Looking for discussion forum sponsors

[WebSlave]

Well, maybe I should try something different.

I want to get the discussion forums really moving. But I guess I need some people to help me out with this by being a regular anchor point for each of the forums. So here's what I would like to do:

I would like to have a volunteer for each of the discussion forums who has a keen interest in that particular topic. I would like this person to be interested enough to start discussions and keep them ongoing, which means taking the time and putting the effort into such an endeavor. In other words, I want them to basically sponsor the forum by being THE main presence there.

In return, I will let them create their own advertising post for their own business/website, which I will stick at the top of the forum and highlight to catch attention.

If more than one person volunteers for any one forum, I will flip a coin to pick one of them to be the sponsoring. Or if I think it warrants it, I may decide to have more than one sponsor for the forum.

How does this sound?

[The BoidSmith]

Webslave,

If you want to use my help I would like to volunteer for the General Business Discussion forum. One way or the other I spend a lot of my time there.

Regards.

[WebSlave]

Well, I was hoping that this would provide incentive for people to get over to the ANIMAL discussion forums, but this might not be a bad idea. You certainly have enough "time on the field" to be a candidate.....

Thanks.

[robin s.]

rich if you need help in the leopard gecko forum or boa forum i would be willing to help....

[KelliH]

Rich-

I would be happy to help out on the Gecko or Leopard Gecko forumes. Just let me know!
:)

[screamdreams]

I missed it!! I'd love to donate some time to this site!!! I'd be more than happy to help in any area you would like. I've got 15+ years in the business, and 20+ in the hobby. I feel I could provide you w/ an adequate list of personal references if need be. My passion is for all Reptiles but most of my experience is w/ various Pythons, Boas, Colubrids. Thanks for considering!!

[WebSlave]

OK, this is more like it!

I need people who will help get some discussions going in those dormant forums that people can't seem to find. What I am offering is to provide a fixed hilighted link at the top of the forum to be an advertising link to your business/website in return for help in this area.

I don't want this to be overkill, but I think at least two sponsors would be a good start, even if those two only talk among themselves in the particular forum they are in charge of. At least that should start the spark to get things running at a better clip then I have seen in the past.

Also along these lines, I would like to see the chat room utilized more fully as well. There is a separate chat room dedicated to each of the discussion forums, so you would be free to schedule a chat any time that would suit you and the majority of people frequenting YOUR forum.

If I can get my programmer to figure out a way to put an actual 120x60 banner graphic in the header of the forum, I will offer that as well, but please don't hold me to that one quite yet. My programmer has MANY times pulled me down to earth when something I wanted would be a strain on the system.

So, what do you say? Does this sound like a fair trade? Should I post some sort of notice about this offering in ALL the discussion forums to get attention, or should I just resign myself to having to post this on the BOI to get any attention?

Or if you know of someone with expertise in some particular forums, please let them know about this offering. Of course, you are welcome to be a sponsor to more than one forum, since at this point I doubt it would tax anyone severely to do that.

Thanks.

[JungleHabitats]

.

[John Apple]

Rich
I would also like to help , in the invertebrate section cause those are my alley. I breed a lot of them and I thoroughly enjoy them.
Hell I can remember driving across alligator alley from Naples to Hollywood to sell baby red rump tarantulas to Strictly on the day before hurricane Andrew.

[Sasheena]

Is there a feeder forum? OR would that be in the feed,caging, etc forum? Feeders happen to be one of my biggest specialties, especially the rodent variety, so I would love to work on that, if I knew which was the appropriate forum, otherwise I'd be very happy to be the "Talkative" one on the kingsnakes forum. Now that I have 6 cal kings, 1 eastern, 2 outerbanks, 1 pyro, and 4 blotched, I'm starting to feel a lot of topics coming up. :) Anyway, I will do what I can there if you would like. Come the end of may I'll be around an awful lot as I go into my yearly 9 week vacation! (The only reason teachers actually RETURN to teaching.... they get a big chance to recharge their batteries)

Anyway, I would love to do what I can with feeders or with kingsnakes.

And I'll take you up on the advertisement of my site... once I make it! :)

[WebSlave]

OK, let me recap what I have so far:


alvaro - General Business
robin d. - Leopard Gecko, Boas
KelliH - Leopard Gecko, Gecko
screamdreams - Pythons, Boas, Colubrids
JungleHabitats - Caging, Boas
John Apple - Inverts (Insects & Arachnids)
Sasheena - Feeders, Caging, Kingsnakes


If you all would, think about what you would want your post to say that I would stick at the top of the forums.

Kelli - could you ask Justyn Miller to throw his hat in here too? Since he made an effort to kickstart the Leopard Gecko forum, I do not want to slight him if he wants to have one of these sponsorship spots.

Thanks.

[KelliH]

Rich-

Sounds great and yes, I will talk to Justyn and let him know, I am sure he would love to hep out as well.:)

[KelliH]

HELP out, that is!:blush:

[The BoidSmith]

If you all would, think about what you would want your post to say that I would stick at the top of the forums.

