Is This Site Slowly Going By The Wayside?

[bruce t]

Keep in mind that back in the mid 1990s, when I joined, forums such as this were "hi tech" and the prime source of information. Now days folks simply Google YouTube to find information. 

[rickeieio]

7 hours ago, bruce t said:

Now days folks simply Google YouTube to find information. 

Unfortunate, but true.  I've seen so many times where someone asks a question as their first post, and they never come back to find the answer.  Forums do not provide instant gratification, but they do encourage long time participation.

[Steven@146]

I lurk here more than I post. I hang out more on our manufacturer forum but check in here every once in awhile. On that forum many times owners are guided to this Escapees forum for assistance in going fulltime or extended part-timers.

We are in our late 60's, in our 3rd year of fulltiming, and loving every day. The wife does the facebook thing, I cant stand it. If a forum or an RV site gets snarky, I'm out of there in a heartbeat. Life is too short to put up with rude, know-it-all, egomaniac people.

As far as attaching files here, it's too limited. On our other manuf forum there is a place to post pics of "campgrounds, destinations and trip planning, or looking out our back window", I like to share pics of the places we have been, and to assist owners with problems where I can. I also keep up with our non-profit YouTube Channel where we post video's of our site seeing experiences but very little fix it.

Currently at Turkey Creek Escapee's Branson. Seems to be an older RV park more suited to the by gone days of smaller RVs. i'm a little disappointed in this Escapee's park, the site we have is just barely long enough for our rig, we have to park our truck elsewhere, back to back rig parking and close, but you never know who you will meet up with. Just met a couple pulling their rig with a Rivian.

Hang in there Escapee's forum, its a great resource for fulltimers.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Steven@146
corrections

[Kirk W]

In light of the comments: do you want these forums to continue? What suggestions do you have to attract new/more members? Who would you wish to attract? 

[bigjim]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:17 AM, TXiceman said:

but I will continue to use the forums until one of us dies.  I am 76 years old.

 

Will be 76 in Oct and this mirrors my sentiments exactly.  Linda needs to set the parameters of the younger folks.😀

[justRich]

7 hours ago, Kirk W said:

What suggestions do you have to attract new/more members?

Yes.  Hire a SEO specialist and see that the forum / website conforms to their advice.

 

[bruce t]

Kirk the forums 'must' keep going. 

8 hours ago, Kirk W said:

In light of the comments: do you want these forums to continue? What suggestions do you have to attract new/more members? Who would you wish to attract? 

Even if the last one here is talking to themselves it's worth the effort. 

Think of it as a group of old men sitting at the bar. They meet there every week. But one by one they pass away. Just because they are slowly dropping in numbers it doesn't mean their meetings are irrelevant. The last two will lament the passing of their mates. But that very meeting, despite their dropping numbers, remains important and a part of their lives.

We stopped RVing the USA in 2013. (Still travelled for several months a year in a pickup until 2018). But this forum has been a part of my life for soooo long that I simply can't walk away from it. I think social interaction is a dying skill. We must continue until Escapees pull the plug and turn off the power.

 

 

[Ray,IN]

The Escapees discussion forums are in better shape than some other RVing forums.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Ray,IN

[Hill_Country]

12 hours ago, Kirk W said:

In light of the comments: do you want these forums to continue? What suggestions do you have to attract new/more members? Who would you wish to attract? 

If this forum ever served a purpose - and I think that we all agree that it did - then it could absolutely again be worthwhile.  Not the way it is going, but the way it was.  There is still a need for both the conversation and the information exchange.

Good evidence of this is the manufactures' forum that I've begun following.  It has a great group of friendly, knowledgeable people.  It is well moderated - there is little snark in the postings.  I think the success of that forum is measured not so much by the number of hits, but by the fact that it gets as many posts from non-owners as it does owners.  Just a good group of people who share their interest in RV'ing.

Perhaps a better question to ask is does Escapees serve a purpose?  If so, then this forum could not just support the club, but very much enhance it.  Frankly, the way this forum has gone downhill has me looking at clubs other than Escapees.

