566 views and no comments,hidden message?

No worries.

Yes it is fun to take a bunch of craft popsicle sticks and make a bridge out of them!

Made another bridge too,! 

Big sucker! 

 

Bill

Yes and I had to raise it (red  area)to clear some of my tall rolling stock.

Kendra Bell

I'm personally more of a silent appreciator (ie leaving a like when possible/applicable). I don't often comment unless I have something pressing to say or a comment/compliment that adds to the conversation. I'm sure many modelers feel the same!

This is EXACTLY why this forum is slowly fading away. People look but they don't interact. The whole point of a forum is interaction, and looking and moving on is NOT interacting. Even a simple emoji or one work comment can make someones day. I quit posting here for this exact reason, there is little to no feedback and that is contrary to what forums are all about. If the FSM staff can't be active, even a litte in their own forum, it is doomed to fail. This mindset will kill this forum just like it has killed many others. The forums where members like and comment and let the thread creater know that they have stopped by keeps those places active and popular. "Silent appreciator" doesn't cut it in forums. You can to that on Pintrest. 

BrandonK

 

 

Kendra Bell

I'm personally more of a silent appreciator (ie leaving a like when possible/applicable). I don't often comment unless I have something pressing to say or a comment/compliment that adds to the conversation. I'm sure many modelers feel the same!

 

 

This is EXACTLY why this forum is slowly fading away. People look but they don't interact. The whole point of a forum is interaction, and looking and moving on is NOT interacting. Even a simple emoji or one work comment can make someones day. I quit posting here for this exact reason, there is little to no feedback and that is contrary to what forums are all about. If the FSM staff can't be active, even a litte in their own forum, it is doomed to fail. This mindset will kill this forum just like it has killed many others. The forums where members like and comment and let the thread creater know that they have stopped by keeps those places active and popular. "Silent appreciator" doesn't cut it in forums. You can to that on Pintrest. 

 

Excellent points,we'll said 

Kendra Bell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is a good point. It seems to me that lots of posts on our forums don't get views, especially right away, and just because your post isn't getting comments doesn't mean people don't appreciate it! I'm personally more of a silent appreciator (ie leaving a like when possible/applicable). I don't often comment unless I have something pressing to say or a comment/compliment that adds to the conversation. I'm sure many modelers feel the same!

 

I dunno about that Kendra. I'm a site owner on a growing and so far a successful scale modeling forum elsewhere and I've always been of the mentality that when looking at or responding to any given members build/ WIP or whatever it is in scale modeling that we respond as if that person were right in front of us. I highly doubt we would simply look at a fellow modelers build in the real world and either simply walk away or say "Nice" and then walk away. It takes more than that to keep people interested and motivated to do better in this great hobby of ours and honestly, we are better than to let that happen.

 If you could've seen this place 10 years ago I think you'd have a different stance on things because they were anything but silent back then. FSM was screaming with encouraging and supportive activity. True, there was some drama from time to time but I made many friends in my time here and had a BLAST. I truly miss those days and that saddens me because things don't have to be the way they are here now and I want to say the following with the highest respect to the FSM staff. You guys are sitting on a gold mine with this forum in having a magazine to back it. The forum and the magazine would BOTH benefit from and be a compliment to one another and wherever they are now on the success meter....it would only get better. The staff on any site has to be involved to establish an interest from the top down or great sites like FSM has been will simply become transient lodging for members. It happened where I am now 4 years ago with the core staff just abandoning the site. No staff presence.....and the members find somewhere else to go or become closet builders. It's like a plant, we've got to put the work in or the plant will die.

  A good example of staff being involved is Tim Kidwell and Aaron Skinner came up with an FSM WWI Group Build in FSM's heyday here on the forum around 8-10 years ago and it was a HUGE success. Why? Because the staff was involved. The FSM forum has got alot of potential but it's only going to get to its fullest when some sort of staff gets either appointed or the existing ones participate consistently. As a forum site owner I have the responsibility to the members to provide them not only with a great place to gather together and have fun in this hobby but to keep scale modeling alive as well as to promote it for the next generation. 

 I do hope you take this in the helpful way that it's meant Kendra. This forum can be one of the heavy hitters in scale modeling online communities just like it used to be not so long ago. 

Joe

This site is a key ingredient to a better magazine subscription following. Let this wither and die and the magazine will follow. In today's market the online activity WILL lead to more subs at the magazine because members will be happy, active and want more. The opposite is just as true. Put a priority into this forum and the activity and subs will follow.

Just my two cents. Joe, Brandon, Tojo, I agree with you. It's on all of us to participate if we are to maintain a vibrant community. And Joe, what you wrote is excellent. 

BrandonK

This site is a key ingredient to a better magazine subscription following. Let this wither and die and the magazine will follow. In today's market the online activity WILL lead to more subs at the magazine because members will be happy, active and want more. The opposite is just as true. Put a priority into this forum and the activity and subs will follow.

 

Bingo. 

I'd say the opposite is true - the decline in the magazine is affecting the forum. As FSM struggles to find a place and be relevant, it shows up here. Forums on company/product sites are disappearing rapidly. Companies don't want to deal with the hosting and moderation, when there is little tangible bottom line benefit from it. A site like this is a dinosaur today, a relic of twenty years ago. It just took a while to catch up. I expect FSM to go the way of Scale Auto before long. 

MJames70

I'd say the opposite is true - the decline in the magazine is affecting the forum. As FSM struggles to find a place and be relevant, it shows up here. Forums on company/product sites are disappearing rapidly. Companies don't want to deal with the hosting and moderation, when there is little tangible bottom line benefit from it. A site like this is a dinosaur today, a relic of twenty years ago. It just took a while to catch up. I expect FSM to go the way of Scale Auto before long. 

 

I can speak for myself that I stopped subscribing to the magazine soley on FSMs inaction to fix this site. I know a few other people that did the same. I don't garner much from the magazine either way, but I subscribed to support their business. I would have continued to do so had they put some effort into this. I am in sales and as a customer, you can't take customers for granted. 

It's probably a lot of factors but how the website has been managed surely has cost them business. How much business, who knows.

 

 

MJames70

I'd say the opposite is true - the decline in the magazine is affecting the forum. As FSM struggles to find a place and be relevant, it shows up here. Forums on company/product sites are disappearing rapidly. Companies don't want to deal with the hosting and moderation, when there is little tangible bottom line benefit from it. A site like this is a dinosaur today, a relic of twenty years ago. It just took a while to catch up. I expect FSM to go the way of Scale Auto before long. 

 

Maybe you could say that to some people and they would accept that but there are folks here on this forum and abroad that would disagree with that statement to include myself and there's proof of exactly the opposite of what you're saying. Visit places like Model Cars Magazine, Large Scale Planes, Britmodeler or Modeler's Social Club and see if they fall into the relic / dinosaur category. You'll see all of those forums completely alive and well because the staff is involved and there is on the spot moderation. FSM doesn't have to go away or become a relic/ dinosaur at all if staff gets involved. The forum can provide a lot of material for the magazine as it's all in house and right here at their doorstep. 

 I'm not against you or trying to merely win an arguement. I'm trying to help this place and you indirectly by giving positive feedback that'll keep FSM forums around for some time to come to give the members their forum back.

Joe