The Future of the Forum

[Bob Bacon]

We are excited to announce that we have secured funding from RHQ until March 2025. This support has been instrumental in keeping our forum running and maintaining the platform for our community. We are grateful for their contribution, which has allowed us to continue providing a space for discussions and interactions among our members.

However, we must inform you that after 2025 there will be no further financial support from RHQ.

So, ultimately, the decision to keep our forum alive or bid it farewell rests in our hands. It's a decision that should be made with careful consideration, weighing the pros and cons, and listening to the voices of our community.

As some of you may have noticed, the forum's popularity has seen a decline in recent times, with fewer posts and less traffic compared to its peak. This is a natural evolution for online communities, but it also signals a need for us to adapt and innovate to maintain relevance and engagement.

So, if we want the forum to continue, we should focus on revitalizing the forum, engaging members, and attracting new users to increase activity and participation, which is a big ask!

It is also crucial for us to start exploring alternative sources of funding or revenue generation to sustain the forum beyond 2025. We may need to consider options such as partnerships with relevant organizations to ensure the continuity of our community.

We encourage all forum members to share their ideas, suggestions, and feedback on the future of the forum.

Thank you for being part of our forum, and we look forward to your continued involvement.

[BennytheBall]

Hi All
Could we not come under the umbrella of the Regiment's Dragon Connect as a community thread?
Benny the Ball

[LightOrder]

Not much going on over on 'Dragon Connect' either, to be fair, what about an annual subscription job for funding; mind you with the "cost of living crisis" its another bill for members to pay.

Is there not a RWF re-enactor set up over in the USA, maybe they would be interested in some sort of intergration?

Only saying [ as opposed to saying nowt ]

[Bob Bacon]

Please keep the suggestions coming in. They are all very much appreciated.

Thanks

[Pete Dagnall]

A good question Bob.

Firstly, can I say well done for securing funding for another year.

I wish I could come up with an answer for you, but I feel I can only state the obvious and say what the problems are on the road ahead. So, starting there I think the biggest problem the forum has is social media, especially Facebook.

If I can start with my own experience. As many know I love cruising and when we started there were only cruise community forums to glean information about your up and coming holiday, and there were many holiday/cruise forums. I think I belonged to about 5. Then Facebook came along and now, I believe now there is only 1 holiday/cruise forum, and that tells a story. In Facebook you have cruise ship groups, destination groups etc etc, very easy to move around in, ask the questions and get instant answers. Facebook is now my only port of call for cruise information.

If you look at just RWF on Facebook, we have Branch Groups, our Postings Groups, Picture Groups to name a few, and as you know I run a part Association Group. Everything an RWF Veteran requires is on there, RWF news is added every day and shared across many groups almost immediately. Even RHQ, Cardiff, share information on there for everyone to see. I will come back to this later.

As you mentioned, running a forum comes with costs and that is why so many are going. X amount to run a community forum on the web or zero costs to run almost the same thing on social media.

This Forum offers a lot, Notice Board, Discussions, Events, Quizzes etc etc. But its members and RHQ and the Association also need to buy into it, something that has happened in the past but has slowly eroded. When was the last time RHQ, North or South, shared anything in the Forum? However, it happens almost daily on social media.

Going back to the question and the way forward. This is my opinion:

1: Donations/subscriptions I feel are out. Why pay for something you can get for nothing.
2: Dragon Connect, again this started with a bang and has slowly fizzled out. Even I find it cumbersome and difficult to find information. However, this is the Regiments new pet and as such it will have funding to the detriment of other things, such as this forum.
3: If the forum is to continue then, maybe as a slimmed down version, or will that not matter cost wise? I do not know if less costs less. Following on from that, members have slowly drifted to social media, so how are you going to entice them back? That is a big question.

I wish I could say we need to do this and that, but I cannot, because even I find I use the forum less and less and Facebook more and more.

[Bob Bacon]

Pete,

I completely agree with your points about the future of the forum. It's true that we're seeing fewer visitors lately, which is concerning.

The costs of maintaining the forum remain the same regardless of how active it is, whether it's a scaled-down version or the full model.

It seems like we're at a crossroads where we need to decide the best way forward. Maybe it's time to consider streamlining some features to focus on what our core community values most, while still ensuring we cover the operational costs.

Thanks for your input regarding this important discussion!

[Bob Bacon]

Dear Community,

In late March this year, we will need to renew our Web Hosting platform, which usually cost $356.49.

I have written to Keith Jones 89 to check in and see if we still have any money left in the donations fund. Unfortunately, we no longer have access to the Comrades funds, which have been instrumental in keeping this forum running. Without this financial support, we’re facing the very real possibility of having to close the forum.

This space has been a hub for connection, discussion, and collaboration, and I know how much it means to all of us. However, maintaining it comes with costs that we can no longer cover without external help.

I want to be completely transparent: if we’re unable to raise the necessary funds, we’ll have no alternative but to shut down the forum. That’s a possibility I’d like to avoid at all costs, but it’s one we may have to face.

Before we make any final decisions, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Could we brainstorm ideas to either revive the forum or find alternative solutions? Are there ways we could crowdfund, secure sponsorships, or reduce expenses? Should we just bite the bullet and close it down?

If you have suggestions or want to contribute in any way, please share your ideas here or send me a message directly.

With gratitude,

Bob

[LightOrder]

Notwithstanding my previous comments on here, what about using 'Slack' 10,000 free messages / entries on the free platform? It would at least be a place to rally around.

[LightOrder]

Not looking too good judging by the amount of replies, it has been 20 years since the RWF was amalgamated, so maybe there is not the interest there was when the forum was set up. Also technology has moved on with lots of other ways to maintain comms. I would be sorry to see the site close but with the lack of support things dont look too good. Hope "somthing can be pulled out of the bag".

[Bob Bacon]

Keith has been in touch and his reply is set out below.

"We have a balance of £389 at present. There have been very few donations coming in from the membership in recent months.

I also have been unable to come up with a solution to the sustainability problem - not a good idea to be asking for people to contribute more during a cost-of-living crisis!

We must also not ignore the fact that we are all getting older - I am approaching 76 this year - and must be considering just how much longer we will want to be active forum members. I was also a member of the D and D Old Comrades Online Forum but that has now gone, I believe, to Facebook."

I concur with Keith’s assessment that while we have sufficient funds to cover another year, there is a sustainability issue.

It appears futile to continue operating at a diminished capacity for another year. We both acknowledge that the platform has experienced a substantial decline in activity and engagement, and there has been a lack of meaningful contributions in terms of threads, posts, and interactions.

Given this situation, I would appreciate any suggestions you may have regarding the funding of another year or the allocation of the remaining funds.

Thanks