[sandsys]

13 hours ago, Kirk W said:

In light of the comments: do you want these forums to continue? What suggestions do you have to attract new/more members? Who would you wish to attract? 

Hire another good administrator. I miss Mark.

Linda

[2gypsies]

I think it's an important connection to the Escapees club.  When new members join the club I would think they'd check out the forum.

I don't do Facebook so I don't know how it's is there.

I would think the Xscapers communicate among themselves.

I've just gotten so much good information from the forum in the 20+ yr I've used it.  I just hate to see it dwindle.

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, sandsys said:

Hire another good administrator.

Have you expressed that opinion to anyone in management? And Mark is around but just moved on to other duties, more than 10 years ago. Active members see him frequently, but he is also only part-time now because he has past retirement age. 

10 hours ago, Hill_Country said:

Perhaps a better question to ask is does Escapees serve a purpose?

Since the membership is increasing, some must think that it does. 

7 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I don't do Facebook so I don't know how it's is there.

The Escapees Facebook is very active with a far younger majority than the forums & you must be an active member of Escapees to join. If you have never been to a Facebook page, it is a very different format than forums. If Lou Schneider is around, perhaps he can share some information on the subject as he is part of the volunteer staff there. 

Edited July 11, 2023 by Kirk W

[sandsys]

7 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Have you expressed that opinion to anyone in management? And Mark is around but just moved on to other duties, more than 10 years ago. Active members see him frequently, but he is also only part-time now because he has past retirement age. 

No, because I hadn't realized that was part of the problem until someone mentioned it earlier in this thread. Since my membership in the club itself is now inactive, I don't think it is my place to do so other than responding to this thread.

Linda

[RV_]

18 hours ago, sandsys said:

Hire another good administrator. I miss Mark.

Linda

X2

 

[Hill_Country]

11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Have you expressed that opinion to anyone in management? And Mark is around but just moved on to other duties, more than 10 years ago. Active members see him frequently, but he is also only part-time now because he has past retirement age. 

Since the membership is increasing, some must think that it does.

I find it difficult to believe that management isn't aware of this thread.  What else are they neglecting?

I'm guessing that a plot of membership numbers would follow the number of RV sales each year.  If that is true, Escapees is in trouble. 

[bruce t]

I find it hard to blame management when the very subjects/content of these forums are our, the user, responsibility.

Unless WE make the forums interesting and provide a positive experience then nobody will be remotely interested in a handful of old farts bickering over trival subjects.

When someone posts dont reply or contribute unless you have a constructive comment.

Negativity is creeping into society from all directions. Many posts I read here don't add to the conversation nor do they encourage polite and helpful content. 

I know. Because I have been subjected to those who want to read between the lines, take out of context or otherwise twist posts simply to make the poster seem important. 

I was a director of Australias largest RV club. We had a forum which was eventually shut down because a handful of members simply couldn't resist the temptation to bicker over trivial details. 

WE the members are responsible for the well-being of these forums. Polite and helpful replies are what is needed. Not the pointing of fingers at those who provide the very platform that we have all taken for granted for so long.

Thank you moderators and SKP for allowing me to use and learn on these forums for so many years.

 

[DanZemke]

6 hours ago, bruce t said:

handful of old farts bickering over trival subjects.

Enough!!! As an experienced senior, I'm disappointed in your attitude.  Color me hurt and unwanted. I'm LEAVING!!!!

Just kidding.  I agree with your post on the polite and helpful dimension.  And, IMO, there are other dimensions that are contributing to our decline. More competition, photo size restrictions, ease of posting photos, ineffective and stale advertisements, and cell phone access. 

[lappir]

I'm hoping the Forum remains. I will admit I got off for a while and did the FB thing, but it just got out of hand. Too many other topics and comments on EVERYTHING. I'll stay here as long as everyone else does, will do my best to comment on things I either know or think I know about and ask useful questions. I'm thinking it's time to put this post to rest and start working on keeping the Forum going with other things. JMHO.

