Group Build Participation
Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2026 3:44 pm
Participation in our Group Builds has been declining over the years. We tend to get a lot of participation in selecting topics, but when it comes down to actually building something and posting we get less than anticipated. I have gotten quite a lot of kudos lately for the work I have been putting into the forum. Whether or not that is deserved is for a different day, but if you really want to thank me; PARTICIPATE!
Tell your friends to participate, bribe them. Offer up your firstborn (you can always make another). Do whatever you can to get our numbers up. Post that meme you saw that made you chuckle. Next time you go to your local hobby store talk us up. If we can grow our membership and get participation back up I can try to attract sponsors and get prizes and judging back. We lost quite a bit of participation when Facebook rolled around. Members sought out the instant gratification of a much larger user count. Even the FB groups are starting to see a decline lately. One thing that we see here is when a new user posts about a build that was completed years ago. That doesn't really happen on FB. It is also nearly impossible to get a cogent build process. We are all about the process here. The final product is great. I love seeing your portfolios, but what I most want to see is how you made it. What makes this site so great is how it can teach novice users HOW to build, not just show them things they can't build yet.
One of the new things I plan on introducing are "business cards." These are going to be customized images that you can print and bring with your to events or trips to the LHS. Each one will contain a QR code that will allow a user to register on our site with you as a referring member. When the new user registers and makes either 25 posts or completes a build in a SIG or GB, both of you will receive a prize. I have not determined what the prize will be, but I suspect it will be a $10 gift card to the Ultimate store. There are still some details to work out and I have to do some programming changes, but I hope to have this implemented soon. Lee and I are working on a more permanent logo as well. I would like that to be in place before making this feature live.
Please let me make one thing abundantly clear. I am not interested in making money off of this site. If we get anything from advertisements it will be funneled back into the site. I am not asking for your time and talents to fund anything for me. I simply want to keep this site going. I came here years ago as a modeller just starting out and was blown away by the camaraderie. I learned new techniques and found out that even someone like me can build really nice things. I made friends that I plan on having for the rest of my life. THAT is what I want for our users. I am fortunate enough to have a good job that allows me to run this site. For me it is a second hobby. Lee (and Paul) made this site special many years ago, I want to bring it back to its former glory.
P.S.
I just announced that there will be a Star Trek Anniversary SIG later this year. We are also going to have a Star Wars 50th Anniversary SIG next summer. Along with our standard Summer Sci-Fi SIG. I realize that is quite a bit of Science Fiction. This does NOT signal a change in overall forum direction, but it is just the way things turned out.
Tell your friends to participate, bribe them. Offer up your firstborn (you can always make another). Do whatever you can to get our numbers up. Post that meme you saw that made you chuckle. Next time you go to your local hobby store talk us up. If we can grow our membership and get participation back up I can try to attract sponsors and get prizes and judging back. We lost quite a bit of participation when Facebook rolled around. Members sought out the instant gratification of a much larger user count. Even the FB groups are starting to see a decline lately. One thing that we see here is when a new user posts about a build that was completed years ago. That doesn't really happen on FB. It is also nearly impossible to get a cogent build process. We are all about the process here. The final product is great. I love seeing your portfolios, but what I most want to see is how you made it. What makes this site so great is how it can teach novice users HOW to build, not just show them things they can't build yet.
One of the new things I plan on introducing are "business cards." These are going to be customized images that you can print and bring with your to events or trips to the LHS. Each one will contain a QR code that will allow a user to register on our site with you as a referring member. When the new user registers and makes either 25 posts or completes a build in a SIG or GB, both of you will receive a prize. I have not determined what the prize will be, but I suspect it will be a $10 gift card to the Ultimate store. There are still some details to work out and I have to do some programming changes, but I hope to have this implemented soon. Lee and I are working on a more permanent logo as well. I would like that to be in place before making this feature live.
Please let me make one thing abundantly clear. I am not interested in making money off of this site. If we get anything from advertisements it will be funneled back into the site. I am not asking for your time and talents to fund anything for me. I simply want to keep this site going. I came here years ago as a modeller just starting out and was blown away by the camaraderie. I learned new techniques and found out that even someone like me can build really nice things. I made friends that I plan on having for the rest of my life. THAT is what I want for our users. I am fortunate enough to have a good job that allows me to run this site. For me it is a second hobby. Lee (and Paul) made this site special many years ago, I want to bring it back to its former glory.
P.S.
I just announced that there will be a Star Trek Anniversary SIG later this year. We are also going to have a Star Wars 50th Anniversary SIG next summer. Along with our standard Summer Sci-Fi SIG. I realize that is quite a bit of Science Fiction. This does NOT signal a change in overall forum direction, but it is just the way things turned out.
