Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ TCC AND THE FUTURE, A LETTER FROM AN 8 YEAR VET

[aceecards]

STOP WHINING , STOP COMPLAINING.

We are still here and we are still one.

Need I remind each and everyone of you that in april of 2005 when I joined there were only 3 or 4 of us active posters.. plus Bob's alleged ghost posters..LOL (got to be an old timer to remember the accusations thrown at Bob and his fledgling site) We didn't grow because Bob built it, we grew because we enjoyed each others company about numerous topics, from sports, to tv shows, movies, and of course the dreaded political forum. And the Hobby.

Are there still Hobbyist out here everyday? OF course there is!

Trouble is we have NO CONTENT!

Let me give you a few suggestions

1. somebody start spearheading a new release topic every week. Easy to research.. goto dave ad adams and copy their product blurbs with a suggested retail price and date

AND EXPRESS YOUR OWN OPINION! THAT ALWAYS RATTLED SOME CAGES.

2. start talking about sports again. The draft, hockey playoffs, basketball playoffs, ring tossing, baseball, Frisbee golf cow chip tossing, competitive beer drinking..

IT DOENT MATTER WHAT THE TOPIC IS, OTHERS MIGHT JOIN IN!

3. Lets have a showoff showcase showdown thread, here Ill start one!
Check out my Non sport showcase showdown topic in show and tell!

NOT NOW YOU GOTTA LET ME FINISH THIS FIRST!

4. Go post your favorite movie topic and lets have a poll and let people nominate and post movies to vote on!

OK SOUND LAME BUT...

5. Write a movie review. Gosh knows I don't want to spend $11 to be the first to see Iron Man 3.. however Star Trek into darkness looks like a bad robot!

6. start a hobby talk article about an old set you liked or a set your assembling!

7. Post a wantlist for gosh sakes!
MINE IS IN MY SIG!

8. Post a political topic that will stir up debate and good clean healthy discussion with a little name calling on the side

COME ON RICHARD YOU PROMISED!


and Im on a roll and my brain is smoking
We got to reboot this site just like a few of us booted it the first time.

It takes a team! We have a team, we just need to bring them home.

AND IN MY BEST BELUSHI IMPERSONATION..."WHO'S WITH ME?!!!"

I am not giving up till the germans bomb pearl harbor by the way!

[athopesend]

I'm with ya. Had to take a little break for awhile but I'm back and ready to go. When I found this site I couldnt believe that something like it even existed and after a few trades, I quickly felt like I was part of a family. I was on here everyday, it was part of my daily routine and I couldnt imagine a day without checking in and trying to make some trades and read all the posts and such. I have seen the site "slow down" as some would say but we, the members, are to blame for that. I'm ready to help to bring this family back to where it was. I've said it before and I'll say it again ..... (in my best Ric Flair voice) .... wether you hate it or you like it, learn to love it, TCC is the best in the world.

[redwing40]

I second that Ken and Steve!

[aceecards]

I see my tcc resident artist and close sketch confidant lurking!

[captkirk42]

"Germans?"
"Forget it He's rolling."

[bat115]

wether you hate it or you like it, learn to love it, TCC is the best in the world.

I concur with that sentiment!

[edgerrin32]

I will try to get on a little more here and there. And you know I can talk. lol


My big thing is how we can get more people plugged back in and join the site? Keeping the hardcore people is one thing. But we also need new blood. Word of mouth works to a point. But like me, I really don't know anyone in my area that also collects. Other then the card shop owners (I don't know anyone who goes in them? They are always empty when I go). Unless he would let me put up a flyer there. Maybe others on here could ask there shop to put a flyer. We also need a big overhall of the site. Yes it can get by without it, but if new people find the site and the look at the home page its might make them leave. Like the big window right in the middle (first thing they will see as it jumps out because of size) "January 2011 Member of the Month". And if you go down, the hobby news. Stuff from 2006! And the box reviews 2009!. I mean I really like the lay out and how stuff works on here, but it just needs updates. Maybe some banners and new info. Just some basics, so when new people do come here they actually will read some stuff and might get started! Also not sure if Bob runs the Facebook page or whatnot, but maybe get that up and kicking. And people will see it on peoples list and might check it out. A way to pull in new people, maybe. And maybe a little bigger like button on the home page that says like "ready to get started?" and then under that "click here"! Also if you guys know some people email and want to send them a invite use the link I posted here. (if this feature works? I'm not sure). Maybe if you have contacts for people that used to get on all the time but don't and more send them a heads up on FB or yahoo or what not. But just a couple ideas, -Jason


