What do our poets enjoy the most at MM?, Central theme for IBPC boards Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hello and thanks for reading this thread!

The participating boards of the IBPC (InterBoard Poetry Competition) have been asked to raise discussion around the question, "What is at, or what is it about our forum, that the poets enjoy most?"

To quote part of Rus' email, he mentions that this question comes from two places.

"1. There were 7 forums that did not enter poems this month, some that would have wanted to (and two that withdrew from future comps, The Maelstrom and The Writer's Block). What if they could create activities or formats, something got sparked, that would attract or keep poets at their sites, or would help them rebuild after personal calamities and illnesses and such? If we can learn from each other, perhaps some forums might develop cliques and buddy up with reps who find themselves on the same visionary wavelengths.

2. This a bit more involved: If we all come to a place of keen understanding of what it is about the sister boards that is best for the poets, then the upcoming IBPC blog, Voices in Synergy, succeeds as we all will come to know how to put our best feet forward--and in unison, come from a keen, informed, communal understanding.

To reinterate Rus' closing remarks:
"No matter whether we want growth, or just want to make a place better for our poets, or get some ideas for new features and such, this e-mail loop is to make us all the smarter. It works if we make it work, and the more the merrier and the better we, and ultimately the poets of the community, are for it.

It is only through IBPC that internet poetry forums are truly able to consider themselves part of a larger community. Let's do this thing we have."

I look forward to your feedback - I will be sharing the responses with the IBPC and its forum reps.

Thank you!
~Lori

[JLY]

Lori,
Although activity has waned from its peak of a few years ago, the atmosphere has never changed. MM is a site that invites people of all poetic abilities and offers varied forums that can appeal to many different genres.

I particularly enjoy the warm and positive comments and crits that are offered by the readership and staff. Very rarely if ever, is there a caustic, mean-spirited comment posted as a response.

We all get brain-dead from time to time; its hard to be fashionably creative all the time. The demands on our free time are always lurking and like anything else, when family and career are tugging at our heartstrings, our hobby takes a back seat.

For me, the weekly challenges are the most enjoyable aspect of MM. They nudge me to take time to write a response and provide me with a theme and motivation that I need from time to time.

If there is one weakness here it's one that we are all quilty of, in that we may not be as diligent as we could be in providing critical responses to newly posted poems. I understand that free time is a commodity in short supply but if at all possible we need to respond more frequently to our peers. A sincere and honest peer review is what many of us desire and it helps us to improve our craft.

All in all, the feeling I get at MM is one of friendship.

JLY