Can we have a frank discussion here?

[Notasmiff]

I'm pretty new here, posted a few times and asked a couple questions. 1 being about a gun free zone in Fairlawn.
I got absolutely no response.
Also when I joined, I was surprised by how few people welcomed me on such a large forum. I had more response on a private gun forum with 200 members.

As far as supporting, I did another forum once and not long after a moderator publicly insulted me and I pretty much quit.
I don't need bs. So I'm not quick to donate to any online anything.

Bottom line, I've been lurking a little, but wasn't very comfortable posting much. I do like the information I have seen from time to time.

Cheers, Dave

[evan price]

The OFCC VS BFA thing really is a turn off.
The movement has evolved beyond forums. Social media is replacing forums the way forums replaced BBSs and lists servers.
Me personally, i took an internet vacation last year because the climate surrounding the election just drove me away from the internet. After the election i realized i liked not being internet bound the way i had been.

[Mustang380gal]

I'm pretty new here, posted a few times and asked a couple questions. 1 being about a gun free zone in Fairlawn.
I got absolutely no response.
Also when I joined, I was surprised by how few people welcomed me on such a large forum. I had more response on a private gun forum with 200 members.

As far as supporting, I did another forum once and not long after a moderator publicly insulted me and I pretty much quit.
I don't need bs. So I'm not quick to donate to any online anything.

Bottom line, I've been lurking a little, but wasn't very comfortable posting much. I do like the information I have seen from time to time.

Cheers, Dave

Forum membership numbers are pretty skewed. Spammers who have long since been banned are still listed as members. We have had people ask a question, get an answer, and never return. Also, some members have moved out of state, or have passed away, and they are still in the list.

Active posters now is about 75-100, and that may be generous.

I am sorry that you did not get your question answered. When we had more active posters, new people got answers within minutes, or at least within hours. I am on the forum long enough to do moderating duties, but I don't post much any more due to time constraints in the rest of my life. If you repost your questions, I will do my best to give you an answer as soon as I can.

[Cloudwraith]

That's true. Several forums that I was very active on 3-5 years ago I seldom visit anymore. I think part of it is the migration from computers to smart phones. It's very hard for me to read online forums on my phone...

Site admin (Jeff?) may want to consider installing the Tapatalk plugin for phpBB. Makes posting and reading forums from smartphones much easier.


https://www.tapatalk.com/download_phpbb.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[carmen fovozzo]

Well there is another big reason......simply put..On social media you can say and do just about anything....whether that's good or bad is another topic....here on OFCC it's very controlled as it should be...That right there I believe is a turn off to a lot of people...

[Cloudwraith]

A couple of things I'll throw out:

1. I'm sure many people find the forum via search engines. Once the forum is found, it is usually bookmarked and returned to as needed. The problem is that, up until recently, I had no idea there was a main https://ohioccw.org/ home page. There is a tiny text link at the top of the forum but if you aren't looking for it, you'd never find it. The only place to join OFCC, donate or renew memberships is on that page. I haven't seen any banners or ways to funnel new forum members to look at that page. Old hats and long time members may take that home page site for granted and expect everyone to know about it. Mod signatures with links to the main page or renewal links etc... could help.

2. Most forums I've known for years have some sort of annual drive for membership renewals or donations. As much as I hate these these sort of drives, they are necessary or else people just don't remember or even become aware the being a paying member is an option. Yea, you see the site supporter labels but how do you become one? Is there a FAQ or sticky regarding that anywhere? I know that Moderators and Staff are limited by the abilities of the software but something more than an innocuous Members Please! post in the announcements, that is dated 7 months ago so that nobody really pays attention to it, is needed. A membership renewal banner might do wonders as would standard buttons on the forum main page to take you to the registration or renewal or donation page.

3. How about a FAQ or sticky on what the various labels mean? Patron? Site Supporter? etc... That might drive new members to decide how they want to volunteer time or money. Maybe some new labels like Site Volunteer.

These are just some site specific, logistic issues that, as a previous forum admin, I've noticed. These can be easily addressed, rectified or added. I can't do much about whatever bad blood, perceived injustice, or membership apathy exists. I do know that an active forum tends to generate interest and participation. I don't see many new topics in the more popular categories (other than In the News) for people to respond to and generate interest. If new people come to the site and see stale topics from 30 days ago they get the impression the forum isn't healthy. Maybe summertime has people out and about more and less on their computers and things will pick up in the fall.

