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[BHMike]

No traveller, no newsletter, no CanJoeCon...

In all seriousness, what can we do to build some momentum round these parts?

As I've suggested/asked for years:

Tell friends, other sites, collectors about the site.
Include links to JoeCanuck.com in your signature tag on other sites (I've seen people do this, well done!)
Volunteer to help with the con - on OUR schedule, drop off flyers at your local comic and toy stores, same with toy shows, comic conventions, etc. when we ask for people to help with the sets (painting, etc), spread that call for help around other sites. (We do reward you for this!)
When you DO help, don't hold up production until you get your way. That only gets you fired.
If the newsletter comes back, submit an article.

Keep in mind that you're not helping "me" personally, you're helping interest in G.I. Joe for yourself, and future collectors.

There's plenty, and some do some of it, and we're thankful.


G.I. Joe opens in two weeks. This site should be the main place Canadian Joe fans go to "Talk Joe", but it's not, and frankly I've spent 10 years trying to make it be just that. But without board members joining, recruiting and such, I don't have any urge to keep up things like Travelling Canuck, the Newsletter, etc.  This site wasn't made as a source of income, it was made so Joe fans from Canada could call it home and they could talk, trade, etc with fellow Canuckleheads.

I'd like to see it busier than it is,  but I'm tired of trying to do it all on my own.... At least, that's how it feels.

Ideally, I'd like to have someone post something weekly pertaining to Canadian Joe stuff on the JoeCanuck Facebook group, or twitter. I can't do it all on my own anymore. I'd like the Wiki to come back, and see a more diverse JoeCanuck.com site with Canadian info for collectors.

Some of these are ideas that have been tossed around before, and just were never taken care of for one reason or the other.

I personally have always been thankful for the help some of you board members have given. Your time has been appreciated, and it would be again in the future. You guys just need to decide if you still want a JoeCanuck.com around and what you want from it.
- Mike

[grunt 4 mvp]

There's a call to action if ever there was one!  I've noticed it's been quiet too.

Maybe instead of just visiting, everyone should make an effort to "reply" to two threads each time they visit.  I know I come with a purpose; either to post something specific or read something specific. I rarely read other threads. I could make an effort to generate discussion on others' threads as well.
I know anytime Arrow, Prince de Lu or turner writes something, I read it, but I should check other posts too, and reply.

Also, keep referring others here. I know Martin has links in his signature on other sites - if I notice it, others do too.  I advertise during CanCon season, but should step up! 

I'm going to add Joecanuck to my signature on other sites too...right now!

* check your post count; set a mental goal each month
* post here FIRST instead of other boards
* post some pictures of collections
* organize an event and advertise it on the board (maybe the Montrealers go see the movie together, or maybe an informal 'trading barbeque' for the GTA)
* or just add to this thread with another idea you've done

[Sundance]

i've been posting new pix and got nary a peep. i've also posted stories!

[ARROW]

I visit the site daily, but I do not always comment or post.
I have GIJOE-themed art that I'd like to do, when I'm not doing paid work, which has been frequent this year ( thankfully). I still do kitbashes, but I'm not always taking pics to share--some are so simple it doesn't seem worthwhile sharing.
I still get inspired by what I see on-site here, still get interested in what others are doing with the hobby. I've seen participation come in cycles.....waves on most forums......peaks and lulls.  We'll have our turn again here.

[grunt 4 mvp]

i've been posting new pix and got nary a peep. i've also posted stories!

Yeah...if you take the time to set up a scene, take the pic, post it, then I should take a few measely seconds to comment and appreciate the effort. Or fire some constructive suggestions.
If not, I can see how you would find a different venue for your enthusiasm. 
Easy to rectify!   

[Eradicator]

It seems like other boards have less traffic as well. May be just a low in the cycle as previously mentioned.

[morgardee]

Personally I liked the news letter the best. It always seemed to make a good buzz.

Yes, it was hard to put out a new article every month so going quarterly seemed like a good way to bring it back.

It would probably need a lot more guys writing on a regular basis. A small group of guys trying to make interesting articles every month gets hard.

Personally, when I did it I felt a certain amount of satisfaction in giving back to something I was very passionate about at the time. Now G.I. Joe doesn't play such a large role for me anymore. Life happens, my son has grown into his own comical character that occupies most of my time, work changes, I'm turning 41 this year, etc.

