We Are Currently In Discussion With Inside Football

[MightyGiants]

As you know, we have always tried to recruit and retain the most thoughtful and knowledgeable Giants fans for our forum.  The success of this board has been and always will be because of all of you.  We believe this is the best discussion board about the NY Giants on the internet thanks to your efforts and contribution.   

The purpose of these discussions is to form a collaboration between BBH and Inside football to provide benefits for both.  If this comes to fruition we will be the message board for Inside Football.   We feel this would be a good marriage because the fan base of both seems to be a mirror image of each other.  Pat has a quality premium product that she publishes on a weekly basis to fans just like you.  We provide a discussion group that transcends the average run of the mill sports message board.  Pat herself has said many of her ideas have come from her fans and our board may serve as a resource for new and fresh ideas. 

We realize that we can't get everyone to agree on everything, however we will not proceed with out the blessing of the majority of our membership.  Therefore we are asking you to vote on this and if you vote no, please state the reason why.   

Be assured that we will never allow this board to be out of control, so if you have any reservations about it becoming too big city we don't for see that happening.   Here is a link to her existing message board called the Tailgate Club and here is a link.

http://insidefootball.websitetoolbox.com/

[LennG]

Just to add to what Rich has already said. This has been discussed among the moderators for a while and we feel it is a win win situation. With Pat, we would gain a valuable insight into football and the Giants,a nd she would gain a message board that has no equal in knowledge and discussion of the Giants.
Let me reassure anyone that nothing will change here. Our board will remain the same, and we will go on, just as we have always done for the past two years. We will not allow anything to change from the way we conduct ourselves, and we would hope to gain more valuable posters, who would share our passion for the Giants and discussion of said team. If anyone doesn't know Pat, she is a class act. We used to post together on a message board many years ago, and her knowledge of football and the Giants is second to on one.

But,a s we have said we would always do here, we will do nothing without letting the membership know about it first, and let everyone have some input.

Again, if this goes thru, things here will remain the same, only, hopefully better. We have worked very hard to make this place a class forum, and we would never do anything to jeopardize that.

[terrymeisner]

just to be on record....im good with the move....go Giants!!!!!

[Kmed6000]

Yeah man, nice work Rich.   This is what you wanted, go for it.

[bamagiantfan]

This all seems good on the surface but I can't help but think of how quickly things went downhill at the BBWC when it aligned itself with Scout.com.

I'm not saying do not do it, just be careful not to make the same mistakes. This board is a bit of a country club. There are expectations of conduct and that is why the board was formed and certainly one of the reasons why I continue to read and post here. Bring in new members and exposure, but let's not lose that which created this board and site and other boards - this growing community of posters- no, community of friends. Gentlemenly, knowledgebale, respectful discussion of Giant football - that is how we got here and why the best fans who post on Giants football contribute to Rich's brainchild.

Good luck either way!!!

Edit to add; I offer no vote. Do what you think is best. I trust your judgement at this point.

[umassgrad]

Good points Bama. Here's to making a great site even better. Thanks in advance to Rich and co. for all the work they do to make this happen.

[Iamboo]

I'd like to echo what bama said.  This board has been around for over two years, yet our membership is still less than 450 posters.  Those that do post here are (IMHO) by far the most intelligent, principled, open minded Giants fans - or fans of any team, for that matter - that I have ever come across.

Maybe I'm approaching this with a "glass is half empty" frame of mind, but I'd hate to see this board devolve and lose its identity. 

But as bama said, I'll go along with whatever you think best.  You mods have done a great job with this board, creating a strong on-line community of Giants fans.  You know much more about the details of the situation with Inside Football than I do.   I trust you to guide this board in the right direction.

[bedl365]

If you gentlemen (mods) think this is the best way to go you can count me in.

[markdmd]

Ditto, mods know best.

