Author Topic: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)  (Read 64055 times)

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Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #90 on: July 14, 2018, 10:56:47 AM »

Offline Fred Roberts

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My vote is to layer ads here and keep this site unique and special.

Been coming here since 2004, I believe, and Forums are my favorite aspect.

Monetize!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2018, 04:04:39 PM by Fred Roberts »

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #91 on: July 14, 2018, 11:06:56 AM »

Offline saltlover

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I'd recommend that someone figure out a quick and dirty annual cost budget sufficient to run CelticBlog forums on other software and/or hardware. Then determine if there are enough people interested in being subscribers at a reasonable price to sustain operations after SB Nation covers transition costs. Build in some cushion to upgrade as necessary or adjust for unmet subscriber expectations. It will give you a ballpark number to work with so you know whether it's viable proposition or wishful thinking before you get into doing the dirty work involved with a conversion.

I would certainly consider subscribing at a reasonable price.

I can understand some current members donating to a fund to get the new site up and running, but charging for a subscription will absolutely kill any chance of it surviving. Just look at things like iPhone apps - if something is free, the downloads are endless, but if something costs $.99, then people will find something else that similar, but free.

And while a number of hardcore members may stand by the new site with a cost, there will be almost no new members, and that is important in the sustainability of such a site. Also, how would you deal with lurkers? Is what we have to say that amazing that they will feel they absolutely need to pay to look at our comments? Many lurkers eventually become members.

tl;dr -  Advertising is the only real way for a new site's survival.

Hybrid models also potentially work (subscription for an ad-free version, or some sort of bonus features for subscribers).  But yes, being purely subscriber based is death to any site like this, and frankly most any site at all.

Attempting to get by on (monthly subscription) donations could also work. No cost to use, but an optional one-time donation (or monthly/annual donation) that you can chose to do when you sign up and change at any time from your profile could work, too (like Wikipedia). It depends on the cost to run, though

With 9 million page views last year, I think the operational costs would be too high for donations alone, which is probably why SB Nation wants to ditch it.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #92 on: July 14, 2018, 12:26:04 PM »

Offline Diggles

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Bummer!   Been on this blog since 2004!  :-(
Diggles

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #93 on: July 14, 2018, 12:38:06 PM »

Offline Celtic Fan Forever

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This is truly a sad thing to hear. I’ve been on this forum literally half my life. From excitement over Gerald Green’s potential to screaming over Mark Blount’s softness, to experiencing the first Celtics championship of my lifetime, to the heartbreaks of 2010 and 2012. Celticsblog has been here through it all. I wish I could help but I’m not great with technology. All I know is this place has been a family to me. It’s great to have a place to talk with a bunch of knowledgeable fans who bleed green. I hope this sticks around in some way, because it’s truly one of my favorite things.
2023 CelticsStrong Historical Draft Champions - OKC Thunder
PG: Chauncey Billups/ Baron Davis
SG: Michael Redd/ Dan Majerle/ Allan Houston
SF: Peja Stojakovic/ Gerald Wallace/ Toni Kukoc
PF: Shawn Kemp/ Antonio McDyess
C: Dwight Howard/ Tyson Chandler

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #94 on: July 14, 2018, 01:03:57 PM »

Online jpotter33

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What a bummer. Only been active on here the last five years or so, but living in Cavs country now and big sports cities with no NBA teams before that, this forum has been my primary outlet for Celtics and NBA discussion. I especially enjoy the game threads, as they give the “sports bar with buddies” vibe that most people can’t get outside of New England.

Will it be the entirety of the Celticsblog site or just the actual forums that are leaving? If just the forums, at least for the game threads couldn’t we just do what other SBNation NBA team sites do (like LibertyBallers and SactownRoyalty) and have a gamethread through one of the front page posts?

