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We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:02 pm
by Clams
This weekend there were DBT rock shows in Atlanta and Louisville. One of those shows included not only a set by Drivin & Cryin but also an REM REUNION!! (well a 3/4 reunion, anyway). I know these things happened bc I saw about 30 posts and photos about them on facebook. You know where I didn't see anything? Right here on ol' 3dd. No comments, no photos, not even a setlist. I know the Facebook DBT group has been squashing 3dd for years now but we can do better than this right? I hope so.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 1:38 pm
by Mundane Mayhem
Clams wrote:This weekend there were DBT rock shows in Atlanta and Louisville. One of those shows included not only a set by Drivin & Cryin but also an REM REUNION!! (well a 3/4 reunion, anyway). I know these things happened bc I saw about 30 posts and photos about them on facebook. You know where I didn't see anything? Right here on ol' 3dd. No comments, no photos, not even a setlist. I know the Facebook DBT group has been squashing 3dd for years now but we can do better than this right? I hope so.
Hear, hear. I'm not on Facebook, so this is doubly important to me!

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:20 pm
by Tequila Cowboy
I'm open to suggestions. A lot of the folks that have recently gotten on the DBT train hard aren't on here anymore and some of them never were. I've thought that maybe bringing back some of our weekly features back and cross pollinating them in the FB group might help. I used to promote the artist of the week over there and it definitely worked towards that end some. If anyone has suggestions let's hear them.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:33 pm
by John A Arkansawyer
Clams wrote:This weekend there were DBT rock shows in Atlanta and Louisville. One of those shows included not only a set by Drivin & Cryin but also an REM REUNION!! (well a 3/4 reunion, anyway). I know these things happened bc I saw about 30 posts and photos about them on facebook. You know where I didn't see anything? Right here on ol' 3dd. No comments, no photos, not even a setlist. I know the Facebook DBT group has been squashing 3dd for years now but we can do better than this right? I hope so.
I beg your pardon! If you look over in the Fox Theatre thread, you'll clearly see that I commented on this:
John A Arkansawyer wrote:
jh13 wrote:Wonder if there will really be any special guests, or if that's just pre-show hype?
Just hype. So disappointing. If you don't get all four members of R.E.M. there, it's just not much of a show, that's all I'm saying.
So there!

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:33 pm
by Mundane Mayhem
Tequila Cowboy wrote:I'm open to suggestions. A lot of the folks that have recently gotten on the DBT train hard aren't on here anymore and some of them never were. I've thought that maybe bringing back some of our weekly features back and cross pollinating them in the FB group might help. I used to promote the artist of the week over there and it definitely worked towards that end some. If anyone has suggestions let's hear them.
I won't try to speak for Clams, but my pile-on wasn't a criticism of 3DD engagement more generally. It remains one of my favorite places on the internet and I check it nearly every day even when there's nothing going on in DBT world.

I was just agreeing that it was surprising not to see any setlists or recaps after the beginning of a tour in a region where I think this board is pretty well represented. That's all!

We're never going to "compete" with Facebook, considering that nearly half the planet uses the platform. Which is part of why I left Facebook, but that's another story for another day.

If anything, this is just a good reminder for me to keep setlists and try to engage intentionally with the great community here at 3DD. I don't think we need to see any major overhauls!

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:44 pm
by whatwouldcooleydo?
Clams wrote:One of those shows included not only a set by Drivin & Cryin but also an REM REUNION!! (well a 3/4 reunion, anyway).
Hetch Hetchy reunion or bust!!! :lol:

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:18 pm
by Zip City
It feels like this board has been in a slow-motion death spiral for years. I don't know what gets us out of it. Maybe inviting all the MAGA rednecks from Facebook and promising to "keep politics out of muh music!!!"???

