TAMB CLOSURE ANNOUNCEMENT

[fringo]

Just now, brant grebner said:

nawbags

Brant, you're next in charge of this place.

Scrub up,

[jockodile]

Do we know enough about what it would take to run a new TA board? 

As Scots there are always a 55% who need more information before considering.

Would we even be allowed back on the internet, there is just too many unanswered questions.

[Glasgowmancity]

I'll be honest, I'm happy to step up & cover a shortfall £300 pm is a bit steep but with advertising revenue it can't be that much. Problem is I have no techy knowledge but I saw @fringo earlier was happy to donate that - if we can get the details of board, server etc, I'm happy to take the hit. 

 

The moderatoon etc would need to be the same as it's what makes the board work but it's an invaluable resource for away games.

 

if people can handle a unionist (I've got to state that post 2014) taking the board on, then I'm happy to do it. Mods/admin would be made up from regular posters who are happy to do it, I would take a guess at 5 & annonimity would be key  

 

i also wouldn't propose charging, but banning guests would probably be the way forward

[DonnyTJS]

12 minutes ago, Glasgowmancity said:

 

i also wouldn't propose charging, but banning guests would probably be the way forward

Just on that, there are pros & cons. I only registered in the first place because Reeky Sporran was agitating to block guests and I'd been happily luring for ages. However, the reason I bothered registering was because I knew what I'd be missing. There's a risk that the board would struggle to draw new members if folk didn't know what was on offer.

Generous offer, GMC. For what it's worth, and I'm well aware that this board primarily serves a purpose that has nowt to do with me, there are a number of reasons why it was dying and they're not going to go away, but it does seem to be popular for travel and tickets so if folk want to take it on, I guess they should pm one another, and then admin 4, and start working out the details. Maybe it's already happening?

[Glasgowmancity]

35 minutes ago, DonnyTJS said:

Just on that, there are pros & cons. I only registered in the first place because Reeky Sporran was agitating to block guests and I'd been happily luring for ages. However, the reason I bothered registering was because I knew what I'd be missing. There's a risk that the board would struggle to draw new members if folk didn't know what was on offer.

Generous offer, GMC. For what it's worth, and I'm well aware that this board primarily serves a purpose that has nowt to do with me, there are a number of reasons why it was dying and they're not going to go away, but it does seem to be popular for travel and tickets so if folk want to take it on, I guess they should pm one another, and then admin 4, and start working out the details. Maybe it's already happening?

Great input Donny & as far as I know, it's not happening that's why I've stepped up. On the banning guests point that was my one worry when proposing it. I'm happy to take the board on then work out the finer details by majority  

[hampden_loon2878]

Actually cant express how much am gutted, would actually pay a fee for the really good info acquired 

[hampden_loon2878]

31 minutes ago, Glasgowmancity said:

Great input Donny & as far as I know, it's not happening that's why I've stepped up. On the banning guests point that was my one worry when proposing it. I'm happy to take the board on then work out the finer details by majority  

Honestly this message board is goood and genuine i hope it persists because i placed my first ever bet before the Lithuania game,, a bit of "Scottish foresight"?? 

[jockodile]

unionist or nationalist all Jock Tamson's bairns Glasgowmancity.

hoping this board can be saved...

[Dave78]

2 hours ago, Glasgowmancity said:

if people can handle a unionist (I've got to state that post 2014) taking the board on, then I'm happy to do it.

As a nationalist myself, if find it equally embarrassing an bizarre you feel you have to make that qualification. Your politics don't matter.

Anyway.....

I think it was BlueGaz that made the point that hosting the TAMB can be done for WAY cheaper than it currently is. He was bang on.

The Admins mentioned they have a contract with a hosting company that provides a dedicated server. This contract will have been taken out years ago. I know from experience from owning my own software company that the contract agreements stay the same while the new-signup prices get inexorably cheaper (mainly thanks to 'the cloud').

To quote the Admin announcement: " The dedicated server is also older equipment and no longer maintainable, so at some point it would be necessary to migrate the TAMB to a new cloud-based platform. This is quite a large job and would take some time to do. We feel it wouldn't be a worthwhile task given the reduction in traffic and usage of TAMB.   "

Basically they can't be arsed.

If the TAMB dies, it should be allowed to die naturally. The cost of hosting shouldn't be the bullet in the back of its heid.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2017 by Dave78

[Guest BlueGaz]

Spot on Dave. There seems to be a healthy appetite for funding it, we know the costs are not expensive at all these days, there are obvious choices for mods and a few to admin technically. Just a case of a wee group getting together and sorting it out IMO. 

[Lamia]

4 hours ago, Dave78 said:

As a nationalist myself, if find it equally embarrassing an bizarre you feel you have to make that qualification. Your politics don't matter.

Anyway.....

I think it was BlueGaz that made the point that hosting the TAMB can be done for WAY cheaper than it currently is. He was bang on.

The Admins mentioned they have a contract with a hosting company that provides a dedicated server. This contract will have been taken out years ago. I know from experience from owning my own software company that the contract agreements stay the same while the new-signup prices get inexorably cheaper (mainly thanks to 'the cloud').

To quote the Admin announcement: " The dedicated server is also older equipment and no longer maintainable, so at some point it would be necessary to migrate the TAMB to a new cloud-based platform. This is quite a large job and would take some time to do. We feel it wouldn't be a worthwhile task given the reduction in traffic and usage of TAMB.   "

Basically they can't be arsed.

If the TAMB dies, it should be allowed to die naturally. The cost of hosting shouldn't be the bullet in the back of its heid.

 

 

 

 

Just a matter of getting a team together willing to put in the time and effort required then. 