It’d be a different format, but would still keep that part of the community, at least. Granted, that doesn’t help the other functionality of the forum that will be lost.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #95 on: July 14, 2018, 02:29:28 PM »

Offline AshyLarry

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This website is first ballot hall of fame, but from all storied careers come an inevitable end. You have your Iversons, Larry Johnsons, Kemps, etc. who play past their prime and make sad from their lagging. This is indeed a special site.

 I'd follow this site wherever it goes though. The content comes with the people, and I have faith that the community will persist through the roadblocks. It's worth it.
My pic is now, and will be Fab Melo until he posts his first official NBA dbl-dbl. This may be permanent.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #96 on: July 14, 2018, 02:52:48 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

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What a bummer. Only been active on here the last five years or so, but living in Cavs country now and big sports cities with no NBA teams before that, this forum has been my primary outlet for Celtics and NBA discussion. I especially enjoy the game threads, as they give the “sports bar with buddies” vibe that most people can’t get outside of New England.

Will it be the entirety of the Celticsblog site or just the actual forums that are leaving? If just the forums, at least for the game threads couldn’t we just do what other SBNation NBA team sites do (like LibertyBallers and SactownRoyalty) and have a gamethread through one of the front page posts?

It’d be a different format, but would still keep that part of the community, at least. Granted, that doesn’t help the other functionality of the forum that will be lost.

I do the game threads for these forums and also put one similar to the forum game threads on the blog on game day.   If the forms move,  I'll go with them and continue to do game threads there as well.   I have absolutely no tech knowledge to help set them up but will be happy to continue doing the game threads there as well as on the blog on game days. 

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #97 on: July 14, 2018, 02:59:58 PM »

Offline byennie

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What a bummer. Only been active on here the last five years or so, but living in Cavs country now and big sports cities with no NBA teams before that, this forum has been my primary outlet for Celtics and NBA discussion. I especially enjoy the game threads, as they give the “sports bar with buddies” vibe that most people can’t get outside of New England.

Will it be the entirety of the Celticsblog site or just the actual forums that are leaving? If just the forums, at least for the game threads couldn’t we just do what other SBNation NBA team sites do (like LibertyBallers and SactownRoyalty) and have a gamethread through one of the front page posts?

It’d be a different format, but would still keep that part of the community, at least. Granted, that doesn’t help the other functionality of the forum that will be lost.

I do the game threads for these forums and also put one similar to the forum game threads on the blog on game day.   If the forms move,  I'll go with them and continue to do game threads there as well.   I have absolutely no tech knowledge to help set them up but will be happy to continue doing the game threads there as well as on the blog on game days.

Yes! Your game threads are definitely a key part of the site, powered by you.

Drop me a PM... I'd love to pick your brain about how to make those even better at some point.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #98 on: July 14, 2018, 03:17:29 PM »

Offline JSD

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I am not a tech guy, but, have been in business all of my life.

From what I've learned in business.

We have an asset here, The asset is all of us. We lend our time and eyeballs to this forum. A lot of well developed Celtic writers here...a lot. This is an asset that can be leveraged at the "new" location into advertising sales. SBNation is to be challenged for not having a notion of how to turn this asset into ad dollars.

Our writing and interaction is second to none and I am sure there will be plenty of clicks for whomever to monetize.

There must be an ad/click/monetizer firm out there somewhere who wants our fan demographic combined with our "moderated content". BTW dropping this bomb in July is tough as our numbers are thin now.

Has there been a traffic volume  stat analysis? I know our tech guys here can get this done.
Yes to all of this. Right now I'm working off of these stats, but I would agree there is more value here than just page views.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?action=stats


I love this this. Went right to the 2016 Presidential Election thread: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=86642.3015 (Action begins on Page 195)


Reading the CB Left lose their collective minds over Trump's election alone is worth a donation.
The only color that matters is GREEN

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #99 on: July 14, 2018, 03:27:15 PM »

Offline JSD

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I'd recommend that someone figure out a quick and dirty annual cost budget sufficient to run CelticBlog forums on other software and/or hardware. Then determine if there are enough people interested in being subscribers at a reasonable price to sustain operations after SB Nation covers transition costs. Build in some cushion to upgrade as necessary or adjust for unmet subscriber expectations. It will give you a ballpark number to work with so you know whether it's viable proposition or wishful thinking before you get into doing the dirty work involved with a conversion.