Webslave,

What kind of a post are you thinking of? I'm not sure I understand.

Thanks.

[robin s.]

rich, if you do not mind i am going to email gus rentfro and se if he has some free time to help out on the boa forum...

[John Apple]

Originally posted by alvaro
Webslave,

What kind of a post are you thinking of? I'm not sure I understand.

Thanks.

I am not sure of what you want here also ...are you looking for a saying or something

[JungleHabitats]

what specifically are ya looking for ? something for us or the discussion forums we are hosting .

[robin s.]

i think rich is refering to an advertisement highlighted and kept at the top, for your site... snakes cages whatever

[WebSlave]

Something like a biography maybe? Your experience with the topic of the forum, welcome statement, offers to help, etc. You can put in a plug for your own business as well. This will help people to recognize the people taking the lead positions on the forums and get their names up at the top of the forum for recognition.

The post topic line itself will basically be "YOUR NAME - Forum Sponsor".

What I will do is to stick this post at the top of the forum and highlight it.

Does that help explain what I am looking for?

[Sasheena]

Is there a "Feeders" forum itself, or just the feed/caging/etc forum that covers all those topics. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing the forum I said I would cover.

As far as a little bio/here I am/ type thing for the forums we're covering, do you want us to send it to you in an email, or...?

[JungleHabitats]

I figured that was your intent i just wanted to make sure lol didnt want to send ya that if ya didnt need it

[robin s.]

im thinkin stuff like
name
what you keep and for how many years
the size of your love bomb
where you are from
how ya got started and with what
whats better pepsi or coke
maybe what we do for a living
our favorite reptiles
maybe stuff like that

[screamdreams]

How's this for an idea?? Having a special guest in the forums on various nights through the week. If that sounds like an idea, I'll start on it right away and get back with evrybody soon on a list of possibles!!

[screamdreams]

That's actually what I had in mind, but either way, just their presence in one or more of the forums would be nice, maybe spending a couple hours with us discussing various topics. Wouldn't be as quick as a chat room but I think we could still pull it off. LMK what you guys/girls think.

[WebSlave]

Yes, just a general biography. Just post it in the relevant discussion forum(s) you are interested in. Bear in mind that I may have to do some juggling if TOO many people pick one particular forum to sponsor. I don't want to have too many chiefs and not enough indians. Also, if you find that you cannot participate as much as you had hoped, let me know so I can find someone else interested in filling in for you.

I suggest you not make the bio too long or people just will not read it. I may just close that thread once you post it, as I do not want the thread to be a discussion about you instead of just an introduction. Unless you think differently, of course. I am open to suggestions for whatever you think will be best.

When you post your bio thread, just let me know, please, where it is located.

Remember to try to utilize the chat system as well. Schedule regular chats and maybe get some well known names as special guests. You may want to ask realvenum and Alan Hall to assist you since they are now acting as co-chatmeisters. I think that they have now officially taken that over, so correct me if I am wrong.

I looked into the possibility of making the sponsors as sort of semi-moderators, but that just is not practical to do. But if you see any problems flaring up in discussion in your back yard, just let me know about it. I guess the idea is for you all to generate interest and get discussions rolling, whereas a moderator simply should stand to the wayside and try to keep the peace when necessary. So maybe the roles are correct for what I have in mind.

If not, I can adjust them as necessary to meet the needs.

Thanks.

[JungleHabitats]

ok to answer your question yes Al & I are doing the chat room for you so far no probs etc on anything . I kinda think it might not be a bad idea to have a post for the forums sponsors to have a thread as to where people can use that to ask them more questions if they need to on the sponsors Bio's rather then closing the thread we post . but we could make it forwell known that the post is for questions ONLY concerning the sponsors backgrounds not to ask " what size cage , what do i feed etc. Also i had mentioned the Boa forums as a sponsor if its ok i will bow out of that one , not that i wont participate in them but i would be strecting myself thin and would rather have someone for that forum that could give more time to it alone . with my website /forums/ the chat and cages forums here along with building cages ill be booked lol

I will also be glad to work with anyone who wants to make chats for there specific specialty in the chat room just let me know im am available almost anytime for email and can get back to you to set up what ya need .

I think for the needs of Moderating the disscusion forums we dont need to be mods theres that link to report to a mod so to me thats it that way we cant be blamed if we make a decision on someones post it will be the site mods that make the factoring choice in to remove a post and we cant be looked at as " impartial" sponsors ... cause we both know that would happen lol if we made a move to delete the post in question ...

[JungleHabitats]

bio short n sweet (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32887)

[John Apple]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32888

[Intense Herpetoculture]

Yeah, I would love to be a sponser on the Leo forum!!!! Oh, I'll contact Rob at RK Reptiles and see if he wants to dot he Chameleon Forum! I would also like to do the chameleon forum, but you know, I could think of a few better people then me with that task. at this point and time seeing how I am not keeping near as many chameleon as I was keeping, but I'll be getting back tot that number shortly. Well, let me know if a forum sponsership for the leo forum is still open, it would eb a fun one. Oh by the way, great idea Rich!