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:22 am
by beantownbubba
This has been a long term problem. There have been any number of sort of "revivals" but they always seem to fade, probably because there aren't enough regulars to support vibrant conversations on a daily (or at least regular) basis. The two obvious solutions are for those who care to post more and to attract more participants by some creative means. I personally think the quality of what's here ought to attract at least a critical mass but that has proven not to be the case and I don't have any good answers. All that said, there ought to be a way to insure that at least set lists and perhaps a review of every show be posted here. Maybe requesting in advance that a known attendee provide the basics? Could smack too much of "homework," I dunno. I'm certainly open to ideas.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:47 am
by Zip City
beantownbubba wrote:This has been a long term problem. There have been any number of sort of "revivals" but they always seem to fade, probably because there aren't enough regulars to support vibrant conversations on a daily (or at least regular) basis. The two obvious solutions are for those who care to post more and to attract more participants by some creative means. I personally think the quality of what's here ought to attract at least a critical mass but that has proven not to be the case and I don't have any good answers. All that said, there ought to be a way to insure that at least set lists and perhaps a review of every show be posted here. Maybe requesting in advance that a known attendee provide the basics? Could smack too much of "homework," I dunno. I'm certainly open to ideas.
Do we know why some of the old NCC crew no longer visit? What drove them away? I'm thinking of the PennyLane's of the world

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 12:58 pm
by beantownbubba
Zip City wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:This has been a long term problem. There have been any number of sort of "revivals" but they always seem to fade, probably because there aren't enough regulars to support vibrant conversations on a daily (or at least regular) basis. The two obvious solutions are for those who care to post more and to attract more participants by some creative means. I personally think the quality of what's here ought to attract at least a critical mass but that has proven not to be the case and I don't have any good answers. All that said, there ought to be a way to insure that at least set lists and perhaps a review of every show be posted here. Maybe requesting in advance that a known attendee provide the basics? Could smack too much of "homework," I dunno. I'm certainly open to ideas.
Do we know why some of the old NCC crew no longer visit? What drove them away? I'm thinking of the PennyLane's of the world
Penny Lane specifically had a baby and her online time plummeted. More generally, life changes affected several people. Some people only like to come around when DBT is active - on tour or a new album or the like and I think they get out of the habit between times. But that still leaves a lot of unexplained (at least to me) departures.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:05 pm
by pearlbeer
Zip City wrote:It feels like this board has been in a slow-motion death spiral for years. I don't know what gets us out of it. Maybe inviting all the MAGA rednecks from Facebook and promising to "keep politics out of muh music!!!"???

Facebook sucks. I quit it a year or so ago and don't miss a minute.

While 3DD site traffic might be down, with what the community has been able to accomplish with things like "The Company We Keep" book, I'd argue we are fairly healthy.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:24 pm
by RolanK
I'm not a regular poster in here (but a pretty regular reader - almost daily).This board is where I get most of the info on stuff going on with the band - and music in general. I am not in any of the DBT facebook groups. Not really into fb at all really, other than to check in on friends and family and throw in the odd 'like' now and then. Not really comfortable with voicing my opinion 'in public' on fb. I don't have the same reservation in here. Living far far away, I got very little to contribute with regards to DBT related show reviews etc. Don't know what I would do if this site went silent.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:25 pm
by Clams
beantownbubba wrote:
Zip City wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:This has been a long term problem. There have been any number of sort of "revivals" but they always seem to fade, probably because there aren't enough regulars to support vibrant conversations on a daily (or at least regular) basis. The two obvious solutions are for those who care to post more and to attract more participants by some creative means. I personally think the quality of what's here ought to attract at least a critical mass but that has proven not to be the case and I don't have any good answers. All that said, there ought to be a way to insure that at least set lists and perhaps a review of every show be posted here. Maybe requesting in advance that a known attendee provide the basics? Could smack too much of "homework," I dunno. I'm certainly open to ideas.
Do we know why some of the old NCC crew no longer visit? What drove them away? I'm thinking of the PennyLane's of the world
Penny Lane specifically had a baby and her online time plummeted. More generally, life changes affected several people. Some people only like to come around when DBT is active - on tour or a new album or the like and I think they get out of the habit between times. But that still leaves a lot of unexplained (at least to me) departures.
Facebook is the culprit. I think that's where most people get their online DBT fix nowadays. If you're already on FB (and most people are) it's just so much easier to interact in the DBT group there than to come here. Fact is there really aren't that many good, active message boards left these days, at least not compared to circa 2010 before facebook took over the world. I think most message boards that serve a niche interest (and I think that description fits DBT) are suffering a similar fate to what's going on here at 3dd. I don't think there is a fix. We regulars will keep the place going but I don't think the old days are ever gonna come back (except for maybe when the new record leaks and all the old regulars will want a download :lol:).

