getting Faster" type forum.  Serious discussion about training, not serious discussion on on your bike or in the pool.

I guess it all depends on what you are trying to achieve and who you are trying to reach. For me, I am a fat, old man, going through his mid life crisis on a bike, in a pool and on runners. For me, this site has been nothing short of gold. I have a bit of background knowledge on health and fitness due to my degree, but very little tri specific stuff, which I have found in here in abundance. I find for the most part the forums are easy to navigate and to find interesting things on, and I find myself coming back often.

I LOVE my mentor group (even though I do not post that often), but for me, expanding them too much would lose some of the joy of it. For me, it is a safe place to ask dumb questions, and because of the fact that it is smaller and you have been intorduced to everyone, you feel part of a community there. If it was opened up too much, i think some of that might be lost (for me anyway), and it would be a lot less useful, even if there was more information.

I guess it is worth mentioning too (from a personal perspective), being such a noob means that i do not even know what I don't know yet, and i find just cruising this forum gives me the two things I need and like most; an idea of what I need to learn more about, and inspiration to keep going. For those two things alone, i thank you.

Interesting thread.

Lots of thoughtful replies. Just my opinion but I think what we are really dealing with here are feelings and I'm not sure that can be "fixed" by reorganization.

Maybe I see things too simply.

I'm having trouble expressing what I'm trying to say without rambling so I'll just stop now .