Changes at GCA post-SI

[J_Olsen]

There has been much speculation about what changes might take place at GCA once the deluge of interest generated by the Sports Illustrated article hits.

Ran has apparently increased the capacity of the site to take 5 times the number of page views it could previously, but that will not be enough.

GCA will split (a la Pumpkin Ridge) into a private GCA and a public GCA. The newbies and lurkers generated by the article will have to post at public GCA while the old guard will continue to have access to each other in a civilized environment at private GCA.

[THuckaby2]

You're likely kidding, but I have an honest fear that might be required.... Many current posters here have come from other discussion groups that were ruined for just this reason....I don't want to be harbinger of doom, let's hope for the best... but just wait till the TigerTalkers arrive here.

TH

[Craig Van Egmond]

Tom,

         I'm hoping for the best, the other DG's never got this kind of press. You and I both know it only takes a couple of jerks to really screw things up.

[THuckaby2]

Craig - yes we very sadly do, don't we?  

But the one thing this dg does have in its favor is registration.  I know, that can be easily sidestepped if one is determined enough.  But just having it there causes an extra step that will be enough to deter some evildoers.

God this sounds maudlin... but Craig and I go way back, along with many others here, and we have seen the death of several other really great discussion groups.  And Craig's right, none of them were ever featured in a mainstream magazine.

TH

[Jeff_Lewis]

Tom,

I know you are not an M.E., but what was the "cause of death" in the previous cases?

[THuckaby2]

Jeff - a small group of people, or sometimes just one individual, comes in and replies to EVERY post with obnoxious, personal, inflammatory, vulgar crap.  The group tries to ignore it for awhile, after too much of this it becomes impossible and the group disperses.

Sounds simple to combat.  It's not.  

Ask Craig, John V, Dan King, Bob Huntley, many others... we have seen this scenario several times.

TH

[John_Conley]

To hear you guys, the piece in Golf Plus marks the day GCA jumped the shark.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Tom,

     The biggest difference between GCA and those sites is Ran.  There were a small number of vocal jerks (Thorasay?) and the websites got taken over by corporations with an agenda that ruined them.  We really are lucky that Ran has such a great hobby that he is willing to share with us.

    

    

[ChipOat]

Tom Huckaby (and others):

While I fear you're correct, what better way is there to attract "new (good) blood" to the site?  If it gets too obnoxious, can't Ran shut it down, transfer the content to a new site and only notify those positive contributors of the new address?

Perhaps we regulars should be prepared to help defer the cost of doing that.

Chip

[Pollyanna]

What if the whole thing gets even better?

[THuckaby2]

Chip - we've gone down that road (shutting down and starting elsewhere with regulars only)- it works ok, but too few "regulars" makes it pretty slow.  Pollyanna and others are right - adding new blood is a good thing.

And whilst I surely appreciate all of Ran's efforts here, monitoring every post is not something he's gonna want to do.

Craig's right though - the advantage this dg has is it's run by Ran, not by certain golf-related corporations we know and love.  Let's just hope Ran doesn't get sick of it...

TH

[John Foley]

As one who posts somewhat infrequently and lurks alot, I'm pretty sure that new blood will do nothing but help our experience. Sure one bad egg can ruin it. But one bad egg can also be put in thier place.

I was around in the old days at other sites w/ Huckaby, King, Edgmand, Bill V, Nacaratto & the likes. I remeber when GCA started to take off and there was a lot of "it's going to different. There going to be new/different folks who may not share the passion as we do" feelingsa.
Look what happened!!

We find guys like Tom Paul, Ed Baker, Dave Wigler, Dave Schmidt, Scott Burroughs & Lou Duran. Not to mention Ran (and many others), who makes this hobby for us turn into our passion!

I for one am looking forward to the new friends that will be uncovered becuase of this publicity.

PS. Tommy - We need you to post more to share that passion.