I would certainly consider subscribing at a reasonable price.

I can understand some current members donating to a fund to get the new site up and running, but charging for a subscription will absolutely kill any chance of it surviving. Just look at things like iPhone apps - if something is free, the downloads are endless, but if something costs $.99, then people will find something else that similar, but free.

And while a number of hardcore members may stand by the new site with a cost, there will be almost no new members, and that is important in the sustainability of such a site. Also, how would you deal with lurkers? Is what we have to say that amazing that they will feel they absolutely need to pay to look at our comments? Many lurkers eventually become members.

tl;dr -  Advertising is the only real way for a new site's survival.

While I would probably be one of those paying subscribers if it came down to it, I agree with this. It Probably is not sustainable.
The only color that matters is GREEN

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #100 on: July 14, 2018, 03:32:21 PM »

Offline byennie

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I'd recommend that someone figure out a quick and dirty annual cost budget sufficient to run CelticBlog forums on other software and/or hardware. Then determine if there are enough people interested in being subscribers at a reasonable price to sustain operations after SB Nation covers transition costs. Build in some cushion to upgrade as necessary or adjust for unmet subscriber expectations. It will give you a ballpark number to work with so you know whether it's viable proposition or wishful thinking before you get into doing the dirty work involved with a conversion.

I would certainly consider subscribing at a reasonable price.

I can understand some current members donating to a fund to get the new site up and running, but charging for a subscription will absolutely kill any chance of it surviving. Just look at things like iPhone apps - if something is free, the downloads are endless, but if something costs $.99, then people will find something else that similar, but free.

And while a number of hardcore members may stand by the new site with a cost, there will be almost no new members, and that is important in the sustainability of such a site. Also, how would you deal with lurkers? Is what we have to say that amazing that they will feel they absolutely need to pay to look at our comments? Many lurkers eventually become members.

tl;dr -  Advertising is the only real way for a new site's survival.

While I would probably be one of those paying subscribers if it came down to it, I agree with this. It Probably is not sustainable.

Yeah right now I don't see subscriptions as an option. What will be different, is that the forums need to be directly monetized in some fashion, as they won't be under the umbrella of CBlog or SBNation anymore and the bills gotta get paid.

My hope is that there is a sustainable path with some tasteful sponsorship and an element of donations especially at first, but preferably not required to keep the lights on.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #101 on: July 14, 2018, 03:33:55 PM »

Offline JSD

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I'd recommend that someone figure out a quick and dirty annual cost budget sufficient to run CelticBlog forums on other software and/or hardware. Then determine if there are enough people interested in being subscribers at a reasonable price to sustain operations after SB Nation covers transition costs. Build in some cushion to upgrade as necessary or adjust for unmet subscriber expectations. It will give you a ballpark number to work with so you know whether it's viable proposition or wishful thinking before you get into doing the dirty work involved with a conversion.

I would certainly consider subscribing at a reasonable price.

I can understand some current members donating to a fund to get the new site up and running, but charging for a subscription will absolutely kill any chance of it surviving. Just look at things like iPhone apps - if something is free, the downloads are endless, but if something costs $.99, then people will find something else that similar, but free.

And while a number of hardcore members may stand by the new site with a cost, there will be almost no new members, and that is important in the sustainability of such a site. Also, how would you deal with lurkers? Is what we have to say that amazing that they will feel they absolutely need to pay to look at our comments? Many lurkers eventually become members.

tl;dr -  Advertising is the only real way for a new site's survival.

While I would probably be one of those paying subscribers if it came down to it, I agree with this. It Probably is not sustainable.

Yeah right now I don't see subscriptions as an option. What will be different, is that the forums need to be directly monetized in some fashion, as they won't be under the umbrella of CBlog or SBNation anymore and the bills gotta get paid.

