Why is txbands such a ghost town?

[alinktothepresent]

As I asked in the topic title text box: Why does NO ONE post anything in the forums??

 

Discuss, if anyone exists out there...

[the terminator]

  alinktothepresent said:

As I asked in the topic title text box: Why does NO ONE post anything in the forums??

 

Discuss, if anyone exists out there...

 

I'm sure there will be more people in this next month or so due to marching season really hitting off. As for why no one is on here its because most of us have already graduated high school and just occasionally post like myself.

[takigan]

For starters, traffic is pretty slow for most of the year except when it picks up a little bit during June-August (DCI) until fully blossoming from Mid-September to Mid-November, then going back into hibernation for the Winter .

 

I've been keeping an eye on the traffic data and forum activity over the past few years. The 2008 season had WAY more site hits than 2007 (like 100,000-200,000 total site views with nearly a million separate page views) and 2009, if I recall, was pretty close to 2008's numbers. The conclusion I've come to is that this site continues to get more and more known every year, but the actual forum activity has dropped. The site has more lurkers than ever who read more but post less. A typical thread in the off-season has 5 or 6 posts and 500-1000 views. Basically, there's a smaller number of total threads/posts but they're pulling more viewers than in past years.

 

Everyone's getting older as well. There's a userbase of post-HS users on this site that constantly increases the older this site gets....In addition to a small constituent of parents, directors and other adult members we gain, we get a flux of new HS-age users every new season, and after they graduate from band, 80-90% of them will rarely ever read this site again. It's difficult to tell if the wave of HS students has been increasing or decreasing over the years, though if I were to guess, I'd say it's been increasing....slightly, but mostly staying about the same. Not to mention a large chunk of our traffic comes from a mass of non-members who check the site on weekends for Competition scores but don't actually post here otherwise.

 

There's another issue that's common with forums that have been around for a few years and that's where you run out of things to talk about. Look at the archive of topics that have been posted since 2005. There's a LOT of threads here (close to 3,000 topics)....pretty much every subject having to do with band has been discussed in detail at some point or another. Of course, someone could resurrect a dead thread and start up a whole new discussion, but there seems to be a stigma against this on just about every forum you visit on the web.

 

We don't have anything against resurrecting dead threads though (usually). I've often thought about just rezzing a bunch of 'General Discussion' threads myself just to spice things up a bit.

 

2010 is a 5A State year; the third 5A State year in this site's history. It's also a 5A State year where Texas will also have a strong showing at BOA Grand Nationals, which is unusual to have in the same year. We haven't been around long enough yet to be able to tell if it being a 4A or 5A State year significantly affects traffic or not. This will be a very exciting season...it could very well be our greatest yet!!

[Xenon]

Also, band directors have become more aware of the internet at large and many bands now have a policy that their members shall not post on forums or such because it only takes a very few number of people a very short time to hurt a band's reputation.

[mellopwn1]

  Xenon said:

Also, band directors have become more aware of the internet at large and many bands now have a policy that their members shall not post on forums or such because it only takes a very few number of people a very short time to hurt a band's reputation.

 

Most directors don't care if the kids don't make an **** of themselves...which is sadly what usually happens.

[smoke_dawg_08]

yup.

[K3v1n]

As you can see my activity has been sufficient over these past few weeks; I only recently joined, but I hope to post at least 2 or 3 times a week. I plan to consistently post and get others to join this website so the activity can get boosted a bit. I prefer this website over many others mainly due to the information that is supplied and the members' posts who keep me busy reading over the past few years' comments.

[the terminator]

  K3v1n said:

As you can see my activity has been sufficient over these past few weeks; I only recently joined, but I hope to post at least 2 or 3 times a week. I plan to consistently post and get others to join this website so the activity can get boosted a bit. I prefer this website over many others mainly due to the information that is supplied and the members' posts who keep me busy reading over the past few years' comments.

 

Well its nice to meet you and to be honest I have always been a fan of you guys. In fact I remember competing against you guys back in 2007 I think at one contest. You guys beat us in that one. But yeah invite other people because the more the merrier.

 

Btw were you at Richland one year and transferred back or something like that?

Edited September 6, 2010 by the terminator

[K3v1n]

  the terminator said:

Well its nice to meet you and to be honest I have always been a fan of you guys. In fact I remember competing against you guys back in 2007 I think at one contest. You guys beat us in that one. But yeah invite other people because the more the merrier.

 

Btw were you at Richland one year and transferred back or something like that?

 

I lived in Waxahachie for the 2008 year, moved to Richland for the 2009 year playing "Virtuosi" then moved back to Waxhachie after some family issues (namely divorce).

