Are you going to ForumCon 2014?

Anyone going to ForumCon 2014?

  • I am.

    Votes: 3 3.1%
  • I'm not.

    Votes: 89 91.8%
  • I might.

    Votes: 5 5.2%

  • Total voters
    97
Status
Not open for further replies.
@s.molinari Excellent, well-thought out post, without slamming people, and I respect it enough to debate back at it! :)
I wonder had Kier, Mike or even Ashley announced they would be keynote speakers, how much different this poll would look.;)
It would be a landslide to say the least! :D
I'd also like to understand the "nays" better. Most have said, "no value in going". Is it purely the perceived lack of possibly gaining some new knowledge (=value) against the costs the only reason for not going? It is a strong one, I must admit. It stops me too as the main reason.
That's why I've been defending, trying my best to contest these false claims, the false perception, and whatnot. Obviously, I've failed at that otherwise people wouldn't have depicted that I'm doing this, and that.

Just because you don't understand the whole point of ForumCon's existance, doesn't mean you need to go around saying "ForumCon isn't worth it, it's this and that."

Now, I digress, you guys are entitled to your opinion, just as long as you don't go spreading rumors such as "oh, ForumCon is just a advertisement!" "Oh, ForumCon is just a pocketing conference for VigLink." And then, throwing attacks at people who are really trying to do their best at making ForumCon better for everyone. That last one: That's disgusting. You know that? You don't even know the person and you go calling the marketing person (who's a lady), a crappy person? Or doing a crappy job, or whatever is it that was said earlier.

This is not targeted at you Scott, I meant that paragraph as a generality.
This is the said goal of the conference from the conference website...

Committed to sharing tips, tools, and best practices for managing, growing, and monetizing forums.

I can find that on the Internet. So, I really think the goals of the event and its results need re-evaluation. The conference needs a bit more distinction. A suggestion, the vendors could offer much more detailed break-out sessions about using their products. They then don't get charged for their presence, but rather pay by doing detailed training as a service. Let's have a lot less fluff please!
How would you present that "goal" then? They do share tips, "tools" and best practices for managing, "growing," and monetizing forums. I think people confuse "managing, growing, and monetizing forums" with "A convention for viglink's pockets." Soley because of the last word, "monetizing." We monetize from forums, guys. Viglink is a service like google where you can put links as if it was an ad. It's relevant enough that the organizer and the event go hand-in-hand with each other.

Note: Quotes = Not so much.
I personally also get an impression of a less than adequate atmosphere or buzz around the conference. It lacks an air of professionalism, not because of the way it is carried out, but because of the cause it is supporting and how it goes about promoting/ marketing that cause. What is the cause? Is the cause, so forum owning "geeks" (said with endearment, cause I am one of them too!!!) can meet (i.e. networking)? Is it to give vendors a platform to advertise/ market their products? Is it for Viglink to make money and also actually get paid for doing their own marketing using this self-made marketing platform? Wouldn't that actually be a bit of conflict of interests? I think it is.
Based on what I just said, I don't think so. Viglink helps forum owners monetize their forums through in-post "advertisement."
I understand organizing a show like ForumCon takes a good amount of effort and money and it is great something like it is being carried out for the forum and online community scene. However, even if I lived in SF, I'd be reluctant to pay to go there. If I did, I'd like to pay for the costs of food and service only, which at $75, would seem to be fair price to me. If that were to be the last minute price, I'd probably decide last minute to go, if I were in SF. For $200 or even $150? No way! Too expensive.
Food's free, FYI. You can thank the sponsors for that.
As I mentioned above, I also think the last thing Viglink should be doing is using it for their own purposes i.e. marketing platform, since it isn't "ViglinkCon". They should be very much in the background and that also doesn't seem to be the case really (despite Carlos' depictions). They should, at the most, also only offer detailed breakout sessions on using Viglink. The whole conference should be clearly a non-profit venture for them, IMHO. That doesn't seem to be the case, but to be fair and honest, I don't know that for sure. It is simply my impression and I know for a fact, conferences like this should NOT be about making any money and getting any additional advantages out of the meet for the organizer, IF the conference isn't about them.
They ARE very much in the background. The only time VigLink "shoves" it's face is the when you first get there, the conference's beginning remarks, and the end remarks. Lunch, and then the mixer reception. That's it. You don't even have to talk to any of the staff members, at all, either. They're just there to answer your questions about the event, and their service.
So my suggestions, bring on much more detailed breakout sessions from the sponsoring vendors, which deliver intriguing knowledge about product specifics. Viglink should fall much more in the background and overall I think then the whole atmosphere around the meet could end up a couple of notches better.
Thanks for your post! Good job.