[Notasmiff]

Thanks for responding, Mustang. I bumped my previous post and here's a link
212 views and 0 replies makes a person think the forum is kinda slow or maybe you're not in the click ??
http://www.ohioccwforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=89767" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Sevens]

If we have to have a Frank discussion... fine. I'd much rather have a Chuck discussion, but this will have to do.
^This is a typical example of what I often add to these pages. Inconsequential cracks and such. I will also spew off a short rant when I find someone "in the news" that peeves me off, such as the drunken ghost of Ted Kennedy, former officer & card-carrying steaming turd Harless, etc etc.

Probably more than anything, I enjoy discussing handloading and I try my best to offer help in that area any time I can, because I feel that I'm somewhat skilled at it and I can be helpful. In other words, 180 degrees from sorting and interpreting the ORC which I am painfully BAD at doing.

OFCC events, I do have opinions on those.
PITP, I attended for 4 years consecutively, iirc. Early on, the prize table had my interest the most. After attending two of them, it was the comraderie of a small handful of friends that was the draw. The location is certainly easy for me and maybe my opinion gets easily discounted because I live in the middle of the State but I think it's a silly suggestion when out of towners complain that it never moves from Central Ohio. Ummm, that location makes it easiest for EVERY Ohioan, not to mention the guest speakers who are far more than "familiar" with events near the Capitol (as opposed the possibility being hundreds of miles away from some alternate event site.

The Fun 'n Gun is my event. I think I've done the last six. The only true annoyance is how few folks that seem to live on the forums seem to EVER show up to this event. The FnG is not only important because it's a genuine find raiser for this organization... but for cryin' out loud it's a bunch of good folks with guns -- and shooting. I cannot understand why everyone isn't chomping at the bit to be there!

As for the organization and the forums... it occurred to me years ago that the two are related but not "one." It seemed to me long ago that the forums had many "loud voices" and the organization (whoever those actual people were) paid very little attention to the forums at all and seemingly had very little interest in anything (ANYTHING!) discussed on the forums.

About that ^^^, a couple things:
A) I believe that is much different here in 2017 than it was in say 2009 or 2011. I believe this is due to the work of guys like Chuck, Morne, Mgal380, Jake, Jedi and others whose names escape me but are no less important. I believe the time & energy they spend on the forum AND discussing organizational business is extremely important to the (seemingly large number of) people who have a need to have a voice in something they support.

B) as it happens, I'm not that kind of people. While I realize fully that this -is- a grassroots org, and OFCC and the political issues OFCC deals with are both important to me, neither crack the top handful of things that require my time, passion and energy. God bless retired guys, actual lawyers and folks that exhibit obvious above average intelligence AND the charisma and ability to present good ideas to others, especially to lawmakers.

Why am I a Patron member? Because I'm a laborer by trade and I clock 55+ hours a week. That I can give some cash and maybe some activity on the forum and a little handloading advice is a way that I can (hopefully) help. No, I cannot get to the State House, I have about 90 mins before and after work when I'm not actually at work or commuting. I have children also. I post almost always at slow moments in the middle of my chaotic work day.

I also support this organization for two big reasons-- because I feel that I owe them for PAST accomplishments in the State of Ohio and because I trust their drive and direction on future accomplishments here in Ohio.

I am sure that I most certainly have NO CLUE how to best accomplish the things that OFCC accomplishes. And I also don't know the best way to "sell" the organization and generate interest in OFCC. And maybe I'm a jerk (been accused of it before, don't care about the critics enough to argue any critics) but when I hear posters that cry, whine or complain about this organization... usually I just chuckle. Awww, look... someone's having a tough day.

Y'know what else?! My posts are TOO DAMN LONG. Who in their right mind wants to read all of that?!

[carmen fovozzo]

I read it..

[jeep45238]

I've stopped coming mainly because there's essentially no room for me here (or other gun sites).

I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment but not a single issue voter. The amount of posts I have to skip because "libtard" this and "Oscummer" that makes for relatively few threads I actually want to participate in. There's no interest in finding common ground, only winning at "the other side's" expense. No desire to discuss, understand, or listen - just yell louder. I am also a strong supporter of the 1st Amendment, so while I don't agree with what's said or how it's said, I'll fight to ensure people can say what they want. Doesn't mean I have to stick around and listen to it.

There was some of this before the election, but in the last 8-12 months, it's gotten much worse. I HATE going to my gun club meetings because it's all of this x10. As a result, I tend to shoot alone or with a small group of friends (who don't necessarily share my views, btw).

That's my reason for being scarce on the forums.

