Travel Forum Proposal (Again)

[TheMetetron]

Originally Posted By Mike Haven:

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The AIW Forum was reader GrannyMae's idea.

Granny made a presentation to the Admins, which was accepted, and then Granny was made mod of the new forum.

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So here is my official proposal to the Admins. I'm not asking to be mod of it, but I will frequent the forum (if it is created) daily so I'm fine with doing it. If the admins want someone else, I'm not going to cry over it. Feel free to reject the idea of a Travel Forum but I'd at least appreciate some sound reasoning for doing so. My only concern used to be the traffic of the forum, but the idea of quality over quantity and ease of finding relevant materials has squashed that fear.

Reasons why we need a Travel Forum:

1) Currently, threads related to traveling and living overseas are sort of thrown around in OOT, B&M, Internet Gambling (why??), BBV, The Lounge, The Dorm, etc. Orginization is good. If I was looking for a specific thread, I could never find it especially because of the horrible search function on this site. Keep everything in one place and it's easy to find.

2) Due to the scattered nature of travel threads you limit the amount of quality advice you are going to possibly get by people with experience in your destination / situation. I'm sure I routinely miss threads I could be helpful in since I just don't frequent the forum the question is posted in. Niche forums attract the highest quality posters in that subject and I'm sure many people who frequently travel or live in overseas would be more than happy to give advice to others if it were easy. This is also a bit different from a forum split which is a bit harder to pull off. In this case there isn't one place where these threads end up, they are everywhere. I'm not asking to split off something from OOT.

3) Poker players are a group tend to travel more than almost anyone. We travel to poker tournaments around the world, and frequently visit LA & Vegas. We also have the money required to do a lot of vacationing. Other forums were created because the poker playing population was saturated with people interested in a common topic or in a common situation (The Dorm, Video Games, Politics, POG, etc) so why should those interested in traveling be any different. And it's hardly like people traveling is some rare occasion. Most people certainly travel more than they buy a car (see Automobile forum, no longer sponsored).

4) Not enough traffic isn't an issue. There are tons of posts on other forums that would fit perfectly in a Travel Forum and I'm sure many more would be created if a place existed for them where they could get the attention they deserved and not get lost in the shuffle before someone who can help sees it. I personally plan to start quite a few threads if I know they won't get thrown to page 59 of OOT in 3 days. Also, there are many forums with barely any traffic (SMP, Video Games, POG, LOL, The Dorm, Automobiles, American Idol Wagering, CTH, etc) that are there for other purposes.

5) With the recent UIGEA events many people are considering moving overseas in order to continue playing poker and stretch their dollar farther. This is going to lead to an increase in traffic for a potential travel forum and this topic in particular. I see a thread every few days in Internet Gambling or OOT asking about moving abroad and most people aren't very knowledgeable about how it would work or their options. I certainly couldn't get much help when I first did it, but I'm all for sharing now that I have. There are 2+2 contingents in Argentina, Thailand, Costa Rica, Panama, and many other countries which would like a place to help out newcomers to their country.


The types of threads which would go in a potential Travel Forum include (credit to Zeno for the original list months ago, modified by me):

1. Practical travel tips
2. Learning a foreign language and useful phrases
3. How long, when, and where to stay
4. What to see and what you can miss
5. Logistics of doing the trip
6. Restaurants and other food inforamtion
7. Airfare, airline, and airport advice
8. Taxis, public transportation, and renting cars
9. Best deals/value/nicest hotels, hostels, and resorts.
10. Viability and pros/cons of different cruises
11. Visa requirements and other legalities to consider
12. Passport information
13. Foreign health insurance (or travel insurance) and socialized medicine information
14. Infrastructure and services at your destination
15. Basic historical information one should know when traveling to a country
16. Nightlife and outdoor activities available
17. Foreign bank accounts and monetary systems
18. Local advice google won't give you
19. Power adapter and voltage complications
20. Local customs and slang

I could keep going but you get the idea. The original post is here and as you can see it got support from pretty much everyone except for one guy and a ton of good reasons were given against his arguments. Double posting should probably be allowed and I don't think forcing a mod to move a topic to a new Travel Forum is appropriate (but certainly appreciated if they feel it would do better there). All in all, the only sound reason against creating this forum is that 2+2 isn't interested in creating any other topics forums besides OOT but that is obviously not the case by looking at the sidebar. I believe this one is a lot more viable than some other ones on there and I hope the powers that be realize the desire of the community to have a Travel Forum and create it.

