Where do you see this forum and community in 1yr?

[Mac Write]

Now that this forum has been around for almost 6 years and an active community for at least 4 of those years, where does everyone see this forum/community going in the next year? What do each of you individually want to see happen with this forum/community? Do you want it to stay small? do you want to see it grow into a mega forum?

[Low Light Mike]

macwrite said:

Now that this forum has been around for almost 6 years and an active community for at least 4 of those years, where does everyone see this forum/community going in the next year? What do each of you individually want to see happen with this forum/community? Do you want it to stay small? do you want to see it grow into a mega forum?

I was hoping for a mega forum, perhaps using something like vbulletin. I just need to find someone who knows how to export to vbulletin.

I'm hoping for something like 500 posts per day, with say 1,000 members by the year 2010.

....and I'm 1 month early in posting this.

[Mike C]

Sorry, can you repeat the question Mac? I think the point of this topic went 10,000 feet over my head.

where I see the forum in 1 year: One year older than this year.

[kylefossett]

I see this forum newly married with a child on the way. Recently purchased a house in the fraser valley.

[Low Light Mike]

kylefossett said:

I see this forum newly married with a child on the way. Recently purchased a house in the fraser valley.

This forum worries about the Sumas-II power project, but is happy to be nearer to Hope because it's a Rambo fan.

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(you guys know the game: stay with what's been written, and continue the story, 1 detail at a time)

[kylefossett]

sumas 2 was shutdown almost 4 yrs ago.

[Dane]

I see things being slightly quieter, somewhat sadly.... this is a very, very exciting time to be a ferry fan and in one year we will likely see four ships gone (the V's/Tsa), the Island Sky and Coastals in service, and pending delivery of a Northern vessel.

[BreannaF]

Sure......... The family becomes a bit quiet after a few old friends drop away. But then they go out, do good things in the community, and become happy again when a lot of new friends join them.

[cobblehillian]

I'd like to see the forum continue and expand on what it now does very well. That is, it's an open, tolerant, and courteous place for discourse of all sorts concerning ferry operations in general with strong emphasis on BCF and some emphasis on WSF. It's a place where others can learn about and begin to report there thoughts and observations on ferry operations.

I would like to think that the expanding discussions and observations of those of us who are attentive and interested could lead to other developments.

Most large quasi public and fully public transport operations have user groups that can pressure government, other regulatory folks, and corporate boards to keep these operations honest and attentive to public/user interests. Maybe this forum could lead to the development of group to challenge BCF and publicly critique its operations. Save Our Ferries does some of this but doesn't truly represent the general public or users. It's coming from an employee and union perspective. Examples of what I would like to see: Transport 2000/Association of Airline Passengers etc. As well, most of the large urban transport authorities in the US have spawned constructive and critical independent user groups.

When I see the research and analytical power of many of the contributors I am amazed. I think we could apply some of our skills to looking at other ferry operations and making BCF and BCF users aware of approaches and solutions in other countries and jurisdictions.

My family has its been involved in the Swedish/Finnish Baltic ferry operations for at least three generations. It never fails to amaze me how those companies (Viking, Silja, Birka etc.) are able to operate with fare structures so much lower than ours. There costs are much higher than BCF and most, but far from all, runs are longer. Their big money used to be in duty free liquor and candy shops each as large as a supermarket. With the coming of the EU that revenue is now gone with one exception: vessels stopping at the semi autonomous Aland Islands are now the only duty free operations in the Baltic and Europe. How did these companies continue to make money and yet lost a huge revenue source? Is there something we could learn here. I don't think their government subsidies were increased to take up slack liquor sales. I've noticed they are big on incentive and promotional fares and offer lots of on board services.

These companies have much to offer us and I think some BCF people have looked at them. I think their business models may deserve more attention. North Sea and UK-Ireland operations may have something to offer too.

I must admit I really like and was attracted to the forum because of its technical and operational content, however I think there is a bigger picture to which we can facilitate the creation of a larger critical audience.

[Ferryman]

I can see John H selling this forum to Jimmy Pattison, which means there will be propaganda adds to join the forum on all of the buses and billboards in Vancouver. John H will be able to retire with the profits, and will have purchased the remaining V-Class, and the Queen of Tsawwassen to start his own Ferry business. The population will have tripled on the forum of what it is today, with having 10 different threads discussing the same issue. Flugel Horn will have resigned as Moderator, seeming he wouldn't be able to proof read several thousand posts/day. Coastal Skier will have probably been given extra powers to give the forum a completely new look, and way more advanced to what it is today.


;D

[Low Light Mike]

Well said, CobbleHillian.

Thanks for those thoughts; it's good to read your perspective.

Thanks also for the info / experience re the Baltic ferries.

[Balfour]

In a year's time I'll likely be the President and CEO of the forum and I'll have hired 10 more moderators.

[Barnacle]

In a year's time the forum will be breathing a sigh of relief since President Obama has taken office.

[Mike C]

The forum sees itself in one year as overweight, under-fit and somewhat depressed. One more shot of vodka won't hurt!