http://www.tradingcardcentral.com/feedback.php


And on more thing. Maybe we can start getting people in the chat room? I just checked it and it looks like it still works. We could get some real conversations going in there in real time. Just a thought. A great easy way to work out some deals also and you can go back and forth easy.

[captkirk42]

I guess one thing that might help is when you trade with other collectors from some of those other places (or you sell your stuff on Ebay or Sportlots or wherever) you could put in a custom made TCC "business" card. Put TCC and the url on one of those decoy blanks?

Hey it's a thought. I know it won't attract a cast of thousands, but it might bring in a few straglers.

[northicehero99]

Bluto, I like your enthusiam, however, I think the Germans bombed TCC!

Like Jason, I think the biggest issue is getting new members, even without a new home page this place needs new members. Currently, I am not sure anyone is approving new members, especially now that Richard resigned, or if there even are any. Maybe I am wrong, but you need new people to keep trades happening or box breaks going or topics going with more than 10 opinions. I love TCC and have been devoted here since I first found it 8 years ago (2005), but even the regulars rarely hang out here anymore. I come here at lunch and see so little activity, I start random searches on the internet to keep from getting bored. There are a lot of great people here, TCC has just lost it's fire and hasn't changed very much since it's early inception. Other sites push their site by doing daily box breaks which is where a lot of interest is anymore, or by having new members which allows trading to keep somewhat fresh, or by having contests, or interesting conversations. We have some of that, but if new people can't get in, then things really will not change as it is the same people voicing the same opinions or showing the same trade items. I don't have any ideas on how to change things, I tried what I could and even that hasn't helped.

[urbanmonk]

Not to be a Debbie Downer but....


Attracting new folks won't serve much purpose if nobody to approve them. Members by join date:

link

So last one was in Feb. You can go thru 5 pages of them and only find 3 with more than 50 posts of the ones that have been approved. The list of folks waiting to be approved is huge and full of ones like this (or so I hear as I don't have access to that stuff):

profile

Bots that only here to put links to other things for sale or porno links etc.....is their only reason to be here. I used to spend hours of my time going thru and removing crap like that in profiles, but it became a why bother as they put it back faster than I can remove them.

Of the Mods left I count 7 that have been even on the site the last two days, so half bascially:

link

Of those I'm not sure who has full access, but my guess is a couple, and Dave was the last one that dealt with the arduous task of going thru and sorting out the real folks wanting approval from the Bots/Spammers.

Can this site run w/o an Admin? Apparently as it has been almost 3 years now. Problem is it gets harder to justify putting ones time into something that even the Admin don't give a crap about, that and not knowing if site will go poof at any given time on you as nobody has that info or is told anything. I have done my part for a long time now because of my love for the site, but that can only go so far. The Team has been w/o a leader basically now for a few months, the couple of us that do anything around here have been doing what we can or have time for (or what we can justify). I have been just making my own decisions, as if I post a topic looking for feedback from the Team on something and only get a response from one person, there really is no point in me making a topic in our area as I can play point/counter point by myself if I so choose. It really "bites" when I had to put the Admin on CTO, and if one has to do so with any other Team Members then the "why bother" point of view kicks in some more.

