Behind the Scenes: VU Fan Forum

[Crusader03]

After reading the other thread on the "behind the scenes" stuff for the ARC, I thought it would be interesting to get a "behind the scenes" look at this board.  I'd love to see how all of this comes together and what the history is...so, valpo04 and ValpoHoops if you could indulge us...

*How did this board start?  I know there were previous boards, so how did this one come to be? 

*Do the mods know each other in "real life?" 

*How much, if any, communication do you have with the athletic department?

*Who does the banners and how much work does that take?

*Does this board cost you anything or does it make any money?

*How do you decide when to start a new forum category? 

*Any future plans to expand or improve the board in any way?

*Do you plan to have a presence at the HL tourney?

For the rest of you...how about a behind the scenes on you?  What brought you to the board?  What's your connection to VU?  How did you choose your user name?

Just a fun topic to keep us all talking and getting to know each other better!

(Posted this here because I am generally interested and I didn't think it would get noticed on the other less-visited forums)

[blackpantheruwm]

Answers to this will be followed by the new "VU Crusader03 Fan Forum" on Tuesday.

[valpo04]

*How did this board start?  I know there were previous boards, so how did this one come to be?

Back in 2005 the Voy board was becoming unmanageable, with spam and hijacked usernames. Valpower was looking for a better home, so I created the Valpo Fans Forum on Proboards and he, Hoops and I were the admins.  After a few years there, the lack of customization and the idea that Proboards "owned" all of our data lead me to begin to search for an option that would allow us to have our own site, free and clear.  I also wanted the ability to build a website around the board.  Having our own domain and running our own forum software allows us to do that.  So, a year ago I purchased valpofanzone.com and installed this forum. 


*Do the mods know each other in "real life?"

No


*How much, if any, communication do you have with the athletic department?

Very little.  We used to have semi-regular posts from valpomarketingguy, but other than that and rlh's work to create the Q&A with ML, we have had no other communication with the athletic department.


*Who does the banners and how much work does that take?

The person who makes the banners has asked to remain anonymous. 

As for time... When we feel a new banner is needed, I email them, they usually create one and send it back within a day or so.


*Does this board cost you anything or does it make any money?

The board costs me the domain registration each year, plus my time and energy.  It does not make any money.


*How do you decide when to start a new forum category? 

The forum categories have remained constant for quite some time.  When we switched from the Mid-Con to the HL, we simply renamed that category.  But the general Valpo Hoops, Valpo Sports, HL talk and Off Topic has been in place since the beginning of the Proboards era.

We did at one time try combining all of the Valpo sports into one category, but that ended up not working out, so we switched it back.


*Any future plans to expand or improve the board in any way?

I am constantly working to improve the board.  I do not anticipate any expansion, but always work to give members what they want and tweak things as needed.  Occasionally I will install a new feature and if people like it, it stays.  If they don't, I remove it.

I am actively looking to revamp the main site, but haven't had much time lately.  I really want to take advantage of the fact that we have the domain and could build a quality fan site around this board.  Any suggestions or help are appreciated!


*Do you plan to have a presence at the HL tourney?

No.

[Crusader03]

Interesting stuff...just my two cents, but I would think you could be making a little bit of money from this site.  I'm not sure how much work it would take or if that work would be worth it...but you get enough traffic to bring in some income. 

Whatever happened to Valpower?  I do remember him from the Voy days...I was not a poster, but I was a reader.  I'm assuming he is not on the board anymore, or he uses another name.  For all the interest he had, it is surprising that he isn't a regular here still.

Maybe the cost is too high (or VU may have a policy against it), but it would be great to have a banner in the ARC with the forum address.  I'm guessing you would be charged for a regular advertising banner, however...but you never know unless you ask.  With a small program like VU's, it wouldn't hurt to drum up interest by letting the top fan site advertise for free or at a reduced price.