[Bill Brown]

As can be seen from my # of posts, I do not post often but I have been here from the beginning and was on BBWC for years prior to Rich starting this site.  As Bama says, BBWC seemed to go downhill greatly at one point and one of the things that happened there was every day there seemed to be tons of new posters many of which were young and not very interesting or knowledgable.  One of the things I enjoy about coming here is the small number of regular posters whom I enjoy reading.  When I speak football with my friends at work or socialize with I will refer to information I get from this board and refer to the posters here as "guys I know on this board" and even consider to be "friends".  There are many people here I respect a lot.  Rich, Lenn, Terry, Painter, Kmed, Bama, Tonka, Ceri, Troy, Drake, Weeze and all the other regulars I fail to mention off the top of my head are why I come here every day to get my Giants fix.  You guys that run this board have done a great job and I'm sure you will continue to do so.  It is entirely up to you to take this board in whatever direction you feel is best.  As long as my "friends" are coming here and providing me with information, respect and the joy I get from reading your opinions I will continue to be here.

Bill

[vette5573]

We chose Inside Football after months of consideration. Patricia Trainia is a well respected writer in the Football community. The type of coverage is in depth and in detail. Her publication is not for the average fan. The manner in which she approaches the game and the integrity with which she conducts her business can clearly be seen from observation over the years. This professionalism has clearly carried over on to her message board and in the letters from her fans. She sets the bar, she sets the tone.

Our concern is that we lose members over time through attrition and the quality of the member is not replaced. Another concern is that after years of discussion, we all form the same point of view and become one voice. Both will lead to a dried up and dead board.

We have found that we have a steady stream of new members which translates into about 10-20 a month. Out of that number, we find that 10% actually post and get somewhat involved. After examining recent activity, it was decided that we become more aggressive in our approach to inviting new membership.

Membership here comes with an open invitation, but spammers and hackers are carefully weeded out. Becoming a member doesn't make you a member for life. There is a code of conduct and integrity to which you must abide. You need to learn how we do things around here and respect the code. We clearly understand that you all want to be associated with a peer group of fine character. We as moderators speak from one voice and hear our pledge as it echoes from these pages.

We never allow this board to deteriorate in the standards we have all set here and in the quality of content provided by it's members. Never!


That being said, please realize that all of our core members, must do their part in extending an open hand to new members and gently guiding anyone requiring a little help. We have an opportunity to make many new friends here. More than a few of us can proudly say that the friendship and bonds we have formed with others are very valuable and this com-radere will join us through our walk of life.

We have no doubt that we can rely on the support of our membership to help us through this anticipated transition. Thank you all for your sense of urgency in responding to this request.

[andrew_nyg]

I voted yes.

Great stuff...well thought out!

[Boog Man]

We've been burned before, but we've only been so when blindly rushing into a bad situation with little forethought. Rich and the the other mods have created something here that we all value, and nothing has ever been done since the inception of this website that did not involve forethought and deep consideration. It's yet another one of the things that makes this site the only site I go to for discussion and news about the Giants. So if it has been thought out and deliberated on by the men who have put so much time and effort into this site and they deem it to be a good idea, my vote is Yes, as I have a great deal of respect for the guys who make it all happen here.

Boog

[vette5573]

The Tailgate club is a small community of close knit members. They have concerns about being absorbed into our larger group, where their identity may be lost in the mix. I can understand the feeling of insecurity.

Pat won't move on this if her members vote no. My personal opinion is I wouldn't want to either, even though there is a much larger picture involved. This move would not only bode well for us, but it might also be a significant step for Pat's business. The strength in numbers would only serve to validate her fine work to those exploring the site before deciding to purchase the product. I respect her loyalty to her members. See what I mean about Pat Trainia? 

bamagiantfan, Thank you for stepping up and addressing the concerns of Pat's members. It's appreciated. Obviously our Mods can't go over there as it would reek of agenda. We want to earn their respect. I think what you did was enough to paint a picture of life over here. I think now we should let them be and make their decision.

[Cid in Dupont]

Having only posted on this board for less than a year (albeit a might bit too often, at least for my boss's taste ) I'm on board (no pun intended) with whatever the Mods think is right.  This is w/o a doubt the best board about the Giants anywhere bar none.

Thanks for all of the hard work you guys do.  Now here's to the future.  Oh and btw, I read Traina Thought daily, and she's even posted a letter of mine.  No complaints about her in any manner; very professional, prepared, and honest.

As always...IMHO...Cid