Restructuring Florida, The Vote...

[Scuba_Jenny]

While it was a REAL answer, it was not germain to my ACTUAL question from the ORIGINAL POSTER. You may wish to (and did) choose to answer from YOUR perspective. AND, is therefore discounted... THANK YOU!

EVERYBODY's opinion is important, even the ones that may not agree with {insert your name here} POV. That is what has always been the cornerstone of the Conchs, we have always been a welcoming bunch to everybody who is here. In the past while other forums were having hissy fits and personality conflicts, the Conchs were more interested about where the next big dive was. Outsiders quickly learned that when going to Florida, the Conchs were the friendliest bunch on the board.
When the first split was made, it divided up a lot of hard work at keeping the Conch's unified as a great place to dive because EVERYBODY worked together. There was no North vs. South, Cave vs. Salt, blah blah blah.
WE now have that opportunity to have our voices heard... again. Obviously, our voices were heard in the first place, just because there weren't changes that {insert your name here} wanted or agreed with, doesn't mean you weren't heard.
I truely believe that Laurens had the best intentions at heart when this last split was made. Again, we have a voice, and we know it will be heard. Hopefully it will work for the majority.

I posted this a while ago, yet it bears repeating...
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1039362&postcount=35

<snip>( I can appreciate the tentativenesses of asking for a specific group to dive with, however....)

Now, as a human being, and a Conch diver, I am starting to think this group is more special and unique than other groups. Not only are we dive buddies, but we are friends. We range in our beliefs from conservative Christian to Jewish to pagan. Our incomes range from $500k/year to food stamps, and our education is just as varied. We like horses, guns, swords, Renaissance, reading, watching TV, (Scuba Diving is a given), tattoos, same sex partners, jeeps, camping, studying the bible, kids, pets, football, hockey, plants............and that is just off the top of my head.

We arrived here from places all over the United States and other countries. We are white, black, Indian, European, Caribbean, and Heinz 57. We dive beach, boats, wrecks, trimix, wetsuit, drysuit, and speedos. ( :11: ) Our skin, eye and hair colors range from very fair to very dark.

We are human. (some a bit nuttier than others)

We dive, eat, sleep, laugh and cry together. All are welcome.

We are the Conch Divers.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Sorry Jen, again... not pertenant to my request. The original poster did reply, and did give me their perspective, which was what I was wanting. Everything else to me, is non-related... thanks!

EVERYBODY's opinion is important, even the ones that may not agree with {insert your name here} POV. That is what has always been the cornerstone of the Conchs, we have always been a welcoming bunch to everybody who is here. In the past while other forums were having hissy fits and personality conflicts, the Conchs were more interested about where the next big dive was. Outsiders quickly learned that when going to Florida, the Conchs were the friendliest bunch on the board.
When the first split was made, it divided up a lot of hard work at keeping the Conch's unified as a great place to dive because EVERYBODY worked together. There was no North vs. South, Cave vs. Salt, blah blah blah.
WE now have that opportunity to have our voices heard... again. Obviously, our voices were heard in the first place, just because there weren't changes that {insert your name here} wanted or agreed with, doesn't mean you weren't heard.
I truely believe that Laurens had the best intentions at heart when this last split was made. Again, we have a voice, and we know it will be heard. Hopefully it will work for the majority.

I posted this a while ago, yet it bears repeating...
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1039362&postcount=35

 

[Missdirected]

Jenny no one was trying to VS. anyone. Most were happy to stay under the one umbrella of Conch. Anyway, there was a reason why it was split before. It was not done because Doc woke up one day and thought they would change a forum for no good reason but to cause chaos. On the contrary. Many, many people asked for it to be split. To make FL more workable. It was not done to make it an us against you. Taking that attitude/view of now its us against them...:shakehead well that just doesn't facilitate growth. I don't think anyone who did ask for the split meant for that to be the intention. Not in the least.

The ideology you put forth sounds good, lets hope it gets applied this time.

 

[Marvel]

Jenny no one was trying to VS. anyone. Most were happy to stay under the one umbrella of Conch. Anyway, there was a reason why it was split before. It was not done because someone woke up on day and thought they would change a forum for no good reason but to cause chaos. On the contrary. Many, many people asked for it to be split. To make FL more workable. It was not done to make it an us against you. I'm sorry you saw it that way. I don't think anyone who did ask for the split meant for that to be the intention.