This too. Bigotry and belittling others for having a differing viewpoint shows a sincere lack of ativity in brain matter in my opinion. Stating why parties disagree, the basis for the arguments, facts, outcomes, and more importantly, what the other side might actually have right, can do wonders. It gives a perspective on what others are thinking, feeling, why, and accepts that the world is grey scale, not black and white.

Heck, my wife and I are at total opposite ends of the gun rights spectrum. But you know what? At the end of the day our goals are the same - less lives lost, less injuries, less crime, and less fear. Imagine that.

[peacefulvalley]

I've been a paid member for several years and haven't posted according to the site information that is not correct.. Several times that I have had problems with the site I have gone to contact us and have NEVER received a reply.
IMO it's a site for a few and when things were going good didn't really care about anyone other than the "Good Old Boys"

[Javelin Man]

I've been a paid member for several years and haven't posted according to the site information that is not correct.. Several times that I have had problems with the site I have gone to contact us and have NEVER received a reply.
IMO it's a site for a few and when things were going good didn't really care about anyone other than the "Good Old Boys"

You're the person we're after; a supporter, but something goes wrong and you ask for help. The unpaid volunteers don't always coordinate who is going to help whom and it gets lost in the cracks. You don't get the help and can't post or receive messages or other services that we get to enjoy.

Let's hope Chuck's thread clears some of these misconceptions and actual problems up.

[JediSkipdogg]

I've been a paid member for several years and haven't posted according to the site information that is not correct.. Several times that I have had problems with the site I have gone to contact us and have NEVER received a reply.
IMO it's a site for a few and when things were going good didn't really care about anyone other than the "Good Old Boys"

You're the person we're after; a supporter, but something goes wrong and you ask for help. The unpaid volunteers don't always coordinate who is going to help whom and it gets lost in the cracks. You don't get the help and can't post or receive messages or other services that we get to enjoy.

Let's hope Chuck's thread clears some of these misconceptions and actual problems up.

Well, over the past few years Chuck and myself have found out how broken the Contact Us system is. Many of the options on there went to one person. Well, that one person left the organization long ago or simply wasn't participating in answering emails. Many of those links have since been corrected to either go to someone that is active at the organization or to multiple people so whomever gets to it first can handle it and provide a faster service. Hopefully if you select a Contact Us link you'll now get a reply from someone.

[Mustang380gal]

I've stopped coming mainly because there's essentially no room for me here (or other gun sites).

I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment but not a single issue voter. The amount of posts I have to skip because "libtard" this and "Oscummer" that makes for relatively few threads I actually want to participate in. There's no interest in finding common ground, only winning at "the other side's" expense. No desire to discuss, understand, or listen - just yell louder. I am also a strong supporter of the 1st Amendment, so while I don't agree with what's said or how it's said, I'll fight to ensure people can say what they want. Doesn't mean I have to stick around and listen to it.

There was some of this before the election, but in the last 8-12 months, it's gotten much worse. I HATE going to my gun club meetings because it's all of this x10. As a result, I tend to shoot alone or with a small group of friends (who don't necessarily share my views, btw).

That's my reason for being scarce on the forums.

According to the TOS, politics are supposed to be limited to 2A issues. We moderators have tended to let it slide a bit, especially during the election.

I agree that the name calling is not helpful at all. Name calling toward other posters is not permitted, but maybe it needs to broaden a bit to include some of those other terms. I am not a fan of the way some people on both sides have taken the presidents' names and made it into an insult, either.

Both sides of the political spectrum have unfortunately fallen into the yell louder camp.

There are fewer people who moderate here, and I work night shift, so availability is limited. If you see this kind of uncomfortable and unnecessary conversation, report the post, send me a PM and I will take care of it as soon as humanly possible. I get emails when I get a PM, so I don't need to be logged on to the forum to know that I need to attend to something. It seemed that there was some interest in the politics being broadened a bit, but if it is causing people to leave, then I can certainly keep things tighter.

In the "you can't please everybody" category, we have in the past gotten criticized for keeping too tight to the TOS, keeping conversation too stunted. Hopefully, we can get the pendulum swinging the other way, and find a happy medium.

[BuckJM53]

Being honest, while I greatly appreciate the good things accomplished by OFCC (and BFA), with limited time available due to many ongoing irons in the fire and being a moderator on another firearms forum for many years, I tend to use both as reference sources to stay current on pending Ohio legislation while providing only occasional input on topics of particular interest to me (only 203 posts in 8 years here ). Thanks again for all you do.