BOTM April 08 Voting Forum Guidelines Discuss BOTM April 08 Voting in the Good Background Information forums; For everyone in the U.S., I hope you survived tax day. For those of us outside the states, it's a ...

[james]

For everyone in the U.S., I hope you survived tax day. For those of us outside the states, it's a good day to be happy you weren't here!

It's time to throw open the voting for Best of the Month for April 08 -- the first spring edition. :-) This was by far the most difficult month to pick the top 5 nominees. Now, we need more voters.

Vote early, (sorry you can't vote often). If you've been following the news on the election problems we have in the U.S., I am sorry to say that this is electronic voting only, and that we will not be able to keep paper records, in case there is a re-count!

Enjoy,
James

[Dutchoven]

We need more voters! All the new folks should not be shy, check out the posts and cast your vote on your favorite!
Dutch

[james]

Agreed. We need more voters!
James

[SpringJim]

Based on the polling numbers for BOM's it would look like the active core constituency runs from 15 to 30 members....

[Frances]

Well, lets face it, that seems about right. Doesn't it?

[gjbingham]

I'm wondering whether the location of the poll for BOTM might be part of the reason for so few votes. I was on the forum for several months before I noticed the "new posts" link. I think a lot of the members just never see that the thread has been started and so never get the opportunity to post.

My guess is that active builders spend most of their time in the Pompeii Oven Construction, Introductions, and Brick Oven Photos sections of this forum. Once a newbie read the rules of the forum, they never go back to that section. Those newest members acutally reading that information would probably feel less than qualified to vote on BOTM because they are new and did not see any of the posts.

How can you improve the participation? Let's make a list:

- In the forum guidlines section, post a sticky that details the most efficient way to search threads for information and how to find all the new posts.

- Move the BOTM poll to a more conspicuous location for those that skip the guidelines.

Any other ideas?? Perhaps you disagree completely? You won't hurt my feelings by saying so.

Anyway, that's my two cents!

[Acoma]

George, I have a clear idea. When the members go to the main forum page, within the "Good Background Information" a new topic needs to be labeled "Polls for members". The threads for polls will need to be realistic, not like "is my sauce good? Poll me..." What James would be able to do is to manage the polls for ones not realy belonging there, and he could move to correct thread areas. I believe that a "Polls for members" will get more involved. Letting it be a sticky, or hidden will likely cause this voting to be victim of a cult idea. The few having enthusiasm.

[SpringJim]

BOTM could be it's own section.....and other milestones to give away the buckshot flour....

[Acoma]

Yes SpringJim. Own section but visibility locked in.

[Frances]

It'd probably be a good idea to have a picture of or at least a link to the ovens or posts that are up for votes.

What you've all said is true. Specially when you're spending all your spare time building an oven, the amount of posts can be somewhat overwhelming and you're more likely just to stick to the building section, specifically the comments on your own thread...

And even if you do stumble on the BOTM, ploughing through all the posts to find out which ovens or whatever have been nominated... unless you're spending a lot of time on the forum already you're just not going to do it.