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This thread was split from the Idle Chit-Chatterers' Corner thread. The issue raised related to the issue of the thread containing areas for discussion that could otherwise be divided into separate topics that would allow others to browse and see topics that may interest them.

I have separated if from the other thread because my comment was being led into discussion that was inappropriate and was maligning the mood of the fore-named forum. I have included this as a separate to allow others to contribute without ruining the Idle Chit-Chatterers' Thread.

Here's how the discussion started:

Oh well excuse me if I'm trying to be tactful and not broadcast the reason our forum was forced offline!

P.S. This thread is getting too long!

dave brum wrote: Yes isn't it wonderful. We'd all forgotten how good it is to celebrate the art of conversation (and make new friends in the process). If the thread, or indeed the Lounge at large wasn't used, guess who would have been first to pull the plug on it.

I'm not sure what you mean, dave.... the whole Piano Lounge is idle chit chat!

Well if your going to be petty and argumentative about it dave (i can't believe you went dredging back to the first couple of posts ever posted on the Piano Lounge), you'll notice that we were talking about the launch of the Piano Lounge and not launch of the 'Idle chit-chatterers' corner'.

The reason I mention the point is that no new members are going to want to be bothered wading through 13 pages of chat just to get to know other members, which is primarily why the Piano Lounge exists. In a thread the length of Idle chit-chatterers' corner, the previous 8 or 9 pages are ignorable because the topics are constantly changing which in turn, makes it harder for new folks to comment on earlier comments or discussions.

It's a practical point. If you have problems with what I am saying dave, feel free to send me a PM but I'm not going to have some exchange of wits over it for others to read.

If you think this is a "slanging match", it's not me that making it that way. I am Global Moderator, moderating. Plain and simple. Part of my role description is to prevent threads going off target or being unnecessarily extended: http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-forums/faq.php#f4r1

I'm not saying to get rid of the chit-chatterers' corner! All I am saying is to consider using another thread when introducing a topic that could give a chance to other users, who do not check in on daily basis, to engage in the discussion topics. The topics change so quickly in a single thread that could otherwise be expanded in a single-topic thread if given a chance.

Because by the time I had finshed typing and tried to work through all the "jump ups" in the PM box, four edits later, and still finding mistakes, I decided to stop trying.

It's partly because of this problem with the text box that the Moderators' Forum exists.

dave brum wrote:Well, never mind Mark. How about I buy you a nice ice-cold pint of finest porter down on the Falls sometime as a make-up gesture????

You don't need to do that - why the Falls of all places by the way?

I shouldn't have said that you were being "petty and argumentative" like that on the forum for everyone to read despite my saying that PMs would have been the best way to air the issue so I am sorry for that.

On the note about the closure of the idle chit-chatterer's thread, after all the fuss you made about the separate thread issue, I started to question myself and wondered if I was being too "tight" about the whole thing. I then made a post in the Moderators' Forum to ask the other moderators' for their take on the situation and Barrie made the final decision on the matter.

I do agree with you about the other posters that we never see in the Piano Lounge much these days but I can't help but wonder if it shows just how committed they were in the first place to maintaining relationships and contacts. Real forum supporters don't just bail out when they get the info and help they need. No amount of ongoing threads - not even the idle chit-chatterers' thread - will change people's attitudes or motives for joining a forum. I get those folks all the time in Digital Pianos!