New CT poll in development - your two cents, please

[Ellemeno]

Hi Friends,

I want us to get back on track, but what is the track?  I've decided to develop a poll asking people what they want most on Chez Tremblay and from Chez Tremblay.  Please add your ideas here, or PM me.  You can include what you want of BetterMost as a whole, if you need to, but I am focusing right now on our Chez Tremblay forum. 

After I receive ideas of what to include in the poll, I'll create the poll and post it, asking you to indicate which of the choices are priorities for you.  Feel free to get creative in what to include, and feel free to think back to what you have loved most in your time together. 

Clarissa
Ellemeno
CT co-moderator

[Front-Ranger]

Two things. I would like to keep track of revivals of the movie, get-togethers, and events.

Also I would like to see a more beefed up discussion of the film, more organized and comparing it to others in its genre, to the story and screenplay, and to Lee's other work. (Guess I'm in denial about time passing)

[moremojo]

Hi, Clarissa--

What I'm wanting to see most of all right now from the Tremblayan community is a recognition and honoring of our history, including that which first brought us together in the first place--the shared love for two extraordinary characters and their beautiful, life-changing story. We came here to BetterMost as refugees, battered but not beaten by incredible meanness and equally confounding apathy. It is important that we remember what it feels like to be harassed and oppressed, so that we do not do the same to others, and least of all to our fellow members. Let us also remember that we, in our very name, enshrine the ongoing creativity and future legacy of an artist, a human being, named Pierre Tremblay--let us not sully his name by not living up to our very best nature, and to his ideals.

I would like us to strive collectively to be an example of an online community to others, to illustrate in our actions how a group founded in love and comradeship behaves, and what we consider valuable and worthy of our time and effort. So much wonderful things have already occurred among us...let us preserve that which is best, and forge ahead with new determination to explore and champion everything that Jack and Ennis represent. Even more than Ang, than Heath or Jake, than even Annie or any of our own members, we have been brought here by a spirit that we recognize in the shade of a Wyoming cowboy, and sometimes refer to as Jack, sometimes as Ennis, but whose true name is...Love.

Just thinkin' out loud...

Scott

[Ellemeno]

I can already see that I'm going to have a challenge distilling people's ideas into a few words on a poll.    That's okay.  Wax on, o Poets.  Or keep it brief, both okay.

[serious crayons]

OK, here's my waxing: I think we should designate the Open Forum as -- in fact, we already DO designate the OF as -- being for "discussions of the film and how it affected you." So it's the place for threads specifically about the movie (and story): interpretations of metaphors, characters' motivations, etc., as well as personal reactions to the film, such as "6 months on, where are you?" "Would you have lasted 20 years" "Use of Brokie-isms in real life" and stuff like that.

The CT board could be for Brokie-related social activities or extracurricular interests -- Brokie gatherings (both announcements of and post-gathering reports), the Heath Heath Heath and Jake Jake Jake boards, personal announcements and so on. That might make the line between CT and Anything Goes a little blurry, but perhaps CT would be for anything connected with Brokeback, and AG for anything that's not.

I think the three boards are already moving in those directions, but there's still plenty of crossover in every direction -- and sometimes some duplicated topics. I'd like to see the distinctions made more clear.

Also, IMO, we should encourage everyone at BetterMost to participate in the CT board, whether or not they frequented the PT board at imdb.

[moremojo]

Also, IMO, we should encourage everyone at BetterMost to participate in the CT board, whether or not they frequented the PT board at imdb.

Yes, I second that--everyone should feel welcome Chez Tremblay, regardless of how they came to be there.

[RouxB]

my short and sweet

I would like to see CT remain kinda in it's free form state but with specific topics like discussion of movie themes, fan fiction etc. moved to other forums-well pretty much like it's shaking out to be already.

I have no wax.

 

[nakymaton]

Also, IMO, we should encourage everyone at BetterMost to participate in the CT board, whether or not they frequented the PT board at imdb.

A non-Tremlayan's perspective:

I'm not sure if it's possible for a place to simultaneously exist primarily as a haven for people who became friends in another place, and to be a place that invites newcomers. No matter how friendly the original refugees are. New people change the dynamic of a place. Some people tend to find the changes invigorating; some people feel like they've lost their friends and intimacy. It's happened to other internet groups, too.

To be honest, I only posted in CT originally because 1) the one person on the board that I already knew (Meryl) was posting here, 2) the CT forum was, at the time, invisible to non-members, so I felt safer about posting personal stuff here than I did in open forums, and 3) the CT forum was a mixture of movie discussion and humor and personal stuff, and had a fun balance that was lacking in every other BBM forum that I had encountered. As all of BetterMost has grown, though, those parts of the mixture have spread out to the rest of the board.

