Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I was thinking about what it'd be like to see an online message board or forum for the very first time, and what impressions that first visit might make. I remember the first forums/message boards I saw were not very interesting, and turned me off to the idea.

How many of you had forum or message board experience before joining Club Stogie (or Cigar Asylum, for the very new)?

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I used to spend most of my time on a fishing/hunting forum that was pretty similar in vein to CA in terms of helpful people, and a mod team that wouldn't allow threads to get out of hand. It ended up getting kinda cliquey, so I don't spend too much time there, just when I am getting stoked about deer season or opening fishing. It's a good site, but I smoke cigars more than I hunt or fish.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Orangebloods.com since 2003
CS, CAficionado, Studentdoctor.net, a few others

so yes, I've been participating in dicussion boards for about 5-6 years now

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I have been active on a couple of paddling forums in the past. But not as active as I have been here and at CS.

We got a great gig going on here.:ss

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Since 1999. :)
I pretty much live here, visit a couple other places occasionally.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Yeah, I had a little prior experience but not like CA

Im like a freakin CA crack whore... i cant get enough of you silly bastages. Especially the Massholes

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Airshow forums. CS/CA is by far the best and most active!

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

dec 01 is when I joined my first one...that I remember maybe 00 on corvette forum...can't remember

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I have more forum 'experience' than I'm comfortable admitting to.:bh:al

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

CS was the first forum I ever joined, I had read posts at CF and a couple of others but CS was the first one I joined.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I've been using forums since around 99. I have been a Moderator, Admin, etc on several forums around the net. :tu

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Been on various forums since ~'99, and on usenet before that.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I had a little forum experience.
;)

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I got on my first forum in 1999. I was a member of a clan for a video game. I met some really cool people online there and I still talk to three of them pretty regularly.

I met shilala on a generally bullshit forum tfnn.net. shilala and another fellow started another forum but it's pretty much dead, I'm an admin there though.

I got on BOTL.org in '06 and didn't stay long. I got on CS so I could find a deal at CigarKing last year and it's been downhill since.

This place is my cigar home.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Car forums is where I cut my teeth. My favorite is rennlist and 6speed is pretty cool as well.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Yep. :)

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Never, don't even have a myspace or facebook page. I only used to use the computer for work (yes I consider p**n work too). Other than that, I didn't know how to use one.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I was there today. It's how I keep up with auls. :tu

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Faithfully lurking at www.timezone.com for watches, since 1998.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I've been on car sites before.

This isn't the first site i've been on, but it's one of the ones I'm most active one.

www.htuner.com is my "home" forum. I won't bore anyone with the story but the owner/creator is a great guy and for Honda people it's a safe haven, tons of true pros there, everyone is mature, most people actively race. It's a small site but it's a great mix of a ton of personal friends and net buddies.

I've helped start a few sites and modded on others, honestly I like it here, pop on read posts learn some and be done, no coding, no dealing with members fighting spam etc.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

oh yeah, VWvortex.com and the old ESPN fantasy league forums as well (not anymore on the espn stuff though)

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

CS was my first back in '06... pretty much stick to the cigar forums. :ss

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I voted no, but I have lurked at a yahoo message board (harnesslist) for years. Never posted though. Other than that, I'm an active member of cigar boards only. Have joined another board or two, but for informational purposes only.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Been a member on forums for over 10 years, mostly computer related. Never posted much until CS.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I used the Winston smiley. :D

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I have been a member of a hockey related forum since the mid 90s.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

various wine forums for 10+ yrs

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Yes, but no cigar forums.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

several, and somehow I managed to get banned on most of them :r

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I have been on several forums for many many years... some are gone, but some are still there. The ones that are there I joined in around 2005ish maybe 2004... that was when I started to get into the whole forum thing... :D

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I was on a west coast fishing forum since the mid/late 90s. They now refer to those times as the "Jerry Springer" years, it was wild. There have been many, many forums/message boards since.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Club Stogie was the first board that I joined. CS and CA are the only forums that I contribute to.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Other fishing boards only before I decided to look for a cigar board and I found CS and then CA....

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

I have a crap ton of forums experience. I have been on any # of mustang sites for the past 5 years.

moddedmustangs.com site admin
bluemustangsociety.com admin
moddedautos.com site moderator
badmustangsclub.com
unitedstangs.com

cigarasylum.com
clubstogie.com

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Very interesting - didn't know at all what to expect with this poll.

Looks like between 3/4 and 4/5 of the members on CA were forum junkies or at least forum participants before joining CS or CA.

I wonder how many cigar lovers are out there with a great deal of cigar knowledge/insight but don't "get" the whole forum culture, and I wonder how we could reach those individuals or make our community more accessible to them.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Well, not everybody can (or wants to) get into the right internet state of mind, if you follow me. There are a lot of folks who feel that interacting with others online is a poor substitute for actual human contact.

I think what CA has going for it is WoM (Word of Mouth). If we all talk it up with our "live" smoking buddies, we can bring more people into the fold. I refer people to the reviews all the time.

As for me, I never participated in a forum before CS. I only logged on to thank you all for what you do for the troops. Ya got me hooked. Since then I joined another couple of forums for other hobbies of mine, but this one seems to be special. I'm the most comfortable here.

Re: Did you have prior forum experience?
 

Yeah, glocktalk for a couple of years.