too much bla?

[AJJames]

I was looking at the German version of performers.net, Markus posted the link, it's exactly the same format but in german and there weren't any posts under bla bla bla not one, presumably they use the forum to exchange useful information, i say presumably because i can't read german all that well.
who thinks there's a disproportionate amount of waffle on this wonderful opportunity for progress, that Jim, Bill gates and others have provided for us?
I calculated the percentage of bla bla posts in relation to work related posts and found it corresponded exactly with the percentage of inane drivel in relation to the tricks performed in my show.
(99.9%)

[Evan Young]

I thought British people hated Germans.
I see the performers.net forums as a comunity for performers who like typing stuff out on the internet. I don't see this as a buisness publication like medicine monthly or somthing, it's more like a break room at work. When normal people go to thier normal jobs and talk to their normal co-workers, do you think that the only thing they talk about is work? No, they don't.
Everything is relivent b/c we are artists and art is human expression, so why the fuck would performers.net be stricly buisness? Do you treat your performing as stricly buisness, or do you have fun with it a little?
I'm not sure if you were posting your opinion or just a question to make us think a little, but I'm assuming it is your opinion. AJJames, don't be such a nerd.

[Mark Wessels]

Its almost like a bad joke about german people. I love blah blah blah. AND, all of my questions about performing, except for one about video editing (you bastards) have been answered. The posters here seem to know how to help and how to have fun. I think that the disclaimer on blahblahblah section pretty much says it all.

mfw

[Rex Boyd]

Is that 99% with or without Rumple's contributions?

Rex

[AJJames]

Well excuse me Evan, this might be a hobby to you or have you given up your day job yet?to me and alot of users of this site, this is a business all be it fun and friendly, i'm not trying to rally for the closure of the bla bla ,it's great it's wonderful and necerssary but the proportion of bull shit is getting a bit high, i include my self in this observation.
Rex ...i think you know the answer to that , certainly your posts are more informative ,thanks,by the way, for that link to Steve Rawlings stuff, useful...see now that's what I'm talking about ....more useful posts please....take nick nicholas' posts about melbourne in specific pitches, they are useful AND entertaining , funny, anecdotal accounts of working the pitches but also letting me know that melbourne's hot...damn hot...deliriously hot by the sounds of it.....wish i was there, it's freezing here

[ 01-19-2003: Message edited by: AJJames ]</p>

[Steven Ragatz]

GIGO - "Garbage In, Garbage Out"

Online communities, whether they be web-based, USENET, listserves, etc., are only as good as the members who post make them. After all, our "community" is actually represented by the content residing on Jim's server. If you seek change, then simply contribute to that data pool in what ever way you see fit.

Any community is simply a collection of individuals. Hopefully, if the community thrives, something happens that is greater than the sum of the parts. Performers.net has the potential to do just that, but in order to thrive, it requires care and work. Jim has done his part, now it is up to the rest of us to do ours. As contributors to such a resource, we have to remember that the community is both an entity unto itself as well as a collection of individuals. I might add, those individuals have real feeling, real values and real lives (well, most of them). I do think that it is only polite for those who like to use the site as an inexpensive party-line to respect the wishes of those who want to see the site become a central business point of contact. As long as the fluff-content is partitioned, and relevant material is confined to appropriate forum topics (Blah, Blah, Blah...), everyone can coexist peacefully.

Post by example, then others may follow - or they may not, but that's their prerogatives. As long as the content supports Jim's vision of this site, the content will continue to build. If we are lucky, P.net will become something of all of us. Even Rumple...

Steven Ragatz

- OK, humor me a bit. This is a subject that I find very interesting...

[Jim]

[quote]Originally posted by Steven Ragatz:
<strong>GIGO - "Garbage In, Garbage Out"

Online communities, whether they be web-based, USENET, listserves, etc., are only as good as the members who post make them. After all, our "community" is actually represented by the content residing on Jim's server. If you seek change, then simply contribute to that data pool in what ever way you see fit.

Any community is simply a collection of individuals. Hopefully, if the community thrives, something happens that is greater than the sum of the parts. Performers.net has the potential to do just that, but in order to thrive, it requires care and work. Jim has done his part, now it is up to the rest of us to do ours. As contributors to such a resource, we have to remember that the community is both an entity unto itself as well as a collection of individuals. I might add, those individuals have real feeling, real values and real lives (well, most of them). I do think that it is only polite for those who like to use the site as an inexpensive party-line to respect the wishes of those who want to see the site become a central business point of contact. As long as the fluff-content is partitioned, and relevant material is confined to appropriate forum topics (Blah, Blah, Blah...), everyone can coexist peacefully.

Post by example, then others may follow - or they may not, but that's their prerogatives. As long as the content supports Jim's vision of this site, the content will continue to build. If we are lucky, P.net will become something of all of us. Even Rumple...

Steven Ragatz
</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yeah... what he said.

Steven, thanks for saying what I was going to say (but saying it succincter.)

And in case anyone is interested, I'm actually mentally working on some serious additions to this site. I had a vision for performers.net 6 years ago and to be honest, what it is right now is about 20% of what I had envisioned (not size-wise, but content/service-wise.) I don't want to give anything away, but if y'all can hang tight for a few months I hope to have some really cool (useful, business) stuff running up here by mid-year. I've been overwhelmed with a house renovation for the past two months but starting next week I'm going sit down and start banging on my computer and focusing on performers.net. I'm really excited about it. Stay tuned!

Jim

[Rich Potter]

Save time! Don't read this post! Go immediately to http://www.performers.net/support.html
_______________________________________________

While we're talking about content on Performers.net and Jim's vision for the future, I thought I'd point out that this is a free site, in the sense that a street show is free entertainment. As much as we love to perform, we gotta eat, and we gotta buy torch fuel.