My hope is that there is a sustainable path with some tasteful sponsorship and an element of donations especially at first, but preferably not required to keep the lights on.

TP to you for stepping up to the plate here, by the way. I'm really rooting for this
The only color that matters is GREEN

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #102 on: July 14, 2018, 03:34:48 PM »

Online Neurotic Guy

  • Dave Cowens
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I am not a tech guy, but, have been in business all of my life.

From what I've learned in business.

We have an asset here, The asset is all of us. We lend our time and eyeballs to this forum. A lot of well developed Celtic writers here...a lot. This is an asset that can be leveraged at the "new" location into advertising sales. SBNation is to be challenged for not having a notion of how to turn this asset into ad dollars.

Our writing and interaction is second to none and I am sure there will be plenty of clicks for whomever to monetize.

There must be an ad/click/monetizer firm out there somewhere who wants our fan demographic combined with our "moderated content". BTW dropping this bomb in July is tough as our numbers are thin now.

Has there been a traffic volume  stat analysis? I know our tech guys here can get this done.
Yes to all of this. Right now I'm working off of these stats, but I would agree there is more value here than just page views.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?action=stats


I love this this. Went right to the 2016 Presidential Election thread: http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=86642.3015 (Action begins on Page 195)


Reading the CB Left lose their collective minds over Trump's election alone is worth a donation.

Wow were the lefties right (I mean correct).  Tremendous collective foresight to the ensuing disaster.  Agreed, great stuff.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #103 on: July 14, 2018, 03:48:18 PM »

Online jpotter33

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What a bummer. Only been active on here the last five years or so, but living in Cavs country now and big sports cities with no NBA teams before that, this forum has been my primary outlet for Celtics and NBA discussion. I especially enjoy the game threads, as they give the “sports bar with buddies” vibe that most people can’t get outside of New England.

Will it be the entirety of the Celticsblog site or just the actual forums that are leaving? If just the forums, at least for the game threads couldn’t we just do what other SBNation NBA team sites do (like LibertyBallers and SactownRoyalty) and have a gamethread through one of the front page posts?

It’d be a different format, but would still keep that part of the community, at least. Granted, that doesn’t help the other functionality of the forum that will be lost.

I do the game threads for these forums and also put one similar to the forum game threads on the blog on game day.   If the forms move,  I'll go with them and continue to do game threads there as well.   I have absolutely no tech knowledge to help set them up but will be happy to continue doing the game threads there as well as on the blog on game days.

Awesome, TP!

I thought I vaguely remembered something like that, but couldn’t find anything when I briefly looked back in the blog posts.

Re: Big Announcement: CelticsBlog forums phasing out (need your help)
« Reply #104 on: July 14, 2018, 03:54:31 PM »

Online Neurotic Guy

  • Dave Cowens
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  • Posts: 23319
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What a bummer. Only been active on here the last five years or so, but living in Cavs country now and big sports cities with no NBA teams before that, this forum has been my primary outlet for Celtics and NBA discussion. I especially enjoy the game threads, as they give the “sports bar with buddies” vibe that most people can’t get outside of New England.

Will it be the entirety of the Celticsblog site or just the actual forums that are leaving? If just the forums, at least for the game threads couldn’t we just do what other SBNation NBA team sites do (like LibertyBallers and SactownRoyalty) and have a gamethread through one of the front page posts?

It’d be a different format, but would still keep that part of the community, at least. Granted, that doesn’t help the other functionality of the forum that will be lost.

I do the game threads for these forums and also put one similar to the forum game threads on the blog on game day.   If the forms move,  I'll go with them and continue to do game threads there as well.   I have absolutely no tech knowledge to help set them up but will be happy to continue doing the game threads there as well as on the blog on game days.

Awesome, TP!

I thought I vaguely remembered something like that, but couldn’t find anything when I briefly looked back in the blog posts.


Hoping for more, but that would be fantastic.