Its pretty apparant by the lack of content recently my hearts not in this place any more and perhaps it would be better run by someone with more enthusiasm. I havent trained in months and it doesnt seem right having a karate discussion group run by someone not actually training any more. Also - with any luck I will be working away for extended periods shortly and it will need someone with more regular net access to babysit it.

So - If anyones interested, heres what ya get:
*Domains karatedo-forum.com, karatedoforum.com, gkr.net.au all paid up for varying periods. you dont of course have to use them.
*Database as is
*assistance to set it up on your server
*anything else we can think of to throw in.

What you need:
A hosted server account with PHP4.3+ and MySql4.0+ (suggest avoid 5.0).
The forum software is non transferrable so will need to get that - however Invision have packages which include the forum software and hosting, lots of storage and bandwith and all support and upgrades for US$10/month.

Its been a lot of fun, Ive learned so much and met some fantastic people specifically from this place:
Mick, Wombatonesix, Nooms, Mike Flanagan, Mitten, Goyle, Dale, Boz, MarkP, Willsc, Omega, Sensette.... , plus all those I converse with online... Hell we even have a couple to get married next year who met via here! (not sure if I should apologise )

So - its sad to let it go but this is a chance for someone who still isnt disheartened by all the bullshit and politics that goes on in the MA community to take a small but intelligent group who prefer open and honest discussions to ranting and raving and make something of it.

Anyone interested please shoot me an email or a PM.

Cheers,

Matt

I'd have thought wombat would have been the natural choice?

Sorry you've lost interest, Matt. but yeah, it's quite stagnant at the moment. Thats all the regulars faults though. Not just you

I think its more a case of we've pretty much discussed it all for the level of where we are all at (others have been unwilling to share and discuss it at all ), so some fresh blood with new ideas and enthusiasm might be the trick.....

Agree Toms a great choice

Its been interesting keeping an eye on this thread. Human behaviour is a funny thing. The fact that, to date, there have only been three responses to this thread, and two of them have been by Matt says a lot.

It reminds me a lot of the office environment I am in, especially being in a management role now, I have to attend more meetings. You usually find when people are asking for volunteers to take on a role, similiar to this situation, you get one of two responses. Firstly, people will remain silent, because if I don't say anything people will forget that I am here, and I will not be asked to take on anymore responsibility. Or secondly, you find people who will speak up and nominate other people for being a good candidate as it deflects any responsbility from themselves...

IMO this forum has been great, and I have formed many solid friendships from it, however like many other people on this forum, due to other committments I no longer train, so feel I have nothing karate related to contribute anymore, so I rarely post here. If that means in the long run, this forum was to close due to the fact noone put their hand up to conitinue running it, it would be a sad day, but so be it....

Just my two cents worth.

Well I don't feel I could give the commitment to running a forum (I already act as admin on one). Heck, I don't even practice karate-do anyway!

I hope this forum doesn't bite the dust though, its one I've certainly enjoyed - maybe just moving to a free phpbb host might be an idea, at least it removes any need for a financial commitment. The one I run is based on a good host (www.phpbbserver.com) which seems to fulfill all our requirements satisfactorily.

But I would like to thank Matt for taking the helm all this time. More importantly Matt, as regards training, I imagine there'll probably be a time in the future when you feel sufficiently enthused and at a place in your life that it seems right to begin training again. It happened to me after all!

Good luck in whatever you do mate.

Mike

I actually would do it if it didn't sound so complicated...I'm a bit dense when it comes to technology

I did help my other half with setting up one of these free (I think it was phbb?) forums but it was all there and nice and easy anything more difficult would I fear leave me out of my depth

The one I admin is a phpbb too. It was pretty straightforward to set up. Its rather smaller than this one (numbers of members) and is also quite quiet, but every forum has its busy times and its slack times.

Mike

People would be amazed how easy it is to run these things. If you dont want to do any modifications then its all simply point and click. Probably the hardest thing is upgrading and thats a doddle. If you get an invision account they do it all for you anyway, and if something breaks the support is pretty good.

If you're seriously interested PM me and I can give you a tour of the back end and how it all works.

Sorry you are calling it quits Matt.

It is very easy to actually run a message board. I know, I have 3 myself!

You could always try and sell it Matt. I am sure there would be a willing and suitable candidate out there somewhere.

I'm new to this whole forum business so I don't have any idea what you are talking about (servers etc).

I do hope this forum continues. It's the first one I've looked at that has been genuinely friendly and helpful.

Barbah

Its more about time and motivation. I dont get anywhere near as much net time as I would like due to changes in employment, my karate motivation is alas pretty depleted, and politics etc took a lot of fun out of things.
I also feel maybe someone with new ideas could take this board somewhere. theres some great posts here that would be a shame to see disappear. If someone wants to offer me money thats fine but I did say free to good home

I've thought long and hard before replying to this, and still can't think of much to say.... It would indeed be sad to see the forum slide into the dark depths of cyberspace. It's probably the only forum that's kept [mostly] clear of the infighting and slagging off that other m/a forums suffer so much from; but as a result of that it seems not to attract many posters. The 'community' needs fresh blood and new ideas somehow; that and/or motivation for discussion. How to do it? Haven't a clue I'm afraid.

Possibly an onsite blog area for members? Themed chatroom discussions hosted by higher grades? Naked webcam feeds? I'm just typing outloud here....

I've just began tailoring my training to my shodan grading on the 1st of December, with a 10k charity run squeezed in in October - maybe I'll start a diary of the trials and tribulations? That'll get 'em flooding in.

Must be the weather or something that makes people leave. First Bill Ferguson decides to resign as RM (Region12), and then Nick K. announces the he is leaving Western Australia. I also heard that Ian Wallace (Region 19) resigned as well. And now Matt is “retiring”.

I’m sorry to see that your letting this board go. It has been interesting and informative, sometimes controversial and will be missed if none else steps up.

I`d like to take over the forum if thats ok?

BUT as i`m in the middle of a time-consuming (and hugely expensive) emigration process, it won`t happen for a few months...... I wish I could get everything done overnight, but its a big step

If there's really no other takers to carry the forum forward then I'm willing do it. I'm around most days and could maybe jointly run it with Tom. He gets the wine, I get the women...

I get the hangover - but lets face it, they only last for a day

Sounds good to me Mark.

One minute...Wine, Women and...... Who`s doing the singing?

Sounds like just the two to do the job

I renewed the domain for another 2 years. lemme know when you want to start things happening.

I'm afraid the current exodus of RM's is solely due to the raw deal they get from the club. Having been accountant for quite a few and their assistants I can honestly say the way they treat their 'staff' is disgusting. Its pure big business greed.... but I digress.....

Perhaps this is true. My forum does not tend to have infighting and slagging off and it too is a lot quieter than a lot of MA forums... Maybe people want a good old argument on line???

I think thats true. There are numerous ways to start an argumentative thread though, the old "GKR B+W belt - good or bad??" chestnut is a good one. And people always like to say how their style of MA is the best ( for them )

I'll get my people to speak to Tom's people to make an appointment to speak to your people and we'll book a meeting......


Err...whenever suits you Matt. I'm not around Thurs/Fri this week, but apart from that you should be able to get hold of me if you need to.

*goes off to draw up list of people to ban first....*

Okies - we'll continue the discussion "in there"