End of the year...

[Mark Sawyer]

2013 will be gone soon, and I thought we might discuss some minor housekeeping of the threads, especially the image threads. My thoughts are that for more popular threads, like portraits, it makes sense to keep them monthly. The Still Life thread starts anew yearly, and perhaps that would work well for a few other threads that generate more than, say, 500 responses a year? The Collodion- Wet Plate Images (767 responses since March of '13) and Post Alternative Techniques (2,348 responses since 7/'09) might be candidates.

Or, if people like it the way it is, that's fine too...

And on a completely different subject, someone should organize a yearly Large Format Academy Awards, for Best Portrait, Best Landscape, Best Still-Life, Best Alternative Process, Best Use of Soft Focus... Submit your own from whatever you've posted this year, and members of the Academy (okay, the lf forum ) can vote! (Okay, we'll never get it organized, but it would be fun... )

[Peter Mounier]

I get it.
Pixie put you up to this so she can win a title.

[Mark Sawyer]

She has her own category, and she always wins!

[Ralph Barker]

Interesting thoughts, Mark.

1. Housekeeping - I'm not sure what we gain, tidyness-wise, by closing image-category threads on an annual basis. (Threads would have to be closed/locked to prevent some radical soul from posting a 2014 portrait in the 2013 thread.) Instead on single long threads for each category, we'd have multiple threads with fewer posts.

2. LF Academy Awards - This might be fun, but we'd probably need a committee of some sort to organize it, and create a poll (currently limited to 15 items) for voting. Then, there's the question of the award itself. Would it be an "Ansel"? An "Eddie"? A "Biggie"? Would it be made of silver? And, how would that be funded?

[Winger]

Interesting thoughts, Mark.

1. Housekeeping - I'm not sure what we gain, tidyness-wise, by closing image-category threads on an annual basis. (Threads would have to be closed/locked to prevent some radical soul from posting a 2014 portrait in the 2013 thread.) Instead on single long threads for each category, we'd have multiple threads with fewer posts.

I think with vBulletin, longer threads become more unstable while multiple threads are easier for it to deal with. I've seen on other vB boards that some really long threads were closed and new ones started because the db was having issues with the longer ones.
It's also easier to go back and look through a shorter thread to get caught up.

[Mark Sawyer]

I'm not sure what works best for people on the longer threads. With portraits, the monthly thread keeps them a reasonable size, but the multi-year landscape thread is quite large and it's not an issue so far. The yearly Still Life thread is in-between. I just thought the new year would be a good time to consider it. It doesn't matter to me, as I think there's only one thread that's really important!

[AtlantaTerry]

And on a completely different subject, someone should organize a yearly Large Format Academy Awards, for Best Portrait, Best Landscape, Best Still-Life, Best Alternative Process, Best Use of Soft Focus...

Mark,

I suspect like the word "Olympics" you can not use the phrase "Academey Awards" because it is a protected mark of SMPAS (Society of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences).

I don't care one bit but I would not want to see you get a letter from their overpaid lawyers.

›---›

Why not free up a bunch of server space by dumping all the For Sale threads where the item(s) have sold? Does anyone really care if a 135mm Wollensak lens sold in 2009?

Along that line, why not give the Original Poster a "kill" button so they can dump their whole thread when their item(s) sell?

[Mark Sawyer]

2. LF Academy Awards - This might be fun, but we'd probably need a committee of some sort to organize it, and create a poll (currently limited to 15 items) for voting. Then, there's the question of the award itself. Would it be an "Ansel"? An "Eddie"? A "Biggie"? Would it be made of silver? And, how would that be funded?

I think red mahogany and brass would be the right materials. Or maybe cherrywood and brass. And I'm sure the moderators would pick up the tab!

I can't come up with the perfect name though...

[Vaughn]

...by closing image-category threads on an annual basis. (Threads would have to be closed/locked to prevent some radical soul from posting a 2014 portrait in the 2013 thread.) Instead on single long threads for each category, we'd have multiple threads with fewer posts...

Threads may not have to closed -- there is a possibility that someone might get around to replying to a mis-placed post about where they should actually go...

The AA's -- we could just go by the number of views an image gets. Oh, and remind me to do some nudes (holding kittens!)

[jcoldslabs]

Why not free up a bunch of server space by dumping all the For Sale threads where the item(s) have sold? Does anyone really care if a 135mm Wollensak lens sold in 2009?

One reason for keeping the old "For Sale" threads intact is that they constitute a valuable repository of information on a broad spectrum of photo gear. I can't tell you how many times I have done a Google search for a certain vintage lens or camera I am thinking of buying and the most informative hits (with photos) have been from old for sale listings here.

Jonathan