Regional Forums - UK/Europe

[IanG]

Is there any chance we could have some regional Forums like APUG has, I'm asking about UK/Europe in light of the demise of the separate UK Large format forum. which gets about one post every 10 days (except for it's sales sectyion).

A UK/Europe sub-section for sales would be useful as well.

The third point is when will we get non US moderators ? It would be great to broaden the moderator base in a more meaningful way, maybe one from Europe & one from Australia to counter the excess bias that prevails.

Ian

[Steve Smith]

All volunteers take one step forward!


Steve.

[IanG]

All volunteers take one step forward!

Steve.

You just have . . . . . . . . Admins - he'd be very able and . . . . . . . . . . .

Ian

[Kirk Gittings]

Excess bias meaning regional? For myself when nominating a moderator, I could give a damn where anybody is from or now lives. I'm not aware that any moderator was ever picked for that. In all cases that I have been involved in there was usually one person who at that time distinguished themselves in terms of frequent civil and flame calming contributions, not violating the rules and who showed some evidence of a backbone,

But I will put it to the moderators, certainly worth some discussion.

[IanG]

Kirk, in fact I haven't seen an issue at the moment but there is a percieved bias, rightly or wrongly. More importantly having one or two non US moderators would help promote the website outside the US and there are many members from other countries/continents.

A benefit as I've pointed out before is they would straddle different time zones.

In addition they might break this awful tit for tat US political banter that's been seething here, I'm not blaming this forum itself for that at all we all see the entrenched views of both US camps and the total lack of tolearnce for opposing view on the International news daily.

It's not so much the moderating of individual posts/threads but getting a better balance, there's no doubt there's been some very odd moderating this past year. I think broadening horizons might help significantly.

Anyway moderation was the minir point, Regional sub forums were my main question.

Ian

[Steven Tribe]

I understand you raising this Ian, given the number of threads I have kept away from this past few weeks (like the plague, in fact!). But I fear that a non-US mod would have been seen "in an even more unfortunate light" if he/she had been involved in the more dramatic interventions. And we don't have the background to understand all details of the historical/current conflicts. Disposing of Spam and Moving to appropriate section OK, but not the rest of the stuff.

I, personally, would like to continue with the current thread divisions. It is always fun to see what people out West have written during the night - and likewise, we (Europe) provide a similar entertainment for the early mornings in North America. Most of the threads where I place my puny contributions have a majority of contributors from the US.

But most of all, there is the problem of "mass and momentum".
I just don't think there are enough active UK, German, Italian French members to keep it alive, thriving and interesting.

[mdm]

Why fragment the forum, its active because it aggregates people from all over the place.

[Ken Lee]

It's active because it aggregates people from all over the place.

Yes !

Internationalism is one of the forum's most attractive qualities

El internacionalismo es una de las cualidades más atractivas del foro

интернационализъм е един от най-привлекателните качества на форума

国际化是本次论坛的最吸引人的特质之一

internacionalismus je jedním z fóra atraktivních vlastností

quốc tế là một trong những phẩm chất hấp dẫn nhất của diễn đàn

अंतर्राष्ट्रीयता मंच के सबसे आकर्षक गुणों में से एक है

国際性は、フォーラムの最も魅力的な資質の一つである

alþjóðarækni er einn af mest aðlaðandi eiginleika í Forum

[Sal Santamaura]

Is there any chance we could have some regional Forums like APUG has, I'm asking about UK/Europe in light of the demise of the separate UK Large format forum. which gets about one post every 10 days (except for it's sales sectyion)...

Demise? The UK large format forum is working just fine

http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum/ind...54504d1ac371bf

and seems content to be what it is, despite your insistent, rebuffed attempts to change it Ian. Do note that For Sale/Wanted posts make up a substantial portion of the traffic at this forum too.

...A UK/Europe sub-section for sales would be useful as well...

Having complained that the UK forum gets only sales posts, you want to duplicate that activity here??

...when will we get non US moderators...to counter the excess bias that prevails...

If and when the owner and moderators of this forum decide to seek additional moderators, I hope they will choose from the best available volunteers, regardless of location. However, the "bias" you describe is nonexistent. Moderators enforce the rules, period. There is nothing biased about it.

I am categorically opposed to regional categories. There's nothing to be gained and a lot to be lost by fragmenting the participation of members here. Let's continue integrating the best from everywhere.

[Leigh]

I am categorically opposed to regional categories. There's nothing to be gained and a lot to be lost by fragmenting the participation of members here. Let's continue integrating the best from everywhere.

+1

Well said.

- Leigh