Active Members

On seeing the title of this new board my first reaction was to think (hope) that the Oldie Magazine was resurrecting its board. Sadly, this is not the case. Undoubtedly the magazine possessed this unique advantage – its readership. There was a link to the Board from the Oldie’s official website. This provided a continuing supply of new active members. Inevitably some people drop off from time to time not only through death but also because of some abrupt change in lifestyle. But new members arrived and replaced the dropouts.

The Mature Cheese Board began with the then existing membership when the Oldie discontinued its board. It has soldiered on facing the loss of members without a compensating supply of newcomers. There was the one occasion when refugees from the BBC’s site joined but that was very much a one off. It is now facing terminal decline.

In its heyday the Oldie Board some 10 years ago was a very busy place. On any day I would be presented with a number of running threads. There were always issues that interested me. The problem really was lack of time to pursue them all. Yes, there were members that I found rather irritating. For instance Stevan pursued his jokes to excess as far as I was concerned. Exco was consistently over the top with his left wing prejudices. I’m pretty left wing myself but he was doing the cause no end of harm. It didn’t matter that much because there was plenty of stuff that I could get my teeth into.

So I now come to the point. This board has only just started. The present membership is just a part of the active Cheese Board membership and that itself is uncomfortably small. Where are the new active members coming from in order to achieve the vibrant place that was the original Oldie Board ten years ago? Is it possible to advertise and is there a place in which to advertise?