Thanks for the answers...would love to hear from some other posters on the personal questions

[Crusader03]

Answers to this will be followed by the new "VU Crusader03 Fan Forum" on Tuesday.

LOL...nah...I couldn't do what these guys do.  I like to come here from time to time and fool around or even give the occasional insight...but I couldn't run something like this.  I'm content to just stay here, panther.

[Crusader03]

Oh, I do have two suggestions...

1) front page articles.  I wonder if sectionee could tie into this?  His articles are always informative.  DMValpo has written good stuff too.  I know that Jim has a blog too and he might be able to contribute quality stuff.  They could continue to write for their own blogs but either have articles linked from the front page (Maybe include a headline, a picture and the first paragraph...the link takes them to the external blog..)  Both sides win in this scenario.

2) In-depth recruiting info.  There is a reason why rivals and scout are so big.  People love recruiting.  We all do, I'm sure.  There is no comprehensive Valpo recruiting site on the web (no rivals or scout page, obviously).  Would love to see in-depth scouting reports on players we are recruiting.

Honestly, if those two features were in place, I for one would not bypass the main page of the site.  Now I just come straight to the forum.  If there were semi-regular articles and recruiting info, I think the fan site would get a lot more action beyond just the forums.

Ok, there are my serious thoughts for the day.

[valpo04]

Oh, I do have two suggestions...

1) front page articles.  I wonder if sectionee could tie into this?  His articles are always informative.  DMValpo has written good stuff too.  I know that Jim has a blog too and he might be able to contribute quality stuff.  They could continue to write for their own blogs but either have articles linked from the front page (Maybe include a headline, a picture and the first paragraph...the link takes them to the external blog..)  Both sides win in this scenario.

2) In-depth recruiting info.  There is a reason why rivals and scout are so big.  People love recruiting.  We all do, I'm sure.  There is no comprehensive Valpo recruiting site on the web (no rivals or scout page, obviously).  Would love to see in-depth scouting reports on players we are recruiting.

Honestly, if those two features were in place, I for one would not bypass the main page of the site.  Now I just come straight to the forum.  If there were semi-regular articles and recruiting info, I think the fan site would get a lot more action beyond just the forums.

Ok, there are my serious thoughts for the day.

I like your thoughts and would be all for what you have suggested, unfortunately I just don't think there is enough interest from others to do it.

[valporun]

I know valpo04 has asked before for some of us to write up some articles for the front page, especially for the non-revenue sports, like soccer, baseball, softball, track, tennis, etc., but either there hasn't been the interest, or not enough to really write about. I know prior to this season, there wasn't a lot to write about the track or cross country programs, but I'm going to work on something here about the re-emergence of the programs, now that Ryan Moore has had a few years to put his philosophy in place. I mean we have some sprinters, distance runners, and throwers now who could really bring some much needed points this season.

[Crusader03]

04, do you mind if I write up a little recruit capsule and run it by you?  I wouldn't mind doing that.  If you like it, I can do more and you can use them...if not, no big deal.

[valpo04]

04, do you mind if I write up a little recruit capsule and run it by you?  I wouldn't mind doing that.  If you like it, I can do more and you can use them...if not, no big deal.

I like it!  Why not head over to the main site, and sign up there (I'm working on a single site log in possibility) and write it as a blog there?  The good thing about that is if we tag it as "recruiting" I can create a link on the menu bar for "Recruiting" and it will pull up all the articles with that tag.

[Crusader03]

04, do you mind if I write up a little recruit capsule and run it by you?  I wouldn't mind doing that.  If you like it, I can do more and you can use them...if not, no big deal.

I like it!  Why not head over to the main site, and sign up there (I'm working on a single site log in possibility) and write it as a blog there?  The good thing about that is if we tag it as "recruiting" I can create a link on the menu bar for "Recruiting" and it will pull up all the articles with that tag.

Will do...give me a day or two to play with some ideas.

(And for the record everyone, I will be writing this as my normal, sensible, basketball-savvy self...not my character.)