[Front-Ranger]

Yes, Mel, that reminds me of something else I'm really missing. A place to post personal stuff without guests, hiders, and the Forest Service come snooping around. A place where I can discuss the things I would tell my closest friends (which I don't have in so-called "real life" because I'm stuck behind a computer all day!)

[serious crayons]

I'm not sure if it's possible for a place to simultaneously exist primarily as a haven for people who became friends in another place, and to be a place that invites newcomers. No matter how friendly the original refugees are. New people change the dynamic of a place. Some people tend to find the changes invigorating; some people feel like they've lost their friends and intimacy. It's happened to other internet groups, too.

I know from past conversations that Mel knows more about the dynamics of online groups than I do. But I'd just like to throw in my observation that the makeup of the groups who post regularly on CT and on the OF have fluctuated quite a bit since I've been here. Some people run out of things to say about BBM or get involved in "real life" things and fade  , some feel tied to the community in other ways and stick around  , new people come in from other boards or because they've just seen the movie recently  , and so on. From what I've seen, frequent posters on both boards (and the OF board, though not as finitely conceived as the CT board, can also feel like a fairly close-knit group) are flexible enough to adjust to, even welcome, newcomers. For example, among the people I feel closest to, a few have been here longer than I have, a few arrived fairly recently, and most are somewhere in between.

The mood could change, I suppose, if a gush of newcomers arrived and the veterans felt overwhelmed or outnumbered. But so far, it's been more of a trickle.

[nakymaton]

But I'd just like to throw in my observation that the makeup of the groups who post regularly on CT and on the OF have fluctuated quite a bit since I've been here. Some people run out of things to say about BBM or get involved in "real life" things and fade  , some feel tied to the community in other ways and stick around  , new people come in from other boards or because they've just seen the movie recently  , and so on. From what I've seen, frequent posters on both boards (and the OF board, though not as finitely conceived as the CT board, can also feel like a fairly close-knit group) are flexible enough to adjust to, even welcome, newcomers.

I think that's true, that CT can adjust to newcomers. And I should add that the posters on CT have been some of the friendliest, most welcoming people that I've seen in any group on the internet. (And that's saying a lot.) I'm only vaguely aware of the conflicts that are stressing people out right now, but from what I've seen in public posts, the group still seems very open to new posters.

I think that what's hard about CT, from a newcomer's perspective, is that it isn't quite clear what CT is for. Existing threads, yeah -- I think it's possible to read back a ways and figure out how to join in without disrupting the flow of the conversation. But it's less obvious what kinds of new threads would fit in, especially given that there are a number of subcommunities developing on different threads within CT. So right now the CT board has a weird dynamic to it.

BetterMost is a lot more flexible and responsive to the needs and desires of the posters than other message boards I've been on, and that's really refreshing. I don't know if CT needs a rigid definition. (I like having it as a place to plan and talk about gatherings, at the very least -- that's different from what goes on in any of the other parts of the board.)

[Mary Twist]

I believe that is always best to reach out to all of the people all of the time.  Some of the terms i have read above like veterans and we could be overwhelmed sound more like wartime terminology.

God bless all those of good hear.

Mrs. Mary S. Twist

[YaadPyar]

OK - 2 more cents.  The CT thread is really about community, not content, making it a tricky thing to define/refine.  And I don't know if it needs more definition or refinement other than to gently place topics with a more obvious home in those places, like Movie Resources, Polling, etc.

The CT community is not a closed place, and lots of folks have come and gone and will surely continue to do so.  Plenty of people who were not originally on IMDb have found a warm welcome at CT, which will also continue no doubt. There are connections among those in that community that, in terms BBM cyber-life, are old and dear, and from what I've understood, members want that to remain intact.

And maybe the idea of it being available to members only (not guests or the general public) is nice - a bit of a cozy place for more personal/private communication.  It's a thought...

Maybe CT is more a social networking forum than anything at this point, and a good place to emphasize that more.  OK.  That's it.  Ya don't get much for 2 cents.

[Lumière]

ok.. Nobody throw rotten tomatoes at me .. , but ..

We all know that CT is for everyone .. not a closed place, as Celeste said ..
so how about changing the name of the forum? (especially if newcomers are wondering what or who Tremblay is and the history behind it) ..

[YaadPyar]

ok.. Nobody throw rotten tomatoes at me .. , but ..

We all know that CT is for everyone .. not a closed place, as Celeste said ..
so how about changing the name of the forum? (especially if newcomers are wondering what or who Tremblay is and the history behind it) ..

Every time change to CT has been suggested, it has met with great and understandable resistance.  Maybe you can provide some ideas for names that honor the past and invite the future?

