This Board

[bubba]

Since the passing of Robert Rifle, this board seems less interesting. The discussions seem to center exclusively around Californians talking amonst themselves.This "clique" seems to run the board and only respond among themselves.When a topic is posted that should garner some legitimate discussions between Californians(ie the fate of the Keitt mango commercial operation in Coachella), there is no response or worst yet a question about how information was obtained by a Floridian when they could have driven to the location and seen it with their own eyes. The "clique" meanwhile discusses ad nauseum the fate of their foot tall "cocos nucifera",while taping fake leaves onto a stick and proclaiming the temperature only reached 37 degrees F.Numerous outstanding posters have tired of this idiotic behavior and you see them no more. Somehow inspire this group to use this tool as a world-wide instrument which transmits truly interesting information and discussions.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Just the opinion of a newbie.

I've only known this board post RLR.  To me there are a great deal of very helpful people with an overwhelming abundance of information that most of them are more than happy to share!  Societal organizations always seem to have a cliquishness to them, but I don't find it offensive.

[Zac in NC]

I do agree that it is different post-Bob, but I still enjoy myself here. All you have to do is get involved in the threads. I may be from NC, but I try to look at most of the posts that are of interest to me. Bob is irreplaceable, but Dean is doing a great job keeping us in line on here.

Zac

[PALM MOD]

Keith,

Assuming for a moment that you are right, what would you propose be done to "fix" it?

FYI --- Out of the top ten posters, there are 3 Californians, 3 Floridians, and 4 from elsewhere. Given that there are probably more Californians in the IPS than any other given area, this would not seem out of proportion.

[BS Man about Palms]

Keith, I may offer that a lot of people have primary interest in their own area. As for not responding to "some threads", first, of course is the interest factor, no one PREVENTS someone from posting, except Dean and generally the posters with less responses are generally treated with respect, I think.  

The other thing I would offer is time zones and time of day, if the east coast posts a poorly responded to thread in the morning and I don't look until the evening, I may not catch it as the 20th or so thread down the line. I would say if you are looking for responses and get none, try bumping its order by reposting.

Hope you find a reason to keep participating.

Bill

[John Case]

As a North Californian, I must take issue that us CA folk have commandeered the forum.

Often, I ask a question and no resonse is given until I ask a second time (with a 'please').

If all of us are looking for guidance, it is unfortunate that RLR is no longer with us,; I for one never had the chance to interact with him.

I use the forum to learn and the passing of RLR may make it more difficult, but I value the inputs of all, even those that I do not interact with.

I have moticed more activity in the Palapa, which may be fun but is way off the mission of the forum, IMO.

I am not learning less, it just takes more time, perhaps....

[bubba]

Dean, I would propose that respect and dignity be afforded to every poster by each poster regardless of venue.Any person who posts on this board knows that any substantial post requires a great deal of time, thought and even research. For example, the fate of the commercial mango operation in Coachella in my humble opinion should have been received with a great deal of interest by Californians. Instead it languished for over 24 hours with no response. A day after I personally called the operation,I received a post from a Californian that tacitly seemed to question the veracity of the information I received.I can only surmise from this lack of response that my post was (a) not a part of the clikkers social gloryhole or(b)we are dealing with a dull set of numbers. Either is to bad because this board has great potential.

[BS Man about Palms]

Bubba,

I'm sorry, did you post your Mango thread in the "Palm" area? Or did it go in the "other than" area?   I rarely read posts in the "other than" area. I would tend to think since this is an operation of the International Palm Society, I would tend to think that area would be viewed less frequently.

Did you have a Birthday recently?

[Kim]

Hi Bubba-

I saw your mango post, but I know zip about mangoes, don't grow any fruit other than citrus, so just skipped over it rather than post "I don't know".  I imagine many other Californians did the same for the same reason.  From what little I know, mangoes are difficult to grow here and most are imported from Mexico.  It's a palm board.  When I post about bromeliads, bougainvillea, or (gasp) landscaping concepts, I don't get much response either, but it is not a personal insult.

I am sorry to see you take the lack of response to your mango question so personally; also it appears you chose to interpret the one response from a predetermined negative viewpoint.  I thought the responder wanted to be able to read the same information because he was interested.

