general discussion forum... where you can talk about anything

[Preston]

I was thinking that having a general discussion forum, where anything can be talked about, would be a good idea.

A number of things could be talked about... latest technology, family problems, politics, magazines, computers, etc... anything.

Vote yes or no, yes meaning that you want the forum and no meaning that you don't.

I do ask y'all to seriously think about this.

[Chris]

Perhaps - a lot of sites have that. But there is the risk of the site losing focus if we do that. Let's see if there's any interest, and if there is, maybe we'll give it a trial period.

[Preston]

Yes, a trial period seems like a smart idea. If y'all do give it a trial period then I was thinking you could change the name of the "General Discussion" forum to "Discussion", just an idea though.

[Joy]

This might not be a bad idea to broaden our horizons a little. Other forums have more than one discussion topic and seem to do fairly well. It might be an invitation for other people to join as well. A trial period sounds good to me.
Couldn't hurt to try.

[Peter]

I agree with Chris I'm afraid. I think the Beethoven forum itself is general enough in that it allows for a wide range of composers - there are plenty of other forums out there to discuss anything you like, but surely what makes us unique is that we are primarily focused on Beethoven and it would be a shame to lose that.

[JA Gardiner]

I'm with Peter and Chris on this - we've only just recovered from the onslaughts of one troll who dominated this site for a very long time, but he at least was music focused. I fear that a general forum would risk turning into just another chat room that could invite similar incursions that would be much harder to police because in a "general discussion" there is no definition of what's on topic and what isn't.

[susanwen]

I'd prefer to keep the Beethoven forum for Beethoven (and other classical music) topics. A discussion of American politics, Sunni religion, or frontal sex can lead to a lot of bad feelings and break up what had been a congenial group.

[Michael]

Like the last four above, I don't see the point of an "anything goes" forum. This is the only decent Beethoven forum on the net. If I want to talk about my lumbago (which I don't) I'm sure there is another site somewhere.

Michael

[Chris]

Yes, I think the consensus is that this would not be a good idea. We'll keep it Beethoven and classical music related. There is always private messaging and e-mail if you want to talk to other memebers about other things.