but if the majority of people have the same short term prefernces....

thing is - from just reading this thread the past day or so, it doesn't seem like there is a strong majority for any particular path. it does feel (like so many other times until voting!) like we are just talking in circles.

This is us not talking, huh?

Anyway. I know I supported the idea of a handful of bucket threads around a certain kind of show--ie what Vortex restated upthread--because I felt it would be of a consistent higher posting volume (which I find important because it indicates a level of interest and involvement in the thread), I thought it would serve the interest of cross-pollination (which is a net positive for me from Boxed Set), I thought it would be accessible to people looking to talk about television, while still retaining that unique Buffistaness that I see as important to the creation of any thread.

However, at this point, I do think a poll would be helpful. Even if it isn't perfect, it would still give us some kind of data which which to proceed onwards with, either to refine our questions or at least to give us a rough number of those involved in this discussion, vocal or not.

Did we even have any bucket threads before Farscape, Smallville and Due South got smooshed together?

I think they were each their own bucket thread in a way, with shows discussed outside of the main thread show, but that was determined implicitly by the thread participants, and sort of casual.

Then they all got smooshed into Boxed Set, which has ever since been the most bizarre, poorly defined thread in the history of everything, and I suddenly find myself wondering how much of the hubbub lately has been because of exactly this.

We kind of needed to do it at the time, I guess. Although actually, I seem to remember that most participants in the three individual threads were against the merger, but were unable to muster enough votes to prevent it from happening.

Actually, I think maybe what we really need to come to grips with as a board is that our usage and membership level pretty much dictates our current dedicated server setup, and that means there's a higher price tag that has to come out of our own pockets or nowhere. So far, we seem capable as a group of generating the funds to continue our weird little Internet paradise. The day we cease ponying up is really the day we cease collectively being Buffistas.

Or else the board will shrink to whatever form it can afford to exist in, and whatever happens to the community from there happens.

If that's really what it comes down to, and that our current configuration can support the thread proliferation we were unable to support at Host Rocket or wherever else, then making or not making any damned threads we want is only a matter of numbers in the vote proposal. We can create connie's bucket thread for all network drama, and a smaller bucket thread for three or four specific network dramas, and we can create single show threads for those exact same three or four shows, provided each thread in question garners the votes to pass.

And provided each and every time Jesse comes in here and says we need X dollars to continue operating for the next Y interval, we produce said funds.

I think the poll will be very misleading to the extent that people will seek their short term preferences without considering the larger collective goal.

I think we need to articulate the larger collective goal. I think polls will help us do that.

I'm not so interested in what people want. We can always add or subtract stuff later. That process is in place.

I would rather the polls addressed why people post here. What show thread environment is interesting to them. How they see the board. How they think it works best. Not just for them but for everybody.

I need a better sense of where the commons is before I think we can invest energy into it.

Where is the middle of our Venn diagram. We can't accomodate all outliers, but we can say, this stuff is us, this is the stuff we maintain. We stretch this far but no farther because that wrecks the middle

That's what I'm trying to get a sense of.

For me, I don't believe that there isn't a place to discuss it. I've always been fine with talking about a show in Natter until such time as it feels that a show can support a thread of its own.

I get that. I was addressing my point more to the people that have already expressed that Natter doesn't work for them as far as tv talk goes, but still have issues with having to wait to go into a bucket thread.

I'm kind of confused now. I see people stating that what the majority of people may or may not want isn't necessarily what's best for the board. But who gets to decide what's best for the board if not the majority?

I mean, regardless of what's polled and discussed , unless Connie withdraws her proposal, isn't whether or not we have a new Network Drama thread going to be decided by a vote on August 11th-13th? Isn't the only thing this discussion can change perhaps the way people decide to vote on the issue? Or am I missing a step here?

so:

what threads do you post in (text box) what things you do you like and/or not like about those threads currently (text box)

what threads are essential to b.org for you (text box) would more or less activity in those threads have an affect on your enjoyment (text box)

what if anything do you feel is missing from the threads or the board(text box)

omg - that is so more huggy touchy feely than I can continue to develop. someone else must take it and run.

But who gets to decide what's best for the board if not the majority?

The discussion itself may change people's minds about what each thread vote means. The polling could clarify what we value most and how it works best.

I mean, regardless of what's polled and discussed , unless Connie withdraws her proposal, isn't whether or not we have a new Network Drama thread going to be decided by a vote on August 11th-13th?

That vote will go ahead. But we're trying to engage a larger discussion about how to handle the recurring board tension between a tight focus and a broad focus. I do think it is time for us to get a better sense of what we expect from this community and how to maintain it.

Isn't the only thing this discussion can change perhaps the way people decide to vote on the issue? Or am I missing a step here?

We've made some fairly profound changes in the past based on discussions here. It is my sense that we are looking at one of those moments where we look beyond voting our interest and creating some functional core direction that will help us make future decisions on growth. At least I hope we get a better sense of ourselves so that we don't ignore frictions and divisions which have been arising regularly over the last couple years. Some tension and disappointment is inevitable and that's okay. But it would be foolish to ignore bigger schisms if they started to emerge.

The board is whatever we decide it is. I'm arguing that now is an appropriate time to look beyond this particular vote and get some framework on how we will handle these issues going forward.

omg - that is so more huggy touchy feely than I can continue to develop. someone else must take it and run.

Maybe less squishy to start with.

Let's just try to clarify two things:

1. Board useage.
2. TV thread preferences.

One at a time.