I'd like to see some younger guys step up and run with the ball (along with the current team) and see what could happen. I'm enjoying being a casual fan of G.I. Joe now.

One topic that could be approached for future news stories if the news letter ever came back was coast to coast Joe. What's it like being a fan in BC vs being a fan in PEI. Is there an native Indian fans and what was there take on G.I.Joe as a kid. Branch it out and get multicultural maybe.

[pdaat]

One of the best times on this site has always been the lead up to the CJC. So much excitement and discussion!

The FB page is and always has been pretty quiet - only a few seem to follow it.  I would use the avenue if there was more of a presence there.

It love the site and the members.  I love the fact we don't have the flaming some "other" sites are plagued with.

Similar to morg, I have sons - I have been having kids longer than most of you.  Spytroops hooked my 17 year old.  I could not even get my 6 year old to pick anything Joe up until Kre-O.  Not much has really grabbed me this year - but Retaliation looks very good and the wave 2 Roadblock is awesome (and he is the first figure I have bought since CJC 2012).

The hobby in general is suffering.  We all see that.  Hopefully the movie and any push by Hasbro afterwards will bring us back.  Now that Clone Wars is done there is one less place to go.

Paul

[martin-montreal]

Hello Mike,

What I like the best here on JoeCanuck:

• Getting news about product availability here in Canada
• Finding specific information about past and actual Canadian toys, stores, etc.
• Making deals with other Canadians
• The CJC, the Newsletter, etc.

What I would like to see improved:

• Getting back the Edit button as asked here. More than a nice to have, the Edit button is useful to avoid multiple want and for sale lists. Actually, I stopped updating my list here, I'm leading people to my Yojoe list instead. Also, it let us removing few mistakes after hitting the post button.
• Better historical information about past CJC (maybe with the Wiki or on http://www.canadianjoecon.com/past.php

I know you are not pointing specific people. Everybody should ask himself what he can do. So I did my own review...

• From the 25th last new topics in General Joe Talk, 7 were started by me.
• Since 2009, I'm bringing from 2 to 4 guys at the CJC.
• Without anybody asking me, I found few mistakes in the CJC material... and never got a single "thank you". My goal wasn't to get something back. But just a thank you would have been appreciated.
• I gave some ideas and even offered my help without getting an answer  .
• I also made a follow-up with Yojoe about posting our CJC exclusives on their website, without real success  but at least, I tried...

So, I can probably do more, and I will try to improve my "performance", but I think I'm doing a fair part.

Martin

[latinjoe22]

A few words that could help you Martin, and even me to some extent: sometimes the best deeds are the ones that go unnoticed, credited or uncredited for. Accept humility and self satisfaction for now, as well as the consolation prize that most of us know well and appreciate how each one of us has contributed in their own way to bring a little something to the table each day, and often each week lately. Everyone has their unique talent and approach. Perhaps it's time for each one of us to use our own talents and even combine them to do something we can't achieve on our own. We once talked you and me about organizing a local Meet. We never talked about it again. I tried to do one on my end, starting very small, but failed in getting that many people to come for reasons beyond my own control, and for reasons that had to do with choices I made.

There are things that we can certainly keep doing, perhaps better. Yet there are many other things that are yet to be done, and could benefit many others in ways that we haven't thought of yet.

This has been on my mind lately, and I wasn't able to clearly put it into words until you posted this. So thanks for sharing.

On a constructive note, I agree with you, the lack of a permanent "editing" capability is not very useful.

On a personal note with Gi joe in general, ever since Retaliation got postponed I was extremely disappointed to the point I was in no hurry to go see the movie. I was at a point I wasn't going to see it at all but I'm slowly coming back to my senses now, slowly. Add to that, my genuine disappointment with the movie toyline. Thankfully I took the opportunity to go back to the O-ring stuff and to the very unappreciated Star Brigade, Spy troops, etc.

[BHMike]

Ok, let's see if I can hit all the points made here.

* check your post count; set a mental goal each month
* post here FIRST instead of other boards
* post some pictures of collections
* organize an event and advertise it on the board (maybe the Montrealers go see the movie together, or maybe an informal 'trading barbeque' for the GTA)
* or just add to this thread with another idea you've done

Some great ideas Grunt!

i've been posting new pix and got nary a peep. i've also posted stories!