Rod

[rickeieio]

22 hours ago, DanZemke said:

ineffective and stale advertisements

I especially dislike that ad that jumps out and asks, "are you overweight"?  How dare they........🤣

[rvrev2]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:05 AM, DanZemke said:

Enough!!! As an experienced senior, I'm disappointed in your attitude.  Color me hurt and unwanted. I'm LEAVING!!!!

Just kidding.  I agree with your post on the polite and helpful dimension.  And, IMO, there are other dimensions that are contributing to our decline. More competition, photo size restrictions, ease of posting photos, ineffective and stale advertisements, and cell phone access. 

I agree with Dan.  I would like to have the ability to easily post larger sized photos and other attachments.  We are such a visual society now, that I think this would be an enhancement.  A picture does paint a thousand words, and 100K max is just too small.

I still use this forum.  I read far more than I post.  I have gleaned a lot of wisdom here, and would miss it if the forum would be shut down.

Thank you again to all the moderators and administrators, as well as to all the posters here.  You have blessed me.

[JGWALES]

The one thing i dont like about Some Sites is that some members suddenly become know it alls and post down to people asking simple questions even name calling. Thats not what sites were established for.

[Kirk W]

Quote

If this forum ever served a purpose - and I think that we all agree that it did - then it could absolutely again be worthwhile.  Not the way it is going, but the way it was. 

While I know of no plans to eliminate the forums, and I have had some conversation with admin on that subject, I do believe that it probably will die a "natural death" in time, just as many of the other RV forums have done. It isn't possible to keep things as they used to be because times change and people move on. The younger generation is taking over the Escapees RV Club, just as they are everything and if the club is to survive that must happen. Mark Nemeth was mentioned so I asked him and his 5 years on the forums and that ended in 2008. Sources like YouTube didn't exist. Facebook began in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006. The growth of them and other sources like them has played a major role in what is happening to the forums. As the younger RVers have moved to those, most of them either left or never joined the RV forums. Today we are the parents and grandparents of the generation that is rapidly growing in Escapees and they will soon be the membership majority. In the past few years the club has had a huge influx of new members with membership numbers higher than it has ever been and the fastest growing group is the still working RV'ers that are Xscapers and the RVing families. The Escapee forums have outlived many of the RV forums that were once active and all of the forums that I'm aware of are declining. I used to take part in 5 different RV forums but only 3 of those exist today and none are as busy as they once were. The Escapees RV Club of the 90's and early 2000's was a club of mostly retired people and many of them were fulltime. Those who kept it going then are mostly departed from the road and/or deceased. When I joined the forum I was part of a group of 6 couples about to go fulltime who migrated to Escapees from a now extinct RV forum. Our ages ranged from 61 to 50, including spouses. I was 55 when I joined that group. Of those 12 people, 5 are deceased, none are still fulltime, and only 1 still owns an RV. I just sold my last RV last month. Our group is simply dying of old age and I see nothing in this thread that appears to give hope of changing that. As one post said, only the participants can change the content or attitudes of any forum. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Kirk W
edit grammar and typos

[Steven@146]

I see your point Kirk but then again if a forum or any social media wants to stay around they have to grow, change , adapt with the users needs/wants, If not they will die. That's ok about the younger Xscapers taking over, they will replace us older folks and they will get old and retire as well and then they will look back to their old days on the forum.

I limit my social media, one forum specific to our manufacturer,  Escapee's and of course Email. The wife is on Facebook, but I refuse to use it. I don't want to waist my time reading so many forums or IRV pages. I'm on early in the morning and then off, or like now when its too hot to do anything outside like fishing, hiking, biking.

We have a YouTube Channel, non-profit, but ours is 95% about our adventures, the places we have been, the history of the places we visit, traveling and once in awhile a little about repairs and fulltiming. I have a 5 foot walking stick that is over half covered both sides with park and places medallions. I do look up how to videos, seeing it being done is a whole lot better than reading about it.  We had to replace one of our slide skies. There is one channel I look to for the latest RV products, gadgets. I don't ever post pictures or upload something like a fulltiming budget accounting excel spreadsheet or maintenance/repair tracking spreadsheet,  here because it is to restrictive,. but on our manufacturer forum we share everything and can upload almost anything and links to videos all the time.