I'll finish editing this post in 5-10 hours. I'm sleepy right now.
 
Last edited:
What does VigLink know about managing forums?

It would be more accruate to re-title it: MonetiseCon (sub-heading: Sponsored by VigLink)

This way people would know what to expect and attend based on the potential of partnering with VigLink to help monetise their sites.

Nothing wrong with VigLink wanting to market themselves and increase their publisher pool, but they shouldn't really try to dress it up as anything to do with "the forum management community" - it really isn't about forum management; they should market it for what it really is, a way to generate (or possibly increase) revenue from your sites.

And if they want the bigger forum "players" to come to them, they should be thinking about sending out comp. tickets, and overnight hotel rooms and airport limos (for the really big players!), etc. to attract them.

It really doesn't fit its implied title of Forum(Management)Con.
 
Last edited:
You are entitled to your opinion... however, comments like this one:
...
Is insulting. The marketing person just got hired last year, she did a GREAT job managing the whole event. Granted, there were more staff members doing this and that, but Lucy was the stand-out staffer who put her sweat, her struggles, her passion on the line only to have people like you calling on her crap. She's a lady from another country [British and all].

Back up a second here Carlos. Firstly I'm not insulting the person (for the record, I couldn't and shouldn't have to care less who said person is).

The fact is this: In a poll on here, 94% of people have said they would not go. So whoever is in charge of making the conference appeal to forum owners clearly IS doing a bad job at it. I don't care how 'nice' that person is.They could be the nicest person in the world, if they can't do their job right they cant seriously expect to make ForumCon a success.

Now, maybe it's not that persons fault. Maybe that person has gone back to their boss and said "Look, we need to pay to get forum developers to talk, we need to start workshops, we need to do XYZ" and the boss turned around and said no. I don't know the full ins and outs of it, and shouldn't have to even care about that as a forum owner.

It's worth it...

You keep saying this. But you still have not answered the all important question:

WHY is it worth it?

If I go to a forum conference and I've got a community with 4k members, and another with only ~100 members I'd expect to get something out of it that will help be boost my terrible stats. From what I've seen of the people who have gone, very few of them have successful communities. Clearly not a great marketing point for a conference that's supposed to help people build better communities.

What makes me even more confused/concerned with it is that if they are indeed of the view that more people to their conference = more people using VigLink, surely it's a massive benefit to them if those communities are successful, and not stuck with low member counts and pretty poor activity. Surely HELPING forums get into the 100k+ members, 250k+ monthly uniques range is not only a massive benefit to the forum owner, but also to VigLink themselves.

I know you probably don't believe me, but I'd love for ForumCon to be decent. I really would. But you've yet to give me one compelling reason as to WHY it's worth it, especially when so many people are saying it's not (with evidence). 'Networking' really isn't a reason to go. You can network on a forum - that's after all what our business is. Even still you're hardly going to go there, meet up with a competing forum owner and exchange ideas.

I, and several others have posted some pretty basic stuff you'd expect to be part of a forum conference, and most of them don't happen at ForumCon. For example, why the hell aren't they paying to have a developer from XF, vB, and IPB as speakers? VigLink's not short of cash and it would no doubt boost attendance. Instead they had a manager from Internet Brands, who knows absolutely nothing about running a community. And then someone from ProBoards, which is aimed at tiny communities run on a non-existant budget, most of which fold within their first few months.

Please, PLEASE provide some reasons as to WHY it's good, and if you're in direct contact with whoever runs their website, please for the love of god tell them to sort it out. It's a terrible website. As a comparison, take a look at HostingCon's website. http://www.hostingcon.com/
 
It's worth it, but I'm not saying "hey! you have to go to forumcon." Seriously, stop putting words into my mouth. I'm not insisting. :mad: If you don't want to go, then don't!

You are insisting that it's worth it.
You are not insisting that we go.
 
@s.molinari Excellent, well-thought out post, without slamming people, and I respect it enough to debate back at it! :)

It would be a landslide to say the least! :D

I actually wouldn't be so sure about that. Different, yes. Landside? Nope.

How would you present that "goal" then? They do share tips, "tools" and best practices for managing, "growing," and monetizing forums. I think people confuse "managing, growing, and monetizing forums" with "A convention for viglink's pockets." Soley because of the last word, "monetizing." We monetize from forums, guys. Viglink is a service like google where you can put links as if it was an ad. It's relevant enough that the organizer and the event go hand-in-hand with each other.

I noted what I think needs to change, but, the goals? How about this?

ForumCon, the place to meet the creme de la creme of the online community world and to learn a lot more about the present and the future of the applications and trends that drive the online community industry.

