Is it just me, or Does it Seem

Tony wrote:

I can understand that 'Newbies' can be intimidated... but it is only a small step in a different direction to be inspired... Harley Rider and Matt Addie are Newbies....

Blimey, not very often I get name-dropped!!

As I HAVE been dropped (in it? ), I thought I'd share some thoughts in light of my own experience - just in case there are people who don't post because they feel intimidated by the content of this forum or feel there is some standard that must be reached before posting....

I have been "doing bonsai" for 18 months. In the last 6 months, a number of very significant events have happened to transform my approach to bonsai, one of which was taking the plunge to join this forum.

I signed up in May (moderators - feel free to correct if my memory has let me down again!) and it DID take some guts to put that first post up! I knew I had (and still have!) a long way to go in Bonsai and my trees were far from the standard I so often see posted here. But I was welcomed with the electronic equivalent of open arms, suggestion were made about my trees, I was encouraged to keep posting ... all positive, despite my fears!

Since then, I've learnt so much from everyone here. I cannot really post from work, but I can look from work so I keep as up to speed as I can on most threads and there is always something worth reading.

This forum is populated with very talented (in many cases world class) bonsai enthusiasts, so I know that advice/comments/suggestions I recieve here are worth listening to ... don't take it personally, these people are here to help, and they do just that.

It took me a few months to realise this fully, but slowly I've released my grip on my narrow, blinkered, out-moded and now redundant view of what bonsai is/isn't/can be and I listen to these people who REALLY know what they're talking about...

I've had the pleasure of meeting some IBC'ers in person, mostly because upcoming bonsai events are mentioned/advertised here that I otherwise may have missed. I will be meeting more of these guys later this year too. I know this aspect of the forum is perhaps easier for us Brits who all live on the same small island, but without this forum I doubt I would have anywhere near as many bonsai contacts as I have now and it's a real pleasure to "bump into" forum members at bonsai events around the country.

I would love to see more posts/threads on this forum if only to feed my insatiable appetite for all things bonsai, but we - the forum members - are the only ones that can achieve that. At the same time, I would be averse to seeing the quality of this forum diluted for the sake of increasing the number of posts (quality (in my opinion) = stay on topic, a learning zone, a world class bonsai resource, NOT world class trees only although, of course, they SHOULD be posted here too).

So, if you are hanging back from posting for whatever reason, all I can tell you is that my experience has been very positive once taking the plunge and the IBC has opened up many more opprtunities offline too.

As one IBCer once said to me soon after I started to post - when you jump in at the deep end, there's always someone there to catch you.

At the risk of diluting quality, I'll stop my IBC advertisement here.

Cheers

Matt

for what its worth here is my take........an old IBC'er one of the originals I believe (see below) recommended this site and he was right for it does contain some wonderful bonsai folks who know what they are talking about and some even ofter us newbies some advise.
However, like most clubs and other social groups there is always the old guard (the core) and us (new guard) on the fringe who don't post and when they do it seems like nobody really cares, or maybe its the post or the contents. Sure we may get Jim or Tony responding or we are told by others that its a stick in a pot and grow it out etc. BUT then I looked at the volume of posts and different topices and saw that manyof the posts just loose steam as I (and many others I'm sure) look at the new posts first to see if there is anything interesting and seeing as though time is of the essence the older posts aren't reviewed that often.
I'll start a new post in regards to the member I spoke of as i believe his friends here will be itnerested.
Cheers Gman

I am also new to the forums, I have been (somewhat) obsessed with bonsai and the idea of a "landscape in your hand" for over a year now.

My first tree is still alive and thriving, after a nasty bout with spider mites took the vigor down to a crawl in February when the tree was given as a birthday present. It is a Ficus salicifolia and a beautiful plant now that it has regained vigor, it threw nearly 15 new branches a couple weeks ago. I now care for close to 20 subjects and have 11 Buxus x. cuttings rooting at the moment. So far all looks great.

I also made my first killing this summer (not counting the several when I was a kid with no patience)...got carried away with pruning at the time of a repot. Lessons learned. I hope to get a new camera in the coming months so that I can post pictures of my trainees. What a great hobby.

In relation to the post I hope to stick around for a long time.

Most users ever online was 31 on Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:00 pm

Strange isn't it but today 6th October 2009 is the most people online on this forum to date 31 persons... that's a lot of interest... is IBC less attractive to the bonsai community than its previous incarnation? I think not

Tony

Just a few thought from me aswell.
I can see the point where its said that it could be a bit hmm, scary, for newbies to post pics of their trees here, since there are so many experienced people here, but why would they be here if they weren't interested in commenting and helping others to get to their level? Its a forum, not a place for "look how nice my tree is compared to yours", or "My tree is bigger than yours" (kinda the opposite though, since bonsai should be small).
And the posting of pictures, shouldn't really be a problem. Its very well explained, if you take the few minutes to read through it. Allthough, there are folks from many nations here, and for those who have problems reading english, there would ofcourse be some problems.
I've never had any discouraging feedbacks here, when my trees suck. And I don't think there will be any of that either. Those who are here are mature and is trying to hold a positive attitude, so come on newcommers, post those trees and get some directions. And at last, one thing I was thinking is that those who reply on topics are those who are the most experienced, I would love to write and comment on every tree here, but I just don't know what to say, cause I have no clue

ps: Do I always write this messy?

Storm wrote: ps: Do I always write this messy?