I really liked the 2008 show "Believe" at least that's what everyone remembers Richland for as far as recent years.

Woodlands show last year really deserved a top 3 placing, (CP made 3rd if I remember correctly), I specifically remember the poses at the beginning, one clarinet player was standing on one leg for a while and the music was top notch. Now that I am back in Waxhachie I hate how Cedar Park has been moved down to 4A, that will juggle the placing at state next year if they compete like they did at the 5A level.

I do hope to see a good show from Woodlands at state this year, I plan on going to see the bands perform.

[the terminator]

  K3v1n said:

I lived in Waxahachie for the 2008 year, moved to Richland for the 2009 year playing "Virtuosi" then moved back to Waxhachie after some family issues (namely divorce).

I really liked the 2008 show "Believe" at least that's what everyone remembers Richland for as far as recent years.

Woodlands show last year really deserved a top 3 placing, (CP made 3rd if I remember correctly), I specifically remember the poses at the beginning, one clarinet player was standing on one leg for a while and the music was top notch. Now that I am back in Waxhachie I hate how Cedar Park has been moved down to 4A, that will juggle the placing at state next year if they compete like they did at the 5A level.

I do hope to see a good show from Woodlands at state this year, I plan on going to see the bands perform.

 

That's cool, I was in the Wakeland band although not this past year in which they made finals in Arlington and got 4th at state, but yeah it was nice to lay the foundation of such a great group. I agree with Cedar Park it'll be tougher for everyone, but Dripping Springs proved anyone could do it so who knows.

[K3v1n]

  the terminator said:

That's cool, I was in the Wakeland band although not this past year in which they made finals in Arlington and got 4th at state, but yeah it was nice to lay the foundation of such a great group. I agree with Cedar Park it'll be tougher for everyone, but Dripping Springs proved anyone could do it so who knows.

 

From the current pattern I've seen:

Dripping Springs went from 8th to 4A State Champion

Cedar Park went from 8th to 4A State Champion

 

So I'm really aiming at next year, my senior year, making Waxahachie 1st in state, it is my goal throughout this year and next to prep for just that, state finals, so we can not only keep the pattern but also solidify Waxahachie as a rising powerhouse Texas. I've seen Wakelands shows, really great stuff all around, I can see the band improving every year.

[whitewing09]

It makes me sad to see that a lot of people with whom I used to chat are gone. I'm actually surprised that I still come here. I graduated two years ago, now I live in New York, and band isn't a part of my life anymore. I guess I just like keeping track of the band world in Texas.

[longhornsax]

I like how when someone points out that no one's posting, everyone comes out from hiding and begins posting.

 

I have also been lurking, waiting for things to pick up. Looking forward to an exciting season!

[alinktothepresent]

@takigan -- Thanks for the explanation! I was just a little worried that this forum might be dead.

 

I think the same sort of hibernation might be going on at the Music For All forum, but I haven't checked it very recently.

[mellopwn1]

It's slightly better there only because it pulls in people from Indiana and Ohio, etc. and not just Texas. Eve then, it's just mainly Dan Balash, Skramp, and maybe 30 other regular posters, along with the usual "MY B@|\|d R0XXXX" people. haha. I just don't think we will ever see these band forums back to what they used to be where you met life long friends and it was more of a social occasion than just MARCHING, MARCHING, MARCHING. The BOA forums back in the days of JRIADA and Skrampsnewsplace were the place to be. I'm sure Danpod could tell loads of stories....haha.

  alinktothepresent said:

@takigan -- Thanks for the explanation! I was just a little worried that this forum might be dead.

 

I think the same sort of hibernation might be going on at the Music For All forum, but I haven't checked it very recently.

[alinktothepresent]

Well, I think there's a demand for sites like this, but awareness isn't very high. If I tell even a few people at marching contests (heck, even people in my own band) about this site, then activity would increase. Haha, we could build the forum up to be a powerhouse!

[Danpod]

I think the "awareness" of this site all depends on who you ask.

 

Students:

Texas is a huge freakin' State! I'd say the vast majority of band students have no idea we exist. The ones that are aware of Txbands.com will peruse this site to see what people are saying about their program. Out of those students who actually sign up for a free account with us, only a few of them get on here and contribute to the Forum Board. There are plenty of reasons why students don't post on here, and we hold absolutely no ill will towards them. We try to create content that will feed the hunger of the average "band nerd", as well as introduce band students to this wonderful activity. Personally, as long as people are reading, I'm happy.

 

Directors/Instructors:

Believe it or not, there are plenty of band directors in the State of Texas that read the Forums. They will scan over topics to see their students are behaving themselves. They'll read our reviews from time to time. We engage with directors the most at contest sites. Many of us on staff personally know directors from prominent Texas programs. We are happy to have a positive relationship with the directors and staff members that read our site.