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:31 pm
by Tequila Cowboy
pearlbeer wrote:
Zip City wrote:It feels like this board has been in a slow-motion death spiral for years. I don't know what gets us out of it. Maybe inviting all the MAGA rednecks from Facebook and promising to "keep politics out of muh music!!!"???

Facebook sucks. I quit it a year or so ago and don't miss a minute.

While 3DD site traffic might be down, with what the community has been able to accomplish with things like "The Company We Keep" book, I'd argue we are fairly healthy.
In fairness the FB group really helped with the success of that book. It would be nice to get a little more traffic around here for some in depth discussion, but I for one have no desire to compete with a FB group that has 9,000 (!!) members. That place can get tedious at times but the fact that Patterson posts there on a regular basis is a real benefit for everyone so it isn't all bad. I hope everyone is thankful for the active role he plays and the information he provides the fans.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:39 pm
by Clams
Tequila Cowboy wrote:That place can get tedious at times but the fact that Patterson posts there on a regular basis is a real benefit for everyone so it isn't all bad. I hope everyone is thankful for the active role he plays and the information he provides the fans.
My bad for not mentioning that. The Patterson factor is a HUGE draw on facebook (it even outweighs the considerable draggage of the FB riff raff). He sees and reads pretty much everything over there and his comments are great. FWIW, I think he sees and reads most stuff here too but is obviously more limited in what he can say. Though he really could get an account here (if he hasn't done so already) and post whatever he wants.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:50 pm
by RolanK
Clams wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:That place can get tedious at times but the fact that Patterson posts there on a regular basis is a real benefit for everyone so it isn't all bad. I hope everyone is thankful for the active role he plays and the information he provides the fans.
My bad for not mentioning that. The Patterson factor is a HUGE draw on facebook (it even outweighs the considerable draggage of the FB riff raff). He sees and reads pretty much everything over there and his comments are great. FWIW, I think he sees and reads most stuff here too but is obviously more limited in what he can say. Though he really could get an account here (if he hasn't done so already) and post whatever he wants.
I always suspected LJ was Patterson. :lol:

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:01 pm
by Clams
RolanK wrote: I always suspected LJ was Patterson. :lol:
Or Cooley

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:08 pm
by Zip City
It's a shame, because I find the FB format to be really UNFRIENDLY in terms of a readable thread of comments. Every new post pushes old (and active) ones down, whereas the most active posts stay at the top here

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:14 pm
by RolanK
Clams wrote:
RolanK wrote: I always suspected LJ was Patterson. :lol:
Or Cooley
I had the same thought immediately after hitting the 'submit' button on my post.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:16 pm
by RolanK
Zip City wrote:It's a shame, because I find the FB format to be really UNFRIENDLY in terms of a readable thread of comments. Every new post pushes old (and active) ones down, whereas the most active posts stay at the top here
100% agree. this is why fb is designed for heckling, not insightful discussion.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:18 pm
by LBRod
RolanK wrote:
Zip City wrote:It's a shame, because I find the FB format to be really UNFRIENDLY in terms of a readable thread of comments. Every new post pushes old (and active) ones down, whereas the most active posts stay at the top here
100% agree. this is why fb is designed for heckling, not insightful discussion.
I'm old fashioned, and prefer to do my heckling face to face.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:23 pm
by RolanK
LBRod wrote:
RolanK wrote:
Zip City wrote:It's a shame, because I find the FB format to be really UNFRIENDLY in terms of a readable thread of comments. Every new post pushes old (and active) ones down, whereas the most active posts stay at the top here
100% agree. this is why fb is designed for heckling, not insightful discussion.
I'm old fashioned, and prefer to do my heckling face to face.
A dying artform