Thanks for your post! Good job.

Thanks.

Scott
 
You are insisting that it's worth it.
You are not insisting that we go.
I'm giving my own opinion that ForumCon is "worth it" okay? That's not insisting. Insisting would be just like the tone I gave you in the quote you quoted. "hey! you have to go to forumcon." Being opinionated about an event and insisting (in other words; forcing) an opinion onto you are two different things. Insisting opinions on others is often labeled as a "bad thing." Mostly because of the tone. Here's the dictionary search:
Insist:

verb (used without object)
1. to be emphatic, firm, or resolute on some matter of desire, demand, intention, etc.: He insists on checking every shipment.
2. to lay emphasis in assertion: to insist on the justice of a claim.
3. to dwell with earnestness or emphasis (usually followed by on or upon ): to insist on a point in a discussion.

verb (used with object)
4. to assert or maintain firmly: He insists that he saw the ghosts.
5. to demand or persist in demanding: I insist that you see this thing through.
I get what you're saying, but I'm not demanding you to go to the event. I'm not demanding you to change your views. The only "demand" I have is not to be twisting the organizers' intentions of running ForumCon or any other "idea" about why they are running this convention. That's what I've been defending this whole thread through. I might be persistent in my opinion or "asserting" my opinion (as in, stating my opinion and then leaving at that, nothing more - nothing less); I'm not really insisting.
 
Last edited:
Someone from SU (Socially Uncensored) attended it last year. Beyond the drink and food, they felt it was basically a waste and as others here have said, only a sales pitch to buy into other products or services (primarily advertizements for V links ... already forgot the name of the company. lol )

I'd be tempted to attend if it were more affordable or if someone passed me tickets. But other than that.... No.
 
(primarily advertizements for V links ... already forgot the name of the company. lol )
I gave you a like because you mis-spelled the company's name. :p Viglink can be a name that's a bit forgetful.
Now, maybe it's not that persons fault. Maybe that person has gone back to their boss and said "Look, we need to pay to get forum developers to talk, we need to start workshops, we need to do XYZ" and the boss turned around and said no. I don't know the full ins and outs of it, and shouldn't have to even care about that as a forum owner.
Now, see, that wasn't so hard to say, was it?
WHY is it worth it?

If I go to a forum conference and I've got a community with 4k members, and another with only ~100 members I'd expect to get something out of it that will help be boost my terrible stats. From what I've seen of the people who have gone, very few of them have successful communities. Clearly not a great marketing point for a conference that's supposed to help people build better communities.
That's something I think they want to fix. But I can tell you that it's worth it because they really try to give you tips, tricks, and whatnot on growing your forum - most of their speakers talk about growing your forum. The problem with the messaging is that they're currently using bloggers for those topics. I get what you mean, but the staff doesn't know how to entice the big-board owners to come over and speak out on how to grow the forum. I don't blame them, really. It's not that easy. If it were that easy, don't you think they'd contact those big-board owners? Or at least reach out to them?
What makes me even more confused/concerned with it is that if they are indeed of the view that more people to their conference = more people using VigLink, surely it's a massive benefit to them if those communities are successful, and not stuck with low member counts and pretty poor activity. Surely HELPING forums get into the 100k+ members, 250k+ monthly uniques range is not only a massive benefit to the forum owner, but also to VigLink themselves.
You said it best of anyone who posted in this thread, "not only a massive benefit to the forum owner, but also to VigLink themselves." I think they want to have a mutual beneficial "reason" and relationship between VigLink, forum owners, and the big-board owners. You. said. it. best.
I know you probably don't believe me, but I'd love for ForumCon to be decent. I really would. But you've yet to give me one compelling reason as to WHY it's worth it, especially when so many people are saying it's not (with evidence). 'Networking' really isn't a reason to go. You can network on a forum - that's after all what our business is. Even still you're hardly going to go there, meet up with a competing forum owner and exchange ideas.
I disagree that "networking isn't really a reason to go." What if, YOU wanted to sell your forum? You won't be able to sell it to someone else from a different convention. Try going to Comic Con and selling a forum to someone there. I'd understand you could sell a comic forum there, but a technology forum at Comic Con? Now, try selling any kind of forum to someone at Vertical Scope - they'll buy it. Currently they're in the sports area, but companies like that - ya know with a vague brand name... can easily just expand to other "verticals."

And yes, you can meet up with "competing" forum owner, or forum owner, and that's what they designed this convention for; forum owners meeting other forum owners. I've met a few of them. Even if it is outside of my domain expertise of video game forums.