[Brad Klein]

Somehow I don't think this site is going to be ruined. It's not like a chat group. I trust that enough folks will be disciplined enough not to respond to obvious jerks. It will take some monitoring and self-control, but this group has it.

By the way, we're not dealing with a general mass SI audience here, just the 500,000 or so subscribers to GolfPlus, who are, by definition, an exclusive and relatively sedate (if not sedated) lot.

[THuckaby2]

Very positive outlook, JF - and my apologies for all the doomsaying.  Well said.

TH

[Scott_Burroughs]

John Conley,

I know your "Jump the Shark" reference, and I hope it's not the case.  My DG hangout prior to discovering GCA had that happen, though other sports have different crowds.

[John Bernhardt]

Is anyone going to post the article. I too am concerned about the mass of bomb throwers who enjoy creating havic more than thoughtful dialog impacting the quality of life we have here. Yet, new blood is always a good thing. I hope the kind of people and discussions we have here will make the site boring for the trouble maker types.

[John_Conley]

Is anyone going to post the article.

John:

Look a little closer.  It has been up all morning thanks to someone else's handiwork.

[Brad Klein]

Interesting, 51 new GCA members in the last two days. Ran, that must be a record. Hope they contribute, too.

[Greg Holland]

Go easy on us newbies and infrequent posters -- many, like me, often don't feel knowledgeable enough, yet, to post meaningful contributions on various threads.  But, we are lurking and learning, and some day . . . .

[RJ_Daley]

I think that if the core group of GCA posters sticks to their passion for course design, construction, and whose who in those fields, and related topics of maintenance meld and the occasional outrage at what the equipment is doing to design; we won't be bothered for very long by cyberdrifting flame throwers (if they come).  I think the fact is that our general tone of discussion and subject matter, as enthralling as it is for us, will sedate most provacatuers looking for a little space on the cyber wall to scribble their electronic grafitti.  It is sort of like going to a very good hidden gem golf course of great design merrit and finding perhaps 10% that are there to experience/study the course for its architectural influences.  Or conversely, going to a high profile CCFAD done by a hot name designer and finding 90% of players are there for the status and don't understand a darn thing about the architecture or design intent.  I think we will only pick up a small number of new regulars from a potentially large intitial group of interested SI readers of the article because it just doesn't resonate with the mainstream in the recreational golf playing world.  But I'm no analyst, I could be wrong.  

[TEPaul]

Go easy on us newbies and infrequent posters -- many, like me, often don't feel knowledgeable enough, yet, to post meaningful contributions on various threads.  But, we are lurking and learning, and some day . . . .

Another person says they don't feel knowledgeable enough! Don't worry about that! Architecture is only subjective anyway whether you're a designer or a relatively distant appreciator.

Post anything you want to--noone should think the less of you. The only dumb question--as they used to tell me in USMC boot camp is the one that's never asked!

If someone on here tells you that you don't get it--just ignore it! Anyone's opinion of architecture is as valid as anyone else's. All you have to really try to understand are a few basic principles like what's truly interesting to play and look at and what's fun!

The thing that kills me more and more as time goes on are architects themselves who say or imply that noone really understands what they do or how and why they build it!

If they really feel that way what are they creating architecture for?

There's no particular reason any of us know more than you do, GregH, we just write more on here!

[Dunlop_White]

Typically, when I login to this site, I look to see who else is in the Discussion Group. Just a habit I presume! But I also catch the number of guests who are logged-in as well.

Usually, there are about 22 guests mid-day. We consistently had over 45 guests with us all through the day. Just about double! And most have not even received their issue yet!

[Dunlop_White]

Incidently, I was just cut off of the site again for the second time today. I received an "error" message from GCA both times while really doing nothing but reading. This has not happened before.

Has anyone else experienced this?  

[Paul Turner]

The pace of the DG will become even more frenetic.  How long does the average thread last on the front page?  Less than a day?

Once a thread is off the front page it is rarely brought back into discussion again.

[Paul Richards]

As an example, as I am writing this now, there are 5 members logged in, and 13 guests.