Storm, if that's messy then I'd love you to be one of my English students because I've been trying for years to get them to write as well as that. And they are native speakers. Allegedly.

Many thanks for your kind comments - I think you voice the response from newcomers that we so-called "experienced" bonsai people hope this forum encourages. I sincerely hope, both as a bonsai person and as a moderator of this forum, that your positive approach is always met with a positive response.

Thank you Fiona. You should slap those students and tell them to get a grip. .P
On a serious side, I do hope others have the same experience with this forum as me. Im very glad I stumbled over it and took my time to check it out. Now I check it several times a day. The only thing that I would like now is to have more members who write stuff, since the majority of my learning is from your comments.

im sorry to say photos are not working for me either and i did follow the tutorial. the boxes illustrated are not the one coming up???

anttal63 wrote:im sorry to say photos are not working for me either and i did follow the tutorial. the boxes illustrated are not the one coming up???

Hi Ant,

What browser and operating system are you using... and are you PC or Mac?

Tony

Ok, I haven't checked the tutorial for quite some time, but ill try to write it again, I'll use the same as I sent a different member earlier:
When you open a new post, you have a bar over the text window. There you will see an option that says "Host an image". Its number 15 of the small icons. When you have clicked this, you will see two options. "File" or "Url". Press file, and press the button to the right. Then a new window will appear which shows you all the folders on your computer. I suggest you save the image on the desktop, so its easier to find. Then double click on the picture so its selected. Then host it. When its hosted, you will get three links. Do not select thumb, or url, just select the one (i think in the middle) which is for the picture. Copy the link into the text and the picture will appear on the message. Make sure there isnt any letters next to the image, or the link will be ruined. Then, press "preview" on the bottom when the text is finished.
I hope this helps!

- Storm

hi tony thanks for quick reply.
xp, internet explorer,pc.
no prob any where else.

im only getting a web photo hosting site, when i press the host image button. i dont get the choice of the 2 as the tutorial shows. once im in my computer that should be the same as anywhere else. the prob is geting that option:D

Hmm, thats weird.. I don't think I can help you then.. :S

Storm wrote:Hmm, that's weird.. I don't think I can help you then.. :S

sometimes this helps;

Switching it of then on again
pray to the data gods for redemption
stand on one leg... right hand on your heart, then swear never to swear again
drink a cup of water whilst standing on your head
catch a fly with chop sticks
wax on wax off
Failing all that ask Kev... our illustrious elder and better

Tony

Tony wrote: Failing all that ask Kev... our illustrious elder and better

Or as I like to think of him : the Welsh Wizard of the Wysiwyg

fiona wrote: the Welsh Wizard of the Wysiwyg

Welsh.... he ain't Welsh... no more than Aleksandr İsayeviç Soljenitsin was American... just coz he lived there.

Then again Aleksandr İsayeviç Soljenitsin has passed on to the great gulag in the sky.

Tony

Hmm, I'm on a PC with XP but using Firefox, though that shouldn't make much difference. Just for you I loaded up IE and the buttons look the same, like this.



Get back to me if you can't find these buttons.

Oi Tickle, that's fightin talk! Dw i'n Cymraeg! Born and bred Welsh. Lived here all my life and speak a little of the lingo. Watch it!

I've withdrawn privileges for less!

Kev Bailey wrote:I've withdrawn privileges for less!

I should be so lucky... I just love lighting the blue touch paper and retiring...

Tony

I've made it easy with my Mac using Firefox just hit the "host an image" button:

My photos are in files or on desktop so hit the "browse" and find photo, download and resize to 640px:

After you hit "host it" the photos comes back as three urls.... highlight the middle one... and manually move to your reply. Preview and send.

I've never used the"image button" Kevin ..... I'm not sure how it applies? Perhaps videos ?

Norma

Hey moderators,
Looking at Storms response (idea) above…………..he asked about having people write more. Then this thread gets a little side tracked and goes on about loading pictures and joking about ones homeland et.al.
Well……….. Currently this forum doesn't have a category/folder for members to put reports/articles etc into …..ones that they feel appropriate for others to review, print off comment on etc.
Is this something for the future?
Cheers Gman.

I have a bonsai blog hosted by Google. Sometimes, instead of posting the picture on the bonsai site, I'll post the link to the specific image on the blog. Saves bandwidth on the site. Check the link.

Mike

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_31sYBNjh00M/SrFvUD4d54I/AAAAAAAAANo/uljo7uxaULM/s1600-h/aob-rw-2-09-rs.jpg

That would be great gman, a even more in-depth way to get tips and discuss trees more generally in addition to personal preferences as we have now.
This forum is very addictive by the way..

Hi Gman, we have a little banter, now and again. All posts are read and taken on board though.

One of my main long term aims has been to reinstate the "Knowledge Base" that disappeared when the old IBC was taken down. It was a collection of articles by a variety of authors, which I've saved. This website, alongside the forum, would then become a repository for the very best contributions, edited out of posts from the forum with further editing and good presentation.

This project does require us to start a fundraiser, so that we can buy space on a server. Keep an eye on announcements!
If anyone has any suggestions for fundraising, please respond here or PM me.

The idea above is slowly getting closer. There has been lots of work and arrangements being made, subsequent to the fundraisers getting off to a great start. Soon we should have the financial side sorted and be ready to get the website up and running.

If anyone has any ideas for the site that they wish to add, feel free to PM me or post here.