Jim's put a lot of blood, sweat, and technogeekiness into this site. And cash. I gave him 20 bucks last time I saw him to support the site, and he was really gracious. As many of us know from experience, websites cost money to keep up. The software to run this one costs money. Please show your appreciation with a few bucks, so he doesn't have to keep paying out of his pocket (and calendar!) to keep us connected!

Jim's never even badgered us to cough up cash. He put a very understated (and in my opinion, hidden) plea at:

http://www.performers.net/support.html

Check it out. Then GET a check out. I want to see what the other 80% of his vision is.

--Rich

[ 01-20-2003: Message edited by: Rich Potter ]</p>

[AJJames]

steven, well said!
Jim, in the spring I will get my check out,i have just bought a PC so i'm skint , can i just say thanks to rich for bringing that post to our attention , where was it posted?
Jim good bottling lines ,i'll send you $50 some how, i can't see why you don't charge us (working performers)all a nominal membership fee to use this site ,(free for booking agents to post) , you might lose out on a few thousand bulshit posts,you might get criticised for it but mostly by people that neither offer or derive any commercial benefit from p.net, but i for one would pay it happily and would consider it a small price to pay for the obvious potential for gigs and useful networking and info sharing. If, being a street performer you object to "on the door fee" atleast "pass the virtual hat" unashamedly, e-mail all the members the hat page and maybe a more detailed explanation of the running costs of this site ,what you have in the pipe line and what it costs, and you could include quotes from long term members , i'll give you mine now " This site has improved the quality of my life by helping me find gigs , festivals, old friends, new friends, funny stories , informative and educational resources,and strangely interesting pictures of tatooed arse cheeks. It provides an invaluable means for a largely transient comunity to convene regularly and instantly ."

[ 01-20-2003: Message edited by: AJJames ]

[ 01-20-2003: Message edited by: AJJames ]</p>

[Jim]

Thanks AJ. And thanks to the folks who have donated (both financially AND/OR with library submissions and useful, interesting posts.) I love that this site exists. I love that I can stop by every day and see what's up in our world (or Rumpel's world.) I'm glad that performers.net has improved your quality of life, AJ. I think I'll put that quote on the front page after I get the re-designed pages up and running!

As you all know, I am a full-time entertainer. I don't have tons of time to devote to this site. I usually take about a month every winter and work on stuff. Mostly maintenance, and cosmetic things. But I'm about to embark on the biggest performers.net upgrade since the site began. I can't wait to get everything in place. Like I said earlier, I had a vision but in 1996, a lot of those ideas were impossible to implement because of the technology. Now , it's all possible, but I need to sit down and do it. I figure I have February, March and April to really work on everything. I'd like to have most everything online before the season gets too busy in May or so. Keep in touch and keep an eye out for things to start popping up for beta-testing sometime in February.

Rock on...
Jim

[Prof Willie B]

P.net reminds me of an engine, fuel gets shoved in one end and power comes out the other.

The machine has hundreds of parts all of which need lubricating to reduce friction.

Blah, Blah, Blah does this. Without it p.net would stop working and grind to a halt.

There are dozens of serious threads here but perhaps "Blah, blah, blah" is the medium that binds the mix.

Personally, I think this section is possibly the most valuable of all, as it allows people to communicate in a relaxed manner, with each other.
Beginners can talk to, and possibly joust, with those people they have watched and want to learn from.
Where else can a 15yr old clown-girl tease and challenge a 55 year old veteran performer or a pavement artist pick a fight with a tattooed juggler whilst getting some-one ele interested in shaving gerbils and missing shoes.

I mean, what can I say?


"The Hills Will Be Dead, without the Sound of Music"

AJ, you must be nearly as bored as me. We need "Blah............
But you are right about the quality.

[ 01-20-2003: Message edited by: Prof Willie B ]</p>

[martin ewen]

{voice-over, prefferably David Attenborough}
"Winter...A time for introspection, a time for contemplation , a time to examine ones priorities and then, because thats a bit close to home and painful, a time to cast your eye briefly from your own navel and have a magnificent cathartic whinge at something you have no control over.
"Is there too much blah?" you blah.
Your lone voice carries...attracting others with opinions, together a chorus of blah.
Some pro blah?Some anti blah
"Less blah more work" some blah.
I deserve better! this blah effects my quality of life! others blah
?Meanwhile? the stealthy few? realising that these particular weeks are the prime weeks to actually secure work for the coming season and probably the only time of the year that excessive blah is actually a distraction, focus on their puny careers and secure work while others gather round the talking hole moaning about how this website or that doesn't hand them their lives on a plate.
(which it could mind you)
Hulk Hogen said it best?Ask not what P.net can do for you but what you can do for P.net. (something similar)
For experiments sake lets start a topic where everyone posts their contact lists for festivals and agents.
I was given 150 french festivals by someone not too long ago but was told not to share it on P.net because it had involved a lot of research and time spent online and why just give that away to someone who takes the info for granted.
I respect that so will not post them but personally disagree.
I have posted NZ contact material here and some have used it.
Huge lists of agents and festivals and let natural selection take care of it.

But back to Blah (did I ever leave?)
Outlaw it!
Keep Rumple as a sort of token pet blahmonster and just do away with the whole section of the website altogether. If people want soap operas they should just jolly well go out and buy a telly.
(and whenever someone graduates from a 'new member' to a 'member' we should have a fund that mails them out a horse-hair wig)
AJ, it obvious you need to be thrown down a snow covered mountain repeatedly.
Its still an open invitation