Hey! I was waiting for Jessica to speak for me. Where you been, girl?

I've been terribly confused as to how the Book Club would work. I don't want to vote for something (or against something) when I've no idea how it's actually going to be structured.

I've seen suggestions, but they all seem different, and complex.

I don't see what you're missing ... we're locked into $1200/year until we're off the buggy MySQL. Or run out of money.

Okay, but adding a thread now and then (I'm not talking being proliferation crazy) isn't the issue. Buggy MySQL is.

However, if we expand to fit this otherwise huge room, we may never fit anywhere cheaper again.

ita, okay, from this point, I do get why adding another thread is an issue. From your technical perspective, what is the best way to handle this. If the best is to just not add any threads at all, until we're off the MySQL, on a cheaper server, doesn't it make sense to just make "No New Threads" an edict sort of fact of life, until we're off the MySQL, on the cheaper server (for a while) and see how we're doing? Why are we even taking proposals, then?

I'm pretty sure Wolfram, Hec, Heather, and whomever else, don't want to break the board, and don't want to make us so big we can't fit somewhere less expensive, once we're off of the buggy MySQL. I know I don't want that.

Wolfram explained his vision here (if I did that right). I'm assuming that that's now part of the proposal.

Here are my two cents on a book club thread:

I miss the in-depth show discussions and think such would fill that void.

I think people should nominate a book each and selections be drawn from a hat. If a particular book has a lot of interest it's chances are higher, but the less-popular books have a shot too.

I'd like a seperate, focused, thread because I've never particularly enjoyed Literary but I WOULD enjoy a book club. This may or may not be unique to me.

If the best is to just not add any threads at all, until we're off the MySQL, on a cheaper server, doesn't it make sense to just make "No New Threads" an edict sort of fact of life, until we're off the MySQL, on the cheaper server (for a while) and see how we're doing? Why are we even taking proposals, then?

So it's Book Club or No New Threads? We can't balance resource concerns against thread need each time? Please propose the No New Threads rule, if that's where you're going, because it sounds like a straw man right now.

I've seen suggestions, but they all seem different, and complex.

I'm not set up to track down and quote each and every proposal, but to my mind they were all essentially reiterating the same basic concepts.

So before we can get a thread, we need to define a single, simple structure? We've got proposals that are good starting points but which have the beauty of adaptability once we actually get it into the field. Who will decide when our proposals are simple enough for approval?

Or, in other words, how soon do we vote?

Or, in other words, how soon do we vote?

The ninth. Four days after the proposal on the fifth.

Per -t-'s suggestion, and to make it a little easier for voters reading the proposal, I've made a few changes to the proposal and included the basic structure I'd envisioned. As you can see, all the rules of Book Club would be flexible and subject to change.

Proposal: To have a Book Club thread wherein a specific book (or books) would be discussed Buffista style on a specific time rotation. The initial basic structure for the Book Club thread (subject to modification as contained below) will be:

1) One book a month. The first 3 books will be chosen at the beginning of the thread by participants in the thread with at least a month of lead time for the first book, and every book thereafter. The method of choosing will be suggestions from participants, narrowed down by consensus and, if necessary, a Mr. Poll. Genre diversity and/or books from the literary canon that have stood the test of time will be strongly encouraged. Only books that are readily available at your public library are eligible.

2) Book discussions will not be officially moderated. "Benign" moderation in the form of discussion points, questions and suggestions from readers well-versed in the text will be readily encouraged.

3) All the other details of the book club operation are flexible (including method of book selection, number of books per rotation, length of rotation, and length of discussion period) and are subject to change to suit the preferences of the thread denizens.

Purpose: The purpose of the thread is to accomodate an expressed desire by a number of Buffistas to have such a thread to allow focused and uninhibited discussion on a particular text as well as providing us with an opportunity and excuse to read and discuss books that may be outside our usual genre. And to have fun doing all that!

END PROPOSAL

The following clauses may be added to the final proposal if people think it would help allay some of the proliferation/resource concerns:

Possible clause A: (Auto-close) This thread will automatically close after 6 months unless a vote of confidence is taken to keep it open. The vote of confidence may be prefaced by a standard discussion period in lightbulb at anyone's request and does not require seconds.

Possible clause B: (First to go) At the exclusive discretion of ita (or her designee to monitor board resources) if any thread needs to be suspended or closed to conserve board resources, this thread will be the first one to go.

Also the following has been suggested as a suitable slug if the thread gets created:

This thread is a focussed discussion group. Please refer to [link] for the current topic, and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.

(ETA: I've amended this proposal to comport with some suggestions in the next bunch of posts.)

Adding my apology to the batch. I feel like I've done nothing but step on the toes and bark the shins of people I hugely respect for the last few days, both in this thread and in Literary, which I absolutely and utterly never meant to do. My inability to frame my thoughts coherently without smashing into someone I hugely respect is frustrating the hell out of me, and I'm hugely sorry to anyone whose shins I've barked, and I'm shutting up.

3) Only folks who have read the book under discussion will be able to participate in the discussion. Unrelated natter will be discouraged. (This item is not subject to change.)

This item makes me acutely uncomfortable, and goes against the grain of the non-admin-related portions of the board. Hell, it goes against our FAQ, for heaven's sake.

Q. Is it okay to go off-topic?

A. It better be, because we live for thread drift. In fact, we got so natter-y that BHP started the first Natter Thread. It's a place where Buffistas can chat on all and sundry without distracting from serious Angel lustage and Faith missage on the main threads.