Petal forum?

[aaron]

A lot of the new threads in here have been about Petal and it's growing rapidly. Should we give Petal it's own forum and make it a sub-forum of the Hattiesburg one (ex. the vbookie and games forums are sub-forums of the Off-Topic). Or should we make it it's own main forum?

[Joelaw]

QM- you make some good points, but if it is placed as a sub-forum of hattiesburg it would get more traffic.

[noway]

I think we need a Oak Grove forum before we get a Petal forum...:smt102

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060509/OPINION03/605090336/1014/OPINION

[aaron]

Well, I've always thought of Petal as a suburb of Hattiesburg. I tend to agree with Joelaw that it will get more traffic in the Hattiesburg forum. It's more "window" traffic though, people who come by just to read, not post. An Oak Grove forum wouldn't be out of the question either. This is all just to organize things, as well as, give visitors a clear idea of what is going on. We'll just see where the vote ends up.

[wilebill]

I don't have an opinion.

[Conveyor Belt]

I think for an area to have it's own seperate forum it should first be incorporated, not just undergoing incorporation. :)

I think it follows best to be a sub forum of the Pine Belt forum, but then, should Laurel also be a sub forum there?

I think it's fine the way it is, although I wouldn't be opposed to a Petal subforum. I know where to go to read and where to go to post, so your original headers are working fine the way they are.

[MSQueen]

i agree with QM to have it as a sub-forum under Pine Belt. also think Oak Grove could have it's own sub-forum under Pine Belt. but, it also works the way it is as long as people reference Petal or Oak Grove or whatever in the title of the thread. :-D

[TheKing]

As someone who has ran a few forums in the past...and one now...

beware creating too many forums. Scattering of threads and posts and forums and categories and all that jazz can sometimes make navigation difficult.

that said...good move by gauging the interest of your community and getting their input. :smt038

[Wayward]

Basically, I agree with TheKing. Separate forums would fracture the continuity for discussions involving the metropolitan area. Too many issues involving Hattiesburg, Petal, and Oak Grove are to interrelated. It's really a contiguous area separated only by the political boundaries. We shouldn't fracture the discussions simply because of political boundaries. MyHattiesburg should follow the ADP lead and think regional.

:smt006 Hello over there ... we're in this together. :-D

[aaron]

Well, I have already decided not to do it at this time, but it would have been an organizational change. If you live in Petal, and aren't interested in Pine Belt issues, then thumbing through all the irrevelant Pine Belt topics to see what people have been saying about Petal is a hassle. Just like some people want Oak Grove incorporated, some people want to have a seperate forum for their city or topic of interest. Most users read and reply using the "new posts" link, so the seperation is transparent to them.

It's mainly an effort to attract new users to the site and give them a feeling that they belong here and not Hattiesburg residents only. Like I said though, I'm going to put this off until Petal garners more topics than it does now. Seeing an empty forum is sometimes worse than not seeing one at all.

[Wayward]

Aaron,

In actual truth, it really doesn't make any difference to me how the forums are structured. I was just making the regional pitch that has been wandering through other topics. Personally, I'm interested in what happens in the metropolitan area and will read about it in one forum or several forums. :)

[aaron]

bumping this for new votes based on the recent activity in the Pine Belt forum.

[James Moore]

Since The American introduced their new forum format in September, the Petal section of the forum has greatly outpaced the Hattiesburg section. To date there have been 226 posts to the Hattiesburg section and 600 to the Petal section. The hit count is even more lopsided in Petal's favor with over 3 hits to every Hattiesburg hit.

I'm partially to blame for those stats as I use the forum as my primary means of communicating with the citizens (I'm the Ward Four Alderman) but the interest also is great due to the rapid change taking place in Petal. I definitely feel that Petal would create significant activity on a Petal area of the forum.

We plan to have a citizen forum on our soon to be unveiled city web site but some will likely feel more comfortable speaking out in a neutral setting. James Moore

[aaron]

Since The American introduced their new forum format in September, the Petal section of the forum has greatly outpaced the Hattiesburg section. To date there have been 226 posts to the Hattiesburg section and 600 to the Petal section. The hit count is even more lopsided in Petal's favor with over 3 hits to every Hattiesburg hit.

I'm partially to blame for those stats as I use the forum as my primary means of communicating with the citizens (I'm the Ward Four Alderman) but the interest also is great due to the rapid change taking place in Petal. I definitely feel that Petal would create significant activity on a Petal area of the forum.

We plan to have a citizen forum on our soon to be unveiled city web site but some will likely feel more comfortable speaking out in a neutral setting. James Moore

My only reason for re-thinking this is the fact that maybe people stop by here, don't see a Petal forum, and revert back to the American. I'm with everyone else on dividing things up too much, but at the same time, you would show you cover more topics to newer people. Well, the votes will speak for themselves.

[Hub a Bubba]

I really wish Laurel would get it's on forum, it's own phone book and it's own TV station.

[aaron]

I think the Laurel newspaper has a forum.

[pEtAl mIsFiT]

It would be great for Petal to have its own sub or forum for easy access. I think you would attract more people. Like I have mentioned I live in Petal and was told about this site from a co-worker also whom lives in Petal. I have gained lots of knowledge here about what is going on in Petal.
Ultimately, it is your decision or if you are going by voters time will tell.
Petal is growing fast and I think we could easily support a Petal sub or forum...
Just my opinion ... yeah I know it like a belly button we all got em...

[aaron]

It looks like the votes confirm that we need one.

[Imapepper]

Yeah! Way to go Petal!:smt038