Safe Backup of AlloyAvenue or Stand Alone Forum?

How will this work?

Should we duplicate Alloy Avenue posts here or will this become a unique site?

Afraid this will siphon off good content from AA, and make yet another place to look on the internet

Worried we may kill AA if active users end up here, and this may die without the newbies, look at all the semi-dead Yahoo groups for an example

Just my thoughts, something needs to be done for sure to repair/preserve photos from the Photobucket debacle and to ensure the deep knowledge base lives on..not sure what that is though

FoundryJoe

 

I can't speak for others, but there has been a need for a very long time to have an active owner on AA who returns emails, tends to business on the site, etc.
Many of the problems in AA stem from an absent owner, and the problems have been recently compounded by the pb photo debacle, the lack of available photo space, and the inability of anyone to be able to make any changes to the AA system.

AA has gone down for extended periods of time, and we all have had to wait and hope that it comes back some day.

At a very minimum we need a backup site if AA goes down, but in the greater scheme of things we need a site with an active owner who is willing to provide a site with the speed, capacity, and expansion capabilities that many members have been requesting, and I see this becoming more critical as time passes.

I think this site was long overdue, and if AA falls by the wayside, then the Owner of AA has nobody but himself to blame. Many people sent him emails over many years (myself included over a 6 year period), and I never got a single response.
The only way I know he exists is that he or someone pays the bills for AA to stay open.

Not to be critical, AA has always been free, but we need more than free these days, we need a good site that can be expanded in the future if necessary, and with a responsive owner.
I would be more than willing to chip in a few bucks here to keep this site going, since this site solves the problems that could not be solved elsewhere.

I plan on posting whatever I have that folks may want to see here.
I could potentially post elsewhere, but have no desire to do so.
I like this site a lot; it solves so many problems.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I would prefer a larger Metal working site...BUT staying un subject is critical, almost every person that left AA was because of non metal working threads

V/r HT1

 

alot of the stuff I saw people upset about was the engines and machining stuff when it dissappeared, like zadig's steam engine, and the machine/lathe/mill rebuilds, and other various engine builds and such. Most of the good casting threads, besides the what did you do in your foundry today thread, most of them didnt really have that many pics, mainly alot of text and discussion.

 

Pat said what I would have. Forums come and go. Many of them just have a life cycle. Without leadership, forget it.

 

It seems the power users are all here, so looks like I am moving here, and will use AA for history....

FoundryJoe

 

Ouch please do not reproduce the what did you do in your foundry today... good info gets lost with compliments and fluff, I will happily redo my best helpful threads here with new pics if there is interest.... but really people need to make "Project threads" so they are searchable

V/r HT1

P.S. I still think we need a FAQ and a cast toy contest, but I wont stir the honey bucket

 

donate to charity I like... specifically a children charity??? nothing we will make will be soft and safe for tots... though it might be really fun

 

If you run a cast toy contest you need to make sure you define TOY, after Jag's fun with lost foam project....

 

Jason,
Since your the Master Sculpture, Fabricator & Caster of these particular items, I'm almost sure you have a list of non charitable ..... organ - izations ..... that would love to receive a load of ...... cough ..... cough ...... BP's.

Or we could donate them to some police dept. as billy clubs.

 

I think you may underestimate the impact this site may have on AA. I think it could kill it if all the regulars migrate here. I for one am not going to post on both sites.
Should I move my Cafe Racer here?!
Robert

 

I don't plan on posting much there any longer. Just the way it is. And that's all I'm going to say about that. (If ya can't say something nice, ya shouldn't say it at all) In my best thumper voice.

 

I didn't realise AA was in such a bad way. If this is the place to be, count me in!

 

David has emphasized that this is not a "them against us" situation, and I believe him, and I believe there a place and purpose for both forums.

That being said, I think this forum is an opportunity for members to finally have some control over the casting community's online destiny, and I think having an actual owner who is actively involved in foundry work makes all the difference in the world.
I also think that this is a rare opportunity, and I think we should take full advantage of what is being offered here, and make sure this succeeds.

 

Whats the verdict? Are we saving a copy of AA? I'd hate for all that info to get lost if the forum ever shut down for whatever reason. I vote we save a backup copy just in case.