Even if you're not looking to sell your forum, or meeting a like-minded forum-owner, or something else. Networking opportunities are there for the taking.
I, and several others have posted some pretty basic stuff you'd expect to be part of a forum conference, and most of them don't happen at ForumCon. For example, why the hell aren't they paying to have a developer from XF, vB, and IPB as speakers? VigLink's not short of cash and it would no doubt boost attendance. Instead they had a manager from Internet Brands, who knows absolutely nothing about running a community. And then someone from ProBoards, which is aimed at tiny communities run on a non-existant budget, most of which fold within their first few months.

Please, PLEASE provide some reasons as to WHY it's good, and if you're in direct contact with whoever runs their website, please for the love of god tell them to sort it out. It's a terrible website. As a comparison, take a look at HostingCon's website. http://www.hostingcon.com/
At forumCon 2012, the lead developer of Internet Brands' vBulletin was there. A bunch of ProBoards staff members were there, then at ForumCon 2013, the staff was there in full force not just to network, but also to demo their product.

The website was re-launched recently. Whatcho talking about? They're using these awesome looking glowing on hovers - almost makes me think the whole site is on HTML5.

EDIT: I'm currently looking at HostingCon, and I'll come back with a better idea. However: First impression is that I'm getting the same familiar feeling to ForumCon. The difference is in the pudding; they have a lot of sponsors in there. Likewise, it's owned by a multi-million dollar corporation. Like Jake says, I'll have to have "More waiting is required." ;)

HostingCon is [about] 10 times bigger than ForumCon in the current iteration.
 
Last edited:
I gave you a like because you mis-spelled the company's name. :p Viglink can be a name that's a bit forgetful.
I did note that I had forgotten the company name. :P

They'd be useless anyways to use because

1) We're ad free
2) We're uncensored and they're to picky about the content on your site.
 
I'm giving my own opinion that ForumCon is "worth it" okay? That's not insisting.

You seem to be confused about what we're arguing about :p

No one
claimed you were insisting we go. What was said was that you were insisting that it was worth it. You are insisting that it's worth it. You keep saying that it's worth it when others disagree. That's all anyone meant when they said you were insisting.
 
You seem to be confused about what we're arguing about :p
No one claimed you were insisting we go. What was said was that you were insisting that it was worth it. You are insisting that it's worth it. You keep saying that it's worth it when others disagree. That's all anyone meant when they said you were insisting.
Rob. I've already finished explaining myself, as far as I'm concerned; I'm done with this conversation about insistence. I've clearly presented the fact that I'm not insisting it. You are free to interpret it any way you like it. I'm done with the conversation. Wash your hands and move on.
 
If you want to post in this topic, make sure your post is constructive and useful. Sarcasm isn't useful so expect to be warned for being unconstructive/off topic if it continues. If you're going to post, reply to substantive arguments, not semantics or wordings.
 
I am bringing this thread back up because it's one month away... And that there's an article that "answers" the question of: "Why should I go?"

It’s obvious why forum owners and publishers would want to attend ForumCon, but why should an entrepreneur want to go? Well, there are a number of reasons, but the first and arguably most important is the networking opportunity that exists at a conference like this. Most ForumCon attendees are professional bloggers, publishers, forum owners, and marketers who are looking to grow their business and network with other professionals. There is no shortage of great ideas and great content at this conference—two things that any entrepreneur can help turn into a successful online enterprise.
Source: YourStory.com
 
Well ForumCon 2014 seems to be the place to be looking at the poll.

@Carlos since you started attending these sort of CONventions, what have you learnt on there that you couldnt have on the web using google? How has attending these events helped your website?

Exhibit A
upload_2014-5-20_10-52-51.webp
 
Last edited:
Screenshot_3.webp


I think it's a pretty resounding "no"... there is just not any interest in this function at all. No one cares, and the majority feel like it isn't offering anything. Actually, I still don't see what it offers.
 
You couldn't pay me to go there. :)

I'm gonna watch a couple episodes of Silicon Valley (HBO) instead. Much more entertaining and only in 30 minutes increments. That's my style....

When I went to the google free adsense publisher meeting, they came to near us (Boston), and it was free. They didn't try to sell me anything, but fed me and gave me a t-shirt and let me hobnob with their staff.

That was worthwhile. Forumcon?

Now, when they have Xencon in Boston I'll probably show up....
 
Well, if they had any sense, they would have wined and dined DP or me or others who are long term forum owners and paid our airfare, hotel and a speaking fee. Or, they would have reached out a bit further to get true community experts. I know a few from the Bay area who would speak for little or nothing.

There probably is a market for this in some form, but it has to be better thought out. Maybe it would be better as a part of something else, etc.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom