I have noticed the activity level of this board has dropped off, when I first joined years ago it was going strong and had a healthy following. Anyone notice the decreased levels?

From my prospective of being on this board for just about 2 years,
posting goes up and down as new industry products and services
come into focus. IMO there is a nice core group of regular board mates
who post frequently. I have said this before,IMO this is the
healthiest message board I have ever participated on.

Also, each day it appears there are 3 to 5 new people signing up to
join this board. That's a sign of a healthy message board.

Since the board redesign I don't stick around for more than a few minutes. I find it very difficult to read now, so I skip a lot of posts.

Originally Posted by Mr Zabe

From my prospective of being on this board for just about 2 years,
posting goes up and down as new industry products and services
come into focus. IMO there is a nice core group of regular board mates
who post frequently. I have said this before,IMO this is the
healthiest message board I have ever participated on.

Also, each day it appears there are 3 to 5 new people signing up to
join this board. That's a sign of a healthy message board.

Hmmm, I do not want to upset anyone (damn to late!) 3-5 members is pretty slooooooooow going. If you look at the search engine rankings, news, advertising and marketing bevnet pulls, forum membership rates do not reflect the success. The healthiest board I participated on was around 80,000, it has grown to 100,000, but it was not related to the beverage industry.

There is a nice core group of regulars!!!!! I have enjoyed the posts from these active participants over the years, they have created a gold mine of knowledge!

Another observation I made was with the board at justdrinks.com, participation has leveled off as well. Could this be a trend?

Usage is also somewhat seasonal, with the most use being from June - Sept.

Oh, and we've taken several measures to cut off all the ad pasters. That was generating several memberships per day, whereas now it generates hardly any.

When does the prude season end?

Talking about board inactivity, (I see you are up to just over 6 posts a year now) I was wondering, What exactly constitutes an inactive board in your eyes? I may be speaking for myself and I may be speaking for the entire board but I went and looked at your logged posts, The majority of them are either hyping your site, or bashing this one. Then there are the ones which you seem to take the side of an idiot who named his beverage after an illegal drug.

Most if not all the members on this site have this thing called a life. Saying we are inactive and/ or "prude" isn't gonna win you any friends. Also there are a huge number of members here that actually work in the beverage industry. When sales are weak there isn't much to talk about, when they are strong (as stated above time frame) we all tend to be more talkative because we like to share what is happening in our little corner of the country. Annoying as some may be in what they speak of, they do tend to know what they are talking about and are passionate about it.

YOU on the other hand are kind of hard to figure out. i am still wondering if you like it here, why do you only have <50 posts in 6 years? If you do not like the board format or the inactivity here, why are you here? If you just want to hype your site then buy an ad, if you don't like the forum format or the opinions of the members,don't come back. It really is that simple. Then again you could be another college student posting gibberish just to rile up the natives like some in the past. who really knows but you??

Talking about board inactivity, (I see you are up to just over 6 posts a year now) I was wondering, What exactly constitutes an inactive board in your eyes?

Personal opinion:

Was just relating it to other experience with others, to me it feels inactive and slow (due to the publicity and reach bevnet gets).

I may be speaking for myself and I may be speaking for the entire board but I went and looked at your logged posts, The majority of them are either hyping your site.

Disagree

or bashing this one.

Disagree

Then there are the ones which you seem to take the side of an idiot who named his beverage after an illegal drug.

Is that idiot part of the beverage industry, or am I missing something here?

Most if not all the members on this site have this thing called a life.

Sorry never implied that, sorry you feel that way.

Saying we are inactive and/ or "prude" isn't gonna win you any friends.

I am saying from personal experience it feels inactive, I was pointed out to the fact it was a seasonal characteristic. I do not want to make enemies but it looks like I already have, people are already stereotyped here as "stupid".

I used the terminology "prude season" to

I have noticed some strong "prude" opposition to an issue, what happened to educating some member with facts, figures and laws?

Also there are a huge number of members here that actually work in the beverage industry. When sales are weak there isn't much to talk about, when they are strong (as stated above time frame) we all tend to be more talkative because we like to share what is happening in our little corner of the country.

Sorry to break this to you but "your little corner of the country" plays a major role in the world beverage industry.

YOU on the other hand are kind of hard to figure out. i am still wondering if you like it here, why do you only have <50 posts in 6 years?

I love it here, like I said it is a treasure trove of knowledge! (check my other post for this claim). I was doing other things, I do have a life of sorts.

If you do not like the board format or the inactivity here, why are you here?

I love the board format (check my other post for this claim).

you don't like the opinions of the members,don't come back.

Official Board Policy?

I wasn't saying you implied that we do not have lives, I was merely stating that most of us do, therefore we were (as you said yourself) doing other things, rather than living and breathing an internet message board.
If you think the board is slow then so be it, it isn't any skin off of my back. I rather enjoy the laid back time frame of posts, I do not seem to miss anything and can find " that thing I read the other day" quite easily instead of sifting thru page after page after page to find it.

If I misinterpreted your posts wanting people to look at "ozbevnet" or "myspace whatever it was" I apologize, there are many people in the past who post here for the simple reason of trying to get people to their website to purchase their product. As far as bashing this one, you did state how inactive you thought it was and how slooooooooow going it was. If I misinterpreted you r "prude season" post, which evidently I must have looking at your explaination, I apologize.

I am happy you enjoy the board format and the wealth of knowledge associated with most of the members here. I know there are many times that I have to remind myself that just because I learned something 15 years ago in "101" doesn't mean it is still even being taught to rookies. No question is dumb, if you don't know you don't know that is why you aked. (not meaning you in particular just meaning you as in not me)
As far as my corner being a major part in the grand scheme of things, well whatever you say man (or ma'am), I don't neccessarily feel that way. I know a case is a case is a case to the suits in charge but what I do is nothing compared to the entire world.

No , thaqt isn't board policy about not coming back, more like a common sense kind of thing. For instance, if you go to a chinese restaurant and order some food that makes you sick time and time again, you should either not go back to the restaurant or order something different next time, not keep ordering the same thing and expecting a different result.

By the way I wasn't calling you an idiot, just the person who decided to name his drink after drugs and expected everything to be just hunkydory with everyone. If you want to preach the side of shock value names go ahead, you will be wasting your breath ( or fingertips in this case) you will not change my opinion of it.

Anyways with all that being said, have a nice day!

I wasn't saying you implied that we do not have lives, I was merely stating that most of us do, therefore we were (as you said yourself) doing other things, rather than living and breathing an internet message board.

True like drinking the beverages we love

If I misinterpreted your posts wanting people to look at "ozbevnet" or "myspace whatever it was" I apologize, there are many people in the past who post here for the simple reason of trying to get people to their website to purchase their product.

I wish I had something to sell, nope the website does not make money $$, actually lose $$$. It is small website that supports a tiny Aussie and Kiwi
beverage industry. If you were to compare it to the USA you would shake your head, and scream "why I bother".

I have also developed a tiny little open source project (beverage ratings systems) for the opens source joomla content management system.

This passion is all based on spare time.

As far as my corner being a major part in the grand scheme of things, well whatever you say man (or ma'am), I don't necessarily feel that way. I know a case is a case is a case to the suits in charge but what I do is nothing compared to the entire world.

Thats where you are so wrong, the USA is way ahead in terms of product development and developing products to market. The culture is defined in your forefathers. God Bless America for this attribute. Also you have a strong small business environment that has the capacity to allow aspiring entrepreneurs and beverage start-ups to flex their muscle in the marketplace.

Funny how in Australia one celebrates the diverse range of multi-cultural ism, but we have no joy entering a marketplace (80%) dominated by a select few. I think the mafia would envy the monopolistic characteristics found here. So few new drink products, the same old boring occupied supermarket end positions, petrol stations that belong to the damn supermarket mafia bosses (same boring drinks), oh if you want to get drunk over this, guess what our bottle shops are mostly owned by the supermarket mafia bosses. Gee, I can make a short movie on this boredom! No wonder the USA private equity capitalists are shopping here in Australia. The Sign reads " Monopolies For Sale" once in a lifetime opportunity.

No wonder the "coke" empire down under is getting into the alcohol!

Easy pickings!

To be honest Aussies would not mind being buried in a coke managed & owned funeral house! Imagine the caskets

So do you see the importance of the USA, you are the protector and fathers of capitalism, not mafiaism (new word) .

Would this ever happen in Australia? (icon with tears)

No , that isn't board policy about not coming back, more like a common sense kind of thing. For instance, if you go to a Chinese restaurant and order some food that makes you sick time and time again, you should either not go back to the restaurant or order something different next time, not keep ordering the same thing and expecting a different result.

Bevnet cures my boredom and stimulates my passion, I will always come back and direct others to eat here!

By the way I wasn't calling you an idiot, just the person who decided to name his drink after drugs and expected everything to be just hunkydory with everyone.

I think no one in their right mind would think that naming an energy drink after a drug would lead to "bliss". I stand on the principal behind the issue.
You cannot gain the respect from future generations if you do not stand on principals and apply them evenly. If you read my blog you will see how double standards never propels humanity forward.

If you want to preach the side of shock value names go ahead, you will be wasting your breath ( or fingertips in this case) you will not change my opinion of it.

Respect that a 120%!

Thanks