Low brass online community participation..

[iMav]

I find it odd that participation by low brass players is as light as it is on the various community sites.

High school and college kids LIVE on the internet. If they are half as passionate about their art as I was at that age, you'd think they'd be bursting these forums' seams.

Add to that military band members (also, primarily, young kids with an affection for all things online), and there is a HUGE potential membership. (not even taking into account music eduation and professionals)

Are these demographics simply not being properly marketed to?

[Snorlax]

Some forums are not welcoming to newbies, especially young ones.*
Some "forum all-stars" go out of their way to be curt or rude to newbies.*
The pros I know don't get on forums because they get besieged by emails and requests...or they're too busy working! ;-)
Some pros have a facebook page where they can be more selective about their associations.
High School band directors don't have time to breathe during the school year, let alone spend time on forums.
As a college professor, I can tell you that college kids are generally low on the passion scale for anything except partying these days.

Truth be told, I'm glad that forums' seams are not bursting. Keeps the signal-to-noise ratio high!

*I do NOT see these problems on THIS forum. That's one of the many reasons I like it so much.

Jim W.

[RickF]

I don't think anyone could have said it any better Jim. There are some students here who follow and contribute, but not a lot. This is by far one of the most informative forums for tuba/euphonium (mostly euphonium) that I've had the privileged of following. Sure glad the Dave Werden started this five or six years ago.

[prototypedenNIS]

Originally posted by: Snorlax

Some forums are not welcoming to newbies, especially young ones.*

Some "forum all-stars" go out of their way to be curt or rude to newbies.*

Sorry...

As a college professor, I can tell you that college kids are generally low on the passion scale for anything except partying these days.

I blame Jersey Shore!

[prototypedenNIS]

I've heard great recommendations of this forum (over other forums) as it's not overly cluttered with the same questions.

It's well organized and not full of junk.

If you look at TTF (the trombone forum) they have a simpler layout, but it's long instead of treed. There are a lot of posts, but much more political, games, and trolling. Recently, when people ask about a tuba/euph forum, they've been referring people here.

The other forum (not naming)... it's a vortex of conversations that go nowhere. This one is short but sweet. We'd love more members and it's growing here but it's growing steady.

There are some websites that encompass much of people's time on the internet. Youtube and Facebook dominate in procrastination. I used to use much more pages than I do now. I used to browse more... now it seems like the big sites have gained control of my attention (as well as the attention of many of my generation).

[Euphinator]

I am a high school student and I love this forum. It's really informative and nobody tries to be rude, and if they are taken rude by someone they are very apologetic. I think the lack of young members, at least at the high school level, is that not many high school level players are very dedicated to their instrument. Most people just go based off of what their friends told them if they want to learn something (which not a lot do) though I believe in consulting other sources, and the very advanced level players on this sight are a good one. I just think there aren't many young people on this forum because not too many high schools are very crazy about jumping onto a euphonium forum, even if they do know about it.

[iMav]

I'm working on a new low brass community with Norlan Bewley. A bit more focused on the students (of all ages) and personal development. If all goes well, then i will have at least two decent places where I can share my obsession.