I will certainly be posting more later, but it's getting fairly late here now. I'm going to try to list current threads that would go in the new forum sometime tomorrow.

[Sniper]

Met,

Well written...

One comment, you should review the posting analysis thread to better clarify your view of 2+2 traffic patterns [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Aside from that fact check, you make alot of good points, I will highlight one that applies in general to all new forum ideas... "Niche forums attract the highest quality posters in that subject".



<font color="white"> . </font>

[aujoz]

is there a "cost" to creating a new forum?

presumably, if there is no traffic it could be closed down, but at the same time, if it is popular, it makes sense to me.

[iron81]

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is there a "cost" to creating a new forum?

presumably, if there is no traffic it could be closed down, but at the same time, if it is popular, it makes sense to me.

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We tried this already. The Mod Playground was a travel forum a few months ago and it got very low traffic. The Video Game playground got 10 times as much traffic and after it was made permanent it is still a low traffic forum. A travel forum would do terribly traffic wise.

[TheWorstPlayer]

How does the Mod forum do in general? I honestly have only the vaguest idea what is in it and I don't care to take the time to figure it out (I understand it changes monthly or something?). On the other hand, I also agree that a travel forum is not a good idea. If you're interested in travel, there are tons of other resources on the web for it. Why make an additional one on 2p2? If you have a specific question, post it in OOT and you will probably get an answer.

[iron81]

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How does the Mod forum do in general?

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Poorly. Its usually in the bottom 10 for traffic, with a particularly bad stint under my leadership. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Video games was made permanent because it got 4 times as much traffic as other playground topics.

[NT!]

i'd just like to point out that there are 3 really bad posts about travel in OOT right now, really lazy questions like, "going to hawaii what should i do guys????"

if we had a travel forum i could gleefully ban these people

[TheMetetron]

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i'd just like to point out that there are 3 really bad posts about travel in OOT right now, really lazy questions like, "going to hawaii what should i do guys????"

if we had a travel forum i could gleefully ban these people

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See everyone is happy. NT doesn't have to deal with idiots, and idiots would actually get the help they want.

[TheMetetron]

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How does the Mod forum do in general?

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Poorly. Its usually in the bottom 10 for traffic, with a particularly bad stint under my leadership. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Video games was made permanent because it got 4 times as much traffic as other playground topics.

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Video Games also got more promotion about the forum and came during the launch of two systems. I have absolutely no idea what Mod's Playground is right now and I'd have to check it in order to find out. How many people check the Mod's Playground forum on a regular basis? And those that do obviously aren't going to get much of an answer because of the obviously low traffic inherent to the Mod Playground design.

However, if there was a forum that said "Travel" or "Travel and Leisure", surely the traffic would increase over something named "Mod's Playground" with hidden travel content inside. I am on the biggest proponents of a Travel Forum and I never even posted in Mod's Playground when it was about travel because I never knew about it.


Edit: Also, this post sort of proves my point about Mod's Playground and how little anyone pays attention or really cares about it. There's a difference between a travel forum named "Mod's Playground" and a travel forum named "Travel".

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How does the Mod forum do in general? I honestly have only the vaguest idea what is in it and I don't care to take the time to figure it out (I understand it changes monthly or something?).

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Also, why is it such a concern that the forum would be low traffic? I will freely admit that it won't be the highest traffic forum in 2+2, but it certainly wouldn't be the lowest either. There are a lot of forums that exist here with very low traffic because they serve a quality niche of interest to 2+2ers that would get regularly lost in the shuffle otherwise. Travel is exactly the same thing.

[TheMetetron]

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If you're interested in travel, there are tons of other resources on the web for it. Why make an additional one on 2p2?

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This could be said of Politics, Sporting Events, Video Games, Automobiles, The Dorm, Finance &amp; Investing, Money Making &amp; Business, Internet Bonuses, Psychology, Probability, etc. Just because there are other forums out there that cater to these topics (and most do a better job than the ones on 2+2) doesn't mean that the 2+2 community isn't interested in them and wouldn't like to talk about them with other people in our community. Sure, I could talk to anyone I want to about Video Games or Sporting Events, but I'd like the insight of the average 2+2er which is usually much different than the average video game player or sports fan. If we are going to listen to this argument, half the forums under General Gambling and Other Topics should be gone.

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If you have a specific question, post it in OOT and you will probably get an answer.

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The problem is you probably won't because the topic is on page 10 before someone knowledgeable sees it. And trying to have any sort of ongoing conversation about a topic is a real pain in the ass.