[vkm91941]

It’s been six months, and just like there came a time when CT no longer needed to be hidden on Bettermost, perhaps the time has come that it  has out lived that moniker.  Especially if the consensus is that, the name is somehow off putting in it’s ambiguity to newcomers, even though it is acknowledged that some of the warmest welcomes on the web are to be had here at CT, and many newcomers have found their home here.  Perhaps the point of one poll should be suggestions for that name change.

Nothing stays the same for ever, we’d grow quickly bored if it did.  But, that said, just exactly how do you define the wonderful, mixed up, social and creative mess that is CT?   Some of Bettermost’s brighter more creative lights need to help out with that analysis.

Whatever direction it goes, it will still have it's history and heritage, holding a special place in the heart of those who came here to establish it.  Whatever direction, Phillip and Clarissa and David choose to take us, I support them.

[Front-Ranger]

Okay, I will try to make a stab at defining the Tremblayans... (deep breath)

They came from small computers in opposite corners of the world, drop-outs from the bureaucracy, inured to hard slogs on the boards, depriving themselves of food, sleep, and entertainment, rough-mannered, rough-spoken orphans, estranged ones, and lost souls looking for a home. And here's where they found it.

[Lumière]

Every time change to CT has been suggested, it has met with great and understandable resistance.  Maybe you can provide some ideas for names that honor the past and invite the future?

Don't be starting no tomatoe fight in here Celeste .. lol..I warn ya, I got big ones ..

Names that honor the past and invite the future?..Hmmm.. we can all work on that if need be.

[Meryl]

In this United States of Brokeback, Philip, a refugee from the Old Country (IMDb), could be said to have founded Jamestown, the first settlement, and the Tremblayan Pilgrims founded the second, Plymouth. 

Joking aside, though, if there is one community in Brokeback Mountain that could be said to be a hub in the story, I think it would be Riverton.  Although Jack doesn't live there, he returns to it periodically to meet up with Ennis.  And as far as we know, the story ends in Riverton, or not far from it at least, in Ennis's trailer.

How about calling it the Riverton Coffee Shop or the Riverton Bar and Grill, or the Riverton Social Club (or Elks Club), or something similar?  We can keep a post stickied that has the Tremblayan story ready to hand.  Also, any one of the afore-mentioned establishments is very likely to have a Tremblay Room set aside for special meetings. 

[littleguitar]

Okay, I will try to make a stab at defining the Tremblayans... (deep breath)

They came from small computers in opposite corners of the world, drop-outs from the bureaucracy, inured to hard slogs on the boards, depriving themselves of food, sleep, and entertainment, rough-mannered, rough-spoken orphans, estranged ones, and lost souls looking for a home. And here's where they found it.

LOL, I'll second that definition... especially the depriving themselves of sleep, food and entertainment part, there were many days when I went without all of those in favor of chatting with the friendly folks here....

[Ellemeno]

Hey y'all, all ideas welcome, and we'll see where it goes, but my original idea was more around content, since CT is a forum made up of threads.   What kinds of threads help you feel like this is home? 

Another idea that's been suggested is to have dedicated CT chat times- not with an eye toward exclusivity, but to enable us to know when to peek in to the chat to find CT buds.  Anyone who defines themselves as a Tremblayan would be welcome. 

[YaadPyar]

Hey y'all, all ideas welcome, and we'll see where it goes, but my original idea was more around content, since CT is a forum made up of threads.   What kinds of threads help you feel like this is home? 

I surely don't know, and don't know if anyone does, what kind of content we should have.  Maybe you can tell us more about what's driving the poll and the concern for clarifying what's on CT...what the need is that's being addressed.

[Front-Ranger]

Have you noticed that there's usually more people active on this discussion board than in all of the others combined??

[nakymaton]

Here are some possible questions:

Should movie/book discussion threads (like the buckets thread, for instance) go in CT or in the Open Forum?

Should humorous threads (like the Performance Thread, lines visualized, etc) go in CT or in The Lighter Side?

Should fan-fiction-related threads (like the Ennis and Ellery thread) go in CT or in the fan fiction forum?

Should announcements of BBM showings, lectures by Annie Proulx, etc go in CT or in the Movie Resources forum?

Should discussions of politics, other movies, etc go in CT or in the Anything Goes forum?

(Maybe for a poll, the question should be "Should X posts go in Y forum instead of in CT?")

- Mel

[Shuggy]

I have a strong sentimental attachment to CT as is, where is. This is where I find my BBM friends.

Maybe not in CT, but I think one of the strong features of BetterMost is as a haven for people whose self/life-assessment has been strongly shaken by BBM, especially
1. Men who realised their attraction was to men after seeing the movie. (Safe Haven is for them.)
2. People who realised their life was (or in our case, lives were) not going where they wanted it to, after seeing the movie. (Maybe a new forum for them?)

[serious crayons]

2. People who realised their life was (or in our case, lives were) not going where they wanted it to, after seeing the movie. (Maybe a new forum for them?)