 

Band Parents:

I'd say that these folks are the biggest fans of the website. We rolled out our Live Blog a few years ago in an effort to bring the Texas band community unprecedented contest coverage. We anticipated a little feedback on the Forums. We did not anticipate the warm reception from band parents at the contest site. I can assure you that this group is very aware of what we do here on the website. The Live Blog gave band parents the opportunity to check in on their kids, whether they were at the stadium or not. You would not believe how many parents have come up to us with their smartphones in-hand and have expressed their appreciation.

 

I'd say that people are fairly aware of our site. Could the audience be larger? Of course! The word-of-mouth advertising has helped us a lot. We've done alright, considering all of the staff is either in College or works more than 50 hours a week!

[kdnblue142]

  Danpod said:

I think the "awareness" of this site all depends on who you ask.

 

Students:

Texas is a huge freakin' State! I'd say the vast majority of band students have no idea we exist. The ones that are aware of Txbands.com will peruse this site to see what people are saying about their program. Out of those students who actually sign up for a free account with us, only a few of them get on here and contribute to the Forum Board. There are plenty of reasons why students don't post on here, and we hold absolutely no ill will towards them. We try to create content that will feed the hunger of the average "band nerd", as well as introduce band students to this wonderful activity. Personally, as long as people are reading, I'm happy.

 

Directors/Instructors:

Believe it or not, there are plenty of band directors in the State of Texas that read the Forums. They will scan over topics to see their students are behaving themselves. They'll read our reviews from time to time. We engage with directors the most at contest sites. Many of us on staff personally know directors from prominent Texas programs. We are happy to have a positive relationship with the directors and staff members that read our site.

 

Band Parents:

I'd say that these folks are the biggest fans of the website. We rolled out our Live Blog a few years ago in an effort to bring the Texas band community unprecedented contest coverage. We anticipated a little feedback on the Forums. We did not anticipate the warm reception from band parents at the contest site. I can assure you that this group is very aware of what we do here on the website. The Live Blog gave band parents the opportunity to check in on their kids, whether they were at the stadium or not. You would not believe how many parents have come up to us with their smartphones in-hand and have expressed their appreciation.

 

I'd say that people are fairly aware of our site. Could the audience be larger? Of course! The word-of-mouth advertising has helped us a lot. We've done alright, considering all of the staff is either in College or works more than 50 hours a week!

 

as a band parent, this site has been very informative. Whenever my child has been at a competition that I couldn't attend, such at BOA Houston, I could go to the Live Blog to keep track of what was going on. Even as the host band of BOA San Antonio, we volunteer parents usually have a laptop somewhere plugged in keeping track of what is being commented upon!!

Unfortunately, my own child does not view this website but I give her updates from what I have read on this site that I think she may be interested in.

I really don't feel that it's my 'place' to state generally what is going on with the band as I don't want to 'step on any toes' and possibly give out information that may be 'confidential' within the band. But if one of the kids do comment, then I might jump in.

Please keep up the great work!!

[Danpod]

  mellopwn1 said:

The BOA forums back in the days of JRIADA and Skrampsnewsplace were the place to be. I'm sure Danpod could tell loads of stories....haha.

 

Those days were crazy! I'll never forget the Pirates of the Caribbean incident with the drunken fools in the front row.

[MansfieldLegacyBandDad]

  Danpod said:

I think the "awareness" of this site all depends on who you ask.

My observations as a band parent.....

 

Students:

My daughter became aware of this website as a freshman. She is now a senior. She doesn't visit the website too often.

 

Directors/Instructors:

I agree with Danpod. Directors know about this website.

 

Band Parents:

Band parents are definitely aware of this website! Comments from the website were discussed on many occasions during last year's competitions. The Live Blog is fantastic!

 

I'm looking forward to another exciting year of marching competitions!

 

Keep up the good great work txbands!!

Edited September 18, 2010 by MansfieldLegacyBandDad

[Euphonipwn]

I'm very glad that this website is out there! I was a freshman last year and heard about it from an upperclassmen and quickly got interested, and this place taught me a ton about marching band!

Thanks for the good work!

[Xenon]

  John Daniel Doe said:

Do you know Greg Dick from Friendswood HS?

 

Yes, I have talked with Mr. Dick on a few occasions. At both marching and honor band contests.

[Drummantx]

Do I not count? lol

[titancoaster]

txbands is a seasonal site, its the busy during competition season (late September through Grand Nationals) and gets some activity during summer with Drum Corps and Honor Band talks. In two weeks txbands should get pretty active