In the past few months, others, and I, both admins and regular members alike have noticed a rather disturbing trend here at TDH. As a growing board, we are losing our unique and vital ability to be close-knit and helpful to one another. Members, both new and old, in general, are more cynical than ever, and quick to attack others, especially our new members. Earlier this year we asked for donations for a booth at C4. You all gave VERY generously and we couldn’t be more grateful. The point and purpose of having a booth was to draw new members, as new members are the life of the board. Eventually old timers fall away or move on to other things and it is the constant influx of “newbies” that keep us alive. You all gave and we spent a tremendous amount of money to market this board so that we will continue to have new members in the future. We have made great efforts to make ourselves known and to help get new members to visit. However, as a whole, we are not providing a warm and inviting atmosphere that will make a potential member want to hang around for very long. Are newbies frustrating? Yes, they can be. They ask questions that we have answered a thousand times or get all excited and want to share a “new” discovery they have made, one that we made 2 or 3 years ago. If you love TDH and want to see it continue to grow, we all, not just the administration, but all of our members, MUST try to empathize with these new members and try to be helpful whenever possible. Try to see things from their perspective and even if you can’t be excited about their “discoveries”, be excited for them and remember how excited when you were, so many years ago when you were at the same point they are now. Also, as you know, this board is not run the way many boards are run and it takes time for a new person to acclimate themselves to our culture. While we don’t want to bend the rules, we don’t have to cram them down every newbies throat or chide them incessantly when they break one. Be patient with them as the administration often is patient with you. Help them to understand our rules and why we have them. Don’t simply criticize a new member for not following them.
This is a call to bring TDH back to what made us great to begin with; fellow Fett fans helping each other out to create the greatest Fett costumes the costuming community has ever seen! Each and everyone one of you are TDH. You ARE the board and without any one of you, the board would not be the same. Please make sure that your contributions are helping make TDH an open and inviting place for our new members, not den of cold and impersonal hardcases.
D