Excellent idea!

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,

This is a really interesting discussion.  Well, when I first arrived in early April I posted here a lot because this is where the heaviest traffic was by far... and I recognized the names of lots of the people here.  I had never been on the PT board on imdb, although I'd been on the main boards for a really long time.  So, I knew about the PT board and was aware that there was cross over between PT and the big board.  By the time I really understood all those dynamics the troll wars were in full swing.  Anyway... enough about me.
 

I think it would be a bit of a shame to loose the name Chez Tremblay.  There's so much history to that.  It certainly is confusing to newbies at first... but actually I think that's sort of part of its charm.  Once people begin to understand what it means and how the name came about it feels sort of special or  like learning "lingo" that's very particular to BetterMost.  It's almost like the fun of learning Brokie-isms and really understanding them in very subtle ways.  Things like the phrase "Chez Tremblay" and Brokie-isms are like little secret passwords or secret handshakes (for lack of better metaphors) for the BetterMost community at this point.

I like the idea of clearly defined roles for the forums.  But, I'm sure there will always be some free-wheeling in all forums... which I think is fine too.  I don't think we should get too strict about rule enforcement.  It seems reasonable for CT to be devoted to Brokeback social events/ viewings, etc. as people have said.  And all the light-hearted stuff like the "Performance", "Heath, Heath, Heath", etc. should stay too because those are really traditions now.  I don't want to be the one to suggest what should be moved out.  Making those decisions will take quite a lot of in-put from other people here I would think.

[newyearsday]

My input:

I'd like the name to stay the same. It means something to me, it's something I'm still proud of. I think that it's easy enough to learn about why it's called that, and it's such a great story that we shouldn't lose that piece of our history and identity.

Because CT formed as such a close-knit community, and since we have the option to, I would love it if the board went back to being hidden from non-members. The thing that keeps me here is the closeness I feel to so many members of CT, and I feel like that is what makes it special. So, if that's an option for the poll, I'd like to see it on there. I'm not trying to exclude anyone from joining (or re-joining) this community, but would like to have some privacy back, especially considering the vulnerability I have begun to feel lately from all the drama.

Content-wise, I think that since the board is formed around the community, we should let things of this community be here unless they are obviously more appropriate to other boards (fan fic, movie resources, etc). The Open Forum is a great place and I'm sure I should go there much more than I do (which is almost never), and I just think of CT as a mini-open forum with more history and more wackiness to it perhaps.

Definitely want to keep social announcements, the PT, the Heath and Jake boards here.

Not sure what else to say, but in light of recent events maybe we could have some kind of creed posted here that stays at the top, or even lives in the first post about welcome to the CT community. We could use some of Meryl's writings from the cult thread but I'd also like some ones along the lines of what Scott said, which I LOVED:

I would like us to strive collectively to be an example of an online community to others, to illustrate in our actions how a group founded in love and comradeship behaves, and what we consider valuable and worthy of our time and effort. So much wonderful things have already occurred among us...let us preserve that which is best, and forge ahead with new determination to explore and champion everything that Jack and Ennis represent. Even more than Ang, than Heath or Jake, than even Annie or any of our own members, we have been brought here by a spirit that we recognize in the shade of a Wyoming cowboy, and sometimes refer to as Jack, sometimes as Ennis, but whose true name is...Love.

Thank you for writing that Scott. It really rings true for me.

That's it from me.

Jenny

[Ellemeno]

Anyone else want to add ideas to include in the poll?  Post them here or PM me.   I'll be creating it soon. 

[ptannen]

Howdy -

I just scanned this thread quickly and I would like to second the following ideas I've read:

The most important thing about CT is the sense on community - which has been an awsome and totally new experience for me on the Internet.

Keeping up on BBM get-togethers  is very important - having them maintains and builds the CT community.

I also think it is an important service for us to keep each other up to date on BBM-realted events, such as BBM showings and the Oct. 19-21 writers' event in Casper, WY, with Annie Proulx and Judy Shepard speaking.

I know that many probably do not know the history of the CT name and it might not be important at this point to some, but I would like to retain the CT name.

Pete

 

[YaadPyar]

1.  I like the name - it has history and meaning, just like anything that's been around a while.  Having to know the history to understand it makes it just a bit more interesting...just like lots of stuff BBM-related.

2.  I support the notion that CT is about community, not content, and so it remains fairly free-form.

3.  I also support the notion that this community is invisible unless one is a registered member (which is easy enough to become).  Just like the coziness that provides.

4.  Phillip has indicated changes are in store for BetterMost...would like to see how CT fits into those changes before the forum itself is changed.

[Ellemeno]

Hi Everyone, I'm destickying.  Please continue to add your thoughts.  Clarissa