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:32 pm
by Tequila Cowboy
Clams wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:That place can get tedious at times but the fact that Patterson posts there on a regular basis is a real benefit for everyone so it isn't all bad. I hope everyone is thankful for the active role he plays and the information he provides the fans.
My bad for not mentioning that. The Patterson factor is a HUGE draw on facebook (it even outweighs the considerable draggage of the FB riff raff). He sees and reads pretty much everything over there and his comments are great. FWIW, I think he sees and reads most stuff here too but is obviously more limited in what he can say. Though he really could get an account here (if he hasn't done so already) and post whatever he wants.
If he sees something here he emails me, John or Beth and we post it.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 2:33 pm
by Tequila Cowboy
Oh, and LJ was real. I met him once.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:26 pm
by beantownbubba
RolanK wrote:
Clams wrote:
RolanK wrote: I always suspected LJ was Patterson. :lol:
Or Cooley
I had the same thought immediately after hitting the 'submit' button on my post.
:lol: :lol: :lol: Either one would be great, and that's a true opinion.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:39 pm
by beantownbubba
Tequila Cowboy wrote:
Clams wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:That place can get tedious at times but the fact that Patterson posts there on a regular basis is a real benefit for everyone so it isn't all bad. I hope everyone is thankful for the active role he plays and the information he provides the fans.
My bad for not mentioning that. The Patterson factor is a HUGE draw on facebook (it even outweighs the considerable draggage of the FB riff raff). He sees and reads pretty much everything over there and his comments are great. FWIW, I think he sees and reads most stuff here too but is obviously more limited in what he can say. Though he really could get an account here (if he hasn't done so already) and post whatever he wants.
If he sees something here he emails me, John or Beth and we post it.
No doubt Patterson's appearances on FB are a big draw.

I've never understood why Patterson (or the other band members for that matter) doesn't participate here*; it seems like a much more comfortable environment though of course I'm projecting my own biases. Beyond that, part of what Patterson does on FB falls into the PR/marketing category and course he's going to go where the numbers are for that purpose. TC, Patterson hasn't communicated here in quite some time and even when he did chime in here on occasion IIRC it was very much limited to correcting mistakes and basically providing factual info. He does that on FB too, but his participation goes beyond that at times.

*That's not exactly true; I think I do understand at least w/ respect to some of the band members but I think they'd enjoy it and find that the pluses outweigh the minuses. Of course my opinion on this counts for even less than usual.

BTW, I know there's no way to define this in a way that would be meaningful and even if there were there'd be no way to make the calculation, but still, I wonder what percentage 9,000 is of "active," committed DBT fans. For a popular band that's obviously a drop in the ocean but for an alleged "cult band" that could represent a significant portion. OTOH, it's not clear to me that DBT still belongs in the cult band category; again, who knows how to define these things but in terms of name recognition the band seems bigger than that now (anecdotal evidence only).

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:43 pm
by beantownbubba
BTW, I know it's a different internet era, but 3dd has not yet reached 9B's peak membership, which if IIRC was either just under or just over 3K.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:48 pm
by bnzz
For what it is worth, the whole Three Dimes Down site needs an uplift. When you go to the Splash Page the first thing you see is a clip touting Homecoming 2017, then some English Oceans videos, the upcoming shows are from June of 2019. The page feels dated to me. I know the board is kind of its own animal, but it is connected.
Just My .02

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:51 pm
by beantownbubba
bnzz wrote:For what it is worth, the whole Three Dimes Down site needs an uplift. When you go to the Splash Page the first thing you see is a clip touting Homecoming 2017, then some English Oceans videos, the upcoming shows are from June of 2019. The page feels dated to me. I know the board is kind of its own animal, but it is connected.
Just My .02
I agree. I keep forgetting to mention the 2017 HC clip and obviously all that stuff should be updated. Volunteer organizations are not always the easiest to maintain.

Re: We need to up our game

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 3:54 pm
by John A Arkansawyer
beantownbubba wrote:Beyond that, part of what Patterson does on FB falls into the PR/marketing category and course he's going to go where the numbers are for that purpose.
I suspect, from noticing the times when Patterson posts on Facebook, that he does most of his commenting for one of two reasons: He's stuck on the bus and bored or he's enjoying it, or both. It's a low-commitment way to yak with people. If he were here, we would (on average) expect more of him, since we are a smaller group of people. That's not to say that he's unaware of the PR/marketing aspect of Facebook--I don't see how he could be!--but I think he does most of it to enjoy himself, like everyone.

Or almost everyone:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:Oh, and LJ was real. I met him once.
What was he like in person? Better than online, I'm betting (and hoping!)