This site has helped us immensely when we first went fulltime almost 3 years ago.  We are in our late 60s, kind of pups compared to you "older" people 🙂 I would post pictures of our new Stowaway bicycles but I'm not going to try and figure out how to limit my picture size just for this site.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Steven@146
additional info, corrections

[franco-bolli]

I don't know what the silver bullet would be to make this site more popular.

Admittedly, I've been hanging out on IRV2.com which seems to be bursting with activity.
I don't know if the reason is that this site is "Escapees" centric,  others believe because they aren't escapees, they  don't belong or aren't welcome.   There were over 950 rigs at the Tucson Escapade, and you can bet that most if not all use a computer. 

Perhaps, if there was more encouragement to use the forums in the monthly magazine, or pushed a little more information about the forum at each event, a bigger group of new Escapees would find more camaraderie in folks of the same ilk. Not all of the new Escapees are younger folks (read less than 50). Some just need a nudge to get them going in the forums.

Maybe its short sighted of me to think that those who are not on the forum from the Escapees membership, either don't know this forum is here, or don't see the diversity in rig brand/type or ownership that meets their needs.

For instance, of the group remaining, I'm guessing that there are less than 10 people that have similar brand and type of rigs.  If a person is looking for information about an issue for a specific brand and type (Grand Design - 5th wheel), and only 2 people offer help every time you ask, I would think that they would look for a more diverse group or pool of information on another site, if they can't get their question answered.

I agree that a larger file size would help, but including an area where large files can be shared. 
Most manuals are over 3 Mb in file size. A search tool that actually finds threads with information you need.

Personally, I was disappointed that there were no management contributors to the threads prior to the last 2 Escapades. No news about the events, or other happenings of the club.

I don't know what the silver bullet would be to make this site more popular.

Admittedly, I've been hanging out on IRV2.com which seems to be bursting with activity.
I don't know if the reason is that this site is "Escapees" centric,  others believe because they aren't escapees, they  don't belong or aren't welcome.   There were over 950 rigs at the Tucson Escapade, and you can bet that most if not all use a computer. 

Perhaps, if there was more encouragement to use the forums in the monthly magazine, or pushed a little more information about the forum at each event, a bigger group of new Escapees would find more camaraderie in folks of the same ilk. Not all of the new Escapees are younger folks (read less than 50).

Maybe its short sighted of me to think that those who are not on the forum from the Escapees membership, either don't know this forum is here, or don't see the diversity in rig brand/type or ownership that meets their needs.

For instance, of the group remaining, I'm guessing that there are less than 10 people that have similar brand and type of rigs.  If a person is looking for information about an issue for a specific brand and type (Grand Design - 5th wheel), and only 2 people offer help every time you ask, I would think that they would look for a more diverse group or pool of information on another site, if they can't get their question answered.

I agree that a larger file size would help, but including an area where large files can be shared. 
Most manuals are over 3 Mb in file size. A search tool that actually finds threads with information you need.

Personally, I was disappointed that there were no management contributors to the threads prior to the last 2 Escapades. No news about the events, or other happenings of the club. Are there any posts anywhere on the forums about the 45 year anniversary?  It's certainly not in the banners of the web site.

I'm probably part of the problem, using other RV related sites instead of this one.
I'll quit now before I start to ramble.

Thanks to all of you that have kept this going!

[franco-bolli]

Improvements for this forum / website

• a button that allows for pre-viewing the post before you send it up to be active
• larger file size for images (already mentioned in other posts)
• a method to view a list of "unanswered" questions or post with only the initial entry.
• an area to upload large files for others to download, such as service manuals
• a direct link to Escapees events, HOPS, Escapades, and other club news
• a search tool for the specific thread your reading

I'm sure there are other ideas from folks that have been here longer than I have..

Cheers

FB