The ideology you put forth sounds good, lets hope it gets applied this time.

That was ALWAYS our ideology, MissyD... Frankly, IMHO, the division of the state into geographical forums & chat-type threads that included multiple dives went a long way toward ruining the flavor & camaraderie of the old Conch forum. Now, we have the chance to implement it again. Despite the far-flung geography & the various types of diving, the Conchs always seemed to consider everyone a buddy that they were eagerly looking forward to diving & hanging out with again. I believe that a unified forum will revive that spirit which has, sadly, been lacking for a long time. It is pretty obvious that the majority of active posters want to bring it back.

Since I've never been part of any "club" on SB, I really don't understand the attraction. If there is a planned dive or a happy hour in Orlando or Tampa, I would hope that it is also inclusive of the rest of the state...& visiting membership & not just confined to a select few who happen to reside within a limited geographical location. Personally, I've met some wonderful people from around the state, the country, & even from around the world simply by posting an open invite & seeing who shows up.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Sorry Jen, again... not pertenant to my request. The original poster did reply, and did give me their perspective, which was what I was wanting. Everything else to me, is non-related... thanks!

Regardless on whether or not other opinions make a lick of difference to you, you voiced your opinion publicly. For that everyone elses opinions are freely allowed whether or not you can open your eyes to the rest of the world or not

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

... SB, I really don't understand the attraction. If there is a planned dive or a happy hour in Orlando or Tampa, I would hope that it is also inclusive of the rest of the state...& visiting membership & not just confined to a select few who happen to reside within a limited geographical location...

Agree, and thank you. But, you have a unique perspective on situation

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Regardless on whether or not other opinions make a lick of difference to you, you voiced your opinion publicly. For that everyone elses opinions are freely allowed whether or not you can open your eyes to the rest of the world or not

OK

 

[Missdirected]

Yes, I do hope it gets applied. The ideology is great but not if it is not applied. And it wasn't always - hence so many asking for an area. Well before me, I might add. Note, I did not ask for a club :no Tampa, for instance, has flourished but do not credit that to me solely. Credit that to fulfilling a need. That said, loads of people around here travel as well as dive in their own area. How often does someone from FTl/South Fl come this way to join???????? There is not enough diving or diving as good as down there some might say. Many people were lost before like/admit or not they were. If they weren't this area would have never gotten so big.

What is so wrong with a one umbrella all conch anyway? Orlando has a club now - all that can do is help. It will keep those guys together around there as it does here. Can we not network? We are on the same board! We are all conch. Having a club or geographic area does not in fact make anyone anti conch. People still join conch events. Do you not have friends/conchs around there that you can gather with for a last-minute dive or dinner? The thing is way back when, people didn't travel here to have a last-minute dive. Nor did they pop over for happy-hour. Anything posted was soon on page 3. We are not as big as your area - it takes us much longer to put something together than it does that area. Some sort of "separation", if you will, is a necessity. If it has to be a club well...

 

[CBulla]

That was ALWAYS our ideology, MissyD... Frankly, IMHO, the division of the state into geographical forums & chat-type threads that included multiple dives went a long way toward ruining the flavor & camaraderie of the old Conch forum. Now, we have the chance to implement it again. Despite the far-flung geography & the various types of diving, the Conchs always seemed to consider everyone a buddy that they were eagerly looking forward to diving & hanging out with again. I believe that a unified forum will revive that spirit which has, sadly, been lacking for a long time. It is pretty obvious that the majority of active posters want to bring it back.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[SeaYoda]

... Anything posted was soon on page 3...

I have not seen the forum move that quick. This is why I asked El for some hard numbers. My jetty dive planning threads would stay on the first page as long as needed (people posting actively made them stay on the first page even after the dive was done and a report posted) and every other area was posting their dives too. My dive reports were viewed by 50 - 100 people and then gracefully moved to page two and beyond. The need to split geographically could be a need in the future but I don't think it has been one since the first split nor is the forum now so crowded with posts that it warrants the division. Dividing dives into areas is something for when traffic increases to the point of several pages a day to look through IMHO. I do not frequent the Tampa Bay forum because I'm not diving there. If your posts were in the main forum, I would be more likely to find and read them than tucked away in a subforum. I think the club/subforum should be used for truly local stuff not dives open to all. Being in the subforum hides them more than being in the main forum, again IMHO.