Ideas/help driving traffic/posings back to BLiNC???

[mknutson]

I am looking for suggestions and help to get postings back on BLiNC.

Is there anyone out there pro-active and looking to help BLiNC Magazine with the forum, News, or the newsletter?

Anything else that anyone can think would get more postings?

[truckerbase]

No offense intended, Mick, and take this with a grain of salt, but all I can say is that on the road I hear repeatedly the same thing repeated a number of times when people mention Blinc, namely that they've been banned or censored in the past when using it, either by you or possibly by the other moderators. Sometimes the person commenting has no idea why they have been banned; they simply cannot get on. Other times they give a very specific reason, usually something of a personal conflict with you or one of the other moderators. Some claim that you have alienated a number of jumpers, some of whom are long-time, big name, or high timer sorts who have an influence on new jumpers web choices, or who themselves would normally add significantly to Blinc traffic, either in an experienced technical sense, or in the "tales of daring-do" arena which is always fun to read. They say blinc has too many rules, and conditions, and that a certain arrogance has ruled blincs past. People wanted a free forum to stand up and yell fire! at the exact time the theater filled up, and particularly on a basejumping forum, I think people expected a more jolly roger screw establishment site.

I think base jumpers have a particular fondness for novelty. Dropzone was the novelty of the week, and in light of a perceived heavy handedness on blincs part, people shifted. Obviously, once traffic dropped, the process became self sustaining particularly when the issue of double posts arose. Why post two posts on two seperate forums? People chose the novel, high traffic site, which with a preponderance of skydivers and new jumpers was much more active and satisfying to read when people got home from a long days work. Like it or not, Mick, youre in the entertainment business.

Now, Im not voicing my opinion as such, Im just trying to give you a feel for a lot of what Ive heard on the road. Whether true or not, it just is. Sorry for the post, I just happened to have a lot of time on my hands, and Im grumpy because Ive just been weathered out of the 4th successive jump in 3 different states in as many days.

A faithful customer.

Truckerbase, Base 758

[mknutson]

No offense directly taken...

No offense intended, Mick, and take this with a grain of salt, but all I can say is that on the road I hear repeatedly the same thing repeated a number of times when people mention Blinc, namely that they've been banned or censored in the past when using it, either by you or possibly by the other moderators.

There have actually been ZERO alterations to postings in the last 1.5 months at all. Everything has just been "GOING THROUGH".

Sometimes the person commenting has no idea why they have been banned; they simply cannot get on. Other times they give a very specific reason, usually something of a personal conflict with you or one of the other moderators. Some claim that you have alienated a number of jumpers, some of whom are long-time, big name, or high timer sorts who have an influence on new jumpers web choices, or who themselves would normally add significantly to Blinc traffic, either in an experienced technical sense, or in the "tales of daring-do" arena which is always fun to read.

I told everyone when I moved over, that I needed to change everyones passowrd. I have been trying to reset those passwords as quickly as requested. There is not even 1 (ONE) person that is BANNED from this site.

They say blinc has too many rules, and conditions, and that a certain arrogance has ruled blincs past. People wanted a free forum to stand up and yell fire! at the exact time the theater filled up, and particularly on a basejumping forum, I think people expected a more jolly roger screw establishment site.

Too many rules, that is just not the case. Your dz.com has far more rules than BLiNC does.

I think base jumpers have a particular fondness for novelty. Dropzone was the novelty of the week, and in light of a perceived heavy handedness on blincs part, people shifted. Obviously, once traffic dropped, the process became self sustaining particularly when the issue of double posts arose. Why post two posts on two seperate forums? People chose the novel, high traffic site, which with a preponderance of skydivers and new jumpers was much more active and satisfying to read when people got home from a long days work. Like it or not, Mick, youre in the entertainment business.

I guess novelty supercedes loyalty. I have been loyal to the jumpers, but very few have been loyal to me.

Now, Im not voicing my opinion as such, Im just trying to give you a feel for a lot of what Ive heard on the road. Whether true or not, it just is. Sorry for the post, I just happened to have a lot of time on my hands, and Im grumpy because Ive just been weathered out of the 4th successive jump in 3 different states in as many days.

A faithful customer.

Truckerbase, Base 758

[Tom Aiello]

I regularly see people on DZ.com complaining that BLiNC has no traffic. I also see a lot of those same people posting a lot on DZ.com. Hmmm.

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but little time at the moment. I'll come back and post more tonight sometime.

[Raymond Losli]

Hey ...Tom just writing down a few quick abstract thoughts about the subject.
This could be just a pile of garbled thoughts that don't make sence.
Feel free to dissect and discard what you think is wrong thinking.
....................................

Why Is there no verbal discussion of BASE, on Blinc ?
Other than, DZ.com Web format still loads faster than Blinc.
I think DZcom-BASE Zone, Has more rules, also
Locks, Banes, Censors, Splits threads and has more stupid questions.
Also half the lookers and talkers on, DZcom., The BASE Zone,
don't BASE. they Skydive.
Blinc has the history and background as the authority and Knowledge
of seasoned BASE jumpers, but DZcom. continues to dominate the
verbal traffic.

* WHY ???

BASE has reached a Plato after several years of growth.
The major mechanical workings of BASE jumping have been worked out.
* Parachute design has peaked. They are still seven cells and are
vented with air locks. That is a big advancement
* Single Parachute Containers are either Velcro or, One or Two pined.

* There is some machanical enhancment still changing in body flight.
The Wing-suit and Tracking Suits provide some new talk and questions.
* The packing, Slider-up, Slider-down, all basic Riging, Body positioning
awareness, and How to knowledge is Worked out, Old hand
BASE mechanics of, How To Jump, have already been publicly laid out for all to see.
.....................................

> NOW
You take that Knowledge of How To Jump + The New Wave of jumpers
the past couple of years.
Now Add... The Twin Falls, Legal, daytime bridge.
The Legal daytime span is a main focal point of the new onslaught
of Newbie jumpers that make up the majority of the major verbal
traffic on DZcom.
Idaho Bridge offers a great place for the mass teaching of BASE known
as the BASE, FJC courses. Also countless new people make there
first BASE jump there every week.
A large mass of new jumpers will never BASE much more than just
going to Twin Falls and Bridge Day, but are still having big fun.
The other part of jumpers will move onward and jump BASE objects.
these jumpers make up half of, DZcom. The BASE Zone
the other half of, BASE Zone verbal trafic does not BASE jump they Skydive.

To sum it up in one sentence....
There is Very Little left to talk about on,( How to) BASE Jump.on * BLINC *
(unless you think you want to try to make your first BASE jump.

Foe example:
The new Buzz and chit-chat, How do I make my first BASE jump?
How low can you go ? , Guess what I was jumping last night ?, and
What BASE number are you ?, Has been passed on.
It's just a whole new crowd. & They Chose to Talk on DZcom.
It's light it's fluffy and there just having Fun.



I think the majority of seasoned and knowledgeable BASE jumpers are
looking and reading Threads and Posts but not adding anything because
there are no basic questions to ask. Also the hype and fluff, combined
with the Beavis and Butthead, Repartee is just not for them.
Now add the fact that all the newbie questions are all answered by a
couple of people.
There is nothing else to do but just read.

[baseninja]

When I was getting into BASE, I used blinc as a huge source of information, and to a lesser extent, dz.com. I owe a lot to this site and those who posted here in the past.

There isn't the traffic here for whatever reason, and there is essentially no information on dz.com that will help me stay alive in BASE, other than skydivers chit-chatting about who is gay and making polls about if their new rig makes their ass look big.

If you are looking for suggestions-? Can I suggest a BB where only BASE jumpers are able to post about BASE (those who are looking at getting into BASE are more than willing to view, but I don't need to hear a 20 jump skydiver give me advice on BASE stuff). And make it flame free, information and suggestions only, with no bull****, chit-chat, or "nice post Mick". Let the wannabes post about how bad they want to BASE jump but just got off AFF on the other site. And no more online popularity contests, or online local fights for the world to see. (Keep the dropzone out of BASE!)

I think the internet has an incredible ability to share ideas, tricks, techniques, etc from jumper all over the world, but dz.com has sunk to about as low as I can imagine. I still get on and read it, but only because I am bored at work all the time, and think about BASE all the time too.

Just my idea. I would love to log on and ask questions about other peoples techniques, and hear about new ideas that someone just figured out. Let the skydivers have dz.com to read and ask all the newbie questions. Lets keep blinc all about learning and staying alive in BASE...

[Raymond Losli]

I dont now Baseninja
that sounds pretty much like what is going on
right now on Blinc.
You can look-up or ask anything you want to know
about BASE jumping or How to.
It looks and acts pretty strait forward.

[Raymond Losli]

I kind of stated my reason for so much verbal trafic
at DZcom, The BASE Zone.....

There is not a whole lot to talk about, BASE JUMPING

The BASE Zone gets more verbal traffic because ...
They Talk about Everything......
How
Why
When
From what's your BASE #, how do I get one ?
Look how low I can Go.
Am I a Fag because I looked at my buddy's As# on a jump.
It's Light, It's Fluffy and some times serious.
It's not like BLINC.
They are not trying to be like BLINC.

Thy are just having fun in there own, non-to seriose BASE jumping way.
I think most of them know they are not Hard core BASE jumping MotherF**kers.
They dont care.

They let in the skydive community.
That my friend is ... VOLUME

You can not compete with that amount of traffic and just be
Cut, Dry and Strait to the point about BASE jumping every F**king minute.

[baseninja]

There are a lot of really experienced jumpers out there, you included Ray. It seems like there can be a lot of good information exchanged via blinc.

Ok, so I have another question, we'll see how many experienced BASE jumpers can provide valuable advice that I can read bored at work, for my next jump this morning, that might help me survive another jump...

[zennie]

I think it's really more an issue of habits rather than content. Especially with these new forums. I actually like this forum setup better than dz.com's.

Just extrapolating to experience on other types of sites. When you find a site that caters to your needs you tend to stick with that. What happened here I think has to do with the technical problems folks were seeing here for a while. There was a fairly long stretch where getting into Blinc was a roll of the dice.

In that time, there was a BASE forum over on dz.com. So folks naturally gravitated there to continue their discussions and people got into the habit of posting on dz.com's forum.

Now that Blinc is back & stable, people need to somehow get out of that habit. While it's easy for one or two people, it's a lot harder to get an entire GROUP to change their habits.

The other thing, I think, is that a fair number of BASE jumpers are skydivers, or at least have several skydiving friends. So over at dz.com they can hang out with both groups. The convenience factor I think makes people more prone to stay in one place.

I still try to stay in the habit of posting more technical questions here, in hopes of attracting more experienced people to get back in the habit of posting here. And at least here I know I'll be talking to experienced, knowledgable people.

If I were to look into the crystal ball I'd say both forums will still be around in the future. I think Blinc will become more of a hardcore technical site, and dz.com will be more the inquisitive skydiver forum.

That may mean the traffic here is reduced, but it doesn't take away from the quality and importance of this site to the BASE world.

One edge that Blinc has is the articles, gear reviews and classifieds. Maybe if folks write more articles, we get more gear reviews in that might stimulate some activity.

I have a Rock Dragon on order. As soon as I get it and put some jumps on it I'll be sure to post a review here.

[Tree]

Hey Mick,

Even the new forum is not as user friendly as DZ.com. I still have to scroll down to see new posts. Blinc does move much slower, and yes, I have broadband.

I miss all the cat fights, bitching, anon. posting wars, and all the other stuff that made the BB my home page for years. I learned a lot, met tons of people, and could count on finding basers in the areas I was travelling to. Now all is quiet. Nobody bitches. There are seldom any good arguments or fights. Everybody left the party. I'm not sure you can ever get people to come back. DZ.com is quick and easy, and even with all the rules and Super Moderators, you can still **** with people, and people can even cuss with reckless abandon.

Like any business, once customers are gone, it is really hard to get them back. If you could get Robin Heid to start a war with a couple of big name jumpers and let them have at it, that would be helpful. Sadly, Robin is hard at work trying to open up the the parks (thanks Robin), and no one wants to argue anymore. Even I just thanked Robin on the BB. I am embarrassed to post anything else. I guess we CAN all just get along.

Snifle, sniffle.

Tree

[Skydawg]

Hey Mick, traffic is starting to pick up again, just give it time.

[mknutson]

Hey Mick,

Even the new forum is not as user friendly as DZ.com. I still have to scroll down to see new posts. Blinc does move much slower, and yes, I have broadband.

Here is the solution for that:
http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/s...ed=1#post51760

[mknutson]

I have been here this long, I will wait.

But note, my traffic has not slowed down at all, just the number of postings. That is the confusing part. Plenty of people are still lurking, just not posting.

Hey Mick, traffic is starting to pick up again, just give it time.

[mknutson]

Hey Mick,

Even the new forum is not as user friendly as DZ.com. I still have to scroll down to see new posts. Blinc does move much slower, and yes, I have broadband.

Please verify that the new postings are first now.
I changed the setting just a minute ago, and should be effective globally.