Referring to "the clikkers social gloryhole...or a dull set of numbers" does not jive with your own proposal that respect and dignity be afforded to every poster by each poster.

Be assured that every contributor who posts on this board with an enthusiasm for palms and other tropical and subtropical plants and a positive attitude is welcome.  Scientific knowledge is treasured, shared, and debated.  Humor is not banished.  Please join in with a  little aloha spirit, and all will be well.

[MattyB]

The click or clicker or whatever you call it, seems to be your interpretation of a group of friends who readily communicate with each other.  What's wrong with that?  This is the internet.  I could care less if I'm chatting with Paul who lives 5 minutes away from me, razzin Gileno Machado about his Brazilian speedos   , or trying to figure out what the hell Wal's talking about now ??? .  They're all people that I've come to know through this board and I just love being friends with them.  To be honest, I'm a little confused by your whole post.  But I didn't read the Mango thread so maybe that's why.

OK, just read the Mango thread.  Now I'm really confused.  You didn't even share the info you learned.  How do you expect us to be interested in something we have no knowledge about?  Throw us a bone dude.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

(MattyB @ Apr. 30 2007,13:00)

QUOTE

his Brazilian speedos  

Matt are you drooling over speedos again? :laugh:

[paulgila]

(PiousPalms @ Apr. 27 2007,17:01)

QUOTE

Just the opinion of a newbie.

I've only known this board post RLR.  To me there are a great deal of very helpful people with an overwhelming abundance of information that most of them are more than happy to share!  Societal organizations always seem to have a cliquishness to them, but I don't find it offensive.

i don't think it helps to be dismissive about "newbies".

new folks on the board is important in keeping our forum vibrant & interesting.

i think bubba has a valid point,but i want to point out that it takes time to be fully accepted in any group.

don't base your opinion of this forum on any 1 post.as

some have said perhaps no one understood what you were after or had anything to add.

i have found this forum to be a great way to communicate with palm enthusiasts all over the world as well as those that live around the corner!

[bubba]

Kim,I accept and appreciate the well thought nature of your response and readily admit that a portion of my diatribe flies in the face of the message I am trying to convey. However, I should detail my history on this board. To my first post, the response had nothing to do with the substance of the post but rather an invective regarding the southern, cornpone nature of my screen name from none other than a laid back Aloha.The most recent post is a veiled threat to throw me off this board(happy birthday).All things being equal, a bias exists on this board that takes away from it's effectiveness. If it is appropriate for me to be banned on this board for pointing it out ,so be it.Any hostility shown in my recent post emanates not from keitt mangoes but long term exposure to this attitude.Somehow Riffle was able to tone it down.

[Zac in NC]

I can echo what Matt said. I come here because I have friends and I enjoy chatting away with them. So not all of my posts are informative, and not all of my posts get answered. I try to have humor in some of them too, because if you can't laugh, its not as much fun. I don't know all of the posters personally, but I do know some of them and I am friends with them. Not every post gets seen by everybody. I know I don't ever really go into the weather forum. I mainly stay in the main one, the Travel logs section, occasionally into the other plants areas, as I am interested in more than just palms, and of course, I go to the Palapa to hear how other posters feel about different issues and to get to know them better. Everyone has multiple facets and thats just part of this forum. I love talking to people all over the world, and this forum allows me to do so.

Zac

[MattyB]

The most recent post is a veiled threat to throw me off this board(happy birthday).

OK, bubba now I think you're getting paranoid.  No one wants to throw you out of this board.  Although I must admit, now I'm getting tired of listening to you whine.

[MattyB]

Bubba, in the interest of fairness, I did a search of all the posts you started and you've got to admit that you've always got responses from a wide variety of people including many Californians.  Your delonix thread was awesome and a few Californians chimed in even though these are rarely seen here.  And it seems that you're the one bringing up our lousy Coconuts here in California as this quote from you shows:

Thank you Happ and Jim.Happ with those numbers I have got to believe you should be extremely close to growing Cocos Nucifera, particularly in one of your small ,hot mini-zones.This is further verified by Jim's numbers because we have seen numerous Cocos Nucifera in the Valley area.

