Good forum, but could be great
I'm just going to ramble for a bit here if you don't mind.
First of all, this site is great and contains a lot of good information. I definitely was way more prepared for my interviews because of this site, and it probably helped me get a job. I feel that this is the case for a lot of people here. That means that there is going to be contiuously growing supply of actual knowledge on this forum. The problem and question is... how do you keep these people you helped get jobs posting, so the quality of the information on the board continues to grow?
Right now, there are so many annoying and repetitive threads on the main forum. If there is a worthwhile thread, someone who knows something will post in it and then immediately get flamed by someone who has never stepped foot in an ibank in their entire life. This isn't helping the site retain actual knowledgable people.
The main solution to this problem is increased moderation. Really, you need to add 3-4 moderators who are going to go through and lock/delete all of the stupid, repetitive threads that litter the main forum. If you do this, and the moderators are aggressive in stamping out the stupidity, I am confident that you will see immediate improvements in the quality of this board.
Another way to help with this would be to have a rules sticky at the top, where you put some guidelines for posting (e.g. no more threads where we argue ad nauseum about whether Merrill or Lehman is better, no "internet speak" - "u", "r", etc. - make people type in proper English, etc.), and a sticky where anyone can post "small questions" that may have been answered before, might be kind of stupid etc. This way you can confine all of the hypothetical "which bank is better" and other questions ("What's the difference between a Director and an MD", etc.) to one thread.
On the visual side, I think it might be beneficial to switch to something like Vbulletin, just because that is what I'm used to, although what you have now is fine. Although one thing that does suck is the search. Other than that, the site is pretty good, although the screen layout is a bit clunky it seems, with all the stuff on the sides.
In any event, great site, i just hope that you can make some changes to increase the quality of the knowledge/discourse on this board. Ibanking is obviously a field that a lot of smart, well-educated, well-off, etc. people are involved in, but just by looking at the board and reading these threads you wouldn't really be able to tell. The type of conversations we have here should reflect the community about which we are commenting.
I dont post often but I have been lurking on the boards for about a month. This forum has definitely shed a lot of light in a very short amount of time on areas in which I had absolutely no knowledge about.
But although I have only been reading for a few weeks, I have read threads on the same topics week after week. People seriously need to start using the search engine. Granted it isn't as great as other forums or whatever, but that's besides the point. For basic questions regarding compensations, entry into IB, etc., it is more than useful. If you spend 20-30 minutes going through old threads and maybe clicking back on page 10, you will most likely find the answer to the question you are looking for. Granted there are tons of unanswered questions, but it just gets annoying to read the same threads every few days.
And I also agree with anon that people that don't work in an ibank yet should not be flaming people. I see a lot of unnecessary flaming. It just seems retarded to me that people that don't work in an ibank, and only know things about the industry from sources like this forum and the vault, become disillusioned to think they actually have the job. I hate when people flame people automatically doubting what they say. "Theres no way you got into xxxxx BB w/ a 3.0" I want to ask you how the hell you know that with no real world experience
hey guys, I really apprecite your thoughts. I agree with the majority if not all of your comments. I want you to know that I am working hard on improving the site -- it is tough because I am running it alone and work a full-time day job.
I have a few initiatives going now:
More entertaining content. I am now getting help from one of our users who enjoys writing and works for an ibank...she is writing a blog called Ctrl - Z and I think people will enjoy her material thoroughly. I will also be introducing a Video Blog in the next few months (in production) called The Monkey Minute which should also be entertaining for everyone on the board.
Better graphics. I agree the Goofy theme is a bit "clunky", and will be improving the colors (and hopefully spacing) shortly..i might be able to remove the blocks on the side when the user is in the forums. would that help? that is just how drupal works and without spending big $, I can't really hack the source code on my own (not really an IT guy).
Search bar - I will be emphasizing this much more and it will be placed on the HOME page so people can just come to site and start searching immediately. I completely agree the current Search module sucks...one of the main reasons I am going through the hassle and $ to upgrade to Drupal 5.1 is that supposedly the search module is somewhat better in that version. (we'll see) this migration to 5.1 is what has been delaying all of these improvements but I hope by the end of March they will all be done (or at least most).
I also want to reduce the number of annoying / repetitive posts. This is one of the main reasons I spent my time developing the FAQ block on the right side. I guess a sticky might also help at the top of the forums but I will have to give it some thought. On the one hand, I want to limit this, on the other hand, I'm not sure how much a sticky will stop people from being lazy (and not using the Search function).
Again, I really appreciate the thought out comments. anon, i think the combination of relevant material, entertaining material and the ability to share ones knowledge has helped keep a number of ibankers and finance professionals active on the site. However, I agree that I can do a much better job and I will try to make improvements as fast as I can. Would you like to be a moderator?
Thank you.
nychimp- thanks for putting in all this work. i think that this site has grown into a great resource and community. i would also second the original poster's suggestion to add a few moderators to the forums - the flaming has really become ubiquitous.
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