Terry: I think now I get what you are getting at. I often look at some of the threads and wonder where some of the posters have been. There is an awful lot of duplication of some topics. However, to be fair and this is just my observation, is that some of you moderators have fed into some of this. For example, take Dr. Ashby's reports....I have not seen on any other site the hype that he gets on Tradgang. You guys have even dedicated a special section to his findings and continue to add to it....at least the last time I looked. He is everywhere, TBM, etc. I think that his technical findings are fine as far as they go and I think, in all honesty, enough of him please. His point is well made in his very first reports and all his previous reports have not, for ME, have added any new insights.
However, I do have to say that Tradgang is probably one site where the average guy can go and get technical advice on any number of subjects if they just take the time to find it. The HOW TO forum is one example. I can't count on all my fingers and toes how many folks I have directed to Tradgang forums (from other sites) for such things as twisted bow limbs, how to make strings, how to sharpen various heads, etc. Don't forget, you have over 20,000 members and not all of them log on every day so it is pretty clear to me that certain things are going to be asked over and over again. And I will admit, I sometimes get glassy-eyed making the same recommendations over and over again based on my experience. I don't know what the answer is but when I start to feel a bit worn out by it all I just am thankful that you have so many members and so many newbies. Perhaps we are not a dying breed...and your list of sponsors grows every week, it seems.
So, I say, whenever you have a crisis you are also handed an opportunity if you care to view it that way. Hunting with trad archery equipment is tough....so is running your website. How can we members be helpful?
As for things getting too technical sometimes....don't quite know what to say. Archery is full of physics, geometry, and science.....which I find to be quite interesting....and fun!!!! It is not as simple as some would like it to be. It's like learning music or learning to play a musical instrument. I'm restarting guitar lessons from when I was a kid. I thought I knew a bit but I found a teacher from Berklee and now I know how much I don't know. If I look at it as a challenge it is fun. If I keep thinking that there is too much to learn it depresses me....so I opt for the fun aspect. Somewhere in here is a connection to archery....there is more to it than meets the eye if you want to do it well, I suppose, and some people just don't want to do the work and they keep asking the same questions, getting the same answers and who knows what they do when they log off?
In part I think some of your frustration is that you may be not be seeing the forest for all the trees.....20,000+ members and you are still growing. You are doing a lot of things well...what can we do to keep it that way?
Topic: Trad Gang is not Popular Mechanics - UPDATE page 30 (Read 26814 times)
