So about that, creating forums & all...

[Koda]

Hey there.

I like the idea of this place & appreciate the positive mentions here. I have seen a few other forums start up recently too, however the same issues seem to arise. I won't name the other 2 forums I am thinking up off the top of my head, but both are definitely struggling for members.

So that begs the question, how does a forum become active? What springs it to life?

#1 Is it one or two people, making multiple fake accounts and staging conversations with each other? Definitely not ethical, but this is a technique that has been used successfully, on forums we may not even be aware it is used on.

#2 is it one person, posting information & resources for all to see? This is a great start, but it really doesn't go anywhere without people creating conversation & engagement, so ...

#3 Is it a community that is centered around a universal idea?

3 is clearly the answer, but with community comes disagreement, part of the dynamic that makes it whole and not one sided.

So I come here today, as both a teacher & a vendor, with a thought. A question is more precise, and that question is what is the goal of this forum? What is the intention?

-Koda

[Chinaski]

Hey Koda, and welcome.

You make a few good points.

Once a forum gets going, I believe it will keep on going; people discussing, having different opinions, making new discoveries, befriending each other etc., but the trick certainly is: to get it going in the first place. Forumwise, it is the biggest challenge I'm given atm. I must say I haven't been very actively promoting things. We're with 47 right now, but only a handful members are posting/have posted (thank you for doing so, please do continue ).
I'm not ashamed to admit I have two alter egos, one for testing purposes and one to have as a posting, regular/non-admin user. The rest of you are all external and I assume unique members. Maybe some people have multiple accounts, but there is no easy way for me to check on that and I frankly don't see any reason for having them, other than maybe a vendor-user setup. Anyway, I find that not so important.

You are asking what the goal of this platform is. Well, when I started it (and it has not changed of course), it is about having a friendly place on the interweb, a community (big family if you will) of like-minded (but at the same time unique and different) people from all over the world (not only the US ), who are all interested in ethnobotany on whatever level, from whatever angle. About sharing experiences, knowledge, theories, thoughts. From beginner to expert. With "how can plants make our lives better" at the core of it all. Some anthropology here, some gardening questions there. Experiences with herbs, good international places to get them, ways to use or grow them. Questions about how Chinese medicine solves a particular health issue or how Amazonian shamen handle things. Maybe some spirituality. But always the responsible relation between plant and mankind as a central focal point.

This was, is and will be my goal for this board. So community: yes, knowledge: yes, experience: yes and profit: only if it's not financial or material or for a select few. I want the place to have the main focus on the members themselves. Not a secretive commercial backend, with vendors having to pay money or product in exchange for being mentioned here. If they are mentioned here, it is because they do international business, are responsible, have good product for a good price and people have had genuinely good experiences with them, and nothing more. Corruption is going on on a lot of other forums, so enough of that already.

So, I hope that answers your question.