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Originally posted by Whistler:
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Originally posted by Craze-boi:
On a personal note it would be cool if you could do more with the 'forum stats' section. Like a list of the top 20 members by total-posts etc...
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When you click on 'community', if you scroll half-way or so dawn the page, under 'What's New' is Statistics for the ;ast 7 days. Click on 'Most Active Members' and the information comes up. Did you not realise it was there or were you hoping it could be improved?

Have a nice day, Whistler.


Dear Lord, please make me chaste, but not just yet. SMC.

Yes I knew it was there, that is the page I was talking about. But like I said there are certain things it doesn't have.

I'm fairly new to the site but I have an overall impression. The people here are very friendly and helpful to those who don't know much about traveling with a pack. Their patience with the questions that've been asked a million times really impressed me. You're a great group and I enjoy reading the posts.

We soft launched our new Travel Insiders Section yesterday. I'm excited about this section. We'll be making sure it works the 1st week or so and then start integrating it more with the community functions.

If you are an insider - or ever considered being one - please check it out and sign-up.

Sean...I still do not understand the difference between the insider section and just posting on the boards. I am concerned that the way the new section is set up will take away from the information shared on the boards.

Can you explain? Or, are you planning on integrating the two at some point?

That link is taking me to a wikipedia page for some reason...

LondonCard - good catch - I fixed the link.

AB - at this exact moment - it is very similiar. In a few weeks and month as it matures and grows, it wil be very different.

Boards: It's like the main hostel room. Announce your question or discussion piece to god and everyone.

Insiders: As our 1800 insiders get migrated to the new insiders section - there will be mini-experts in many areas, available to answer the questions that the guidebook just doesn't.

It's a much more targetting area to connect with folks. The insiders will be emailed when questions are asked in there area as well (boards don't do that)

The archiving and knowledgebase on the insiders should become quite useful over time as well versus the mass of content that is the boards.

As we integrate it throughout BTN, think of it as a different way to connect with other BnA members. Locals and travelers available to answer your questions on XXXXXplace.

Makes sense?

Sure, it makes sense in theory, but I wonder if it will take traffic away from the boards, or make information redundant.

I guess there will just need to be very clear missions for both areas. I am not seeing that yet; I will stay tuned and stay on the lookout.

I'm with Annie. I understand your theory but I don't really see it practically working. I really hope it does and look forward to seeing Insiders grow.

There is plenty of traffic to go around and keep both sections happy IMO.

Even though you both don't see them working in practice, I hope you give it a try every so often. See how it's going and help other travellers when you can.

I've been told 1000s of times in my life, that it won't work, or I can't do it, or we can't do it. And sometimes folks are right, sometimes they are wrong. We'll see this time. Looking forward to the challenge.

quote:

Originally posted by Sean:
Boards: It's like the main hostel room. Announce your question or discussion piece to god and everyone.

Insiders: As our 1800 insiders get migrated to the new insiders section - there will be mini-experts in many areas, available to answer the questions that the guidebook just doesn't.

At first I was kind of skeptical and shared annie's and calli's concerns, but after a bit more looking and thinking, I'm feeling a bit happier about the idea of the Insiders section (albeit with a few reservations.)

It strikes me that the insiders section is a good place for specific, focussed questions about one place, while the forums will still remain useful for broader "I'm going to spend 3 months in SEA. How do this itinerary and budget look?" type things, where you're looking for more general feedback from a selection of sources.

That said, people might start to do this sort of thing in Insiders as well, in which case I don't much content left for the boards except perhaps non-destination related stuff.

Many folks on the boards, see the boards, love the boards or hate the boards and see BnA from a Board centric paradigm. Totally cool and normal.

There are lots of other visitors to BTN, that see it a bit differently and may well find Insiders to be useful and a good way to connect with specific travel insiders of a specific location.

The insiders can simply be another paradigm to connect with travelers.

Nick O'Neill and I have talked many times about the 6.5 billion people on this planet, and 6.5 billion unique realities. All of them valid.

With Insiders, We are trying to allow folks to connect with other travelers from other perspectives than message boards.

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts on this. It is definately helping me understand other points of view.

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It strikes me that the insiders section is a good place for specific, focussed questions about one place, while the forums will still remain useful for broader "I'm going to spend 3 months in SEA. How do this itinerary and budget look?" type things, where you're looking for more general feedback from a selection of sources.

This is precisely how I see the difference. I see the Insiders as the place to ask very specific - and short - questions about things that aren't in guidebooks, or about places that are so off the beaten path that guidebook authors have never even heard of it. It's not the place to ask general questions or to have what I'd call a "conversation" about something. The place to do that is always going to be here on the boards.

Also, to echo what Sean said, while BootsnAll Community members know and love the boards for what they are, there are plenty of people who will potentially be introduced to BootsnAll through the Insiders section, once it's full of great and unique content. Those people, in turn, could potentially end up as members of the Community. So if we do this right, the Insiders section could actually end up enhancing the Community.

And of course, this is the internet - nothing is permanent. We'll probably tweak it a thousand times before we're through, trying to make sure we are doing this right!