Don't get me wrong, I love this site as it got me back into the Hobby and I have met a lot of great folks here. But those I choose to have contact with I can do so on another site or Facebook or via Email. I have gave a lot to this site along with many other people (more than most can know as it is behind the scenes so to speak), but I also told Dave long ago that I wasn't going to be the last rat jumping from the sinking ship (he and Richard both had the ability to remove them-self and I don't, and I was turned down the time I wanted to be removed from the Team). So out of us Vets that do anything here, there is nobody with the time and/or desire to be the Leader, which don't bode well at all.

End of rant and too long of a post, sorry for the long read but had to say my piece.

Peace out.

[dd316]

I see my tcc resident artist and close sketch confidant lurking!

Oh, I'm always lurking about.


I have to admit, it's not only TCC. There are other sites I frequented feverishly that have simply migrated onto Facebook and never looked back.

I was extremely active with a group of folks on a horror forum, many of whom I'm very close friends with now. Around the same time TCC started slowing down, those horror folks were posting more and more on Facebook. Now the horror message boards is a ghost town (pun intended).

Is there a TCC Facebook page? Can we somehow connect the two in a stronger way?

[RGBII]

Thanks for firing up the troops here, Mr. Emerick.

Lord knows that I was sadly lacking in that virtue. Nonetheless, I'll be a member that contributes consistently and (hopefully) wisely to a site that I hold dear.

Opened up a powder keg in the Politics Forum for starters.

Collect Hard!,
RGBII

[aceecards]

Bob, mr Road runner

Lets assemble a team again!

lets get new approvals rolling

What do you need me to do.

ive been on the sidelines too long after my debacle with wanerjr

Im ready to play!

[RGBII]

Touché

Collect Hard!,
RGBII

[captkirk42]

Oh, I'm always lurking about.  ...
Is there a TCC Facebook page? Can we somehow connect the two in a stronger way?

Yep there is one: TCC on Facebook it doesn't get much attention though. Just like a lot of other early FB pages/groups (before FB made major changes to everyone's "newsfeeds" and implimented the Timeline) it appears dead Jim er Ted.

[urbanmonk]

Yep there is one: TCC on Facebook it doesn't get much attention though. Just like a lot of other early FB pages/groups (before FB made major changes to everyone's "newsfeeds" and implimented the Timeline) it appears dead Jim er Ted.

As Bob has control of the FB page I don't see connecting to something that is as old or older than the front page here that hasn't been updated also.

[mjda]

Is there a TCC Facebook page? Can we somehow connect the two in a stronger way?

I started a Facebook page for TCC quite some time ago, and started out doing daily updates on it. After the insights started working though, and I realized that the posts on there were only reaching 2-3 people a month I quit doing anything on it and just deleted it.

The "official" one cannot be maintained and, last time I checked, had some pretty vulgar things on it posted by an irate member who was upset he was banned from TCC.

[mjda]

By the way, if someone else wants to start a new one I'll be one of the first to "like" it, as long as it's updated regularly.

[redwing40]

Yep there is one: TCC on Facebook it doesn't get much attention though. Just like a lot of other early FB pages/groups (before FB made major changes to everyone's "newsfeeds" and implimented the Timeline) it appears dead Jim er Ted.

Yes Kirk, Thats the FB I used to post on, had a few Contest going on promoting the site with the friends I had when I was on, had 7 come on and pressed "Like", plus maybe I shouldn't haved Spamed it about the Box Breaks! But I gave it a try to get more members here, that was a long time ago!

You know I came from SCF over here 2 yrs ago, SCF was the only site I knew of till I came across TCC, Brian northicehero99 was the first I ever talked to, think it was about the year of a Pavel Datsyuk RC I was seeking, from there I met Dwight urbanmonk and others whom I built a great friendship with, It was nice that I was well welcomed by great members! funny how I have more post here and have made more transactions in a short amount of time than SCF since 2008! has to tell you something?

I try to promote and give my best to post contest and be active on the forums, but sometimes feel like by myself at doing it! Really hope we can kick start this site back up! I'm not going anywhere, just got here!

[bat115]

I know I was not as active as others but I have always loved TCC the best out of all the community sites out there and am willing to do anything I can to keep this site going.