[Parklife]

I'm happy to both help cover any financial shortfall and also to give time to help out doing whatever I can do also. 

[Caledonian Craig]

I ran a forum for nearly ten years (FOR FREE) so what is all this £300 pish? And may I point out it had multiple sections on multiple topics. I closed it down around two or three years ago as Facebook and other such social media sites had lured away many posters. True the same may have happened here but there is still a very healthy amount of regular posters and it still serves a purpose - a great source of info on tickets, travel, TV coverage, team news and so much more. I'd say set up a free forum on software such as Forumotion.

[Glasgowmancity]

The Unionist comment was a wee throw away joke tbh but I'll try & contact admin today & see what can be done

[iainmac1]

In the most recent post it said about using the name but not the current web address and server. Why not? If they are closing it down it shouldn't matter a jot to them who takes it on. Would be simpler to take over this board and keep it going without having people re-register elsewhere which would see others drift away. 

I would happily pay a small amount a month and help out to keep things going.

I think we could condense the board a bit to help increase traffic. Most people don't read every section. We don't need a ta specific and a home games section. They are pretty much the same thing so start by combining them into one ta section. The ta club's section is also very sparsely used to add that in with them as well in one section. 

Regarding the mods. Having them anonymous hasn't been overly successful as there have been many occasions where the rules have been blatantly different for other people. Make it clear what the rules are and have the mods public so there can be no ambiguity.

[iainmac1]

In terms of condensing sections to increase traffic there. 

One TA section.

Away games section that opens so many months before the game and close a month after for specific game.

One Football related section: no need for seperate euro, world cup or Scottish cup sections as they are all talked about in football related.

One other sports section: although not sure this is needed at all actually. Come rugby world cup or whatever it could just be talked about in anything goes.

Anything goes section for other things. No need for tech help section that most people never look at anyway. That chat can go in anything goes.

[Mindimoo]

45 minutes ago, iainmac1 said:

In terms of condensing sections to increase traffic there. 

One TA section.

Away games section that opens so many months before the game and close a month after for specific game.

One Football related section: no need for seperate euro, world cup or Scottish cup sections as they are all talked about in football related.

One other sports section: although not sure this is needed at all actually. Come rugby world cup or whatever it could just be talked about in anything goes.

Anything goes section for other things. No need for tech help section that most people never look at anyway. That chat can go in anything goes.

I think that's a good model 

[fringo]

There's two main things to overcome to keep the TAMB going

1/ Money

2/ Willingness of Owners/Mods/Admins to give up their time to maintain it 

 

I'm sure no.1 could be more easily and swiftly overcome than no.2.

How many members are there now (you used to be able to see this)?I think last time we could see this there were about 70-80k members ? All we need to keep the TAMB financially viable for 12 months is 300 members to stump up £12 each. Surely that's could be done in a matter of days if somehow came up with a simple method to get payments ?

Get that sorted and it gives breathing space to hopefully sort no.2 (depending on patience and good will of current owners to transition this). I'm not volunteering but would stump up £12 in minutes.

[Ormond]

6 hours ago, Parklife said:

I'm happy to both help cover any financial shortfall and also to give time to help out doing whatever I can do also. 

Nae cvnt, and I mean nae cvnt will allow you to be a mod. 

[ParisInAKilt]

How much moderation does it need? 

Im sure we can all get along . .

[iainmac1]

2 hours ago, fringo said:

There's two main things to overcome to keep the TAMB going

1/ Money

2/ Willingness of Owners/Mods/Admins to give up their time to maintain it 

 

I'm sure no.1 could be more easily and swiftly overcome than no.2.

How many members are there now (you used to be able to see this)?I think last time we could see this there were about 70-80k members ? All we need to keep the TAMB financially viable for 12 months is 300 members to stump up £12 each. Surely that's could be done in a matter of days if somehow came up with a simple method to get payments ?

Get that sorted and it gives breathing space to hopefully sort no.2 (depending on patience and good will of current owners to transition this). I'm not volunteering but would stump up £12 in minutes.

There might be 80k members but how many different people post here regularly over the course of a say a month though? Would it even be as high as 50. Wonder how many people visit it regularly. 

Moderation shouldn't be a problem if you could get 10 or so mods that should cover things. Posts can't be reported that often. 

I would like mods to be public though so they are more accountable and there won't be accusations of different rules for people etc which has happened in the past.

[Debian]

Would be disappointed to see it go.  As others have said, it's a valuable resource for away games etc but I find myself more and more on the Tartan Army McTartanface page now for details. 

I've not posted as much recently or been online due to having a baby, but I'd still be up for donating something to help keep it going.  

Would we be a Newco though or would we still be the same?

[fringo]

11 minutes ago, iainmac1 said:

There might be 80k members but how many different people post here regularly over the course of a say a month though? Would it even be as high as 50. Wonder how many people visit it regularly. 

Moderation shouldn't be a problem if you could get 10 or so mods that should cover things. Posts can't be reported that often. 

I would like mods to be public though so they are more accountable and there won't be accusations of different rules for people etc which has happened in the past.

95-99% probably don't post regularly (or at all maybe) but a large number of the 80k read it especially for info around Scotland games.

It would only take a few hundred to subsidise the TAMB for at least a year.

[iainmac1]

What is this mctartanface page ppl keep mentioning!

[iainmac1]

1 minute ago, fringo said:

95-99% probably don't post regularly (or at all maybe) but a large number of the 80k read it especially for info around Scotland games.

It would only take a few hundred to subsidise the TAMB for at least a year.

True. This £300 mentioned is running costs but what's the shortfall once advertising is taken off that?