Posted by Contourman on 24/6/2008, 9:54 pm

Congratulations are in order to the originators of both Bashley Message Boards. The new ‘Official’ Message Board is well organised, defined and managed and is a credit to the club and ultimately has the useful capacity for the collection and store of supporter data. The ‘Open Message Board’ is as a response to grass root opinion for an easy, open to all, message board for supporter communication, ad hoc topics and rival supporter banter. What we have to ensure now is that the managers and users of both message boards work together for the good of the club. For this to happen there must be a clear understanding that topics that affect both club and supporters e.g. coach bookings for away games, are confined to the ‘Official’ Message Board. There also needs to be a link from one message board to the other. A clickable link will define the differences as well as signify the togetherness (the two message boards must not appear to be rivals) i.e. ‘Click here for fan chat on the Bashley Supporters Open Message Board’ and conversely ‘Click here for the latest news, comment and opinion on the Official Bashley Website Message Board’ I suggest that we all keep an open mind on having two message boards (You wait for years for a good message board and then two come along together!); let them run (with the proposed links) for a couple of months and then review the situation. The Bashley supporter base is growing and its independence needs to be recognised, the Cucumber Club and the Open Message board are positive steps in this direction and should be encouraged. I for one will use both message boards and applaud the opportunity.