So, really, what are you complaining about again? ???

[PALM MOD]

(bubba @ Apr. 30 2007,09:53)

QUOTE

Somehow Riffle was able to tone it down.

Perhaps this is where I step in and say something.

Ah..............................

Let's just drop it and go back to discussing palms.

And bubba, the one person kicked off this board in the last year had to really work at it. You're nowhere close. Relax, and keep contributing.

[BS Man about Palms]

Bubba-

Please don't take my Birthday reference as a request to get you thrown out.  If you have followed this board, you know the person I was refering to was "Stumpheaded" and later found to be on this board under 4 different sreennames. With the recent B-day thread, Jeff who lives in the area a bit had a somewhat mysterious response regarding him.  I posted as I did based on that, and that I can remember, the last person that was making criticism of this board was him.  Please if you are not him, you have nothing to worry about, and I am merely being the paranoid one.

Bill

[bgl]

Bubba,

It's the nature of this Forum that some threads get a lot of interest and others don't. I have started threads that personally I thought would be of great interest to a lot of Forum members, only to get a handful of responses (or less!). And then there are threads that seem almost meaningless, but they get a LOT of attention and responses. Letting this get to you is pointless. Just enjoy the Forum the way it is, participate in what you're interested in and try to add your own perspective and experience where you can. And the Forum is also bound to experience ups and downs in what we as individual Forum members may look at as "worthwhile topics". Personally, I love the "Mystery Dypsis" threads, and we havn't had a good one in quite a while. On the other hand, threads with the name "Washingtonia" or "Trachycarpus" in the name are bound to get ignored by me. We all have our interests and prejudices against, or for, certain palms...

Enjoy!

Bo-Göran

[bubba]

I did some self examinination last night and reviewed the numerous posts throughout on many assorted topics.The truth is my criticism was unfair and Dean in fact showed his prowness. I am not certain where it came from other than perhaps a relapse effect from early 70's pyscotropics.I apologise for my negative and bombastic comments.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

HAHAHA!

[MattyB]

Dang Bubba,  That takes a big man to say that.  I'm glad to know you and to share here on the board with you.  You are now allowed into my clique.

[Kim]

That's very civilized of you, Bubba.   I hope to see you around the board, maybe we'll get to know you better.

[oppalm]

dam I wish we could all meet somewhere and do a group hug.   The resolution of this problem makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  and I'm not kidding. (ok well maybe I am, but I still love it when peopele come together settle their differences in a calm fashion and move on with their crummy mundane lives).

[PALM MOD]

Keith, I just think you made yourself some friends, and possibly some more attention paid to your topics.  

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Just be carefull Keith, You may just get the attention your asking for!   :laugh:   

Take a stroll with a digital camera and create a new post on the main discussion area with some pictures (cause everyone loves pictures) around your neck of the woods, I'm sure someone (you?) has some beautiful palms over there on the island...

[Daryl]

The other thing to consider is that this board has been moving so FAST lately. Geez,  you stay away for a day and there is a whole page full of new topics, and you have to go to page 2 or 3 to catch up first!

I don't know about the others here, but spare time is limited and I don't have all day to read every single thread, so tend to pick the juicier posts or ones that have lots of responses or good subject lines that appeal to me.

Secondly it is human nature to interact with those who you can associate more easily with. Those who have been around this forum for a while obviously 'chat' as anyone would. Newbies are always welcomed, but it always takes a little time for everyone to get to know them...that's just human nature...I learnt that during my school years (13 schools in 10 cities in 3 countries in 12 years).

Anyway it looks like it's all resolved now...kick back and enjoy the board...

Daryl

[Walter John]

Just read this, nice stuff.

[Alan_Tampa]

I wish congress addressed communication glitches with a hint of the character shown here.  

Alan

[Bilbo]

Bob was sure a great guy and I was among those priveleged to have met him but I am certain that he up there in the Great Palm Garden Above would be wishing that we should all move along . . .

and just keep on caring fo, exploring and of course growing palms.

Pablo may correct that but I think its broadly correct.

Regardez

Juan