600 minus 5

[Madrigal]

Seems like it wasn't that long ago at all we were talking about the 500 milestone.

Purdy cool :thumbsup2:

[Glenn Thoreson]

I could think up 5 aliases, if that would help.

[rentavet]

hmmmm..... we could go on the 'vote early vote often method" or we could wait for the last 5.... .. welllll what should we do?    I'm sending out invites...

[cenelson]

Eh, at the rate things are going tonight I feel like tearing it all down.

Blah.

[Madrigal]

How's that, Mr. Cuss?
Here on NF... ?

[sandeha]

Ah, fresh light in the air ... the first signs of approaching spring.  This morning the birds were cackling like crazy in their pairing rituals, and the first daffodils are budding.

I'll miss the shadows.

[Madrigal]

Okay, I get it now. D'oh!
Our friend sandeha pretty much pegged it, I think.
I get at least a mild case of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) every winter, even in sunny climes. Makes me grumpy. Okay, I'm often grumpy, anyway, but the studio tan just has to go come spring time.

What he said. Spring's right around the corner. Even I can get optimistic about that!

Oh yeah- it's going to get down to freezing here Friday night :eek:
(okay, I'm ducking under Grandma's solid maple desk now)

[Glenn Thoreson]

Counting down --- 5.... 4.... 3....

[connealy]

It was quite an accomplishment to get this nice site on line and to attract the participation of a lot of fine folks.  I think it would be a mistake, however, to look at the total registered user base as a very good indicator of the status of the enterprise.  A lot of visitors don't really get into the conversations even though they might faithfully follow them.  It seems like most of the energy on the site is contributed by a fairly small core of participants and that doesn't seem to have changed much.  In fact, it seems like some of those people have become distracted by other things recently, and it seems to me that the some of the topic areas have lost momentum and focus.
 . . It is worthwhile to compare the recent activity in the Classic Camera forums here and at photo.net.  There is definitely more activity and more diversity in regard to both topics and participants at the latter.  That represents quite a turn-around considering how things were going not long ago.  I think the major contributing factor in that has been the institution of a low-key moderation policy in the photo.net forums.  The over-bearing moderators and "heroes" have been reigned in, and the strength of the participant base has been allowed to flourish.
 . . I think the structuring of the PN forum with the restriction on pre-'70's cameras has also contributed to the maintenance of the conversation there.  Some people will always be irritated that their pet post-'70 camera is excluded, but the up side is that people can easily identify the purpose of the forum, and the newcomers know where they are likely to find information of value.  
 . . I'm not so sure these ideas apply to all the p.net forums across the board, however.  I only follow a couple of them intermittently.  The street/doc forum seems to be running a little more smoothly.  The Alternative Cameras discussion is moribund.  The Leica forum doesn't seem worth visiting any more.
 . . I don't pretend to really know what leads to success with this sort of undertaking.  It is a complicated business, and assumptions about how things work are often more speculative than fact-based.  I think it would probably be useful to look at what the real strengths of Nelsonfoto forums are and maybe how people could contribute to building on that base.
 . . Craig's generosity and energetic guidance is certainly at the top of the list.  The forum participants here include people with a lot of maturity and experience.  The general atmosphere is one of tolerance for a wide range of opinion and style.  The forum software is a couple generations better than what photo.net can offer in terms of facilitating the exchange of ideas.  I would be interested in reading what others think along these lines.

[mitspooner]

WOHOO! Over 600 in the "best little forum on the net"!

[Julio1fer]

I'm glad of round numbers.  Glory to our Hairless Leader, who I'm sure never dreamed of 600 members.

As for Mike comments, I find it hard to compare our little forum with PN - obviously a forum with photo storage is attractive to many people.  PN started way earlier, and some members may like a raging debate now and then. Sometimes we seem, as said in a memorable early Gene M post, a bunch of schoolgirls (I miss that kind of posts!)

Definitely the software is way better here than in PN, and the atmosphere a lot more relaxed, not to speak about the firm non-commercial orientation and immediate attention to problems, to  Craig's credit :thumbsup2: .  There are many people in our forum with truckloads of knowledge and a wish to share it -  I believe the quality of the answers here is higher than in PN most of the time.