The internal campaign has begun. :D

Amazing how they come out of the woodwork when you want to close a forum, isn't it?

It is quite apparent that all of your statements are based on your personal opinions and not fact. Therefore I have no intentions of continuing this discussion as no matter what I say, you will reply in kind with another comment to prolong this meaningless dialogue that should never have been started to begin with.

I have no dog in this hunt ;), but a metric:

I count 57 threads started since the forum was created in early May (including the 2 stickies).

Yeah, and many of the travel forums for World regions (including the Scandinavian Forum that I'm moderating) have less than that.

Hell, let's kill'em all too! :rolleyes:

Joking aside, the forums are there for when people need answers, even if it isn't every day. And it actually works because members and mods monitor these forums. Look how long it takes for a member to get an answer.. Not long

For those of you who want to close this forum, can I ask what metric you consider for "success" of a forum? Special Interest Forums, by definition, will not have the volume of airline/hotel forums... so, what is success for you?

I was just throwing the stat out there for people to do with as they please. :)

In the past, I have dug through the forums and posted data on thread counts whenever the whole metrics thing rears its head here. Perhaps I'll dust some of that off.

I would, however, characterize 50+ threads in 5 months for a new-non-points-or-miles-forum as "not bad".

How many of those threads were moved into Pets from other forums?

At the request of another interested party and having responded to a couple of earlier threads in the forum, I can't understand (nor appreciate) the perspective of those who would "write it off" so preciptously and callously.

If one FTer learns and grows because of responses here or experiences a successful "pet travel" as a result of reading, or of greater note, if any FTer avoids calamity as a result of opinion or information provided in the forum, the world, his, hers and ours, is a better place.

Generally, I'm against hauling most pets about, expecially by air, but to be able to voice that opinion is just as significant as to be able to suggest better choices for travel with pets.

A pox upon those who would discourage opinions! The damning of free flow of opinion forms the typical cry from those who would reveal the prejudiced perconvictions of their elitist Liberalism or, almost as bad, the dogmatic orthodoxy of their blind adherence to the Right.

Give me moderation of tone and perspective, good whiskey, an occasional seegar, and the occasional waft of the scent of a woman bursting with the sweet ripeness of the peaches of Shiraz!

Clearly this can't be a standard for creating/keeping forums, can it?

Well, let's flip that around; does 57 threads in 5 months sound sucessful to you? Ten threads a month or one every other day is less traffic than I would venture those who appproved the forum expected. It's nice to say there are no metrics but I don't think we need to hide behind them either.

FWIW, I would like to see both a limit on new forum creation, say 2 or 3 per year, as well as a more of a defined criteria for new forums, such as a one year traffic count to judge the relative activity. Having a "training wheels" clause built right into the motion or TB new forum guidelines would hopefully help prevent future forums flounded. And that's just MHO.

Personally, that seems reasonable for me.... remember, this is a SPECIALITY forum that caters to a smaller subsegment of the FT community... In addition, pet questions about specific airlines and hotels would appear in those forums... rather than this forum.

This is why I have difficulty on a thread count requirement for any forum... I know I get value out of that forum... and have posted... but not all the time.

For people who do not even visit the forum, I am not sure of the problem. Again, not like it is taking up bandwidth.

It almost seems like people want to "punish" another forum because they did not get the Fitness Forum.... and that is just wrong.

William

I may not be a big poster here at FT and I guess I am still considered a newbie because I have only been around for a little over a year, but I must say I am mystified by this proposal. I do have pets, and while I haven't had to travel with them I certainly appreciate a forum where I can find information respective to that. I have not posted in that forum, but have read it.

IMHO, the original post seems a bit disrespectful.

My two cents:

I don't have a pet so I, literally, have no horse in this race.

I don't see a problem with narrow special interest forums like Traveling with Pets. Though these won't generate anywhere near as much traffic as, for example, the Las Vegas, I think it makes sense to have a specific place to go with a relevant question. I also feel that way about the Senior's forum. I'm at that almost-a-senior age (AARP thinks I'm there already), and I know that, as time goes on, I'm going to become a lot more interested in things like the availability of senior discounts, senior passes, etc.

Great idea. This forum needs to be shut for maintenance for a couple of weeks, as these topics are wearing us out.

FWIW, at this time, I have no plans to vote to remove this forum & at this time, no motion has been made.