[Sasheena]

Here's my sponsor bio:

Kingsnake Forum Sponsor Bio (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33049)

[Sasheena]

My second sponsor bio [URL=http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33050]Feed/Caging/Supplies Sponsor bio/URL]

[herpcondo]

Rich,,,
I would be happy to help out also.. I would be happy to take the Bearded dragons forum for ya,,, there are always tons of questions, and people wanting to know more about dragons and out of the 4000-5000 i have sold in the past not a one negative comment, about any of them or any transactions,,,
so count me in,,,,

[WebSlave]

OK Joe. Check out what the other forum sponsors have done and follow suit. Let me know when you bio is on that forum and I will highlight it for you.

Thanks.

[screamdreams]

and thanks so much for the opportunity to sponsor. Believe it or not, the very same night you posted who was were in the discussion boards I went to work and drilled a 3/8" bit into my middle finger!! I thought for sure I was going to loose it, but after 3 hours in the ER they said I should recover soon, but I won't have any feeling in that finger, and it might not get me any hand modeling jobs in television commercials!! I've got it wrapped up pretty good right now, and I'm taking pain meds and packing animals one handed, but I should be back up and contributing by early next week!! My Bio (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=32913)

[herpcondo]

here is my Bio,,,
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33054

[WebSlave]

Just a reminder that there are still openings in many of the Discussion Forums for sponsors. This is NO cost to you, but gives you a prominent spot in the forum to advertise yourself and your animals.

There will be a limited number of sponsor slots available (as soon as I figure this number out...), so give this some serious consideration.

In exchange for our participation and help in those forums I am offering you free advertising for yourself. This could put you in a very prestigious position as this site gains more and more traffic of serious enthusiasts for your target market.

Think about it, please.

[WebSlave]

I have several people who have stepped up to the plate and offered to be forum sponsors. But there are still quite a number of forums with vacancies. I guess I never realized that with 10,000 registered members here, there were so many people with no interest or not enough knowledge about so many animal groups that they aren't willing to help out.

Also, some of the present forum sponsors seem to have abandoned their posts, as I don't see any recent postings by them in those forums.

I guess I must be doing something really wrong. I am offering the highlighted link directly in those forums for people to help me out, as a way of giving them some direct advertising, and they still don't think their participation is worthwhile there.

[WebSlave]

Except for a few notable exceptions, it appears that the discussion forum sponsorship is a lost cause. As such, unless there is an abrupt and dramatic turnaround, those "sponsors" not putting in even a minimal effort will have their sponsorships withdrawn.

To those of you putting in a genuine effort to help out in those forums you have offered to sponsor, I do thank you for your help.

[WebSlave]

The sponsorship program is now officially terminated.

[KelliH]

Oh, that's too bad, and dissapointing. I'm very sorry you made that decision.

[WebSlave]

Kelli,

What I did was pull the sponsor links from any forum where the sponsors apparently had abandoned their support for that forum. In those cases where I could see the sponsors were taking an active interest and participating, I let the highlighted links remain there. But I am not accepting anyone else as sponsors for any of the forums, as it is apparent to me that this concept has failed. No sense beating a dead horse over it. That is what I meant by terminating the sponsorship program. Considering all of the forums I have on this site, the number of volunteers was embarrassingly small, so why bother? We're approaching 13,000 registered members and I can't get any more people interested in participating in the discussion forums? What's wrong with that picture?

But you and Justyn are doing OK with the Leopard Gecko forum. So I didn't remove either of the links for you guys there. I figure if a sponsor can't check in and post replies to queries or start a new discussion within a week or two, then there is no sense keeping them as a sponsor. So I simply removed them.

I just figure the discussion forums are of little or no interest to most of the people that come to this site, so that's just the way it is. I have run out of ideas on how to change that, so I will just let things run their course, whatever that may be.

Thanks.

[Intense Herpetoculture]

I personally thought that the forums were slowly picking up. I say within time it will get there. Just need to bring the people over. I'll see what I can do on a couple of the other forums and getting people to post.

Originally posted by WebSlave

I just figure the discussion forums are of little or no interest to most of the people that come to this site, so that's just the way it is. I have run out of ideas on how to change that, so I will just let things run their course, whatever that may be.

Thanks.

[Sand&SunReptile]

Oh I wish you'd reconsider.
I am very very very enthusiastic, and would defenitley be working nonstop, adding to the Rosy, Sand, and Ground Boa forum. I'd be taking the time to format my pictures accordingly, and post those as well.
Please just give me one shot, at the Rosy, Sand, and Ground Boa forum, I will give it all I have, and bring that forum (which seems to be relatively slow in general, compared to some others) to life.
You wont be disappointed in the least bit.
I did send that PM before I read this thread, so I am not being dramatically desperate LOL.