I'll admit, I don't read the stories. I barely have spare time to keep up with emails and comics I've been trying to read. Sorry man.
The pictures I usually do check out, but like Grunt, I don't reply nearly as much as I should.

I visit the site daily, but I do not always comment or post.
I have GIJOE-themed art that I'd like to do, when I'm not doing paid work, which has been frequent this year ( thankfully). I still do kitbashes, but I'm not always taking pics to share--some are so simple it doesn't seem worthwhile sharing.
I still get inspired by what I see on-site here, still get interested in what others are doing with the hobby. I've seen participation come in cycles.....waves on most forums......peaks and lulls.  We'll have our turn again here.

I also check it daily, and always see a rise in postings when the CJC rolls around - which I hate, it should be consistent year-round, or at least at 50% of what it is CJC time. I'd like to see your take on some CJC characters, I think they'd be cool to showcase here - with a watermark of course.

It seems like other boards have less traffic as well. May be just a low in the cycle as previously mentioned.

Could be... I don't really talk/know other board owners to compare (other than Pluv and Redclaw).

Personally I liked the news letter the best. It always seemed to make a good buzz.

The newsletter is dead. Period. It's not coming back. We tried it as a quarterly, and it failed. Only one person submitted an article for the next issue, and that was Pluv.

The FB page is and always has been pretty quiet - only a few seem to follow it.  I would use the avenue if there was more of a presence there.

Facebook is slowly killing off message boards. We have a "Page" there, and it has some "Fans", but overall, I'd rather see the traffic here on the site than on Facebook. Plus, not everyone is on Facebook, which means we're leaving some people out of things. However, I would like the JoeCanuck page to re-post news, information, etc. So pdaat, if you'd like I can give you posting permissions on it and you can do a daily update if you'd like, much like YoJoe does. (Heck, use their site and link to Canadian stuff!).

What I would like to see improved:

• Getting back the Edit button as asked here. More than a nice to have, the Edit button is useful to avoid multiple want and for sale lists. Actually, I stopped updating my list here, I'm leading people to my Yojoe list instead. Also, it let us removing few mistakes after hitting the post button.
• Better historical information about past CJC (maybe with the Wiki or on http://www.canadianjoecon.com/past.php

I know you are not pointing specific people. Everybody should ask himself what he can do. So I did my own review...

• From the 25th last new topics in General Joe Talk, 7 were started by me.
• Since 2009, I'm bringing from 2 to 4 guys at the CJC.
• Without anybody asking me, I found few mistakes in the CJC material... and never got a single "thank you". My goal wasn't to get something back. But just a thank you would have been appreciated.
• I gave some ideas and even offered my help without getting an answer  .
• I also made a follow-up with Yojoe about posting our CJC exclusives on their website, without real success  but at least, I tried...

So, I can probably do more, and I will try to improve my "performance", but I think I'm doing a fair part.

you absolutely are Martin. I see your posts on other sites, your signature with a link back here, as I stated before, for those that are doing things, it's appreciated. I've said it for years that the things you guys do is always appreciated.

As for your items, let's hit them one by one.

Edit Button:
I have to re-code the site, I have no time to do that. Seriously, it could take 10 minutes, or it could take 10 hours.
 No one else knows how to do it here.
It's just not a major necessity right now. Sorry man.

Better historical information about past CJC:
The information at www.canadianjoecon.com should be good?... No? What information are you looking for? Who attended?... What door prizes there were?...
No other convention does a detailed list of the past events that I know of. There's just no real point in doing it. Maybe you can explain more as to what you're looking for, or what you mean?.....

As mentioned every year, we're always thankful for you guys, so please Martin, don't tell me you're looking specifically for a pat on the back, or a "well done!". Just kidding man.


....I don't have much more to add to all this. Hopefully I've addressed some items for you guys.

[grunt 4 mvp]

Mike - that was a really nice responce to everyone. Kind and clear. (+1 timbit lol).

I hear you on the edit button - I'm admittedly ignorant about the coding. But if I had one wish that would be it. It would be a difference maker for me. Just my feedback / 2 cents (I guess it's a nickel now...).
I'm a loyal Joecanucker either way.